Perhaps some of you with more experience can shed some light. I think both classes look very interesting and are probably amazing at cap, but I don't know which one to go for. Which one would be better for someone looking to do endgame content? I'll do raids and such with a guild most likely, but I'll probably end up soloing for the most part with a mercenary and maybe a friend or two. Which one does more damage? Which one can kill multiple mobs at once? Which one doesn't take a year to kill stuff in the later levels? (Unsure cause It seems like Furies don't get much damage but defilers do) I'm just looking for a nice comparison between the two. I've played both to level 20. P.S I don't own ToV or CoE, I may buy ToV but ill probably wait for the new expansion. I do have mercenaries, I am new to EQ2 as well, so I may not be familiar with higher end terminology.
Fury has ALOT more DPS.. Defilers are extremely low DPS at low levels.. if you are at ToV endgame level as a defiler you can squeeze some DPS out of them if you try hard.. but furies are more than triple *maybe even quadruple the DPS* even at lower levels.. but i would say if you are looking at endgame *moderate upwards* you might have a better time as defiler.. furies are a dime a dozen.. defilers if played right are amazing healers.. but it requires some know how.. furies can spam buttons more and can benefit their healing to some extent from DPS.. EDIT: my ToV Comparison hinges on raiding, defilers are not good for soloing.. without a group they are pretty slow. Fury is better at soloing
I'm guessing you picked those 2 choices because of AOE ? What Velros said +1 But the game needs more Defilers ... And if you can twink the toon , a few decent spells/ weapon/some armour/ get a couple hex dolls... It won't be so bad soloing ... but the defiler works better with a second ... be it player or merc.
Defiler and Fury are the two healers that do spell dps. It used to be that the main difference was that defilers were stronger defensive and furies offensively. Today, Furies are stronger offensively and same or better defensively, just due to the way that healing works. A good defiler can keep up with (or a even outplay) a good fury. An idiot fury will destroy an idiot defiler.
You will want a mercenary or a second player to play with you (or a second account for yourself) for a defiler. Pre-20 everything is pretty easy for all classes. Defilers are very low in the DPS department. Even at 95 I'd almost rather not play my defiler at all than go with out a mercenary or someone else with me. Leveling her up originally, well she was the only alt I ever had a guildmate help me power level. Ever. In 15 years of playing SOE games 6 accounts across several games and I don't even know how many alts. The only one. My fury though (not yet 90 but getting there!) I rarely bother with a mercenary unless I'm being lazy or running a dungeon I'm finding tough. Much more dps. For what you state in your original post, I'd say go fury. While defilers do have a couple of aoe's, the damage is generally pretty weak. For example level 60 something fury encounter aoe does as much as (and possibly more than) a level 94 defiler encounter aoe.
Thanks for the replies I'm mostly having trouble deciding what character to play. I played a necro to 78 and got a bit bored, and ever since i've had a bit of "Alt-Itis." I thought priests looked interesting, but most of them seem a little boring when it comes to doing solo/molo content, so I'm still in search of what may be the perfect class for me. I'm very fond of the caster area, and scout seem amazing, But I just can't seem to get the right choice. Anyway, ON TOPIC. What about in multi mob scenarios? Does the fury still outperform? I'm the kind of guy to try and grab a bunch of mobs and mow em all down with AoE. So i'm looking for that as well.
Given equal player skill, there are extremely few scenarios in which a Fury won't outperform a Defiler. The only DPS scenario when a defiler might outperform a fury is if fighting a really long fight against a hard hitting mob.. where a defiler can self heal and the mob (or mobs) will die on our damage shield even though we're casting no DPS spells. But even then, a fury might do better. If you just want to grab a bunch of mobs and kill them with AoEs, you don't want to play a healer, you want a Zerker or SK.
Mystic/warden/Inquistor are pretty awesome actually soloing, if you enjoy melee. I've always done melee on my mystic even prior to the class specific aa's that gave us conversions though =). Fury will outperform defiler damage wise solo in almost every situation. Actually, I can't think of a situation where a defiler will outperform a fury in damage provided both are equally skilled and both trying to do maximum damage. Maybe someone who really loves their defiler's class and loved it as much as I have my mystic would be able to get more out of the class my alas, my defiler is super cute with her flaming sword, but just not much of a damage dealer. Defiler dps potential is seriously awful. They can get one quite good aoe from AA (same as mystics, in the herioc tree) but that's really it. Furies also have more aoe's overall as well, though some are encounter only. Honestly if you are looking for a class specifically to mow down things AOE I'd suggest maybe a berserker/sk/paladin. All three of those do it pretty well in my experience (berserker has been my favorite of those three for many years though). I've had good luck aoeing stuff with my warlock as well. Despite my mystic's low number of aoe damage spells, I've often done that with her as well. Just ward up, walk in with spear stabbing or hammer swinging.
Furies have a decent number of AoEs, including a few that are not limited to a single encounter. However, they don't have the quantity some other classes have, like SKs, some come rather late (AoE version of Tempest is from Prestige, Wrath of Nature requires spending 130 AA points before you can get it, etc), and others have a bit of recast time (like Ring of Fire). With a merc (especially a 10-year vet or Daeron), think pretty much any healer has super-easy solo'ing And even without a merc, if you spec mostly for offense (you don't really need a boost to healing while leveling), think all the healers can solo decently once they get some AAs under their belt. At least my Templar is decent at blowing stuff up, especially once she got the 90+ gear. Of course, where she lacks is in the AoE department, both in terms of quantity and quality. That's mostly an issue when facing multiple encounters though.
Ah okay, So healers don't do the multi mob aggro that well, As for Berserker SK scenarios, I try to avoid fighter based classes. I've been playing MMO's for about 15 years and I always find myself happiest in the backline, which in a raid situation is where I will be. I just don't wanna be stuck in the dust when forced to solo content, so I felt that Priests may be better than mages. Like I said before, I played a necromancer to 78, and soloing was OK, But i didn't feel like rolling the same toon twice
Swashbucklers have a ton of aoe and down the line they reset pretty often if you want a scout option. though that is melee, as far as backlines try a warlock out
Then you'll definitely get a different feel with a healer Don't worry about the solo thing. Healer + merc can solo most of the group content up to the point where you can routinely find people to group with. Especially if you have access to the 10 year mercs or Daeron. All three of those are pretty sick in terms of how powerful they are. I have both a 95 Templar and Fury. They're both fun. The fury is definitely the one of the two that feels more nukey, especially with a greater variety of AoEs, though I've been pleasantly surprised by the Templar's ability to kill things. Part of that feel thing comes from how they heal. Fury heals after the fact, while the Templar is more about casting some stuff before damage happens. So the Fury starts to nuke early, and those nukes can proc heals/wards thanks to AA. The Templar is the reverse, casting some early debuffs/buffs, and thanks to prestige (so in the 90s), those things help boost her offense when she does nuke. And when she starts nuking, it is pretty much all nukes other than her ST reactive heal (which can be offensively enhanced with Prestige... quite effectively with a fast hitting merc) until the target is dead and it is time to debuff the next one. Sadly, my Defiler is just level 10, so can't compare that class to the other two. But I expect she'll be fun to solo with in her own way. Even at that level, the full-time controllable pet already helps give her a different feel. The main bit of advice I can offer for whichever class you choose: spec mostly for offensive with your solo build. You won't need the boost to healing much when solo with a merc, but the offensive helps. It is easy to have multiple specs as well, so you can always have another one for grouping.
Actually healers can do a lot of mobs just fine. Just not all of them can blow them all up at one time. On my warden for example I might pull 7-8 mobs and concentrate one them one at a time while they are slowly beating themselves to death on my damage shield & healing me. Fury is lower so has fewer aoes, but after she's used those she does the same as the warden. On both my mystic and defiler I might pull a lot of mob after warding and just use my couple of aoes & interspersed with melee & my other damage abilities. With the pet as a permanent damage over time + spare wards as well as my own wards I'm never in much danger of dying. The mystic deals with the mobs fairly quickly. The issue with the defiler isn't survivablity, it's the time it takes to kill something. Not quite as bad as mystics were in the old days prior to alternate advancements, but still much slower than the other healers (except maybe templars pre-90). Since you do have mercenaries it's not an issue really. As someone else said healer + merc can do most everything just fine.
I thought it was telling that the OP mentioned Defiler. Why steer them away from playing that class? The differences between fury and defiler were listed. There was a reason the OP thought about defiler in the first place.
Because they wanted a class that was good at killing multiple mobs at once & didn't take a year to kill things? Both of which are not a defiler's forte even at higher levels?
Yes. He mentioned defiler and fury. He also set a pretty specific criteria, that being that the class can't "take a year to kill stuff at higher levels". Given that fury is either #1 or #2 DPS healer, while Defiler is either the WORST or possibly 2nd Worst DPSer in the entire game, the best advice is for him to avoid defiler like the plague, given that (as stated) what he wants to do is kill things fast.
I actually am really considering buying ToV as well today, so I hate to keep knocking for more answers, BUTTTT... How is a channeler in these scenarios ? I can't seem to get solid information on the class, but it sounds very interesting.. A healer with a bow? Or mostly DPS? Or mostly a pet class? I have no idea!
Channeler can spec to be almost entirely DPS and do quite well at it (not that anyone will give channeler a dps spot in group). The offensive combat is most similar to a ranger, with ranged combat arts, a few spells and a ton of movement if you really want to capitalize on it. The healing is done through a unique mechanic where the channeler's pet intercepts damage for your target or group and you spend your time managing your pet's health. The channeler also has an additional resource management mecahnic called "dissonance", so in addition to power, health and pet health, they need to manager their dissonance. It's really unlike any other class in the game in terms of how it players and it requires a solid understanding of game mecahnics and all class abilities in order to be played well. The sorts of players that never read what their spells do fail miserably at channeler. I've levelled a channeler from 1 to 95 twice and I've played it pretty extensively at 95. While i like the class, i found that it was pretty much garbage until about 92-93 when you got your prestige abilities. It was a class added when the cap was 95 and so it was designed (i think) to function as a 95 and not so much at lower levels. (imho) It's a bad choice for someone that is clueless about the game.
Damn, I can't seem to find a decent class for what I want other than fighters :/, How about illusionist? They seemed pretty cool too, but are they mostly for supporting as well?
