Hello all! New to EQ2 though played a few years ago and got a character to 30. Thinking of going all the way to 90. Trying to pick a class. Very intrigued by a swashbuckler. A few concerns on which I would like to get feedback. 1. How is the solo-ability of a swashbuckler? The more specifics you could provide, the better. 2. Very important - How is the deserability of a swashbuckler in group? I read a bit that swashbuckler is T2 DPS (i.e. not assassin/wizard in terms of parses), does that prejudice swashbucklers from being wanted in raids/heroic group content? Or do they bring sufficient utility to be desirable? Thank you in advance. EQ2noob
Swashbucklers are proficient soloers, you really shouldn't have much issue soloing as a swashbuckler especially if you use the right poison combinations (stun poisons and lifetap poisons (50+)) and really understand our abilities/AAs. Read the swashbuckler guide, it will get you off to a good start with understanding the class and how to play it. We are not undesirable in groups or raids but we are not a class that will always be present in them. You really wont have problems with group content but when it comes to raids we arent T1 DPS so you generally see 1 swashbuckler in a raid.
EQ2noob wrote: I've had fun soloing and leveling my swashbuckler to 70. She's not as good at it as my warden, who can take on heroic mobs that aren't supposed to be soloed (edit--on the other hand, if both my swashie and my warden can kill something, the swashie kills it much faster, so it depends on what you mean by solo-ability). But she's a lot better at it than my dirge. She's less frustrating than my ranger. If my ranger has a single mob she can trap and kite she can do surprising things, but my swashie is more capable if the mobs actually reach her. If you want the best soloing class there is, it wouldn't be the swashie. It might be a shadowknight if you want to wade into a sea of opponents and mow them down swiftly, or a necro if you want to take down stuff you're not supposed to be able to take down, or a brawler if you want to sneak in and quickly take out named monsters and collect loot. But she does fine soloing, and as the game as gotten easier, is able to solo more group content, especially when she mentors. EQ2noob wrote: My answer here is similar. On the rare occasions I've depended on pickup groups, my swashie has done fine. She's not as lusted after as a dirge or illusionist might be, but swashies are respected for their dps and utility. But for grouping, I recommend joining a guild and making friends online. In that case your social skills, and just generally not being a jerk, will matter far more than what character class you play for getting groups. The swashbuckler is a fun class. It fits my style, I enjoy dancing around the mobs and fighting using melee. For grouping and raiding it's my favorite class to play. For soling, perhaps my warden is beginning to edge her out; it's a close call.
I run a Swashy on Befallen, along with a Conjuror, and a Warden, with others climbing the ranks. The swashy was my first and at first, I didn't know how to play her, but after I figured out the trick, that swashy became quite potent. 1. DPS - Looking at this from the conji to swashi (yes I put i's on the end), the swashi has an immediate dps and you can run through all your attacks and do massive dps, but the wait time for them to come up can hurt. This is opposite with my conji where she ramps up using pets and attacks. the starting DPS is weak, but builds as the fight goes on. 2. SOLO - Of course, the conji has a tank pet that can take the beating while the conji DPS, but this needs to be controlled as to not take the hate from the tank pet and can take some time to finish the mob. The swashi can sneak behind a lot of the mobs and get some really great hit to start with and with "walk the plank" and the "cheap shot" there are plenty of back attacks to allow the swashi to use the full arsenal on a mod. Kind of at like a tank. Run in and KILL!!!. Also, you get 3 AoE attacks which have been great for the next part. 3. TANKING?? - YEP!!! A swashi is a mini-tank with equal amount of front attacks with back attacks and the ability to turn the mobs (look above). This is probably one of the best positions for a swashi in a group. If we loose the tank, my swashi will hold the mob till the tank is rezed and then I give the mob back. I get groups just because I do this. Don't try this in raids though. swashi go splaty. 4. DEBUFFS - poisons are a wonderful piece for the swashi. My swashi is also a alchely which mean she makes her own poisons. This gives extra DPS and debuffs for the swashi and the group. Well, we are not always the top on the parser, but we are quite versital. Usually with groups I do join when group want high DPS, and hate control as we are quite good with controlling hate. Rule for me is, if a swashi dies first in a group, it's the swashi's fault. Hope this helps. Nazasha <- Swashi Aniral <- conji Heranlog <- warden Befallen
To answer the OP about desirable utility: We are NOT utility, let alone desirable utility. We are DPS. In the context of raiding, if you suck at DPS, a raid isn't going to keep you around for your debuffs like they would a brig. If you suck at DPS, a group is not going to be happy with you if you think you're utility. Hate xfer is utility? Sure. But its effectiveness is dependant on our ability to dish out vast quanitities of damage. If you can't dps, your hate xfer is worthless.
