Why so few Bruisers?

Discussion in 'Fighters' started by Tharrakor, Mar 22, 2015.

  1. Tharrakor Well-Known Member

    I have noticed that bruisers are very rare nowadays, also based on a statistic on "most used classes on raids" that Katanallama posted in a thread a few Days ago i also noticed that they are the least used class in raids, even less then the infamous beastlord. Why?

    The other day when i got into a PuG, i was the last one invited, not suprising as tanks are pretty hard to get nowadays, anyway. First thing one of em said was "Wtf a bruiser!?, people still play those?"

    What is driving ppl away from bruisers?
  2. xkrisx Well-Known Member

    Bruiser's started getting a bad reputation last expansion because of the nerf to our Strike Through immunity. On paper a Bruiser is the weakest tank out of any other tank out there. Monk has a superior Temp Rotation with the duration on there Avoidance Temps and their hate generation capability. Plate tanks have been superior to leather for the last two expansions because of Mitigation Values being far above leather. Mitigation was intended to be higher on Plate Tanks vs Leather Tanks because of the Avoidance % a Leather Tank could achieve. When they took Strike Through immunity away from Brawlers, all your left with is Avoidance Temps to make you immune to Strike Through and other DR's and Stone Skins to carry you through till everything refreshes. A Bruiser falls short on this rotation for a considerable amount of time compared to monks.

    There are a few of us out there that still play Bruiser and will continue to Play Bruiser until the end. I only know of 4 Bruisers WW that even raid in current content. However, currently in AOM, I do not have a problem with my bruiser in the least bit. Thanks to the changes to leather armor Mitigation Values and the increase to our HP Pools, we no longer have to constantly temp through the entire fight. This expac for me at least is all about timing and casting stuff when your " NEED " it rather then having to have it up 100% of the time.


    But to answer your question about the reason there are very few Bruisers compared to other tanks : People tend to think all other tanks are superior and thus tend to play X tank over the Bruiser. I've had to convince more then a few people that a Bruiser was capable of tanking anything a Zerk / Monk or SK was able to.
    Tharrakor likes this.
  3. Tharrakor Well-Known Member

    I agreed that bruisers do not have any issues tanking current content. Monks may have a more solid temp rotation sure, but better hate control? Why would you say that? They have provoking stance but we have wild beatings. The passive stoneskins we get is a nice plus aswell
  4. Katanallama Well-Known Member

    Technically you're in competition with Beastlord for least desired class. You guys pulled ahead on Villandre with a respectable 1-0 lead. In football that'd be a commanding lead!

    Here's the thread for the statistics I collected (source: eq2 census). Of course, as you can opt-out/in from the census, there might be a few others of each lurking around, I do admit that the numbers aren't 100% accurate.

    Anyways, from an outside standpoint I'm embarrassed to admit I had no idea Bruisers also had Combat Mastery for the longest time :3. Thought that was just one of the class defining abilities Monks got.
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  5. Corydonn Well-Known Member

    I knew there was a reason I didn't take your oreo.

    To be honest though it's probably the same reason as this thread https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2...rs-be-able-to-tank-as-good-as-knights.558917/

    It's just much easier and feels much more powerful to play a plate tank even when leveling up.
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  6. Regolas Well-Known Member

    Bruisers were awesome in DoV and CoE to a certain extent. Monks were just as good if not better though.

    But throughout ToV Bruisers were bottom of the tanks due to mitigation amounts and invulnerability temps.

    AoM has fixed the mitigation issue. But i betrayed my bruiser to a monk mid ToV as I just couldn't tank anything semi difficult on the bruiser. Monks mythical buff is far superior to bruisers too. Bruisers should just get their myth temp as standard and get another myth buff similar to monks.
    Tharrakor likes this.
  7. xkrisx Well-Known Member

    #1 way to get a Bruiser in every raid.. Raid Wide Combat Master " Bruiser Only " hahha.

    But seriously.. It will honestly take something new to make Bruiser shine again in the eyes of those who dont understand the class.
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  8. Neiloch Well-Known Member

    Why so few bruisers?

    One of the best tanking classes is a betrayal away.
    Chronus likes this.
  9. Tharrakor Well-Known Member

    I betrayed my monk into bruiser ;D
    I simply enjoy the bruiser more, i like the animations and the abilitys better. I i agreed that bruisers should be getting something new to make them a bit more interesting again. 10% chance to stoneskin after riposte isnt enough anymore with all the nameds hitting the heavens on strikethrough. Drag is cool but far from needed. Mythical buff temp has way too big recast. A counter stoneskin like the warriors one from heroic tree would have been enough for me honestly. Monks would have more blocks while bruiser would have more stoneskins, why not? Or maybe sum more DR or long duration deathsave. Anything honestly :p
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  10. Genghes Active Member

    The short answer to the question is this....... Most people cannot play a Bruiser. Reason behind it is (please insert your excuse here), (please rant here).

    Bruisers are strong, and were still strong in ToV. Feel free to say they aren't. The bottom line is that there is a learning curve for this class. When you learn it and know what to cast and when, then you to can be good to.
  11. Genghes Active Member

    hrm, when ever i look at this list under Primordial ritualist there is a song that starts playing by Godsmack...... I Stand Alone!. Nice work btw on that
    Wanderingbat likes this.
  12. Drayos1992 Member


    Prolly this reasoning tbh, for many who only just began to be a tank, the Role itself is Daunting enough when u look through all the fighters U see 4 plate and 2 Leather, Leather is obviously going to be Alot more focus'd on dodging/absorbing through abilities, which requires even more timings etc etc in Heroics and raids..

    So most would never start a tanking career as Monk/Bruiser

    Also they are sadly Because they're in leather they get mistaken as a DPS Capable class ALOT, hence why so many questiond about Brawler DPS pop up all the time.

    I almost rolled one, but tbh im only just starting.. Wasnt sure how much harder it'd make things so i made a zerker to try out the tanking, thought the reactive healing would help haha. iu will likely play each tank class to a highish level prolly 80 n decide there as 80 is a pretty easily reached level.

    I feel also the poor representation of the class cant help either, theres very little supply of information on the bruiser in comparison to many other tank classes espically in game chat,as so little play them nobody really gives experienced views on what the bruiser can do and what it is actually good for, alot nowadays automatically reply with "Betray to a monk"

    I wouldnt say so tbh, there arnt enough tanks in the game for brawlers to ever become any less desiring tbh, i think people maybe more scared of taking on a bruiser as they are alot harder to play then the majority of tanks atleast, it isnt a easy feat to play the class therefore alot repeatively die trying to play it the reputation it has earnt doesnt make it undesirable just alot of players who want to tank pick the easier time rather then throwing themselves in the deep end, alot of tanks in alot of MMOS tend to pick a tank straight away and never reroll, in the tanknig world unless ur a FoTM Reroller there isnt really a point to starting a different class to tank with unless a new tanking class was released, therefore u dont see any leaps and bounds in the tanking class pool, what tank you roll realistically depends on when you joined as u'd pick One of the top tier tanks of your time, and by the time it changed you had prolly actually learnt the class very well and capable of still grouping/raiding with the class u chose, nobody turns down a tank based on class :3

    Not many desire to play a bruiser rather then not many desiring them in their group/party, As far as i've seen and heard bruisers are very capable throughout all content

    Bruisers just need more flavor added to them imho, give em a few more skills, give them slightly better DPS then plate wearing tanks and let em at it, it'd bring alot more attention to the class with those additions, they're Leather, they should do something better then Plate wearers as Plate already carry more Mitigation then the bruiser the bruiser should have more of something else (I know it was avoidence but as said the Strike through immunity was removed) so replace it with something else haha.
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  13. Gnok New Member

    Bruiser reporting in and raiding! :)
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  14. Regolas Well-Known Member

    Nah sorry. Don't buy it. Bruisers CAN tank anything. But they're much more handicapped to do than any other tank class in ToV especially.

    Now, in AoM, mitigation is practically the same, or at least all are at a reasonable level, so it's not so bad. Monks can still stay completely undamaged for longer so they are better. That's a fact. Most other classes have more death saves, stoneskins, etc. That generally makes them better assuming they can press them.
  15. Drayos1992 Member


    He werent saying they couldnt, He was saying the Class is harder to play properly, therefore alot of players cant play it and blame the class for the lackluster they see in the class, which is true bruisers have alot less given to them which will make timing everything and knowing the boss fights much more important so your using the CDs u have correctly to perform

    I dont think the class is handicapped, it lacks a nicht, imho they should of kept the ongoing set up with tanks

    Guardian = Defencsive tank Zerker = Offensive Tank

    Paladin = Defencesive tank ShadowKnight = Offensive Tank

    so it should have been Monks = Defencesive tank Bruiser = Offensive tank.

    If they bolstered Bruisers DPS abit above the Monk and Emphasis'd their increase in AoE Damage more i think it'd give its nicht being a more DPSy tank in comparison to monks Full tank capability they also need to give Bruiser a few more strong DPS Skills as atm, both classes share the brawlers strongest attacks which removes the opportunity to make a Offensive tank in the Brawler catagory.

    Lets just hope the DPS Changes etc etc push tanks in the right direction and we see some proper looks into the class, imho it doesnt need changing/buffing as such... but it does need a nicht where it would be taken before a monk to balance out the scales Given that they set the standard with DPS vs Defence Tanks with the other catagories it is prolly the best one to run with in the brawlers too.
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  16. Oakenn_TZ Member

    Personally I'm really enjoying the bruiser so far (94 atm spamming agnostics for masters) every time I get a new AA (got my ripo disc and tag team last night) I notice the power increase and it is very satisfying.

    I played a zerk till 60 and it was just so damn boring. I stood there hit my aes then played on my phone because the class's survivability is all automatic.

    bruiser is what I imagined monk tanking in EQ to be like (only boxed one a couple times and never tanked with one) but weaving in various discs, popping mend, etc.

    Also so far my interactions with the high end bruisers/monks have been a lot more pleasant than some of the other classes. Genghes, Yack, and Silzin have been very helpful and willing to answer questions/give tips (and also seem to agree on things). The last char I hit 100 with when I talked to high end members of the class all had different answers and generally seemed disinterested in helping.
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  17. Drayos1992 Member


    Bruisers are very fun to play tbh, Which is why its a shame to see the class lose its nicht, there are so many ways they could tweak it, such as making Wild Beating and Tag Team bruiser only capabilities, Monks are steered towards a Pure MT in both raid and group enviroments, therefore they could be given something which is more focus'd on that side of tanking, Where bruisers are currently only able to fight for MT but by tank trends they should be Steered to be Less Tanky then the monk slightly but with higher DPS to offer and OT utility to offer, Tag team would purely give them that as a class ability as its a very useful tool in both MT and OT positions and to be frank... Wild Beating doesnt suit a Spiritual Fighter who beleives in Mind over matter, THey wouldnt go wild with a lack of thought into where they swing.

    Tbh i began suffering the same issue when playing my zerker around the same level... they're Tanking doesnt seem very engaging good character to start a tanking career with though,

    I think thats because there are very few who do play the bruiser and generally only the most knowledgable are the ones to stick through it all as they understand the class and can make it work for them in the enviroments they're aiming for, Which does help when they are giving another knowledge of the class, its always nice to see players supporting others to play the class rather then laying back and watching people put them off actually maining the class, bruisers are no way in bad shape, they're just not as good as Monks, but next expansion they could be better then monks... its all swings and roundabouts when it comes to what tank is better.

    I do have a Bruiser im levelling up on the sideline, its rather low levelled but it does seem to be alot more fun so far haha c:
  18. Oakenn_TZ Member



    Yea I've done tanking in other MMOs (EQ, Rift, FFXI, FFXIV, etc) so in general I'm comfortable with it (I do miss the hell out of my extended target window when playing EQ2 though) so figured I'd go with the one that is fun and accept the struggle. Helps that survivability shouldn't be an issue since I have almost a full set of green/100 offslots already farmed. So I'll start T1s for real practice without having to worry about perfect temp rotations and such to survive.


    The thing I enjoy about the bruiser in agnostics is I truly feel self sufficient The zerk while stronger naturally felt like it was helpless if I got in over my head. The bruiser I feel like I have a lot of tricks I can pull to keep myself going when a situation goes sideways. Also Tag Team is just a fantastic ability for when a dps yanks aggro on something and either snaps are down or I need a second to find exactly what is attacking them in a large pack.
  19. Genghes Active Member

    @drayos
    Not trying to argue the points made, but imo bruiser is overall stronger than monk this expac due to the amount of non physical damage. Bruisers have been able to mt effectively over the last 5 expansion
  20. Andy1 Active Member

    IMO I think you're wrong Geng, and I normally don't disagree with you. Like Reg said, don't buy into it. Notice the same people claiming the class is fine as is are the same ones who 'will play it till the end,' that's in their own words. If everything is all fun for you, then by all means continue to play whatever you wish, BUT don't expect any sympathy when you come running back to the forums after seeing every other tank able to do what you can...only better.