Fighter HelpFollow

Hi everybody, I just ordered EQ2 and I should receive it today. I was wondering before I start if someone could explain something about the fighter sub-classes (berserker, paladin, etc.) to me. How do the six subclasses rank in terms of Damage, Armor Class, Avoidance, and Maximum HP. I am guessing that for Damage it goes something like this: Berserker, Monk/Bruiser, Crusaders, and lastly Guardians. For avoidance, Monk, Crusaders, Bruiser, Guardian, and Berserkers. For AC, Guardian, Crusaders, Berserker, Monk/Bruiser. And for HP, I have no clue, but I want to know, all things equal (race, eq, etc.) which subclass will get more life. Thanks for any help you can give me as it will affect whether or not I choose fighter. Thanks again.

Well, I don't play a fighter, but from what I have read the general consensus seems to be:

Damage (from high to low):
Brawlers
Crusaders
Warriors

Defense (from high to low):
Warriors
Crusaders
Brawlers

Hope this helps :)

Well I am just wondering why Berserkers can't wear Vanguard, and why anyone would be one if they get less armor than Guardians, Paladins, and Shadowknights, and less damage than Monks and Bruisers? That would make them low end on both armor and damage. So why be one?

So what I am saying is that there has to be some reason to be a berserker. And I doubt that monks can really "tank" in the common definition of tank.

Yes, berserkers sacrifice defense to provide more damage.

Berserkers can probably do more damage than any of the warrior classes. That is what their rage DOES. They can still wear heavy armor, just like a paladin or SK can, just do not get to wear Vanguard, which none of the warriors can except the guardian anyway.

SK's/Paladins get free mounts and nifty abilities. Can tank just as good as any warrior until 20th, where the guys in vanguard armor will start to pull away.

Berserkers, when enraged using dual weapons that both proc, are probably going to be the pinnacle of melee damage dealt in a consistent fashion. Though, perhaps the martial artist classes will be better in trade-off for their lesser armor, but I have no experience with those classes.

Well I do know that Paladins and Shadowknights can in fact wear Vanguard.

So once again, why would you be a berserker? YOu are in the low offense, high defense subclass, yet you can't wear Vanguard.

Now in each subclass, the lower defense Warrior of the High Defense subclass, Berserkers, are they higher or lower defense than the higher of the middle defense. So what I mean is are Berserkers higher defense than Paladins?

Yes, any way you slice it, a warrior is going to be higher defense than a crusader or a brawler.

A brawler, in the same right, is going to always be higher damage than a crusader and a warrior.

Crusaders, will always be middle ground.

However, some abilities of a particular class may be needed in different situations. In general though, each of those three, and their respective subclasses are overall tanks.

As you drill down to each class and sub-class you start getting more refined into specific abilities and capabilities.

Warriors are great at keeping damage focus on themselves and off of others, while taking smaller amounts of overall damage. Crusaders are good for mostly keeping damage all on themselves, protecting the group with support spells, and dishing out some damage. Brawlers will take the most damage, but their damage output offsets that by making the fight quicker.

Dont let that confuse you though, the differences, at least at this stage in play, are very minor.

It all comes down to how you want to play. It seems that this game is as far from being about stats as it can get when it comes to your usefullness to a group or as a solo player.

From my limited experience, the above is mostly correct.

Other things to consider:

-Weapons usable, HO viability in groups: This was especially a big thing in games like FFXI, where your skill chain success depended on the ability of all the group members to effectively participate. Example: a group with only Brawlers will not be able to take a HO very far. Therefore, diversity is somewhat encouraged and appreciated within a group.

-Stances. Every melee class has some sort of passive ability (which I'm calling Stances because that's what they are for brawlers/monks) which modifies the basic assumptions of dmg/def for each subclass. Monks can tank reasonably well with their defensive stances active, and I'm sure the primarily defensive classes can increase their damage through the use of stances.

-Other innate abilities. For example, brawlers are pretty obviously geared away from tanking as they have feign death, which eliminates all hate on the brawler if successful. Crusaders get healing abilities, right? That would lean them more to the defensive side, it would seem.

Just random thoughts in server downtime.

I have been reading some other message boards on this subject, and come up with some other explanations. Each subclass (warrior, crusader, and brawler) has an offensive side and a defensive side and there stat rankings are inverses. So I guess I am settled on the following subclass rankings. Offensive: Berserkers, Bruisers, ShadowKnight, Paladins, Monk, Guardian, and Defensive would be the exact opposite. Anyone agree or disagree?

I thought you said that Warriors had better defense then Brawlers and Paladins regardless of which they were (guardian or berserker). But what I heard is that Berserkers are the best damage fighters and the worst defensive fighters.