quitting FF: XI starting EQ: IIFollow

um.. hi, i am a retired 65rng/37nin and i am sick of the routine. In FF, the economy is horrible, the EXP'ing is so sordid and repititive, we have so little zones in our game to choose from it's insane, i have to farm for 6 hours just to buy the ingredients for the bow that's gonna take me 12 more hours of farming juat to buy the DD arrows, but enough bashing i did my time and i want a solo capability and more raid opps.

i want to be s straight damage dealer and Debuff at the same time if possible i don't want to tank it's not my thing, if anyonre could give me a preference to a great hitter/debuffer it would be awesome. I'm at the start screen and choosing a race is like diffusing a bomb! lmao seriously just some pointers and start tips would rock thx all :)

Be warned though: if you pick shadowknight (or any fighter) you will be expected to tank; monks and bruisers can sometimes get away with playing a DPS role, but for the most part, fighters are intended to be tanks.
Shadowknights do have decent damage and some nifty abilities, although the combat update coming in September will put their damage below that of mages and scouts.

If what you want to do is debuff then be a shamen cause that is where the good stuff is at.. defiler to be even more so.

each archtype has its off set.. casters have enchanters.. melee has the bards.. tanks the monks and healers.. im not sure which one is the odd ball but im sure there is one..

Fighters are tanks.. and will be even more so after the combat revamp.. so if you pick that class be ready to mt if your in a group and know your damage will not be as high as scouts and casters in your group. Highest damage tank is the brusier but gear, skill and spells play a big role.

I have a friend that i just hooked on eq2. He used to play FFXI but he hasn't played it since. He loves EQ2 and really has no urge to play FF. I think your best be would be the shaman but i already have 3 characters each completely different. You'll find out if you like the class, if not make a new character, unlike in FF you don't pay for extra characters. Besides, sometimes i like to play my cleric sometimes i like to play my necro or enchanter. But goodluck with whatever you choose.

As pointed out Shadowknight is melee and debuffs but is also heavy armour with a slew of hate grabbers and therefore a Tank above all in many players minds.

However there are other not quite so obvious options for nice melee plus debuffs and here they are for ya :

1. Scout> Bard> Dirge

Dirges have sweet DPS like all the Scout classes and a LOT of debuffs and other songs that generally seriously lower the enemy strength. As you would expect a songster gets group buffs as well but this particular sub is way heavy on the debuff side whereas the Trobadour is the opposite with more buffs less debuffs.

2. Scout> Rogue> Brigand OR Swashbuckler

Ok. Brigand is Freeport and Swash is Qeynos but both have a similar sort of line. This is a high DPS melee with a mix of stuns, strikes that raise or lower hate with a mob and other Crowd control type stuff as well as debuffs lowering speed, strength, parry, agility and the like. The highlight of Brigand are the snares and its possible to snare whole groups of mobs, swash on the other hand leans a bit more towards assisting the group with movement and stuff. Coming from the rogue background this pair of subs has a wicked line on stealth too.

3. Fighter> Brawler > Bruiser or Monk

These two go in for unarmed styles, the Freeport Bruiser is a slugger, the Qeynos monk has more finesse but both are capable of seriously high DPS. They are NOT really debuff oriented as such but there are lines of combat arts in both that are debuffs but nowhere near as much as the two Scout subs above. And also, being a figter sub means Tanking and Off Tanking skills. The Monk gets some minor heals and group member wards too and the Bruiser gets more in the way of group combat buffs.


I hope this helps. Oh and dont forget that Tanking in EQ games is nothing like in FFXI. In FFXI there is ONE Provoke which wanes in effectiveness on a long recast and requires a lot of group co-ordination and assists to get it to stick, y'know SATA and all that and making sure nobody annoys the mob too much. In EQ tanking is as much an artform as method and the tank classes get a load of different hate grabbers. So, Yeah Shadowknight is a tank but its a heavy debuffer with lifetaps, a pet spell and lots of heavy armour and is well worth a look. Players who get into SK find other classes really boring, its kind of a cult thing in some ways.