This is a guide for how these characters are on EZ server. This is not a be all end all character guide. These are my opinions on these toons as I see them currently in the game. I am sure there are plenty of other opinions. If anyone sees anything that should be added to this guide please, by all means make a post. If it is added I will certainly give credits.
Bard
Soloability:
A bard can solo however they are pretty soft for a plate class. They also lack a bit in dps until way later in the game when you start getting augs for your epics and an ultimate charm.
Groupability:
As your bard progresses farther and farther in content and you group with others who are like geared the bard looses effectiveness. First thing you will notice is mana and hp regen on 3.0 epics essentially make your regen songs useless. Most 3.0 delay caps are met in PoD or earlier thus making your coveted over haste useless. This combined with most mobs not being able to be stunned and no mobs able to be charmed makes a bards role in a group less and less defining. The do however get a mana spell later on.
If someone has the details on this mana spell please post it so i can add it to this.My thoughts:
Bards do get a sizable damage shield if they sing amplify, war march and psalms of veeshan. It is around 1200 and while that might not matter much in 3.0 plus content it does make them extremely valuable in ring runs. I do not recommend this class as a first class or solo class unless you just really like playing a bard. Bards can make a valid contribution to a group but their group enhancing abilities are a bit diminished. On a side note, a key thing I feel they are missing is the ability to increase aug proc amounts of group members. This would make them very very handy.
Beastlord
Soloability:
Beastlords are very good at soloing. Bst epics are pets and they are very good pets at that. The bst pet can out tank a bst until you get into pod and start getting gear there. Bst are the only pet class that can also heal themselves and that gives them a solid advantage over other pet classes. Bst also get some very very good pet buffs. The bst pet out dps's the bst until the bst gets augs and ultimate charm.
Groupability:
Beastlords are a very good addition to any group, provided the bst knows how to manage their pet with pet hold and such. Pet focus does not work so you will need to manually focus the pet on adds if the boss mob ramps. The dps that bst bring is both solid and cheap.
My thoughts:
If you like pet classes bst is the best bang for the buck. They are leather class and are melee based so they can tank better and later on in the game with augs and ultimate charm they can themselves offer even more dps along with their pets who are already very nice dps.
Berserker
Soloability:
Groupability:
My thoughts:
I do not know enough about Berzerkers to give much insight on them. I do know that their 3.0 gets a aoe proc that makes them pretty good aoe damage. If anyone wants to contribute a write up on them and wants included here just make a post and I will make sure to credit you.
Additional thoughts:
Their 4.0 epic proc is roughly equivalent to 6x anger Vs. In other words, they do damage similar to a warrior before adding in their clicky and 3x FSV. They are absolutely the best AE class in the game and the best for ROA back-end.
Cleric
Soloability:
Though it is not impossible this is not a soloing class. The cleric gets no pet to really speak of, they get no damage spells to really speak of and don't make up for any of that in the melee dept.
Groupability:
This is where the cleric truley shines. They are the only class that gets any group spell worth mentioning at all. Word of viv will be a clerics primary spell. On this server it is instant cast. The clerics 3.0 shield is 400% heal spell amplification, making them the only viable
casting healing class. The only class that can rival a clerics heals is the paladin through his procs. A cleric is a very valuable member of nearly any group and by many arguably essential.
My thoughts:
I am one of those who believe a cleric is essential. I don't always bring my cleric along but I would not have made it to T5 content without my clerics, (yes i have more than one). The clerics 4.0 is a proc heal that is similar to the paladin proc and with word of viv being insta cast their burst healing is unrivaled in a pinch. My cleric with a 21 oracle can group heal for 176k. I recommend putting your cleric in the fighters guild so that you can make good use of their proc heals along with their spell heals.
Additional thoughts:
Their dps can be decent with 4.0 and augs. It is just more than half of an equivalent paladin's dps. Of course, paladin dps isn't that great these days. Clerics heal more than twice as much as paladins with their epic proc, 3.0 shield, and group heal.
Druid
Soloability:
Charm does not work on this server. That coupled with there being no really good dps spell make druids a bad choice for soloing.
Groupability:
Druids heals can in no way compare to a paladin or a cleric. Druids do not bring much to a group at all and are considered by many to be a wasted slot in any group.
My thoughts:
Druids used to get a really nice regen on their epics that was wonderful for ring runs. It was replaced by an ae nuke that is not very popular. They did get some nice regen spells that drop off bosses from qvic and they last 6 minutes. They are affected by focus effects to extend that time. In my opinion this is a hugely useless class as they currently are and are in need of a serious revamp/revision. They can however still be used as an ring of ages support class.
Additional thoughts:
Druids do get a pet that drops off of T4 bosses in PoAir. The pet does not do a lot of damage so it is more like a speedbump to keep the mobs off of the druid while the druid works its dot and epic. The druid does have a melee proc that is equivalent to the paladin 2.5 which makes the cure component the most important part in later levels. Parses including dot, pet and melee damage put the druid at about 8 to 9kdps. I still say the druid needs a big boost in damage and their pet needs to be beefed up as well.
Enchanter
Soloability:
With charm not working and enchanters not getting any real dps spells soloing with an enchanter is a bad way to go.
Groupability:
Enchanters don't really get much that they can contribute to groups. Most mobs, if not all are unmezable. Vamp thunder no longer effects procs thus leaving enchanters neutered.
My thoughts:
Park this one right next to the druids.
Magician
Soloability:
Mages are an excellent choice for soloing. There spell pets are stout enough to keep the mobs off you and do enough dps to make them dead. Their epic pets get better and better and a very nice source of dps without having to spend plat on augs.
Groupability:
Mages are also a solid addition to any group. They are good cheap dps. Call of the hero has its recast timer reduced considerabley making you be able to call other members of the group prolly about once every 10 to 15 seconds. Get pearls off the newbie vender though as you are going to need them.
My thoughts:
If you are going to box mages are very valuable because of coth. That along with the dps from the pet make mages very good choice especially when first building your box army. I used a mage in my group very very frequently until I managed to get my melee to surpass her dps.
Monk
Soloability:
Monks are a very good solo class. They are very good at pumping out the dps and are quite good at tanking when soloing. Monks and other melee will start losing in dps compared to pet classes until you get into augs and charms. A fully aug'd and ultimate charmed monk does more single target toe to toe dps than any other class.
Groupability:
Monks superior dps is always a welcome addition to a group. Their ability to tank in a pinch makes them a very versatile group member. Add the ability to feign death and the rez stone from fighters guild and you have one very solid group member. Don't forget about your phantom line too, that helps distinguish monks from other classes in pulling.
My thoughts:
Monks are a very solid form of dps. They are very versatile and in my opinion essential to a box army.
Necromancer
Soloability:
Necro epic pets have an innate life tap ability. This makes their pets survivers in situations when other pets tend to die. That along with their fd spell makes necros a very very good choice for soloing.
Groupability:
Necros bring their pet dps to a group. With their pet not needing a lot of maintenance their dps is consistent in that they tend to last longer than other pets. They can still get one rounded if placed badly but really not as often from what I have seen.
My thoughts:
A necro is a very good choice for soloing if that is your thing. You are still able to offer solid dps to a group when you do but you are also able to keep yourself occupied when without one.
Paladin
Soloability:
Paladins are very good at soloing. Their epics proc a group heal and they proc pretty often. While their dps is not really high on the scale with others it is nothing to discount either. This is an easy solo class
Groupability:
This is where paladins really shine. Their group heal procs are a super duper addition to any group. You will find most people that box 4 5 and 6+ toons have one or more paladins.
My thoughts:
Paladins are damn near necessary. Though they can be replaced with a cleric the dps they are able to offer over the cleric make them hugely valued. I would caution though against making an army of nothing but paladins. Although it would be a lot of heals they would be redundant heals. You would also suffer in the dps dept.
Ranger
Soloability:
Groupability:
My thoughts:
I don't know a heck of a lot about rangers. They shoot arrows from behind the group, lol. I will however say that I have heard a lot say that rangers do a bit more dps with their swords
once they are fully aug'd than they do with the bow.
Additional thoughts:
With UC, the ranger can step in and off tank fairly effectively.
Rogue
Soloability:
Rogues do not get a whole lot in the way of defensive skills and shine much better behind the mob. Although there is the front stab aa and all that jazz rogues do much better in group situations.
Groupability:
Pre-augs rogues are the highest melee dps though it is conditional. A rogue with a 4.0 can backstab in the low 6 digits and can triple with that. Rogue is the only melee toon that can compete with a monks dps. Though I have not parsed it yet, I am pretty sure a rogue with a uc and fully aug'd should be about 10% more dps than a monk, putting them at roughly 80k dps.
Will follow up with real numbers when available.My thoughts:
A rogue is a very very good class to make. With their sneak/hide ability being useful in so many ways and their very strong dps you can't go wrong with this class in a box army.
Shadow Knight
Soloability:
This is probably the best melee class to solo with. Their life taps though are self only they are greater than what a paladin proc heals are. They are also slightly more dps than paladins.
Groupability:
SK's are probaly second best when it comes to tanking until paladins get their stonewall from T3/4. They are still very good at tanking because of their lifetaps.
My thoughts:
This class benefits extremely well from an ultimate charm.
Shaman
Soloability:
Shamans get no pets to speak of and don't pump out a lot of dps. I do not recommend soloing with a shaman.
Groupability:
Shamans can not compare to clerics or paladins for heals and slow does not work on this server. Throw in the buff bots stashed in all hub zones and there is not much of a role for shamans. Shamans do have 3 spells they can offer a group. The 3.0 and the 4.0 are both hp buffs (10k and 24k) and they have a proc buff that adds about 15 to 20% dps if I remember correctly.
My thoughts:
Every time I have ever seen or heard of shamans casting the proc buff spell in PoAir the zone crashes as soon as the first proc goes off. That is the only zone I have heard of this happening though.
Warrior
Soloability:
Warriors do a decent amount of dps on this server however they are not the best choice for soloing. They have no heal and that cripples them in solo situations most often.
Groupability:
This is where the warrior is at. Put him on the front lines and they really shine. With their stonewall disc, plus getting a second stonewall on the 4.0 and on top of that getting single target and aoe proc augs warriors are unparalleled at tanking.
My thoughts:
This class is damn near a must have for any group. Though some classes can step in for a warrior they will not tank as well as an equally geared warrior. This becomes more and more apparent the farther you get in this server.
Wizard
Soloability:
I have seen wizards solo on this server. They are usually very angry people. Though it is possible to do, this class is not recommended for soloing.
Groupability:
This class really shines on bosses where it has time to cast it's spells. During boss fights wizards can really pump out some dps.
My thoughts:
Wizards are probably one of the most under played useful characters on this server. They do require more maintenance with their manastone clickies and what not.
Additional thoughts:
After the T3 spell, there is really no "cast-time" to speak of. Also, it is the bard's 3.5+ epic click that feeds mana.
I'd like to thank the following people for their information on various classes listed in Additional thoughts. I have I am sure picked up bits of information from other people as well but these are ones I pulled direct quotes from. I recommend anyone who is reading this to take the time to read the rest of the posts in this thread as there are a lot of good and useful bits of information and opinions.
Chunkumss
funkinmofo
walk2k & Oilman for their info on Druids.
