Class that matches playstyle?

[Pemolis]

We hear it all the time, but need an opinion. Have nothing, best method to start out based on playstyle?


Never done a pure cloth caster before but have no real interest in them
More of a in your face, but melee not required
Healing is ok, but don't want to be solely relegated to it
More interested in support roles, but want options


From what I came up with, I believe I'm relegated to about 6 choices. That is Druid, Shaman, Shadowknight, Ranger, Bard, Monk. I've done a Monk and a Druid before. I have no real interest in shaman (I find them unwieldy for some reason). I'm debating on the Shadowknight, Ranger or Bard. I'm not sure of the bard mostly because I don't want to break my wrist twisting songs and flipflopping weapon/instrument/weapon. (if there is a method to this madness I'm all ears).

Which leaves me with Shadowknight or Ranger. I get the basics of a shadowknight (pet, dots, feign, spells, dps, tank, etc). The ranger is a complete mystery.

Any thoughts?

[Expediency]

You will get a group faster with the SK but the ranger is probably more fun. Also consider necro, they have more "utility" than they get credit for

[Pyrion]

Looks like you already made up your mind mostly. Ranger is a nice class, but groups don't really need them. So if you want to group often, SK seems to be the best choice. Also consider paladin.

[Morlaeth]

I am having a BLAST on my Iksar SK.

Played a ranger on live. My favorite memories are exp groups in OT, DL, etc chain pulling like crazy.

[Pemolis]

I'm bouncing between Shadowknight, Bard, and Ranger.

Note the broke part so these are not twinked guys. I'd love to do the bard but.. yea broken wrist syndrome :-(

I kinda dont want to do a Shadownight (I kinda think I would be bored oddly enough).

So Bard, Ranger, possibly a monk (though there are a bunch of them).

The debate continues.

[Lojik]

Shaman

[Daywolf]

sk good for dungeons, ranger good for outdoors. What you said, sounds most like shaman, but yeah I pref a druid over shammy, too. Ranger is a good choice, since velious for the most part, and a strong solo char but still gets groups.

imo best thing about ranger is tracking, which yes does make up a lot for the lower xp gains. sk makes up for the slower gains by dungeon bonus and being wanted there more. Both can fear kite, though in dungeons it's not so good for sk while ranger has fear and tracking for outdoors. If you liked druid, ranger is just a melee druid for the most part, and weapons are going to matter much more than spells in most situations, you'd probably even keep booze on your ranger and bind wound helps for a while at least.

Either one, you'll want some gear early on. A lot of sk's around, so gear can cost a bit more. Less rangers, armor can cost less. Seems to be more choice for sk armor though, more armor quest etc. But for ranger, epic armor is just fine, while normal banded will carry you a long way (with a little mixed in items).

[Sebastionleo]

Hybrid EXP penalty went away a while ago...

Personally I'd recommend Necromancer, despite you saying you don't desire to play a pure caster. Necro and Druid are the best no gear classes in the game. You could solo to 60 on a necro with zero gear and not really have any trouble.

[Daywolf]

Hybrid EXP penalty went away a while ago...
Did it? Thought that was just for grouping penalty hit. Wiki still says 40% by class, addition in some cases with race.

Ranger:
Half-Elf Ranger: -40%
Human Ranger: -40%
Wood Elf Ranger: -40%

SK:
Dark Elf Shadow Knight: -40%
Erudite Shadow Knight: -40%
Human Shadow Knight: -40%
Iksar Shadow Knight: -68%
Ogre Shadow Knight: -61%
Troll Shadow Knight: -68%

[Expediency]

Did it? Thought that was just for grouping penalty hit. Wiki still says 40% by class, addition in some cases with race.



Class penalties are gone. Racial penalties remain and will not go away.

[Ennewi]

We hear it all the time, but need an opinion. Have nothing, best method to start out based on playstyle?


More of a in your face, but melee not required
Healing is ok, but don't want to be solely relegated to it



Paladin. In your face healer. Auto-attack on/off, makes little difference, so melee not required...

[Pemolis]

Decided against bard. Not bothering with Shadowknight.

I'll take a closer look at the Paladin and the Monk.

Thanks guys.

[Spyder73]

I have a level 52 Bard and I have AoE kited 0 times. However, twisting songs can still be annoying.

Monk is pretty much the master class of P99 - necro is surprisingly fun as well. Monks are really easy to get into groups with, melee DPS reigns supreme on P99

Paladins are, in my modest opinion, one of the worst classes in Velious. Do not waste your time

[JackFlash]

monk vs. paladin.....hmmmm

monk def. wins!

[Pope Hat]

Only looking at your bullet points...shaman.

[Jigawatts]

Go ranger, a fun class, and not as bad as the super optimizing min/max crowd makes them out to be. They are solid.