Good morning,

I know tank/healer classes are more sought-after than DPS classes as they are the hardest to come by, but I was wondering if stealth classes are wanted by groups, whether that be for RVR or XP. It would be nice for someone to list (in order) the DPS classes they prefer in groups, and why.

Thanks

hm,
hard to get a point here I ll try to figure out the advantages for a classic common melee&caster pvm group.

Melees:

1.) a. Shield hero or b. shield Bm or c. Shield Champion
(excelent to block soft targets in grp while they get agro by mobs, damage is not so high taunt style spam is necessary, protect at healers helps to keep agro, gets not much damage with shieldspec so the risk that healers get agro is lower.)

2.) Dual wield BM
(nice damage output here, defence is lower then the shield hero, cant block when skilled at dual wield but the damage output is nice and the quick weapons help alot to keep agro, most mobs do slash damage and rf armor is resistant to that, higher evade skill and parry and more hitpoints as tank class are the advantage against common melee rangers, and bm has protect )

3.)+4.) Melee Ranger and Warden
(Melee ranger with physical defence RA, self damage add and specc af buff can be a good tank too, defence is lower compared to tanks.
Warden is much more a supporter but can be a good tank too, because of the low weapons skill he gets more problems to tank more then one high level mob, but the basebuffs and damage add is nice for xp and farming groups, also he can ress and heal when necessary, always nice to have one in group. Warden and Ranger have no protect skill to keep agro from other players)

5 +6 .) Large weapon Champion and Valewalkers
(Champ is a hybrid tank that means lower hp, scale that is crap against most mobs and bad defence, parry skill is low and does not work good when taunting several mobs, the large weapon is slower than dual wield or onehand weapon so it´s not easy to keep agro of several mobs- fastest LW is suggested to have a nice delay for taunting mobs. The debuffs doesnt wotk because the mobs still have no stats same like pets. Only debuff works is the attackspeed debuff. Has protect skill)

Valewalker uses a 2hand weapon too but has a nicer defence then the champion,- better evade + parry, cloth armor that is neutral to any melee damage and the sidechain at higher level makes a lot of damage. Problem is VW´s have to recast shields and if the shields run out in a fight because the players forgot it, he is like a normal caster,- dead meat when he get hits by mobs ,-). Valewalker is in my opinion the best solo tank class because he can heal himself when casting lifeleech. No protect skill,- hybrid tank)

6.) Nightshade:
(has a decent damage output but low defence. Only defence is evade and evade does not work well against high mobs, should be well equipped and one of the higher level classes in pvp group and the rest of the setup should be good you probably need a good druid and sum other nice tanks to assist him. No protect but the dot venom helps to keep agro of a single target.)

7.) fun chars /experiments:
Sometimes you get some ppl with special speccs in group like battle bards that suppose to be a tank but are obviously not ,-).

Note: It ´s not necessary to have always the best tank classes to get nice xp. A group with 3 rangers can rock as well and the ppl in group know how to play, that means in short manner for tanks: spam taunt style and stack the mobs for the area damage of the casters.

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Caster:

1.) a. Mana Enchanter b. manaeld :
(pbae bomb is the best way to send mobs directly to hell, have 2 of them in grp with decent blocktanks rocks, disadvantage is the high damage vasues much agro so you should have a block tank to guard the highest bomb in group and the bombs should not cast to early so the tanks have a chance to keep agro of mobs. Manaenchanter can cast a healpet that can produce a "5 mob" pull when you have 8 ppl in grp so more exp. The healpet should set to "passive" and "stay" for healing. Manaenchanter can also petpull with a mana mentalist in group, but I think this is a boring way of leveling.)

2.) Manamentalist:
(Nice for pom (manaregen)in group decreases downtime while killing mobs. The hot (heal over time spell) avoids taking any agro so its the common class for petpullung with Mana enchanter. In group it helps the healers and tanks a lot and he can cast area dot (damage over time) on mobs. Like the bombs he should not cast damage at the early beginning of a fight to avoid agro)

3.) Animist :
(Spaming level 5 shrroms help the group to kill the mobs,note it ´s better to set cap of level shrooms instead of higher ones because when the group is chainpulling you have no time to regen mana and the level 5 shrroms doesn ´t cost a lot of mana at higher level. Mote: An animist can wipe a group when the shrooms are placed wrong or the spot conflicts auto pull by shrooms.)

4.) other caster speecs:
Most other speccs are not so popular for group pvm because they missing decent area damage. Most ppl use the common speccs for leveling and respecc with 49 or 50, because its easier to find groups and a respecc stone is not so hard to get.

Common pvm setup example:
Tank (shield) tank, tank (or bomb), bard,drui,manament,Animist,bomb

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Like mentioned above much depends on players skill, equipment and the right spot for the level range, one player in group should be leader and have a plan where to go.
The classes/setup itself is secondary but important too. About the tanks there could be other opinions but favoured supporters and casters should be in grp like listed above to have a happy grp.
When the exp is bad or there are too many deads/wipes ppl are supposed to leave group, or ragequit. So it shall be a group that works to avoid conflicts.
This list is not a flame against any classes it ´s just the experience i made on my own, while I played on live servers and Uthgard these classes ,-).
Sometimes It ´s better to start small groups for experience if you don t find enough ppl, or the right classes and start leveling before ppl get impatient while waiting and quit. I hope that helps you a bit and someone will answer the rvr part for you ,-).

Regards
Megrim

Standart RvR Groups are: BM BM BM Hero Druid Druid Bard Eld
BM BM Hero Druid Druid Bard Warden Eld
and combinations of
BM BM Hero Druid Druid Bard 7+8th Slot: Eld/Warden/Valewalker
caster group, not really common
BM Hero Druid Druid Bard Eld Eld Ench

OneReturned wrote:I was wondering if stealth classes are wanted by groups, whether that be for RVR or XP.

Bow spec archer of 3 realms are the best PvE damage dealer (with the best crafted arrow of course ). They never miss a shot, even against purple, are on the highest damage tier with a high damage stat.

I've already seen a 8v8 PvP group with a ranger, but was on live, he was the BG of group and had "group friendly" RA and spec. It worked fine.

HulkGris wrote:

OneReturned wrote:I was wondering if stealth classes are wanted by groups, whether that be for RVR or XP.

Bow spec archer of 3 realms are the best PvE damage dealer (with the best crafted arrow of course ). They never miss a shot, even against purple, are on the highest damage tier with a high damage stat.

I've already seen a 8v8 PvP group with a ranger, but was on live, he was the BG of group and had "group friendly" RA and spec. It worked fine.

FYI: The bow does not miss thing is a bug and already reported and if i remember right also tracked

Thank you for the feedback and great explanation, Jerrian.