Rolling new class which will be easier to get raid ready?

[thomasmgp]

Decided to switch from Guardian to Defiant and will be rolling a new class to start from scratch. Have never played a Defiant so the quests should be fresh and fun. Have narrowed it down to between either a mage or rogue. I dont really have much experience with either class. I know rogues can tank and get instant expert queues but thats about useless as expert gear on a tank is pointless since it seems everyone wants all tanks to be in full HK gear even for GSB or even Dail and Weekly raids.

I havent played a mage much either and just wondering if there is a demand for mages in raids and how wanted they are. I figured it might be easier to get into raiding as a mage because I can go DPS or I could go chloro and heal or even archon and support. Bard seems like too much of a chore, tanking is out due to unrealistic gear requirements so the only option for Rogues is DPSing. I figure playing Mage would give me the best shot as I can play 3 different roles.

[Jinkies79]

i think you answered your own question.

[thomasmgp]

i think you answered your own question.

well seeing how I have no end game experience I dont really know if my answer is correct. I mean I had a warrior tank before who was easy as hell to gear up because of instant queues. Now he just spends all day in Sanctum begging to join any raids because everyone seems to only want HK geared tanks for everything. I dont want to be in that situation with my next character. I actually would like to raid not spend all day online doing nothing because I dont overgear the content.

[TheGrinnz]

You should try thinking of your character as a "warrior" and not a "tank".

In other words, don't pigeonhole yourself, because the pigeon hole for tanks in raids is quite small.

[kode9]

You also can join raids as a dps/purger/barde until you get some tank stuff.

RIFT is not about classes, it's about roles.

[aabuster1]

Mage DPS seems fairly in demand on my server. Mages are good healers as well. A lot of people are wanting the mage to get a tank soul in the expansion, while it would be great, and fairly unique to rift I dont see it happening - too many people would whine (I hope it does happen !).

Rogue tanks are fairly rare. If you choose to be a rogue tank for a guild that does MS>OS your tank would get geared rather fast. That is an advantage.

[thomasmgp]

Gonna throw warrior in as well. Are warrior DPS pretty easy to play? I know I cant tank with mine so might as well DPS with him.

[Jonus]

Go Mage, I reckon.
If you take a quick peak at the Shard Travel forums a lot of guilds are looking for mages.
Of course, you're going to have to be good at the class. I know it is definitely a lot harder to play mage than it is to play a cleric, whether that be heals, support or dps.

As for queue times, as a mage you'll be able to queue for dps, heals or support. And in general, your queue times will be pretty fast.

However, note that mages in general seem to be harder to play than any of the other classes; well, to play well. Perhaps that is why guilds are looking for mages - because good mages are probably harder to come by than other classes.

---

As for Warriors, they are relatively easier to play than most other classes; although being melee means they are often shortchanged in terms of mechanics. Ranged fare a lot better when it comes to mechanics.
Also, at least in ID, warriors really get the short end of the stick in terms of mechanics.

[Ianto Jones]

However, note that mages in general seem to be harder to play than any of the other classes; well, to play well. Perhaps that is why guilds are looking for mages - because good mages are probably harder to come by than other classes.

pretty much this

and leveling sucks

[thomasmgp]

think im just gonna make another warrior. Easier to level and from I have seen in videos and read here they farm better and are better in PvP. I will just do a better job gearing this one out so he isnt a useless paperweight at 50.

[ururu]

think im just gonna make another warrior. Easier to level and from I have seen in videos and read here they farm better and are better in PvP. I will just do a better job gearing this one out so he isnt a useless paperweight at 50.

wuss

you'll regret not going mage!

(edit : but not while you're leveling...)

[meoka2368]

I play a mage. I have attempted to play the other three callings and haven't been able to get far on any of them.
That said, my DPS isn't comparable to others doing DPS at the same level, but that's probably gear related. I don't grind for gear much.

I found that leveling as a mage was quite easy. There are a lot of options to go as well. For soloing, you have four basic options:
1. Use a pet to tank
2. Use crowd control to not get hit
3. Kill so fast that they die before they reach you
4. Heal-tank yourself (chloro-lock) so you don't die [this doesn't work in dungeons because it can't hold hate]

All four work well, but they all play completely differently. The one thing that is constant between them is that you have to be aware of what's around you so you don't get mobbed by... well... mobs.

[TheGrinnz]

4. Heal-tank yourself (chloro-lock) so you don't die [this doesn't work in dungeons because it can't hold hate]

You shouldn't be using any of these methods in dungeons because you have four teammates

[ewarwoo]

Now he just spends all day in Sanctum begging to join any raids because everyone seems to only want HK geared tanks for everything.

Really? I recently levelled a new warrior and I was having to refuse to tank things as I wasn't geared enough. Warriors all want to DPS these days. Heh

I actually prefer tanking on my main and DPS on my alt, just for variety, but generally end up stuck as tank on both in PUGs.

It is however very easy to get great numbers as DPS with warrior, so dont let a lack of tanking opportunities stop you. Go in as DPS, learn the fights, get the gear, then you can maybe tank.

It could be the lack of experience stopping you tanking and gear is an excuse they're using. Its very hard to trust someone you don't know to tank a PUG when you have someone there main spec tank with experience and gear that you've successfully trusted many times before.

If you pug a lot people get used to you fairly quickly and will learn to trust you if you're reasonably competent. Just dont expect to always go in as exactly what you want to go in as.

On the flipside dont let lack of raid tanking opportunities be your excuse. Water saga, EI sage, BiS sigil. Thats a big jump on your gear right there.

If you've not done those things you probably are under geared and should be going is as DPS.

[Flashmemory]

Noone wants warriors or rogues on defiant side and GL getting your face stomped in on conquest by invisible mobs. Go mage or cleric if you want to raid/pvp and help with the big discrepancy between the classes on defiant side. Mages can pull top damage range and heal with one gear set..Also they can tank in odd situations. Clerics can do all four roles ...and the healing they do in icar is superb. You can get like 1500+ dps/1500+HPS in raids with icar.. where with warriors you really stranded losing tons of dps from disconnect issues. If the target is not mobile and there is not much target switching is when warriors shine. Not all bosses are like that and range usually wins out on nearly every other boss.


Warriors need two gear sets just to tank and dps and that is all they are good for. Clerics are better tanks with raids since they can rez and have nearly equal mitigation to warrior reaver builds. Also you will see the point spread of other class and look at your own class and lol at all the fillers/ the odd placement of talents that break synergy with the class and nearly every single soul is the same melee with 0 difference in experience. Like I said before warrior scale well at end game it is all different and mechanics for raiding in melee is not faceroll like range. Always been melee unfriendly game...