Everquest II

Someone else will have to handle the fighting classes because I was only mostly a Healer in EQ2, having a lvl 70 Warden a lvl 59 Inquisitor. Anyways... Here's how the healing classes break up.

Cleric:

Clerics, as healers, wear heavy armor and for the better part use one handers as weapons. The heals are "Reactive" meaning that they cast a spell on Ally, the ally recieves the hit, the hit triggers a heal and is then healed. These spells have a maximum amount they will heal the target and then need to be re-applied.

This has the added bonus of making sure the target get's a heal before they go down and thus, unfortunatley, the cleric classes have been known to be the "Main Healers" in EQ2. This isn't a fact of course, as most classes being well played, can be main healers in almost any group and or raid.

           Templar: Is obviously the "good" version of the two. All spells have somewhat of a goody-goody feel to them as they all somehow derive from "the light". Pft whatever... Anyways, great healers and in most raids end up being Main healers. Medium buffs, mostly geared towards tanks of a defensive nature.

           Inquisitor: You guessed it, the "evil" version of the two. All spells geared to the evil, think pestilence/sacrifice/judgement, that kinda stuff. Medium buffs, mostly good for offensive classes, great on monks/bruisers/most scouts.

Druid

The nature lovers... yay! As healers they wear leather and both will usuall end up using schimitars and a shield at end'ish game. The heals are HOT, no not as in "sexy" but HoT (Heal over Time). Which means, you cast the spell and the spell hits for a certain amount of healing, the spell will continue to heal every 3 (or 5 or 8) seconds untill it's pre set amount of healing has been done.

On paper it sounds great right? Well what happens if your tank is being hit for more then your HoT's are healing for? Not to worry, you have direct heals of course but this brings up the issue. Druids a crux sometimes, they can blow through mana fast because of this and don't always heal the best. The good news is, in the hands of a capable experienced player, a druid is a fantastic healer.

          Warden: Forest healer, all the heals come from foresty nature with pretty leaves and bark and the such. The shape shift is a wolf that I swear, is the worst rendered animal in any game, ever... Buffs are decent with a bigger focus on defense then offensive. Warden also has some nukes that allow it to solo very well but they lean more towards the buffs.

          Fury: The animal healer, no it doesn't go around making sure pupies are ok, they take their power from animals that is. The shape shit is a lion, pretty cool looking and a little smaller than the wardens huge wolf size. Buffs are very offensive oriented, some of the best in the game, and it's nukes are to die for. In exchange, some of the HoT's aren't as good but if you're a solo player, this is a great class.

Shamman

I actually don't know much about either of the two shamman classes. What I can tell you is that the heals are Wards, meaning that when you cast a heal on a target, the target simply does not receive any damage. It's thus, succesfully warded, go figure :).

I've played a defiller to 25 and found it pretty boring but the added bonus is that the single heals seems to be better then all other classes.

          Mystic: The good version with, from what I could tell, offensive debuffs.

          Defiller: The evil version with defensive debuffs.

Anyways, hope that all helps clear up the healing class situation a little.

Originally posted by Radueriel
Hi,

I've been playing EQ2 for a few weeks now and having fun with the game. I was planning on making a new Scout and then I hit a small road block.  I could'nt decide on which profession to choose.. Ranger?...Swashi?....Brigand?....assassin..etc?         
  They all had subtle differences but to me at least, all seemed generally the same... Ranger=bow user, assassin=backstab...etc.  Also what is up with scouts being able to wear chainmail? One would think that they would be a leather wearing class due to them sneaking about.

I also noticed in the healer classes only two things standing out, one profession can shape change the other can wear chain or heavier armour. Are those the only major differences?  Warden and fury are almost identical same as Mystic and inquisitor.

I'm just wondering if there are other major differences between class professions?  Or does it just come down to skills and AA's?

• Troubador
  • troubadors have buffs geared towards mages and priests. they also have some limited crowd control abilities such as a charm and mez
• Dirge
  • dirge buff melee classes (and rangers).
    

• assassin
  • melee dps, highest melee hits in the game, most backstabs and stealth moves of any class. due to their dependence on backstabs, they are not amazing at soloing, but are not bad either. also get a few ranged abilities. use poisons and can inflict poison damage. very high single target damage. evil only
    
• ranger
  • ranged dps, although they should be doing melee as well or else theyre not damaging at their full potential. they also use poisons and do fire damage with some of their moves. they have a large number of stealth/backstab attacks, many of which are ranged attacks. very high single target damage. good only.
    

• Swashbuckler
  • focus on debuffing enemy's attacks, meaning they hit for less. they also have respectable aoe damage, moreso than any other scout class. they have a large number of backstabs, but few that require stealth. they use poisons. swashies can act as a tank in a group, especially if they spec their AAs for it, but will never replace a true tank. they get a few moves for throwing weapons (i.e. daggers, shurikens). good only. get a group stealth ability.
    
• brigands
  • focus on debuffing enemy's defense, meaning everyone in the group hits for more. not as much damage as swashbucklers, but their debuffs are considered more valuable on raids. brigands can also act as a tank in a pinch, but once again will never replace a true tank. also use poisons. considered one of the most useful classes for raiding. evil only. get a group stealth ability.