Hey, I'm looking to make the jump soon and I don't know which way I should take. All in all what do people think are the pros and cons of each? Which one is preferred more up on the top end?
If you dn't know what you're talking about when it comes to Warlords and C4 then don't say anything. Warlords are PROMOTED not nerfed! Only the wannabe's that have poles w/o POLE MASTERIES . Therefore characters with pole masteries, Warlords Destroyers BH's and WS's, will be the only ones effectively able to use poles.
Plz get ur facts straight b4 teaching some1 on critical points like that.
BTW, Cimmerians AoE Melee Pole Clan is recruiting! On Lionna that is ;)
You do know that aoe attacks have a max of 20 mobs they can hit dont you? So unless those polemasteries will allow you to hunt more mobs they get nerfed.
Pole groups hunted more than 20 mobs at a time? I thought that was a nuker thing...
(Serious question, not rhetorics.)
Oh yes. One warlord with vr on of course and a couple of fast healers to keep him alive. He pulls say 3 full rooms and then goes whacking.
Nuker Aoe groups killed 50+ mobs in a single session. An awesome sight and nothing beats the sound of 50 mobs dying at the same time dropping all kinda goodies.
Alas, those days are past us (and just when my little nuker alt was starting to get in the level range of doing this)
Warlords are PROMOTED not nerfed! Only the wannabe's that have poles w/o POLE MASTERIES . Therefore characters with pole masteries, Warlords Destroyers BH's and WS's, will be the only ones effectively able to use poles.
Think about that a little longer...
How long are people going to want to use polearms when most of the server is at a huge penalty?
Who are those people with masteries going to party with? The people who have 30% effectiveness?
They will be affected, their style of play is going to become unpopular and there are fewer people who are able to party with them effectively.
Also, no-grade and D-grade polearms kind of suck. Which means people who go to try them out are going to think "wow, these suck, I definitely won't make a class that uses those".
The polearm classes may not be directly nerfed, but their style of play is on its way out. That's gonna hurt, might not want to be so smug ;)
Warlords will be more valuable to anyone who can recognize their true potential.
I'm building one up on Lionna right now, knowing full well that Pole-Bishops are going away.
The fact that Warlords (and other pole-specific classes) will be mostly unaffected by the AoE nerf will make them more valuabe to anyone interested in AoE groups.
So, if you plan to do a lot of AoE, go warlord. Otherwise? I'd say go Gladiator.
Most of the replys so far have focused on WL and poss nerf of pole parties (if not WL directly) in C4.
As a glad (lvl 65 atm) here's a persepective from the other side - higher lvl glads can have difficulty getting groups; archers/ nukers are much preferred as dd's, along with bds, sws, buffers and healers of course - lots of time hanging around in town spamming clan or ally chat 'dd lfg' and looking for a melee group in the party room.
I gain much more xp in pole parties with a friendly WL or two(irony or what) - I'm just waiting to see whether the glad's under-40 pole masteries mean they can still pole in C4 or not... :confused:
And soloing is practically impossible at anyting much over lvl 60-61, unless your're prepared to spend a fortune on ghp & greater swift attack potions and rest a lot to regain mp.
As for mass pvp - difficult unless your're lucky enough to be overlooked in the rush - but generally it goes "target healer/buffer/bd/etc, run towards them, get targeted by nuker/archer, get dropped before you reach target". In the recent Aden seige, for eg, I killed 3 ppl and got dropped 5 times :p
Gladiator is capable melee DD, warlord is the best polearm user.
Most warlord skills are oriented on polearms and polearm style. Even though some are general-purpose (like revival or lionheart), they mostly support polearm style of play.
Fortunately to warlords, it is still possible for them to be in normal melee group. With focus feature you can hit one mob at a time, so not waking up additional mobs your crowd controller made calm for a while.
It was different in C2 and warlords were very very rare class.
Gladiators stay on the other side. They are essentially melee damage dealers in regular groups. They can use polearms, but somewhat less effective. Also they can use two-handed swords and blunts, but in general dual swords are beter for them.
Gladiators are good enough melee DD. And sometimes AOE nuker. Not common role for them, but still they can use mass damage skills in sieges and in magic AOE parties (with friends).
Gladiators have several skills to be charged prior to use. You charge your weapon, then use the skill. The more you charge, the higher the effect. Charge level is limited by your skills as well, though.
In PvE warlords are all for polearm parties with rare friendly invites to regular melee parties. Even though they can fight in normal parties, they are not best choice :( Polearm parties are much more risky and rewarding. Also it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, many warlords rerolled at around 60 level, since from that time small parties are not tat effective, while big parties are rare.
In PvE gladiators are good damage dealers. Also they can do tank job well enough for many cases. In mixed melee parties with few archers they are still good. Not so many changes with level advancement - you kill harder and harder mobs, but general tactic stays the same.
In pvp warlords are not supposed to be primary treat. But being overlooked they can make wonders stunning the whole enemy party, for example. Even though they play support DD or cannon fodder role :(
Gladiators in pvp have a bit different role. They are good melee DDs. Gladiators have few skills they can use quickly. So they can inflict massive damage in just a pair of seconds. Unfortunately they have to close up for most of their skills, and often die before they can reach their opponents. In close quarter combat though they are quite quite deadly.
High-end pvp clan will tend to invite gladiator rather than warlord.
Focus Attack sucks, it drains you mp fast, which means you can not use any skills and have mana. As for groups unless you can get an AOE group you will have a very hard time getting one with a WL seeing how their damge out put is just a little better than a Hate Tank on single mops.
a clan im my alliance has done aoe parties in ABG for a while now with out mages or WL's and done fine. They use a tank and gladi's AOE move 3 gladis are i nthe party anda few healers with a WC for buffs. worked fine and still does.