Atm i am in the 10s and lvling, and i am planning to become an SwS. Basically my plan so far is to try to upgrade armor as often as possible, go for sword and blunt weapons and a shield, and try to have fun leveling. But what happens later on when i start getting attribute boosters on gear ? what should i strive for? (atm i have gotten 2 friends to start playing with me, 1 will be a bladedancer and one will be a gladiator, so we think we will make the perfect group). Thnx for any help i can get =)
sws can sing with anything. so decide amongst you who will be the tank, who will deal damage and who will be the puller.
if YOU end up being the puller, get a bow. if you end up as the tank (which you should, as you have shield masteries for post lvl 40) then grab a sword.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep in mind that after a SwS hits around lvl 52, soloing or working in a small group is next to impossible. They become what they were meant to be a 'support class' so if you aren't in a big group you die really easily.
And yeah, i have understood that i will be the tank, and i have no problem with that =). And tbh, i don't think we will have any problems soloing as much as possible, it will be slower, but its never impossible =)
For pve all your group should be in bw heavy with +str+dex except for u since ull be tanking. A dama focus is one of the best choices. A prophet or a wc would be essential though.
SwS do well enough in PvP, but keep in mind they're half-buffer, so they're not meant to cut down tons of enemies by themselves. Song of Warding, Song of Wind, Song of Earth, Song of Hunter, and Song of Vitality will get you through the mid levels well enough. SwS's now have 2 PBAoE's, which aren't too bad in mass combat. Arrest is simply an awesome new skill SwS's have. You still have UD lvl 1 as well. With buffs, song of warding and earth, and UD, it takes multiple A-graders to drop my SwS in B-grade (usually she lasts until UD wears off). In the last siege I was at, I UD'd my SwS right where the wall was breached, and she lasted the entire UD duration (btb 5 and a health weapon help a lot). :) Entangle's still handy. I've killed more archers by entangling them and letting others finish them off than any other way.
So are you going to kill many people yourself? Probably not. But you can help others kill people and take quite a beating if needed.
Well we will not mind getting people willing to help out or a clan or anything, we are all in our 10s just learning the game so =) Its just that we are trying to get info and understand how the game works ;) Sadly they all wanted to roll on Franz instead of me who started on hindemith, so i have rerolled so i got one on Franz now (loads and loads of bots in the newbie areas).
How do the subclasses work btw, if i subclass a tyrant for example, will i be a SwS/Tyrant, or will i be a Tyrant when i subclass and be an SwS again when i talk to the quest keeper again? Or are the subclasses something that make you half an SwS with Tyrant abilities (not sure if i can subclass a tyrant or how good it would be, just took it as an example). I know its a long way there, just wanted to get some info on that =)
SwS do well enough in PvP, but keep in mind they're half-buffer, so they're not meant to cut down tons of enemies by themselves. Song of Warding, Song of Wind, Song of Earth, Song of Hunter, and Song of Vitality will get you through the mid levels well enough. SwS's now have 2 PBAoE's, which aren't too bad in mass combat. Arrest is simply an awesome new skill SwS's have. You still have UD lvl 1 as well. With buffs, song of warding and earth, and UD, it takes multiple A-graders to drop my SwS in B-grade (usually she lasts until UD wears off). In the last siege I was at, I UD'd my SwS right where the wall was breached, and she lasted the entire UD duration (btb 5 and a health weapon help a lot). :) Entangle's still handy. I've killed more archers by entangling them and letting others finish them off than any other way.
So are you going to kill many people yourself? Probably not. But you can help others kill people and take quite a beating if needed.
Thank you that is the answer i wanted =) i do no think i will "own" people in PVP, i just want to be able to be a support character, take a beating, but also help out with the beating ;D
you can play either your sub at any time you wish (whoever you need to switch between them at an NPC cant do it manually) but it will be either tyrant or SwS, not both :)
Its a bit sad that they call it a subclass when its just you changing class until you talk to the npc again ;) its a little like remort systems in muds really :)
Back again with some questions:
- What is the best thing to go for when reaching lvl 20, a D-grade set, a D-grade weapon, or just save the money for C-grade ?
- When will i be a better tank than a DE palus knight or a human warrior?(or are we the same until i get Shield Mastery ? )
- How is it like to be a SwS in groups at later levels ? do you just sing so everyone gets the buffs, go in and DD, then sing again, or do you keep singing as long as you have Mp?
- When will i be a better tank than a DE palus knight or a human warrior?(or are we the same until i get Shield Mastery ? )
You won't be a better tank than a Shillen Knight. An SK is a pure tank class (the DE version of the Temple Knight). A SwS isn't completely a tank, and isn't completely a DD, but can do either and has some great buffs.
If that Palus Knight is in your group of friends, force them to go bladedancer, as a BD/SwS pair make a fantastic part of any party. The SwS has a really good offensive song and many good defensive songs; the BD has a ton of good offensive dances. Virtually every party is improved by having them both (assuming the area is appropriate for the party size).
- How is it like to be a SwS in groups at later levels ? do you just sing so everyone gets the buffs, go in and DD, then sing again, or do you keep singing as long as you have Mp?
You generally pick a song setup where you can sing and still recover all the MP within the 2 minutes that the songs last, and then either tank or DD. You'll be coordinating very strongly with the group's BD, if there is one. Unlike the more traditional buffer classes, you need to be very selective about which songs you're buffing, as in a group with a BD you are only going to get 2 songs (maybe 3 at highest levels).
In general, in groups you won't use any skills except songs, and then you'll melee. That is one thing about tanking -- you won't really have the MP to use skills to keep hate, so you won't be as good of a tank as a real tank class. On the other hand, most of the areas for small groups don't need a real tank anyway.
Because you need to coordinate with the BD, you do need to be on top of things when buff time comes around; a mistake can cost a lot of MP (the more dances or songs you have on yourself, the more expensive each song/dance becomes).
The BD/SwS/Gladiator is a pretty good combo. BD + SwS + any damage dealer(s) are good; the gladiator could go treasure hunter or hawkeye too. You'll probably eventually want to consider having someone dualbox a prophet, warcryer, or shillien elder though; they have some really great DD buffs, and they all stack with yours.
Even better to find a live buffer/healer for your circle of friends, but in general, there aren't a whole lot who play live buffers. It's simply the fact that a prophet's major contribution is in the buffs, and that's something that happens only ever 20 min. So many people just launch a second client on their computer/on another computer, buff with their buffer, then put the buffer on autofollow and leave it for 20 min, then repeat.
The palus knight will be a bladedancer, i just wanted to know how the tank abilities of the three if they differed any at all (warrior, Palus knight, elven knight). Because if they don't then we might aswell all go for full damage gear and go full out damage when we group.
How about the D-grade gear? is it worth getting any of it ? or should you just save money for C-grade ?
You need the D-gear. If possible try to get the academy sets which are quite good and very inexpensive. Don't bother to go for set though. Most of the sets are to expensive to obtain.
For jewels you want Elven Jewellery as you will go places here going without them means you die fast.
And of course a decent weapon. Ngrade weapons wont be any good anymore once your free Ngrade soulshots run out.
Buy your stuff in Giran as that shop is most likely the cheapest and it got the largest amount of D-gear available.
what type of weapon will suit me the best while leveling. So far i have been dooing my leveling with a sword and board, and for a very short time with a 2h sword (quest item from lvl 10). Basically i want to lvl as fast as possible while still maintaining enough life from each mob to be able to grind for a while.