I recently downloaded L2 and have been playing for about 5 days now. I've played everything except a dwarf to level 10-15. I'm leaning towards a melee class as my main character. Basically, I'm looking for a fun, melee based, damage dealer with the ability to solo/duo effectively. The other factor here is this will be my first character and funds will be limited.
In no particular order, I was leaning towards a Tyrant, Gladiator, Blade Dancer, Dark Avenger, or Shillien Knight. I do intend on Dual Boxing at some point in the future with a healer/buffer. Just based on the descriptions from the library I really was leaning towards the Tyrant or Gladiator. The Dark Avenger and Shillien Knight both seem to be solid offensive classes that give up some offensive ability in return for more ruggedness.
I really like the look and play style of the orc fighters with fist weapons. From reading the boards though, the fast lower damage attacks with fist weapons come at a cost later on in life with regards to soul shot efficiency and overall cost of playing the class.
The human fighter has also been a blast to play. From reading the boards though, gladiators seem to pale in comparison to Tyrants. Dark Avengers also looked intriguing but I was curious how the xp penalty of summoning a dark panther balanced against the increase of overall attack power and decreased time to kill.
I've also enjoyed my dark elf fighter. Again, based on info from the boards, Blade Dancers have nice buffs and are nice in parties but when parties are not available BD's lack of hit points can make soloing/duoing a pain. The Shillien Knight has gotten the best review from my reading on the forums. They seem to be great at PvP but are slow leveling in PvE.
Once again, all of the above statements are based on posts on the boards and not my own personal experience. Please correct me if I am wrong in anything I have said. Any advice on a recommended class is greatly appreciated.
The panther on the DA is realy worth that 15% exp drain since with the attack power conbined, you'll be able to kill a lot faster thus compensating for that loss of exp and if you choose your hunting spot right, then you'll even get much more exp than going without the panther.
But be warned that you'll still be a tank and the killing rate WILL be lower than a DD character. But as a tank you'll be able to go around killing with little or no downtime, since you'll not get much damage from mobs.
bd is a great first char
its needed in pretty much every group and still does decent damage solo
if you like spamming skills i would suggest a dagger tyrant or destroyer
For your first post-40 I`d suggest taking the BD, though wielding and upkeeping dual swords will be somewhat costly.
Wanted in parties, good damage output, reasonable defenses, good skill-set to prevent getting bored in the leveling process.
Soloing capabilities are well developed too, though you`ll find parties easily on any server.
All your other choices are solid too, nevertheless - allthough the SK fades from being used as a tank for Raids, while the DA (and Paladin) remains in that niche.
The SK is, however, a very versatile character on the long run though often considered the weakest pure tank in game - that weakness is compensated by good soloing capabilites in contrast to other tanks.
I can not tell you too much about Gladiators, though those I partied with seem to be powerhouses, with the same money sink that the BD has - the Tyrant however, especially if coupled with solid buffs and heals,... :D, a walking wave of destruction.
Since you plan dual-boxing a healer anyway, HP shouldn`t be your main concern...
As far as money efficency goes - good parties yield good drops and spoils in PvE, so without a dwarf yourself that is a good way to get funds; therefore reasonable to have a DD or party buffer class, as tanks are seldom looked for in out-of-clan parties anymore.
Also check out the quest descriptions on lineage2.warcry.com or somewehre else for repeatable money and/or item quests early!