My experience is that as long as you aren't getting 2-shot then Steal Essence is a brutal spell that can flat out shock people. You're hurting them and healing yourself at the same time. This isn't a tank drain. This is a spammable [censored]-kicking drain that turns their health into yours.
The stun seems better than it use to be. It requires you to use a blunt but other than that you can use whatever weapon you'd like since you get generic weapon masteries. Armor is the same thing. Robes are best for casting and parties of course but I liked rocking heavy from time to time.
The downside? It's the same things as everything else being an Orc caster: mana. None of your spells are efficient and once your mp is gone you're a gimp melee target with no back-up plan.
always wanted to play a buffer/dd type toon (dont want to play a PP),
If you want to buff/dd then you want a Warcryer. WC though isn't all that different from a PP though. (Nor would the OL be for how you will end up having to level it, without constant AOE groups.)
If you want to win in pvp/oly, then just go Nuker/archer/dagger/DD WC/OL in those situations is either OOM buffing, or stuck with spamming Steal essense to drop one char. And if your going to do that you may as well roll a SH/Necro and just do that same with Vampiric Claw.
nuker in oly??? lol the best oly classes are OL, WC, PP, tyrant...
for straight out pvp go nuker archer or dagger. If you love sieges and Mass pvp.....OL might be right which is why im rerolling to an
OL
Can't help you with OLy - I'm too low to try it, but it seems many people say properly geared and played OL can do some terrible things to his opponents there.
Don't be fooled by the "fame" of the Overlord as a "Mass PvP murda maschine". They are... maybe somewhat... "murderous". At lvl 79-80...
Any half-brained player can out spam you CP heals by himself, you lack vital buffs (you'll be stuck with might/shield/ww/berserk/guidance/bless the shield/acumen/evasion boost/m.def boost up to 76+), you'll suck at mana pool management.
Plus there are those nice orc features, like being the slowest thing that ever crawled the face of world of aden, you'll hit 1000 cast speed (standard at this point for mage-classes) only with acumen robe set + acumen weapon + acumen 3 + berserk2 + dance of concentration (don't forget Malaria 4).
Yes. Inspite of all I DO play OL. I do lvl that leeching son of a gun in any party I can get, but if you want fun and flexibility, go WC.
Dont play a Overlord unless your clan/alliance is helping you lvl it, you wont make it to 75 imo.
WC are the funnest class for me to play so far..
As far as OLY and OL, you can beat everyone because you have the fastest cast speed and can silence/root/windshackle and in Ct1 actually DOT them on top of that. The only classes to worry about are mana burning classes, unfortunately, same could be said however for anyone fighting mana burning classes.
always wanted to play a buffer/dd type toon (dont want to play a PP),
If you want to buff/dd then you want a Warcryer. WC though isn't all that different from a PP though. (Nor would the OL be for how you will end up having to level it, without constant AOE groups.)
If you want to win in pvp/oly, then just go Nuker/archer/dagger/DD WC/OL in those situations is either OOM buffing, or stuck with spamming Steal essense to drop one char. And if your going to do that you may as well roll a SH/Necro and just do that same with Vampiric Claw.
WC>PP WC has a lot more Con, STR, DEx then PP. WC is a True Hybird Class that can do lot more damage then PP can, then Use a Killer Drain to hurt the mob and refill it's HP at the same time. If you use Light Armor and good Melee weapon and lvl a Wolf or Wind Hatchling at your side you will never have down time till you run out of SS and you lvl just fine solo. Try that with a PP and you find it a lot slower with down time. ;)
Overlord-Dominator is very very nice and fun-to-play character but leveling this character is extremely hard.If you intend to lock up yourself in front of a PC in daily basis for hours, play OL.Otherwise stay away,becuase OL is doomed to level up only with clans or alone-solo xp.Of 'course solo xp is out of the question!
Supposing that you have a REALLY good active clan,play OL.If you join a random clan that claims they need an OL without trully being able to help it level up, it is 99% sure that you will rarely find xp party.Hopefully everybody knows how important is to get your OL hit 80lvl and get all 79-80lvl skills,it makes HUGE difference in pvp.BUT,OL is for people who have really really really good friends,buddies, who don't mind to party with a leeching machine.Sadly or not,Overlord is the absolute leeching machine!
Moreover, playing an Ol inside a clan is the perfect benchmark for any player to test any clan.I say benchmark and i mean it,because only really good active clans will bother to level up an overlord-dominator.Thus,these clans have to make parties frequently for xp and eventually for pvp(xp is not free due to wars, we must pvp for our xp spots).Only active+good clans make parties. After all these you will know if you have joined a good or bad clan.
P.S.In the server that i play, the only way to enjoy OL is to have irl friends who will level you each time you log in to the game,something that does not happen to me and being the main reason for leaving clans...not able to get effective xp/pvp party daily or 4-5 times a week.The trick is to have buddies dedicated and devoted to help you level up an OL up to 80lvl at all cost
lvl 80 is not the goal. If you take it like a goal, you will be dispressed about your ol pretty fast :O
Well, i agree with Sagateus about the buddies part.
If you wanna go OL, more than an active clan, you need active and close friends you will xp with daily.
but i highly disagree with the "leech" part.
Why an OL will be a leeching machine?
Most people think that because they see OLs as clan leaders who got no time to play due to all things they got to see above the game (politics, tactics,clan matters), or like luxury boxes you will badly need at very high lvl.
That is giving a very bad image about that class.
"no sorry, i can't group you, we can't take a leecher right now" someone answered me when i was lfg. O_o
No no ! OL are not leechers !
Wear a robe and a acu weapon and make group with nukers. pulling mobs, controlling, rooting, sleeping, sealing.
Wear a robe and be buffer/healer in a small DD group
wear a light and a dagger and become a lil DD yourself, able to control mobs if things goes bad, just as a wc !
wear a robe and become a powerfull help for aoe pole groups ! sealing mobs to make xp easier for all.
wear a heavy and put soul guard on and go pull for your group like a tiny tank !
no no, definitly, there is tonz way to be usefull in a party, and OLs are not leechers !
but.. we are so unknown... that is why we don't have groups and xp is so hard to get.
Get your friends, get your crew, and play with them, whatever clan you're in. because clan really concerned about an OL are rares.
If you prefer to play it easy and make solo : choose wc ^^
Just something worth noting: WC is not at all a true hybrid. They got the best of one world and then a solid part of another thrown in. As far as buffing is concerned, everyone should probably be rerolling them unless you're preparing for speciality circumstances like a prophet for ES/archers or SEs for nukers.
WCs are a good bet for your original description. NCSoft keeps showering them in crazy love as if they weren't already stupidly unbalanced anyway. You could say WCs are to buffers what archers are to DDs.
Gratz, Maline. FYI, some of those buffs from other classes are really awesome. I've had the chance to play with some EEs recently, and Resist Shock is great stuff for a melee. In the right places, Holy Weapon really adds to the PvE damage of a melee (double the damage?). I haven't had the chance to party yet with a high-level prophet, so I can't say about them. Anyway, the point is, WCs have all the basics for melees, but it only takes a few "niche" buffs from another class to really make things great. (at least for PvE).