Warriors and Other Classes Endgame DPS Viability

[LinktheDeme]

I know a lot of people haven't been to endgame quite yet but from what I remember as 57 Lancer on Korean server Warrior as a DPS wasn't really viable. However I played before all of the patches were included to increase Warrior DPS as a hole.

The highest dps classes I recall were:

1) Sorcerer/Berserker
2) Archer
3) Slayer
4) Warrior

While the differences between a few of those were tighter than most I remember warrior always being put in this hybrid position where it could not tank as well nor dps as well. Although archer was pretty close to top while slayer was pretty close to archer in terms of DPS. I'm wondering with the current endgame content and the changes that were made has there been enough patches to rearrange the "DPS List" and what changes if so? I recall Slayer and Warrior being best for PVP though.

My main focus if warrior is actually a viable DPS to play or if it will be the loldrg in endgame of TERA, as well as everyone's feedback as to why they aren't and if "parses" have been done.

[Deejay]

I love how badly FFXI has fucked our perception of class balance in MMO's, lol.

From what I've seen, Warrior is fine. I don't know much except from what I've read on forums and seen in tutorial videos though. But supposedly, Warriors have seen a nice buff to their damage due to the revamped combo point system.

[blindSharingan]

I am leveling warrior and from what I have experienced the general attitude towards warrior is that it's not a good DPS until you reach the cap. People pretty much treat you as "loldrg" unless they're desperate for a tank. I see alot of "LFG warrior DPS" around my level and those people pretty much just get outright ignored. I can't speak for the communities acceptance towards warrior DPSing come endgame because I haven't gotten there yet. From what I've heard people say Warrior once it reaches cap is on par with other DPSing classes.

[Meresgi]

Warrior is hella fun, been playing a slayer too while people catch up to me in game and it's lolz easy. I just like how fast my warrior hits and the constant chaining of attacks and jumping around. Also the ability to tank an instance if I have to is nice.

[Kipling]

Warrior is a perfectly great dps now, much different than when we were playing Korean. Me and 2 friends queue dungeons as Sorc, war, slayer (me) and his dps is great combined with the warrior defense debuff he stacks. Overall warrior is 100x better than what it what when we played Korean. Sorcerer is still king though, hands down.

[Wenrick]

Warrior is sustained dps, which means their total damage is divided up amongst several hits. Rain of Blows is 6 hits and so is Rising Fury, Traverse Cut is 13 hits if used correctly, and Blade Draw is 2 hits. The fact is, you won't see the eye-popping numbers of Berserker or Sorceror, but that doesn't mean Warrior isn't mowing down their opponents. Their damage curve is more consistent where other classes are more burst-ish. As long as a Warrior has good gear and crystals, and has MP to burn, the HP bar of the enemy will drop at a very consistent rate.

[Meresgi]

Rising Fury is 6 hits? I thought it was just 3. *Shrug* I only use it as a movement tool though so never really counted. Anyone really use backstab for pve reasons that much? It seems like Combative strike > Traverse > Pounce > Rain of blows fills up our dmg rotation nicely, especially if you use Death from Above with the attack speed % glyph.

[Sup3rB4d]

Why pounce instead of Blade Draw?

[CasualPlayer]

Problem with the sustained damage is that its mp intensive. A few of those chained skills in a row and I'm about out. I'm only level 40 though maybe it gets better.

Haven't played zerker or slayer so their damage could be just as mp draining as our I have no idea. The thing I'm loving about war though is the ability to tank. I never have any problems with aggro and can tank everything I've come up against no problem. (Again only level 40) To me that would me that makes doing less damage than other dps ok.

Edit: Also would add that zerkers and slayers don't seem to hold up in pvp compared to war.

[CasualPlayer]

Why pounce instead of Blade Draw?

Pounce chains to RoB by default is maybe his thinking.

To me Blade draw is more damage than pounce + RoB with less mp though so I'd still use Blade Draw, especially with the DoT.

[Kachiko]

You bring a warrior, for the Debuffs, and for off-tanking, while you get the Lancer up, if it dies. Sorcer + Healer + Lancer + Warrior + (Slayer/Archer/Zerker) are what you're looking for, in terms of the ideal party.

[Voyage1970]

Rising Fury is 6 hits? I thought it was just 3. *Shrug* I only use it as a movement tool though so never really counted. Anyone really use backstab for pve reasons that much? It seems like Combative strike > Traverse > Pounce > Rain of blows fills up our dmg rotation nicely, especially if you use Death from Above with the attack speed % glyph.

Rising Fury is 3 hits. First use is 2 swings and if used again has a stronger single strike. Also its one of the most underrated skills it seems. It hits surprisingly hard for being mostly an evasive tool, it adds an edge point and its one of the triggers for faster blade draw activation. With the 40% reset chance glyph on blade draw I find myself using blade draw at least two to three times per skill rotation.

As far as MP goes using a Glistening weapon crystal is amazing for keeping yourself topped off w/o resorting to Combo Attack too often.

[CasualPlayer]

You bring a warrior, for the Debuffs, and for off-tanking, while you get the Lancer up, if it dies. Sorcer + Healer + Lancer + Warrior + (Slayer/Archer/Zerker) are what you're looking for, in terms of the ideal party.

Question then becomes is War with its debuffs and dps equal to the dps of a zerker slayer or archer. (I'm thinking its not) In the efficiency game I don't think a party is created with the idea of the lnc dying and bringing a war along for the added security. That's just not efficient, especially in a 5man group.

This game needs two tank classes anyway imho. Just look at the ques for dps to get into dungeons already and the game has only been out two weeks.

War should keep its distinction as a stand alone tank with a higher learning curve that has the benefit of a faster kill time since we far outdmg lancer. Nothing more nothing less.

[Meresgi]

@ others, yeah I use blade draw after traverse, forgot to put that in, then I go pounce > RoB. Usually a death from above before that though so the animations speed up.

for the queue times if you want to tank as a warrior, just use area chat and the LFG tool (hit Y). I've gotten a few server groups going just that way w/o waiting 2hrs for a dungeon pop.

[Hogie]

Warrior is a fantastic DPS, and I dont care what anyone else says. They have very high crit chance, and super quick attacks. To anyone who argues, I would love to see you stay in the fight longer than a warrior and keep up constant DPS on a mob like a warrior can.

[Coren]

I have not played war much yet (lvl 12 woo!), nor have I partied much with them. While you are dancing around dodging attacks, can you keep a mob from moving all over the place? Your damage is irrelevant if the mob is turning around in circles and nobody else can hit it. Many (most?) DPS use the damage-from-rear crystals.

[Kachiko]

I'm fairly certain that War + 2DPS is better DPS then just 3 DPS, though without DPS meters, nobody can say for sure.

[Coren]

As long as the war spams debuffs that allow everybody to hit harder, I could probably agree.

[Ezek]

You bring a warrior, for the Debuffs, and for off-tanking, while you get the Lancer up, if it dies. Sorcer + Healer + Lancer + Warrior + (Slayer/Archer/Zerker) are what you're looking for, in terms of the ideal party.

Pretty much this.

[Voyage1970]

I have not played war much yet (lvl 12 woo!), nor have I partied much with them. While you are dancing around dodging attacks, can you keep a mob from moving all over the place? Your damage is irrelevant if the mob is turning around in circles and nobody else can hit it. Many (most?) DPS use the damage-from-rear crystals.

There might be some slight left and right movement but disregarding charge attacks or random mob "I'm gonna walk on top of you cause I feel like it" animations most frontal attacks can be dodged by moving slightly left or right of the mob and then running back in front. A lot of AoE attacks can be dodged by rolling backwards then running forward again or using the invincible time during Death from Above. Even charge attacks can be negated a lot of the time if you keep up max edge and only use your stun shout to cancel them.