Best melee class for solo PvE... is there a consensus?

drartwhodent

Please remember, this is for solo PvE.
Please state GF, GWF or OP....... TR just seems a bit 'squishy' for solo pve play to me.

AND

Give your reason(s) and suggestions for best companion(s).

greywynd

TRs are squishy. They aren't supposed to get hit.

OPs can last through almost everything. Sadly, they have to because their fights take forever.

GFs can be solid. The shield helps a lot if you can get it up fast enough for some things.

mmm1001

For me, it is easiest to play with CW, with GWF being very close.
TR is easy too and more fun to play, because of way it moves. It requires some attention while playing.
GF, OP, DC is pain for solo content because of low DPS. Everything in this game is based on DPS and when you are alone it doesn't matter how much you can buff others. There are DPS builds for these classes, but if you go for DPS build, you will be useless in party and real DPS classes still out-dps you.
HR is not for everyone - I personally hate it. Too much clicking.
SW has complex mechanics - good for serious players, but "serious" part spoils some of the fun.

So If you want to watch movie or browse online shops while playing - go for CW or GWF
If you want more fun, go for TR.

dfnce

The NW solo content was/is balanced for pure DPS classes based on principle "more mob HP or more trash per squire meter = more challenge". In same time it assumes non-tank class should solo it as well. For that reason i found TR and GWF are most versatile and they bring DPS.

Properly built and played GWF is tanky and cc-immune almost all time. Certain problems other classes should cope with don't exist for GWF. Unstoppable mechanics is very strong. When tab glitching and you cannot activate Unstoppable, GWF is not that cool (it is almost 1 year old critical bug and it is still not addressed, i only play GWF for certain dailies and weeklies but it happens to me even).

TR forces you to use CC, dodge red areas and in some cases rely on ITC. Stealth doesn't much 100% factor if you brawl with TR. If i had to recommend to new player to play NW, i found recommend TR (or HR trapper which is mid/close combat). Squishy classes, but no stupidity allowed.

GF is good class. Fun at start, get even better later. Very versatile. But it also forces you to swap encounters almost all time (aoe vs trash/single target vs boss).

durynte

In my opinion, the "best" of having available 8 classes is the variety it offers. I'm personally biased towards the hunter ranger. But I enjoy most of the classes. The most interesting and challenging (just another way of making sense of something being "best") class to me is the warlock.

I do have a very simple way of categorising the classes:
hunter: AoE, knock out the mob squads from near and afar
rogue: prefers single target and melee, offers AoE
warlock: prefers ranged AoE, but offers single and melee
GWF: AoE melee for the trash, and single target melee for the bozz
GF: similar to GWF, plus shield
wizard: AoE control
There are other ways to spec the classes. I have yet to try the different paragon pathes.

As for companions: I used to prefer a healer, but I switched to tanking companions, except for GF. My favorite companion for my hunter is the Lillend for her appearance and "Music gives life meaning" "Let me play something for you" and playing the harp. Neverwinter is mostly dark themed and dangerous with mobs crowded all over the place. My Lillend adds some romantic relief to this.

mercedesman

My GWF's seemed to me to be the easiest to get to a state where you can do good damage and take good damage.

My new love is my TR which is a MI Scoundrel. No he does not do "massive" damage but he can easily solo 5 groups of mobs at one time in WOD. Everything (except large HE's) in WOD and IWD/DV is soloable. 6 bears at a time in IWD.. not a concern... so yes some TR's can be squishy but I cant suggest enough going scoundrel with a TR... you get the fun parts of being a TR (stealth and other mechanics) with the ability to give and take a beating face to face with your enemy.

As for companions, I use Shadow Demons on the GWF's and a blink dog on the TR. Most of the time I do not run with a summoned companion with my TR. I have tried the Z. Warlock and while yes it does proc bondings super fast... it does very little damage while the Shadow Demon is almost like another player playing along side of you.

linaduin

I think CW is a great all-rounder for solo PVE. HR is great fun to play and is now closer to CW in DPS courtesy of Lostmouth set nerf but it's not everyone's 'cup of tea'. If you want easy-mode then GWF is the obvious choice. Same DPS, both AoE and single-target, with much smaller investment; but it's soooo boring.

firebreath86

First of all. You forgot some melee classes.
HR can be played as melee and unless I'm wrong the consensus is that melee HRs are better than their ranged archery peers.
Secondly you have CW who must stay in melee range too because of their Icy terrain ability and Icy veins (feat that instafreezes stuff) that only works while in melee range.

mmm1001 said:

SW has complex mechanics - good for serious players, but "serious" part spoils some of the fun.

So If you want to watch movie or browse online shops while playing - go for CW or GWF

Mentioning SW in here is kinda invalid as their is no real melee part of this class.


Personally I think a CW works quite well as melee. Don't expect to kill stuff fast but than again ..... stuff barely has time to hit you with the amount of stuns/freezes it has.

If you really have set your heart of for a melee class with a sword/mace than I suggest the OP. You will be UNKILLABLE. As protection pally you are to run through an entire instance, chainpulling everything and surviving it without even breaking a sweat. I have played CW, HR, SW, GWF, DC and OP but only the OP was able to do this with such ease.

The reason why OP rocks is because of templars wrath (temporary HP) and binding oath. These 2 combined almost equals godmode.

However .... OP plays a bit sluggish. If you like more fast paced combat I would go with a GWF or CW.

rafaelda

GWF is the best in my opinion, if well build they can tank a bit and do a LOT of DMG, any healer companion will carry to the end in no time

HR kill soo fast that is really boring till LV 40, but they are a bit Squishy so they die a few times after you reach 60...

GF and OP will suvive anything but have low DPS so will take a wille (but you will not notice that if you play 2lvs over the mobs what will not happen after you reach 70 ofcourse)

cant talk about TR never played...


i know you didnt asked but CW are pretty Nice to Level, they require a bit of effort only in "no controlable" enemmies, again they can die a bit till you gear up after you reach 70.

valwryn

CW is the most funnest to play. GF, OP, and GWF make it too easy to play. HR, SW, & TR are more challenging but still fun. If ye can hold out til mid level, the Righteous DC will be a combo of fun and easy.

lirithiel

firebreath86 said:

HR can be played as melee and unless I'm wrong the consensus is that melee HRs are better than their ranged archery peers.

Nope. Combat HR is the bottom of the pile and has been for some time now. It is super fun to play if you don't care about numbers, though, and is awesome to solo with - plenty of Lifesteal to keep you alive.

But back to the question: For me the best (and easiest) melee class in pve is still GWF. Even after the Lostmauth set fix, my 2.5 IL GWF still mows stuff down in no time whatsoever and has an easier time of it than my 2 HRs with 3k IL.

swoods74

speed and ease=GWF , TR second , they are very fun to play IMO

Unknown

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urlord283

My GF has always been good for solo... but less so for Team work... mainly cause I built him for solos

Jack of all trades, master of none

firebreath86

Well. The consensus seems to be at least the following:
- Pally = redonkulously easy
- TR = spikey but fun fast pace
- GWF = easy and high damage

lirithiel said:

firebreath86 said:

HR can be played as melee and unless I'm wrong the consensus is that melee HRs are better than their ranged archery peers.

Nope. Combat HR is the bottom of the pile and has been for some time now. It is super fun to play if you don't care about numbers, though, and is awesome to solo with - plenty of Lifesteal to keep you alive.

ok. Lucky me in that case as I don't really like the melee path. Sadly Archery in solo PvE can be a tad annoying as I like to work with the aspect which buffs your crit if you are far away. Sadly the adds keep running to me

drartwhodent

Thank you all for your input.
My main is a 3.8k archery only HR that does quite well (with maxed Earth Archon tank with r12 and r11 bonding stones, or augment for SH DFs) but I am looking for a change of pace every now and then.
My very first char was a GF (before HR came out) and I think I may be leaning towards him simply because I played him more than any other non HR class.
The GWF dps tempts me too tho.
And the OP near invulnerability.
Looks like I really need to win the Lotto or something so that I can have enough time to play more than the one char instead of having to work 5 days a week.

deathbeez

GWF 100%
You notice in places where high item-level players converge, the majority are GWFs. It's that way for a reason.
I have a GWF alt and it's the easy-button. Sprint, unstoppable, awesome DPS even at low levels and IL. Amazing passives.
The only issue of this almost perfect class is you have to build up some damage stacks (which takes a few seconds) before this toon goes nuclear.
And because so many players play the GWF, they're more likely to dodge class-killing nerfs. The outcry would be too dangerous to business. So they remain the best DPS class, even though GWFs fervently deny this.

thefabricant

deathbeez said:

GWF 100%
You notice in places where high item-level players converge, the majority are GWFs. It's that way for a reason.
I have a GWF alt and it's the easy-button. Sprint, unstoppable, awesome DPS even at low levels and IL. Amazing passives.
The only issue of this almost perfect class is you have to build up some damage stacks (which takes a few seconds) before this toon goes nuclear.
And because so many players play the GWF, they're more likely to dodge class-killing nerfs. The outcry would be too dangerous to business. So they remain the best DPS class, even though GWFs fervently deny this.

They deny it, because its not true and I say that as a CW.

lirithiel

My GF is SM Tactician buffer/debuffer for group content and struggles like h3ll to solo stuff in a timely manner, even with a Honey Badger that is slotted with an Indomitable Runestone.

darkstarcrash

I played all characters to 70. Except for a brief period in the low teens, my GWF was always the easiest to level.

At 70, my GWF felt confident of taking on any solo quest or lair (Biggrin's Tomb for example) at a much lower ilvl than any other class.

For pure soloing, GWF is easy mode, hands down easiest to play without thinking hard.

If you want to get into groups quickly for occasional dungeon runs, consider a Conq GF.

klangeddin

GWF destroyer is the best pure solo class in the game for 1-70 levelling, campaigns and farming. Murders everything in its path without even the need of gearing up or thinking too much, it's incredibly straight-forward to play and you can pretty much never swap powers (well, once you get the right powers) and not notice it.

The paladin is a god in 1-60, but at 61 his dps starts plummeting and, while he's immortal, fights tend to drag on for a while, unless built and geared properly.

deathbeez

thefabricant said:

They deny it, because its not true and I say that as a CW.

And who is, in PvE?

rinat114

I think TR's don't get much credit. A well played TR can breeze through ANY kind of content with ease, as fast as a GWF with the same item level. Honestly and sadly, there aren't many good PVE tr's out there since people are looking for faceroll abilities (hence when they actually do make a TR, they make the TR purely PVP or PVP specced entirely). I wish more people would take TR's more seriously in PVE, the mechanics are really fun to play and efficient as well.

thefabricant

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

They deny it, because its not true and I say that as a CW.

And who is, in PvE?

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

deathbeez

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

thefabricant

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

The key word, was decent and yes, I acknowledge that you may not have the privilege of playing with good players, but the only real way to compare class performance, is at the very top end.

two30

I haven't played my TR since Module 2. Waiting for stealth to refill so that I could open combat again was agonizing. Maybe there's a build nowadays that opens combat without stealth (scoundrel?), but back then I felt too squishy starting combat without stealth. By contrast, my GF, OP and GWF characters just run around recklessly.

rinat114

thefabricant said:

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

The key word, was decent and yes, I acknowledge that you may not have the privilege of playing with good players, but the only real way to compare class performance, is at the very top end.

Nyah, come on, a GF will never outdps a good GWF overall. Sure, they do more single target damage, but they have absolutely HAMSTER aoe's and can't function that well in a dungeon with the mobs, not even close.

thefabricant

rinat114 said:

thefabricant said:

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

The key word, was decent and yes, I acknowledge that you may not have the privilege of playing with good players, but the only real way to compare class performance, is at the very top end.

Nyah, come on, a GF will never outdps a good GWF overall. Sure, they do more single target damage, but they have absolutely HAMSTER aoe's and can't function that well in a dungeon with the mobs, not even close.

I would bet a certain GF against your GWF lia, in CN

rinat114

thefabricant said:

rinat114 said:

thefabricant said:

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

The key word, was decent and yes, I acknowledge that you may not have the privilege of playing with good players, but the only real way to compare class performance, is at the very top end.

Nyah, come on, a GF will never outdps a good GWF overall. Sure, they do more single target damage, but they have absolutely HAMSTER aoe's and can't function that well in a dungeon with the mobs, not even close.

I would bet a certain GF against your GWF lia, in CN

Once I get a proper non-potato computer and can actually run something on this godforsaken game again sure, you're on :P

thefabricant

rinat114 said:

thefabricant said:

rinat114 said:

thefabricant said:

deathbeez said:

thefabricant said:

SW, followed by decent dps gfs.

So if you take a equally geared GWF and GF and paired them in a dungeon, just the two of them, the GF would win in DPS hands down, every time?
Wow, this forum has deteriorated so much.

The key word, was decent and yes, I acknowledge that you may not have the privilege of playing with good players, but the only real way to compare class performance, is at the very top end.

Nyah, come on, a GF will never outdps a good GWF overall. Sure, they do more single target damage, but they have absolutely HAMSTER aoe's and can't function that well in a dungeon with the mobs, not even close.

I would bet a certain GF against your GWF lia, in CN

Once I get a proper non-potato computer and can actually run something on this godforsaken game again sure, you're on :P

Excuses, excuses...I am sure you can run leadership