New Player Help Please

zelthea

HI,
I just started playing this game and I usually play a dps class but this time i chose healer cause I wanted to be helpful and never struggle to find a group and now I keep reading that healer is obsolete in end game.... can someone please help me choose a class to play and level?!?!?!

exgardian

zelthea#9154 said:

HI,
I just started playing this game and I usually play a dps class but this time i chose healer cause I wanted to be helpful and never struggle to find a group and now I keep reading that healer is obsolete in end game.... can someone please help me choose a class to play and level?!?!?!

A healer class (Devoted Cleric/Oathbound Paladin/SW Templock) is viable in ANY end-game content, and never, ever will be obsolete.

Enjoy

kemnimtarkas

zelthea#9154 said:

HI,
I just started playing this game and I usually play a dps class but this time i chose healer cause I wanted to be helpful and never struggle to find a group and now I keep reading that healer is obsolete in end game.... can someone please help me choose a class to play and level?!?!?!

Healers are not obsolete in end-game. However, the Oathbound Paladin class can play as both tank and healer - and a lot of end game runs use them instead of (or with) a devoted cleric.

Unless you plan to buy your way to end game content by means of campaign completions in the Zen store (an expensive but viable option) - you're not going to be playing end-game for awhile anyway.

If your favorite play type is DPS - GWF is the current easy pick (tanky DPS) for a new player. The Scourge Warlock is also fun to play, with most SW fights in solo PVE content ending quickly (a plus if you want to level up fast through the original campaign). The downside is that the SW tends to be squishy in early game content, so you need to practice quick movements while casting to avoid dying a lot.

vincentr6669

The healer role/function is obsolete in end game, not the healer classes themselves (Devoted Cleric and Devotion Paladin). They are the opposite of obsolete and are perfectly viable.

Basically the healer classes should focus on buffing not healing although i do find healing important in certain situations (probably because i'm not endgame geared yet).

kvet

Since most DC (Cleric) and OP (Paladin) abilities happen to include healing, people take it for granted - but healers are NOT obsolete. However, DCs typical focus on buffing/debuffing and OPs typically focus on tanking. The healing abilities that come from that are plenty for most end-game parties. The same is true for Temptation Warlocks, but they are not considered "Healers" by the game. I'm actually not entirely sure if Paladins are considered healers either, come to think about it (I honestly don't know). It's important when queuing for non-private queues since parties have to have a tank and a healer. All other classes are considered DPS. Personally, I think Cryptic has seriously missed the ball with such a simplistic classification system, but it is what it is.

Because of Loadouts and because you get two character slots - don't worry about it too much. Play a DC through levelling content and see how you like it and play a Paladin through. You can have multiple loadouts, so you can try healer DCs and more buff/debuff focused one without having to completely start over. Same with healer/tank paladin.

Have fun and good hunting!

nunya

@kvet Paladins count as a healer for queues when they have chosen the Devotion paragon path. If they choose Protection, then they're counted as a tank. So you can see a party with two paladins and no clerics, and if both paladins show as being Oath of Protection, then one of them switched after being transported to the skirmish or dungeon.

zelthea

kvet said:

Since most DC (Cleric) and OP (Paladin) abilities happen to include healing, people take it for granted - but healers are NOT obsolete. However, DCs typical focus on buffing/debuffing and OPs typically focus on tanking. The healing abilities that come from that are plenty for most end-game parties. The same is true for Temptation Warlocks, but they are not considered "Healers" by the game. I'm actually not entirely sure if Paladins are considered healers either, come to think about it (I honestly don't know). It's important when queuing for non-private queues since parties have to have a tank and a healer. All other classes are considered DPS. Personally, I think Cryptic has seriously missed the ball with such a simplistic classification system, but it is what it is.

Because of Loadouts and because you get two character slots - don't worry about it too much. Play a DC through levelling content and see how you like it and play a Paladin through. You can have multiple loadouts, so you can try healer DCs and more buff/debuff focused one without having to completely start over. Same with healer/tank paladin.

Have fun and good hunting!

So when i posted this I had already chosen AC and honestly I'm not loving cleric I dunno if thats just cause I'm used to being a nuker or what.

zelthea

@kemnimtarkas

kemnimtarkas said:

zelthea#9154 said:

HI,
I just started playing this game and I usually play a dps class but this time i chose healer cause I wanted to be helpful and never struggle to find a group and now I keep reading that healer is obsolete in end game.... can someone please help me choose a class to play and level?!?!?!

Healers are not obsolete in end-game. However, the Oathbound Paladin class can play as both tank and healer - and a lot of end game runs use them instead of (or with) a devoted cleric.

Unless you plan to buy your way to end game content by means of campaign completions in the Zen store (an expensive but viable option) - you're not going to be playing end-game for awhile anyway.

If your favorite play type is DPS - GWF is the current easy pick (tanky DPS) for a new player. The Scourge Warlock is also fun to play, with most SW fights in solo PVE content ending quickly (a plus if you want to level up fast through the original campaign). The downside is that the SW tends to be squishy in early game content, so you need to practice quick movements while casting to avoid dying a lot.

I just don't want to be that person where its "no sorry we already have one of those or too many"

plasticbat

zelthea#9154 said:

@kemnimtarkas

kemnimtarkas said:

zelthea#9154 said:

HI,
I just started playing this game and I usually play a dps class but this time i chose healer cause I wanted to be helpful and never struggle to find a group and now I keep reading that healer is obsolete in end game.... can someone please help me choose a class to play and level?!?!?!

Healers are not obsolete in end-game. However, the Oathbound Paladin class can play as both tank and healer - and a lot of end game runs use them instead of (or with) a devoted cleric.

Unless you plan to buy your way to end game content by means of campaign completions in the Zen store (an expensive but viable option) - you're not going to be playing end-game for awhile anyway.

If your favorite play type is DPS - GWF is the current easy pick (tanky DPS) for a new player. The Scourge Warlock is also fun to play, with most SW fights in solo PVE content ending quickly (a plus if you want to level up fast through the original campaign). The downside is that the SW tends to be squishy in early game content, so you need to practice quick movements while casting to avoid dying a lot.

I just don't want to be that person where its "no sorry we already have one of those or too many"

Whatever class you play, you will have that situation.
Objectively, most people play DPS class. In comparison, less people play support class. Some play multiple classes. "Whatever you need, I bring one in".
In a 5 person RQ run, it needs a tank, a heal and 3 DPS. Tank or heal usually get extra rAD from RQ.
Depends on what the team composition is, you can be the person where its "no sorry we already have one of those or too many" or highly wanted.
IMO, you are too early to worry about end game.

zelthea

IMO, you are too early to worry about end game.

I'm sure your right it's been several years since I've played an MMO and I know WoW can be a bad reference but you can get to end game really fast.

pitmonster

Frankly I would have no problem playing a supporting role in dungeon runs and such. The problem comes with solo'ing with a non-DPS class. The load outs help but it is more of a grind burden then other classes.

kvet

zelthea#9154 said:

So when i posted this I had already chosen AC and honestly I'm not loving cleric I dunno if thats just cause I'm used to being a nuker or what.

You might consider a Scourge Warlock with the Temptation path then - solid healing thanks to the heavy lifesteal buffs, but SW is primarily a DPS class. You might enjoy it. My suggestion is to give every class that seems appealing a try. Don't buy Zen or farm AD until you've decided on what characters you plan to keep - the game provides you with all the gear you need until you hit 70, especially the free rank 14 enchant at the end of the Acquisitions Incorporated campaign. Experiment and don't be shy about deleting characters and starting over (or buying slots - alt's have their uses). Generally when you play a class for a while, it will either click with you or it won't. Play a class you enjoy because you enjoy it, not because it's what people want in parties - you'll have a much better time playing Neverwinter if you do. Besides, people that enjoy their class - whatever class that happens to be - will nearly always play that class better than people that don't like playing it (all else being equal).

zelthea

Thank you for all your help and input guys, i realize you must get this a lot.

kvet

zelthea#9154 said:

Thank you for all your help and input guys, i realize you must get this a lot.

No worries @zelthea, everyone was a new player once. If you are interested in a good guild or alliance, check out any of the guilds in mine: https://cloakalliance.wordpress.com/ - you won't go wrong with any of them.

pitmonster

kvet said:

zelthea#9154 said:

So when i posted this I had already chosen AC and honestly I'm not loving cleric I dunno if thats just cause I'm used to being a nuker or what.

You might consider a Scourge Warlock with the Temptation path then - solid healing thanks to the heavy lifesteal buffs, but SW is primarily a DPS class. You might enjoy it. My suggestion is to give every class that seems appealing a try. Don't buy Zen or farm AD until you've decided on what characters you plan to keep - the game provides you with all the gear you need until you hit 70, especially the free rank 14 enchant at the end of the Acquisitions Incorporated campaign. Experiment and don't be shy about deleting characters and starting over (or buying slots - alt's have their uses). Generally when you play a class for a while, it will either click with you or it won't. Play a class you enjoy because you enjoy it, not because it's what people want in parties - you'll have a much better time playing Neverwinter if you do. Besides, people that enjoy their class - whatever class that happens to be - will nearly always play that class better than people that don't like playing it (all else being equal).

I second this suggestion. IMHO, the SW right now is the most diverse of the classes right now with the recent Mod15 update. You can load out as a pure DPS, you can load as Spark-Lifesteal-Healer, you can load out with Soul Puppet that helps with surviviblity in solo'ing, etc. They are decent buffers to boot. And they are the fastest class with feats, class features, and movement mechanics.

nunya

pitmonster#5684 said:

And they are the fastest class with feats, class features, and movement mechanics.

And if you invest in high level dark enchantments, you can argue that sometimes they're too fast! (Speaking as someone who's running 4xr13 dark enchantments on a SW and has launched himself off the platform in ToNG - and managed to impress his alliance mates with the air he got. LOL)

clericalist

Yes the healer is obsolete, and I really REALLY hate writing this, but this is the blatant truth (just check out how many discussion there in the cleric forum on how to improve their healing...). Any player expecting to play a healer like in other games is going to be disappointed and it would be wrong not to warn them about the current situation.

On top of that it is 100% reasonable to say that nobody outside this game would presume that the warlock is the healer class and not the cleric or the paladin. So even if healing is needed in this game, you picked wrong.

kvet

clericalist said:

Yes the healer is obsolete, and I really REALLY hate writing this, but this is the blatant truth (just check out how many discussion there in the cleric forum on how to improve their healing...). Any player expecting to play a healer like in other games is going to be disappointed and it would be wrong not to warn them about the current situation.

On top of that it is 100% reasonable to say that nobody outside this game would presume that the warlock is the healer class and not the cleric or the paladin. So even if healing is needed in this game, you picked wrong.

I don't disagree, and I bet you do hate writing it given your name @clericalist

pitmonster

nunya#5309 said:

pitmonster#5684 said:

And they are the fastest class with feats, class features, and movement mechanics.

And if you invest in high level dark enchantments, you can argue that sometimes they're too fast! (Speaking as someone who's running 4xr13 dark enchantments on a SW and has launched himself off the platform in ToNG - and managed to impress his alliance mates with the air he got. LOL)

LOL, my typical play mode is to fly into melee, drop a circle for the melee guys, then fly backwards out. Flew right off the ledge pugging Tiamat yesterday.

sandukutupu

@zelthea#9154 Welcome to the game. I started with a control wizard and devoted cleric. Today I have 8 characters, and would recommend the scourge warlock and great weapons fighter as start up characters. Save up your astral diamonds and buy more character slots to get the full array and flavor the game has to offer. The SW and GWF have no issues getting through the game. Grab a few companions early on in the game as they help out a lot. Sometimes they have a free companion available or you can get them through events.

kvet

This is less specific to classes, but....

If you do plan on having many alts, I strongly suggest either paying $$ or farming the AD to get Zen and buy an epic mount. Any one of them you like is fine (pick the one you like best) as long as it's an epic one that gives 140% speed. The reason is, Zen store mounts are account-wide unlocks, meaning once you buy it, you can reclaim it for free on every character and having a fast mount makes game play much nicer. Companions do not work this way, but mounts do. If you buy a mount on the AH or get it via a lockbox, it's NOT account-wide.

Also, buying packs (like Dragonborn, or Hero of the North, etc) is account wide, so you can claim all the goodies on all characters forever (unless it specifically calls out some item as being a one-time thing).

silverkelt

no.. he should at least look at the epic mounts and choose one that gives a good bonus. Plus some are graphically slower to maneuver which is a big pain in the but (dusk unicorn is one, but there are others) most of the cats move well.

Anyways insignia bonuses are pretty important, so I wouldn't say just any old one..

Those that give Protectors Camaraderie, Assassins Covenant, Shepherds Devotion and utility functions for newer players especially like Wanderers fortune and Gladiator Guile.. are all usable bonuses. you can dump wanderers for a protectors friendship (green mounts) or a second assassins covenant to be honest.

If you are going to multi alt, Wanderers Fortune gives a pretty nice daily bonus (though it pales with just slamming on Quarter masters r12s. ) but still for a new player not bad.. and I know others dont use it because it takes up a dps slot.. but Gladiator Guile is still a personal favorite of mine. I have a fit when I play on a toon without it.

and its 110%.. 130% is with the guild speed bonus of 20%, which almost makes you up to a legendary mount speed (until of course legendary mount people use the speed bonus as well)

kvet

Right, sorry 110, 140% is legendary mount (can't buy those in zen store). On the rest, I was endeavoring to simplify for a beginning player. Once you get a ways into the game, saving up AD isn't much of an issue, and starting out ANY epic mount is better than NO epic mount - you can get another "perfect" one later if you need it. Since AD is really not that hard to come by (especially if you have multiple alts you can run a few weeklies on), trying to future-proof and min/max early on just isn't necessary and makes the game feel a lot more complicated than it really is. That said - yes, everything Silverkelt said is true

zelthea

Wow guys thanks so much so much good information!