Second character class?

nigermessor

I almost capped my halfling thief I named Hein, so I was wondering wich class I should choose for my 2nd character, does anyone minds giving me a piece of advice?
I'm kinda the stealthy type, as thief, always lingering in the dark to do more damage etc (as I do on sheet), yet I was dubious about follow this style and be a dps (further away) as a wizard, or suppert mates as a cleric. Or, the other way around, follow my usual lineup as MMORPGist and make a "all-melee" kind of character.
I don't really know pro and cons about other classes (if not the obvious stuff, like cloth armor protects less than steel and so on, but I know very little about their abilities, so I can't choose really well.

nasuradin

I'm sure you could probably find official write-ups about classes elsewhere but.. I'm bored

The descriptions I provide below will be based entirely on my own experiences and or observations and may not be entirely correct or reflect everyone's opinion on every class, I haven't gotten every class to 60 or read extensively upon them in the other forums. Feel free to add to what I say or dispute it, my word is not law or anything.


Control Wizard

The Control Wizard is about control and ranged damage, specifically AOE, while some try to top the dps charts with their CWs, the main role is to provide support by controlling adds and helping the cleric have an easier time doing their job. They specialize in arcane and frost damage spells, and you will not find spells of any other element in their repertoire other than a few lighting from the 1 paragon currently available. Compared to the Trickster Rogue, CWs have greater aoe damage and mediacore single target damage. Don't expect to be out-dpsing rogues in 60+ dungeons unless you vastly outgear them or the dungeon has a lot of trash to aoe down.

CW's class mechanic is spell mastery, every encounter spell has a spell mastery bonus effect, any encounter slotted into tab will apply the spell mastery effect, effectively making CW the only class to be able to equip four encounters at once.

Divine Cleric

The Divine Cleric is the main support class as of right now, and it is commonly believed that there is a bug with the way threat is generated because cleric will draw aggro from most if not all enemies present when healing in a group setting. Therefor it is common for a DC to be on the run, kiting adds chasing them around the room, while healing at the same time. DCs cannot be the standard MMO healbot due to this, so do not expect to sit in the back tossing heals. (It is also extremely hard trying to target certain party members to heal them, heals in general are not very spikey)

DC's tab mechanic is divinity, divinity is built up through attacking, and the bar will fill up 3 or 4 times resulting in a pip with a cross icon every time, each pip is expended when the DC uses an encounter power while in divinity mode, which typically causes the encounter power to become more effective, have a larger radius, or be cast instantly.

Great Weapon Fighter

The Great Weapon Fighter uses a two handed weapon and scale armor, and is the second dps-aoe class, they have the ability to offtank, but it is commonly believed that it is no that effective. They do not have a dodge mechanic like wizards, rogues, and clerics, and must sprint out of trouble before it hits them. Most people believe that while the GWF is viable at higher levels, it is either a boring or a pain to level the class at lower levels. Aside from DPS they also share some responsibility currently with helping the cleric survive by covering a lot of ground and controlling adds in group settings.

The Great Weapon Fighter's tab ability is Determination, upon using this ability attack speed is increased greatly, weapon damage is decreased slightly, the GWF breaks out of any control effects and is immune for the duration, and resists 25-50% of incoming damage depending on how full their determination meter was before it was activated.

Guardian Fighter

The Guardian Fighter is the main tank class of the game, they rely on a shield to block attacks rather than dodging out of the way, they use a guard meter which lowers with every attack blocked, and must refill it with specific attacks, or loose the ability to block damage until it is refilled. Blocking attacks is not always easy as standing in the center of a red circle while blocking will still most likely cause you to be hit by the attack. The GF has both a single target and aoe taunt power, but often times DC's heal threat will pull adds off the GF regardless. Wearing plate armor and wielding a shield to block makes GF the toughest class in the game currently.

At 10 Guardian Fighters will get 2 new at-will powers and the single target taunt in their tab slot. The two new at-wills will allow the GF to attack without lowering their shields, allowing them to refill their guard meter while blocking.

As for me, I started as a Trickster Rogue and liked transitioning into Control Wizard, and now shall transition to Divine Cleric, my Great Weapon Fighter and Guardian Fighter are still in their teens.