Misused Classes: Are They Clueless or Am I?

sarkastian · May 2009

I'm fairly new, but I see people conducting themselves in the game in ways that seem inappropriate to their chosen classes. I'm speaking specifically of Archers who fight exclusively with Swords/Blades/Axes/Hammers (by "exclusively", I mean they never use ranged weapons, and rush into melee like they think they're Blademasters) and Venomancers who wear heavy armor and fight with pole weapons sans pets (and, no, they aren't using staffs, they are using pole hammers, scythes, spears, etc., and no pets at all). I have seen at least a dozen Archers like this in the past three days, and about half that many Venomancers over the last week.

Am I missing something, or do these people not have a clue what their classes are for? Is there really some benefit to playing this way? It seems to me that in order for these characters to be competitive with their chosen weapons, they would have to gimp themselves as far as class skills are concerned. Archer and Venomancer skills are all based on class-appropriate weapons, meaning they must be wielding a weapon associated with the class (or unarmed) for the skills to even be usable. To use these "inappropriate" weapons, they would have to raise their strength much higher than would normally be required for the class, and consequently their dexterity (for Archers) or magic (for Venomancers) would have to be lower than it could be at any given level, making them less powerful than another player who focuses on the attributes more appropriate to the class. Venomancers in particular are valued for pets and debuffs, but if one is wielding a melee weapon, that one can't cast any debuffs, or summon or manage pets (which I guess is why I never see these same individuals with pets).

I understand that you can include pieces of armor with enhancements that could raise, say, strength, to enable you to use a weapon that you normally couldn't equip and allow you to still put your points into attributes more important to your class, but why would you? Wouldn't it make more sense to seek out armor that would raise dex or magic, making the character more powerful in the abilities associated with the class? At any rate, getting on a weapon not normally associated with your class makes you unable to use any skills, so again, why would you? If you really wanted to fight with melee weapons, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to play a Blademaster or Barbarian?

Xsayarsa - Dreamweaver · May 2009

It really depends. Some people like to build their classes differently than the standard, for example, some venos DO play using pole-blades and their pets, rather than the magic weapons. Archers can use dual blades or fists, when they don't want to steal aggro from a tank. Blademasters can use bows to hit enemies at range, and so on. Many combinations like that are seen ever now and then. But then again, there are indeed a lot of people running around without a clue of what they're doing. In most cases, if you see a higher level with a weapon their class normally shouldn't wield, they probably have an idea of what they're doing. However, if you see some low level Barbarian running around with a magic weapon, chances are, it's a noob without any idea of how the game works. Many new players don't realize until later that their weapons don't work with their class.

I actually used claws on my first barbarian, until I found out my skills wouldn't work. XD

Deceptistar - Sanctuary · May 2009

sarkastian wrote: »

I'm fairly new, but I see people conducting themselves in the game in ways that seem inappropriate to their chosen classes. I'm speaking specifically of Archers who fight exclusively with Swords/Blades/Axes/Hammers (by "exclusively", I mean they never use ranged weapons, and rush into melee like they think they're Blademasters)

o___o might be better if you ask them personallly... If they say its cause it does the BEST dmg when apparently it does not, smile, nod, and walk away quickly.

and Venomancers who wear heavy armor and fight with pole weapons sans pets (and, no, they aren't using staffs, they are using pole hammers, scythes, spears, etc., and no pets at all).

Im not sure about their.. pole hammers but.. I HAVE seen heavy armour venos too and they were decently high lvl who liked to PvP alot (and good at that too) maybe thats why? o.o

It seems to me that in order for these characters to be competitive with their chosen weapons, they would have to gimp themselves as far as class skills are concerned. Archer and Venomancer skills are all based on class-appropriate weapons, meaning they must be wielding a weapon associated with the class (or unarmed) for the skills to even be usable. To use these "inappropriate" weapons, they would have to raise their strength much higher than would normally be required for the class, and consequently their dexterity (for Archers) or magic (for Venomancers) would have to be lower than it could be at any given level, making them less powerful than another player who focuses on the attributes more appropriate to the class. Venomancers in particular are valued for pets and debuffs, but if one is wielding a melee weapon, that one can't cast any debuffs, or summon or manage pets (which I guess is why I never see these same individuals with pets).

I understand that you can include pieces of armor with enhancements that could raise, say, strength, to enable you to use a weapon that you normally couldn't equip and allow you to still put your points into attributes more important to your class, but why would you? Wouldn't it make more sense to seek out armor that would raise dex or magic, making the character more powerful in the abilities associated with the class? At any rate, getting on a weapon not normally associated with your class makes you unable to use any skills, so again, why would you? If you really wanted to fight with melee weapons, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to play a Blademaster or Barbarian?

Probably either:
1) They like that strangeness and the sense of uniqueness
2) They really do not know what their doing
3) They change gears as the situation sees fit
4) They are one of the explorative pple who try to lean towards a certain new build in order to discover unknown potentials that have yet to be found. Think 'Columbus'. (In all seriousness some things can change a class job 180degrees if 'what' is found is stacked to the extreme)

sarkastian · May 2009

Wow, thanks guys. I thought I was missing something big, but it's really kind of what I suspected: (a) players with more experience of the game than me developing a more flexible build, (b) players who think it's too ordinary to do what a class is expected to do, and (c) clueless players. I'll just have to watch out if I end up on a squad with one. Might be an eyeopening experience.

Tearvalerin - Sanctuary · May 2009

mostly (c) clueless players.

ive seen archers wear arcane armor and get +mag because they thought it increased their metal/lightning attacks.

theres alot of stupid people out there

Averian - Lost City · May 2009

Depends. Some people just do it for the fun of it... I have seen people lvling clerics with bow... and when i ask, they say is just for fun and it isnt their main.

Niraneth - Heavens Tear · May 2009

Those players who veer off their class path too much gimp themselves.....for example:
Wizard with hammers? Yes i saw that and Well he is now gimped since he had to stat dex and strength for those. Magic attack now stinks and so does his physical attack.
Its okay to veer a little off the path and lets say throw a few points here and there but honestly it seems a bit pointless to me. I believe we all aim to have a strong character and should stick with the path our class is meant to play.

Talshina - Dreamweaver · May 2009

Well, one simple reason why an Archer might use a sword.

He ran out of arrows.

LovelyZero - Sanctuary · May 2009

Venos in heavy aren't really that hard to beleive. They've got amazing hp bonus with their vit compared to other magic classes and they've got pets to tank for them. Although no idea why pole arm when they could just fox form. However the others are probably just messing around, I mean some people like to be special.

NinjaRoyal - Harshlands · July 2010

I am an archer and for the past 23 levels I've used mostly swords. No I am not trying to be cool. No I am not trying to stray away from my class. I've always had this problem with equiping ammo. (That's the reason I was on here in the first place, trying to find some answers) I buy the crossbow or bow and the ammo that goes with it and double check to make sure nothing is red but everytime I get this thing when I try to equip ammo that says "unable to equip" . I've had no problems other than the fact that 90% of skills require ranged weapons. Other than than it's worked for me just fine. I didn't know it was against the law for an archer to use a sword and not a bow. (Personally I don't really care) But if anyone knows why I can't use ranged weapons then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Haven_fear - Heavens Tear · July 2010

make sure you're not trying to use too high of a grade of arrow

Bridigan - Sanctuary · July 2010

The thing about Venomancers is that they are naturally both mages and melee fighters (magic attacks in human form, physical attacks in fox form) and so they can be successfully built for any of the three armor types, if you know what you're doing. In fact, it's possible to build a hybrid Venomancer that can switch between arcane armor and hard armor depending on the situation. It takes a lot of skill, and a lot of coin, but such a hybrid Venomancer can seriously own in PvP. Some of those hybrid armor Venomancers also switch between magic weapons and melee weapons. The point is, the Venomancer is a very flexible class, so you can do basically anything with it.

But an Archer who thinks he's a Blademaster? O_o That's another story.

Vixennia - Raging Tide · July 2010

NinjaRoyal - Harshlands wrote: »

I am an archer and for the past 23 levels I've used mostly swords. No I am not trying to be cool. No I am not trying to stray away from my class. I've always had this problem with equiping ammo. (That's the reason I was on here in the first place, trying to find some answers) I buy the crossbow or bow and the ammo that goes with it and double check to make sure nothing is red but everytime I get this thing when I try to equip ammo that says "unable to equip" . I've had no problems other than the fact that 90% of skills require ranged weapons. Other than than it's worked for me just fine. I didn't know it was against the law for an archer to use a sword and not a bow. (Personally I don't really care) But if anyone knows why I can't use ranged weapons then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Are you making sure that your arrows for your bow or your bolts for your crossbow are not too high for the weapon?

For example: When the ammo says it requires lvl7 or higher weapon it does not mean you are level 7. It means the item itself is a level 7 or higher grade item. The level grade of the item is up near the top of the item's info. You wont be able to equip ammo that doesnt match your weapons level grade.

Misused Classes: Are They Clueless or Am I?

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