* '.' * Help choosing a class

violetvalor · July 2010

Greetings all

So I am really thinking of playing this game rather the one I do now as I understand that players actually play together here. So I am here to ask for help choosing a class. I am mostly thinking between Cleric, Psychic, and Wizard. I would just try all three and see which I like but I do not have the time to make three characters. I did that on my previous game and I think it is one of the worst things I did. I had no focus!

So here are some talking points.

I would like to be helpful to my group or to a buddy in a pinch or in need be it by giving extra damage, buffs, life, or what ever I can.
Even though I hear about players actually needing to play together, I am sure there are things that each character needs to do on his or her own. So I need to be able to do these.
I do not want to spend most my time having to make money rather actually playing. So, for example, having to buy loads of potions is unpreferable.
Nor do I have any real life money to spend for this.
I anticipate doing mostly PvE.
I think it would be a drag to have to wait for the high levels for my character to really bloom and otherwise requiring me to have to chug along somehow until I get there. So something that starts out decent and grows gradually is good compared to something difficult until the end.
That said, a push over easy character is a bore as well.
I will likely only play about 2 hours per day at most.
I like long range attacks and casting spells (as I think you might be able to see)

Some others that a more pointed.

For clerics, flying would be cool, but is it actually important or needed? I like the idea of attacking with wind or thunder/lightning. * ^_^ *
I hear psychics have fewer skills and so get boring or something? Also I hear wizards can eventually (say level 90+) pretty but take on anything. How about psychics?
I hear wizards take too long to cast their skills (at least until the high levels ... say about level 90+) ... so what gives? Though they do have some nice flashy skills. The others do too, but still these are cool.
In fact, I hear that they all die easily ... so what gives?

If I understand correctly:

Clerics can heal and buff very well and still have mediocre to decent damage but they still die very easily?
Psychics focus weaking, stunning, hexing, etc. the target while still having a good damage output and able to share some healing and buffing with buddies (of course nothing like a cleric can, but still)?
Wizards both kill/hit and get killed/hit hard? They can buff and heal themselves but not others? Strong in using fire, water and earth against enemies and defending against them as well?

Reading around I see that attention is given to distinguishing between metal vs earth vs water vs fire vs physical vs etc. damage. What gives? Some creatures or spells or armors are resistant to some of these and not others?

Alright, I think that should be a good start. * '.' *
Thank you kindly.

MagicHamsta - Lost City · July 2010

A merchanting cleric.
b:avoid

violetvalor · July 2010

I am sorry, I did not understand what you are trying to say. Please rephrase, thank you.

MagicHamsta - Lost City · July 2010

violetvalor wrote: »

Greetings all

So I am really thinking of playing this game rather the one I do now as I understand that players actually play together here. So I am here to ask for help choosing a class. I am mostly thinking between Cleric, Psychic, and Wizard. I would just try all three and see which I like but I do not have the time to make three characters. I did that on my previous game and I think it is one of the worst things I did. I had no focus!

So here are some talking points.
I would like to be helpful to my group or to a buddy in a pinch or in need be it by giving extra damage, buffs, life, or what ever I can. Cleric can buff and heal

Even though I hear about players actually needing to play together, I am sure there are things that each character needs to do on his or her own. So I need to be able to do these.

I do not want to spend most my time having to make money rather actually playing. So, for example, having to buy loads of potions is unpreferable. potions be cheap, the level 75+ event pots d(^.^) also you going to need a lot of monies no matter what class you choose.

Nor do I have any real life money to spend for this. this be why you should be a merchant d(^.^)

I anticipate doing mostly PvE. okie d(^.^)

I think it would be a drag to have to wait for the high levels for my character to really bloom and otherwise requiring me to have to chug along somehow until I get there. So something that starts out decent and grows gradually is good compared to something difficult until the end. cleric

That said, a push over easy character is a bore as well. o.o;

I will likely only play about 2 hours per day at most. okie o.o

I like long range attacks and casting spells (as I think you might be able to see)

Some others that a more pointed.
For clerics, flying would be cool, but is it actually important or needed? I like the idea of attacking with wind or thunder/lightning. * ^_^ *

I hear psychics have fewer skills and so get boring or something? Also I hear wizards can eventually (say level 90+) pretty but take on anything. How about psychics? not quite sure how well psychics do.

I hear wizards take too long to cast their skills (at least until the high levels ... say about level 90+) ... so what gives? Though they do have some nice flashy skills. The others do too, but still these are cool. yes takes a bit too long to cast some skills. xD Essential sutra only lasts for so long

In fact, I hear that they all die easily ... so what gives? yep arcane be generally squishy squishy

If I understand correctly:
Clerics can heal and buff very well and still have mediocre to decent damage but they still die very easily?

Psychics focus weaking, stunning, hexing, etc. the target while still having a good damage output and able to share some healing and buffing with buddies (of course nothing like a cleric can, but still)?

Wizards both kill/hit and get killed/hit hard? They can buff and heal themselves but not others? Strong in using fire, water and earth against enemies and defending against them as well?

Reading around I see that attention is given to distinguishing between metal vs earth vs water vs fire vs physical vs etc. damage. What gives? Some creatures or spells or armors are resistant to some of these and not others?

Alright, I think that should be a good start. * '.' *
Thank you kindly.

Civic - Raging Tide · July 2010

Sorry if my post looks weird and off-topicish.
I don't know alot about the classes you are specifically asking for but I do know that there is a class that is not on your list.
Venomancer
Pro:
Helpfulness
-Luring is a must in most FB and if other people try to lure. They tend to end up dieing(at least the ones I squad with does).
-Amplify damage(amp)-Makes enemies take 20% more damage. Great for bosses. I let my squad know when I get ready to amp then they prep for a full scale attack during preping people stop attacking(except for tank) as soon as I start amping all Damage Dealer(DD) goes crazy with damage. You see the HP of boss drop massively.
-Befuddling Mist-Lower accuracyof enemies. Useful when you want to make tank and cleric's life a bit easier.
-Debuff-Your main debuff(early on) is a physical defence debuff.

Potion usage
-Personal tank-You have a pet. Venos use pet to tank except for Heavy Armor(HA) venos. So you rarely use HP pots
-Recovery skills-You have HP and MP recovery skills.Reduce consumption of pots in general

Con:

Boring-You may get bored only if you have pet go 1v1 with mobs. When you do get bored dowhat I do. Test your self with pet fighting multiple mobs. I have lots of fun doing it and better myself with it though I still die occasionally when i mess up.

Cost-Depends on how long you have pet out. EX-Having pet out always takes more pet food then having pet out when needed.

Death-Pet dies then you almost always must run.

Buffs-You lack good buffs. Bramble guard is good. Bramble hood is better. However, those two are your main buffs.(Cleric has awesome buffs)

Movement control skills-The only early one is Frost Scarb and it pretty much suck.Lucky Scarab at lvl1 has a 1.1 sec stun that has a 50%(I say less than 50%) so it sucks but the damage is good.(unlike the wiz, psy, cleric who can get slow early on)

So here is my case. I'm competely off topic.

Bridigan - Sanctuary · July 2010

I have to agree with Civic: you should definitely look into the Venomancer class. They are relatively easy to play, even from the early levels, but they still require you to use your head and know the game mechanics. They don't need a lot of potions, and don't have high repair bills, so they save money easily. They are great for solo PvE, but are also very valuable in a squad.

You might want to read up on Venomancers:

http://pwi-wiki.perfectworld.com/index.php/Venomancer

http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13

fudgesicles · July 2010

You are very indecisive b:shutup try using the Search button and look for class guide(s)
There are a lot of threads on each class
Also try PW wiki

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear · July 2010

the problem with venomancers is that the class can be played lazily, so therefore all too many do.

the solution is to challenge yourself, which is easy enough, this being the soloers' class and all. currently i'm fed up with the drop rate of fruit being so low, so i'm seriously considering soloing FB29 just to see if i can do that yet. (i should probably do a solo run through the FB19's first, just to say i've done it. should have done that ten levels ago, to make it a challenge, but i wasn't bored then.)

RainbowVidel - Sanctuary · July 2010

Try each class, one by one. Then decide which one(s) you like best and work on those first.

violetvalor · July 2010

Firstly, thanks to all for feedback!

About venomancers, mock my vanity if you wish, but being male, I rather play a male character. Sorry I forgot to mention it! * '.' * Plus they seem to be a lot more of a solo play class. I do not play an MMORPG to play solo, what is the point in that?!

fudgesicles, yes I am. That is why I asked for help. I looked at some guides but they just made me confused still. Silly me, I end up liking the class I am reading about.

MagicHamsta, thanks for clarifying! With that animated emote, I got confused with what you meant and was confused if you were suggesting cleric or something else.

RainbowVidel, I might have to try that.

Oh, I found out that magic attacks do not miss! I did not know that! Wow! Very nice! ^^;

About clerics, are they really that extremely expensive? Not really able to do much on their own? And their range is poor? I hear it gets really boring to play using the same skills all the time? And they get abused a lot? Though I suppose I could sell my services though I am unsure about the competition since I would assume that most get help from the clerics in their guild or their friends.

For psychics, protection skills do not allow me to survive compared to clerics or wizards?

For wizards, are they really that rare and not liked in groups? Not really performing decently until the high levels?

Both psychics and wizards are really tough to make into a strong character?

I get the impression that all are very vulnerable and die too readily despite their damage output or heals/buffs? And that they need very expensive gear or other items to be viable? Is refining or otherwise improving your gear (I guess putting stones is the other main method) tough and/or expensive?

Not sure that helps any, but there it is.

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear · July 2010

magic not missing only goes so far, when melee and archer attacks land considerably faster and more often. damage per second, even if averaged, matters more than the certainty of damage per hit when that hit is rare.

wizards seem well liked enough, but they're pure pain to level up through the early game. very squishy, not very powerful, at least until later than i've been able to get mine.

and hey, the stereotype of the venomancer is so common in this game, some actual women who run veno toons aren't believed when they say they are. i've actually started thinking that it's an advantage to have two powerful, useful classes be gender-restricted; it makes cross-gendered playing well known and accepted in-game overall, not just for those two classes.

HexOmega - Dreamweaver · July 2010

veno is...a..... girls class ...yes
rather easy to play
highly boring after some time (IMO)

cleric is more challange and fun there
and capable to do lots of things alone others cant
(mana cost are high until u get a certain lvl11 skill -> almost 0, do not add too much vitality and go for more mag points for higher mana recovery and stronger heals; MP pots are cheap after lvl75 anyways)
keeping a group alive is some work :P
clerics dont have to be poor, conventional coin-making is running instances -> cleric needed -> coin

wizard wweeeeee
about half mp cost of cleric
Damage Output on the "fast" skills seems to be the same as cleric (with same build ofc)

ur the one who randomly shouts "haahahaa XXXk crit haahah xD" (after lvl59/
u need to figure how to stay alive, (blink, knockback, seal, sleap, even area stun available after time)
clerics have fast healing skills to prevent omgimdead moments for that ^^
wizards might have the best defense in the game (combined with low hp ^^)
why squishie: **** gear + maximum damage output build (no or low vit) = squishie
gameplay changes a few times as u lvlup ur skills, ur not getting bored
maxed aoe skills and lots of chi is hella fun xD

psychs... omg dont roll a FISH

they are even less wanted in squads then wizards (meele classes are the real damage dealers, and they can take more hits)
mana recovery is a joke, higher then clerics xd?
they do outdamage wizads in the long run (not damage per hit) with a def-decreasing atk-increasing buff

*just note that all classes u state are outdamaged by Assasin, Archer and Highlvl-Claw/Fist-Blademaster

m3mentomori · July 2010

A venomancer is a solo and a squad class. You can solo with your very own personal tank, or you can be a lurer. (by you i mean your pet). I would go with rainbowvidel's idea and try all the classes at least once.

violetvalor · July 2010

So wizards really are that slow with their skills? So even psychics have weak damage output per time compared to the archers, assassins, blademasters, etc.? Archers, assassins, blademasters, etc., they have an attack speed that is like 10 times faster or something?

I am curious what can clerics do alone that others cannot?

I understood wizards had one of the worst physical defenses but perhaps the best magical defense? Is that what you mean?

I might well just end up trying all three. When do you think a good judging point might be? After level 19 and the fb19?

LenieClarke - Heavens Tear · July 2010

violetvalor wrote: »

So wizards really are that slow with their skills? So even psychics have weak damage output per time compared to the archers, assassins, blademasters, etc.? Archers, assassins, blademasters, etc., they have an attack speed that is like 10 times faster or something?

ten times faster? no, it's not quite that bad. (and i didn't mean to imply it was as bad as an order of magnitude difference; sorry if i gave that impression.) but several times faster, yes, it is.

let's look at the extreme cases; BMs and assassins can get up to five attacks per second before they hit a hardcoded game maximum --- and extreme-build end game chars do actually reach that limit, it's not pie-in-the-sky impossible, just expensive as heck.

wizards, meanwhile, have a 0.8 second cast on maxed pyrogram with a 3.0 second cooldown; alternating between skills to cover their cooldowns they'd be hard pressed to exceed 1 attack per second on average, sustained. and that's if they get enough -chan gear to completely eliminate their channeling time, something i'm unsure if anyone has ever done on a public server. (i've seen videos of it, true, but they were off private servers.)

more realistically, a low-ish level venomancer spends a lot of time spamming venomous scarab. without any channeling gear (which is probably most venos, up until midgame or so, at least --- also happens to be what i'm most familiar with), that's one attack every 3.5 seconds. mixing in a few other skills --- or even physical attacks --- you might get down to 0.5 attacks per second, but not much more than that, and if you do you can't sustain it long. i daresay similar-level melee classes even without -int gear will out-DPS me; they might even out-DPS me and my pet both.

in any fight that lasts longer than a very few seconds, the only thing that matters is sustained damage per second, and that's a measurable quantity. have any two players try to steal aggro from the same tank at once. the one that manages it most often and most consistently is putting out more DPS, other things being equal. i've not heard of too many wizards stealing aggro from BMs or sins, all other things being equal. maybe someone else has, though, i could be wrong.

I might well just end up trying all three. When do you think a good judging point might be? After level 19 and the fb19?

trying them all is good advice, i'd say. mid-20's levels to early 30's should be far enough in to give a decent evaluation. especially if you're interested in pvp, it'd be biased to judge a class before you could even enable pvp mode. of course, you won't get the complete picture with less than pushing the char into demon/sage culti, but that's far too much work to just find out if you like the class.

violetvalor · July 2010

I am mostly interested in PvE though.

* '.' * Help choosing a class

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