is a bm worth it?

They are the biggest support in game, (not in the sense that they heal xD) even more so than cleric these days. (If it weren't true we wouldn't have certain clerics soloing certain maps in nw.) They are a fun class IF you can actually close the distance/survive a little. (edit) It really is best to have support near you especially as a bm/while under-geared... they do rely on help quite a bit more so than any other class from what I can see.

You really should watch the videos by TheDan... which his channel can be found HERE (his videos are the best the bm class has to offer, sure it may have its mistakes, but you still get one hell of an idea of what a bm can do/will do in damn near end game gear.) His pvp guide is still damn accurate despite it's age.

After doing that if you don't like what you see then yea it's probably best you don't continue with the bm, but if you do, good luck with it, I hope you stick with it, there really aren't enough bms on the servers. (At least not on mine/imho.)

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

I see how it is, I'm not worth mentioning huh? Whatever!

:$ *hides*

Zanryu is a very strong example (right up there with TheDan) of what bms are capable off as well. (Not many are a good example... if they are a good example... you hardly see videos of them like TheDan's/Zanryu... (where are your videos at anyways? b:avoid)

Rawynn - Archosaur wrote: »

A Bm is a class that is one you have to "love to play" or it can be annoying pvp wise. pve however, it's still a great class to play, sooo many skill in our arsenal; stun, silence, seal, cause crit, reduce damage, reduce def., knock back, real in, leap to and attack target make target bleed, take fire damage.

I guess when it comes down to it,...is it a class you enjoy playing, if so then go for it, if not then well...there are other classes to choose from

I absolutely loved playing it in pve... it wasn't until nw came around that I started 'hating' on the class, between the tab system, the gear gap, purify proc (thank goodness for the paralyze skill) etc... it was all just too much for me to enjoy it in nw. Though sure if you can get phenomenal gear/gear like TheDan's/Zanryu any other strong/good bm then pvp becomes much more easy to relax in/enjoy. (I am pretty sure quite a few 'old' bms would say the same, that they LOVED their bm before nw came around. (edit: Granted some... to quite a few still do, but yea it wasn't a lack of loving my bm that pushed me away from it, it was the constant uphill battle that bms face with not only struggling immensely to close gaps, but also our crappy ability to kill/go in alone, and still feel useful, even if we were getting one shotted left and right, well before those 'badass'/plethora of stuns even came into play. Smack ftw though xD.... and when we were/are capable of closing distances people did usually immediately turn to bms and kill them... which is as they should do.)

I have always defended it's play for pve, but pvp... yea... its not all sunshine and rainbows... which obviously is true for all classes, but bm do have to put up with the most **** in order to attack/be useful in mass pvp. (They ARE the hardest class to play/enjoy in mass pvp.)

Zanryu - Lothranis wrote: »

Right here man.

You're still a jerk. I hate you. Go die.

Ok find me a hole.... oh wait nevermind I have one to myself already. b:avoid No haters allowed though so no zanryu.

Rawr

---

In seriousness though thanks for the link... noticed there were several other videos about bm play in Nigoshi's stickied thread. Lots of examples ftw.

Sel_Darkmore - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Hell yeah if u got the feel for it . I loved my bm before and after NW, primals make me love it more. The weapon switching the vast amount of skills to use in certain situations, gear switching is all fun for me. Crowd control is the key play yes but bms have they shine too.

ofc if ur G16 T3 Nirvy low to mid refines and gonna go up againts a r93st caster expect to be 1 shotted aint no fun in it. But u can still be usefull in mass pk with same situation. Stun +HF+Paralyze, other dds will do the work. U done gave them a 6-12 (give if they badged or not) / (13.5 if Demon) with damage amp for 6-9 sec inbetween alltogether. Bms is the "skillful" class once u honed with that class its fun as hell regardless pvp or pve.

*snip here*

for the mass amount of ppl that gave up playing their bms due to NW prolly expected too much of their class.

*snip here*

There really is quite a bit of truth in all of what sel said, even in the bit I bolded, albeit to a lesser extent imho. (It's not like I expected to go in there and own everyone/expecting to never be one hitted, One thing I did expect was to die often, but not as often as I did/not with that amount of difficultly/feeling like i barely did anything to help... something else I expected was to be able to see my hard work actually mean something a little more than I felt it did. (There really is far too many things in this game that completely erases what a bm does, with the exception of the paralyze proc... which is why I underlined that one part. Between genies, apothecary, and the evil purify proc, and even the insane amount of chi a bm uses it makes it EXTREMELY difficult to even pull off the 'combo' in the first place.)

-Now if that is expecting too much of any class then yea i'm guilty of that. (I for one just know what it was like on other classes, and just how much more useful I felt on them compared to the bm specifically in NW, Tw a bms job was clear, precise, and much... easier... to pull off, as you know backup isn't far away, whereas NW you'd be lucky if your 'backup' even takes advantage of an hf/stun time.)-

I for one have felt for quite some time that the amount of difficultly a bm has at just closing the gaps, managing chi, and actually getting things to stick in these day just does not justify the difficultly level they have these days. (Now this of course doesn't mean they aren't useful, because when their stuns/hf etc do manage to remain on an opponent long enough, people get hurt badly... and I do mean BADLY... but it still isn't all that easy pulling of... especially with the plethora of things that well.. you know... b:avoid)

Obviously no class should have it stupidly easy, but they also shouldn't have to climb a freaking mountain (dealing with the **** load of damage that is being dealt to them before they get near. [sure they have leaps etc, but they all cost chi/most still allow the bm to still easily be killed before they reach their target) to feel as if they're being useful, and when one climbs that 'mountain' to find more stupid hurdles that have to be overcome (i.e purify proc/the plethora of genies/apos, etc.. not to mention making sure they have the chi to even use hf/stuns) it makes being on a class ridiculously hard to fathom for quite a few people. OBVIOUSLY not everyone feels this way, and the bms who have managed to stick through all of that bs, and have pretty damn good gear are absolute badasses. (To be fair all classes have their weaknesses, and their strength, but when a classes weakness FAR outshines their so called 'strength' that class can become insanely hard to enjoy pvping with.)

Still I advise ignoring my mindless dribble... watch the videos see for yourself, if you like what you see then by all means go for the bm class, I wish you/every other bms that has decided to stick through (if you remain on it of course) all of these hurdles that have been thrown at the class the best of luck.

EDIT: I highly suggest reading T H I S.

idk why but i keep calling slivaf silvaf. hmmm

bm class is great to have, while we dont roll others in pvp, we are always wanted, and to some people we are needed, in pve squads. Being a good bm is more about instinct then any other class. All our weapons and skills, soo mny choices to choose from in any given situation, it takes instinct born over countless practicing, no not going out and hitting a test dummy a bunch of times till u got where the skill shines, but trial and error. Going into NW and finding out that when an enemy has x debuff or y buff, you use B skill. With Primal skills being released, it got easier to remember those combinations. Primal Spirit Chaser can be followed by Primal Farstrike. one combo ive seen used/used myself on pesky classes such as venos(both in g16 gear so no purify proc), with my drakes bash missed and on cd, roar ferocious leap, leaping back, farstrike, smack, tiger leap Drakes Bash, star smite.
Granted that kind of thing cant be used on a char that has purify proc, but its an example of how the bm class is full of combos that can be used at certain times.
if anyone is interested i lost that 1v1 5 minutes later b:laugh
In red can be interchanged with Leap Back, Spirit Chaser, farstrike for the chance to hit a crit.

Bezdna - Dreamweaver wrote: »

If you're asking whether it's worth it to stick with a BM, the answer is almost certainly going to be no. The main reason to play a BM is that you specifically WANT to play a BM over any other class.

This class is not easy to play, it is very expensive, and it requires considerably more time to be invested into it to be worth anything. Other classes will do higher damage, they will have better survivability, they will have cool abilities you don't have, and they can duplicate many of the abilities you do have. All of this for cheaper and less effort.

But the bottom line is that if you're a "BM at heart" none of those things will matter to you. You'll play a BM anyway because it's what feels right.


e_e Why do other class forums have discussions about stuff aside from PvP and we don't? Is that another thing to tack on to the "BM at heart" archetype? "Must want to kill people."

That really pains me to hear... as I still feel as if though I am a 'bm at heart' I have quite literally refused to leave my bm behind, I absolutely loved it for pve, hell I didn't even mind it to an extent in TW, at least then there wasn't this pesky *** purify proc running around, and it was/still is easier to have assistance there over a place like nw.

Now with the purify proc/the huge gear gap it really is quite frustrating being on a bm in mass pvp.

--

Though again it isn't all bad, but it is rough/annoying/hard to enjoy etc.

Indeed I think indeed it is a mentallity question. When starcraft was new, protoss was the ownage race. Terran was the underdog. All the nabs started playing protoss. Down the road, terran came out as the top race, not just because of balance changes, but because skill levels increased and terran was the race that benefitted more from being in the hands of a skillfull player. I have always and still kind of look down on the protoss players and terran players have my respect. They chose the underdog and they came out on top.

Are you the type to choose protoss or are you the type to play terran ?

Choosing BM is like choosing terran.

BMs are not weak, they require skill.
And in PvE, they are imo the ownage race hands down. They have the versatility noone else has. (an APS barb gets close though)

It's true that BMs are a bit weak in the dps department. BUT... Once you land a HF or Glacial at something, the balance of things changes. BMs are also highly versatile. Marrow phys/magic allows you to boost defenses based on what you're planning to take on. BMs are extremely versatile - more so then any class in the game I'd say, given that they can cc, debuff, rush and tank (a little). But this versatility is also the downfall of the class - many players (myself included) aren't getting the full potential out of their toons.

It's also a VERY expensive class to play if you plan to use it fully, since you'll have to grab 4 different weapon types. And lugging all those weapons around kinda requires you to expand your inventory. There are rather few of them in the game anymore ever since sins were introduced. They're in high demand for BHs and FSP instances - easy to find a party.

On autocultivation due to lower dps the BM doesn't kill as fast as the sin, but with Annihilator of Souls as a weapon and Diamond Sutra in the attack routine, they can do charmless autocultivation very early on, and survive a lot more then sins. Easier to auto-levelup. Once you're lvl 100 or so the main weapon can become G16 fist or claw for autoculti... usually fist since BMs like more STR then DEX.