Hello all. Just found out about this and am quite excited.

Downloaded the client and got my keybinds set.

Played from 01-03 on Guinivere Hib. Was in a really top notch 8 man group for RvR.

Looking forward to RvRing again. I'm pretty set that I am going to play Alb this time and am trying to choose my class. Thinking Minstrel, Merc or outside chance of Arms.

Wondering if anyone who played on 1.0 might be able to comment. Wondering about being able to get groups and viability in 8 mans. Love the idea of a Minstrel, but in the old days I played a Warden, and I wouldn't mind getting some kill spam this time around!

I usually play rarer or less played classes, but want to be able to group and contribute in those organized small groups.

Thanks for any input.

Here's another link for you add your name to the list if you haven't already. viewtopic.php?f=32&t=38368

Also Minstrel (if no AT), merc, and arms are all usually welcomed by pve groups.

I did read your excellent article Kaudo, was just looking for some extra guidance

From your experience on 1.0 do you think there will be an overabundance of Mercs? That is kind of what I am leaning towards.

Thanks much for the links and feedback guys.

Hey Slow whattzup i see u Alb side so , prolly xp together if i see ur fat ass :p

slowpoke68 wrote:I did read your excellent article Kaudo, was just looking for some extra guidance

From your experience on 1.0 do you think there will be an overabundance of Mercs? That is kind of what I am leaning towards.

Thanks much for the links and feedback guys.

There will be an overabudance of arms. Merc damage is *meh* currently.

slowpoke68 wrote:I did read your excellent article Kaudo, was just looking for some extra guidance

From your experience on 1.0 do you think there will be an overabundance of Mercs? That is kind of what I am leaning towards.

Thanks much for the links and feedback guys.

I think there will be a lot more Arms for sure. A lot of people were raving about them in the beta, but it requires a certain setup to work well. I think if you see any 8v8 mercs though they will be Saracen with thrust. I don't like that playstyle though as you need to swap weapons a lot and it has a lot of positional styles lacking a good anytimer.

I think a Merc is an awesome choice though, you will have a great time 1 - 50, they are cheaper to template than arms and I would say they are more versatile in 8v8 as with arms heavy groups they will build around having 3 Arms in the party.

What is your end game goal, hardcore 8v8 or just fun guild groups and zergs? Also, were you wanting to slash, crush or thrust with a Merc?

Kaudo wrote:

slowpoke68 wrote:I did read your excellent article Kaudo, was just looking for some extra guidance

From your experience on 1.0 do you think there will be an overabundance of Mercs? That is kind of what I am leaning towards.

Thanks much for the links and feedback guys.

I think there will be a lot more Arms for sure. A lot of people were raving about them in the beta, but it requires a certain setup to work well. I think if you see any 8v8 mercs though they will be Saracen with thrust. I don't like that playstyle though as you need to swap weapons a lot and it has a lot of positional styles lacking a good anytimer.

I think a Merc is an awesome choice though, you will have a great time 1 - 50, they are cheaper to template than arms and I would say they are more versatile in 8v8 as with arms heavy groups they will build around having 3 Arms in the party.

What is your end game goal, hardcore 8v8 or just fun guild groups and zergs? Also, were you wanting to slash, crush or thrust with a Merc?

If I can piggyback off what Kaudo said, which is all great information, you can't really go wrong between Arms & Merc; it truly depends on your playstyle. Arms can hit like an absolute truck, and the Det factor helps them immensely in RvR. That said, Merc are faster and more likely to be on the offensive, whereas the Arms may be more of a defensive tank for most of the fight. This obviously is a sweeping generalization and will depend on your playstyle, setup, and friends in RvR, but all else being equal the arms is better suited to play defense until theres a chance to unload on what the MA calls out, whereas the Merc can more easily get on the offensive due to faster swing speed.

I think Arms is gonna be an invaluable contribution to Alb, and while I'm actually going Reaver, if I were picking between Arms/Merc I would go Arms.

Thanks for the replies friends. As far as a merc goes I would do something along the lines of slash and shield and dw. Would probably make a Brit for rp reasons. Would like to be able to tank in pve groups if needed and have lots of utility in 8v8.

I was the regular warden in a really good 8v8 group on Guinivere back in the early 2000s and would ideally like to do that again.
However at 48 my reaction time probably isn't what it once was, so not sure if that is realistic.

Tried out a minstrel on the beta server and seems fun but not sure if I want to have to drag a charmed pet around with me all the time but I do like the idea of a support role.

Have to think about this more haha, but so glad I found out about this server with time to make a decision.

Gotta laugh at all this 3 arms group stuff, noone on mid played a warrior in beta so yea the one group running 3 arms did ok, if arms groups in alb are the norm just add one warrior with shield 50 (all have it) and some MoB and watch their DPS die as everything gets blocked by a decent guardtank.

Play arms if you want to be deftank, not if you want to go offensive. I played my merc (monza) in beta, and was very impressed with it once i got Prevent Flight, all the problems with not having a snare style were instantly solved.

Connavar wrote:Gotta laugh at all this 3 arms group stuff, noone on mid played a warrior in beta so yea the one group running 3 arms did ok, if arms groups in alb are the norm just add one warrior with shield 50 (all have it) and some MoB and watch their DPS die as everything gets blocked by a decent guardtank.

Play arms if you want to be deftank, not if you want to go offensive. I played my merc (monza) in beta, and was very impressed with it once i got Prevent Flight, all the problems with not having a snare style were instantly solved.

3 arms was a bit of an overkill i admit it (our group was the one running that setup mainly

BUT

Man, the xbow assist-train was hilarious

I think Rare and RvR Addictz tried every setup known to man to combat the 3 Arms setup and failed 95% of the time. So as far as it not working....

Well , i played Albion and RVR'd a lot in beta with Realm Joint and i didn't come across one mid group that ran a warrior, so i would say you are the one that's wrong mate. How can running a blockbot (guard works very well on Uthgard as we know) not work against 2H users?! Yea i know defense penetration is in now, but i can still see a whole load of Polearm hitting shield noises occuring!

Maybe someone from Paper Daoc can enlighten us seen as they were the ones running the 3arms group? Did you come across a mid group running a warrior as guardbot or not, and if so, what was the result?

Connavar wrote:Well , i played Albion and RVR'd a lot in beta with Realm Joint and i didn't come across one mid group that ran a warrior, so i would say you are the one that's wrong mate. How can running a blockbot (guard works very well on Uthgard as we know) not work against 2H users?! Yea i know defense penetration is in now, but i can still see a whole load of Polearm hitting shield noises occuring!

Maybe someone from Paper Daoc can enlighten us seen as they were the ones running the 3arms group? Did you come across a mid group running a warrior as guardbot or not, and if so, what was the result?

1) What warrior? the one with 3 theurg-snare pets on him from inc? (aka cant reach sh.t to guard properly vs the assist train).

2) Saved by the Bell (Koochi, olay, slayde, me, silveras) + friends/alliance mates ran the 3 arms setup mainly, at least after the i50/rr5 when i got active in the rvr myself. The 3 arms we had were usually me, estopeta,curlz/slayde/glelle.


Trust me, it really wasnt the 3 arms setup that was winning those fights hands down. It was the GOOD theurgists that won 75% of fights. Either cause people werent ready for non-genesis (aka next-to-useless in genesis) theurgs and/or because our theurgs were actually really decent players. /salute Olay and Katyperry for all the fun.

The 3 arms was just the cherry of the cake. Was fun when 3x Crippling blows hitting for 520ish non-crit each were landing on a slammed squishy target with their tank/peeler somewhere around trying to catch up with 2-3 ice pets snaring the bejeesus out of him.
Although more often than not, we would just assist x-bow cause x-bow damage was retarded As in, hitting healers for 160-200 per bolt (with 1+10 or so in xbows ) - i really hope that got fixed btw

I'm pretty sure though, that on release we're going to be running 2 arms and a merc as a tank group, and not 3 arms.
....
....
....
Maybe

Zurffette wrote:

Although more often than not, we would just assist x-bow cause x-bow damage was retarded As in, hitting healers for 160-200 per bolt (with 1+10 or so in xbows ) - i really hope that got fixed btw

Maybe thats the secret to the low bow damage. They switched bow and crossbow damage tables