Status of classic roles

[Symerith]

How do monkchers, shiradis & melee DPS compare to each other these days ? (For endgame, EE, LE, whataver is the toughest content)



Archers : when I left, 12 monk 6 ranger 2 smthg was definitely the best split. What's today's best ranged build ?

FotW all the way or can LD be an option for ranged combat ?

Can barbarians make decent archers ?



Melee : Are melee DPS viable for endgame ? Barbarian/Paladin still the best THF, fighter/ranger for TWF ?

Casters : are DC casters viable ?

As a long time FvS lover, can a DC casting FvS dish out some decent damage in comparison to a shiradi and easily solo EE

Thanks !

[Mr_Helmet]

Melee : Are melee DPS viable for endgame ? Barbarian/Paladin still the best THF, fighter/ranger for TWF ?

Casters : are DC casters viable ?

As a long time FvS lover, can a DC casting FvS dish out some decent damage in comparison to a shiradi and easily solo EE

Thanks !

Can't speak for the ranged toons, but melees and DC casters are just fine right now. Both arcanes and divines though you rarely see them. My DCs are high enough on a wizard these days that I can afford to be in Shiradi for respectable red-named DPS.

Fighter is probably best THFer, Tempest ranger is best TWFer (probably). I'm talking damage output, with other factors YMMV.

[boredman]

How do monkchers, shiradis & melee DPS compare to each other these days ? (For endgame, EE, LE, whataver is the toughest content)



Archers : when I left, 12 monk 6 ranger 2 smthg was definitely the best split. What's today's best ranged build ?

FotW all the way or can LD be an option for ranged combat ?

Can barbarians make decent archers ?



Melee : Are melee DPS viable for endgame ? Barbarian/Paladin still the best THF, fighter/ranger for TWF ?

Casters : are DC casters viable ?

As a long time FvS lover, can a DC casting FvS dish out some decent damage in comparison to a shiradi and easily solo EE

Thanks !

About ranged builds, now there are more options with shuriken and repeater/greatcrossbow builds, along with high dmg burst archers. The best would be probably a shuriken build in fotw with both sustained and burst dmg. (between shurikens there are also variants (pure monk or monk/ranger splash), some wis based using terror arcane archer non wai imbues for instakills, also using the legendary shroud ender set for more instakills, and others more focused on boss dmg with high dex and furyshot).
About ranged epic destiny, Fotw for most of the builds for the burst dmg, but LD/DC/SD can be used on some shuriken and many crossbow builds for more sustained dmg.
(dont know about barbarian archers)

About viable dps for end game almost everything can be viable (both meeles and casters, ranged can have great damage), the thing is that ranged/casters builds can build great overall damage while keeping great survival (self heal, buffs, ranged kiting combat) while meeles have to build for more defenses, moving and maybe tactics in le raids (although they can get very good single target dmg with twf fighter/rangers/monk splashes and others in wolf form) (barbarians still have good dmg but falls behind in defenses on hardest content, now there are some silvanus maul builds (splashes of cleric, fvs, paladin, non morninglord forgotten realm classes) and kensei/monk splashes for thf as well, also some tree(avatar of nature) builds for great aoe burst dmg and defenses.

Dc casters are viable. (sorcerers can be good overall, warlock is the powerful no brain class(dc or non dc, survival, free dmg options) and multiclass, instakill wizards can be deadly machines in some content) (don't know much about fvs but think can be viable as well), but shiradi is really powerful overall when combining his sustained dmg with the caster epic dmg (hellball, ruin, greater ruin, glacial wrath,,energy burst, arcane pulse, etc)

That's my thoughts

[Enoach]

How do monkchers, shiradis & melee DPS compare to each other these days ? (For endgame, EE, LE, whataver is the toughest content)

They are getting closer in some areas and other areas they still maintain their spread. However, all of these can be competitive in the High end content were survival and DPS still need to be balanced.

Archers : when I left, 12 monk 6 ranger 2 smthg was definitely the best split. What's today's best ranged build ?

This was a good split because of 10K Stars and Manyshot. These two feats don't work well together, as they were changed to be bonuses on DoubleShot percent allowing for up to 4 arrows. Also, there is no longer a penalty to Doubleshot when you use these abilities. So you no longer need both just one. This opened up more options.

There have also been changes to the Monk Stances so you may want to look at those changes as they may have some bearing on your build.

Rangers also had a pass that has changed AA and DWS.

What all of this has done has made more split options available for Ranged Characters. Including Arcane and Divine primary builds

FotW all the way or can LD be an option for ranged combat ?

FotW will always give you good burst damage and LD consistent damage. However, don't discount DC as it has a good boost to doubleshoot and spell power which works well with changes to the AA tree.

Can barbarians make decent archers ?

I believe they can especially if Strength is your primary Damage Attribute. You will just need to plan it out as far as Feats go. Ranger Levels will help here.

Melee : Are melee DPS viable for endgame ? Barbarian/Paladin still the best THF, fighter/ranger for TWF ?

Yes. Keep in mind in LE content stuff hits hard. But there is also more gear to help in that area.

Barbarian and Paladin do have pluses when it comes to THF. But I wouldn't discount the Fighter class in that area with Kensai

Fighter and Ranger simply by Feat Access generally do well with TWF.

Casters : are DC casters viable ?

With Spell Pen and Spell DC items as well as boosts to primary casting attribute a geared DC caster has plenty of tools to be effective. From time to time it will only be against the weakest save but they can still carry their own weight.

As a long time FvS lover, can a DC casting FvS dish out some decent damage in comparison to a shiradi and easily solo EE

FvS are next on the list for Enhancement review/adjustments (and maybe even get 3rd Tree). While FvS population has dwindled I predict that they will make a resurgence. Again, new gear has made all caster types (DC and Nuke) better.

Thanks !

[Knight_slayer]

How do monkchers, shiradis & melee DPS compare to each other these days ? (For endgame, EE, LE, whataver is the toughest content)

Hey Sith, good to see you on the forums (and sorry I missed you in game the other day).

Here is the thing, because you have just returned I imagine you haven't crafted any slavers gear or shroud gear yet. This gear is so OP that its an absolute must have for all builds. While monchers, shiradis, DC casters and melee DPS all still have a place in the endgame meta there are builds that excel at farming slavers, they are shiradi nukers and DC nukers (sorc/wiz). Moncher is still awesome DPS but will be much tougher in the many many slavers runs you will need to complete to be competitive on any build. So if you're asking me, make a sorc or a shiradi spammer.