Class Summaries

[Iqloo]

So, I've been thinking about it for awhile now and I believe that it's most likely time for me to come back for a month or two. As with the past few times I've made my return I do enjoy rolling a new character, or perhaps revisiting an old project, and playing around on it. The main reason being that sadly enough nanomage whittles away at my spirits for every second I'm logged in. Recently I made a post asking about bureaucrats and much to my surprise it seemed I was completely off on some things issue. This makes me realize that the game has perhaps developed, if not a little bit, while I was away.

First off I'm just going to list the races and classes and write a brief summary on what I remember about each. If you see that I'm wrong on something, or something has been updated please reply and tell me whats new so that I may be up to date and informed.

Now, I realize that this is a lot of text, and not everyone wants to read everything. If thats the case just skip to your race, or your class and only read those. I did my best to keep each summary as independent as I could. Also, please don't post just "WOW THATS A LOT OF WORDS." There's really no point as I'm sure everyone's already deducted this. On any normal forum I realize that I'd get MORE of these posts by asking this, but I have faith in you AP! FAITH!

Races
Atrox: God of all races. Sure it wasn't great in the early game for every class, but that isn't really what matters to me, I just care about the endgame. Endgame they had the most HP, and the hardest to buff attributes. I remember their Shadowlands ability was a huge asset to raids, and the same goes to their Alien Invasion +add all off perk. With how important HP was, and how easy it was to compensate for poor nano pools, they were really a strong contender for the best race for any class.

Nanomage: Poor Manomages ): Nanomages had horrible health pools, and even worse weapon trickle down. They were pretty much the exact opposite of Atrox. I don't think I ever used the Alien Invasion perk and if I recall there was only one extreme situation where their Shadowlands cool down was ever useful in a raid. Nano pool was just so meaningless later on, and it's all the Nanomage really had which can make for one sad panda. It did have the coolest head options in the game though!

Opifex: I could never tell much of a difference between Opifex and Solitus. Opifex had the best trickle down for ranged and evasive abilities, and along with that they had a good nanopool and their health wasn;t that much lower than a Solitus's, which really wasn't that bad. This race's strength lied in its evade trickle down, which I remember being the stat to have for anyone that wanted to PVP, that or health. Something in the back of my head tells me that it was really good for equipping a lot of of the upper level symbiants, not sure if that voice can be trusted.

Solitus: Yay mediocrity! Seriously, yay! They were not bad at anything, and they were certainly good at everything. Their Shadowlands cool down could net them a few credits too. This was the race to be for equipping high level symbiants, the only one that could do the 300's at least. Aside from that, there's not much to say, they really were just like Sam Adams, always a good decision.

Classes
Adventurer: Adventurer was an around class, and all at the same time with a few strong shape shifting forms sprinkled about just to help things out. Adventurers used pistols or one handed edge, as long as they could dual wield it. This class could heal groups that were higher or out geared the content but could not heal enough to keep a group up on harder content. Adventurers could tank easier content to an extent. Crowd control was very limited, but useful nevertheless, as it was able to do preemptive mezzes. Adventures did formidable DPS using melee weapons, slightly less but still good using ranged. I'm not really sure where Adventurers exceled in DPS, whether its burst or over time, perhaps it was a little of both? Advys could take on any other class with a decent success rate in PVP, not always always I win, but most of the time. They could also solo most content without much of an issue, because it seemed as if they are pretty much built for doing such. Definitely one of the easier class to learn and play.

Agent: Agent was another all around class, but not at once due to the limits of its false profession ability. Agents used rifles and thrown objects. This class could also heal groups fairly well by false professioning Doctor, but often ran into nano pool issues. An Agent could also tank easy content by FPing Soldier or Enforcer. This was one of the best DPSers, and still is if the AS glitch still works! It had really good with burst but was not so great with long term damage. Agents were able to use limited crowd control that was only really useful in PVP and solo situations. In PVP the Agent could take on any other class and win most of the time if they had the right FP up. Agents were able to solo most content with a little preparation and clever use of some class mechanics. It was one of the hardest classes to learn due to all of the possibilities, but wasn't so hard to play.

Bureaucrat: Formidable all around crowd control along with great team buffs. Bureaucrats used whatever weapon they could get their hands on to hopefully improve their performance in some way or another, with a slight tenancy towards pistols. Bureaucrat didn't do much damage, certainly didn't tank, and didn't heal but it made up for all of that by being able to keep large groups of mobs locked down. The bureaucrat got most of its damage done by his Corporate Guardian and Carlo Pinetti, or a few charms if they so desired. This wasn't a popular option though as without two charms, which was a pain to keep up and was really dangerous, they couldn't come close to making up for Carlo's throughput. Because the bureaucrat's damage comes mostly from pets, their burst was near non existent. A bureaucrat's PVP life was both depressing and incredibly rewarding. Simply getting killed by a crat was enough to shame most of the "hardcore" PVPers, and from that came both and obvious problem and possible delight. I found most end game boss camps pretty much impossible to solo. The class over all is not terribly difficult to learn, but bureaucrat is one rough, but if done right, was an extremely rewarding class to play.

Doctor: Heals galore, and commando tank ability as well along with a great debuff and some DoTs that I don't remember many doctors getting too excited over made this a very well developed direct support class. Doctors used literally whatever they could find, from martial arts to dual wielded and even over to a wide variety of ranged weapons which seemed to take prominence in the end game. This class was the healer of healers, with every tool imaginable to keep theirs and other teams alive. Doctors could tank lower content by simply spamming Complete Heal on themselves, healing themselves almost completely and generating enough threat to pull anything off anyone, perhaps even Mongo himself. Doctor's only crowd control, if it could even be called that, was in its signature Uncontrollable Body Tremors nano. DPS did not seem to be that great for a doctor, and I don't think the DoTs really did that much. Also they were usually too busy keeping their team up to put anything meaningful out from their weapon. PVPing a doctor was a lot like fighting a child's punching bag, you may think it's down, but after a few seconds it always sprouts back up as good as new. Doctors seemed to be the masters of soloing, not by speed but by what they can solo. They were able to kill off the biggest baddest hardest hitting mobs in the game, provided they had a fully stocked cooler right beside their PC and a good book or movie to pass the time with. Doctors were in the middle of easy and difficult in learning and playing the class as it was a healer, a rather stressful job in many situations.

Enforcer: Enforcers were the tanks, they had the biggest health and the best tools to manage aggro. Enforcers used any melee weapon they could get their hands on, two handed Kyr'Ozch swords were the thing to have last I played. Enforcers were unable to do much about damage taken without their faithful healer being about, and they couldn't really CC but that's OK, they could take quite a few hits before something falls off, because as stated above, they were the aggro mongering heal sucking machines we liked to call tanks. Enforcer DPS was from what I remember not that bad, I don't think they could burst down a target in the blink of an eye, but I don't remember their individual hits ever being confused with anything close to a mosquito bite. Enforcers could hold their own pretty well in player vs player combat, they had the tools they need at least. These same assets also made them pretty good as soloing a few things between groups, though I don't think they found content quite as trivial as some other classes. Enforcer appeared to be easy enough to learn, but since it often finds itself tanking I bet that it was pretty hectic at times.

Engineer: With their trusty robots at side, any challenge could be taken with a little ingenuity and luck on their pet's AI... at least when you could use pets without getting kicked out a raid. Engineers loved any gun that could, well, shoot. I believe that ranged energy was the thing to have. They couldn't heal, they couldn't tank really, and aside from glitching a mob's pathing out, or getting a pet to actually tank a mob, couldn't do much in the crowd control department. What they could do though was DPS, the longer the fight the higher the engineer went on the charts. PVP as an engineer was good, in fact I remember a few of the best PVPers were engineers. Because their pet can tank and do pretty good damage they were also able to solo quite well. Engineer was a bit hard to learn because of all the ways you could glitch out your pet, intentionally and... not so intentionally, and once you do get it down it was pretty tough to manage all those things at once, I guess it really depends on the situation though.

Fixer: The old road runner cartoons seem to come to mind when I think of the Fixer, fast agile and always able to get away. Fixers used dual SMGs, unless their user was tricked into thinking one was enough. Fixers had really good long term heal over times that were made to compliment their evasive abilities, which were certainly good, but weren't good enough to tank anything. Fixers had very nice snares and roots for crowd control to compliment their breakneck speed, but nothing in the mezz department, meaning if they decide to let something by they certainly need to keep on moving. In DPS many fixers were pretty upset, as they were supposed to be really good but it was really hard to live up to that expectation. Solo wise they were the masters of Rubi-Ka as they could warp around wherever they please and set mission difficulties 25 level higher than anyone else. Shadowlands though, I think they mainly just went splat on most of the bosses. Fixers seemed to be at a good difficulty in learning and play, they seemed not too hard but, not super duper easy either.

Keeper: Self heals, top notch DPS, and tougher than a rock, whats lacking? A Challenge. Keepers used two handed swords, I can't think of a single instance, twinking aside, that I saw one using something else. They could heal themselves through a powerful aura and a pretty good talent. Using these they could tank to an extent, but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list. Keepers had no crowd control what so ever, which was really OK since they could just steamroll anything that they come across. DPS as a keeper was amazing, I think only a soldier and a shade could really beat them with any certainty. As I've gone over already in this recollection, Keepers could do anything, especially solo. I remember soloing hecks long before I'd ever dare even pulling aggro on any of my other toons. Difficulty wise, I feel safe in saying keeper was the easiest class, all around.

Martial Artist: I was never too familiar with the Martial Artist, so if someone could enlighten me some please do. They used fist weapons or no weapons at all, and were pretty adept at both. They had a small heal that can help in some situations, but by no means should you enlist one to heal your group. They were about as good at tanking as they were at healing, maybe they could stay alive a little bit, but in most situations not. PVP wise I remember MA's being pretty good, I don't think they were at the head of the totem, but I can't imagine the shoulders or neck being too far off. They also seemed to be able to kill anything they had their mind set on, with some work though. I can't imagine a class that you don't need to think about which weapon to use being that hard to learn, but again I really didn't have a MA friend that would discuss their class much (Female, we could learned so much about each other <3) so I could/probably am wrong.

Meta-Physicist: Meta-Physicists had one pet for every "role" of a team, spare maybe tanking. They could also be employed to do hours of mindless crystal filling and be beckoned on from all corners of Rimor to bestow upon some lucky player eight hour buffs, that would never live out their full duration. MPs have quite a few summoned weapons that didn't seem to be that popular later in the game, but they did add several new ones about when I left and I feel it would be cool if those were actually used now. Instead MPs relied on bows and for the longest time a Maw of the Abyss (;. The healing pet was nothing more than a moderate HoT that followed you around and allowed you to run around Inferno without the boots. I remember MP pets being extremely squishy, so I don't think there was much pet tanking going on. DPS wasn't great, but Rihawen sure did help. I couldn't imagine a MP topping the DPS meters, but I couldn't imagine them being on the bottom either. PVP as a MP seemed to be about as good as Bureaucrat PVP, though I do remember Chrisax giving Rampage007 a run for his money once, and seeing as how Chris was still in his signature blue suit and helm at that point (I think) and Ramp being decked out, that could be saying something. Solo wise I can't imagine a MP downing a LoTV, but I can't imagine them having hard times with some of the weaker bosses either. I thought managing two pets was a pain as a 'Crat, plus all the buff begging, and the crystals, oh how much willpower one must have had to play this class.

Nano-Technician: Nano-Technicians had a unique role in PVE, and I guess PVP as well, that they did nothing but kite, and spam AoE in public raids (where kiting was often frowned upon.) Equipment wise NTs had it about as easy as a Martial Artist, they used these little arm things that look strangely familiar to the Yu-Gi-Oh portable card platforms, that could just be me though. They didn't heal, and they didn't tank, but they did have a pretty good arsenal of crowd control, which was right under Trader and Bureaucrat. DPS they were definitely up there, though they struggled a bit compared to the more close range classes. Soloing as an NT was most interesting, as how much damage your opponent did and health it had was little to no factor, but instead the range at which they could attack and how much open space there was were the determining factors to whether an NT could kill something. NT was pretty tricky to learn, but once you get into the groove it was smooth sailing.

Shade: Shades were sneaky and evasive flash killing devils. Shades used their own line of equipment mainly, and used dual wielded daggers as weapons. There was a certain uprising of some shades using MA weapons, and I'm certainly interested in how that turned out if anyone would be glad to enlighten me. Shades tanking, crowd control, heals etc came from the mass of perks that they spammed while tangoing around players and mobs alike. I think they were able to do very minor healing and crowd control, healing entirely to themselves, and I also remember Shahiz tanking a few alien raids for me, so I guess they could do that too. Shade damage was amazing, they were definitely up the tippy top ranks, though it seemed that they had to work for it more than their peers. PVP as a shade seemed to be auto win under pretty much any circumstance, coincidentally the same applied to any boss camp, spare the Nascence Lord. With all of the abilities you had to learn I would guess shade would be pretty tough to get down at first, but I can't imagine that they confusing at all for very long.

Soldier: Massive damage dealing class dealt massive damage. Soldiers used any weapon they could find that had Full Auto. Soldiers had a very small heal that I shouldn't even be mentioning but they were the second choice in tanking, actually first in a few 'tigg teams I was in. Soldiers did not need crowd control, in the time a mezz could be cast a soldier could just full auto and be done with it (over exaggeration of course, but, close.) Soldiers were the biggest damage class, leaving everyone else, except maybe a master of one of the other DPS classes, in the dust. PVP as soldier was, like shade, pretty much I win. I never got a soldier up that high, but judging from my experiences false professioning one, the damage they do, and never hearing a soldier complain about *anything*, I couldn't imagine it being anything over a cakewalk.

Trader: Traders are the debuff masters, and at the same time buff masters. They used shotguns to a good bit of effectiveness. They had a rather draining heal that was only good in emergency situations, and was nearly useless for soloing. The mere idea of a trader tank is laughable, but if its possible, do tell. Their crowd control was, however, nothing to laugh at. They were really good at this, almost as good, if not better than a Bureaucrat. In DPS they could hold their own, I wouldn't see them at the top of any charts though, but instead they would just be chillin' with their Fixer friends. Solo wise, the trader was able to solo some mobs, but less than some other classes. Over all I'd put them at a harder class to play.

In closing I'd like to remind you that these are all my opinions on the classes and races that make up Anarchy Online from what I remember when I used to play this game. Do not take these as fact regarding the current state of the game. If you disagree with something, think I'm completely wrong, or just have contributive comments, please share them, it's why I made this post. Thanks for reading, I eagerly await your replies!

[Chrisax]

I've been thinking about it for awhile now and I believe that it's most likely time for me to come back for a month or two.

I stopped reading after this line as I fell off my chair and started to happily run around the room shouting "Iqloo is coming back Iqloo is coming back", until the men in white came. But they treat me kindly and provide me with pills.


More seriously, you made a nice summary, Iqloo, but, yes, many things have changed, so I'll wait until your are done with your first thoughts to post comments.

Just one example though: The nanotechnician is now a PvP beast!

Oh, and by the way, "mana" is pronounced "nanopool" in AO.

[Grind42]

I also want some pills!!!

Iqloo, looking forward to seeing you. Your post looks pretty much correct. There is alot more endgame gear nowadays to find solutions to most equip configs.

So generally you can work around a "plan"