"new" player BS or conq?

[RJMadCat]

Greetings everyone,

I have played the game in 2008 on launch and managed to level up a Barbarian to 43. I then stopped playing due to Internet problems ( south africa) and was digging in my old games and found my install disks. So I had the urge to play it again!

I have done some reading on classes and I am leaning towards BS and Conq, on the one hand the Conq can dps or tank, where the shaman i think is mainly healing if i understood this right?

The sustain + damage as i understand from the conq seems to be very decent and makes solo leveling very easy, but I also understand the BS is also pretty good with pulling big groups and farming up ( after 20's)

So the point of this post is for people to give me some constructive "arguments" why i should pick BS or Conq.

Thanks in Advance!

P.S Any additional advice about other classes is welcome, but my mind is pretty set so your argument will have to be extremely compelling

[edinazzu]

I play both and they're both good for different reasons, mostly all to do with endgame. A BS is a fantastic healer and always in need during raids. With being able to have multiple builds(feat trees) you can do both healing and dps. A conq is also fun, also can make use of multiple builds but, will always take a backseat to a guard as far as tanking goes. Many people play a conq so find room in raids may also be difficult. My advice? Play both classes. See what you enjoy best. Even I cannot put a finger on that button!

[RJMadCat]

I play both and they're both good for different reasons, mostly all to do with endgame. A BS is a fantastic healer and always in need during raids. With being able to have multiple builds(feat trees) you can do both healing and dps. A conq is also fun, also can make use of multiple builds but, will always take a backseat to a guard as far as tanking goes. Many people play a conq so find room in raids may also be difficult. My advice? Play both classes. See what you enjoy best. Even I cannot put a finger on that button!

Oh interesting, You mention that BS can do dps?

Competitive dps or just "pretend" dps?
I do not expect it to do the same as the top dps classes but could you actually spec dps and be able to do dungeons without holding everyone back?

Also could you suggest a spec for leveling? BS
You convinced me with end content, which is all I do on WoW.

1-0 for BS

[Amabala]

Edinazzu's advice - play both, see which is more to your liking - is good. I have two bears and a conq, and enjoy both classes. However, my bear is my main and I love playing the bear.

Bears do solid dps. It's single target dps, so as a healer you may not pass the tos's and poms on the dps charts, but then they won't be asked to stand with the tanks on some t4 bosses, either.

For the most part a bear can provide strong healing while in dps spec; I will use my heal spec on several t4 bosses and when solo healing in groups where I'm not familiar with the tanks abilities (or maybe when I know the player is good but just undergeared). The rest of the time I'll heal in dps spec.

Bears need some timing to get the most out of their abilities - either healing or dps. They are arguably the most in need of attention to details in AoC. If you get the feel for the bear shaman playstyle though, you'll love playing one.

[RJMadCat]

Excellent, thank you!

2-0 for the BS then
seems by tomorrow when the game is done downloading I will try out the BS 1st

So If they are capable healers even as dps, I guess lvling as dps is the way to go?

Is there something like "duel spec" like in WoW? If not is it easy enough to re spec?

[Prima]

Bears are awesome. Original, challenging, and mean. A major reason to play AoC.

And few groups would turn away a bear because they "already have a healer" (unless it's another bear). That's not really how AoC works.

There is dual-speccing but you'll find AoC "healer" classes do great DPS compared to other games; in some ways, they are more hybrids than "healers." The only reason to utterly min-max your build for healing is for really bad groups or for hard raids, and the gains aren't that great anyway.

[Jaedelyia]

There is a dual spec system, that you can activate once you're out of Tortage. But it might be restricted for subscribers only, idk.

[RJMadCat]

I am a subscriber luckily, Apparently F2P cannot post on the forums as I found out earlier today!

bit silly tbh

[AlaskaVX]

Kinda misleading thread imo,

Tos's and Pom's (other 2 healers) deal much more damage, even on single target.

Out of all classes equally skilled and geared bear shaman is second to last in the dps department just in front of guard (or other tanks in tank spec).

Its more of a group buff/debuffer healer, but also the funnest class to play imho.

If comparing a healer in aoc to a healer in another holy trio game (healer/tank/dps classes) though... BS's would be doing great dps

[cins]

Everyone is dps in AoC. Some also throw healing or tanking simultaneously.