2h SM or WL

[Wodek]

Hi all

So I'm new to WAR but have played a lot of mmorpg's in the past.

I leveled the most of the classes that are appealing me to level 15 and now I really hesitate between 2 classes.
The SM 2h and the WL.

I would like to play mostly on oRvR, small-scale and scenario. I don't mind doing some PvE.

I have a friend that will play a Slayer with me.

What can I expect in the endgame of both classes?

Thanks all for the help

[Starx]

Both classes are great, and it would be a hard choice between the two however if your friend is playing slayer he is going to need the guard from SM to actually do anything.

[Charon]

Take SM - your SL will survive long enough to do dmg and you can easly add your assist dmg to secure kills and buffs your mate stats via nature-blade enchantment etc. But be prepared to do a lot of pve if you want master SM gear (not necessary but usefull) before sov/warlord lev.

[Satz]

Well if you and your friend plan to play together a lot, I really recommend you picking on SM due to your slayer friend will need guard to do his job. WL is good but I would recommend it if your friend was healer or any other class.

[anarchypark]

do u wanna dps? or tank?
pretty simple question.

here's list for cons.
dps SM + slayer is only good against pug who don't have healer.
if enemy got healer you also need healer then it's 6man.
in 6man hybrid is kinda weak link, team have to built around it.
so you'll play highly coordinated 6man or pug ganking duo.
rest area is melting as 2 squishes.

WL + slayer is glass cannon duo.
you'll die a lot but after few kills.
or search 2:1 for ez mode.

tank SM + slayer is nothing special. you need healer to do anything. but posssible to do anything you want.

[StrongUn]

If you want to play as a DD and kill play WL
if you want to assist and help your friend play SM

Both duo DD and Tank + dps are very good to paly

[BeautfulToad]

Main prob with 2handed tanks is you need to do a fair bit of pve

[Arthem]

Unless you have additional friends or plan to make some you should play SM to guard your friend slayer. However if you get other tanks slayer + wl is a good combo.

[Martok]

Both classes are great, and it would be a hard choice between the two however if your friend is playing slayer he is going to need the guard from SM to actually do anything.

I agree with this sentiment. Both classes are enjoyable and the fundamental differences in the associated mechanics will eliminate the redundancy factor.

[Rathael87]

Perhaps a little extra information would inform your decision:

WL is a very strong single-target burst MDPS. It has respectable AoE damage in AoE spec, especially since you can acquire an axe that has a chance to cause incoming heal debuff on targets hit (which synergizes very nicely with AoE). WL is powerful in small-scale and scenarios, but as usual with MDPS you will need a guard from a tank against competent opponents. In scenarios, DPS working together to burst targets down is extremely important. This is something you can do as a melee DPS pair very well, but you will often lack guards from tanks (many tanks do not know how to properly play with guard). You may find that you die often before you can really do any burst damage together. In addition, you may struggle to keep your targets crowd-controlled and snared unless a PUG tank is smart enough to follow you guys and assist on your targets.

I am a main SM. 2H SM is respectable in small scale and pretty garbage in large-scale oRvR. The optimal way to play 2H SM is to be moderately tanky while providing moderate damage. The idea is to find a balance between being tanky enough to guard your slayer friend without dying too fast, but also doing enough damage to add to your slayer's pressure. Your slayer will struggle to kill healers by himself, and the 2H SM provides decent single-target damage pressure that will turn your nearly-lethal slayer into a lethal slayer. As a tank, you have access to a lot of interrupts, crowd-control and perma-snare. This really helps a MDPS out a lot if you follow him and help control his targets. A tank's job is to make their guard buddy's life as easy as possible. In the case of 2H SM this includes applying a little extra pressure to their target to make sure it dies.

So basically it's your choice. You can pair up as MDPS and look for skilled flanking burst plays on unsuspecting healers and squishy ranged, with the drawback of having minimal protection and ways to control your targets, or you can go Tank&DPS and sacrifice a lot of burst potential in order to protect your slayer better and help him stay on his targets.

In terms of your personal play experience without your friend... if you enjoy DPS and securing kills then I would recommend you play WL. Tanks are not able to take full DPS roles and are not good at securing kills alone. Tanks simply don't do the damage of proper, experienced and competent DPS players or have the tools to secure kills. We have mitigation and supportive abilities and are designed to enable our allies more than making plays ourselves. MDPS still need tanks to perform at their best - but it's the DPS classes that make the kills no matter what area of the game you are playing.