anstalt wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:35 pm
Sure, dedicating all your time to single class is the quickest way to hit rr80, but its also the quickest way to burn out.
That feeling of putting all eggs in one basket... yeah, it sounds familiar. I’ve made that mistake in other games before, trying to prove a class was 'good' until I lost sight of the fun. This time, I’m embracing the alt-life, but with a clear goal: I want to hit at least RR80 with one primary class.
As a RoR newbie, I’m being realistic. I’m not expecting to roam solo and wipe Warbands on day one—I don’t even know the maps well enough yet! My reality is joining unorganized Warbands (Pugs) and seeing where the chaos takes me.
"I don't know if you've ever experienced this. You're playing your character in a new game and someone walks past you. Ooooooh, that class looks so good—I want to play that one too Unfortunately, that happens to me a lot in RoR. Or I'm playing as an Order character and see those cool-looking Destro classes—oh, I want to play that one too—and then the other way around as well..."
However, I’m looking for the class with the most potential for that specific journey. Here is where I stand:
The White Lion (WL): He feels like a true Brawler. There’s a certain 'no-think, just-smash' joy to it—jump in, pressure the target, kill, and move to the next. That 'stickiness' in melee is addictive.
The Engineer (Bitsy Bigbang): I love her look, but she just doesn't satisfy that melee itch. I miss being 'in their face.'
The Squig Herder: Very agile and the pet-play is great, but again, it’s mostly ranged.
So, for someone who enjoys the 'Brawler' playstyle but wants enough skill ceiling to perform well in solo/small-scale encounters later on: Which class has the better long-term potential for a Solo/Pug player aiming for RR80? Is the WE’s stealth-assassin route more rewarding than the WL’s 'in-your-face' brawler style in the long run?
I’m heading back into the game now to get some more levels in, but I’m curious to hear your veteran perspectives on the 'feel' vs. 'potential' of these two. See you on the battlefield!
Last edited by Ziorah on Fri Mar 27, 2026 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ziorah wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 4:02 pmSo, I have to say, I really like your YouTube channel. I watched a few videos today and have to say, you really put a lot of effort into it. I’ll definitely be checking it out more often starting today.
I sincerely appreciate the kind words. The primary goal of my videos has always been the same, to have fun with the material and to illustrate how much fun this game can be. There are many good players on the server, some much more into the weeds on specs and abilities than I am. My concern has always centered around the concept that if someone desires to invest time into playing a game, Return of Reckoning is worthy of that game time.
And I just like messing around with videos. Leave a like and a comment I'll be in town all week!
Ziorah wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 4:02 pmYou know, RoR is really a unique game...I’m really glad now—from December 2025 until the end of March 2026—that I tried out so many classes.
That is the essence of the new-player experience. Find a class you like and then run with it. Yeah, the initial grind can be frustrating at times, but strive to hit RR 60 (which isn't near as hard as it sounds) and your chosen class really begins to flesh itself out. Once in Tier Two-Three-Four run with the Blob for awhile to build up some quest and I would suggest:
Do Scenarios.
Scenario play is, for me, the most fun aspect of this game. With the recent Scenario Upgrade the fights tend to be much more balanced than what was true for, well, much longer than necessary. And remember, have fun.
Are you not interested in tanks? 2h SM/BO do absurd damage to the point where last time I played not having one in a 6v6 was a gigantic handicap and pretty much mandatory. They are your true brawlers.
The problem with mdps and this also goes for wh/we is that they depend on guard and healers to function in any kind of prolonged fighting. If you are just pugging you will be lucky to have just one of these.
Starx wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 5:18 pmAre you not interested in tanks? 2h SM/BO do absurd damage to the point where last time I played not having one in a 6v6 was a gigantic handicap and pretty much mandatory. They are your true brawlers.
Marauder fits perfectly what you looking for according to your explanations
perfect "brawler" - check
1vX potential - check (for solo def builds)
no heal life - check
long term mastery - check (stance dancing etc)
performance in pug - check
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll pass on the Black Orc (BO)—the aesthetics just don't click for me—but the Sword Master (SM) definitely has me curious.
To explain why I was looking at the WE and WL: For me, they represent the ultimate 'Brawler' feeling. What I mean by that is the thrill of closing the gap, staying glued to my target, and working them down until they're dead. It’s that visceral, close-quarters combat where you’re constantly 'on' the enemy. Ranged classes like my Engineer (Bitsy) just don't offer that—you’re always repositioning or keeping distance, and I’ve realized I crave the melee pressure instead.
I’m still a beginner, so for me, 'pugging' means spamming Scenarios and joining open Warbands. I’m in a great guild, but I don't have a fixed spot in their organized runs yet.
There is also a personal factor: I was born mute. Since I can't communicate via Discord or voice chat, I need a class that allows me to be independent. I want to be a threat in small groups or chaotic Pugs based on my own mechanics and 'battle flow' without needing constant voice-coordinated commands.
So, my question regarding the Sword Master:
Does the 2H SM offer that same 'brawler' feel? Can I stay glued to my target and secure kills like a WE or WL would, but with the added survivability of a tank? Is he a good choice for someone who needs to be self-sufficient and effective without using voice chat?
I'm really looking for that class that just 'clicks' and feels like a relentless force on the battlefield. Is the SM that hidden gem?
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll pass on the Black Orc (BO)—the aesthetics just don't click for me—but the Sword Master (SM) definitely has me curious.
To explain why I was looking at the WE and WL: For me, they represent the ultimate 'Brawler' feeling. What I mean by that is the thrill of closing the gap, staying glued to my target, and working them down until they're dead. It’s that visceral, close-quarters combat where you’re constantly 'on' the enemy. Ranged classes like my Engineer (Bitsy) just don't offer that—you’re always repositioning or keeping distance, and I’ve realized I crave the melee pressure instead.
I’m still a beginner, so for me, 'pugging' means spamming Scenarios and joining open Warbands. I’m in a great guild, but I don't have a fixed spot in their organized runs yet.
There is also a personal factor: I was born mute. Since I can't communicate via Discord or voice chat, I need a class that allows me to be independent. I want to be a threat in small groups or chaotic Pugs based on my own mechanics and 'battle flow' without needing constant voice-coordinated commands.
So, my question regarding the Sword Master:
Does the 2H SM offer that same 'brawler' feel? Can I stay glued to my target and secure kills like a WE or WL would, but with the added survivability of a tank? Is he a good choice for someone who needs to be self-sufficient and effective without using voice chat?
I'm really looking for that class that just 'clicks' and feels like a relentless force on the battlefield. Is the SM that hidden gem?
I don't think you will be "brawling" on MDPS as a newer player or even a veteran without a premade party in a lot of cases and I'll try to explain the best I can.
I've pretty much always never recommend newer/pug players to touch MDPS, I only recommended WE to you based on your specific criteria. The reason is this game is heavily balanced around certain abilities like guard. MDPS needs it to function outside of ganking, without it you are basically taking double damage outside your detaunt windows if you even can, and in those situations you can only rely on detaunt to run away not also be applying pressure at the same time like you are with guard. The nature of being melee also means you put yourself in a position that is inherently more dangerous as you will be in range of more enemy players. You have to be in the thick of it to apply pressure and that is a huge downside vs RDPS. However with a guard, with 2 healers in the party you are fine, and you will be brawling. But that's a BIG ask for random pug groups.
But as a RDPS, you can kite, put yourself in much safer positions, function without a guard... sure not all the time but sometimes is better than virtually never. RDPS is just much better suited for random pug situations where you don't have a guard, you might only have 1 or no healer.
IMO if you want to brawl, you should play tank. Tanks in this game are done extremely well for a PvP game, you are essentially a support class that plays like a MDPS. You said you also want something technically challenging, and I think tank is the best example in this game. You keep your party alive mainly through mitigating damage. This is done mainly through guard, challenge, and certain morales. Guard is the single strongest ability in the game, and as a tank its your job to use it on who needs it, pay attention to your party frames and callouts etc. Challenge is like the opposite of gaurd in an AoE where you cut outgoing damage instead of incoming. Tanks also have longer range punts, which are basically the only actual counter to guard, as punting away the tank guarding someone, or punting that person away from their guard is the only way to remove it. Now SM doesn't have a punt that I would consider anti-guard (unless something has changed) but they have plenty to make up for it and honestly most people aren't even thinking about things like these tbh.
Tanks also usually have a much larger buff/debuff/CC kit than RDPS or healers, on top of the mitigation tools you bring a lot of stat buffs, debuffs, hard CC etc. So you are managing all these things and on top of that playing essentially a MDPS, which is why I say these are the most technically challenging classes in the game. But do remember you are a SUPPORT class, its your job to guard someone, throw out challenge, use some of the best CC in the game like champs challenge, assist your DPS. But you are brawling while doing this.
While you are melee, and have all the downsides I listed about MDPS, you are much more tanky and don't have the same issues, you are the guard you don't need one to go in and fight... but you still need healers, but so does everyone. And as a tank, you have a lot of privledges in terms of finding groups, getting sc pops, making friends, etc. You are just more desirable.
Communication is something I think a lot about, sorry to hear you are mute. When I took my 5 year hiatus from this game I spent most of my time playing a game called SQUAD which is pretty much all about communication. I also remember spending hours in discord with guildies talking about how to shot call, or just comms in general for 6 man stuff so I'll try to say what I can about communication in this game, though I never really thought or cared too much about WB scale stuff.
For a 6 man the shotcaller is usually going to be the MDPS player. DPS in general is a less mechanically intense compared to tank/healer so less to think about. MDPS in particular should be shotcalling as their ability to deal damage depends on them being in well... melee range, so its best if they are calling out targets because if someone else is they now also have to also take into account if the MDPS in their party is going to be on target. Whereas a RDPS can pretty much always be on what they need to.
Comms should be efficient, and really aside from the shotcaller most of what needs to be said are short answers that you could easily bind to a macro to say in chat. Just being able to say "Yes" or "No" if a certain ability is off CD covers a lot of it, and there are addons you can install that will announce when you do certain actions that people might want to know about like dropping a morale or swapping guard etc.
To give an example in a 6v6 where both sides are equally geared/skilled nothing is going to die without executing some kind of play, guard and healing are just way too strong. So those matches tend to have a neutral game where people are building morales, looking for opening etc. What you want to happen is a series of events that happen all around the same time to land a kill. So to stop healing output for a time ranged staggers are extremely good, usually a RP/Z on the enemy healer, both even better if you have another source. Guard has to be removed, and the only way to do that is with a punt on the tank guarding the target. Unfortunately this is one of the SM biggest weakness (unless something has changed since I've been gone). And the 2nd enemy tank not guarding the target needs to also be punted or KD to stop a guard swap in time. The target itself should be KD/Champ challenged to stop a reactive detaunt or them getting running out of range during the few seconds you have to deal damage from your tanks/mdps. In this situation as a SM player all you need to do is listen for calls and do what you guys planned way in advance, your shot caller is going to tell you who to KD, or when to use a morale etc.
In WBs you'll be expected to communicate even less so I wouldn't worry too much about that. The one case I can think of being mute might be a sizeable detriment is going to be playing healer in smaller scale stuff. If you get popped on by someone that your party isn't aware of and they wont find out till they notice your party frame at half health but even then you can make a macro that yells out BEHIND or HELP etc. The TLDR here is unless you are shotcalling in a 6man or a warband leader, you just need to listen 99% of the time even in what could be considered higher end competitive content in this game.
Again I strongly suggest staying away from MDPS unless you just want to solo gank on WE/WH, and ganking not brawling. These classes are meant to kill something as fast as possible, opening on them without them knowing and reacting, its not anything like an honorable 1v1 duel. And just like every other MDPS they will suffer without a guard/proper group comp in most of the content the game has to offer.
Thanks for reading my novel, MDPS pugging is dogwater.
My reality is joining unorganized Warbands (Pugs) and seeing where the chaos takes me.
