New player help?

[drugerrr]

Started playing this day few days ago. Obviously the story and storytelling here sucks ass, I can't recall a single quest I completed, it's all boring. But the thing is it's all about group activities here.
So I was wondering, what are the good choices for a rdps here? Recommend me a class or two viable for ALL content, both pvp and pve. And please spell the words, don't write something like BW SW it doesn't tell me anything. Also I don't really care for which side to play.
TY in advance!

[Cyrylius]

Well, setting aside my opinion on refusing to use the abbreviations, you have essentially 4 cases to discuss, those cases being bw/sorc (I will elaborate later), engi/magus, sh and sw.

Bright Wizard, and Sorcerer/Sorceress on destro, are very similar and for that reason I'll describe them together. Widely used for large scale aoe dps, good for roaming, has its niche in 6v6 scene. Notably dependant on support, heals specifically- in fact its nearly impossible to play without those, and solo on either is a challenging task.

Here I should probably mention that all classes are fine for pve content, though ranged ones will in general lag behind melee ones for sustained dps.

Next up we have engineer and magus. I do belive one of those (magus) is objectively better than the other one for a multitude of reasons. Engineer on the other hand gives you opportunity to join Bitterstone Thunderers, which i heard is quite an enjoyable experience. Pretty hard classes due to clunky mechanic, having one of the most diverse skill spread in return. Not really a first pick for most groups and requires a lot of practise to have good results especially in AoE close range spec, but one of the most self sufficient classes in RoR. Their pve damage is not great, but they bring very good utility in 15% damage buff and best ap pump in game. I'm not saying rolling either is a good choice for a new player, in fact unless you really like visuals/fluff you'll probably enjoy other classes more.

Now, while squig herder (sq or sh) and Shadow Warrior (sw) are mirrors, their ranged specs play very differently.
Ranged squig is single target burst damage, notoriously excellent at kiting ganking and sniping people from medium range while having enough CC and mobility tools to escape most threats. Fun to play and really strong, but you would have to play the melee variant to get spots in warbands. And the playstyle requires some training to properly execute.

Shadow Warrior is a bit more versatile at range, trading away some ST potential for mediocre AoE. Unfortunately it means both AoE and ST options are limited. SW AoE is dependant on getting Swordmaster with Whispering Winds in party then coordinating with him to get actual consistent damage, ST revolves about having one insanely hard hitting skill that requires 3 seconds casttime and a few ranged utility options. Good news is getting one SW in a 24 man warband is usually not an issue for the ambush m2, bad news is that there's little demand for SWs beyond that. They can play solo to some extent and kite groups will be very reliant on those but most regular groups will prefer other classes.

Now, there is a secret 5th option for rdps.
Shaman/Archmage, technically a healer class but with a very potent dps spec. Excellent for solo roaming, sometimes used for ranged kite groups. With the exception of random utility dps am for group shatters nonexistent in large scale fights unless you decide to try healing, in which case you automatically become viable in every piece of content everywhere. Technically not a viable pick for most content, practically can find a niche in every scenario you will ever find yourself in, with a caveat of being ultimately worse than a proper dps at doing sheer damage. Widely considered fun to play.

There is technically one more pair of ranged classes. That pair being runepriest and zealot, again, primarily healers. Both classes have extensive dps options, that one could spec into and try playing. Don't play neither.

[drugerrr]

Well, setting aside my opinion on refusing to use the abbreviations, you have essentially 4 cases to discuss, those cases being bw/sorc (I will elaborate later), engi/magus, sh and sw.

Bright Wizard, and Sorcerer/Sorceress on destro, are very similar and for that reason I'll describe them together. Widely used for large scale aoe dps, good for roaming, has its niche in 6v6 scene. Notably dependant on support, heals specifically- in fact its nearly impossible to play without those, and solo on either is a challenging task.

Here I should probably mention that all classes are fine for pve content, though ranged ones will in general lag behind melee ones for sustained dps.

Next up we have engineer and magus. I do belive one of those (magus) is objectively better than the other one for a multitude of reasons. Engineer on the other hand gives you opportunity to join Bitterstone Thunderers, which i heard is quite an enjoyable experience. Pretty hard classes due to clunky mechanic, having one of the most diverse skill spread in return. Not really a first pick for most groups and requires a lot of practise to have good results especially in AoE close range spec, but one of the most self sufficient classes in RoR. Their pve damage is not great, but they bring very good utility in 15% damage buff and best ap pump in game. I'm not saying rolling either is a good choice for a new player, in fact unless you really like visuals/fluff you'll probably enjoy other classes more.

Now, while squig herder (sq or sh) and Shadow Warrior (sw) are mirrors, their ranged specs play very differently.
Ranged squig is single target burst damage, notoriously excellent at kiting ganking and sniping people from medium range while having enough CC and mobility tools to escape most threats. Fun to play and really strong, but you would have to play the melee variant to get spots in warbands. And the playstyle requires some training to properly execute.

Shadow Warrior is a bit more versatile at range, trading away some ST potential for mediocre AoE. Unfortunately it means both AoE and ST options are limited. SW AoE is dependant on getting Swordmaster with Whispering Winds in party then coordinating with him to get actual consistent damage, ST revolves about having one insanely hard hitting skill that requires 3 seconds casttime and a few ranged utility options. Good news is getting one SW in a 24 man warband is usually not an issue for the ambush m2, bad news is that there's little demand for SWs beyond that. They can play solo to some extent and kite groups will be very reliant on those but most regular groups will prefer other classes.

Now, there is a secret 5th option for rdps.
Shaman/Archmage, technically a healer class but with a very potent dps spec. Excellent for solo roaming, sometimes used for ranged kite groups. With the exception of random utility dps am for group shatters nonexistent in large scale fights unless you decide to try healing, in which case you automatically become viable in every piece of content everywhere. Technically not a viable pick for most content, practically can find a niche in every scenario you will ever find yourself in, with a caveat of being ultimately worse than a proper dps at doing sheer damage. Widely considered fun to play.

There is technically one more pair of ranged classes. That pair being runepriest and zealot, again, primarily healers. Both classes have extensive dps options, that one could spec into and try playing. Don't play neither.

Ooook, that was...a long answer LOL. Thank you!
Can you please advise me on a melee dps? I've tried witch hunter, got it to lvl 15, it was actually fun to play. Is this class viable for endgame content? Or most parties won't take it?

[Hirsi3255]

If you want a spot as mdps in a WB, i would suggest checking out Slayer/Choppa. Balancewise they are the most controversial classes right now.

However they are not really suited for solo play, they just reach their full potential in a warband.

[Scottx125]

Melee DPS in demand right now are slayer/choppa and white lion/mara. Slayers/choppas hit hard in aoe but need group support otherwise they're useless alone. White lion and mara don't hit as hard but are more survivable and have pulls/leaps making them great for roaming and orvr.

Other melee DPS Inc Witch hunter/ Witch elf use is dependent on the warband and generally won't aim to have more than 1 (in an org wb). For example Witch Hunters are often used as scouts, not directly being inside the warband. But they are more useful in single target situations and small scale fights.

[Cyrylius]

(Snip)

Ekhm.
So, as a preface, melee dps is a rather tricky archetype for a new player to enjoy. That is caused mainly by being the most reliant on support archetype bar none, but them having the most carry potential in the right hands is also likely tough for an inexperienced player. With all that said I'm not saying you shouldn't roll mdps first, but you should tailor your expectations to dying like trash a lot for (initially) no easily discernible reason. If you decide to roll one, remember: it *will* be worth it, eventually.

Back to the actual answer to the question: melee have a tad bit more options to pick from, and I'll be dammed if I don't cover every single one.

Choppa/slayer: most straightforward. Kills fastest. Dies usually before it kills anything. Slayer is the highest damage pressure class bar almost none (and actually bar none in most scenarios, notably orvr). That gives it the honor of being most meta class on order for every piece of content except solo roam. Still expect a lot of suffering to happen before you start getting into groups, dps spots are highly coveted and having connections is usually the ultimate deciding factor. As it was said the most meta option, tough one requiring perseverance and good mindset. Choppa does significantly less damage, though still more than other destro classes. Still highly sought after, but as opposed to slayer damage choppa value lies in utility. And you still do tons of damage. Other than that similar to slayer, in fact until you hit late 30s classes are virtually identical. Decent for new players, but not the ones I'd recommend.

Ones I'd actually recommend as first melee classes to play are marauder and white lion. And I will discuss them separately as they are the most asymmetrical mirror in game, in my opinion. Marauder is unusually tanky, especially for AoE spec. Technically damage is lower than other AoE classes, practically the difference is much less than it should be to matter. Loads and loads of different utility pieces, most notably plenty of debuffs and CC, fairly simple gameplay, most forgiving in terms of positioning mistakes. Probably best melee to start with, and I'm speaking from the perspective of mara main. Still dies fast without support. Fairly complicated ST gameplay due to class mechanics, and imo less satisfying than other classes thanks to slow damage rotations and/or less sheer output than other classes. On the other side, fairly easy to find groups as they are currently rather underplayed and oftentimes needed.

And, surprisingly, white lion, while I find it much more entertaining to play, I have to rate a bit lower for a beginner than marauder- possibly incorrectly, the class is still rather simple. A bit less tanky in both specs (or, at best, same level), ST one more reliant on burst and target priority (so getting more value out of experience and knowledge). AoE spec, while probably easier, is never really an issue to learn. That being said it's a very good solo class thanks to good, bursty damage profile. Lack of utility in AoE also means its less favored than marauder in order warbands (even if still usually find spots rather effortlessly).

As a side note, all melee classes are extremely viable in smallscale content, but of all 6 marauder takes the good last place for a multitude of reasons.

Last two dedicated mdps classes are witch elf and with hunter. Stealth classes. Very similar, differences boil down to order version being better at duelling while destro one being more potent for group play. Both have very high knowledge scaling, with experience being difference between doing nothing and getting warbands called on you in region chat. Very squishy by default, WH being a bit more bursty and WE less so (I think). Absolutely no AoE capabilities except the memes. So you won't really get to play large-scale (until endgame tryhard content where it changes to some extent) but scenarios, gank groups and roaming is all perfectly fine including stealth parties to grief others. Specific gameplay, consider carefully before picking. Lots of players enjoy it however, so it's clearly not bad.

As previously, we also get a couple of secret mdps. Those being shadow warrior and melee squig, mentioned already above, and disciple of khaine slash warrior priest.

While the latter can be lumped together, former pair needs to be described case by case. Melee squig herder is second (or third) AoE utility piece on destro. Same ambush m2 that Shadow warrior brings, coupled with great damage potential and some useful debuffs, and as opposed to elven variant still decently hurty even without cd reducer. Not much to be said here, very strong class and a fairly easy one to play too. You'll need to swap to ranged for ST content however, melee just doesn't really do that.

Quite the opposite for shadow warrior. Melee (assault) shadow warrior is fully ST focused, with good burst damage and mobility. I do not play the class, i vaguely recall it being fairly popular back in the day but i belive various random changes made it unpopular. Don't think i can recommend it and i especially don't think i can say anything interesting about the spec. Next one.

Moving on to the healer dps. Disciple and warrior priest. Disciple is the better one. Honestly, just play marauder until you really don't expect getting healed and/or guarded. Both classes lack the damage to join a serious 6 man and general stigma attached to healers ostensibly not healing bans them from the less serious ones. Probably not a good pick.

That's about it. All dedicated melee classes are overall in good to great spots for most content, all have same basic issues of being prone to getting hit repeatedly with little countermeasures you can on your part take. And they don't really let you learn the battle flow due to being in the middle of the frontline, for what it's worth.

[drugerrr]

Ty everyone for your help, I really appreciate it! I will try white lion now, if I don't like it I'll get back to my witch hunter and stick to it cause it's kinda fun to play

[Culexus]

A+ for effort there Cyrylius. Great posts.

[Cyrylius]

A+ for effort there Cyrylius. Great posts.

I'm trying