Advice wanted regarding melee classes

edited July 2018 in General Board
Hey, returning player here that started around the time the game was originally released 15+ years ago.
I have always played casters back then, with the exception of archers.
Now I wanted to try something different and go with melee/physical.

My question is:
How are you supposed to manage styles?
Do you only put a fraction of them on your bar? Do you use every single one of the 15+ styles you'll eventually have?
My problem with playing level 39 Skald for example is how overwhelmed I get with max hammer and having about 10+ styles, on top of nukes and CC.
I got to the point that I mostly focus on just the CC/debuff styles and use 1 style that has no opening condition as my "spammable" non-situational/non-positional style, but I'm not sure if that's how melee is supposed to be played?
I'm also thinking of rolling something more raw melee, like Savage, Blademaster, etc. and before I do, I wanna be able to understand the basics.
I sometimes do get the feeling most melee classes just cycle between 3 styles and maybe 2 situational styles, therefore I feel like I'm doing something wrong with having 10 of them on my bar

And secondly:
What's the most balanced pure melee DPS (or should I say "light tank") on either Midgard and Hibernia, that's powerful enough, but also not too hard to grasp, so I can practice this and maybe move on to a more advanced melee class?

Thanks in advance.
Post edited by Genky on

Comments

  • I would say any light tank you pick is going to do well in melee especially versus stealth
  • Most tanks use a gaming mouse with 8-16 buttons. Macro your most important styles to the mouse. For example in a group for peeling macro side and rear snare to the same button so you will always use one or the other. You can also macro evade/parry positional and follow up to same button or reactionary and anytime to same button for soloing.

    Main styles would be side and rear snares, reactionary and stun follow ups, anytime styles, and other things you want to use. Try to macro at least 2 styles to each button. You can also put them on bar 3 and use mouse only to use. Then bar1 is all utility and spells

    Best class to play right now is: Champ, Zerker, Armsman
    Symonde (Cleric)
    Symfriar (Friar duh)
    Symsorc (Double duh)
    Sympets (Theurg)
    Symmond (Arms)
    Some random mids and hibs
  • as a savage, i have the any timer, the evade and parry style (not their fallow ups) the side chain and the rear chain on my main qbar.

    against a solo melee that i'm fighting, it's mostly the evade and parry that i'm using, in group situations, it's mostly the rear or back positional that i'm using.

    the savage anytimer isn't really any good.

    i ain't any good at exploiting lag and all that to execute rear or side positionals in a pure 1 vs 1.
    Stor Hurfru Muylasav, wildly swinging arms around. Vicomte Muylock, calling curses on enemies. Lord Muylaetrix, calling upon winter storms. some other chars with names starting with Muyl.
  • First of all, you don't need a macro mouse like @Sepphiroth75 is saying you can do just fine without that so don't make things complicated

    As far as what styles to use, you really need to go through each style and ask yourself if it is worth using at all. The general rule of thumb is the higher spec level styles have a higher growth rate/better bonuses so generally you want to use those.

    However there are exceptions, such as specifically midgard if you are Axe spec you get a low level anytime attack speed reduction (ASR) of 20%. This is great to use once but obviously not as your anytime (because it has a low to-hit bonus and defense bonus). Same with any Bleed style in the game. Bleed styles are very underrated and should always be applied to your opponent throughout the fight because bleed styles inhibit health regen to a certain point.

    Also, generally speaking, positional styles (back, side, front) generally have a higher growth rate (damage) than "anytime" styles, so you want to use those as much as possible. Again, according to the last updated growth rate chart I saw, the Sword specline in Midgard the lvl 13/15ish front style positional with the ASR actually has a higher growth rate than the lvl 34 anytime style for sword. So basically what this means is that the lower level style actually does more damage than the higher level style but you need to be directly in front of the target so it is not always viable.

    As to the most balanced melee DPS for mid/hib I would have to say Berserker or Blademaster. You can't really go wrong with either as they are both desired for groups and pretty straight forward to play.

    What is going to separate you from the general population as far as damage goes, is are you the person who is only going to spam the anytime style? Or are you the person who will que up a side positional with an anytime as a followup just in case you don't land the positional with a HIGH or VERY HIGH growth rate as opposed to the anytime with the MEDIUM growth rate. I have to call out @Muylae here because I have seen him countless times in the past simply /stick and spam the Savage anytime which, comparable to the Savage's positional styles, does FAR less damage to someone.

    DAoC is a game of inches, and you want to do everything you can to get the most damage always. So always try to use positionals and styles with the highest growth rate, but also try and use styles with ASR, bleeds, or any other bonus I have not mentioned as it can really change the direction of a fight.

    Lastly, when putting styles on your bar, if not using a macro mouse, know that your first Q-bar is keys 1-0 obviously, Q-bar2 is 1-0 while holding ALT, and Q-bar3 is 1-0 while holding CTRL... so basically a quick tip for loading all 3 bars with styles is... I usually put all my styles or buttons I use regularly in a fight 1-5 on either QB 1/2/3, because I can reach 1-5 without too much trouble and without moving my hand, and aynthing 6-0 is what I would click with my mouse. But use whatever you are comfortable with and you will learn to be effective with any qbar setup
  • If you play a heavy tank, you get the bonus of having super high magic resists, then slam 9 second stun. For example, troll warrior will have 400 strength without template, can use shield for slam to stun, then switch to 2h hammer for side and anytime styles.

    One thing to do is bind the following to one macro key: switch to shield (shield icon to quick at) hit slam. Then for your 2H weapon, make it click 2h on qbar then styles.
    Symonde (Cleric)
    Symfriar (Friar duh)
    Symsorc (Double duh)
    Sympets (Theurg)
    Symmond (Arms)
    Some random mids and hibs
  • Thanks everyone for the replies so far!
    Muylae wrote: »
    as a savage, i have the any timer, the evade and parry style (not their fallow ups) the side chain and the rear chain on my main qbar.

    against a solo melee that i'm fighting, it's mostly the evade and parry that i'm using, in group situations, it's mostly the rear or back positional that i'm using.

    the savage anytimer isn't really any good.

    i ain't any good at exploiting lag and all that to execute rear or side positionals in a pure 1 vs 1.

    So you're basically saying that you don't HAVE to use follow-up styles?
    I've been so focused on performing things right and using their follow-ups for the sake of it, but I guess if the follow-up style doesn't have a very useful effect, then I should just use the initial style as a standalone ... didn't even think about that.

    I do have a Razer Naga by the way, the mouse with 12 buttons, but it's just that when you have so many styles on your bar, it's easy to mix them up.
    I think after the advice given here so far, I should probably limit myself to about 4-5 "main styles", which would in fact make things more managable.

    And I think I might give Zerker/Arms/Blademaster a try then (depending which realm my friend wants to play), perhaps even Savage if we go Midgard.

    @Sym I would rather not go Warrior because I do want something that can actually kill people.

    Would you guys say Friar, Valewalker, Vamp, etc. are also heavy melee DPSers? I've seen some of them take people down really quick.

    Even Minstrels, seen them take down clothies at the same speed as assassins, would that just be a difference in gear level or are Minstrels actually capable of doing crazy DPS if specced for it?
  • Armagedden wrote: »
    I have to call out @Muylae here because I have seen him countless times in the past simply /stick and spam the Savage anytime which, comparable to the Savage's positional styles, does FAR less damage to someone.

    lol, i hardly use the anytime style unless i have a caster that's keeping me faced while i try to move in a way that allows me to side or back positionals.

    against melee that's fighting me, it's mostly evade + parry follow up + some BM styles that i'm using.

    i know i'm not the best dueler :D

    Stor Hurfru Muylasav, wildly swinging arms around. Vicomte Muylock, calling curses on enemies. Lord Muylaetrix, calling upon winter storms. some other chars with names starting with Muyl.
  • Genky wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for the replies so far!
    Muylae wrote: »
    as a savage, i have the any timer, the evade and parry style (not their fallow ups) the side chain and the rear chain on my main qbar.

    against a solo melee that i'm fighting, it's mostly the evade and parry that i'm using, in group situations, it's mostly the rear or back positional that i'm using.

    the savage anytimer isn't really any good.

    i ain't any good at exploiting lag and all that to execute rear or side positionals in a pure 1 vs 1.

    So you're basically saying that you don't HAVE to use follow-up styles?
    I've been so focused on performing things right and using their follow-ups for the sake of it, but I guess if the follow-up style doesn't have a very useful effect, then I should just use the initial style as a standalone ... didn't even think about that.

    no, just saying that i don't have the follow ups to evade an parry on my main bars, the follow ups (as a savage) to the side (especially this one) and rear positional are must do's.

    the 4 second stun rear style and the 9 second follow up to the side positional are killers when you get them in.

    but the rear is the thing to do when a target runs away, and the side is the must do against something that isn't facing you.

    Stor Hurfru Muylasav, wildly swinging arms around. Vicomte Muylock, calling curses on enemies. Lord Muylaetrix, calling upon winter storms. some other chars with names starting with Muyl.
  • edited July 2018 PM
    no where did i say you need a macro mouse! I said play a light tank because i think the op would have fun...period.
    Post edited by Sepphiroth75 on
  • Follow-up styles generally have higher/highest growth rate (so more damage) and higher to-hit or defense bonuses, so yes they are important.

    Friars are not good DPS compared to heavy or light tanks in a group. Friars are support for groups, or solo if you are staff. VW are hard to template and harder to play for beginners because they require a split play-style of casting and melee (high melee damage coming from side or frontal style chains only). Vamps are great but idk if they are desired more over a Blademaster. Minstrels are another complicated toon to play and imo aren't capable of "crazy DPS"
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