I Just Don't Know Anymore...

[Redsleeves]

Wow, still getting great and insightful responses. Thanks for taking the time to consider my dilemma everyone, I really do appreciate it!

Omnipotency: I must say I found your post particularly intriguing. After reading it, I did a little research, and must say I do very much like what I see. I think I'll leave my current characters for now, and try to make a Doc main. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Warlord01]

Adventurer is easier then doc if you just want a decent first main. Easy to get team, good blitzer, good soloers at all levels, cheap.

Your right but there is one point that's not true it is not a cheap profession!

Every lvl i do have to buy 1 or 2 nano's or 3 or 4 or 6 so cheap no fun yes!

Just my reason to choose a MP as main those are the initials I sign with, could not ignore that profession to be my first main.

[-Plexor-]

I introduced a guy from work to AO, and when he started I asked him what character type and race he was going to make. He said something along the lines of:

"Well it's obvious, in any RPG you always make your character the ranger type, as they are the best all-rounders, and you always use the middle of the road breed that has no big weak spots."

I thought that was a great way to pick a character. It was also funny because what he described was exactly what I play, a Solitus Adventurer.

In my opinion an Advy is a good way to learn how the game works, and I have to admit I've never felt like changing, all the way to lvl 219.

As far as soloability goes, it's true a Doctor can solo best as they can heal themselves well, but they also do a lot less damage. If you want to play solo a lot then an Adventurer is the best all around solo profession if you take into account damage and survivability.

[Simplehead]

You might as well start with an nt and lvl up enough to kite hecklers for ingots. As nowadays thats about the only way your going to afford (depending on ammount you play) the higher lvl game these days.
Atleast then you will be able to afford to re-roll you characters if you don't like how they are turning out or want something different.

Other option would be to get in good with a really really generous and helpful orginazation that shares equipment and has a need before greed policy intact.

Alot of the higher lvl gameplay in ao becomes caniballistic.

[Beornin]

You might as well start with an nt and lvl up enough to kite hecklers for ingots. As nowadays thats about the only way your going to afford (depending on ammount you play) the higher lvl game these days.

I love you! You are the kind of player who makes it possible for me to make 50-100m in half an hour of easy work occationally, by doing something you don't know you're able to do yourself. Thank you.

[Redsleeves]

Somehow, of all the professions, I think adventurer is the only one I wouldn't want to play. Well no, adventurer and keeper. Somehow I find these two profs unappealing...

[-Plexor-]

Obviously each to their own etc, and of course everyone playing the same character type would make the game boring and teams not very effective.

Purely out of interest though, why do you find Adventurer and Keeper the least appealing?

[Hubble]

Go Agent, every half hour you can be another prof, yet playing the same character (okay there are some flaws but... )

At 220 you'll be great at soloing too, just behind Docs.

They're just crazy expensive and a hard one to play properly but well ehm... can't have it all.

[Redsleeves]

Obviously each to their own etc, and of course everyone playing the same character type would make the game boring and teams not very effective.

Purely out of interest though, why do you find Adventurer and Keeper the least appealing?

I'm not too sure myself....

Well, adventurer....first of all, aren't all the characters in the game "adventuring" and therefore "adventurers" by definition. Somehow, the name of the prof itself doesn't really spark my imagination. That and its associated with wilderness, animals, and other fuzzy-wuzzies, which really isn't it me at all. I don't like Animal Planet either, so I guess maybe this is some kind of confused explanation.

Keeper? Big dude all in white, knight and shining armor and all that crud, ick, I'm too much of a black hat to find something like that even remotely appealing. Seeing scores of lowbies running around SL swinging big, slow, cumbersome 2hs's was also kind of a turnoff. I like swords as weapons, and would have loved to play a character with a nice sword as his/her weapon. I tried a 2hs on my Enforcer once. Boy, did that suck.

By the way, if anyone out there has any advice as to starting a nice sword-wielding character, please do tell. I'd appreciate any and all input in this matter. From what little experience I have, swords seem to be kind of gimped in AO. And that's coming from someone who's main is a Nanomage Doctor that uses martial arts.
Anyway, ya, your feedback, as usual, is much valued and anticipated.

[WalkingDeath]

If you want to be a sword character, then you should probably look at an Adventurer as they dual them even though you say you don't want to play one.

Also, read through the forms as each class should have a brief "handbook" on what they are good at in the rooted threads which also might help you on what each one specializes in.

[Bokks]

By the way, if anyone out there has any advice as to starting a nice sword-wielding character, please do tell. I'd appreciate any and all input in this matter. From what little experience I have, swords seem to be kind of gimped in AO. And that's coming from someone who's main is a Nanomage Doctor that uses martial arts.

If you want swords, I'd say make a melee advy. You use a short, heavy Solitus, dress him up in green and pretend he's a ninja turtle.

As far as my choices:
Engi - this is actually my second main (?!?). After taking a two-year hiatus (and just finished reading an Asimov series), I decided to come back with a robot buddy. I really enjoyed hiding around a corner and letting my 'bots fight the big bad mobs for me. Aggro-juggling was fun, too. But what really got me was the tradeskilling. I've tasted other mmorpgs before and this never held much interest for me but, for some reason, tradeskilling in AO reallying got me hooked! I may be gimped but I sure do like making stuffs.

Agent - my first main. Yeah, I like the "thief" class so this is what I made first. He's still low level and still hard to raise as a solo'er. When they said High difficulty to play, they meant it. I still love him, though. He works well in large teams when the tank can immediately pull aggro after I put in a good AS.

Soldier - my main alt. Complete opposite playing style of my engi. 'Nuff said.

You can say I have ADD but I like to think of myself as multi-faceted. Either way, you've got eight (8) slots. No one said how many of them you can or cannot use.

Have fun and welcome to AO!

Oh, and go Omni!

[If6was9]

... Please don't mistake this for some mundane "wat prof to chose??!!11" thread.....

But it is.

All professions have their charms. They all have their liabilities. About halfway through leveling whatever proff you choose some significant element of the professional balance will be changed. Count on it. There's no way to know which ones or in what ways. So pick something you enjoy.

If you want to play the odds, you should choose a prof (you enjoy playing) that was nerfed the longest time prior. They're most likely due for a generous tweak. At this time that would be a) traders, b) MA's, or c) crats (I think, someone feel free to correct me if I've got my nerf history wrong). MAs are already considered strong so it's unlikely they'll be given much love. Traders and crats, OTOH, have been relatively nerfed for a long time. Crats are great PvM and very weak Pvp. Traders are the exact opposite... and most of this game is PvM... so I'd guess traders are the best present, long-term bet. OTOH, traders are especially difficult to play well.

Probably the most common mistake newbies make is looking at this cyberpunk realm and figuring that NT's are the cyber equivalent of a wizard (they are) and therefore they'll start with that. Bad idea. Did this myself, heard from many peeps who started that way and spent several precious, developemental weeks getting their asses kicked all over the map. NT's are not good starter proffs for most people. Their nanos are expensive and their attacks gaurantie they'll get agg. NT defenses are blinds, layers, and good timing. Very few newbs have those abilities. I sure didn't.

Shades are a blast but they're a bit more difficult to equip. Fixers, soldiers, enforcers and MAs are all pretty easy to play well enough. Keepers have pretty crappy weapons and weak health. Agents have the broadest range but require the most game knowledge (and timing). MP's have the most desired skills and are pretty much gaurantied a team AND soloability (till the end game at least, since their uber pets were nerfed a few months ago).

Adventurers are good at everything and great at nothing so almost no one plays them to high levels... but they're actually great toons and historically have gotten the most love from FC.

Docs are usually welcome in a team but they're weak solo'ers (till the end game) and a twinked MP can actually heal a tank better than them in the low/mid levels. Certainly they're no longer as critical as they once were. Doc is also a pretty stressful job. It's like playing defense, the only time most people notice you is when you fail. In addition, heal agg was significantly cranked up with SL so that enforcers can no longer be counted upon to keep agg off a doc. This is part of the reason that a lot of enforcers stopped playing the proff with SL. Used to be docs and enforcers were symbiotic and pretty much ruled each team.

[ryujio]

wat the. i heard the exact opposite on advs i heard they were realy good at high lvls. I'm relatively new to this game having only played a ma to 70ish and a keeper to early 100s. However i found that once u get past that dry patch with keeper where all u can use is the styg from totw their weaps are good. Also my cousin who comandeers a 211 ( i think ) adventurer keeps telling me how good they are.

[If6was9]

Your cousin's right. Adv's rock in the end game - especially in pvp. My point was that because they excel at nothing (even in the end game) most people will abandon them in medium/low stages. Unlike any other proff, Adv's can use 3 different symbiant lines. Every other proff is limited to one or two symb lines. Also, unlike any other proff, Adv's get both Bioshield AND Acrobat.... two of the strongest perk lines... each of which are usually unique to either an evade (fixer, ma) or tanking (enforcer) class. Adv's get both. Only Adv's. However, Adv's still can't shoot as hard as a fixer or soldier (on average) nor heal as well as a doc nor tank as well as an enforcer. An Adv's combined abilities are always their strength and by the endgame they've got a couple extremely powerful tools going.

Some proffs really change power in the end game. Engineers, Doctors... to a lesser extent Shades. They all gain so much ability with shadowlevels and perks that the profession significantly changes. Engies are actually the highest damage dealers in the endgame (usually). They have uber bots and in the end game chewing up a single mob's massive HP is the goal. Engie's excel at that. Damage dumps will only catch that if someone is adding the engie and his pet's damage into a single unit. Doctor's endgame healing and dots mean that they can solo uber bosses and win... just takes a long time. Waiting 200 levels before you can solo effectively isn't most people's cup of tea. Docs actually become significant DD's in the engame, sometimes taking first (but usually not). Shades do great damage throughout the game but by the end-game their lifetaps and other perks allow them to solo and bleed off alot of health... and do really insane damage on occasion. Shades are the closest thing to console-based twitch action in AO. Agents have the biggest single attack damage I've seen in the endgame and they usually vie for top DD with engies.

MAs and Soldiers and Fixers do good damage throughout the game. They're always good but don't really gain that much relative to other proffs in the endgame. MA evades and crits make them especially lethal in pvp if they re-arrange all their perks to stop the roots that plague them. But most MAs spend most time in pvp rooted to a spot and being shot or drained at a distance. Its a great hunting/soloing proff. Great for blitzing and PvM. MAs should also heal others... a skill that alot of froobies and dabbling vets appear not to appreciate yet. I used to boot MA's who wouldn't heal off my teams (my main is an MA and I consider it an insult to my proff... intolerable incompetence) but it's become so prevalent that I barely notice it anymore. I solo'd about 100 of my main's 215 levels pre-SL (and pre dead-pool, you lost your exp when you died and that was that) and you damn well healed yourself and others or you damn well died... and looked like a selfish gimp in a team. Still bothers me, I guess.

It's such a long haul to 220 that you've really got to pick the profession that gives you the most joy along the way. Try 'em all.

[lordchubz]

Shades do great damage throughout the game but by the end-game their lifetaps and other perks allow them to solo and bleed off alot of health... and do really insane damage on occasion. Shades are the closest thing to console-based twitch action in AO. Agents have the biggest single attack damage I've seen in the endgame and they usually vie for top DD with engies.

.

Just to correct some incorrect information........... Shades = Top damage dealers , no1 else is even close .... Agents only are good damage dealers if they take advantage of the Concealment xploit, and even then , they cant compare to shade/ma/soldier damage

But most MAs spend most time in pvp rooted to a spot and being shot or drained at a distance. .

Negative, MA's are practically unrootable in PVP , and unstunnable (basically unkillable) . A side note : Ma's are probably the best overall PVP class , hands down. Its only profession that can take care of the most overpowered class which is ADV.

Your cousin's right. Adv's rock in the end game - especially in pvp. My point was that because they excel at nothing (even in the end game) most people will abandon them in medium/low stages. Unlike any other proff, Adv's can use 3 different symbiant lines. Every other proff is limited to one or two symb lines. Also, unlike any other proff, Adv's get both Bioshield AND Acrobat.... two of the strongest perk lines... each of which are usually unique to either an evade (fixer, ma) or tanking (enforcer) class. Adv's get both. .

Agree totally. Adv's are the best all around profession. You pointed out the perk lines they have access to, which are the two most powerful perklines in the game, so having both means uberness. Also, at endgame adventures are among the top 5 in damage (if well played) . If you want to play a professions with access to the 2 best perk lines , 3 symbiant lines, Heals that are second only to Doc's, and great damage, Adv is the way to go

[Elucidate]

An intriguing suggestion, Awi. The only problem is selecting one profession from the fourteen to stick with from beginnning to end. I would very much like to stick to just one character, but I find it difficult to fully commit myself to one of the professions without feeling I'm missing out on something.

That's how I was when I first stated AO, Red. I kept making new characters left and right. My very first character was a martial artist (211 now..), but it took me almost 6 months to settle down and stick to that one.

Biggest thing for me was Soloing ability. In the end, the Doctor wins on this front due to their massive healing ability. While it might take a while to kill something - I kill it without getting squashed.

It'd be better if you had at least some idea of what you specifically want from a profession.

Also, someone above suggested Nanotech.. Sadly I must say that would be a bad choice due to the fact that NT's are sitting on the crappy end of the stick right now. Teams have no desire to use a nanotech as a damage dealer since they always end up at the bottom of the damage list and do the lowest DPM.

Avoid it at all costs unless you enjoy running around without a team.

Decide what you want from the profession, and then post here what you'd like - we can probably give you a more refined answer as to what MIGHT fit you best.

[Cboath]

One minor correction, Meta can use 3 symbiant lines: Control, Support and Extermination.

[Animosity]

there are some characters that are more self reliant than others

adv / ma / mp

these are good to learn on.


there are others that are very expensive / difficult

trad / agent / shad


I enjoy playing all my professions, switching from one character to another often allieviates my battle fatigue. I have been in the game 3 years, have 15 play characters. (2 NT's)

Along with the different professions the breed selection also makes a big change in the way i veiw the professions.

I would suggest playing at least 3 characters of different skill sets such as:

MA / Sold / Crat
MP / shade / doc
Adv / NT / agent

I would recommend keeping trader, shade and agent until you have gotten comfortable with some of the other professions.

You can use the difficulty recommendations in character selection as your guide on this.

Ani.

[Jaszt]

I played every prof in the game before SL came out, and the highest I hit before quitting for another one was level 60. Surprisingly, it was a trader that I played the longest there.

With the promo stuff for SL out there, I knew that I had to clear off a spot for a shade, and I did just that.
Now I have a TL6 shade (with a 6 month break in there also) and my second highest is still only 60.

It's all about finding a prof that you like that does what you want and plays how you want it to.

As a side note, I've played my shade without having a rich main and it's not too hard to get into a decent org, farm stuff for yourself, and get decent gear. You won't have the best stuff out there for a while, but you really get a sense of pride getting there.

[Xpie]

My first character was an opifex agent. Got him to level 6 in 2 days. Thought it sucked.

My second character was an atrox soldier. Got him to level 53 in.. oh, 3 months. He was gimped beyond belief on his IP though.

My third character is an atrox MP. He's level 207. He was parked after the pet nerf, and I might dust him off.

My main now is an atrox adventurer. Level 209 now, and rocking. Almost always top DD in SK teams (usually in the top 10 at raids), can solo well, heal well, get around quickly, you name it.