New to AO ? Professions List Inside

[Sin316]

i made a little list of the profs and breeds , helpng newcomers to make a choice for the first time playing

New in Anarchy Online ?

What Profession to play ?

First a list and short description of the 14 profs available in AO.


Adventurer
Difficulty : Easy

Adventurer is , in my Opinion , the best char to start AO with. He is skilled in both , ranged(pistols) and melee (1 handed edged) Weapons , and therefor "adapts"
to both tastes. He does good damage (average i would say) can heal himself aswell as others (best healer after doc). Has a good sortiment of nanos (such as +AC , absorb , reflect). Also he can morph himself (and others) in animals , increasing fighting/defensive capabilities. And its fun to do so .
If your new to AO and like to have an active role , Adv is most likely the first char you should try.

Agent
Difficulty : Hard

Agent is a very (most likely the most) complexe profession , and , in my opinion, a bad choice to start AO with.
Agent uses mainly Rifle together with AimedShot(AS). He can do lots of damage , but thats not always a good thing, since it will take the
attention of the enemy , and making him therefor a primary target. However the hard part of playing an Agent is ,
that he can "morph" himself in any other profession (except shade +keeper afaik), but cannot (if almost though) cast all of the prof nanos.
This making it very hard to handle, and you really shouldn't take him , as your first char.

Bureaucrat
Difficulty : Hard

Bureaucrat is primarly a "Support" Char , simply because he isnt a great Damage Dealer (neither himself or his pet , which is the worse of the pets ingame).
However he is great in supporting a team , by calming mobs(renders them unoffensive) , or charming them (mob will fight for the Crat a given time). He also has a lot of different Team Auras and buffs , making him a good seen member of any team (of any level range). However i consider it a bad char to start with AO , since it needs quite some knowledge and "routine" to handle all the calms , charming , etc etc. Later on , this is quite a valiable char to play with though.

Doctor
Difficulty : medium

I said medium because after all , a doc is there to do one thing , heal. However it sounds easier as it is , and also a doc is a "team only" prof class. So you have always to find a team , or you wont progress very far (you can solo of course , but you will be slowed down by a much , and it will become very boring , believe me). However a Doc usually havent a problem finding a team at any level range, since everybody like to have 1 in their team .
However it may be a bit boring to start with it. If ,however, you think you'll like to play team mostly , and dunno , be a nurse in rl (j/k) you can go for it right away

Enforcer
Difficulty : Easy/medium

In General , a easy to play prof, your job is clear , stand in front , toe-to-toe with the foes and taking damage. The Enforcer has the most hp in game (due to his nanoprograms) together with AC/reflect shields. He is TEH aggro keeper (mob will fight him most of the time) due to his taunts. In terms of playing he is Easy , however it requires the right equipement to be at the top , so this , at least in mid+ level , can become an issue. However to start with , he is quite ok, if you like the close combat action.

Engineer
Difficulty : Medium/hard

The Engineers main weapon is his pet (and later petS), which are the best in Game (at least Damage-wise). His Weapons skills are poor , so its more for the look that
he carry weapons . Of course you can/will use Weapons , but you wont make near as much damage as other profs do , however thats what your pet is there for.
Engies are usually liked in team , due to the pet (can take a lot of damage) and his AC/Shield buffs. It is a good char to start with , but soon it becomes hard to maintain him , since the nanos are expensive and you fast become very underpowered if you cant afford all the new pet nanos. However if you like being some kinda "support/summoner-style" this is a good char to start with.
Overall its medium difficulty , but to get the best out of him , i rate it hard.

Fixer
Difficulty : Easy/medium

Fixer fixes things . However not in fixing as in repairing , but more like in "getting". He is a great Damagedealer , using SMG/MG together with Burst as his Mainskills.
He has a lot of good Nano Lines , such as HoTs(Heal over time) , rs (runspeed+ evades), + ncu (ncu increasment , the "memory" used in AO). He is , together with adv , most likely the easiest/best char to start with. There isnt much else to say about the fixer , apart he is always liked in teams , can get access to fixer grid later on (a special transport "device". Good Damage , easy play. Fun

Keeper
Difficulty : Easy

This is , in my opinion , the most boring prof i've seen so far. Although he does ok Damage etc , he is boring in term of , you cast your nanos every 2 hrs , the rest is
attack /afk , attack /afk. Other may can give you more input about this. The Keeper has Auras , which can either increase Attack/Defense , Heal over time , or refill nano over time. If you like to play it w/o thinking too much , he sure is a good choice.

Martial Artist
Difficulty : Easy

First off , this is the cheapest (in term of money and weapon aquiring) Class , because you dont need one ). MA is one of the top damage dealer, big in evades (miss me baby one more time) has a crap heal (self or team) which is ok till a certain level. He also is a very good char to start off with , since you can enter the battle right away
Later on , you can/could also use Bows , making even more insane damage. Really fun to play.

Meta-physicist
Difficulty : Medium

Although you can have up to 3 Pets , i consider him easier to play as engie + crat. He is well seen in teams , but can solo mostly anything himself (apart of ubermobs ok).
So this is both for the socialiser aswell as for the soloer. He has an Attack Pet , a heal Pet and a Mezz Pet , the first 2 do what they Name say , and the mezz pet somekinda "calms" mobs , making them unoffensive for some time. Anyway , a all in all easy to play profession , and a good choice to start with , if your into summoning things However , quite expensive to maintain him.

Nano-technician
Difficulty : easy/medium

He is the Mage-like in AO. He has poor Weapon skills , and mostly only apply on his ability to cast damage dealing buffs. In low level , he is easy to play , however later he becomes a bit harder , since he will get acess to calm nanos , means , he becomes a supporter aswell as a damagedealer. However i consider him a bad choice, since all you'll do for quite a couple level is press >>1<< button. If you like the Mage thing however , this is your choice

Shade
Difficulty : Hard.

First off , Shades are quite apart from all the other profs , using different Armor and Implants (so-called Spirits). Making it hard , to get a first impression of AO (since few will be in common with any other char). Shades are some kinda Ninja looking toys , dealing great(if not most) damage. But as said , hard to play, since it relies on a lot of special attacks etc. Use at your own risk

Soldier
Difficulty : Easy

Basic Ranged Unit. He is average in any point of view , ok damage. Soldiers can tank aswell , but only for a given time , since they apply on special shields , protecting them for some time, but then need to reload before he can use it again. He has good damage shields , overall an ok char. Really nothing special to say about him . soo average

Trader
Difficulty : medium/hard

I dont consider Trader as a real char-to-play but more a char-to-buff-others. He is mostly used to help others equiping themselves. He does quite ok damage with his shotguns (especially when he does critical hits), but he cant take any hits. He is however liked to debuf enemies. (lowering AC and AR). but really not a necessary char.
Shouldnt start with him.



What Breed ?

The Breeds are :

Solitus f/m : He is the allrounder and (can) fit to any prof. His abilities are balanced and therefor average in any terms.

Opifex f/m : This one is more oriented to agility/sense , by having poor stamina. Fits well to melee and ranged chars , such as agent , MA , fixer. still ok for Enfi , Keeper ,
Soldier. Bad for profs which apply much on nano skills.

Nanomage f/m : This one is the nano oriented breed. He is focused in Intelligence and psychic , but poor in stamina/strength and especially Hp. He is best for NT, MP, Engie, Crat.. Best in terms of getting the better nano formulas sooner as anyone else. But if that makes the missing hp good ?¿

Atrox n : He is the muscles of AO. He has most hp , sta and str in the game , making him a natural born tanker. he is best choice for Enforcer , Keeper , MA. ok for soldier.


Take in mind , any breed / prof is playable, but sometimes one may fit better then another. e.g. of course you can make a nano-technician atro , and you will then have a lot of hp , but youll lack the intelligence to learn all your buffs(spells) and always be behind for lets say a nanomage nt.

Later on you probably will experiement around and find a good prof/breed combination.

Also keep in mind , this is ONLY based on "basic" low level playing. I didnt took in consideration e.g. tradeskills and highlevel content

[_______________Jaino]

Wow.

Nice job!!

sticky please

[Packetkitty]

Very useful post for new players Good job!

[Sin316]

fixed a few spellings (english isnt my first language , so sorry for any typo you may discover hehe)

[Potato]

Great Job!

Sticky!

[caramster]

Nice post. Don't agree 100% with it (we all have different opinions), but it's still a job well done!

[Takalon]

Neither do I agree 100% with it.

[Sin316]

it would be more helpful if you shareyour wisdom instead of "i dont 100% agree with it" which is wothless such as.


and keep in mind this is for 1 time AO players , nothing else

[____________Tensegra]

A very helpful thread.

Maybe you could make a brief mention of tradeskills, in addition to combat ability, i.e. which profs are better/worse at it.

[Tetra]

MP's and Traders get lots of buff requests.

Fixers, Docs, traders?, and agents in false profession are able to grid themselves/teams. Fixers are sort of able to teleport around shadowlands (assuming the nano's i've seen for it actually work) and are able to get people into the fixergrid on RK which can get you within a couple minutes of anywhere.

I'm not completely sure that I agree with advents being a great n00b class. While it is true that advents can do a little of everything, at low and even mid levels this can really hurt a n00b because the IP crunch can hit pretty hard at times... especially if they put their IP in the wrong places They are a fun class though

Honestly, I would say that meta's are a great n00b class. Their weapon skills are all dark blue and most of their tradeskills are pretty unfriendly colors as well so newbies don't say "gee I'll try out that gun!". Their nanoskills are all green/greenish... and in general they are pretty IP friendly. Also with the attack/mez/heal pets combined, they allow for a fair bit of room to make mistakes since you can always just summon a new pet.... they are expensive though, but that's not a huge issue in itself really with how easy it is to make credits in SL just by killing stuff. The other great thing about meta's, is that you tend to learn who can buff what since casting those new cool nano's they can't use yet becomes an issue when your in the group .

[Sin316]

i also may add , this is for low level range (<50) so usually nobody bothers much with tradeskills , fixer grid etc at this point

[gergiskoo]

Sticky/Bump Combo Post

Bump for a great guide (gonna put it in my sig).

Sticky pls!

[_______________Jaino]

bump!

sticky!!! i want sticky!! wheres the stickiness?

STICKY!

[OneChrisN]

Originally posted by maxtitan
fixed a few spellings (english isnt my first language , so sorry for any typo you may discover hehe)

I can tell. You made some odd gramer errors and word choices.

like this under shade:

But as said , hard to play, since it applies on a lot of special attacks etc. Use at your own risk

I think you mean "hard to play, since it RELIES on a lot of special attacks etc."


But all and all it is a good post; I think Traders need a better representation. They are an importaint buffing/debuffing class, and have some trade skills sprinkled on top.

[Takalon]

If it's considering sub50, then it's not so big of a matter, as most problems fixers start have, start around 140+. Then it's pretty hard on finding a team on rk/sl, unless you get one through your org mates or a friend.

But atleast to lvl100, fixers do more than decently. Superior mobility, decent crowd control, and easy availability on weapons make it a good starting class.

And thus to remember, fixers can make pretty easily money through blitzes. Still far more superior on that than anyone else

[Sin316]

thx for the grammer help out

as said , english isnt my first language (im swiss -> german).

i never really learned english other then reading/writing in forums / games etc and talking with friends


btw keep the grammer checks coming , so it will end up a perfect post

[Chernish]

Hey! I almost thought I was the only Swiss over here. Although I am from the french part.

Well, I do not agree 100% with you either, and since you asked, here is what I don't agree on:

NT should be at least medium. At the beginng the NTs do not have access to the calms, and they have no healing abilities. Plus a majority of them are nanomage. This doesn't help health-wise
In general, I wouldn' rate any casting class as easy for beginners, because these classes rely on nanoskills; nanoskills rely a lot on implants; and implants are anything but easy for beginners.
Also, the nukes are much more varied than what it seems at first glance. It is not (well, should not be) "press the button with your best nuke".

A well-played Trader can do much more than just buffing the others. He can heal, calm, debuff, give and take AC, ... But he is indeed not easy to play.

I wouldn't say that Atrox is a good choice for MA if I were on my right mind. The nanopool is really too small. I play an Atrox MA, but I am notoriously crazy

Cheers.

[___________Neeko1970]

Im not sure how qualified I am to give my opinion but here goes.

This of course is only an opinion

SHADE:
I played a Shade to level 80 and I found it to be a rather easy class to play. They do great damage and you are always clicking something in a fight so it isnt just hit Q and watch (which can be nice). All you have to do as a Shade is focus on dmg and clicking perks (or hitting 1-0), you dont really have to worry about anything else or anyone else for that matter. You dont have to buff anyone, heal anyone, crowd control, tank (though you will end up tanking due to aggro). You basicaly just worry about your self and the dmg you are doing.

MP:
I played (and still do) a MP to level 80 and I find it to be more demanding (harder) then the Shade. Soloing is rather easy this is true but in a group I have to focus on several things not just the dmg Im doing. I have to watch for any adds, I have to manage my heal pet well (many times Im the main healer). I have to manage my attack pet so as to not break any mez's and such that other team members may have used. I have to manage my nano so I can continue to buff and nuke when needed. All this while Im nuking or using a weapon to add some dmg. I find that if I get the least bit distracted it could mean the difference in a battle that goes the groups way or one that doesnt. I scew up and someone could die in the group or we could end up fighting adds that would otherwise not be an issue.

I suppose my point is that the classes I find to be the most demanding ("difficult") are classes that the team members rely on for survival or turning the tide sort of speak. I mean it isnt all that demanding ("difficult") to play a class that doesnt have the pressure of keeping other players alive or keeping the team buffed so they are fighting at peak performance. When you play a class that others are depending on in a group and you screw up you will hear about it. When a player dies in a battle they dont say..hey that damage dealer (insert class here) didnt do enough damage thats why I died..Perhaps easy/med/hard are not the proper terms because I feel that all the classes are pretty easy to play, lets face it, it isnt rocket science hehe. But, the classes that other players depend on to make their play time more enjoyable have a lot more pressure because they arent just playing for themselves. Now, dont get me wrong Im not saying people that play Shades (or other pure dmg classes) are selfish or something. All classes have their place in a good group and damage dealers are needed as much as a healer, I just think (my own opinion here) that there is more pressure on the classes that either buff/debuff, heal, crowd control, or try to keep aggro.

I suppose its all relative, what may seem easy to one person may be hard to another and vice versa. Im rambling so I'll wrap this up.

I dont think anyone new to AO should lean towards a particular class due to the easy or hard rating. The players should look more towards the abilities of the class and what he/she wants to do in the game with their character. Difficulty is in the eye of the beholder

Sorry for the long post and if you got through it all grats!!

Thanks for reading

Neeko

(thoughts expressed in this post are not necessarily the beliefs of this or any other msg board nor Fun Com. It is one players opinion)

[Windowlicker]

I have to disagree with the Adventurer (Easy) rating. (Although nice writeup)

- The adventurer is constantly short on IP through most of its lifetime due to the wide array of nanoskills it requires.

- You are also required to perform the duty of main healer often, yet at the same time required to tank fairly often.

- In SL your often the person the group elects to pick up stray group members. This introduces more danger constantly

- The Advent only armor in IS requires an act of god (And a full well organized high level guild to even consider)

- Consider the fact your picking up two weapons for the Adventurer every time you upgrade them. Also realize that decent pistols for example will set you back anything from 1 or 2 million, up to 400 million.


It may seem easy to be or play an advent, however if you've had the opportunity to function as both primary healer AND main tank for a group (Which most advents have more times than we can count) .. I can assure you it's anything but easy

The Advent is all about striking a balance between the inner-tank and the inner-doctor. If we push ourselves too hard into the healing role, our tanking role suffers (And people will expect you to) .. and vise versa of course.

I definatly wouldn't call the Advent the hardest class in the game, but if anything it's an (Easy-Medium) rather than straight (Easy).


Good outline overall though!

[mishikato]

Quote:

[Nano-technician
Difficulty : easy/medium

.......however i consider him a bad choice, since all you'll do for quite a couple level is press >>1<< button.]

End Quote:

BUAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA, AHAHHAA, HEHEHE, MUAHAHA, *breathe in* ......HOLY MOTHER OF PEAL!!!!!

Ya, you could do that, but that means you won't be leveling anytime soon because you will be kissing the reclaim terminal all too often.