src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/site_images/NewPollHeader.jpg">

Dynamic Duos:
Offensive Fighter +
Arcane Caster

By Dalmarus

style="font-style: italic;">November 30, 2007



This
week,
we continue our
exploration of which combinations you think make the best
duo. I will divide them into a couple
of categories that I see as the basis for most duos involving an
offensive fighter and an arcane caster and offer my take on
them. I am focusing only on offensive fighter/arcane caster combos this
time. If you don't understand a term
or abbreviation I use here, please check our href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=135&meid=109">Game
Terms 101.



The combination of offensive fighter + caster is moderately common. The
logic behind it stems from the fact that the offensive fighter can
still dish out some decent punishment and take some hits while the
arcane caster dishes out the heavy damage. Picking this duo
also
ensures you have good dps foundation when you get ready to form a
group. Clearly, the shortcoming of this duo is the inability to heal
effectively.

Bard as Offensive Fighter

The benefits of choosing a Bard are many. Bards give movement buffs in
the form of run speed, levitation, and underwater breathing. They can
craft songs to up resistances or increase damage. They have crowd
control skills, and they take hits fairly well.



Pros:

Bard can
customize songs to
fit the enemy

Crowd
control

Cons:

Lower melee damage potential than Ranger (and likely the
lowest
among all offensive fighters)
Power of buffs may be diminished without a full group to
benefit

Monk as Offensive Fighter

The Monk has potential for a lot of raw damage. Monks also enjoy
versatility in the three fighting styles (Dragon, Drunken, and
Harmonious). Check out the href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=350&meid=144">Monk
Class Guide for links to skills for each of the fighting
styles.
Most often, Monks are lauded for their ability to off-tank. This means
adds are not nearly as devastating to a duo.



Pros:

Monk can
heal himself

High melee
potential from Monk

Cons:

May have difficulty maintaining aggro at times
Lacks the versatility of the Bard

Ranger as Offensive Fighter

It was common knowledge during beta that style="font-style: italic;">Vanguard mastermind
Brad McQuaid
heavily favored the Ranger. In fact, his alter ego, Aradune, was a
Ranger. Knowing that, it should be no surprise that the Ranger can mete
out some serious pain. The Ranger can also stalk, making it easier to
drag tombstones.



Pros:

Highest
melee potential among
offensive fighters

Stalk to
recover tombstones
and scout

Cons:

No way to deal with adds
Lacks the versatility of the Bard

Rogue as Offensive Fighter

The Rogue is probably a misunderstood class in style="font-style: italic;">Vanguard. Played
correctly, it can
bring the pain, but many players lack the patience to master the
poisons. Rogues are the masters of stealth and stalking, so they are
terrific scouts and corpse retrievers.



 
Pros:

Creative
ways to deal damage
with poisons

Stalk to
recover tombstones
and scout

Cons:

Few people know how to play a Rogue well
Lacks the versatility of the Bard

src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album35/Necromancer_paperdoll.jpg"
hspace="10">Necromancer as Arcane Caster

The benefits of choosing a Necromancer are many. Necromancers can keep
themselves (and at later levels their party to a lesser degree) healed
with various lifetap abilities. They have some crowd
control through a 60 second mez and off-offensive fightering
with their
pet.
With feign death and an evac spell, full wipes should be rare while
paired together.



Pros:

Feign
death, evac ability

Personal
heals and a minor party heal

Cons:

Smaller burst DPS numbers than some of the other casters
Necromancers are generally viewed as a solo-only class so
may not have much grouping experience

Psionicist as Arcane Caster

Psionicists are the kings of crowd control among the arcane casters,
but don't let that fool you into thinking they're weak.
They have
an impressive ability to dish out large amounts of damage when the need
arises. They also get a number of various abilities to suit the
situation in the form of Concentrations - href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=497#KNOWN_CONCENTRATIONS">Psionicist
Concentrations Guide.



Pros:

Master
Crowd Controller

Abilty to
alter personal buffs to match situation

Cons:

Crowd Control abilities seem to wane in the later levels
Difficult class to learn to play well

Druid as Arcane Caster

Druids are the premier healer out of the arcane casters. They also have
a wide range of buffs and abilities that any group would find useful -
from damage shields to speed buffs and everything in between.



Pros:

Highest
healing ability among the arcane casters

More group
friendly buffs and abilities than the other arcane casters

Cons:

Ineffective for crowd control needs
Lacks a specific ability focus unlike the other casters

Sorceror as Arcane Caster

No class in Vanguard can equal the sheer potential for mass destruction
like a sorceror. Controllers of fire and ice, they can rain massive
amounts of damage down on single targets, or groups using a variety of
AoE spells. They also have 2 wards to assist party members - one
negates all spell damage for one attack while the other will reflect an
attack (spell/ability) back at the originator.



 
Pros:

Can deal
massive amounts of damage in a short period of time

Two wards
to add a bit of protection to the group

Cons:

Must be careful to manage their aggro
Lack of group utility buffs
Now it's your turn.
Tell us which
duo is best!


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style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216);"> style="font-weight: bold;">VOTE
IN OUR POLL!

What is the key to making the most powerful offensive fighter + arcane
caster
combo?

Choose Bard as the offensive fighter
Pick Monk for the offensive fighter Ranger as offensive fighter Grab a Rogue for the offensive fighter Use a Necromancer for the arcane caster
Get a Psionicist for the arcane caster
Take the Druid as the arcane caster
Select a Sorceror for the arcane caster
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HERE
(this poll is always open)