Runes of Magic US / AU

So after a lengthy hiatus, I'm back playing Runes. Never thought I'd come back, but you know....never say never! Upon coming back, I decided to try and find a class that has never been played so that I can try and make some magic happen. A brief back story: In chapter 3, I was one of (if not the first) S/wd on the server, and Chapter 4 I was a W/m when everyone was still calling them fail & before everyone had one. So I like to try unique things!

Having said that, upon returning, I thought that D/r could be an interesting class. There are quite a few hidden surprises with the class, and they have some GREAT buffs/debuffs. The pros & cons are as follows:

Pros:
• GREAT crit debuff on bosses
• 15 seconds of 100% crit could be fun
• Double proc on Earth Arrow could be fun too
• Spell Casting Buff for after speed pots run out
• Other fun buffs
• no one plays one, so it's unique at least

Cons:
• TERRIBLE WEAPON CHOICES; They can not equip an off-hand talisman or dagger. Limited to 2-H staffs, Wand/Shield, or Wand/Hammer even with /R secondary
• /R secondary is useless. You literally get nothing from it; Nimble hands doesn't even do anything either, which adds insult to injury. Can't even equip an off-hand dagger....thanks RW
• Item set-skills are garbage, especially if trying to build for damage

In terms of statting & gear, I am going to be building pure damage just like a Mage, using Int/Matk & Int/Stam stats. I will be putting these stats on pure Mage gear, and focusing on pure DPS.

Currently I'm 55/50 and will be blitzing to 82 over the next week (got sidetracked by school/work and helping my girl quest). I definitely think that this combo could be quite interesting as I gear up, and will be updating this thread on a regular basis as I find more information about the class so that others can see if it's fun or if it's garbage. If it's viable, I will make a guide so that everyone can learn how to play something that isn't a FOTM class; if it sucks, well....time to re-roll again

Hey Cike,

Thanks for the welcome back! I don't know why more people don't try it either, everyone just keeps doing the same thing over and over! For better or worse, though, I'm gonna spin the wheel to see how this treats me. I think that it's going to be pretty solid though, there are some great pros about the class.

I really do wish that RW would open up the ability to equip an offhand talisman or dagger though; especially since the class is /r, it would be great to have another Miracle/Recon/Burst Rune as well as a stat stick. Talisman would be especially nice, since you could get bonus mDmg and defense stats. Ah well, maybe they might investigate it more since there is at least one more person playing the class! HINT HINT

@TWMXC Thanks for the good luck wishes! When I logged back in, I saw that basically every one of my friends were now R/m, so that was a bit of a turn off. While I don't doubt R/m is OP, it's just too FOTM for me. I'm not worried about the cost really, I'm more worried about leveling

@Cike Yeah it's the 60 elite; the 70 is a 5 second stun I believe. That's one of the things that made me interested in the class is the 60 elite- I really don't know if it would have been viable as a class without that addition. There is also a great 2 second cast in Black Widow's Embrace, which is hitting for a TON of dark damage, but I believe it's 30 energy per cast, so it's not spammable. Once I get to a decently geared level, I will do some tests with Earth Arrow only and then weaved with Black Widow to see what's the most effective.

Thanks for the thread link as well- I agree with you, I really don't know what more people don't at least give the class a shot! I'll update the original post in the next day or so once I get a chance to test some damage/skills out, been too busy at work lately.

And no, I don't play pal; this is actually the only game where I have a character named Sashagrey, most of my other characters on GW2/LOL/FF14 are named either Graffiti or more recently Crayshaun. I get a LOT of weird messages with this name, and I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance

So after doing some tests for damage, it appears EA is definitely the way to go as opposed to weaving in PWE. At the same skill level for both the skills and mastery, EA hits for MUCH harder, even with the damage listed at like 600 earth as opposed to 1105 dark. At 55, with no gear and just a staff (no 60 elite yet, either) EA was hitting for about 25/30% more already; the damage was about 12/13k for PWE vs. 16/17k crits on EA. Both have the same cast time, so in a burn, I'm not going to even bother with PWE- just seems like wasted damage.

In terms of basic skills so far, they're pretty interesting and seem to be a mix of PVE/PVP orientated. Earth pulse hits everything in a straight line, and I tested this by killing 6 pirates on the beach who had been lined in a row lol. To me, I can see myself dying a lot to a tab target fail, so we'll see how that plays out. You get 2 dots, which are nice, and can be used to kite until you get the damage from Rockslide once you cast it (there's a 5 second window until it hits). Necrotic wound would be great in siege against someone who has a pocket healer, but I have a bit to go until I get there.

In terms of gear, I think that I am in fact going to go with a Wand/1-H Hammer setup (Thanks to Cike who mentioned I could use a Hammer; updated my original post to reflect that info). Going to T10 the Wand and T8 the Hammer (clean statted) to maximize stats & magic runes. I am conflicted about what gear to stat; since I have theoretically 100% crit for 15 seconds and some great crit debuffs, I'm wondering if I should still go for all crit or something else. I'm going to d/l char plan and work on that a bit more.

@Yrcanos I mean Battlefield 4 versus Perfect World is a no contest to me. I had a vampire in PW, and I think that BF4 could definitely triple PW's damage, easily

@Gigi It's ok, don't be sad! I'm glad to be back, since I play with my girlfriend and it gives us a reason to play games together. I remember to you too, hope that life is treating you well!

@Dropbear Chapter 3 is a long time to be playing the class, can they offer any insight to it? Personally I'm a re-roll fiend, so I change classes all the time (not as much as Tien or Ari on Reni, but...a ton!)

@ Cike I play on Reni, but I have ventured out to other servers too...I vaguely remember seeing another Sashagrey in Siege, but I always referred to her as the "fake" one! Haha...

Thank you for uploading the info about the Wand & Hammer too; I really think that the added mDMG and ability to have another Reco would be well worth the setup, so I'm ready to get her geared & leveled!

Been a little bit since I've been in here, thanks to helping my g/f quest. Luckily, she's almost 82, and I will have the time to devote to leveling my D/r this weekend. I have been doing some research into the best gear for my D/r, and I think that I will be going with the Hoson's set + VN accessories + lvl 80 Wand/Hammer. There is just so much damage to be had with that setup that it's hard to overlook. Once I get everything, going to +16 the rings/chest asap so get max damage. Been collecting XI/XII stats to start my gear with, since the cost of the cutting-edge stats is waaaay to high atm, and I hope that I can just farm them once I get into more runs. Luckily, I have a great guild who is very helpful!

It's just funny that everyone I speak with in game is like "oh, D/r? I don't think that I've ever seen one before"haha...

@Mrpushpop I agree with you, that is very bold! I think that the level 60 elite is what has really helped to make the D/r viable again, so to play since ch.3...very impressive!