Build Help

Inu

Hi, I'm Inu. I want to build the best build for my character.

I am firm on being a loboshigaru, what class/guild/city will benefit me the most to be in?

The two things I want:
To be able to grind (Which will be best with artifacts? Bashing, aetherhunting or influencing?)
Be viable in combat


What should I buy/be to optimize my race?

Shaddus

Your best bet is a Harmony Monk, so probably Tahtetso or Shofangi class (Celest or Serenwilde), and probably Psionics/Psymet for a tertiary.

Falaeron

Races generally won't have much impact on class choices. Loboshigaru can definitely work as any class because the powers can all be used by every class to more or less the same degree.

Now, as for the things you specifically asked about:
Bashing: Without artifacts, it probably goes monks -> warriors -> bards -> mages/wiccans/druids -> guardians for bashing speed. With artifacts (i.e. an artifact divinus whip that costs 275 credits), all classes more or less bash at the same speed. What you're looking for instead is tankiness. Shaddus' suggestion of a Harmony Monk with Psychometabolism is not bad, but in my experience nothing beats the tankiness is a Telekinesis mage as that gives you Forcefield, which is a defence that will make you take ego damage before health damage.

Influencing: No class gives any specific boost to influencing speed, so again we're looking at "tankiness", just in the sense of ego. Bards and Psionics mages would be my picks as they both give ego boosts.

Aetherhunting: Classes don't affect how quickly you can aetherhunt at all. This is usually down to pilot skill and whether or not you have many people who have the fink race with a bunch of artifacts.

Combat viability: This really depends on what you mean by "viable". In my view, all meaningful combat is done in groups and in groups all classes are more or less "viable". Bards are probably the most impactful in almost any situation right now, but all of the classes can make an impact. The only exception I would point out are warriors. Some of the specialisations still have really impactful skills, but Blademaster and Bonecrusher in particular don't really offer anything that none of the other classes can't better offer.

I've tried to avoid naming individual classes and going with archetypes (outside of Shaddus' example) as the differences aren't so big that I think you should pick based on which one has a slight edge. I'd suggest you pick an organisation that fits what kind of roleplay you would like before picking the specific class. The exception is if you are really set on monk, in which case Hallifax and Gaudiguch don't have them quite yet (but we are told SoonTM).

Shedrin

The loboshigaru demigod and demigod+ powers work with anything. Extra healing is nice for everyone. Theoretically you can maximise the impact with certain classes more, but the race power will be a minor part of your overall power compared to your class skills.

So with that in mind, I'd pick a class based on what class sounds cool and fun to you.

Fyler

My default suggestion for anyone who wants a well rounded toolkit to grind and pk, and be successful at both is any of the bard classes with a tertiary in Glamours. Slight tilt towards Cantor for their divinus damage being the best for high end bashing, but don't base your decision on that.

Illusoryself is one of the best tanking abilities in the game (though it does eat a lot of power), and bards have one of the quickest (if not the quickest) bashing attacks in the game. Songs will further boost your bashing ability. You'll also have access to reflections which are pretty great for grinding stuff that is bigger than you. 

With artifacts and beast blocking, you will be able to tank things that far exceed your level because you will block more damage than you actually take, and grinding is all about tanking until you hit end game bashig. No one believes me when I say how insane an artied glamours bard blocks in PvE but it is nuts. Be warned, this tankyness does not translate equally to PvP.

Bard is the simplest to learn PK with as well as one of the most useful and important. 

Race doesn't matter all that much. 

Falaeron

Oh yeah, IllusorySelf is OP for tanking. It just requires more upkeep than something like Forcefield that you can set and forget.

Lerad

Psymet is good for doubling down on the regen offered by the Lobo regeneration, but the most impactful psymet ability that synergizes with regeneration is trans. Regeneration also works entirely off a percentage of your max health, so it's really only good when you have a big health pool. In otherwords, psymet is great for endgame bashing/tanking, but not so great when you're bashing to endgame. Of course, on the other hand, you spend alot of your bashing time in the level 90s, and your health by that level is usually good enough to start seeing regeneration's best parts shine.

For when you're lower in levels, having a secondary health pool via forcefield is probably better, or blocking/dodging attacks entirely via illusoryself, as previously mentioned.

Deichtine

For low credit investments warriors are kinda good at bashing, vitality. Numbness and transmute are pretty good.

But to be fair all classes are good at bashing. The games pretty balanced in that regards. Theres no class that can't bash well.

One little point to make is how good influencing is for leveling and gold making. It can often easily beat out bashing for folks who are willing to sell the esteem they get. Everyone influences equally as well,(well mostly) The way vitals work right now bards have the largest ego but with influencing being so linear you reach a break point where you can influence everything no matter what your class is.

So really all classes and races can do well bashing and influcencing.

As to combat well it varies a lot, most classes have a place but theres a lot of variance in that. In terms of utility to a group its hard to beat being a melder, guardian or bard. The best bet to be honest would be if you described what type of game play do you enjoy? Do you want the super defensive tanky classes? Attrition style, burst, etc etc? Whats your cup of tea?

Yarith

For low investment and pvp viability look no further than bard honestly.

Bards, in transcendant music alone, offers more to their teams in fights than most other classes do across two transcended skills.

Mages and druids, in order to be properly efficient as melders for pvp often require a rune of demesne which sits at the 200 cr mark on top of transcendant elementalism/nature primary and, while your primary has some semblance of a kill method, you won't get much done as a melder until you transcend all three of your guild skills. -chem variants are similar but without the melding component, thus not requiring the rune of demesnes. Melders fall off sharply in 'usefulness' since once one melder is already taking a meld on your side your entire primary skillset is reduced to 'point staff/cudgel' unless breaking a meld.

Monks are pretty solid as well, given most of their offence comes from kata.

Guardian varies widely from org to org and doesn't really have a cookie-cutter position. Celestines and Nihilists can do very well with trans primary and secondary, Institute requires transcendant primary, secondary, and a majority of the way into beastmastery to achieve its kill unless you want to be relegated to spamming aeon, Illuminati is very useful even with fleshworks but gets the most done with its primary and secondary as well similar to Nihilists, they just have a lot less upfront punch. Guadians have access to Tarot though, which is singlehandedly the strongest tertiary to influence pvp (City bards can also access Tarot).

Warriors are low investment but you have very little options when it comes to helping in groups. Blocking in athletics is nice, as is the shieldstun variant in headslam but apart from a few cheesy things you don't really offer anything to a group scenario that a guardian/bard won't do better/faster.

Inu

I've decide to go with Cacophony because I like the lore in Magnagora a bit more than I did Serenwilde.

What tert should I be picking? I imagine tarot is better for some bards than others

Inu

What artifacts should I prioritize? 
What skills are necessities? 

Fyler

To argue Veyil's point, some classes are terrible at bashing. Nihilist and Shadowdancer, for example, are hot garbage bashers without artifact investment. Other than some specific instances, she's right though, every class can grind. 

To answer the last question, get your skills before you consider artifacts. Can skip Arts, trans aethercraft isn't super necessary, but the others I recommend getting. 

It really depends on how much you have to invest up front. Once you're at that point, Rune of Absorption is a good first artifact to buy. Bards will benefit from charisma and health runes for obvious reasons. 

Tarot is amazing for combat if you know how to use it. It can benefit your group tremendously. Tarot is borderline useless for bashing.

Glamours has some decent group support skills and passives (underrated in a lot of ways), but it doesn't bring the same massive toolkit that tarot has. It will make you more survivable which tarot does not do, and it also contributes to bashing where tarot does not. There is also maze if you can pull it off, which sucks a single target out of the fight for a decent length of time. 

You will be amazing in groups, you will suck absolute butt in 1v1 against anyone who knows how to deal with bards. Tert won't change this dynamic, so pick your tert based on what you want from a tert. Do you want to be an AoE passive machine that can survive some hits? Go glamours. Do you want to bring tremendous flexibility and single target lock down as well as the ability to save teammates but have the survivability of a paper bag? Go tarot.

Shedrin

Personally I'd go Tarot. Glamours is better for tanking and has some nice passives, but Tarot's utility and actives make up for it in combat. Glamours is also fairly power-intensive, with Bards already sucking up a lot of power, where Tarot for the most part is power free.

For artifacts, I'd say the first priority you'd want would be a dingbat nose.

Deichtine

I didnt really notice much difference bashing as a shadowdancer vs bashing as a bard.

Ciaran

Arti whip > class choice.