New Player: Tank or Healer for Order?

[Abrax]

Hiyo all, new player here!

I would like to play a class that has easier time finding groups, or playing with others, so I thought asking which classes would order need more? Healers or Tanks?

I was specifically thinking about Swordmaster for a Tank, but I read everyone wants more Knights of the Blazing Sun, are Swordmasters not so needed?

If Healers are more in demand, I am open to any suggestion which healer to roll

Thank you in advance, good to be here! All tips are appreciated

[diedrake]

on order side tanks are always lacking. Playing a tank is always a great choice, Knights are always wanted because of their auras which are three buffs that their party gets. The mirror are the chosen on destro. Sword Masters are wanted because they can dish out really really decent dps considering they are Tanks and also if going SnB, they are wanted because of an ability named winds, which gives their party reduced cooldowns for a short time, meaning your dps can dish out massive amounts of damage for a short time. The Iron breaker is the least wanted, usually due to their buffs are more selfish in nature as they can only buff one other player, they are stronger buff s then the knights though. basic rundown for tanks

Knights- a very easy tank if you are a casual player, but can get a tad bit boring form what i have heard from others playing them

Swordmasters- great tanks as well, their mechanic adds a little bit of complexity as they have 3 stances they have. Great as tanks and dps imo, and i have never gotten bored with the class.

Iron breakers- great for small parties like duos due to their buffs only being applied to one other player. Far more complex class to play due to the amount of abilities they have , and knowing when and when not to use them is key.

When it comes to healers, any healer healing is needed. I personally haven't played heals sense live as they are not my personal preference of play style. So, if you are interested in healing prob best to wait or try the healers out on your own. Just like the tanks each healer has a mechanic they have to use.

[Hazmy]

Sword Masters are wanted because they can dish out really really decent dps considering they are Tanks and also if going SnB, they are wanted because of an ability named winds, which gives their party reduced cooldowns for a short time, meaning your dps can dish out massive amounts of damage for a short time.
Swordmasters- great tanks as well, their mechanic adds a little bit of complexity as they have 3 stances they have. Great as tanks and dps imo, and i have never gotten bored with the class.

Oh Swordmasters are useful even as Sword and Shield then? Or is this ONLY useful for that 1 cooldown - so like a buffing bot.

[tazdingo]

Sword Masters are wanted because they can dish out really really decent dps considering they are Tanks and also if going SnB, they are wanted because of an ability named winds, which gives their party reduced cooldowns for a short time, meaning your dps can dish out massive amounts of damage for a short time.
Swordmasters- great tanks as well, their mechanic adds a little bit of complexity as they have 3 stances they have. Great as tanks and dps imo, and i have never gotten bored with the class.

Oh Swordmasters are useful even as Sword and Shield then? Or is this ONLY useful for that 1 cooldown - so like a buffing bot.

depends if you're talking organized or pub. organized groups will always expect you to bring ww (the group cd reducer) and build very specifically

in pubs order just wants more sturdy snb tanks all of the time so you can build however you want as any tank. ww is less mandatory here as your group needs to sort of spec around it to get the most out of it.

snb sm can be fun, it can be built like a tank/heal hybrid with lots of group bubbles and healing and you have raking talons which is like a 2nd mini challenge. has a great undefendable punt though with a low arc so it requires careful aiming compared to knight. melee avoidance is ok, not great uptime on most of it but vauls buffer can take care of a lot of guard damage on its own. kd has no requirements. wounds buff is great as long as its not being overwritten by a wp

fun sturdy class with a lot of creativity in the build, but overall very support and protection focused

[Fenris78]

Spoiler:

Sword Masters are wanted because they can dish out really really decent dps considering they are Tanks and also if going SnB, they are wanted because of an ability named winds, which gives their party reduced cooldowns for a short time, meaning your dps can dish out massive amounts of damage for a short time.
Swordmasters- great tanks as well, their mechanic adds a little bit of complexity as they have 3 stances they have. Great as tanks and dps imo, and i have never gotten bored with the class.

Oh Swordmasters are useful even as Sword and Shield then? Or is this ONLY useful for that 1 cooldown - so like a buffing bot.

SM are useful with SnB, but honestly in this setup you'll get more from Knight or even IB.
2H play is usually the most efficient playing a SM, since you can get very good group buffs (Cooldown reduction, Group absorb and AoE stat stealing), and very good defense (channeling a +50% parry/dodge/disrupt whereas other tanks need shield and only buff dodge/disrupt doing that) wich allow you to survive a push inside a heavily defended keep.
You also get the best mobility with your morale 1 Jump, allowing you to catch fleeing players or just jump into stairs and aoe bump every healer here (always funny to do).
And last but not least, you can also get the best channeled damaging ability for tanks, hitting 5 times on debuffed spirit resistance to give your dps a very good burst on single target.
Finally, you got one of the best tool to kill shamans with cooldown reduction allowing you to spam shatter enchantment and destroy every attempt to HoT or shield themselves for 10s, wich is very strong.

The only downsides are their graphics wich are not for everyone's taste, and their lack or single target punt (but it will be fixed with upcoming skill overhaul in some months probably).
Ultimately 2H play is far more fun, but overall a bit less resilient since you wont get much passive defenses (wich are mostly in SnB tree). But getting nearly 100% parry, 75% dodge/disrupt as long you are channeling your 2H wall of darting steel is very fun (and very good for dungeons too :p)

[Abrax]

Thank you all for you for the help - 2H Swordmaster does sound like a lot of fun frankly but Knight seems like the best choice for a new player!

And if I wanted to go healer route - can a Warrior Priest be built fully as a healer, and is it useful? I don't like how Archmage or Runepriest looks like that much - but a healing Warrior Priest would be badass!

I was also told ingame Archmage and Warrior Priest are bad healer...but that sounds extreme?

[Fenris78]

Thank you all for you for the help - 2H Swordmaster does sound like a lot of fun frankly but Knight seems like the best choice for a new player!

And if I wanted to go healer route - can a Warrior Priest be built fully as a healer, and is it useful? I don't like how Archmage or Runepriest looks like that much - but a healing Warrior Priest would be badass!

I was also told ingame Archmage and Warrior Priest are bad healer...but that sounds extreme?

As for healers, WP is best for group heal but somehow lacks big single target heal, and doesnt get big mobility, Archmage is very good to keep a target alive but lacks a bit of survivability (and pure healer you probably wont use much of its mechanic), and runepriest is the most mobile and flexible one with great survivability and protection for group.

To my taste I prefer Runepriest wich I found the best of two worlds, and you can just switch a skill to bring ranged DPS support when there is no need for heavy heal. Plus dwarves tactics are amazingly strong, both personaly (armor and stun resistance tactics) and for group (group absorb proc, armor proc, 25% healing bonus for allies).

But depending on your group setup, you will ideally need 2 different healers in each group, Warrior Priest + another one being the best bet generally speaking.

[Abrax]

As for healers, WP is best for group heal but somehow lacks big single target heal, and doesnt get big mobility, Archmage is very good to keep a target alive but lacks a bit of survivability (and pure healer you probably wont use much of its mechanic), and runepriest is the most mobile and flexible one with great survivability and protection for group.

To my taste I prefer Runepriest wich I found the best of two worlds, and you can just switch a skill to bring ranged DPS support when there is no need for heavy heal. Plus dwarves tactics are amazingly strong, both personaly (armor and stun resistance tactics) and for group (group absorb proc, armor proc, 25% healing bonus for allies).

But depending on your group setup, you will ideally need 2 different healers in each group, Warrior Priest + another one being the best bet generally speaking.

Warrior Priest sounds really intersting , especially their Grace Mastery where I can see they can heal through damage? Sounds really fun!

[Fenris78]

Warrior Priest sounds really intersting , especially their Grace Mastery where I can see they can heal through damage? Sounds really fun!

Grace is fun but somehow limited to smallscale/single target healing, while being very strong for solo or scenario and very defensive, it's the hardest spec to play properly, since you'll need heavy damage to get strong healing, i.e. hitting the overanbundant destruction tanks and healers will not heal much... :p