Disrep
Active Member
Hello friends. I've been seeing far too many people who are new competitive large scale pvp and how it works. Before anyone can teach you how to play, the basic thing you must know is what classes are acceptable. Again I want to stress, this is for large scale as in 30+ people. Other classes not listed here may work as a niche 1v1 or a small scale class, but will not be as effective. Common classes that people may be confused on why they can't be played large scale will be listed and explained.
There is a meta in Archeage whether you like it or not. Top guilds on legacy servers used these classes for a reason, it isn't just a made up thing. Classes that become viable in 3.0+ will be listed, but I will not go in depth due to the fact that the current patch is 2.9. If you would like a skill build on any of these classes, shoot me a pm and I will do my best to help out. I will try to break down what stage of the game these classes are best used, which will be early game, mid game, late game, and super late game.
Note- these are averages, when you get into late game everyone is gonna be geared differently because of gems and weapon choices.
Early game: 0- 4K gs
Mid game: 4K-5.5k
Late game:5.5k- 6.2k
Super late game:6.2k+
Mage
Revenant
Early/Mid/Late
- The bread and butter of large scale pvp. Mage ball is the dominate meta because of this class here. Amazing mix of aoe damage and cc, with decent survivabilty due to auramancy. An absolute must have for your raid comp. Falls off super late game because the chip damage from aoes aren't as effective due to high hp, toughness/resilience gems, and healers having strong odes.
Skullknight
Mid/Late/Super Late
-Skullknights aren't good early and a little bit mid game because they are heavily focused on cc. They don't do enough damage to need them in a ball early game. Revenant does their job much better till later on. Come late game this class is a must. Late game is more about cc and single target burst, so having skullknights to lock down an area is super important.
Nightcloak
Late/Super Late/ 3.0+
-Truthfully I haven't gotten to mess around with this class in the 2.9 patch, but I imagine it's not terrible at the moment. It's a late game class because you need to be very tanky to pull it off. Your role is a bit different than sks, so if you aren't tanky, you will just get focused down and die instantly. 3.5 these things are monsters with access to both abyssal and successor skills. Crazy cc and mobility if played correctly.
Spellsinger/Spellsong
Late/Super Late
-Just because you can hit one person with a 20k arc lightning early/mid game doesn't mean it's better than a revenant. Spellsingers and spellsongs are late game+ classes because to make it more useful than a revenant you need gear. Not just a weapon, you need cast time, arc lightning gems, and good crit damage/crit chance to be more effective. Super late game these things are a must because the only way you're gonna kill a 30k health skullknight/nightcloak or healers is with an arc lightning. Very squishy and imobile so you must have good positioning to play it.
Classes that don't work in large scale
Enigmatist
-Very fun class in small scale with a lot of mobility, but sucks in large scale because it's only mobility and burst. But even the burst is outshined by a rev because of crit passives. On top of this you have consistent cc and damage with a rev outside of your burst that you don't have as an enigmatist
Daggerspell
-It's a 1v1 cheese class and situationally a small scale class. Mixing damage and hard cc almost never works. Revenants are far superior if you want damage and cc.
Any other class that hasn't been listed is a very niche class or just doesn't work. Most things without auramancy in it aren't fit for large scale, or things with hybrid damage types like vitalism/sorc or something like that.
Healers
Cleric
All stages
-It's arguably the best healer class in the game for a reason. Good mobility, amazing aoe heals, especially with zeal up, good single heals, good everything. Only downside is you need a bit more peel if you don't know how to position.
Hierophant
All stages
-Underplayed but crazy good. Has so much flexibility with play styles. You can go mobility heavy or cc heavy without sacrificing any heals. Harder to play correctly because people often don't know how to balance cc and healing. Very good self peel and disruption.
Classes that don't work
Templar
-Oh boy. The biggest noob healer trap in the game. People play Templar because they want to either be a Tanky healer, or are tired of dying to dark runners so they feel they need to have defense to save themselves. You pick up defense essentially for two skills, redoubt and invincibly. Redoubt only helps you not be tripped, because any hit from behind and your redoubt does nothing. If you go invincible that's great you saved yourself, but your raid is now dying. A better alternative would be to play heirophant and use your fears to peel for yourself. Don't play this please
Caretaker
-The second noob trap. It's bad for similar reasons as Templar, but even worse because you don't have auramancy. Any healing class with defense isn't that good.
Soothsayer
-As much as you want to get fancy with it, soothsayer isn't a large scale healing class. It's only use is reviving people. It's required in the water, but that's it. If you want mobility and cc, just go heirophant. The damage from shadowplay isn't good at all and even if it was, mixing healing and damage isn't good. Remember just because it somehow works for you doesn't mean it's good.
Argent
-Similar reasons on why soothsayer isn't good. Mixing damage and heals makes you mediocre at both. It's not a healing class.
Healer is probably the hardest class to play well. If you're dying to darkrunners over and over, work on your positioning and try to anticipate when they will jump on you. Don't rely on defense to do the work for you.
Melee
Darkrunner
Early/Mid/Late
-Contrary to popular belief, darkrunners aren't as strong as you think especially once you start scaling into late game. They may have super high mobility and large burst, but when gems start really becoming a thing, getting into melee range becomes deadly. You can't kill a healer fast anymore because they have too many defenses stopping you from one shotting. Raid v raid darkrunner is not easy.
Hexwarden
Mid/Late/Super Late
-Another one of the few times mixing damage and cc is good. Almost the same damage as a darkrunner with the ability to control a ball, or peel for your healers. Much better alternative when scaling into late game.
Abolishers
Early/Mid
-Abolishers actually suck. They have use early/mid because their damage can keep up with the enemy, but they fall off really hard late game+. If you want to tank, skullknights do the job far better than abolishers. Battlerage has no use when combining defense and auramancy except to hit like a wet noodle.
Classes that don't work
Paladin
-See argent above, except this one is even worse. Biggest noob trap in the game. Don't play it.
Any other melee class is 3.0+ or just doesn't have a role in a raid.
Archery
-only good early game. They don't get good till 3.5 so you're a long way off.
Hope this gives some insight to newer players. If your favorite class isn't on here I'm sorry but that's just how the meta is. The key thing to remember is that just because it works for you or your small group of friends doesn't mean it's good.
There is a meta in Archeage whether you like it or not. Top guilds on legacy servers used these classes for a reason, it isn't just a made up thing. Classes that become viable in 3.0+ will be listed, but I will not go in depth due to the fact that the current patch is 2.9. If you would like a skill build on any of these classes, shoot me a pm and I will do my best to help out. I will try to break down what stage of the game these classes are best used, which will be early game, mid game, late game, and super late game.
Note- these are averages, when you get into late game everyone is gonna be geared differently because of gems and weapon choices.
Early game: 0- 4K gs
Mid game: 4K-5.5k
Late game:5.5k- 6.2k
Super late game:6.2k+
Mage
Revenant
Early/Mid/Late
- The bread and butter of large scale pvp. Mage ball is the dominate meta because of this class here. Amazing mix of aoe damage and cc, with decent survivabilty due to auramancy. An absolute must have for your raid comp. Falls off super late game because the chip damage from aoes aren't as effective due to high hp, toughness/resilience gems, and healers having strong odes.
Skullknight
Mid/Late/Super Late
-Skullknights aren't good early and a little bit mid game because they are heavily focused on cc. They don't do enough damage to need them in a ball early game. Revenant does their job much better till later on. Come late game this class is a must. Late game is more about cc and single target burst, so having skullknights to lock down an area is super important.
Nightcloak
Late/Super Late/ 3.0+
-Truthfully I haven't gotten to mess around with this class in the 2.9 patch, but I imagine it's not terrible at the moment. It's a late game class because you need to be very tanky to pull it off. Your role is a bit different than sks, so if you aren't tanky, you will just get focused down and die instantly. 3.5 these things are monsters with access to both abyssal and successor skills. Crazy cc and mobility if played correctly.
Spellsinger/Spellsong
Late/Super Late
-Just because you can hit one person with a 20k arc lightning early/mid game doesn't mean it's better than a revenant. Spellsingers and spellsongs are late game+ classes because to make it more useful than a revenant you need gear. Not just a weapon, you need cast time, arc lightning gems, and good crit damage/crit chance to be more effective. Super late game these things are a must because the only way you're gonna kill a 30k health skullknight/nightcloak or healers is with an arc lightning. Very squishy and imobile so you must have good positioning to play it.
Classes that don't work in large scale
Enigmatist
-Very fun class in small scale with a lot of mobility, but sucks in large scale because it's only mobility and burst. But even the burst is outshined by a rev because of crit passives. On top of this you have consistent cc and damage with a rev outside of your burst that you don't have as an enigmatist
Daggerspell
-It's a 1v1 cheese class and situationally a small scale class. Mixing damage and hard cc almost never works. Revenants are far superior if you want damage and cc.
Any other class that hasn't been listed is a very niche class or just doesn't work. Most things without auramancy in it aren't fit for large scale, or things with hybrid damage types like vitalism/sorc or something like that.
Healers
Cleric
All stages
-It's arguably the best healer class in the game for a reason. Good mobility, amazing aoe heals, especially with zeal up, good single heals, good everything. Only downside is you need a bit more peel if you don't know how to position.
Hierophant
All stages
-Underplayed but crazy good. Has so much flexibility with play styles. You can go mobility heavy or cc heavy without sacrificing any heals. Harder to play correctly because people often don't know how to balance cc and healing. Very good self peel and disruption.
Classes that don't work
Templar
-Oh boy. The biggest noob healer trap in the game. People play Templar because they want to either be a Tanky healer, or are tired of dying to dark runners so they feel they need to have defense to save themselves. You pick up defense essentially for two skills, redoubt and invincibly. Redoubt only helps you not be tripped, because any hit from behind and your redoubt does nothing. If you go invincible that's great you saved yourself, but your raid is now dying. A better alternative would be to play heirophant and use your fears to peel for yourself. Don't play this please
Caretaker
-The second noob trap. It's bad for similar reasons as Templar, but even worse because you don't have auramancy. Any healing class with defense isn't that good.
Soothsayer
-As much as you want to get fancy with it, soothsayer isn't a large scale healing class. It's only use is reviving people. It's required in the water, but that's it. If you want mobility and cc, just go heirophant. The damage from shadowplay isn't good at all and even if it was, mixing healing and damage isn't good. Remember just because it somehow works for you doesn't mean it's good.
Argent
-Similar reasons on why soothsayer isn't good. Mixing damage and heals makes you mediocre at both. It's not a healing class.
Healer is probably the hardest class to play well. If you're dying to darkrunners over and over, work on your positioning and try to anticipate when they will jump on you. Don't rely on defense to do the work for you.
Melee
Darkrunner
Early/Mid/Late
-Contrary to popular belief, darkrunners aren't as strong as you think especially once you start scaling into late game. They may have super high mobility and large burst, but when gems start really becoming a thing, getting into melee range becomes deadly. You can't kill a healer fast anymore because they have too many defenses stopping you from one shotting. Raid v raid darkrunner is not easy.
Hexwarden
Mid/Late/Super Late
-Another one of the few times mixing damage and cc is good. Almost the same damage as a darkrunner with the ability to control a ball, or peel for your healers. Much better alternative when scaling into late game.
Abolishers
Early/Mid
-Abolishers actually suck. They have use early/mid because their damage can keep up with the enemy, but they fall off really hard late game+. If you want to tank, skullknights do the job far better than abolishers. Battlerage has no use when combining defense and auramancy except to hit like a wet noodle.
Classes that don't work
Paladin
-See argent above, except this one is even worse. Biggest noob trap in the game. Don't play it.
Any other melee class is 3.0+ or just doesn't have a role in a raid.
Archery
-only good early game. They don't get good till 3.5 so you're a long way off.
Hope this gives some insight to newer players. If your favorite class isn't on here I'm sorry but that's just how the meta is. The key thing to remember is that just because it works for you or your small group of friends doesn't mean it's good.
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