It’s been a while since we’ve covered TERA, and I figured it’s time to change that. This time, we talk about an important choice you will make at the start of the game – your calling. The game features 8 classes: 4 melee, 1 ranged, 1 caster and 2 support. Today, we are going to cover the melee classes and their associated gameplay styles. So, if you like getting up close and personal with your enemies, read on.
First off, we have Lancers who are the main tanks of the game and are able to have the best protective equipment, as well as the ability to protect allies with their shields. They are a melee class, but due to the length of the spears they carry, they can easily attack from medium range. Due to particle collision in the game, your shield isn’t just a fancy piece of gear that you wear to impress ladies, but also a vital tool you have to rely on in order to prevent damage both to yourself and to the allies behind you.
In between blocks, you’ll also be making active use of the various taunts and guards available in order to keep aggro. When the going gets tough, expect to add a dash of offence skills as well. The Lancer brings reliability and survivability to the party. Skillful tanks in other games will feel right at home with this class.
We also have Slayers who use greatswords to maximize the reach of their swings, and are a melee class geared for fighting groups of enemies at once, while still being able to dodge enemy blows. Slayers do not have ‘spike’ damage like their cousins Berserkers, but they do make up for it with their versatility. This class has a wide range of skills for AoE damage, but can also utilize a couple of abilities that focus on a single enemy.
In PvP, Slayer’s main role is to harass the healers and generally be a pain in the ass for anyone who is dumb enough to come too close. This class takes some time getting used to and you will frequently rely on your ability to predict where the enemy is going to end up a few seconds from now in order to land that massive crit. Slayers also make active use of knockdowns to control the flow of the battle.
Then there’s Berserkers or simply ‘zerkers’, as some like to call them, who have the highest melee damage output and prefer using big axes with narrow swings. They mainly focus on one target and do far better in dealing damage than absorbing it. This is a class where positioning and timing your attacks plays a vital role.
You are going to be mindful of your enemies’ movements, more so than the Slayer, in order to maximize your damage. Berserkers can’t dodge incoming attacks like Slayers, but they can block them with their mighty two-handed axes.
There are also Warriors, who are an interesting take on the typical squishy fighter type class, but with skills suitable for a tank. You read that right. The number one misconception people have about the Warrior class is that it’s a rogue/damage dealer type of sorts. Warriors in TERA are different because they are primarily geared for evasion tanking, and can serve as a real alternative to Lancers. Currently, Warriors are less prone to losing aggro from heals than Lancers due to higher DPS output. However, the drawback to their style of tanking is that the group will have to constantly stay on their toes, as Warriors move all over the place when trying to evade heavy blows from bosses.
In PvP, Warriors share a similar function with Slayers – harassing support classes. Usually, their damage isn’t high enough to bring them down, but preventing a healer from contributing to the battle is always handy.
This wraps up the melee classes in TERA. Stay put for more articles where other choices will be covered.