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I am just about to start playing eq2 and i read the manual and the skills list and decided to be a night elf assasin is this a good choice
The clases are broken down like this:
Fighter: tanks that can stand toe-to-toe with a mob and take a beating. They have low DPS. Their fights will take a while as they slowly chip away at the mob.
Scout: they can use ranged attacks or stealthy rear/flank attacks for higher damage. They wear medium armor. Kills are faster, but more dangerous since they are not as well protected.
Mage: highest DPS of all but wears tissue-paper thin armor. They prefer to keep the fight at a distance while blasting the mob with nukes.
Priest: Healers of various types, low DPS. Some heals are large single shot, others are Heal Over Time (HoT), others are Wards that prevent damage. They also have buffs/debuffs.
Within each class are different archtypes. In the Scout class you have:
Ranger: Master of a bow
Assassin: High damage from behind
Swashbuckler: Lightning fast attacks
Brigand: Fast attacks and debuffs
Troubador: Sings songs of triumph to buff the party
Dirge: Songs of lament to quell the enemy
All scouts get Tracking at the beginning and Escape at level 25, among other abilities.
There are definately more abilities for each class, but this gives you a general idea of what they do. It's best to review the spell list for each to get the details of what they can do.
Bottom line, play what you like. There is no "best" class, just everyone does things differently. You would hate to find out down the road that a class you thought was best is not what you really like to play.
The good news is you can try several different classes until you settle on one you like. Run each class up to level 13, which can take anywhere from 8 hours to 5 days, depending on how much you play. Have fun!