Know you want to play a melee class in TERA but need help deciding which?

Mobility

Berserker & Slayer:

• “Dash.” Increases movement speed for 10s and has a cool-down of 25s. Does have a MP cost of 15 so make sure you budget for it.

Lancer:

• “Ferocious Charge.” Charges forward at a moderate pace and can damage a target repeatedly, including a multi-hit finisher toward the end. Also gains additional resistance to being knocked-down while mid-charge. This skill is not very fast but can help with closing distances against opponents or for escaping a bad situation. Alternatively, it can be used to force people to spread out and disperse in order to avoid the threat of an up close and personal lancer.

Slayer & Warrior:

• “Rushing Dodge.” Moves forward in a variety of manners including flips and rolls. It can be used to move quickly in order to avoid attacks at the cost of MP. There are, however, differences between the slayer and warrior versions. The slayer's has a CD of 4s, while the warrior's has no CD. Also, the slayer's either provides fewer invulnerability frames or none at all, while the warrior does provide a significant period of such.
  
  

Recovery

Universal:

• “Soaring Attack.” A wakeup reversal universal among classes. Can be used at any point during your get up animation and it is possible to throw off baits and punishes by varying the timing. Has a small AoE and high rate of knockdown, but minimal damage. Has a CD of 12s so you may not always want to use it immediately in the event of people backing off temporarily.
  
  

Utility

Berserker & Slayer:

• “Will Concentration.” Prevents MP from decreasing immediately for 20s. Skill description leads me to believe that at the end of the duration, the MP consumption will still take effect on skills that you've used because it doesn't just say “no MP use for this duration.” So you might be empty at the end of it, however you will be able to go all out for a while. I may be wrong though.

Berserker:

• “Berserk Possession.” Trades 2500 Health Points (HP) for 50 MP. Use it when you're in a pinch and simply don't have the luxury of waiting to build your MP back up through combat. Potentially dangerous so you need to weigh the usefulness of this trade. If you can end a fight fast enough, it may be practical to use this skill and Will Concentration early on.

• “Enrage.” Trades -30% defense for +15% attack for 15s. Use this whenever dealing damage has a higher priority than reducing damage taken. Maybe you're receiving some solid healing or you just need to get a target down at all costs.

Lancer:

• “Aura of Inspiration.” Increases defense of all party members within a 20m radius by 15% for 30s. The effect is canceled when attacked or knocked-down, so this means it doesn't have much use in PvE, however it can serve a lot of purpose in PvP where a beefy tank is low on the priority of targets to be engaged. On the other hand, people who notice this skill active would want to hit the lancer in order to cancel it.

• “Crash Gear.” Provides an attack and effect that is stackable up to 3 times. Target loses 7% defense for each attack over 10s. This debuff can help you and your team output more damage.

• “Noose.” Throws out a hook to pull a target in to you. With a range of 15m, this is a very effective tool for territory control and spacing and can be used both offensively and defensively.

• “Shield Bash.” Knock-downs nearby targets for 3s. Disable an opponent to mitigate damage, hold them in place for focus fire and to punish overextending or use it to assist in peeling for your teammates.

Warrior:

• “Snap Joint.” A toggle skill which costs 1 MP per 2s. It adds a slowing effect of 50% to the last hit of your combo attacks at a certain rate. 50% is quite significant so this will definitely aid in many different ways—pursuing, escaping, increasing ease of targeting and evasion.

• “Stunning Roar.” A 6m AoE which stuns nearby targets at a certain rate. Position yourself and time it to provide valuable interrupts and possibly on multiple targets too. Due to its moderate CT of 2.2s and CD of 25s, you should only use it while not under active pressure and sparingly or else you might waste its potential.

• “Will of Iron.” Yet another toggle skill which raises your defense by 10% at the cost of draining 2 MP per 2s. Only one “Will” type skill may be used at a time. This is for when you know you're going to be taking hits and want to increase your endurance or just want to feel safer while you have the MP to spare.