Classes overview

[Grenth]

This is an overview of the main character classes in RWK in regards to their basic item/stat setup and effectiveness in beast killing and dueling. "Ubers" or "uber beasts" refers to MTs, DEs, GMTs, Shamans, and Golems. The dueling overviews are meant mostly for endgame situations when you have a shadows and powerful relics such as D*Devs. Without further intro:

Master of Arms (Fighter):

This class uses Strength for damage, Dexterity for accuracy, and wields only one weapon, but may use any item that isn't a weapon in their other hand (usually a shield).

For beasting, demonic items which aren't overly expensive give a good enough strength boost although you want the most powerful heavy weapon you can get. Shirt Ripper relics double your strength and are very cheap, and you also get insane damage from Warrior's Squire (100x str) as well as from being an armsman (2x str). Armsmen also get a 4x dex boost from the Coif quests which on top of the 5x from WS grants you some very helpful boosts that will be necessary to hit uber beasts if you don't have super relics or DDs. However, until you get Sanction of Serenity, you can only hit once per attack putting you at a disadvantage compared to chars that can 9x9x2. SoSe gives you a 75% chance of attacking twice with your weapon.

For dueling, they get the highest base void resist innately and from quests that is only closely matched by Grandmaster Bowmen and Bloodletters. They also get very good base mesmerize resists. The ability to wield a shield grants a chance to block attacks and casts which means on average you die less often, and grants an armor defense bonus equivalent to 3 armor pieces. Because they can use 16 relics, 10 shadows, and have very good base boosts for strength, they can dish out a good amount of damage with a proper setup.

In conclusion, master armsmen are good characters all around and are a good choice if you want a cheap beast killer, and are one of the best classes for acumen.

Master Berserker (Fighter):

This is the two weapon version of the Master of Arms. It has lower innate resists and does not enjoy the 4x dexterity bonus from Coifs nor the 2x strength bonus that Armsmen possess by nature. This means that compared to a Master of Arms with SoSe, you will be at a disadvantage both damage and accuracy wise.

For beasting, the main advantage of a Berserker is that you get 2 attacks 100% of the time, granted you aren't mesmerized. However, with your base boosts you'll have trouble reaching the Dex necessary to hit and 9x9 beasts consistently, so you will inevitably end up needing either MRs or DDs. You can use precise weapons instead of heavies at the expense of half your damage.

For dueling, the lower resists and accuracy make the Master of Arms outshine this class.

All in all, I would only turn a master of arms into berserker for beasting granted I had the supers/DDs to make it viable, but that's about it.

Master Magician (Caster):

This is the caster counterpart of the armsman. Magi use Intelligence for damage and Concentration for accuracy. They use one damage spell and either a heal spell or nothing in their other spell slot. If using a rapid spell then two shields are viable, the most popular setup however is a light weapon, shield, heal spell, and major spell.

For beasting, it is a weaker mirror image of the armsman, replacing Shirt Rippers by Brain Swells. However, Caster's Familiar (the WS counterpart) grants 50x ntl and 3x cnc, meaning with equal value suits, a Master Magician will hit for half the damage and have 3/5 of the accuracy in comparison. They will also only cast with their damage spell once unless SoSe is present (75% chance of two casts). If you decide to suit your character with two shields and go with a rapid instead of major you'll further halve your damage which means you're almost a D*Dev worth of damage behind the fighter. However, they are still decent enough at beasting and some claim they can 9x9x2 ubers with no supers or DDs.

For dueling, they are not that bad but definitely sub optimal. They get lower base resists, power and accuracy boosts than their fighter counterpart but still get to equip 16 relics if they are using a heal instead of nothing in their other spell slot. If you use 2 shields then you will have a second chance of blocking casts/attacks and extra armor defense, but it will cost you half your damage as you will have to use a rapid instead of major spell unless you want major delay which is even worse. Also, if you cast with your heal spell (when your 75% chance doesn't fire) then it may revive you if your enemy kills you in counter attack.

Overall, master magi are a lower stat caster version of the Master of Arms. They are not the best but they are not worthless either. They are also cheaper to "finish", as getting 10 Dragon Storms is much, much easier than getting 10 Dragon Flames since they are the only class on which Storms are oprtimal, where as 3 classes want full Flames.

Master Wizard (Caster):

Wizards are to Magicians what Berserkers are to Armsmen. Instead of one damage spell, wizards use two.

If you read up on berserkers, everything applies here as far as beasting goes. A wizard will have less damage stat and accuracy boosts than a magician. They will probably need CRs/DDs to 9x9x2 ubers consistently.

Likewise with dueling. You will have even lower resists than a magician. You can also try using 2 shields, but still, I would not suggest entering acumen as a wizard because of the lower damage and stats. There are better options.

All in all, it's the same as the berserker. Throw your magician some supers/DDs and a second damage spell for beasting during the month then go magician for dueling.

Theurgal Divinator (Theurgist):

Theurgists are a caster class. They use only a heal spell (if you have the Attacker's Balance quest item) and nothing in their other slot. Their accuracy stat is Concentration and their damage stat is Durability.

Theurgs do not make the best beasters. Their damage is too random unless you have 8-10 TCs and they don't have any cheap high damage boosting relics. This means that to kill ubers you'll want demonic armors with crystal heal, light, and shield as well as a few D*Devs (preferably DLD as they free up slots that would be TC and you can use dotbs for 15% extra damage). With 9 demonics or higher, theurgists have a 90% chance of casting for damage twice, and SoSe gives another 50%, so with a decent suit you'll almost always get damage 2 casts.

For dueling, they can be ok if you get lucky. Their high dur makes vamping much easier, however since their innate void resist is 0 and they barely get any from quests, and miss a shadow as well as relic slot, you can either choose to go with a ton of DRDs and have completely random damage or go with a bunch of DLD and have very low resists which is kind of suicidal.

Overall, I wouldn't touch a theurg with a stick unless you feel like messing around with something different. Ultimately, you can get a damage spell and go Bloodletter.

Bloodletter (Vampire):

Vampires rely on durability and kill relics to do their damage (such as Blood Pinch and Vampire's Scorn). To get your maximum damage output you have to find the right balance between DDs and VSs, but this is extreme overkill for any beast or duel scenario, and you can't vamp the highest mob in the ID without crits anyway to my knowledge.

For beasting, they are not the best class if you're poor. You're going to need a few D*Devs to boost your dur if you want to one hit uber beasts even if you have the 100x damage boost from SoSe (10x from Fangs and 10x from SoSe itself) and even with 10 Dragon Shards active. However if you really have that many D*Devs then you can rejoice as you will always do the relic damage when you hit an uber, and if that's 2b then you will always kill them in one shot, not having to worry about your attack being blocked or missing due to bad luck.

For dueling, they have a very solid base void resist, making them a fairly viable class. You will easily be able to vamp even the toughest of characters, however since you lack cast and attack damage boosts those will be negligible and not help unless you voided/ambushed and then vamped your foe down to nothing, meaning you will normally only kill once in attack. They also get to use 2 shields which translates into extra armor and two chances to block each attack/cast. If you can't afford expensive relics, bloodletter is the best choice for dueling.

In conclusion, Bloodletters are not very good beasters without potent relics though they are the best end game beasters since relics can't miss, and they aren't bad for acumen but they are also not the best. Good starter class for acumen at the expense of sucking at beast hunting.

Grandmaster Bowman (Archer):

Archers use Dexterity for accuracy and Concentration for damage. They use a bow and arrow as well as two spells (except for the archer theurgist variant, but unless you can't get Archer's Aide there is no reason to be one).

The base dexterity boosts for archers are mediocre, and although they have a higher damage potential than armsmen, they do not have a cheap 2x damage relic like SRs, so they fall behind. You will definitely need some CRs + MRs or DDs to 9x9x2 ubers consistently without critical hits. With Archer's Aide, you will attack twice 90% of the time. Although they have a higher attack delay than other classes, this is reduced if not equalized with powerful enough arrows and SoSe.

For dueling, archers are one of my favorite choices. They get very good void resistances (just about the same as Master Armsmen). Damage is not a problem when you're packing a few D*Devs and they can outshine even the best fighters in that area. Although their mesmerize resist is lower, they get plenty if you're packing a bunch of D*Devs (specially DRDevs) and won't be that far off. Also, they are granted an innate ability from SoSe to dodge attacks (but not casts) which is equal to having two shields equipped. In addition, they have no stat requirements so they are the one of the most flexible classes in terms of how you can arrange your stats.

Overall, archers are mediocre beasters but the best dueling classes. Keep in mind if you still want to make one into a beaster that to get AA you must first have APoS.

Master of Fists (Monk):

Monks use Agility for accuracy and Contravention for damage. Monk Discipline determines their "weapon" power. 99 monk discipline is equivalent to a max theurgist roll (before counting demonics and all other boosts).

Although they get a lot of damage boost comparing Monk Discipline to any weapon, they don't have cheap high damage relics and no damage quests, nor any accuracy quests. You can use RO armor for accuracy but then you sacrifice damage, and you can use CC armor but then you sacrifice accuracy. This means that without D*Devs you won't be doing non crit 9x9x2 to ubers, so monks are mediocre at best when it comes to hunting beasts.

For dueling, they aren't the best. They get nearly no innate/quest resists, and as mentioned above no damage or accuracy quests. They also only get to equip 14 relics, and miss 2 shadows. However, they do have a dodge ability against melee, and their evasion stats can make them more survivable with good stat and relic setups. While they are still weaker than all other classes besides perhaps theurgist, they aren't too terrible given that you save on 2 relics/shadows.

Overall: Bad beasters compared to fighers, casters and archers; weaker duelists than all but theurgists. The only thing monks currently excel at is being relatively cheaper because you spend on 2 less items/relics, but at the same time they are one of 3 classes that want dragon flames, the more expensive dragon essence.

[Grenth]

Edited bloodletters a little bit, and updated monks since the nerf to lestat has increased their viability.