Brawler Archive

tkm

+ meditate, high dps, can target any HAM bar, kd, dizzy, stun, blind attacks, good defenses

- can only inflict kinetic damage, no bleeds

swordsman

+ target mind pool with bleed and attacks, nice damage output, blast damage with AP2

- weaker defenses

fencer

+ best defenses, very fast, stun damage

- second lowest dps

pike

+ uniqueness factor (there aren't many), area KD, area dizzy, area stun, electric damage

- weaker defenses, relies on looted weapons and skill attachments to do well in PvP

I hope this helps.

The true beauty of melee is that each profession complements each other in a different, but effective way.

TKA has good Range/Melee defense, and high toughness. They make an excellent tank and have very consistent, fast, high damage. However, against foes with good resistances or armor ratings they fall off. Specials are Action/Mind intensive.

Fencer has exceptional Range/Melee defense, fairly lowish toughness. Dodge and CoB make a fencer extremely hard to hit for the vast majority of mobs (and also in PvP). They have similar weakness as a TKA: DIfficulty in damaging resistant/armored foes (except in PvP where a Stun Baton is quite useful). Special costs are similar to a TKAs, although the Mind/Action cost on a Gaderffi baton is low, and the Health is high, helping offset the built in special cost modifiers.

Swordsman has Blast damage. This in and of itself is a fantastic advanage. Almost all 2h weapons have Medium AP (exceping Heavy Axe). Most weapons are fairly slow (excepting 2h Curved) but do high damage. Swordsman have good AoE and Single Target attacks, all doing significant damage. Have I mentioned they do a lot of damage? In addition the Health cost for specials is very high, though Action/Mind is less so.

Pikeman have moderate Status Defenses, but poor (nonexistant) Range/Melee defenses, in addition to low toughness. Their HAM costs are high across all pools. However, they have exceptional AoE attacks. Their AoE attacks can Stun/Dizzy, and can KD. Also, it seems like the "Failed to Knock Down Target" message is borked, since i frequently get told I've failed, when my opponent is on their back. Stunning is important because despite the low accuracy of most Polearms, a stunned target is much easier to hit. Land this effect once and it's unlikely that you'll miss.