Yeah, I got in the beta a couple weeks ago. I've played 100% Hardcore Elite, so I'm not sure what the balance is like on easier levels, to be honest, but I don't think ranged classes are explicitly better than melee. Overall, I think Embermage is strongest, Engineer is second, Berserker is third, and Outlander is the weakest in solo play. You definitely can't just go all-in with a melee character all the time, but you can't really do that with a ranged character either. Of course, you'll probably want to carry a ranged weapon with some sort of disable effect or knockback just in case you need to run away for a while, but the paperdoll has two weapon set slots for a reason....Originally Posted by sycld
I will say that I've had trouble keeping a Berserker alive, but I haven't played many. They do actually have ways of sustaining themselves though; a passive that gives 5% lifesteal on critical hits (+0.67% per skill level above 1st), and an invulnerable dash that heals a % of the character's max hp on hit. The lifesteal passive in particular is a big deal because having a full Charge bar means 100% crits for the class.
Engineer gets a summon which heals a flat amount of HP over time, scaling with skill and character level, to all allies (incl. pets) nearby every few seconds. This means that they don't have to spend nearly as much money on health potions as an Embermage does - there's pretty much no reason for the Engineer to even use them unless you're in a large fight, whereas an Embermage pretty much has to top off every time he/she gets hit. Even going 4 focus / 1 vit every level, my best Embermage so far was still in the health range to get 2 or 3-hit by Champion and Elite level enemies. Mordrox nearly one-shotted him, and he was level 14 at the time ("recommended level" for that dungeon is 7-10).
In spite of the squishiness, Embermages definitely feel the strongest to me. They have everything a class could ask for in terms of utility - a large AoE + short cooldown slow and DoT with a 50% (+1% per skill level over 1st) chance to stun each target for 3 seconds and a damage amplification effect, a short range 85% 3s stun / 90% interrupt with effectively no cooldown, a blink (bonus: it does damage), and a ton of other stuff.
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