Age of Conan Week: The Classes
Every class in the new MMO explained.
Rogues
Barbarian: This, in many ways, is the class Age of Conan was made for. It's the class Conan himself used to be: a lightly-armoured, reckless fighter that moves and attacks fast, deals huge amounts of damage, and has a broad range of physical attacks and combos available. It can dual-wield or use two-handed weapons. Although it can use stealth, it's a much more in-your-face fighter than the typical sneaky rogue of other MMOs; think a swords-specced Rogue in World of Warcraft, but much more so. A very viable option for fans of intense, down-to-the-wire melee combat who just don't want to tank.
Assassin: A more stereotypical rogue, the Assassin is the game's stealth specialist, taking its time to prepare lethal attacks that deal the most damage in one shot of any class in the game. With only cloth and silk armour, dual-wielded daggers and crossbows to choose from, the equipment options are very limited, and many of the everyday abilities of the typical rogue have been transferred across to the Barbarian, so the Assassin is certainly a class for painstaking specialists only.
Ranger: Age of Conan's marksman class, the Ranger specialises in bows and crossbows and is the only class that can perform combos and execute fatalities with these ranged weapons. They can dual-wield melee weapons too, are reasonably well-armoured, can use stealth well, and make limited but effective use of the combo system when fighting up-close. Lacking a pet or minion, though, it's hard to keep enemies at ranged-weapon distance when playing solo, so don't be fooled by the extreme solo-friendliness of WOW's Hunter into thinking the same applies here. Group with a tank to enjoy the Ranger to the full.
Mages
Demonologist: The archetypal warlock on the surface, the Demonologist has very limited armour and weapons, casts very destructive damage-dealing spells, summons a demon pet to deal even more damage, and trades its own health for more magical power. It's certainly a spectacular and powerful class, but with no melee combos available, and Age of Conan's rather limited pet system, its options are somewhat limited. The demonologist is really just an uncomplicated, unsophisticated magical "nuke", but likely very powerful in player-versus-player matches.
Herald of Xotli: As the Bear Shaman is to the Priests, the Herald of Xotli is to the mages: an unusual show-stopper of a class, a hybrid of mage and solider, tailored towards Age of Conan's combo-based melee combat. Although very lightly armoured, the Herald can transform into a heavily-armoured demon, and deploy combos as it wades right into the thick of front-line fighting. With powerful magical attacks and the ability to make enemies flee in fear as well, this is one of the most versatile and enjoyable classes in the game.
Necromancer: On the face of it, the Necromancer is extremely similar to the Demonologist; a magical damage dealer which can summon minions, in this case the corpses of the dead rather than demons. It is, perhaps, a little less single-minded, with its frost spells making it better at crowd-control (the MMO art of halting and directing your enemies' movements), and some beneficial buffs for friendly players. But once again, the lack of combos or a truly effective pet system makes the Necromancer a slightly uncomfortable fit in Age of Conan's world.