TERA Online Classes Guide - Pick the Perfect Character!

Class choices are some of the most important decisions to make in almost all MMORPGs. These games often offer multiple different playstyles and access to unique abilities. Finding exactly the right one for you might substantially increase the enjoyment that you get from the game. Plenty of players in many MMOs have started by picking a class that they ultimately don't enjoy, only to discover that the right choice was right in front of them this whole time! In this guide, we're going to talk about all the best Tera Online classes to give you exactly what you need in order to avoid that mistake.  

TERA currently has 13 classes – Archer, Berserker, Brawler, Gunner, Lancer, Mystic, Ninja, Priest, Reaper, Slayer, Sorcerer, Valkyrie, and Warrior. Each one of them has unique skills and a weapon type. Everyone can find something that fits their style! We're going to describe these identities further later in this guide. It's important to note that TERA is a dynamic, skill-focused game – this means that no matter which class you go for, you're in for a wild ride!

Archer

Archer is a very mobile, ranged DPS class. They can deal lots of damage while shooting at enemies with their bows and quickly reposition on the battlefield. They also can outrange most of the other classes. Archers wear light (leather) armor, and they rely on dodging and kiting to survive the fights. Moreover, this class has a passive boost to critical chance that makes crit damage even more devastating.

In terms of gear, this class should mainly focus on increasing its damage output. The main objective is to eliminate your enemies before they even get close. A large portion of damage comes from Radiant Arrow – a skill that can be charged up over time to deal even more damage on release. On a higher level, Archers can move while charging this ability (but their movement speed is reduced). They can also use a skill called Thunderbolt to knock back enemies that approach them and hit multiple targets with attacks like Rain of Arrows as well as Penetrating Arrow. Overall, among other things, this class offers high DPS, excellent mobility, and crowd control.

Berserker

Berserkers are one of the off-tank classes in TERA. They wear heavy armor that allows them to survive a lot of enemy attacks. Meanwhile, their potential DPS output also is incredibly high. Their main problems are associated with short-range and low mobility. This class uses two-handed axes as weapons. If you enjoy the bruiser and juggernaut type of characters, this is the class that you're looking for.

Berserkers can charge their enemies and lock them down with some crowd control effects. They can use their axes to block the incoming attacks and later lifesteal with Vampiric Blow. They deal a lot of damage with their primary skill – Thunder Strike. Besides, this class can also immune the crowd control effects applied by enemies. Berserkers are incredibly powerful in close combat thanks to high defensive stats, substantial damage, and good sustain. The most viable way of countering them is keeping your distance and kiting away, trying to use CC and slow them down. Then, you just have to hope that you're dealing enough damage.  

Brawler

Brawler is one of the main tank classes in TERA. It has an interesting and unique design with powerfists as weapons. These characters can absorb and block tons of damage, while also having a decent personal DPS (highest out of the main tank classes). Brawlers use a special resource called Rage that allows them to block even more incoming attacks. As one of the main tank classes, they have access to the taunting skill called Infuriate. Meanwhile, their most important damage abilities are called Jackhammer and Haymaker.

Multiple Brawler's skills have the frontal block effect – this means that you will automatically block a lot of hits as long as you're facing the enemy and using your abilities. This allows them to reach the aforementioned high DPS numbers. Instead of locking yourself in the standard Block animation, you can keep hitting the enemy, and you'll shrug off a large portion of their damage anyway. Hitting multiple opponents at the same time allows you to generate more Rage, which makes them good in AoE combat. That being said, the value of your frontal block diminishes when enemies surround you.

Gunner

Gunners are another ranged DPS class. They're less mobile than Archers, but they have much more AoE damage and the ability to summon constructs (stationary turrets for zone control and an HB construct to follow you and help in combat). Gunners wear heavy armors and use amazing Arcannons to rain hell on their opponents.

This class can quickly eliminate multiple enemies with skills like Burst Fire and Arcane Barrage. They also have some single target skills and the ability to reposition with Point Blank or Rocket Jump. Besides Mana, Gunners also use a special resource called Willpower. You will receive the latter for killing enemies and for using specific skills that can charge it.  

Lancer

Lancer is another full tank TERA class. Besides being able to receive a lot of damage, they also can support their teammates with multiple powerful buffs. This class wears heavy armor and uses lances as well as shields. They can taunt enemies with Infuriate and inflict other control effects, such as stun and stagger.

Lancer's kit features a lot of great supportive skills. They have a buff called Adrenaline Rush, which boosts attack speed and damage of you and your group members. It's an incredibly valuable ability that improves the DPS of your whole party! They also have a useful debuff called Debilitate. This ability decreases your target's Endurance, making them receive even more damage. It's incredibly valuable when fighting bosses since it's a significant damage increase on a single target. Overall, Lancer is a great class to have as your group's tank, because of all its utility.

Mystic

Mystics are supportive characters that can heal their allies and summon minions. In group content, their main responsibility is to heal the tank, keep their team alive, and provide support in the form of powerful auras and debuff cleansing. They also can resurrect an ally with the long cooldown skill called Vow of Rebirth.

The Mystic auras are valuable AoE buffs. There are four of them. Aura of the Merciless increases your team's damage output. Aura of the Swift makes them move faster. Aura of the Tenacious increases Mana regeneration. Aura of the Unyielding reduces the amount of received critical damage. In general, Mystic is excellent support for the group since they provide powerful heals and extra value from auras. While gearing up as this class, remember to invest in cooldown reduction and Mana.

Ninja

Ninja is a melee DPS class that relies on devastating attacks and high mobility. They wear cloth armors and have to get close to their target during combat, making them relatively difficult to play. Ninjas are squishy, so the player has to use their mobility tools in order to dodge incoming attacks. They have huge burst damage that allows them to delete squishy targets in PvP instantly. This class is locked to a single race – Elin.

This class has a combination of mid-ranged and melee skills, alongside multiple dashes. It results in a very fun and engaging playstyle that requires the player to stay focus at all times and execute their combos flawlessly. Ninja uses a giant shuriken to defeat her enemies – this weapon is used for both ranged and melee attacks. It's a relatively difficult class to play due to the heavy emphasis on dodging, but it also has a lot outplay potential that can make the game really satisfying, especially when fighting other players.

Priest

Priest is the second healing class in TERA. It has access to multiple single-target and AoE healing spells and resurrection, shielding, and cleansing negative effects. Like Mystics, they also have some abilities to increase the team-wide DPS in the form of Energy Stars and Blessing of Shakan and Triple Nemesis. Priests can also revive themselves if they cast Grace of Resurrection before dying.

All and all, both support classes in TERA are relatively similar. Priests are more of the true healers because of the more stacked defensive kit with healing, shielding, and other useful spells that are relatively easy to use. That being said, both of them can easily keep up in the endgame group content. If you're an MMORPG veteran that loved the traditional healer playstyle, Priest may be the best TERA class for you!

Reaper

Reaper is another damage-dealing class that's exclusive to Elins. They wear light armors and fight with a pair of scythes. Reaper is a medium-range DPS character – they get outranged by classes like Archer or Gunner, but they don't exactly have to enter the melee range of their opponents. They rely on high mobility and dodging as the main defensive tools, and they have access to many AoE skills.

The damage output of this class relies on combos. Players have to use their abilities in the right succession in order to optimize their DPS – it makes a massive difference in the case of Reaper. Besides the pure damage attacks (both single-target and AoE), they also have access to some crowd control effects in the form of stuns and knock-downs. It's a nice unique class for players who want to focus on damage as well as style.

Slayer

Slayer also is a combo-based DPS class. This character wears leather armor and wields a greatsword. Similarly to Reapers, Slayers have to be very mindful of their skill sequences. Their most powerful attacks can only be cast as combo finishers. It's another fun class that keeps the players on the edge of their seats with high paces combos and the necessity to dodge attacks.

Some of the most critical elements of your skill-chains are Knockdown Strike, Whirlwind, and Overhand Strike. You also have access to a more powerful high-cooldown combo that features Eviscerate and Measured Slide. Slayer also has access to some CC and mobility tools, including Backstab, that repositions you behind your target. Overall, Slayer is an interesting melee DPS class with a fun playstyle and beautifully designed animations.

Sorcerer

Sorcerer is a ranged magical DPS class. These characters wear cloth armors and use special weapons called discs to channel their spells. In terms of the general design, it's a pretty traditional caster class. Sorcerers have a lot of damage and utility in their kits, and their magic is mostly based on the power of elements. The spells' reach is quite long, but they can still get outranged by Archers and Gunners.

This class doesn't have any abilities that combo with each other, so the rotation should just focus on optimizing the damage output as well as managing cooldowns and mana costs. Spells like Meteor Strike and Nova allow them to quickly destroy multiple opponents with AoE, while Arcane Pulse, Void Pulse, and Lighting Strike excel at eliminating single targets. Sorcerers also have some mobility and various defensive spells that allow them to immune incoming attacks. That being said, these characters still have to be careful with positioning, since they can die extremely quickly.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie is a melee DPS class that wears leather armor and wields a Runeglaive. Her damage output comes from pulling off advanced combos and utilizing their unique Runemark mechanic. Most of her attacks apply these marks onto her targets. They can be stacked up to seven on a single enemy. Then, special skills like Shining Crescent and Runeburst can be used to detonate these Runemarks for a powerful burst of extra damage.    

Besides the high damage output, Valkyries can inflict a lot of useful crowd control effects. They also have a powerful self-buff called Ragnarok. Their weaknesses come from the lack of consistency (Ragnarok is powerful, but you have to stack it before using it) and relatively weak defensive tools. That being said, Valkyrie offers an engaging playstyle with a relatively severe difficulty, strong damage potential, and a lot of CC. This class is gender-locked - only Elins and female Castanic can play it - you must take it into account while creating your character!

Warrior

Lasr but not least, Warriors are another light-armored melee DPS class. Their twin swords are incredibly short-ranged, but it's compensated with high damage and mobility of this class. These characters can easily dodge lots of incoming attacks. The Warrior class is versatile. Although they're most often played as DPS, they can also act as main tanks. It's possible, because of the two stances they can use – Assault Stance for damage and Defensive Stance for tanking. They also have access to Infuriate. This makes them a valuable part of basically every group.

It's one of many combo-based classes in TERA. Warriors can accelerate some of their skills by using them in corrects sequences. They can also generate a special resource called Edge that can later be spent to empower their most potent attack – Scythe. Moreover, this class has multiple self-buffs and the ability to apply negative effects on their targets. The flexibility to swap between playing as a tank and DPS is a great option to have. It makes this class useful in multiple scenarios and very interesting to play.

Best TERA classes

As you can see, TERA is an example of MMO that uses the holy trinity of DPS, healer, and tank (the damage dealing role has the most abundant choice of classes though). No matter what type of playstyle you're interested in, and if you want to focus on PvE or PvP, you will definitely find some worthwhile options. All the classes have a fair amount of skill expression and unusual abilities. We hope that our guide has provided you with some useful information regarding all the TERA classes and their identities. In the end, it should make choosing the right one for your first character, just a tiny bit easier!

TERA (as you probably know, the name is an abbreviation of The Exiled Realm of Arborea) is a new generation, free to play MMORPG that has been released in 2011. The game is known for its over the top, anime aesthetics, hard and fast-paced combat system as well as exceptional design of characters. You can never go wrong with TERA!

FAQ

How do I change class in TERA?

Unfortunately, it's impossible. If you got bored with your old character, you'll have to create a next one to play another class. However, the leveling process is not that long and you can complete it relatively quickly. 

What is the best class in TERA?

All the classes are relatively balanced, and there's no single best choice. Read and learn about all the classes. You can also search for gameplay videos to find the one that you like the most.

What are the classes in TERA?

TERA features 13 classes: Archer, Berserker, Lancer, Mystic, Priest, Slayer, Sorcerer, Warrior, Gunner, Reaper, Ninja, Valkyrie, and Brawler.

Can I play every class on any of the TERA races?

Unfortunately, no, some classes are reserved for gender or race. TERA developers decided to lock certain classes to very specific character types. Some people think that this choice was made to give them more identity. Everything is heavily in favor of Elins, as they're the only race with access to every class.