Alright, I'm going to start out by saying this is probably going to be a most likely heated and loaded topic filled with clashing opinions and differing Ideals based on experiences. WITH THAT BEING SAID Casey, Try not to bust this thread.


INTRODUCTION
Over the course of Aion's launch until now I've played pretty heavily since roughly 2008 Early 2009 until well.. now. Between Retail and illegitimate servers I've experienced playing as and fighting against roughly Every class pretty heavily. So I figured I'd toss my Ideas in it.

With that being said, onto the main point of this topic. In all my years I've never seen a Tier list for classes in PvP minus the gruff "this class sucks" post.
And I figured with 4.8 here and the class rebalance with it, If there EVER was a time for this post, It'd be now.

What I'm going to do is basically this: I'm going to post two tier types The Number Tier (1-11 ) And a letter tier (S to C )
We all know what letter Tiers are, But to play it safe here's a brief description of what Each letter in this Tier means.

Please, if you have a different view of this listing, Ghead, Tell me. Copy my list, rearrange it as you see fit, this isn't only for informative purposes but also hearing the opinions of other experienced PvPers in the server. :)

S: An incredibly strong class given it's toolkit. With proper gearing the class can be a bit overwhelming in a 1v1 situation and a Dangerous presence in group PvP. This teters on the line of unbalance and will be argued by many
A: A Strong class Given it's toolkit and with proper gearing Can be a strong presence in 1v1 and group pvp alike But can be countered with proper strategy and reading rotations. These classes are able to Excel at both Spectrums of PvP and are revered as "Good" classes But are by very little means considered unfair.
B: An average class With proper gearing and strategy can still topple Classes in higher Tiers in their respective situations But this class may only excel in one area or another. A class in this tier usually excels in one area of pvp over the other. while being "decent" in the off area. Almost always being considered as fair and wins
C: A class that has it's potentials but falls short and HAS to have proper gearing to excel as for the toolit may feel a bit lacking for said class. Classes in this tier can usually use some love or need EXTREME amounts of understanding of the game to be able to excel in a PvP environment. A class in this tier doesn't neccesarily dictate it to being bad, but it could use some fine tuning.

Tiers
The listing of these tiers are assuming the class is fully geared an the player has a full understanding of the PvP in this game.
1. Spirit master
2. Songweaver
3. Chanter
4. Templar
5. Ranger
6. Assassin
7. Cleric
8. Aethertech
9. Sorcerer
10. Gladiator
11. Gunslinger

S: Songweaver, Spirit master
A: Templar, Chanter, Cleric
B: Ranger, Assassin, Aethertech, Sorcerer, Gladiator
C: Gunslinger

Reasoning behind placements (In numbered order)


Songweaver: This class is the end all be all of PvP at the moment. Able to rip buffs, able to heal, Restore and drain mana, Capable of HARD hits, And a good deal of Crowd control working together into one mean string slinging som' biscuit. Songweavers bring a strong offensive game to the table and the ability to clutch and backup heal in group pvp if the situation goes sour.

Spirit master: Easily one of the most hated classes in the game after all these years and will probably remain as such for a LONG time. The ability to tear buffs excessively a copious amount of Damage over time skills making low health escapes near impossible. And a grandeous amount of fear chains to keep you stuck in place if they damn well please. Spirit masters are the one class able to shift the tides of a group on group battle and can be the most pinnacle and threatening class to a group. The one major shortcoming if the ONLY shortcoming of the class is, they're often the first classes to be targeted in PvP for a reason.

Chanter: These little speed demons are one of the fastest moving on foot classes to deal with (minus speed bursts from other classes) Boasting a decent healing ability An INCREDIBLE amount of Crowd control abilities through their damage dealing skills. And being amongst the best buffers in the game due to their Mantra's and related skills. Able to defensively and offensively bolster themselves and group members. These guys are able to excel now in either form of solo pvp or group. This patch pushed them quite far in the right direction, some argue too far, but we'll see in due time.

Templar: While strong before hand, Come 4.8 Templars were finally given their chance to shine after all these years, and TRULY excel in something other than "I'm a brick with feet" (YAY) Still the best defensive class to play in the game. Boasting a high amount of Hp, High amounts of damage mitigation and with the rebalance able to maintain these high amounts of damage and defense while being able to use their core damage skills. Templars have becoming an even larger threat because of this fact, not only are they the only class able to remove players from their group formations or zergs, they can now hold you in place and damage you down well on their own.The only major drawback is the amount of gearing and sets required to truly excel with the class. These guys are often ignored, which is quickly being realized that it's a MAJOR mistake.

Ranger: Ranger was kind of a sketchy one for me to place on this list because of their ability and strength comes from chance as well as proper set up and rotations. Rangers are a HUGE threat amongst squishier classes being able to dispatch them within a few moments if the target is unprepared. Minus their damage being a factor you still have their ability to shut down another players ability to do damage between the blind, slow and silences coming from their traps and arrows alike. Lest we forget to mention their Mau forms to further boost their damage making them an even larger threat.

Assassin: Now, The reason Assassin fell so far down this list falls for two reasons. There are two thing that severely hold this class back from raising the ranks on the list. Now, Contrary to popular beliefs, Assassin is one of the most difficult classes to truly master, while Skill can be obtained, There's a large amount of unspoken effort that goes into the CC train Damage dealing machines. They are capable of doing the most sustained damage over time, able to essentially CC link a target from 100-0 when fully geared. The second drawback which is a misfortune to say nearly impossible to fix for some players is the latency required to truly excel with an assassin, most players will tell you that if you have more than 100 latency you should consider another class, It's the sad truth, and the one thing that will forever hold this class back for most players. which is truly a shame because this class would be incredible otherwise.


Cleric: It seems with 4.8 Cleric got a shorter straw than others, That's not to say that this class isn't deserving of the A tier that it was given by me. What pushes this class so far down the list is the fact that WITH the shorter end of the straw they are still the most gear demanding class to excel with on top of this shortcoming, However this doesn't mean that cleric is something to cough at. A good cleric is more than capable of damaging you down while making it impossible to kill them. Between their heals and shields, You either need to outlast their mana, Or kill them without giving them a chance to use either. Or you're going to be in for a rough time with this class. They are the second most sought after class in group pvp due to their ability to keep an entire group alive without much issue. Their solo pvp ability is strong enough to be feared, But their group pvp abilities are only trumped as game changers by the Spirit master.

Aethertech: Aethertechs are still quite a foreign concept to me, But the general viewing I've seen with them is as such, They're able to do a little bit of everything from tanking, to damage dealing, to crowd control, The thing that pushes them as far down the list as they are, While they're able to do this there are still classes that excel in each of the things they do and they do it better. Aethertech is a well rounded class that as people begin to learn how to fight them they're becoming much more manageable to fight in solo pvp, and in group pvp are being treated as most other DPS classes. Well rounded, and designed for someone who likes to do a bit of everything.

Sorcerer: I'm a bit sad at this one, they have become almost the black sheep of Aion, Though they have INCREDIBLE Burst damage output and are one of the only classes capable of one or two Shotting players. They're becoming a rarity due to their tooltips being focused mainly on damage with a hint of Crowd control on the side. While still incredibly good at PvP Their reasoning for being down here is as such, It feels like they're being overshadowed by other classes but by NO means should be underestimated. A good sorcerer is capable of removing pinnacle targets from group PvP just as well as a ranger. They are not something to be forgotten or pushed to the side, they are capable of a great many things, Just overshadowed by other classes in this patch.

Gladiator: Now I KNOW someone's going to try to give me hash for this one, especially considering the teetering scale between Gladiator's and Templar's as the dominant PvP Plate class. The reasoning behind this is while gladiator's are sturdy and able to bring some decent damage to the field, Most Party compositions stop the gladiator from ever getting a chance to get into range, and if they do they aren't able to do much. In one vs one situations they can be VERY overwhelming to the inexperienced and unexpecting. While not holding as MUCH durability as the Templar they shift it in their own way bringing a higher amount of AoE damage to the field, Now, Gladiator's have great abilities in their own. But given 4.8 they've felt a little bit lacking to me. And underwhelming in one vs one situations compared to their plate counterparts and other classes. Group wise they can be incredibly dangerous, But most gladiator's get stopped before they have the opportunity to shine in this patch.

Gunslinger: Ohhh Gunslinger, This class almost came close to being the class that Dethroned Spirit master as the "GGOPNOSKILLSCRUB" class and the most hated class in the game. Due to the lack of understanding of how the class worked they became these destructive machines that are able to "Overpower" Pretty much anyone, But as time has gone and understanding of the class finally came into play most if not every class is able to overwhelm this class if they know what they're doing against this class. With that being said they are still incredibly capable of destroying people in a one vs one situation doing great magic damage and being one of the only magic based classes that is able to sustain damage, and they should still be feared by the inexperience, But a few rebalances are still needed for this class for it to truly find it's home in this game. And again, I know I'm probably going to get haaaaaaash for this listing.