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"Gorenaire," exlclaimed Xornn, pointing across the snow-blown mountainscape. "She's beautiful," replied Rhedd, enraptured by the majestic demigod's sweeping strides and underlying grace of power. The high elf looked over at his wife admiringly as the sun struck her long tanned cheeks. "I suppose so. Impressive at least." Rhedd poked him in the ribs, and took running down the slope, toward Firiona Vie. I've spent some time playing around in the Eleventh Circle, and now I'm ready to share the news of what you should expect to encounter! First off, let's examine our new spells: Arch Shielding - The last in the line of our personal shieldings, and a damned impressive one at that. 200 mana to cast, thats alright because it lasts for 72 minutes, granting +144 HP, +26 AC, and +20 MR at 44th. +150 HP by 50th, and +27 AC at 48th. Actually very difficult to renew before it fades, unless you have the spell memmed already. Spells "blink" for about 16 seconds, and the casting time on this one is 12 seconds. Took me awhile to get used to holding still for this one to finish casting. My trick is to buff Shade, then wait about 30 seconds to buff Arch Shielding. When Shade starts to blink I know it's time to renew Arch Shielding. Boon of the Garou - Targetted werewolf illusion, must target group member. :) First off, everyone in the group will want this spell, just get used to it. Secondly, it's a great buff for the tanks, but they must be 44th to get the spell. Besides making them look like a werewolf, it also gives +100 DEX and +50 ATK, and a proc effect of Lifetap for 27-28 damage. The spell costs 100 mana, has a 1.5 second cast time, and a 3 minute recast delay. The duration is your level times 6 seconds, so 4 minutes and 24 seconds at 44th, capping at 6 minutes by 60th. Brilliance - If getting INT and CHA both to 200 seemed like an impossible goal, this targetted buff will really help a lot. Caps out at a 14INT 6WIS raise at 52nd, starting at +12 INT at 44th. Every point of INT you have (or WIS for WIS-casters) gives you your level / 5 in mana. That's 140 mana above your normal cap at level 50 for other casters, but if it starts fading at a bad time, you've got room to recast it, because they've got to hit full mana before they truly benefit from this spell. I'm most pleased with the spell as it made reaching the 200INT 200CHA barrier much more attainable. [Note: I've since abandoned the 200 INT/CHA line, though I can hit it rather easily now. I've become more concerned with AC/HP/Mana now. CHA impacts my charming, and little else, so INT is only looked at in terms of how much mana it yields me, basically.] Color Skew - A third AE stun spell to use, finally! It's an 8 second stun according to the spell data, but I just don't really pay much attention anymore.. At 60 mana, this is the same as dropping the other two stuns on a mob. However, total stun locks are now not only possible by chaining all three spells together, but really easy. At 44th level, with 200 INT, I have roughly 1720 mana to play with, or about 352 mana per bubble. Roughly 3 complete rounds of stun-locking with all three spells will be about 1 bubble of mana. Getting the timing right, that means the mob is held locked for 51 seconds. I've got mixed feelings on dedicated stun locking right now. Many times I use Flux/Shift on a double pull of the same mob type so I can get a look at which one is losing life without the tanks getting wailed on. I've gone up to Flux/Skew now for that purpose, and while Shift/Skew will actually allow a total stun-lock, I find that when devoting to the task I'd rather just Flux/Shift/Skew. So far it hasn't taken more than two cycles, which ended up to be about half a bubble of mana spent after taking Clarity into account. Great addition to the lineup still. However, I still haven't been able to cast Cajoling Whispers, even with it up. I suggest using Mesmerize to hold the mob still while you re-charm. Research Nitilims Grimoire page 115 & 116. Discordant Mind - Long-awaited DD upgrade. 6.1 second casting time is getting huge now, but the 508-528 direct damage (at 48th) is just awesome. For 220 mana our nuke is on par with mages again... who are tossing 580-600 for 250 mana at the equivalent levels. The recast however, at 8 seconds, isn't on par with anyone but the enchanter you see standing in the mirror. Anarchy becomes the new filler for the recast delay, and with a good damage level, isn't bad. While of course our new nuke isn't going to see a ton of group usage, solo and partner capabilities are going to vastly improve. Extinguish Fatigue - 35 mana targetted stamina regen. Refreshes the whole bar, and as Celerity has probably started so show you, these tanks really do start running out of stamina. Don't let this spell slip too far back in your spellbook because you're likely going to use it. Still, clerics will usually be casting this before you, but there will be times the healers are busy healing, and you've already done your jobs for the battle. Go ahead and give the tanks their stamina then... they've earned it. Research Nitilims Grimoire 351 & 352 or buy from cleric vendors. Illusion: Werewolf - Mwuahahahahahaaa! This is our last illusion, and the damned coolest one you're going to see. Seems to be the same KoS factor as the elementals are, and I've heard that you will get friendly faction from the Frontier Mountains mountain giant fortress. Haven't had opportunity to test this yet. Besides looking totally cool looking, and scaring the crap out of newbies when you rush at them, this gives you up to 61 to your ATK rating, and a 40% haste buff. You can even combine it with Celerity for some mind numbing swing speed. While there is no practical use for swinging in a group, when you're being rushed in a solo situation, what would it hurt to just hit the mob once as it arrived? Anyway, I use Werewolf + Celerity when I want to train my one-handed blunt during reverse kiting. Incapacitate - Upgrade to Listless Power. Truly amazing amounts of debuffing now... for 150 mana, this 8 minute duration spell will drops -49 STR, -49 AGI, and -22 AC from the mob at 44th, capping at -55 STR & AGI, -24 AC at 50th. While the AC drop will be slightly beneficial, the rest has little impact on the mob for the mana spent. More on the debuff spread later. Pillage Enchantment - This sees an extreme amount of use with the commonality of damage shields on higher level mobs. Kills 4 buffs on a mob with virtually no failure rate. 70 mana a shot. Research Nitilims Grimoire page 35 & 36. Rune IV - Hmmm. Well... this one costs 236 mana, compared to 149 mana for Rune III--58% more mana cost. Stops 394 damage max at level 50, compared to 230 for Rune III--71% more damage stopped. Looking good right? Spell regents... Peridot, 10.5 platinum for each one, or Rune III's Jasper at 0.787 platinum--that is correct, 1234% increase to cost of the spell regent. (I know the percentage looks goofy, but it's correct.) So... if you cast Rune III fourteen times, you've finally exceeded the cost of Rune III. Rune IV will stop more damage, but the cost for the damage stopped is staggering. The primary advantage of Rune III is that I've looted well over 8 gold each time I have to renew the rune, whereas this new rune won't last 13 times as long as Rune III. Therefore I'm not looting 10.5 platinum each time it runs out. Not even close. I won't be using this one, not for awhile anyway. Shiftless Deeds - Upgrade to Tepid Deeds, amazing spell. Single handedly the most effective passive damage stopper we have (stun locking doesn't allow you to meditate). Costs 200 mana to cast, with a 6 second casting time, will decrease attack rate by 49% at 44th level, capping at 65% by 60th. A mob with an attack delay of 30 will swing every 6 seconds after this lands. Halves damage output of the mob, flat-out. Research page 300 & 301. Summon Companion - A spell added during the class balancing days of EverQuest, most pet classes get this spell, and luckily the enchanter qualified as a pet class. Casting this simple spell will cause your pet to teleport to you from anywhere in the zone, as long as it's hate list is clear. If it's fighting something, it won't work. Very handy if you should lose track of Mr. Kamikaze, especially while either killing greens in a dungeon where pathing can make him wander off, or after running across a zone faster than the animation can move. As a side note, because the animation tries to sit northwest of you at all times, if you sit in the northwest corner of a room, it will typically move to the center of that room and "freeze". I refer to this as "chanter guarding". Tashania - Another upgrade... to Tashania. 30 mana and 1 second casting time, unresistable and -31 MR at 44th, -33 MR at 48th. Do you need to hear anything else? Old World Coin quest in Temple of Solusek Ro to get spell. Weakness - Next in the Weaken-line, upgrade to Insepid Weakness. -59 STR at 44th, capping at -65 STR by 50th. Used in conjunction with Incapacitate and Suffocate, we're talking about staggering levels of debuffing. Snaring mobs like this is possible, but it needs some finessing to work... more later. Sucks up 120 mana for its 6 minute duration. Yeogreff's Animation - Only one more pet left now... this one uses two Tiny Daggers, and need 250 mana. This will provide a level range of 30th (hitting for 36 max) to 34th (hitting for 44 max). Now at 44th level, a 33-34 mob is blue, which means only 40% of your pets are going to be blue now. While I was repeatedly reading and being told that our pets would be quad-hitting by now, I'll tell you what I've seen. Typically double-hits for near maximum damage. Occasionally a triple hit, but not real common yet. I've seen a few "quad" hits, which were actually a double attack with the primary weapon, a dual wield attack (try to hand it blunt objects so I can see which weapon is hitting), followed by a bash. I have never seen a true "slash slash crush crush" in one round of swings. Whether or not I will in the Twelfth Circle remains to be seen, guess I'll find out in five levels. I'm still pretty happy with this pet, outside of how low level it is. The level cap for 39th was a 31st pet, and after hitting 44th I find out the 34th is the best I can hope for. I suppose that's been the real dissapointment for me is the hit points. Our animation dies so easily now, especially with how hard mobs are hitting at this level. Buffs-Solo - On myself sits, Clarity, Augmentation, Shade, and Arch Shielding, plus I often have Rune III up. The pet always gets Celerity, Shade, and Feedback. I also make sure to carry around a few lightweight weapons to hand the pet, to maximize his attack rate. It can't take much damage, which is why Buff-Group - Add Brilliance to the INT casters when you've got spare mana. Same issue of being extra mana for them when they hit full, so consider it one of the lower priority buffs to toss on people. You'll be dropping Celerity like there's no other spell at this point, even keeping three to four tanks hasted. They are the mainstay of your fighting force, and Celerity makes a huge impact on the passive damage... look at it this way. If you have two tanks in the group, casting Celerity on both of them is like adding a third tank. Kamikaze-Solo - How did you know this would be my first area covered? The new pet didn't blow me away on it's level, but I'm not complaining about the damage it puts out--too much. Shiftless Deeds is great for prolonging the animation's life, which I can't describe how needed it is now. The pet takes very little damage before making a heart-wrenching death gasp now. The success of Kamikaze-Solo right now lies in a stronger pet and freshly upgraded nuke. Tashania pull, Shiftless, Discordant Mind, Root, Discordant Mind, and quite honestly it's about time to loot the mobs or watch the pet finish them. One thing I've started doing against hill and sand giants is opening with Root, Tashania, Shiftless Deeds, and throwing Discordant Mind till Root breaks. Gives my pet a nice head start on life when the melee begins. Spell Lineup: Discordant Mind, Anarchy/Rampage/Rune III/Suffocate/Color Skew, Color Shift, Root, Entrance, Shiftless Deeds, Tashania, Swap Slot. As you can see, that second slot has a multitude of choices. Anarchy for chain nuking, Rampage or Rune III for pet heals, Suffocate for the slow DOT, or even Color Shift for trying to keep the stun-lock on. (Just requires some creative backpedalling to make time for Discordant.) Against mobs it works on I mez them first then debuff, and finally I've started soloing casters like the Great Oowomp in Timorous Deep using... Mez-Kiting - I've just started fiddling with this one, mainly when I'm bored or want to camp a caster like a spectre in Feerrott or the Great Oowomp in Timorous Deep. I think this method would actually work from level 8 on, but I'm not going to list it till someone tests this out and proves it works. Casters have low hit points but shell out extremely fast damage with nukes. Thus the danger in fighting them, as we have low hit points and shell out... well... fast damage without the recast delays. So I load up to fight the Great Oowomp, a nasty ogre shaman by the Bloated Belly pickup docks. He drops some nasty spells on you, mainly the dots is what can tear you up. The first time I fought him (level 34 mob by the way) I used a pet, Tashania hit, and pet is in. I may or may not be DOTed by now, depending on resists, and Discordant Mind slams home, sucking away almost half his life in one shot. No need to slow a caster, because it won't be swinging at you most of the time. Then I have to Root him and let him start nailing the pet. The next Discordant Mind lands, and nearly kills him (sometimes it does because of the pet). Fight over, and pretty easy, depending on what spells landed on me. His disease based DOT chews away over half my life sometimes. So I unsummon my pet, determined to do better than that. When he pops again, I just cast good old level 4 Mesmerize on him. Bam. Got him, and 24 seconds to play around now. I drop Tashania followed with a Discordant and watch his life shrivel away. He begins casting, but Mesmerize lands before he finishes casting. If he doesn't cast and rushes me, Flux/Mez locks him back up. The second Discordant sends him packing, but I re-mez him anyway. Each time I have a seat for 2 mana tics then stand and blast him again. The mezzing is cheaper than the mana I get back actually. I chuck Anarchy and loot him, 2 bubs of mana spent, and no hits taken. Okay... maybe there's something to this mez-kiting thing. Something I'm going to try next time is Eye of Confusion. It's about the most amazing way to duel someone, so I'm curious how a casting mob does. If it will just keep it from rushing straight at me, I'd use it on everything. Mez/Blind/Nuke, rinse/repeat as needed. We'll see soon enough if it works or not. Spell Lineup: Discordant Mind, Anarchy, Color Shift, Root, Entrance, Mesmerize, Tashania, Swap Slot. [Note: Eye of Confusion would make the mob wander a little on the way too you sometimes, but usually it just ensured they will cast on you instead of charging, so it definitely wasn't worth a spell slot.] Reverse-Kite-Partner - Discordant Mind and a stronger pet, plus Tashania make this form of fighting extremely easy now. Just pull in the bad guys, tash/snare/fear and drop a brain-melting bomb on the mob. AE Kiting is very viable now, if you get a good partner and time the nukes well to make sure they don't split back up. Two AE-nukers can do some amazing things. Spell Lineup: Discordant Mind, Suffocate/Gravity Flux, Color Shift, Root, Entrance, Invoke Fear, Tashania, Swap Slot. Charm-Solo - Color Skew allows you to finally get Cajoling Whispers cast, NOT. I suggest instead using Mesmerize to cover your re-charming time. Spell Lineup: Discordant Mind, Cajoling Whispers, Color Shift, Root, Mesmerize, Shiftless Deeds, Tashania, Swap Slot. Group-Tactics - You're really becoming a diverse caster. If you want to be called the best, then here is my advice: Know when to use what. That's it. I've showed you every tactic there is for crowd control, buffing, debuffing and even some miscellaneous crap. The king of enchanters at this level isn't the one who always mezzes certain mobs or stun locks when slot A is properly filled by slot B. You see a caster pull and instinctively decide right then if you're going to stun-lock. At the same time you call for AE nukes targetted on yourself. If you're going to be holding the crowd still, you might as well take advantage of the AE power wizards and druids have to offer you. Watch for the times when charming is worth the risk, realize when a safe single mezzing strategy is the best for the group, or when you need to just get your hands dirty and start stun-locking. I will offer one new piece of advice though. Really evaluate the situation when gunning for AE Mez. A pair of resists can mean you're dead very quickly, and you will usually find that single-target mezzes will mean less healing till you get them under control. Still, sometimes when there's 5 incoming, an AE mez followed with skillful stuns, single-mezzes and maybe even some charming is what makes you the best at what you do. Outdoor Lineup: Pillage Enchantment, Color Skew, Color Shift, Root, Entrance, Shiftless Deeds, Tashania, Swap Slot. Color Skew often gets replaced by Boon of the Garou, or over Pillage Enchantment when no damage shields to worry about. Using the charm solo loadout can be staggering. Dungeon Lineup: Mesmerization, Color Skew, Color Shift, Root, Entrance, Shiftless Deeds/Wandering Mind, Tashania, Swap Slot. Color Skew becomes Beguile/Cajoling occasionally, depending on pulls and my confidence for the day. One Circle to go till the powers of the enchanter are completed! |
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