How are enchanters in OOW and beyond? I was boxing an Enchanter/Cleric with a 3rd box Ranger for dps at times and loved it in PoP. I got pretty burnt out around the end of PoP and left though. I have never played an expansion past PoP so really don't know how the classes changed. I was doing a lot of charm tanking up until PoP on Mangler. Is that still an effective strategy? Considering coming back but really don't know what to expect now in OOW.
They take a hit pretty hard for 3 or 4 expansions but balance out later when they get nice dot+nuke dmg to compliment. Even for those they are still ok... I use my chanters to pull with, so it's easy to not get outclassed even in those slow times.
Enchanters have it pretty hard for a while after omens. A combination of small nerfs and lack of charm targets (they felt the need to make tons of stuff too high level/not charmable) as well as numerous mobs either being immune to mez or to high for the current mez. Their spell upgrades also took kind of a hit as well. In numerous TLP's enchanters start to leave in droves around omens onward, think on phinny after omens we had one or two main enchanters and the rest were boxes. Fippy, we had a single enchanter main. They eseentially tun into a worse version of bards. They amp the power of their group, through aura's and spells that enhance your groupmates spells. Basically the caster version of what a shaman does for melee, only... not nearly as well. Eventually they get the ability to use multiple auras, their nukes and dots get improved, and they get stronger lines of their nuke proc line (think panther for spells). Also charm gets a huge boon as well, charm basically is charm+whatever their current haste is.
Ultimately there are always, *always* gimmick fights that require enchanters. Additionally enchanters are always a strong group component in every expansion
The problem with enchanters in groups later on is the fact that you are better off taking just about anything else. The pullers have more tools, making it much easier for them to bring in singles without losing tempo. The enchanter doesnt boost the group like it did through PoP, charm took huge nerfs after GoD, tons of mobs are tagged uncharmable. Clarity pots or just the duration of the mind buffs mean you can just get one before you go out farming. A bard or shaman will haste cap you at that point in the game, yes chanter haste has attack, but why bring a chanter just for a minor attack buff when you can just bring another dps. The way you play the game changes, right now you bring in a handful of mobs at a time and the chanter casually locks them down. My puller brings in 7-8+ at a time on occasion. You do that in GoD onwards and they will flatten your group before the chanter has time to do chanter things. There is a reason around omens every guild I have been a part in has enchanters either quitting, or rerolling to a different class. You turn into a worse bard/shaman(for casters) hybrid for a good while.
Another issue is that compared to classic->PoP where most of the end game grinding zones have majority or at least some blue con NPCs, starting in Omens the highest tier of zones (with often the best items) are full of white+ con NPCs which leave them unable to charm ANYTHING. Your best charm in each era is always (Max Level - 1). It'd be awesome if they got access to their more advanced nuking / caster buffing lines starting in Omens to compensate but the just end up being a very underwhelming aDPS in groups and a gimmicky required class for raid events.
So basically the joy I had with the Enchanter until Pop is essentially gone now. Since OOW just dropped, it sounds like it will all be downhill from there. It really comes down to rerolling on Aradune or a new class on Mangler. I enjoyed the Enchanter so much because I didn't rely on grouping in off hours. Doesn't sound like my combo will be very effective anymore.
Yah its a bit of a rough stretch, however if you stick it out around SoF they start getting some neat new tools, and they start getting really strong around RoF if my memory serves. Theres a reason they got an aura that boosts exp though...
