I can't tell you the number of times I have saved my group even when I wasn't the MT. Trust me, having more than 2 in camp is pretty common in EOK zones. The 3 T2 zones have lots of mobs, and it is hard to find a safe pull site where you don't have to worry about pathers. Also, if the cleric merc dies (which is often what happens when everything goes bad), the tank is dead in the water. With rune tanking, I usually need 0 healing, so I would tell the tank to let me get aggro, and I tank the mob until it is dead. And of course, if the tank dies, having a backup tank is a huge asset to the group. It also allows a tank to go for a bio break without the entire group waiting on them.
Yeah I understand about more than 1 mob in camp. I have been playing in Droga quite a bit recently. Thanks for a more detailed description on why you end up tanking. Having a real cleric helps. Was camping the jailor last night in Droga with my rogue, rogue's healer merc, druid, wizzie and pally as tank. Pally is good so, we were doing 3 yellows pretty cake. The roamers do suck, but there are places they don't go. We were pulling to the banishment room.
What's boggling is that, as Segap stated, this was more or less approved for many years. Why that stance has suddenly changed confuses me. This was an established playstyle and, as I said before, really ends up hurting everyone else who may rely on a skilled Enchanter to help them progress more than it does us. The unity change doesn't even really modify my solo playstyle, but it will have ramifications in groups. That being said, we'll adapt. The sky is not falling, and it seems their minds are made up on this change. It most definitely sucks but what can you do. Really need to focus on the Hazy Thoughts/Chromatic Haze revamp now. Pretty sure that tweaking that prior to the next live patch *might* still be on the table, so I think it's important to place our emphasis on that being changed. This is more or less a nerf to more than just Enchanters, with the exception being Necro's who may see a bump in DPS when grouped with one. Classes that run with both DoTs and nukes on a target will likely see a % decrease in DPS as a result.
Thanks for the explanation. Yeah, I noticed the healer merc decide to not heal in LC when tanking my mage pet with my ranger. Hope merc improvement helps there. Can't explain why they would just sit there and do nothing, especially when I have all the heal over time spells blocked for pet, mage and ranger.
People change - different dev doing AA, etc. now and they are moving forward with their vision which clearly differs from their predecessor's. Could also be a top down change in vision too.
The GoCH change has nothing to do with Necros and was not intended to effect regular DoTs. It is broken/needs some more work. The change is intended for Shaman, Beastlord, and Druid DoTs (that are now fully revamped) that initially hit as DDs. Necros have no such spells. Those spells are balanced around the DD portion of the spell counting and getting modified as a regular DD, but GoCH wasn't effecting them (Beastlord's first noticed and started complaining about that when they got theirs). Hence the specific mention of that specific type of DoT with a DD component: Chromatic Haze and the effect of Gift of Hazy Thoughts will now increase the base damage of direct-damage spells that have a damage-over-time component What's screwing things up is: ; either increasing the initial direct-damage of a spell cast or increasing the base damage of the next damage-over-time tick of a qualifying spell. It specifically mentions a qualifying spell (the DD/DoT combos), but the game likely has no way of telling which DoT tics come from qualifying combo spells or regular DoTs. If Aristo wants to keep the either/or portion of the effect he will likely have to create a spell grouping that can be flagged in the data sets of the combo spells. Much more likely that second part regarding DoT tics will just get removed.
I do not understand how nerfing the unity spell to such a long recast is going to make that spell relevant to have in a spell line up... it was already once nerfed, so i guess i'm surprised they hadn't taken the time to properly adjust it at that time... The nerf on the chromatic haze and hazey thoughts seems ridiculous too as our dps isn't overwhelming, especially compared to wizard or berserkers. It seems to me that people are focusing on what the handful of accomplished fully geared fully aa'd Main Enchanters have achieved and are jealous because they haven't applied the same mastery to their class yet... I've seen all sorts of classes do what some would call OP feats, but that's because they put in a lot of time and effort to achieve that result... if there were a handbook stating that this is what your capable of doing and this is not allowed, I'd probably agree that something is OP. But since Everquest is designed by professionals, professionally tested, and tested on test servers before its released I find it hard to understand why we have to relearn our classes over again. I personally love the enchanter class because it has so many avenues for group functionality. Its not a class that you can just auto swing on or just mash a button on your keyboard... there are many more risks involved with what the class does to get the results it gets ( charmed mobs should be awesome because they can break on us and tear us down or the group down, plus they have to be recharmed ALL the time... this being just one example). The fact that an enchanter has to have a more alert and involved player behind it does in my opinion equate to being able to do greater things... if everything i did was a one click and done forget about it i'd say i was OP but that's not the case. I really hope that this or any nerf to my class or any class in general is not going to make people quit their class or EQ, because the game is awesome and that's why we have all played it so long... It would be great if the current nerfs would be reconsidered and apply more time on things that are off balancing the game such as zerker dps (who doesnt have a zerker alt #bandwagon)
Totally agree with you, that is most likely why Mind Storm is eating the charge on a DoT tick, which based on that wording on the change it shouldn't, because it has no DD component to it.
It's still useful in an emergency which is probably the original intention of the spell. They probably want you to survive well enough to get things under control instead of being able to tank indefinitely...
I am usually with Gotwar - enchanters will adapt and get over it. Tbh, what bothers me most is - they take away some of our tanking capabilities and give it back to - mercs!? I left my tank merc a note - if he really wants to make a comeback he has to make his own account and pay for the sub himself. Also I agree - as Mind Storm will not crit, it should not use up a CH counter. Hopefully at least this will get fixed before the changes go live.
Yes increasing the timer 250% is insanely ridiculous. 12 sec to 28 sec? What, enchanters are not allowed to cast their unity runes anymore? Enchanters were given runes for a reason, a very important reason. We cannot save tanks, healers, dps, no one if we die. But if we are skilled enough, in emergencies we could help keep our group alive with mezzes, roots, debuffs, banishings, conjured pets. Enchanters are all about group survival. The huge increase in the unity timer, causes Enchanters to not be Enchanters. Runes are absolutely critical to Enchanters and are there greatest attribute. This is akin to clerics suddenly take 2.5x longer to do what they do, heal. Enchanters rune, it is what they do. They do it to keep people alive. Since this change has been implemented, and oh so short-sighted, I have died many times only because my unity runes were down. I tried my best on many occassions, situations that were easy before, now kill enchanters. Is that the goal? Kill Enchanters? I do not see how that benefits groups.
I was not aware that our best does is forced to not crit? That is ridiculously stupid. 1. I hope you are wrong. 2. That must be fixed
Grouping in EoK dungeons, like Droga and Chardok, it's quite normal and healthy to have the enchanter tanking every now and again. By tanking, I mean surviving 20 seconds once every five minutes, against a mob that's already slowed and crippled -- not being the group's main tank all the time. One of the first things I figure out in any new group is how many DoTs I can put on without stealing aggro from the tank. I tend to keep my aggro above 90% on most pulls. (Enchanter DoT aggro is crazy, but DoTs are mana-efficient) If the tank dies (which is not unusual on named mobs since it only takes one unlucky round, or one refreshed timer on a MoB's special ability, or one mistimed heal), I'm generally next. Or if I miscalculate and go well above 90% aggro. Also, in groups where the magepet is the tank, the occasional dead tank is just part of the strategy, it's expected. Tanking in any of these situations is actually a lot less scary than reacting to an unexpected add. Mostly because I only have to survive for a few seconds, but also because it's more predictable, I have heal support, and the mob is already slowed. Unity helps, but chain-casting our individual runes also works if necessary. Even in group gear. Who has enough spell slots for something with long recast time anyway -- isn't that what AAs are for? Besides, Eldritch Rune stacks better with individual runes than with Unity (it's a matter of timing -- you can only trigger AAs between spellcasts). BTW, I'm definitely rethinking my stance on the ENC Robes thread. The robe focus will now only speed up Unity by 7% twice a minute, instead of by 20% five times per minute.
simplified this quite a lot This is an… interesting… line of thought. Hastening was considered excellent at 2sec off two 12s reuse spells that don't share timer. Getting 2sec off a single 30/29/28s reuse spell is a whole different (and considerably less exciting) prospect. Insane item nerf buried in this spell nerf :/
Some things to think about: Sindaiann spent some time testing the GoHT change on Test (he can post results if he feels it necessary). The end result is.. something like 3-5ish% reduction in personal DPS. I would guess (but don't quote me on this) other nukeDoT classes will see a similar difference. Mind Storm will not eat a charge, but drown definitely will if it ticks. That means it will also eat a Chromatic Haze charge. For some insight, I'm assuming this change was to fix a "bug" with GoHT. Basically, on Live right now, if you have a GoHT proc and you're a class with NukeDoTs, any NukeDoTs you cast while under its effects will retain a 100% crit rate without eating the GoHT charge. For example, proc GoHT -> Drown spam, all the Drown casts will be crits. If this is the only way to fix that, ok cool np. But allowing the DoT tick that eats the charge to retain a 100% DoT crit rate would change this from a minor nerf to DPS across multiple classes to a fix with no appreciable difference in DPS either way. Hence my desire to see that modified. As for the BP focus... yeah, I think I agree wholeheartedly there. If it can't be increased to a 20% reduction (5ish seconds?) I think it may need to be revisited.
I found what the issue was that I thought Mind Storm was eating it. It wasn't. Posted that elsewhere. For any guild that runs 2 or 3 necros, most enchanter's would only use Mind Storm only on the raid boss due to debuff slot limitations. So in this situation you will actually see zero difference in your dps as all your GoCh procs will be ate by your nukes. For guilds that run let's say 1 necro and are enchanter heavy, 3 or 4, that used Mind Storm and Drown, as well as Bewildering Constriction, you will see the dps loss gotwar described because those dot ticks will eat the charge, boost the base by 40% but you won't get the 100% crit chance. Overall this will be nice for nukedot classes but realistically I would like to see them fix it so the dot tick will have the crit chance 100% applied. No reason not to imo.
