Reverse Charming Video Guide For Any Level, No AAs Reqd

No it is not against the rules to only quote portions of someone's comments. You might get in trouble if you edit them to say something completely different, like if you said "I like to see them ban people who cheat" and I turned that into "I like people who cheat". If you said a few sentences and I only quote one, then that isn't really an issue on any site I've ever posted on.

Unless you're a dev here, where you can flip out on players who quote you, even when they do it verbatim.

Yeah... it's kindof why I've never been extremely inclined to go back and rework what has already been done very thoroughly. It's not my fault someone let the game and missed some of these posts, then comes in with anti-fact and no parses (despite being so number oriented...).

Given the low priority of it, I'm not sitting intently parsing 12 hours a day right now. I will still probably post my numbers because I think I may have found an interesting, issue/problem actually. I'm not going to jump the gun though without significant amounts of data.

Glad to see someone else is able to effectively use a similar setup. I knew I wasn't crazy. My full setup is Ench/Dru/Mag with Clr/Tank/DPS merc. The only time Druid spot heals is if it's a named. We have a good kill rate for a less than ideal group, similar to yours I'd say. I enjoy it at least. I also take random AFKs, play at odd hours like 12 AM - 3 AM, camp just a specific mob or two for a named, or watch TV in the background.

I use Mage/Wizard/Enchanter when I'm boxing solo, and often group with my friend who boxes cleric/paladin. When he's not on I use two wiz mercs + tank merc and have very fast kills. When we need extra healing we pop a second cleric merc. Not much we haven't been able to do in group game.

While I agreed with many of your statements before, this one is totally off... Tank mercs function just fine in curent content??? Are you insane... WTF do you consider current content??? Underfoot? they just now got the level to handle that they can handle that content, my pet tanks 10 times better than a tank merc.

If you had read my other posts in full you would realize that current content means CURRENT content. In case you missed the boat, that would be COTF, not Underfoot. For starters, I'm going to assume you're a Mage. Yes, I would agree my Mage box's pet tanks better than a merc if we are comparing one on one. That is not the case in which I'm referring to as that is a shortsighted scenario.

My main is an Enchanter and that's how I act when I'm boxing. I have a junkton of mobs incoming and have to worry about CC, so for me, trying to three box with an Ench main and MT with a Mage pet is not feasible on one PC; especially since I don't use any of the external boxing programs to "help". I honestly don't know what kind of shenanigans you people (who complain about tank mercs) are doing but there is obviously something wrong. Operator error =/= tank mercs suck. Seriously, if I can 3 box CC 2, EW 2, Grelleth 2, Xorbb 2, etc. with a tank merc and cleric merc as the primary tank and healer, then I don't know what other people are having an issue with unless you're expecting your tank merc to deflect the 40 mob train you just z-axis'd in Chapterhouse. I'll make the note- all of the ROF stuff was done while it was current as well: no merc AA or gear (as meaningless as it is).

Look, I don't know what your (quoted) playstyle or group makeup is or anyone else who bashes tank mercs. Perhaps for you, it doesn't work. However, that does not mean they are garbage. Mercs are inherently dumb. In order to succeed with them you need a solid grasp of not only your own class, but the mechanics at play. It is feasible to do CURRENT content with mercs in their CURRENT state. Would I like a defensive boost to the tank merc that is meaningful? Absolutely. There are times where I've gotten in over my head and the tank merc went splat. I CC'd, did some rearranging, and subbed in a Mage pet till my 5 min timer was up. Did I honestly expect a tank merc to be able to survive a combat round of 6 Lv. 100+ mobs on incoming? Eh, no, not really. A PC tank? Perhaps.

There's already a thread in the Vet forum about mercs so this convo should really migrate over that way so the Enchanters can get back to arguing with each other.

I find no problems with tank mecs on my chanter at all. I do find them annoying when I play my bard. With the chanter I have done everything in CoTF except some of the missions with a tank merc with no issues. Knowing how and when a tank merc goes out to engage etc is key. I find that many players will start debuffing before the mobs get into camp etc then complain that the tank ran off to engage. Or they'll pull 8 mobs and then complain that the merc went down. So will most group tanks. If I pull more than one, I also keep the tank merc on my enchanter so that I can reactive/passive when I need. If I pull 6 or so mobs, I passive the merc.. get them mezzed. Reactive the tank, then break a mob with my gorilla stick. Tank engages single debuffed mob, and we kill it. Rinse and repeat.

Let's not forget that enchanters are the ultimate solution for weak tanks, and certain combinations of classes can be made without slow, stuns, etc., so it is possible for players to find the tank merc, especially with healer merc as sole healer, insufficient for that reason, and not because they suck at playing.

Nope Druid main with an enchanter box. The pet I was referring to was the enchanter pet. There has been several occasions both on trash and named fights where the tank merc got one rounded and we still pulled through with the enchanter pet tanking. Tank mercs = the suck. Even my enchanter box requires less healing while tanking.

I haven't played much in CotF, but I used my tank merc through most of RoF and had no issues at all with my shaman. If the best you can do is Underfoot, then I am not sure what to tell you.

No I did use the tank merc in current content, due to having no other choice. Then a cleric here on the forums told me to use a caster merc instead. They take the same amount of damage, and the caster merc does a lot more DPS so actually requires a ton less healing. Tank mercs in their current form are pretty much useless, they require raid buffs and two healers to do no DPS and still get one rounded way to often.

Why do you even need to parse this? TC aura is better than Amp aura by definition. 11% chance to twincast vs 4% dmg increase - of course TC wins "by a considerable margin". But why are you choosing between the auras at all? Use all 3 effects: TC and Amp auras + single target MR.

I parsed it because someone claimed otherwise. It required about 0 effort on my part so there really wasn't a reason not to do so. If anything, I have the numbers for myself.

I would love to know what Enchanters are running around casting single target MR. On raids, I'm trying to maintain MR on at least 4 people, thus the reason for using an aura. Single target is 30 second recast, 4 min duration, and 20 counters. The spell would be good except for that 20 counters part. Not only would I be recasting this pretty much every time it refreshed, it would be cutting into my own DPS or whatever other job I had. Your suggestion is far from practical.

Very good ones.

I mean the current content. There are zero cc-heavy raids in CotF. A normal raid caster group includes a druid (+fire dmg aura). A good raid caster group also includes a bard (Arcane Hymn). The dps bonus from them will make Amp aura more than worth having in the 2nd slot. Keeping single MR on 3 people is not a problem at all. The loss of your own dps due to casting MR every 30 sec is negligible. And in group content you don't normally have even that many people for MR (unless the group is all-caster with pet tank). In a group with only 1 heavy caster, keeping MR on that caster and yourself doesn't even require casting it every 30 sec except when they have twincast running. So, most situations in CotF allow you to use TC+Amp+single MR for maximum dps without any significant drawbacks other than the need to pay constant attention and keep track of fading MR's, which can be helped by GINA or GTT.

But my biggest question was why you were parsing TC vs Amp, not Amp vs MR. TC is by far the best and having it on is beyond discussion. Parses of Amp vs MR are more interesting. In my experience, MR aura is better than Amp if nothing else is involved. But adding things like bard, druid or single MR (even part time) tips the scales in favor of Amp. The only 2 scenarios where I found MR aura to be better than Amp were: a) heavy cc; b) all-caster group without bard.

When I am in a caster group on raids, I always tell the chanter in group to use Amp and TC, as their MR aura will overwrite my druid one. I know MR is better, but I figure its not "better enough" that the combination of my aura with their Amp and TC is better than if they just had Amp and MR... although I could be wrong.

Very good points about the use of TC/Amp/MR, Axx.

My guild still regularly raids T3/T4 ROF in addition to COTF so there are several instances where running the aura is more feasible, for myself at least. About 70% of the time when I'm grouping, I'm 3 boxing a caster heavy group so the convenience of the aura outweighs the gain. The other settings you discuss would definitely benefit from single target though; I appreciate you pointing it out. I try to forget single target exists sometimes. It certainly couldn't be as bad as during DoDH when every caster in the raid would send a tell for Flare

Again, I originally set out to parse TC and Amp because some Enchanters were claiming TC was inferior. I've actually had some people contact me about it because they/their main Ench have also perpetuated that mentality. I've never doubted the superiority of TC aura. So far I have 6 hour continuous parses of either TC or Amp aura using an Ench high DPS weave. I can easily setup another for MR aura and combinations. If I feel ambitious enough I might even look into stuff with the Druid aura.

As much as I'd like an Enchanter DPS parse paper in Nature, I'm not claiming that I've discovered something revolutionary, rather, just reinforcing past data.

However, there is one thing I have noticed that I can't explain. When running Amp Aura, I get the expected 4% twincast from Twincast AA Rk 4/4 (inherent chance). When running TC aura (Rk. 3, 11%) with the inherent AA, I only come out with a rate of 13% twincasts, not 15%. I've seen this occur repeatedly now. Does anyone have a better understanding of this that may explain the discrepancy?

I prefer this setup as well, but I have noticed some Druids are not as diligent about maintaining auras (I do realize that is moreso operator error).

This is actually something I've been curious about for a long time though since I am always in caster groups with a Druid on raids and I box one myself while grouping. I'm more and more inclined to parse this out now.

It seems to me the benefit of druid aura and enchanter TC/AMP over just chanter TC/MR is a given. One thing you need to add into your comparison though is that AMP works on everything, even the stuff that cant be twincast. like AA nukes and weapon/secondary/potion/MR-type procs. I don't know about mages but wizards and druids both have quick cast free AA nukes, and Amp aura is the only thing that seems to boost them. I should test my clickies with amp aura wonder if it works on them to.

I typically use MR/AMP. but this is due to a few reasons.

1, Typically my Druid healer is boxed.
2. This Druid rarely keeps up Fire aura.
3. Sometimes i get a CLR

HOWEVER. On the odd occasion that I get a real life druid OR I am boxing my own Druid. I run TC/AMP and Single cast MR. As this is the best route.

It depends on if i want to do Pure ADPS or Pure DPS. as attempting to hybrid this is proven to be inefficient.

On the topic of tank mercs, I 3 box ENC MAG DRU.

I have 0 issues having my mage pet tank, and it is easy to have my mage pet tank multiples.

Silv. I would suggest you look into WINEQ if your going to box on one machine. This application forces EQ into windowed mode, and assigns hotkeys to each window.

CNTRL ALT 1 for Window 1
CNTRL ALT 2 for Window 2
Ect ect


Now. utilizing that and a simple multibind. I can keep 3 casters "Greyed out" with minimal effort. and run my SK if i need too.

Please dont defend tank mercs here. as they pale in comparison to even necro pets. and while scripted, the script they use is horrible. For example. if my charm breaks. My merc is gunna race towards me, Bringing the mob hes tanking. and have his back to that mob. grab agro. and now. he has his back to one mob, and hes "Face tanking another."

Putting him on passive in this situation only causes him to turn around and face you, and hes still tanking a mob with his back.

So. Even if i punt my pet, (Fast, typical response), He races forward to agro the pet.

An add wanders in camp. He runs and agros it. and on MULTIPLE occassions, He'll snap my mezz.

My Mage handles this much better. My mage knows better then to mess with my charm pet. My mage happily stays on target, and tanks content better then my merc ever would. Consider that while 2 boxing, I can tank a COTF named with nothing more then a CLR merc and my mage and my ENC.

Typical loadout for me is DRU with WIZ ENC with WIZ -- Mage with CLR.

Massive DPS. Easy heals with the pet tanking. and easy control of Iridestris *Mage pet* and the Cleric merc is there for convience only. So i can do other things on my Druid. i can and have kept my mage pet alive with my druid heals ONLY, no merc.

Considering full burn, My mage is @ 80kDPS, My ENC is 77k DPS. and my Druid pops up at around 50k, (She isnt 100 yet)

I think i'll avoid tank mercs. IMHO the only use for them is leveling a toon from 1 - 60. Besides that. hit the shelf homeboy!

Oops, forgot the other scenario: short burn (shorter than 108 sec). That's the case where TC aura is not needed because of spell Twincast + AA Improved Twincast running, while single MR won't do because of the sheer number of spells being [twin]cast. That is where Amp + MR aura is used, and if the fight is not over after 90 sec then replace MR aura with TC and start single MR-ing.

I find it amusing how you've now changed your whole stance on the aura issue. Funny how you never mentioned using single target MR and this other lineup before Axx brought it up.

Also, I appreciate it, but I don't need your advice on how to box now either. WinEQ is completely unnecessary. Prior to it being "legal" to window EQ, yes, it was crucial, now, not at all.

You enjoy your shelved tank merc, I'll enjoy mine tanking current content just fine.