A little confusion - Mage AA line vs Tank Pet AA line?

Discussion in 'Necromancer' started by ARCHIVED-switchdoc, Jul 2, 2010.

  1. ARCHIVED-switchdoc Guest

    First off, hello all!
    My wife and I just came back to EQ2 after not playing for over a a year and a half or so. Because we wanted to avoid the situation we had last time (the two of us in the same room, playing the same game, but doing completely different things and not even talking to each other) we agreed that we would roll brand new toons and duo exclusively.
    So, she rolled a Fury and I rolled a Necromancer. My original thought had been that the Necromancer Tank Pet could act as almost a third group member, effectively giving us a nice threesome with the fury for nukes and heals and the necro for additional damage and some crowd control (snares, fears, stuns, etc)
    In doing research I came accross a post with two different AA specs, one for Tank/Solo and One for Mage/DPS. I am hoping you will know of the guides I am referring to as I don't have a link handy and they factor heavily into the questions in this post. Basically one is designed to spec AAs into the tank pet for soloing and one is designed to use the Mage pet for DPS assuming it will be used in groups and raids.
    Because we aren't technically a 'group' I've been using my AA's as suggested in the Solo/Tank Guide, focusing on tainted heals and then on to Perceptors Command and Perceptors Bodyguard with a bit in teh Wisdom line when I am feeling adventerous.
    So far this has been working very well, but I am finding as I get to the mid 30s (just hit 34 tonight) that fights really drag out using the Tank pet. Because of this I've been using the mage pet more and he seems to be holding his own for the most part. Now I am worried that I am wasting AA on the tank that could be spent specing for the mage pet using the Mage/DPS guide which I am assuming would add significant DPS to our little duo and speed up the fights.
    So my question is this. In a our duo, Fury and Necro, should I be focusing on the Solo tank build, or the mage/dps build?
    One of the first things the mage/dps guide has you do is put points in the Int line (I believe), and the first skill there is to reduce the amount of hate the pet receives. You have to put points into this before you can get to the goodies below it. This makes me assume that the mage pet will not hold aggro well. Is this the case? In a full group or a raid this is desireable. The mob should be beating on the tank, not sparky. In our duo though, we don't have a tank so if sparky isn't getting beat on, we are.
    So, the question is, does the Mage pet hold aggro well enough (or kill fast enough) that I can spec for him and get the advantages of more DPS and hopefully quicker fights? Or because we lack a real tank am I going to need that Tank pet? I really want to use the mage pet but my wife insists that wiping every third pull does NOT build character no matter what I say. :)
    Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
    Oh, also if you don't mind, a real newb question:
    Where does one get this magical respec mirror I've been hearing about? Everyone posts about it like its the most common thing in the world to have aside from tussah root but I've never seen one. Is ita higher level item I can't get to at 34?
    Thanks again!
    -Switch
  2. ARCHIVED-Orlac Guest

    One other suggestion. As of late my level 70 Necro has been using his scout pet with great results. With tainted heals to keep him/her alive she is a DPS machine and holds aggro well. I got tired of the long fights with the tank pet when soloing. However, the mage pet is still very viable in groups. The mage pet is NOT supposed to hold aggro if you examine it's AA line.
  3. ARCHIVED-Garlin1 Guest

    Scout pet is really useless for the dps it puts out even fully specced.
    The tank pet is a beast as far as damage absorbtion and HPs endgame. Specced right and just a few pieces of pet gear mine has around 24k hp. Only issue is eventually with gear procs, your dps, etc the tank will not hold aggro very well.
    The mage pet is a dps beast hands down. It holds its own ok, but only if your keeping it topped off. You will probably have aggro most of the time so it will beat mobs down while you try and stay alive.

    Tainted heal is a must. I use it on both my tank AA spec and my Mage AA spec. Go get your self a AA mirror. If you don't have one already. This will allow you to save one spec AKA: Mage pet spec and a Tank Spec. So you will simply go to the mirror and save the current spec and get the old one back.
  4. ARCHIVED-Nanran Guest

    Anybody sufficiently leveled enough to have built up 40k status at their crafting society can make you a Mirror of Reflected Achievements through the Commission system. Everyone goes on and on about it, but all it does is toggle two different AA setups, I have yet to need the mirror I have.
    Since you didn't link the guide I can not comment on what it says but I am concerned that you find fights dragging out at level 34, so some general advice:
    1 Every 10 levels on the 2s, 22 & 32 etc buy a complete set of Master Crafted from the broker.
    2 Make sure to at least have all your spells to Adept, you should be a Sage and make as many Experts as you can for yourself, buy a Master tank pet.
    3 Spell and AA priority are; most important is Pet then pet buffs -> pet heal -> pet agro control -> DPS.
    4 Have at least 1.5x more AA than levels. Here is my final build.

    You should be able to heal your tank pet better than the Fury and for less mana with Tainted Heals, I would spec in a way for you to solo and just drag the fury along for the ride.