Aloha, I've been out of the EQ2 loop for almost a year now, and I'm thinking about signing back up. If I'm right, I think I cancelled my my account either in March or April of last year. Assuming that my toons are still on the server, I've been debating on whether or not I should come back. Could someone let me know what has happened to the Warlock class since last April? Are we still aggro magnets that don't even make the parses? Have there been any huge recent improvements in the class? No flames or rants - just wondering how things will compare to the last time I played.
Concussive is now encounter-wide and comes with an interrupt and short stun. Root resistability was adjusted slightly lower to be in tune with increased mob resistances. Roots no longer break on debuff casts - only when they take direct damage. The Dark Infestation broodlings now trail you for the duration they are up; they do constant periodic radial AE (imagine each one casting a mini Chaostorm if you will); if you cast them on a linked encounter they will automatically move to the next target alive in the encounter after the first target is killed. The Vulian line is now an encounter-wide de-aggro and significantly stronger; it also pacifies the encounter. There are no more fizzles. Instead of fizzling you simply take longer to complete the spell cast as the meter resets to various degrees. There is no more "Target is not alive" message when you are assisting someone and they switch targets after the first mob of a linked encounter dies. Without going into the achievement lines I think that about covers most of the major changes we've had since the release of KoS last year. If you are curious about the achievements see any of the numerous threads about them below ... Message Edited by Vicontessa on 01-19-2007 09:36 PM
The "target is not alive" message still appears if you are casting a single target spell, of course. However, it does not appear with your target encounter spells as Vicontessa said. Our Boon line now feeds power to you and the target you cast it on when it procs, and if target is a fighter, transfers a small % of the aggro you generate to them (dependant on spell quality). This also now stacks with other hate transfer abilities from other members of the group, as it previously broke everything else. In answer to the aggro magnet question, yes, we can still pull every mob the tank isn't targeting. But our situation on this has dramatically improved, IMO. Especially if you put any points into the protection line. As previously stated, lots of info on our new AAs in other threads. Vicontessa did a great job of covering everything else that changed. :smileyvery-happy: Hope you decide to return and welcome back!
Thank you both for excellent answers! So, let me make sure I am understanding this correctly: If a linked mob dies while I am still casting an AE, my spell will still land on the other mobs in the encounter? If so- WOOHOO! That was one of my bigger frustrations while playing my lock.
So, how do we fare in the parses? When I left, rangers had recently been nerfed into near oblivion, necros and conjies pretty much owned, and warlocks were having a very hard time putting out impressive numbers. The main reason I created my lock was to see nice big numbers scroll up when I zap something, and it would be nice to be useful and wanted in raid situations.
With proper aggro management (in the form of proper group setup and buffs) we can do very respectable DPS. Not necessarily number 1 in every fight, but more often then not I was in the top three with with the other two spots jumping between the necro, wiz and swashy depending on the fight. We may not always be number 1 in the parse, but if you know what you're doing and you have the right group setup, yes we can do impressive numbers.
