Im been looking and looking...(even went to eq2flames...mistake there) However... Can someone(s) explain to me the differnce between a defiler and a mystic end game? Ive been asking and askiing but havnt gotten a real good answer.
A lot of our tools are so specific that who has an advantage goes encounter by encounter. Mystics get a regenerating group ward + resist buff against noxious damage, similar to how templars get one against arcane, and wardens against elemental. Defilers, by contrast, get spiritual shrine, which is a killable/vulnerable to AEs spawned object that wards an entire raid. It's pretty outstanding in the rare situations where it's not killed immediately. Both defilers and mystics get a ward attached to our physical mitigation buff. Mystics' ward works against physical damage, defilers' against magic damage. The defiler ward, however, is much, much larger, and many endgame encounters feature low-grade but continuous sources of magic damage. Defilers will tend to have an enormous healing edge over any other class in these encounters solely due to that. Mystics buff dps better. They get Ancestry, which is a buff to proc rates on a single target, and their mythical proc boosts doubleattack. Defilers get a single target proc buff which isn't really a significant damage source by contrast. Mystics also can spec for doing melee dps themselves, which gives them a higher personal dps potential than defilers - this rarely comes up in current endgame encounters, since they demand a great deal of healing, and priests trying to dps is usually only done in trivial fights. Mystics get a cure that isn't interruptable and makes the target immune to status effects (stun, stifle, etc) for any that it cures. Defilers get a group self-cure that can be cast when stifled/stunned. Defilers get tendrils, a single-target buff on someone that causes them to have a chance to proc a dps and haste debuff on an attacker when hit. This is actually an extremely nice buff in AE situations, where mobs may not be significantly debuffed otherwise. Mystics get a single-target stat buff by comparison, which gives them a slight hp edge. Mystics get bolster, which is a massive short-term hp buff. Their mythical click is Spirit Tap, which is probably the strongest healer proc out of anyone - it causes everyone in their group to get a heal/power heal whenever a mob is hit, which in a raid situation turns into a full health/power restore for its entire duration, generally. Their mythical also gives them +healing based on their wisdom. Defilers' click is a AE dot that is a small heal over time to the group, and our proc gives a bonus to base healing for a short duration and reduces magical damage the group takes. In general, mystics tend to win out, especially in situations where dps is at a premium and survivability is a secondary factor. Where defilers shine is in fights where survivability is absolutely crucial and there's continuous power drain and magic-based damage effects. Remember, wards block power drains, so the ward component of our mitigation buff is incredibly strong for that. On the whole, however, mystics/defilers are probably among the closest in capabilities of any of the subclass pairs, so people weren't trying to be jerks by dismissing your question. The differences tend to be very subtle for us, and it'd be an extremely rare situation where someone would say 'Man, I wish we had a mystic/defiler instead of a defiler/mystic!'
I dont have a shaman but as an outsider looking at both classes, including raiding, I would say it goes like this. Defiler, best healer, hands down due to wards and can regen their own power only pretty much. Good for any group due to good MT buffs also. Slower dpsing solo. For raid, most raids ony have one though due to benefits of having other healers in the DPS groups. Mystics. very good healer due to wards, excellant at soloing if specced for dps, good in groups due to wards. Wanted in raids for group dps buffs, wards for off tanks/squishies with lower hitpoints against AOE's. The Mystic mythical also can regen power for a group. Most raids will have 1-2. In the MT group for raids, the preferred set up for "farm status" mobs is a templer and defiler. If its not easy for the raid to kill or its a new mob, add a warden to the MT group. For the offtank group, its usually a second templer or inquisitor possibly and a mystic or possibly a second defiler but not usually. For dps groups, its mystics and inquisitors fighting it out for the healer spot with Fury's getting in an occasional spot in a mage group. Of course will they "fix" some of the druid issues, druids might not sit as often on raids, lol.
I forgot to mention debuffs, also. Defiler debuffs are generally superior, since we can debuff so much more quickly than mystics can, and we have fast-casting wis debuffs for resistant adds. It's not something that matters on most fights though, just fights with significant adds or multi-mob encounters, or fights with debuff wipes.
The differences were summed up fairly nicely above. I just wanted to reinforce the fact that the two classes are very well balanced currently. Heal for heal, defilers are the stronger of the two healers but lack in the DPS/utility department. Personally I've always preferred defiler, but I'm biased since that is what I choose to play. This, of course, could change drastically with the new expansion in February, though.
We're still feeling our way out. Oberon is a pretty huge swing for healing to mystics in any tank-healing capacity, and arguably they got the better of the AA mixes. The AE heavy fights may be another mark in mystics' favor for any that use nox damage. However, power regen items were nerfed, so cannibalize is actually a significant balancing point now. Dunno yet. I'm staying defiler for the time being, I think, though I think mystics may be stronger overall in most single-group experiences due to Oberon.
I have both though right now my mystic is only 72 so she has never done end game raids like my main who is a defiler. I do agree both are very good but do find the defiler has one major advantage over the mystic and that is Cannabalize. I just love it and on major mobs that have huge power drains, the defiler on these fights can stand apart from the rest of the raid by having a strong power source she can draw from instead of relying on Enchanters who are usually busy with the other classes. I often use my AA one followed by the regular version and within a few seconds even after dying I am back up to 50% or higher in power. The Mystic dont even get a simple version through levels let alone a increased one in AAs and this I think is a weakness. Both are great classes and are my favorites but end game I would say the defiler wins for this reason alone. Though mine would love to have Bolster in her list of spells. Play which ever you like and you should be happy with it.
