I'm a returning player, I have 2 characters below level 30 from a long time ago, but that's it, so I decided to start over with a new character. I have a silver account, and won't be able to afford subbing or paying for a merc, at least not this month. I've been trying out different classes, but the illusionist is the one I've liked the best so far. I like the survivability that the roots and stuns give me, and a pet that is a copy of my character is great for someone like me who spends a lot of time creating and dressing up her character. I also like the fact that they get invisibility, I remember get lost a lot on my old characters and wandering into places where I shouldn't have been on my own, hehe. I did some searches, but unlike the conjurer and the necromancer, the illusionist doesn't get recommended for people who are asking about soloing the game. Without a merc, am I setting myself up for a lot of frustration or failure? Keep in mind that I won't really have access to master-crafted gear (I'll try to craft myself, but I don't like relying on the handouts from other players if I can help it, so I'll be limited to what I can make myself) and I'll be limited to expert level skills at best.
The reason for that is unlike Necromancer and Conjuror, the Illusionist does less damage and also their pet cannot sustain as much damage nor does the Illusionist possess a means to heal their pet. The pet is more auxiliary damage than a tank or damager. It's not easy and you will have to make good use of Mezzes if you pull more than one enemy at a time. It's a tricky process but I did it so I know others can.
Thanks for your reply. That might not be a best first character then, and perhaps better left until I'm a bit more familiar with the game and have a higher level character that can help out with crafting. Plus I might have access to mercs then as well. I'll keep trying out different classes, and leave the Illusionist until later.
You might want to consider a coercer. Once you get the Possessed Essence skill, you can have a pet that can look like you if you like, or like other NPCs or mobs in the zone you are in. I have been really enjoying mine.
actually, if you can manage to wear crafted gear and get someone to experiment on all the pieces to add a self heal proc, you are completely ok as long as you realize your limitations and know what your crowd control does. if you cycle your stuns, silences, stumbles and stifles properly (wiki what each does and learn it by heart!) you are generally ok even toe-to-toeing mobs even without heal procs. many bosses will have shortened stun times despite what they say, so you have to cycle in bewilderment and keep them stumbled/stifled. i found that my illy does far more damage solo than my coercer, since theorums procs off my pet nuking the mob or me, instead of the coercer reactive (forget the name) that procs off one person casting spells. often my pet out dpses me in groups the little showoff! your pet will do crowd control too, so keep an eye on whether or not it is stunning the mob or the like, between the two of you, you will be able to keep most everything chain stunned in fights. having a mercenary will allow you to do things much much harder, of course, but this is true for everyone. just realize you will never get a true AOE spell until you unlock a prestige aoe. until then you can only do encounter damage and single target damage. so if you get adds that arent encounters, you have to mez them. make a macro that tells your pet to stop attacking in the mez spell, because they just love to cast on mobs that you have mezzed and wake them up. i soloed without a merc till around 92, then they changed the game to not take exp from you if you use mercs so i keep mine out but typically use the paladin, he can heal me and rez me and likes to proc synergism quite a bit, so he is nice extra dps. id love to get that fury elite merc but i cant be bothered to go hunt him down
illy really does have an insane amount of defense. but it requires AA to have convert power (swaps your hp for power and absorbs damage for like 4s) is basically a full heal with how the HP rocks past power nowadays. and than the mage deathsave (that every mage has). and than you can convert power again. and since you are an illy you can get your power back to 100% easy. but as Estrad listed, conj has stonskins, necro has heals for both their pet and themselves. ranks them way higher, necro also has a feign death (100% chance of working). and a self revive.
