Ok help me out here when do EQ2 necros take off?

Better tactic that I've found that you might like for kiting. Instead of sending your pet in right away, lead off with the training dot that has a snare on it, then run away while casting a snare from a doll. DON'T send pet in yet. Refresh the snare dot, nuke, ect while staying out of reach of the mob. When you have the mob down a bubble of health, THEN send in the pet. Keep the snares on the mob and he can barely move. The key is to keep the mob pissed at you the entire fight, not on the pet. Keeps the pet alive and doing DPS, which is what you need.
I have an imbued wand, and I only use it when the mob is almost dead, and I don't feel like using more power, or the mob won't take one of my snares. Using this method, I've been doing Tundra Terrors since lvl 44. I know that people think you get better xp in a group, but it simply isn't true. I've tested it, I get better xp doing this than grouping in Perma or something. And the cash rocks.
I have alot of tools for keeping the mob at arm's length, and I use em all, even terror. Trust me guys, don't send in the pet right away, be patient, and you will reap the rewards.
Earlier today, I was grouped up with a 49 wizard, and we tore through snow leopards pretty fast as a duo as well, so that's another option. I try to stay away from duoing with tanks, simply because in a duo situation, I'm either kiting, or killing mobs my pet is perfectly capable of tanking. No need really for a tank then, when a healer or a sorcerer is better suited for my play style.

I'd say you start taking off but good with Pestilential Blast. Then by 35 yer spells are pretty well rounded out. Too bad it's not till 38.6 that we get an upgrade of our pet from UA. So I expect to be pretty happy by 38.6. Just seems a long way to go to be useful to the group.

Hmm, top dps on my raids is generally the zerker then either sk or dirge. All of us hover around 275 zerker the only one breaking 300, tho I've done it once as a dirge. I've never seen a wizard or warlock break 300 on a long raid encounter, ever. Necro, as well never seen them come even close to that. Conjurors I've seen put up around 250ish almost every fight. However, if highest dps on raids is like 150 - 175.. you should considering making groups for dps, just like you have a MT group. Our dps group on raids generally pushes around 1175 all the time (except darathar)...
I have heard though that Necros do have some of the biggest damage in the game, at lvl 50, I'm yet to see it, but I have heard the stories. My main is a dirge and I'm playing a necromancer alt, and can say I'm extremely dissapointed in necro dps at lvl 28.5... my dirge at lvl 22 could out dps em with one skill. I keep reading at lvl 35 necros become stronger and at lvl 38.6 with RT... I'm not there yet, but from what i can tell necros are **** at the current level I'm at, at least compared to nearly every other "dps" class in game.
Could someone tell me what spells / pet / buffs you use at lvl 50 to obtain the max possible damage?

I was disappointed in necro when I first got to 20. I'm now 27 and can see things beginning to change for the better. The necros in EQOA are badass though compared to here. From level 20 to 60 they're fun all the way to the end in EQOA.

I start it off with root, then lay down my debuffs and dots, starting with the snare dot. Sometimes I might root again and redot. Use terror if root breaks too early and reroot. Basically I do about 10-15 percent damage before I start the kite then send pet and the dogs. The pets won't take aggro.

Duo'ing with a ranger is fun...

Is it true that all we can do solo-wise post-30 is run in circles (reverse kite)?
I was a bard in eq1, and my days of running from mobs for xp are long over... been there done that.
Or is this just a tactic used rarely to take down a ^^ quest mob solo?
(I got my necro to 54 in eq1, reverse kiting ended that treadmill for me)

Xothsis
Lavastorm

If you're running in circles then it's normal kiting, not reverse kiting Reverse-Kiting is when the mob runs from yo uand you kick it's tail (also called fear-kiting).

No that's not true. We can solo quite effective solo mobs. This is true all the way up to 50 in EF. If you're talking about soloing group mobs, then slow-kiting or fear-kiting are the only options. Our pets aren't tough enough to tank group mobs as the norm. Conjurer pets however can take quite a bit more damage than ours.

Example @ lvl 50: RT Adept 3 with WoW, Rending, and Agitation Adept 3, and our pet gets hit quite hard against the glacial constructs in the EF tunnel. However, the conjurer tank pet can easily take the damage from this guy and with the cunjurers superior pet healing, can solo quite effectively.

ok, I understand, it's called aggro-kiting in eq1 (not reverse aka snare/fear). If the mob is chasing me for 10 minutes and the pet beats on it... that's not going to happen

Just a personal preference though. If folks like to do this, more power to them.

I was more interested that this thread was talking about how from 35+ they'd run in circles (mob snared, pet & rats whacking it from behind). And add to that that's when we start getting powerful That was my alarm.

I'm a whopping 25 right now, and if the future held aggro-kiting as the only xp method (besides groups) then I'd give up the class.

So far it has been a very fun class to play. Definitely not the easiest.
I'm sure our pets will get cranked up to tank better, so no worries. And dps-wise, the uber class of today will be **** tomorrow. The fun part is what matters to me. This class is fun.

Xothsis
Lavastorm

Message Edited by Jinxi on 05-23-2005 07:46 PM

Hi im interested in being more effective solo. I need to get one of those hex dolls i think it's the stamina one that casts the debuff but it's a fairly long casting time.

What is the training dot that has the snare? Is that Static Pulse?

So far I have found grouping to be more effective for gaining XP than solo, I do agree that loot is much better on your own as you don't have to win the lotto. :smileyhappy:

Also thanks for a new perspective on how to play a solo necro.

I believe it's the agility doll that has the snare component on it. As for the snare spell, there are 2 to choose from. The first one you can get at level 10 I believe, the other at lvl 40 . I use the level 40 one, but other necros report using the level 10 one effectively.
As for which is better xp, solo or grouped, once you have this technique down, and you are kiting white-orange ^^ heroic mobs, which honestly don't take that much more time to do than the blue ones, you will see some serious xp in the mid-late 40's.
I was actually grouped last night, in a good group with only one death, and in the time it took me to get 15 percent at 49th level, with no vitality, I could have gotten 25 percent xp solo in Everfrost. The reason I grouped with them was because they were my friends, and it was a hell of alot of fun. I didn't care about how fast the bar was moving.
As for the above poster and his dislike of kiting, to each their own I guess. I have alot of fun with it though because you have to pay serious attention to what you are doing. One slip up, and you're toast. And it's not just the pet beating the hell out of the mob while you do this. With a double snare on the mob, you can and will easily get far enough away from it to be able to cast dots and lifetaps/DDs. The big thing is to make sure to recast the snare dot immediatly when it refreshes. And to use the appropriate doll for snaring ie. if you are doing level 40+ mobs, use a Tier 5 doll or the snare will rarely stick, and you will be a grease spot frequently.

I tried the root/dot/root/send pet when root breaks method, and man that rocks. Much better than my old one. It's a bit more power intensive, but I'm a necro, power regen isn't exactly a big thing for me hehe.

Anyway, we're far from **** as a class, but we need some love that's for sure. IMO, if they toughened up the tank pets a bit, and increased the DPS and usefullness of the caster and assassin pets, we would be in fine shape. Afterall I chose this class because it's a pet class, so I would like that to be their focus for improvements.

On the fluff side of things, I would love to see them improve the graphics on our pets. The zombie thing just get's old. I want the Lich pet of EQ1 days, Now that pet looked awesome.

On the topic of kiting, I have been doing it on and off since lvl 34 and I am now lvl 37. Ive killed a couple dozen yellow - white ^^ mobs, and a few named including Chomper (only killid him once though, since he is used in the heritage quest, it would be mean to camp him for solo reasons) at lvl 35 doing this. With the above technique, xp rolls in quite nicely, and I have fun in the process. I still do 80% of my fighting with the pet tanking solo mobs, because I love completing quests I run across, and it would get too monotonous to kite all day long for me.
In my limited experiences in kiting, I have noticed that mobs dont use CA's (read non-casters) when they are on the move, so even if I do get hit, I can usually regen it quite easily before I get nailed again.
Has anyone else noticed this? Or exceptions to this?
Eirgorn

For the mobs on the run not using combat arts question.

From everything ive seen if their CA are melee range only they wont be able to use them if you run in a straight line or are far enough ahead of them when doing the circle runs. But if the mob has a CA/spell that has range they will tend to use those eventually on you while running around.

I'm happy to say I've made it this far w/o the need for kiting. I don't think less of those who do, it's just not my thing. I'm just hoping that it doesn't become necessity.

it isnt needed in day to day leveling.

People just use it to kill group based mobs solo that their pet cant tank.

If you feel inclined to do so, I would be interested to know the specific spells you cast and in what order just so I can get a better idea of how you are achieving this (to me) amazing result of being able to solo white con mobs *boggle*
Again thanks for sharing a different way of playing the class. :smileyhappy:

Off topic I know, but id on't see the point in calling it aggro kiting when you're running around with the monster after you..that's just normal "kiting". The term comes from the fact that you're running around with the npc trailing behind you..like a kite. Reverse kiting is when you're chasing the npc..via fear. Pingponging is when you kite with two people..one person running the aggro around while the other lays into it from range, then taking up the running when aggro switches over. I played eq1 from it's beginning...many servers are different though and develope different lingo.

Xolthar, open up with Eternal Bindings. The 2nd spell I use is the Lvl 40 training dot (can't remember it's exact name). Then I start to get as many dots up as I can, stopping only to refresh the Eternal Bindings spell.
Once the mob is down a bubble of health, I don't worry about the root spell. When he starts to chase me, I sic the pet on him, and start to cast the snare doll (it can be cast on the run just like a wand or ring). Then Lvl 40 training dot again, Rats, and that's about it. There aren't alot of spells I use, because I'm still working on getting timing down some.
If anyone else has anyother methods they like to use, please feel free to post them so that I can try them out.

My necromancer life took off at level 25 due to a single spell "Boon of Lifeless". This single spell allowed me to solo 3-4 linked blue con mobs. If you get a rare stone, highly recommend upgrading it to adept 3 after you get adept 3 undying adherent. It is not just a pet buff.
My typical tactic is:

1. send pet on 1 of the 4 linked group mob
2. resend pet on any of the other 3 that rushes you.
3. Cast Boon of Lifeless 2-3 times
4. Nuke the mob that's on pet down
5. If pet get to low hp, cast soothe servant then Boon of Lifeless
6. nuke or send rats to take the mob that pet is killing
7. resend pet on other mob
8. Dot or nuke with clicky wand (100++ nuke)

Basic rule is when you get agro, cast Boon of Lifeless. You might not be able to do this at higher level. But it makes the trip from 25 to 30 much more fun. For once, you could solo low level group linked mob. Here, I'd ask SOE not to remove the side-effect of this spell. This is the one spell that a necromancer class need the most, an ability to throw agro back to pet. Without this spell, even 3 green cons will kill me.

Everything I read on forums and every necro I talk to says that Rotting thrall is the best way to go as far as a pet. If anything needs to be changed with necros, it is this. Why would their lvl 38.6 pet be their strongest pet? Why not the lvl 46.8 assassin pet? Why not the 48.6 Warlock pet?
Perhaps this is just me trying to make sense of SoE's logic in this regard, but... is there any? Is it logical to have unused spells which are 10 lvls higher than the one everyone uses? Why would a fighter pet do more damage than an assassin or warlock anyways? does that make sense to anyone? Assuming that fighter pets are based on a guardian skill tree, how is it possible that they can out dps the warlock pets, knowing that warlocks are arguably the most dps class in this game. Having my end game pet on lvl 38.6 is cool and all, but I would really like to see a stronger effort put forth on the other pets, and actually make them useful, either that or just axe them and give necros some kind of utility spell in their place.