Weak, new lvl 90 coercer

I just started playing EQ2. I was RAF'd by a friend and powerlevelled to 90 leaving me with around 100 AAs and poor gear. He's been helping me with questing which is helping, but when I go out solo I'm struggling a fair bit at times. I try largely to follow the advice here and on eq2flames for rotation/etc, but theres an implicit assumption that we should be doing a fair bit more damage than I do.

Mainly, against solo mobs I pre-cast destructive mind, send in my pet, then forced hesitation (root), obliterated psyche, spell curse, then settle into a rotation thats basically hemorrhage, something, hemorrhage, something, etc reapplying reactives as they come up and preferring Asylum as my other DD spell when its up. The thing is, if forced hesitation holds all is well and I just take ages to kill things but its ok, but it seems like some mobs just break it almost instantly and things tend to go downhill fast. I use Medusa Gaze and my stuns to hold them still while I get some distance and reapply root, but I'm so squishy that if they get a couple swings in, I pretty much just die. Am I doing something wrong in this scenario? It'd be great if my pet could hold some aggro, but even using enraging demeanor on him, they switch to me as soon as the first reactive kicks in, let alone a DD spell. I did spend what plat I had on master forced hesitation in the hopes it would get resisted/broken less, and that seems to have helped a bit, but still sometimes gets broken really quickly.

On another note, I have around 1000 int now, 107 AAs, and mostly adept spells. Am I best off questing for better gear, getting help to grind for AAs soley, or gathering for rares to make expert spells (obviously I need some of everything, but what should take priority when I log on?). Whats going to make the most difference to my damage? I figure a lot of this will become easier as things start dieing faster.

The problem here is you do not know the class or how to play it based on the situation. This is a common symptom of being power leveled, compare it to decided at 20 years old you don't like an office job, that isn't for you, no you want to play professional football even though you have never touched one in your life, never played a down, you can expect nothing but to be getting creamed.
If you have a few toons at 90 being power leveled on an alt is a completely different story (if you can play them competently) you know the mechanics of the game well enough, you can then use the sites you referenced to fill in the blanks even then it will still take time because things are situational.
The best thing you could do if you want to play the coercer is to deleted it, roll your own and solo him through 90, still doesn't take all that long, short of that at least roll one, do the work, instead of having it all done for you.

I don't expect to be useful from day one, but I figure I'll learn to play a 90 coercer quicker playing a 90 coercer than I will levelling manually from scratch. Especially when the whole goal of playing is to play with my friend.

So anyone got tips for the situation as it stands?

Sounds like you want easy mode.
You will not learn to play it easier or quicker that way, you don't have all your abilities at earlier levels you have to 'make do' with what you have, this way you learn what is effective and when instead of having everything available to you all of a sudden. It is overload, you have more than you know what to do with, you could start but you seem to be insistant that you are doing it that way regardless so...
I guess by going and soloing mobs working your way up to harder and harder mobs, some mobs are more resistant to certain types of damage/spells that others some are completely immune had you actually played your toon instead of having it dragged around and getting to 90 in a flash you would know this, roots have a chance to break any time any damage is inflicted on the mob by you or anyone else. I don't know what kind of damage you are doing it all depends on group setup, your abilities as well as the abilities of others.
Do some PQ's get at least all the pieces except the chest piece (unless you get lucky) then start running Pools, Ascent and TOFS then after you get some gear from those fortress spire.
FWIW your friend should know what to do for you.

lempo, although not stated well, is correct. it could have been typed a lot nicer.
while i can understand why you would want to get to your friend's level quickly, you have not had enough time to get to know your character. yes, it does indeed make a big difference on learning how to play a character thru the levels vs. "POOF, I'm 90 .. .. NOW WHAT?" they give you the spells in progression and as you learn and become comfortable with some, theres a new one. as a PL character, you've got all these spells that you've barely used.
leave your gimpy PL 90. make a new coercer. put your AA slider at 50/50. manually level yourself (NO PL!!) to mid 30s/low 40s. then, you can return to your gimpy 90 coercer.
after you've done that, you'll have a better understanding of your character. there will still be spells for you to learn but you'll have a better handle on how to play. also, in your groups... group with ppl at or near your level (and not a PL type thing). coercers are very important in groups and if you are mainly solo'ing or running around with high level characters, you will be lost on what to do.
my coercer is only level 29 with around 60 AAs so i cant give you a lot of good advice on how to play a coercer; however, i do know that solo'ing won't cut it bc there's too much that ppl expect you to do in a group that you cannot do solo.

also... if you have not taken your gimpy coercer to do the PQs... do it. you need the gear to survive. even the gimpiest character can get the PQ gear and its required if you want to do any solo questing in great divide.

Ok, well given how pointless it seems to solo atm, when I'm on and friends aren't I might as well be playing a new coercer as the 90. Difference between learning to solo with him and how I need to play in a group makes sense, atm I just throw out general stuns/etc just to keep busy.

And this is why you will never get groups without your friend in it. Soloing is not pointless. It teaches you how to play your class. My main is a 90/300 coercer that was not power leveled at all. In fact, I was in a guild for a time where we level locked at 70 to do progression content. I learned every bit about the class. I practice on training dummies to determine the best spell cast order etc. Learn the class. It is a great one to play once you know what you are doing.

so welcome to the realm of Bitterness. You ask advice and u get a lot of grief.
SOE encourages powerleveling, so dont listen to the grief of posters above here.

That aside, u have chosen the class that is prolly the hardest class to learn the finesses of. Much wanted in groups tho as nearly no grp enters an end dungeon without an enchanter.
If i were u, i'd concentrate on getting ur pq gear asap, then alternate between getting expert spells (and getting the rares for it) and grouping up for powerleveling ur AA. Sebilis and The Hole seem to be most popular, but nothing wrong with other instances either. As long as ur in those kind of instances, so pre DOV u wont be expected to be on par so much as in DOV instances.
Keep on checking out and reading up on ur class and u will get there, just as any other player.
EDIT: also, dont forget to get ur skills maxed out. Especially subjugation is important for coercers when soloing....if mobs break root easy, it might be cos ur subjugation skill isnt that good (can also get that particular skill on gear and adorns, tho cant say if its advisable to get it)

chardz wrote:

I think you are a troll.

QED, these forums are more about ego's than passing on info

The info that was passed here addressed what the OP asked, he didn't ask any specifics.
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=505111 - Tried to help this person and others did also, he knows more than all of us though that is why he came here asking.
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=505367 - This person received help and further info that was not realted to his original post.
People can get help here, again just because you do not like the answers that has nothing to do with ego.
I do see I was right you are a troll and nothing more.

Meh, theres two sides. The whole advertisment about RAF is centred around levelling very quickly so you can play with your friend who recruited you. In that sense, I just did what SOE told me to do. And yes, I actually started with a shadowknight, but our guild has a plethora of shadowknights and tanks in general, and at the time no coercers at all, so it made sense to start over with a coercer to both help the guild and be desired in runs. From previous games, as I said before, I thought the best way to learn was to get max-lvl asap and then learn to play the class. Theres a lot more to coercer than chars I've played in other games though, so I can see that such a plan wouldn't work so well here.

That said, being told to delete my character isn't exactly constructive advice. Fortunately some better advice was forthcoming later in the thread, so thanks to those that did have constructive advice.

As others have stated do the public quests to get better gear. when not doing the public quests go to sentinals fate and do the quests there, get your aa's up and get some jewelry pieces to increase your INT. the mobs on Velious are highly resistant to our arcane damage. Plus you'll be asble to solo the Sentinals fate mobs easier then the Velious and it will help you learn the spells you will be using. Get your friend to get you in an ascent group.

Thanks, started getting some PQ gear and done a bunch of gathering for rares so have about a dozen expert spells now which has helped a lot. Tips on where to go greatly appreciated thanks Cholla.

chardz wrote:

that crossed a line. i give someone good advice on how to save their PL'd character and get insulted!! next time, should i just not bother, which would then allow the person to run around all gimpy and/or quit the game? oh yes, thats a great idea. i absolutely do *not* appreciate your insults, not one little freaking bit. if you cant be nice, then keep your fingers to yourself.


to the op: its good that you listened to our suggestions. all of us wrote to help you & only one person suggested that you delete your character. i suggested that you make a new one and learn the ropes, then return to your gimpy 90.

leave your gimpy PL 90. make a new coercer. put your AA slider at 50/50. manually level yourself (NO PL!!) to mid 30s/low 40s. then, you can return to your gimpy 90 coercer.

i told you to do the PQs bc it would help you...

also... if you have not taken your gimpy coercer to do the PQs... do it. you need the gear to survive. even the gimpiest character can get the PQ gear and its required if you want to do any solo questing in great divide.

making a character FOR THE GUILD is not always a wise choice. you should make a class that you enjoy playing. if you dont like mages, you wont enjoy logging in. (i hope that is not the case.) if this is an alt for you, then that's something else but this is your first character and you should absolutely *LOVE* the class.


p.s. i spent a good half hour, typing that out to help you and get insulted. real nice, really freaking nice.

Umm, that wasn't me getting insulted. The only comment I said was unappreciated was to delete my character. In fact I was including you in my general thanks for people who did give constructive advice.

Shon wrote:

The best thing you could do if you want to play the coercer is to delete it, roll your own and solo him through 90, still doesn't take all that long, short of that at least roll one, do the work, instead of having it all done for you.
This is what you were told, you were not told to delete your character, I offered up plenty of constructive advice for you, the problem was (and still is) you want this easy mode. The only thing modified in the line above from my original post was I removed the 'd' typo at the end of delete because it tilts me to no end and I did not want to change my original post.
The thing is if you roll another one and level him to 90 by mainly soloing/small grouping and learn the class the one you already have will still be worthless until you get all of his skills and AA's up to where they should be at 90, the second one you rolled will be the one you should be playing anyway.

Its like you think you're being less insulting.

Delete it? Seriously, try offering them a bit of real advise obviously theyre new to the game their friend was trying to help them out by getting them to the same tier they are in.
Do not delete your 90.. first off you get a bonus xp by simply having a 90. Secondly, what sense would it make to delete a 90 and relevel the exact thing you already have? If its simply learning to play the toon go chronomage (or find a lower lvl player to mentor), get out and quest and learn the different spells how they work and more importantly get your aa up at the same time. Soloing is different playstyle than grouping so dont forget to get a couple grps in now and then. Once you have more aa you will find your toon much more durable and actually fun to solo or group with. check out flames for aa buids and read about your class. Your skills are pretty much nodda when you are power lvld s o practice on a training dummy or start your chrono pretty low so you can get those up.

Shon wrote:

It's like you should go playh WoW, after all that is the level of gameplay you are after.