Sick of Frozen Manacle [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

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Zykl0

05-23-2005, 10:05 AM

<div></div>Hello, im currently lvl 29 Warlock, i bought 3 Adept 3 spell (frozen manacle, Ice spike and Dark Distortion) but for some reasons i dont see any difference with frozen manacle app1, heres how i solo mob, (blue con without arrow); -Frozen manacle. -i wait 2-3 sec. -Dark Distortion. -and i repeat. If i complete a Heroic strike, root instantly break. And with my previous strat the mob break my root after my second DD. Lets go! its just a simple blue mob without arrow! when he reach me; -im getting interupted. -he hit me for 10-20% a hit. -then i try to quickly Flashfreeze him, and recast frozen manacle and get distance. -but frozen manacle seems inefficient against him. -so i finish most fight with 40-50% hp left. wheres my 40gp for my frozen manacle is? I've spent over 1,2plat on adept scroll. I"ve spent over 1,5plat of armor and bling bling. for what... ? <div></div>Message Edited by Zykl082 on 05-22-2005 11:07 PM

Strade

05-23-2005, 10:20 AM

At lvl 40 you will get your candy named Bony grasp <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Panad

05-23-2005, 10:26 AM

Aye, that you do. <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Just wish there was also a single target version of Bony Grasp, atm you have to take care not to get more mobs rooted than the ones you wanna fight, that got me killed a few times. <div></div>

Sac_jok

05-23-2005, 07:29 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zykl082 wrote: Hello, im currently lvl 29 Warlock, i bought 3 Adept 3 spell (frozen manacle, Ice spike and Dark Distortion) but for some reasons i dont see any difference with frozen manacle app1, heres how i solo mob, (blue con without arrow); -Frozen manacle. -i wait 2-3 sec. -Dark Distortion. -and i repeat. If i complete a Heroic strike, root instantly break. And with my previous strat the mob break my root after my second DD. Lets go! its just a simple blue mob without arrow! when he reach me; -im getting interupted. -he hit me for 10-20% a hit. -then i try to quickly Flashfreeze him, and recast frozen manacle and get distance. -but frozen manacle seems inefficient against him. -so i finish most fight with 40-50% hp left. wheres my 40gp for my frozen manacle is? I've spent over 1,2plat on adept scroll. I"ve spent over 1,5plat of armor and bling bling. for what... ? Message Edited by Zykl082 on 05-22-2005 11:07 PM <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry to hear of your bad expeirence with FM Ad3...I dont' seem to really have that problem and I am soloing in EL atm. The Ad3 version does a bit more damage upon casting, but it is not supposed to hold any better. Here is my usual solo pattern for single mobs: <UL> <LI>BSS from longest range (when you get 30 your gonna love this)</LI> <LI>Flashfreeze</LI> <LI>Frozen Menacles</LI> <LI>Start HO</LI> <LI>Pause for a few seconds for Dark Distortion to reset (if root is still active, if not recast root)</LI> <LI>Dark Distortion</LI> <LI>Noxious Bolt</LI> <LI>Ice Spikes (if needed)</LI></UL> I have found great success using this with almost no downtime since I use my Health-to-Power spells after every few fights, not to mention I keep all my buffs up. Good luck.

Folian

05-23-2005, 08:11 PM

dude, you're spending waaay too much cash on stuff. Equipment shouldn't cost that much... even when you buy it instead of using quested stuff.At 30, when you can start wearing the Tier4 crafted stuff, I maybe spent about 20 gold total on upgrades.As far as your spell issues. Root isn't like what it was in EQ1 or some other games. It is more or less there to hold a mob to keep it out of the fight... it just so happends that it can hold quite a while sometimes.BSS will help a lot with its lifetap... but for the most part, when solo'ing, most things don't live long enough to become a problem... unless its like orange, or i just got unlucky with some random fizzle-fest.That's just my 2cp though, just play through it.

Hiei_1

05-23-2005, 08:24 PM

DD adept 3 made soloing from 23-30 tons easier. At 30, I have BSS but continue to use DD because the BSS DoT breaks the root from FM sometimes which can get real hairy when you're fighting 3 or 4 mobs at a time.

MilkToa

05-23-2005, 10:32 PM

I'm not sure why you're having problems with FM, I still use it (adept I) almost every fight (at level 44) and it works at least 95% of the time. <DIV>At your level you have 2 stuns (freeze and flashfreeze) and 1 root (frozen manacles), be sure to use them all if needed. Try debuffing the mobs with freezing whorl for cold and curse of darkness for posion/disease to see if it improves your spell damage or reduces resists. Also, if the fight starts off badly just break the encounter and run (cancel as soon as you've put a little distance between you and the mob) since most mobs don't chase for very long, then reset and try again. You should be able to solo orange solo mobs consistently in EL.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

Mainoumi

05-24-2005, 12:23 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Sac_joker wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zykl082 wrote: Hello, im currently lvl 29 Warlock, i bought 3 Adept 3 spell (frozen manacle, Ice spike and Dark Distortion) but for some reasons i dont see any difference with frozen manacle app1, heres how i solo mob, (blue con without arrow); -Frozen manacle. -i wait 2-3 sec. -Dark Distortion. -and i repeat. If i complete a Heroic strike, root instantly break. And with my previous strat the mob break my root after my second DD. Lets go! its just a simple blue mob without arrow! when he reach me; -im getting interupted. -he hit me for 10-20% a hit. -then i try to quickly Flashfreeze him, and recast frozen manacle and get distance. -but frozen manacle seems inefficient against him. -so i finish most fight with 40-50% hp left. wheres my 40gp for my frozen manacle is? I've spent over 1,2plat on adept scroll. I"ve spent over 1,5plat of armor and bling bling. for what... ? Message Edited by Zykl082 on 05-22-2005 11:07 PM <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry to hear of your bad expeirence with FM Ad3...I dont' seem to really have that problem and I am soloing in EL atm. The Ad3 version does a bit more damage upon casting, but it is not supposed to hold any better. Here is my usual solo pattern for single mobs: <UL> <LI>BSS from longest range (when you get 30 your gonna love this)</LI> <LI>Flashfreeze</LI> <LI>Frozen Menacles</LI> <LI>Start HO</LI> <LI>Pause for a few seconds for Dark Distortion to reset (if root is still active, if not recast root)</LI> <LI>Dark Distortion</LI> <LI>Noxious Bolt</LI> <LI>Ice Spikes (if needed)</LI></UL> I have found great success using this with almost no downtime since I use my Health-to-Power spells after every few fights, not to mention I keep all my buffs up. Good luck. <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Yikes, I ALWAYS save flashfreeze just in case manacle gets resisted. Here is my order <UL> <LI>DD/BSS from longest range (when you get 30 your gonna love this)</LI> <LI>Frozen Menacles</LI> <LI>Wait a couple secs so you can recast FM if your fist spell breaks it</LI> <LI>(Flash only if FM is resisted and then Putrid Cloud to extend the stun long enough to re-cast FM)</LI> <LI>No Hoes for me</LI> <LI>Noxious Bolt</LI> <LI>Suffocating Breath</LI> <LI>DD/BSS</LI></UL>

Sac_jok

05-24-2005, 01:57 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Mainoumi wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Sac_joker wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Zykl082 wrote: Hello, im currently lvl 29 Warlock, i bought 3 Adept 3 spell (frozen manacle, Ice spike and Dark Distortion) but for some reasons i dont see any difference with frozen manacle app1, heres how i solo mob, (blue con without arrow); -Frozen manacle. -i wait 2-3 sec. -Dark Distortion. -and i repeat. If i complete a Heroic strike, root instantly break. And with my previous strat the mob break my root after my second DD. Lets go! its just a simple blue mob without arrow! when he reach me; -im getting interupted. -he hit me for 10-20% a hit. -then i try to quickly Flashfreeze him, and recast frozen manacle and get distance. -but frozen manacle seems inefficient against him. -so i finish most fight with 40-50% hp left. wheres my 40gp for my frozen manacle is? I've spent over 1,2plat on adept scroll. I"ve spent over 1,5plat of armor and bling bling. for what... ? Message Edited by Zykl082 on 05-22-2005 11:07 PM <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry to hear of your bad expeirence with FM Ad3...I dont' seem to really have that problem and I am soloing in EL atm. The Ad3 version does a bit more damage upon casting, but it is not supposed to hold any better. Here is my usual solo pattern for single mobs: <UL> <LI>BSS from longest range (when you get 30 your gonna love this)</LI> <LI>Flashfreeze</LI> <LI>Frozen Menacles</LI> <LI>Start HO</LI> <LI>Pause for a few seconds for Dark Distortion to reset (if root is still active, if not recast root)</LI> <LI>Dark Distortion</LI> <LI>Noxious Bolt</LI> <LI>Ice Spikes (if needed)</LI></UL> I have found great success using this with almost no downtime since I use my Health-to-Power spells after every few fights, not to mention I keep all my buffs up. Good luck. <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Yikes, I ALWAYS save flashfreeze just in case manacle gets resisted. Here is my order <UL> <LI>DD/BSS from longest range (when you get 30 your gonna love this)</LI> <LI>Frozen Menacles</LI> <LI>Wait a couple secs so you can recast FM if your fist spell breaks it</LI> <LI>(Flash only if FM is resisted and then Putrid Cloud to extend the stun long enough to re-cast FM)</LI> <LI>No Hoes for me</LI> <LI>Noxious Bolt</LI> <LI>Suffocating Breath</LI> <LI>DD/BSS</LI></UL> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>The reason I cast in that order is I'd rather FF get resisted early in the fight than later, that way it is already resetting the timer, plus I cast it early to keep the mob as far away from me as possible. If FM gets resisted I can kite long enough for FM to reset..., if I cast FM directly after the inital BSS/DD it has a higher chance of hitting me at the start of the battle and interrupting my FM cast. And I try not to use Putrid Cloud too much during solo since the cast time is too long especially if the mob is already hitting me, which increases the chance of getting interrupted so IMO it seems to be a less effective soloing stun.</DIV>

Talonis

05-24-2005, 05:24 AM

DISCLAIMER: There is NO one-size-fits-all solo routine. Period. Your routine and technique will vary according to the mob attacked, your spell quality, gameplay style, and most of all, the unforgiving RNG. I too have FM Adept 3. I've been fortunate enough to pick the brains of a couple highly-skilled soloing warlocks and have gotten different answers to the base question of whether to Root>Debuff>Stun>Root>Nuke... or Root>Nuke>Stun>Root>Nuke.... There are solid arguments for both ways. I prefer to debuff first. I also refresh root after no more than 3 debuffs/nukes. I may need a mana regen break after 3-4 pulls, but it keeps me in a rythym and if I find an encounter that continuously doesn't "go with this flow", then it is time to find a new encounter or rethink my routine, which is ALWAYS an ongoing process. As soon as a routine becomes good, along comes a new debuff or nuke that forces me to change it. I doubt your scribed copy of FM Adept 3 is broken or defective; rather you are an unfortunate victim of the RNG. This spell is not 'unbreakable'. You get no guarantees on how long it will last or how much damage it will allow before breaking. If DD Adept 3 is the only spell you are casting, a 2-3 second pause(as you stated), then a 2 sec casting time and a 9 sec refresh time gives you about 14-15 seconds. From what I've seen/read/experienced, FM will only give you about 15 sec max, regardless of it's quality. That would appear to be right inline with how yours is performing. In my experience, having FM at Adept 3 quality affects resists only (and deals a touch more initial damage). It is also my experience that HO's break root 99.99% of the time. My nukes are so dang good I don't use HO's. Dropping an HO for an extra 200 points (or so) damage with a highly-likely chance of breaking root, or no HO and the likely chance that I can refresh the root and drop yet another 800+ point nuke on it's head - It's a no-brainer for me. Once you get BG, you can HO till the cows come home. For now, leave the HO's to the tanks you group with....you'll need them to have the extra hate <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. I whole-heartedly agree that it is wise to keep FF up in case of FM early break or outright resist. I rarely use it as an offensive spell. It is not only handy soloing, but can buy you a moment in group if you peel a mob off of the tank because of [insert reason here <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />]. That gives me just enough time to get off FM. Fortunately, the folks I group with regularly know not to melee attack a mob that I FM. The tank simply targets and taunts it back and we continue. I'm sure many of you can confirm this is not always the case. FM is the closest thing pre-BG that we can call crowd control. Many a healer has thanked me for a quick FM that allows them to back off a peel and use their heals on the tank instead of themselves. <div></div>

Mainoumi

05-24-2005, 07:33 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>The reason I cast in that order is I'd rather FF get resisted early in the fight than later, that way it is already resetting the timer, plus I cast it early to keep the mob as far away from me as possible. If FM gets resisted I can kite long enough for FM to reset..., if I cast FM directly after the inital BSS/DD it has a higher chance of hitting me at the start of the battle and interrupting my FM cast. And I try not to use Putrid Cloud too much during solo since the cast time is too long especially if the mob is already hitting me, which increases the chance of getting interrupted so IMO it seems to be a less effective soloing stun.</DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Heh, I'm fighting things that sometimes one shot kill me so I cant ever get hit. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Sac_jok

05-24-2005, 08:41 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Mainoumi wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>The reason I cast in that order is I'd rather FF get resisted early in the fight than later, that way it is already resetting the timer, plus I cast it early to keep the mob as far away from me as possible. If FM gets resisted I can kite long enough for FM to reset..., if I cast FM directly after the inital BSS/DD it has a higher chance of hitting me at the start of the battle and interrupting my FM cast. And I try not to use Putrid Cloud too much during solo since the cast time is too long especially if the mob is already hitting me, which increases the chance of getting interrupted so IMO it seems to be a less effective soloing stun.</DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Heh, I'm fighting things that sometimes one shot kill me so I cant ever get hit. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Nice.

Oakbr

05-24-2005, 09:57 PM

When solo with my Warlock, I generally open fights with Frozen Manacles, followed by two quick debuffs--Curse of something and the good one--Suffocating Breath (I think). Next is my HO trigger, noxious bolt and DD. If root breaks, I'll hit a stun, reroot, and restart the HO pattern. Most mobs last 2-3 HOs, max. Frozen Manacles at adept 3 does not seem to break as often as it did prior to the upgrade. The early debuff seems to make a big difference, at least to me. With my debuffs in, DD hits for close to 900 more often than not. Without the debuffs, DD seems to hit for 650-700ish. Sometimes I'll use BSS instead of DD on one of the HOs, if I do not need max damage, because the healing component of BSS is nice..especially if I get hit before stun/root lands.