Illusionist Class

[Crib92]

<DIV>I'm thinking of starting an Illusionist toon as the one's I've grouped with seem to be awesome asset to a group.  I would like to get feedback from you guys/gals to help me make the decision.  How would you compare it to other mage archtypes?  Strength's/Weaknesses?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>After playing for about a year, I want to semi-retire my main and devote my time to this new toon.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thx for your help in advance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Crib</DIV>

[Fizwi]

Strengths:<ul><li>In-combat power regen is very handy, especially for long, difficult fights</li><li>Excellent damage prevention via stifles, stuns eases healer workload (and also saves healers who get aggro)</li><li>With a coordinated group, mez spells can prevent wipes when your group aggros more than it can handle at once</li><li>Group invis makes friends fast, especially now that it's given at level 24</li><li>New Personae pet makes us solo-friendly</li><li>Group illusions turn female groupmates into men.  Hilarity ensues.</li><li>Supports an active. thoughtful playstyle -- would I be more valuable stunning here?  Debuffing?  All out DPS?  Babysitting a mezzed mob and watching for pathers?  No "assist, spam 1-2-3-4, watch TV" play.</li></ul>Weaknesses:<ul><li>Second-rate DPS compared to other mages.  We're not <i>bad</i> at it, we're just not the best.</li><li>Control spells not directly "required" by content; may cause some bias amoung players looking to fill groups with "Tank, Healer, DPS"</li><li>Less effective against Epic targets (all control spells are out the window)</li><li>Reliance on a single resist type (mental).  Critters with high mental resist give me fits!  (Warlocks are in the same boat, only poison)</li></ul>...that said, I have always loved my Illusionist, both pre- and post-revamp.  I have no trouble soloing or finding groups; I personally think an enchanter is the perfect "5th or 6th member" in any group.  We don't just make groups -- we make groups better!Best of luck on whatever toon you decide to roll.<div></div>

[Roxxanne]

<P>In non-raid grouping situations, most folks think "Woot, crack!" (i.e., power regen) when an illusionist is around.  That view is accurate, since we have a ton of tools for power regen, even though we have to work at it harder after the combat update (which nerfed our basic crack buff down significantly, but gave us several other stacking spells as noted).  We are lucky in that we can add a lot to a even a group of significantly higher level than the illusionist, just by keeping them up in power.</P> <P>Folks also think, "cool, mezz if we need it!"  This view is also accurate.  Mezz will hopefully be used sparingly, depending on the challenge of outside-of-encounter adds of the particular zone.  But when you need it, you need it, hehe.  </P> <P>Our other core ability is damage mitigation.  By ourselves we can keep a tough named mob, as long as not an epic, chain stifled so it can only do autoattack melee damage.  We can also debuff its melee/ranged abilities by 27, which is the equivalent of over 5 levels lower.  Mezzing within the encounter is normally avoided since folks will be using AE for better dps, but if the fight is tough it is easy to mezz and take mobs out of the encounter entirely until they are ready for killin.  When it comes time to take down a named mob and his two bodyguards for the phat lewts, we can make the fight a lot more doable.</P> <P>Finally, our dps is now respectable, middle-of-the-pack dps after the combat update.  My parses have shown me doing 250 dps or so in a typical single target group fight where I go solely for dps.  Probably better on AE fights, but too hard to parse.</P> <P>Overall, think of an illusionist as a switch-hitter between offence and defense. When the going gets difficult, we shift to "damage mitigation mode" and function like a second or third healer.  Otherwise, we stay on dps and function like a half-baked wizard.  Meanwhile, you get your crack, and keep up the pace.</P>

[Barobra]

I am biased but, in my opinion the Illusionist is one of the best support roles there are. We are useful any many types of situations. I can think of multiple times where I was the reason that the group lived. If the group (the ENTIRE group) understands how mez works, it can mean the difference between evac and killing everything in the encounter. <div></div>

[Manyak]

<DIV>Id say the biggest strength of the Illusionist is its versatility in a group. If you are aiming for constant pulls with non-stop xp, u can act as the mana battery, puller (and very efficiently too), and decent DPS during the fight. If you wanna take some real tough named with a bunch of adds you can mezz the adds and chain stifle/stun the named until its dead, as well as debuff the autoattack. If you are exploring an instance with a 3 day lockout and all of a sudden 3 groups of mobs pop on u then boom u can mezz and prevent a wipe. Basically, what it comes down to, is that no matter what the situation in a group ull be able to adapt to that situation and keep the group going at a higher than normal potential.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also, what ive found in almost all cases, is that an illusionist can take the place of a second healer in a group while still providing a good amount of DPS.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As far as the weaknesses, id say that that really comes in raids. Other than casting devitalizing stare (mana regen) and spellshield then ur just the same as any other DPS class, maybe even a bit worse.</DIV>

[Crib92]

<DIV>Thank you all for the feedback.  Sounds like a difficult but fun class to play.  You must have to educate your groups so that your mezzes don't get broken and you can work your strategy.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think I'm gonna give it a shot.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks again!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Crib</DIV>