Very disappointed with root

[drewz21]

<DIV>Well, I'm sure the devs thought root was way over-powered is the reason it was changed.  However, I'm actually hesitant to solo anymore since that change.  I hunted some this weekend but I would literally have root break in almost the same round I cast it.  I had 2 fights where I had to re-root the mob 7 times or more.  On average I have to re-root the mob 3-4 times per fight.  This is not from the root expiring but from the damage being done to the mob breaking the root.  These were not ^^^ Heroics.  I tried one ^^^ Heroic and that was a total failure.  He was green and 7 levels below me and was needed to complete a quest in EL.  I guess I'll have to come back to that quest way after it grays to me or get some type of group together.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Enchanter class just doesn't have the damage output to keep up with these root changes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I really hope SOE can come up with a better root system than the one that recently went in.  As it is right now, I've got my 41 Illusionist that I've worked very hard on and up until now very much enjoyed playing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Help us out please devs!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Tuleri]

<DIV>I was soloing just fine over the weekend.  Root does break more random then before, so you need to be on your toes.  But isnt hunting supposed to be dangerous? <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am fine with root as is now</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>EDIT: you also may want to upgrade the spell, since it is necessary for most soloing</DIV><p>Message Edited by Tulerine on <span class=date_text>11-14-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:55 AM</span>

[drewz21]

<P>Well, I've got all of my spells upgraded to Adept I plus the few Master II's from leveling.  I wish I could afford Adept III's or Master I's but I'm not wealthy or in a large guild.  An Adept I root should be strong enough to hold a NON ^^^ Heroic for almost the entire length of the root.</P> <P>Prior to the recent root changes I was ok with having to nuke/pet my target to death even though it took a long time but I can't do that now. </P>

[Tuleri]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> drewz21 wrote:<BR> <P>Well, I've got all of my spells upgraded to Adept I plus the few Master II's from leveling.  I wish I could afford Adept III's or Master I's but I'm not wealthy or in a large guild.  An Adept I root should be strong enough to hold a NON ^^^ Heroic for almost the entire length of the root.</P> <P>Prior to the recent root changes I was ok with having to nuke/pet my target to death even though it took a long time but I can't do that now. </P> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think the point of the update was to make illusionist (an mages) soloing of Heroics a much more risky proposition, which they did.  Prior to patch solo'ing heroics was VERY easy, now it isnt, which I think is better off for the game.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You may want to consider killing of solo mobs instead.  IMO, fast killing of solo mobs is better XP (and loot) then slow killing heroics.  The statements in my initial post  were concerning solo mobs up to ^ or ^^.   </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>An adapt 1 has a much lower chance to holding then an Adapt or master.  Again, try and upgrade root at some point cause it makes a big diffrence, harvest if you  cannot afford.   Eventually you will get lucky..</DIV>

[tawek]

<DIV>Koolbreeze</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I admit I had a mortal shock after the changes.  My root broke when jumped by heroics, and I died.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But frankly, the old root was too powerful, and soloing too safe.  When duoing with a ranged, dps our near unbreakable root allowed us to destroy heroics with little risk .... as long as my partner remembered not to overwrite it with their gimped-root.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now it's a lot tougher, but not impossible.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The other day, while still 53, I tried to solo a 48^^^ sand giant in Sinking Sands, just to see if I could with the nerfed root.  I had a moment of real fear at the end of the fight when I had agro and it broke my reroot, but I managed.  Frankly, I enjoyed the fight more than previous attempts with a super-root that hardly failed.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not sure of my exact tactics, but they went something like the following:</DIV> <UL> <LI>Mesmerize and debuff, certainly with the melee-attack debuff Dismay, and on a tough fight with my Int hex doll debuff to increase my damage.</LI> <LI>Cast my Construct and send in my pet at the same time.  As they arrive, cast the short duration stun followed by the long duration stun (this gives the pet and construct more time to get agro, and if they are going to die, time to do damage to justify the power cost of casting them.</LI> <LI>Then I cast my two single target DOTs, and big AOE DOT (you won't have that as it's a lev 50 spell, but it stifles and does some nice damage).</LI> <LI>Only then cast Prismatic Strife, followed by another short duration stun.  (With luck, the pet and construct have enough agro that the monster hasn't gone for you yet.</LI> <LI>Then cast root, and start chain casting Direct Damage spells, and Heroic Opportunities, until my stuns refresh, the DOTs run out, some other spell runs out, or the root breaks.</LI> <LI>If monster breaks root and comes for you, if a stun is up, use it, otherwise use the root, and pray it holds long enough to kill the Mob.</LI></UL> <DIV>It's a lot more dangerous than before the root nerf, but if you find it difficult, think back to how tough things were before the combat changes revamp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I can't say I like the changes ... nerfs always hurt, but I can see the reason for them.  Until this nerf, I could solo better than many classes.  Now soloing will be more of a challenge.  It'll take a week or so for the dust to settle and be sure, but I think we are back to being less good at soloing than most.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But my main strength is in groups, and is undiminished.  My mesmerize skills can save a group from an impossible situation, with an extra 2 herioc adds pounding on us, and the rest of the group in panic or despair.  I can chain-stun or stifle a named heroic, so he never gets to use that killer special attack that often wipes groups out.  I can break a high-level heroic group into easy-to-kill individual monsters.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In raids, we still have a lot to offer.  With power regeneration, dps proc buffs, half-decent dps, the ability to mesmerize non-named epics, and more.  But I'd like to see more when we face single named epics.  Perhaps giving our stuns and stifles a chance to interrupt instead, with a reduced chance as the epic gets bigger, so 75% with X2, 50% with X3 and 25% with X4.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I still think the way root breaks is unfair on us.  Depending on their program design (and none of us know how the game is designed), I think it'd be fairer if there were a chance to break root every time it passed a 10% damage threshold, so there would be nine chances to break root until you killed it.  That way 20 tics of our DOTs would have the same chance to break it as a big sorceror nuke which does the same damage.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But we are certainly not a gimped class.  I know it everytime I join a group and someone says: "Great! An Illusionist <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Good luck with fine-tuning your soloing, and keep safe out there,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Elleii 54 Illusionist. Antonia Bayle.</DIV><p>Message Edited by tawek21 on <span class=date_text>11-14-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:41 AM</span>