The Enchanter's Guide: How to Enable you Mana Flow AA

[Dr_Cyr]

<div></div><font size="3"><i><span><font color="#6666ff">Tne following represents the hard-won efforts of experienced Coercers and Illusionists of all levels working across servers and time, to solve the conundrum of how to be able to take full advantage of your new Entry AA, Mana Flow.  Note that this is not a simple task, so we lay out all the details for you below.  Good Luck and enjoy your New Mana Flow AA Brother and Sister Enchanters!</font></span></i></font><span><font size="4" color="#6666ff">The Enchanter's Guide on:<font size="5">How to Use Your Mana Flow AA:</font></font><font size="5" color="#6666ff"></font><font size="4" color="#6666ff"></font></span><font size="4"><span><font color="#6666ff"><font color="#ffcc00"><i>Setting Up Mana Flow for first use</i>:</font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00">1. Obtain your First AA point</font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00">2.  Buy the only AA available, your Entry AA: Mana Flow.</font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00"></font><font color="#ffcc00">3. Set up your Hot Key for it.  And set up your SPRINT key next to it.  You will need to access both in succession.</font><font color="#ffcc00"></font></font></span></font><font size="4"><span></span></font><font size="4"><span><font size="3" color="#6666ff">Players note: The following steps are all neccesary because the things they address will regenerate your power over 10%  from 9% fairly quickly, and you'll once again </font><font size="3" color="#6666ff">be unable to use your Mana Flow AA.<i>  Please be sure to do all of the following!  If you do not, then the authors of guide are NOT responsible for your inability to use your Mana Flow AA.</i></font><font color="#6666ff"></font></span></font><font size="4"><span><font color="#6666ff"></font></span></font><font size="4" color="#ff9900"><span><i>Preparatory Steps</i>:</span></font><font size="4"><span><font color="#6666ff"><font color="#ff9900">1. Drop all your power regen spells.</font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900">2. Cancel all power regeneration potions.</font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900">3. Stop consuming drink and cancel the drink effect.</font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900"></font><font color="#ff9900">4. Take off any Flowing Thought items, and unequip prismatics, etc.</font><font color="#ccff00"></font><font color="#99ff99"><u>You are now ready to use your brand new awesome AA that you have waited for so long!</u></font><font size="3">Now the final step is to get your power to below 10% of your maximum.  Even after stopping all regenerative efects, this is not an easy task to do on a repeatable basis.   Your fellow enchanters have worked hard and long to come up with the following "Best Practice" as a fool-proof method that will consistently and regularly enable you to use your new AA.</font></font></span></font><span><font size="4" color="#6666ff"><font color="#ff0000"><i>Final Step</i>:To get the to where you can use Mana Flow,1. turn on sprint2. run laps around your group until you are at 9%,3. then <u>stop and <i>immediately</i> throw the AA</u> at a nearby mob.</font><font color="#ff0000"> Please let your group know they will need to grab aggro quickly, because you are are low on power and not wearing any of your best gear.</font>  </font><font size="4" color="#6666ff"></font><font color="#cccc33"><font color="#6633ff">Congrats Enchanter!  You now have the keys to using your Mana Flow AA as often as you wish!  Thanks go out to all the Coercers and Illusionists wounded ro killed in the making of this guide - your hard won experience will not be forgotten!</font><font color="#6633ff"></font><font color="#3399ff">And a special shout-out to the Sony Enchanter Design Team for providing us such a wonderful example of how the Enchamter Classes are supposed to work in this game!</font></font> </span><p>Message Edited by Dr_Cyrus on <span class="date_text">02-25-2006</span><span class="time_text">04:15 AM</span></p>

[Fizwi]

This may need a sticky.<div></div>

[Etillchou]

hehe should be sticky indeed yes <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />altho its for sure you didnt follow your own guide, ya have to throw it on a groupmember or yourself, not on a nearby mob to make it work :p

[Xanoth]

<div></div>omg im almost in tears!

[Xalibur]

<div></div>i sent blackguard a pm asking for a sticky

[Aedos]

<div>5 stars <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div>

[WAPCE]

Please sticky this thread!

[Woodcraft]

Why does the description state:'When below 10% of their maximum power'This means at 90% of your power, not at 10% of your power.<div></div>

[Dr_Cyr]

"When below 10%..."Means this:Take your MAXIMUM power.     Mutliply that by 0.10Thats what level you have to be BELOW in order to use this.So if your maximum power is 1000, you have to be below 100.For 60's, in  a good group, that means your power is around 5000, so you have to burn more than 4500 points before you are even eligible to cast this spell that gives you 180 or so points.  Even chain casting, you seldom get that low.  Even dying and getting rezzed you are not that low.  So the procedure above was invented to give you a chance to use your "every enchanter has it" AA.  Sprinting and deliberately burning off paoer whith no regenerations capacity is the only consistent way to get power down to 10% fo your maximum.<b>And yes, the irony was missed by many.  Probably missed by the Enchanter designers, who consider it a compliment of their horrid design.</b><div></div>

[MrDiz]

<div></div><div></div><p>Im sorry but your being unneccessarily negative about this spell. There is another perfectly reaosnable way to use this spell, and it can be done in raids:</p><p>1) Get aggro from a power draining raid mob. This may involve asking the tank to stop taunting.</p><p>2) Make sure the healer all know your going to do this so they can spam heal you plus only do this on a mob 40 levels lower than you so it doesnt one shot you.</p><p>3) Wait until its drained you dry, then fire the spell.</p><p>4) Sit back and watch your mana climb.... you may need to have a magnifying glass handy or a 90 inch monitor to see it climbing.</p><p>See? Never again will a raid have to see the dreaded raidsay message "OH NO! The Illusionist has run out of power!! We are doomed!"</p><p>Message Edited by MrDizzi on <span class="date_text">02-25-2006</span><span class="time_text">03:43 PM</span></p>

[Etillchou]

hehe you're drained from your health faster tho <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Parsleybi]

<div></div><p>Funny thread :smileyhappy:</p><p>I actually followed Dr C's advice last night and managed to 'contrive' a situation in which I could actually cast this spell.</p><p>What makes the unlessness of this ability even worse it that it actually has a really cool spell animation and graphics!!!</p><p> </p><p>Aora, Runnyeye.</p>

[Aedos]

<div>More flaming incoming when enough people see how useless our new KoS spell is <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div>

[AlkonTheWarrior]

<div></div><div></div><div>Why are they making new spells and abilities that are useless and boring across the board? I just don't understand. Are they that afraid of overpowering anyone that they making everything new like this? I remember when the AAs in EQ came out, they were really awesome and you looked foward to getting them. These? Well, honestly, they should not have even created them since they were done so poorly without any imagination, creativity or thought. Does anyone in any class like them? I would venture to say 90% of the player base thinks they suck, although I bet a lot of people think "oh well, it's better then NOTHING", or, "it's a little something extra so it doesn't matter that they suck". But, really, it does matter. It reflects poorly on any kind of creative thinking and imagination on the part of the developers.</div><div> </div><div>The AAs in EQ were a little something "extra", yet they were fun, useful and you looked foward to getting them. Is it that EQ2s mechanics are so flawed that anything new introduced into the game has potential game breaking effects, whereas EQ was designed so well that new spells/abilites didn't break the game? I just don't get it...</div><p>Message Edited by AlkonTheWarrior on <span class="date_text">02-26-2006</span><span class="time_text">08:54 AM</span></p>

[worlock101]

<div>Sticky.</div>

[Dravendar]

I have never complained once on these boards and am normally disgusted about how many people complain and whine here, but I have to admit, this spell is EXTREMELY situational and not one of the more useful spells.  The beta version of transferring power to a group/raid friend was a very nice idea that gave me the illusion of being very useful.  I know my raid tank was happy to hear that I would have this capability and so was I.  Alas, the version on Live is anything but useful.On SOE's behalf though, I have used this spell, as it was intended, a few times so far in extreme situations.  Is Mana Flow worthy of a hotkey, however?  No...it shall remain on my hotbar tucked away in the corner...<div></div>

[AlkonTheWarrior]

<div>Well, I think I found a use for Mana Flow. I posted on the General Discussion about this</div><div> </div><div><a target="_blank" href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=gameplay&message.id=33997">http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=gameplay&message.id=33997</a></div><div> </div><div>It's about how all the named mobs have been tripled in power and hit points across the board. My wife and I were duoing a 42^^^ named wolf (we are 50 & 51 respectively) and after fighting for about 10 minutes, I got to use mana flow, before we both died to it. Mind you, before Friday, we could duo named mobs in the 48-50 range with little or no problem.</div><div> </div><div>So, in order to make mana flow useful, SOE decided to triple the strength of named mobs. I guess it's useful now when fighting something almost 10 levels lower then yourself and you get to cast 1 more nuke with it. Hooray!</div><div> </div>

[MyChatBot]

SoE is hopelessy confused about the illusionist class.All is NOT well. Yet, they seem to believe not only is all well, but that in fact we need additional nerfing.It's getting ridiculous. I log in, send tells when I see people looking for group members, and have to actually keep my fingers crossed that they'll take on an illusionist.And zero response. Nothing. It's unacceptable.<div></div>

[KniteShayd]

<div></div><p>LOL.</p><p>Worse than mana cloak, bout as useless as our celerity line.  way too situational.</p>

[Pins]

Mana Cloak is very useful in grind groups. While grinding, your tank gets down to 20% power, what do you do? Toss it up, he'll come back into power so you don't have to stop for him to regen power.And haste is actually a lot more useful since the proc nerf.

[Dravendar]

Pinski, I'm not so sure you understand how Mana Flow works on live.  The target is SELF and the only time you can cast it is when you are below 10% power.  It has nothing to do with a group friend. On another note, I have to take back what I have said about this spell.  Last night while raiding, we didnt have enough dps and the caster group I was in all had just about killed themselves converting health to mana.  Well, chaining my dots, nukes, debuff, and regen spells quickly drained my power and found myself using Mana Flow on the epic constantly.  Just to give you a perspective, 17 people in the raid had dished out over 1,000,000 dmg on some of the newer, higher hp epics.  The spell does have its merits as I have experienced last night and I have finally hotkeyed it.  Granted, it's not an everyday occurence, but when facing mobs that have over a million hitpoints, it can come in handy.

[WAPCE]

<blockquote><hr>turbomeister wrote:Pinski, I'm not so sure you understand how Mana Flow works on live. The target is SELF and the only time you can cast it is when you are below 10% power. It has nothing to do with a group friend.<hr></blockquote>Incorrect. <a target="_blank" href="http://home.comcast.net/~axp696/enchanter-1_entry.jpg">The target is ENEMY</a>. Previously, when it was even more bugged, the target <b>WAS</b> group friend.<blockquote><hr>turbomeister wrote:On another note, I have to take back what I have said about this spell. Last night while raiding, we didnt have enough dps and the caster group I was in all had just about killed themselves converting health to mana. Well, chaining my dots, nukes, debuff, and regen spells quickly drained my power and found myself using Mana Flow on the epic constantly. Just to give you a perspective, 17 people in the raid had dished out over 1,000,000 dmg on some of the newer, higher hp epics. The spell does have its merits as I have experienced last night and I have finally hotkeyed it. Granted, it's not an everyday occurence, but when facing mobs that have over a million hitpoints, it can come in handy.<hr></blockquote>Ummm, both heroic nameds and raid mobs are currently bugged and have exorbitant amounts of hp (2x or more what they should, depending on the mob, check the Dev Tracker for a slew of posts on the subject). I'm glad that you found a use for the spell, but the fact that you only had to use it under these extraordinary circumstances kinda speaks to how useful it will be under normal conditions.

[Murdaben]

Didn't MrDizzi post something like this orignally?Whatever.  This is TEH FUNNEH<div></div>

[BamoStro]

<div></div><p>The problem with the AA system is that is was designed to span lvls 20-70.  At lvl 20 I would run out of power from time to time but by lvl 40 or so this skill would be useless.  So, think of it as a lvl 20 AA and well, yeah it's a dumb design...</p><p> </p><p>Bamo</p>

[Dravendar]

Oops, the target being the ENEMY where the mana flows to SELF and not a group friend is what I had meant to say.  Thanks for clearing that up Wapce. As to the circumstances where the spell is used...   1.  During raids when you are chaining everything you have   2.  When you are revived in battle and have to take immediate actionI wouldn't say that these are extraordinary circumstances.  Like a lot of our spells, it is situational and it actually fills a gap when/if you don't have a manastone (or health is low) or if there is not enough time for essence siphon to work and you have to take immediate action.  I would MUCH prefer this spell to be able to channel energy to a group friend who has less than 10% mana but oh well.  Such is life. <div></div>

[Pins]

<blockquote><hr>turbomeister wrote:Oops, the target being the ENEMY where the mana flows to SELF and not a group friend is what I had meant to say.  Thanks for clearing that up Wapce. As to the circumstances where the spell is used...   1.  During raids when you are chaining everything you have   2.  When you are revived in battle and have to take immediate actionI wouldn't say that these are extraordinary circumstances.  Like a lot of our spells, it is situational and it actually fills a gap when/if you don't have a manastone (or health is low) or if there is not enough time for essence siphon to work and you have to take immediate action.  I would MUCH prefer this spell to be able to channel energy to a group friend who has less than 10% mana but oh well.  Such is life. <div></div><hr></blockquote>I can actually keep up a respectible DPS while having been power drained. For example on Cirkitna, I've peeled aggro near the start, got my power drained, and kept my DPS up around 300-400. That's with no power, so it's pretty much useless.Most res's give you 10-25% power, which would mean you can't use it.Anyway, I want my old mana flow back, period.

[Dravendar]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:I can actually keep up a respectible DPS while having been power drained. For example on Cirkitna, I've peeled aggro near the start, got my power drained, and kept my DPS up around 300-400. That's with no power, so it's pretty much useless.Most res's give you 10-25% power, which would mean you can't use it.Anyway, I want my old mana flow back, period.<hr></blockquote>You're assuming that my role in raids (or any enchanter) is that of dps.  The first spell that I'm able to cast when I do get a bit of power are not nukes/dots.  When I'm low on mana, first priority on the spells-to-cast are the control and mana regen spells...and oftentimes, I cannot cast them in a timely fashion b/c of no mana.  Maybe, my reaction time is quicker than my spell casting ability.  Whatever the reason may be, I find that I cannot cast and Mana Flow helps me there.You say that you can sustain 400 dps w/ no mana?  And that you peel aggro from near the start?  That already tells me a few things.Plus, when you do get resurrected, do you not cast all your buffs after casting whatever control spells are necessary?  Does your mana stay above 10% after you cast them?  Seems to me that you are taking your sweet time casting buffs if you are above 10%.  I don't believe your claims that you can sustain 400 dps while having no mana.  That to me sounds like a gross exaggeration which might confuse people.  Either that or you are misinformed by the parser that you are using.  Maybe it was designed by an illusionist?   </span></div>