Could be understanding.... or not?

[Decipio243]

HI all..I have posted a few times, but mostly lurk around trying to figure out how to play my class better.My usual group is upper 50's and I play a bruiser, I dont really have much of a raiding guild, we stick to overland names and such, maybe once we are all 70 we will raid, but as of now we are just trying to enjoy the game...All that being said.. When I play my illusionist, its mostly solo, or with pickup groups so keep that in mind!  I am only 26th level, but got into a RoV 3 man group yesterday, (Myself, Guardian and healer) I got to finaly use my AE mez, and felt like I was really contributing to the group... After feeling all full of myself and reading the forums again, I noticed that constantly mezing groups is bad if the group can handle it because it cuts down on AE damage, which is faster and more effective on most encounters... I went back last night and got a group killing heroics with myself, necromancer and paladin... we were killing white 3ups. I found that I seemed to be really effective by hitting my 7s stun on incoming, then when that would wear off, I would hit my shorter duration AE stun for another 3s or so.. those 10s of the mob just sitting there seemed to REALLY help, it would get me time to get my dissapointment spell (Lower atk) on them and start nuking...  Is this what most do in groups when your fighting higher level mobs? Just basicaly wanted to see if I was missing something that I could have really done to help the group, or if that was what most enchanters do in these type of groups...Thanks!<div></div>

[Barobra]

I love 3 man groups as an Illusionist personally. MEZ is much more useful with only 3 in a group. You get a fury/illusionist/zerk or fury/illusionist/bruiser and your doing some serious grinds. You can potentially take down any heroic target that a 6 man group could do as well (obviously there is exceptions to this...). You have power regen to group with decent DPS.

[TuxDave]

<DIV>I agree with what you did.  I consider the 10s mez something that should used as often as possible.  10s of unbreaking stuns is too valuable.  Three man groups are my favorite types to be in.  I usually stick with a paladin, fury and myself + personae and we have enough DPS and crowd control to reduce any large encounter.  </DIV><p>Message Edited by TuxDave on <span class=date_text>04-11-2006</span> <span class=time_text>10:25 AM</span>

[Impetus]

Nope, you've pretty much got it. Small groups and unbalanced groups are where our CC can really shine. In your guardian/healer/illusionist group, there's not a whole lot of dps or encounter dps. So the mezzing will help keep things smooth and let the healer do some extra dps, at the cost of not much of your mana.In your paladin/necro/illusionist group, the stuns will make it so that the paladin's own wards and heals are plenty of healing to keep him going. If he needs extra help, you might consider hitting your stifle after the 2nd stun, in order to keep those big damaging attacks from occurring. Not sure if you had your pet out, but I usually have him out in a group like that for the extra stuns and stifles.Also, if you start with your short stun, then hit your long stun, your short stun should be up again at that point, or almost up. That'll give you a little extra stunning time at the beginning.Glad you got to experience groups like that, though. Those types of groups are where I have the most fun, as well.<p>Message Edited by Impetus on <span class=date_text>04-11-2006</span> <span class=time_text>02:25 PM</span>

[Belizarius]

<P>Yep.</P> <P>Sometimes, stunning a mob too early can interfere with proper positioning by the tank.</P> <P>Also, if I need to stun quickly, I start with the group stun (shorter cast) which gives me time to cast the single target stun (longer cast, longer duration).</P> <P>If you are waiting on stun recast timers or on positioning, you should at least have the mob stifled and dismayed.  Depending on how the pulling is done you may be able to land Dismay on incoming without aggro.</P> <P>Many people still don't realise to what extent we can mitigate a mob's damage out.</P> <P>In a full group with strong tanks and healers, you may not need to bother at all, and can just go DPS.</P>