Starting to play EQ2(again), illusionist the way to go?

[speerha]

<div></div>Hey everyone! I played eq2 right after release, had it preordered and everything, after about 1 month I had to stop and take a brake untill, well now :-p I dont really wanto keep going with my old char, 24 guardian, as I usually prefer the caster-type playstyle. Ive kindof been comparing the necromancer and the illusionist, trying to figure out which one I wanto play, first off I guess the class hasto fit my playstyle and taste, and only I can decide that, but also im terribly scared of "broken classes" at "endgame" as ive been there before. Is there any real substantial difference in playing an illusionist vs a necromancer from lvl 1 to 70? (except the obvious differences in spells, abilities etc)? How does the soloing, ability to get group, and ofcourse usability in group, really compare? Im not that interested in DPS-logs etc, I just wish to know if there is any difference in the needs of the classes in groups, and how they tend to solo/go about their way reaching 70. <div></div><p>Message Edited by speerhawk on <span class=date_text>10-13-2006</span> <span class=time_text>11:05 AM</span>

[Cohann]

<P>Illus are not broken and very useful in endgame. But you cannot compare it to other mage classes.</P> <P>As an Illu / Coercer you can do everything solo what ist mezzable and even if its not mezzable you can nearly do everythin solo with root.</P> <P>The problem is that when soloing you cannot do maximum DPS so that it take some time to solo heroic content.</P> <P>What I like about this class is that you play an important role. You can wipe a whole raid in a few seconds with only one mouseclick or you can safe it. You have much more control than other casters. Playing an Illu well means to understand the game mechanics and play with them. It is very hard to play an Illu good but if you do you'll have lots of fun.</P> <P>I play Illu since the EQ2 beta and nearly testet every class in this game. Illu is definitely the best class for me. I have a 70 guardian too because i like the aspect of having control in grps or raids but Illu is still most fun.</P>

[speerha]

Thanks for the reply, it sure sounds interesting. I like being in controll, some form of role where your skills actually matter, if it was all about getting X level, then I could just write 70 on a piece of paper, put it on the wall and case closed,game over, zip up your fly. However, its getting there and the continued development of your character thats the fun part. The actuall class and how it works, is <b>very</b> important to me, a gimped class pretty much makes me reroll/quit, since it sortoff gives me this handicapped-feeling, and I dont wanto spend free time being depressed over a class-choice I made a couple months ago :-p Im not saying im trying to find the "optimal" class in game-techincal/mechanical terms, just one that actually works without you fantasising yourself being usefull, if you know what I mean. On one part, I wanto be able to get my way from nill to infinity(0-70 :-p) and have a nice, enjoyable ride, and on the other hand, I want the time when I get there and after to be enjoyable aswell. Right now, the necromancer is down the drain even though it was fun to try out, I didnt like it. Its going to be illusionist or dirge, by the looks of it, just that I havent tested dirge yet, just made the char, testing the illusionist to ~15 to get some form of idea I guess <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> The necromancer felt sortoff do-able when it came to the soloing part, so thats sortoff why I made that comparisson, since I have atleast a wee bit of time played with that class. Making a post like this and having people jump you trashtalking their own class, or praising it, makes the choice alot easier <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div>

[link]

<P>I too started off with a guardian, without ever playing any mmorpg before, tanking and being in the mobs face was great but that to gets old. Then I rolled an illusionist based on one I played with before in my grp. Being able to mez up to 10 mobs at one time is an accomplishment. Then I found myself wanting to be a dps, a healer and a tank in the same night. So to make a long story short, its a very fun class to play from beginning to end, but so is a healer, tank and dpser. For me it depends on what I feel like doing for the night. You have forever to make 70, I dont think sony is going to cancel our subscriptions and time soon.</P> <P>Strenghts: awesome haste buff, int and wis buff, in combat power regen, mezzing, ok dps</P> <P>weaknesses: over 60 I am finding it really difficult to solo in kos. I think I am being a little lazy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Ardnahoy]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> linkpk wrote:<BR> <P>weaknesses: over 60 I am finding it really difficult to solo in kos. I think I am being a little lazy <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>I've been soloing in KoS since like level 54 or whenever the bugs on the starter island were yellow. The distinction that I have found with KoS mobs is that they hit really hard compared to mobs from DoF. This just means that the personae takes a bigger beating, but soloing is just as easy for us as in any other zone.</P> <P>I regularly play with both a necro and/or a conjuror, supposedly the two best soloers in the game, and I never get the feeling that illusionist are even remotely less powerful then they are. For regular, run of the mill solo content, where you are grinding through a bunch of weak solo mobs, necros and conjurors are better then illusionists in terms of killing stuff fast and efficiently. But when you put a blue ^^^ heroic in front of them, they start to shudder. Put a yellow ^^^ heroic in front of them and they run away.</P> <P>The only time I get even a tinge of jealousy with conjurors is with high level necros that can charm undead mobs. I'm still upset that illusionists lost the ability to charm in LU13, and it burns me that necros can do it and we can't. Losing the ability to charm was not a game breaking thing for us, but it still bothers me as far as role-playing is concerned. It bothers me enough that I have blown 24 AA points just to have a 16 second charm, purely for roleplaying purposes.</P> <P>Otherwise, I thoroughly love my illusionist.</P>