Raids as an Illusionist...

[Llars]

<div></div>This is a pretty open ended question, mostly because I haven't done much raiding at all.  How do you all like your Illusionists on raids?  I really don't know what to ask but after screwing around with alts a lot I'd finally decided to take my Brigand up to 70..  And then EoF came out <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  So now I've rolled an Illusionist.  At release I had a 24 Illusionist so I'm familiar with the class and really enjoy the work that goes into playing one well.  He was a great asset to any group he joined but I'm wondering if he'll be an asset to raids beyond his mana regen..ANy thoughts you may have involving Illusionists/Coercers on raids would be much appreaciated.  Thanks.<div></div><p>Message Edited by Llars on <span class=date_text>11-15-2006</span> <span class=time_text>12:41 PM</span>

[Mihos]

<DIV>Illusionists are fine on raids.  Coercers are better in the main tank group for the hate buff, but other than that, we are pretty much interchangeable.  Most groups would be happy to have either one because we make them do their job better.  The AA lines illusionist got helped out allot also.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Most people on raids want to be the most important person on the raid and it causes allot of bad blood and mis-information, but in reality, they are both just fine.</DIV>

[Zebsen]

<DIV>Illusionists are fine on raids, especially based on where they've been in the past (except for when their stun landed at full duration on epics).  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I enjoy raiding my illusionist.  I only raid about 1/week, but I enjoy it when I do.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Zebsen</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Iseabeil]

<DIV>I havent raided with my illusionist yet, as she is still only 64, but Im leveling her with intention to do so whenever it it works with rest of raid set up (ie my main not needed and we dun have an overabundance of utility classes etc). As my main is a swashie, I havent had much chance to be in same group as our raiding illu but I always run ACT on my second screen and I can see the difference their presence do for the group, and with new AA's I see them have wiggle room to bring even more. There are classes that bring very little to a raid, chanters isn't one of them in my opinion <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[hardkortexan666]

I think you'll enjoy raiding as an illusionist,  we may not put out the most dps but we're effective nonetheless. I really enjoy raiding with my illusionist, especially with a Fury and Troub in my group...coercers can have the MT group for all I care =D. <div></div>

[trenor]

<P>the right equipped illusionist is a dps machine.  With proper aa and proc items easy to hit 900+ every fight .  However, this is what really irkes me its not the reason i rolled an illusionist and most of us that have been round since the beginning did not think we were in it for that.  I believe our roll will be dramatically changing with the new aa in as much as our buffas will become wanted again (not that they werent before but please see out conterparts selection) and we will again find a nitch as utiliy/support class not just dps.  No more raidin with pets(some say the do more dps than buffs others dont im torn after lookin at parses) but rather will be filled up with awesome single con slot uber buffs.  Incidentally looking at resist rates im not sure I wont have to go the resist lin because some mezzing may be required and the resists are silly now adays.  In all enchanters have a versatile roll our buffs preeof were nothing really special and it was out missing area (imo).  A coercer may still have more utility than us (true mem wipe and hate gain) .  However the new skill list tends to brigde the gap abit.  There was/is depending on the new content not really anything to mez in this tier in raids which kinda blows cause ots your primary skill.  Unless tehy change that you will be dumping mana and cycling spells (really a wizard with power regen and tier 2 dps. Good luck we have many other areas we excel pre eof we needed love which we may have got although we will see int ime when we hit the lines and get down to it and see just where our utility lies.  Good luck and have fun with your illusionist.</P> <P> </P> <P>Fizbang</P>

[Zard]

<P>If I wanted to be pure DPS I would have created a Sorceror. If I wanted to be a pet class I would have created a Summoner. I created an Enchanter but I like the buffs and crowd control. Mesmerize, stuns and power-drain/regen are my class-defining abilities and are nearly useless against epic monsters. My Illusionist is (probably) still valuable to a raid but I am not expecting to be playing an Enchanter, I'll probably just be another buff-bot and extra DPS.  :smileysad:</P> <P>Raids are not the place to "be the hero", they're the place to "be a team-player", so I can live with that.</P>

[Antryg Mistrose]

T2 dps?I don't think so.  Sure our own personal dps isn't startling, especially on a short fight, but the difference we make to a lot of groups is T1.Personally I've never seen my pet do enough damage to be worth 4 hasted players<span>, then again I'm mainly raiding as a templar.</span><div></div>

[Fizwi]

<DIV>Raiding is, for the most part, no worse for the illu than for every other class, and in many cases, a lot better.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DPSing with Volitile Magic (a must for this role, in my opinion), is a whole new, interesting, challenging, experience.  Timing of mana flow, savante, your lich...everything becomes important as you struggle to stay above 0 mana and dish out the damage!  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Apart from DPS, our buffs are really quite excellent, particularly with the advent of EoF.  Now 1.) haste values can go above 100  2.) we can buff double-attack with an AA 3.) we can buff casting speeds with an AA  4.) the INT cap went up, and skills have an increased importance.  And it's possible that Dismay will be effective now too, on the Debuff side of things.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mezzing?  Well there are a few places it helps in KoS, and I have no idea about EoF.  So the jury's still out.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Finally, a well-timed stun or daze can make a big difference versus challenging content.  2 seconds may not seem like a long time, but every now and again you'll be able to be the difference between life and death for your tank.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Overall -- much more enjoyable than I had first envisioned.  I would definitely recommend it!</DIV>