Level 30 - Frozen By Time. Useful?

[Alouiscio]

<DIV>Hey All,</DIV> <DIV>I haven't seen much discussion about this spell and a friend just said he found a Master 1 version  that he's saving for me. I'd like to give him something nice in return (even though he didn't ask for anything). Is this a spell that gets used often? I'm at 29.65 right now so I'm anxious to see for myself but need to know a little ahead of time to give something to my friend here.</DIV> <DIV>Any thoughts?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[YanariiFV]

<DIV>it's useful in that it's a stun... </DIV> <DIV>it's not useful in that it's a 4 second cast duration stun that lasts less then 10 seconds where as Petrify lasted 10 seconds and was a fast cast.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If they change the casttime and remove the DD component to make up for it, it would be very useful - though it would still be levelcapped.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All in all, maybe try and trade the Master of this for a better Master of the same Tier....</DIV>

[KingBald]

<P>This spell is prettymuch 99% unused by me in my day to day grinding, I may dust it off for a raid mob or a caster mob just to disrupt, but overall a waste of mana.</P> <P>Ive heard that the master for this only raised the DD damage and helps prevent resists, still a long casting time and short stun duration (5-6 sec).</P>

[Thibor24]

<P>I've never had it land on a mob, its been resisted every time.</P> <P>The casting time is horrible.</P> <P>I have stopped using this spell.</P> <P> </P>

[ka]

I almost never use it. The casting time is far to slow for the short stun and I have I think seen it land once on a green mob and never on anything higher. I havn't gotten my adept upgrade for it yet which may help but I would MUCH prefer an upgrade to petrify than frozen by time. kaid <div></div>

[Alouiscio]

<P>Thanks heaps for the input. </P> <P>Dang, I was excited to get my first Master 1. Oh well.</P>

[lastlig]

<DIV>Because battles are so short at higher levels, it really comes down to whether you want to cast Flaming Doom (with its long cast time) or Frozen by Time.  I personally think that stuns are more effective than damage, at least for now, because while Flaming Agony may realistically do 270 damage by the time a ^^ critter is dead, you can probably prevent 1000-1500 damage by stunning.</DIV>

[Xecr]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> KingBalder wrote:<BR> <P>This spell is prettymuch 99% unused by me in my day to day grinding, I may dust it off for a raid mob or a caster mob just to disrupt, but overall a waste of mana.</P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>LOL, you use it more than me!!</P> <P> </P> <P>Xec<BR></P>

[XtremSummo]

<P>I solo a lot and use it in nearly every solo battle. I haven't noticed it being resisted more than Petrify. I can't imagine soloing without it really. Main usage in soloing for stuns is when the pet loses aggro and the mob comes after you. Stun - then back off and let pet grab aggro back again.</P> <P>The longer casting time means that you need to have a good idea of when the pet is likely to lose aggro. I usually know when I'm casting a spell, whether it's likely to grab aggro away from the pet or not. If I heve good range distance from the mob, then I just queue Frozen in Time straight after the spell that will likely pull aggro. If I'm closer to the mob, I first cast the stun and then cast the damage stuff that might have grabbed me aggro. Either way, it saves my life regularly.</P> <P>The other main usage is to reduce damage to the pet, without running the risk of a pet heal which makes getting aggro more likely.</P> <P>In groups, stuns are best used to reduce damage to the MT and give the healer a chance to get another heal in. I always used to watch the timing on the main healer's big heals and chuck the stun in about half-way between two heals when the tank was taking heavy damage. I still do that with Frozen in Time - but my timing has changed. Usually, I'll see the big heal kick off on the tank and then just after it cast FiT which seems to land at a decent point to give the healer some space.</P> <P>Also in groups, stuns were useful for advancing HOs quickly. That's the biggest issue I have with it really. Petrify you could chuck out durned quick to advance an HO. FiT just takes too long. That and slightly more complex timing for casting it are the only downsides for me - and of course the extra damage isn't bad.</P> <P>I'd also be happy enough if they removed the damage element and reduced the casting time. Petrify was certainly easier to use.</P> <P>X</P> <P> </P>

[Ickky]

<P>Another one of our armoury of really usefull spells, not.</P> <P>Hardly ever use this, cast time to long, never seen it stun SFA</P>

[Thmy]

<DIV>it is my only master spell - I wish I had sold it and not scribed it- but they would have wanted their money back.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Master will not work on raid mobs even gray ones 1/2 your level.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The master is still resisted and I think it tops out at 43 -That info is now in the examin discription</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Violat0r]

<font color="#ff3300">woah hang on</font><font color="#ff3300"> </font><font color="#ff3300"> </font><font color="#ff3300">quote:</font><font color="#ff3300"> </font> <p>Xtremsummons:</p> <p>I solo a lot and use it in nearly every solo battle. I haven't noticed it being resisted more than Petrify. I can't imagine soloing without it really. Main usage in soloing for stuns is when the pet loses aggro and the mob comes after you. Stun - then back off and let pet grab aggro back again.</p> <p>The longer casting time means that you need to have a good idea of when the pet is likely to lose aggro. I usually know when I'm casting a spell, whether it's likely to grab aggro away from the pet or not. If I heve good range distance from the mob, then I just queue Frozen in Time straight after the spell that will likely pull aggro. If I'm closer to the mob, I first cast the stun and then cast the damage stuff that might have grabbed me aggro. Either way, it saves my life regularly.</p> <p>The other main usage is to reduce damage to the pet, without running the risk of a pet heal which makes getting aggro more likely.</p> <p>In groups, stuns are best used to reduce damage to the MT and give the healer a chance to get another heal in. I always used to watch the timing on the main healer's big heals and chuck the stun in about half-way between two heals when the tank was taking heavy damage. I still do that with Frozen in Time - but my timing has changed. Usually, I'll see the big heal kick off on the tank and then just after it cast FiT which seems to land at a decent point to give the healer some space.</p> <p>Also in groups, stuns were useful for advancing HOs quickly. That's the biggest issue I have with it really. Petrify you could chuck out durned quick to advance an HO. FiT just takes too long. That and slightly more complex timing for casting it are the only downsides for me - and of course the extra damage isn't bad.</p> <p>I'd also be happy enough if they removed the damage element and reduced the casting time. Petrify was certainly easier to use.</p> <p>X</p> <p><font color="#ff3300">Nice post here, i agree with everything you have said, and wise words of advice. You would do well to not gloss over this post people. </font></p> <p><font color="#ff0000">Have some stars X !!</font> </p> <div></div>

[CloakV]

I'm guessing the cast timer will be put down to 1 second. Warlocks have a similar spell called fleshfreeze or flashfreeze (cant rememebr which name) That  also was a useless spell and took 4 seconds to cast. When they fixed the warlocks it was reduced to a 1 second cast timer and also had the dammage tripled. Its now a superb spell which not only stuns quickly but does a large ammount of dammage. With any luck we may get the same treatment if/when Sony deccide to look at the summoner classes like they've promised. <div></div>

[Evii]

<P>Pretty much same as others... I try to use it a lot because I solo, but it has a high resist rate and is interrupted often due to the long cast time. When it lands it's great though.</P> <P>Even worse is Quicksand and other root spells, holy resists.</P>

[Jgok]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Evii wrote:<BR> <P>Pretty much same as others... I try to use it a lot because I solo, but it has a high resist rate and is interrupted often due to the long cast time. When it lands it's great though.</P> <P>Even worse is Quicksand and other root spells, holy resists.<BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>I agree on the root spells problem... too many resists, too much aggro, not reliable enough... I hardly ever root, unless I'm following the root with a stun.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Stuns, however, I use a lot. At 35, I use FiT in most fights, grouped or solo, both as a damage mitigator and as aggro control method. Those precious few seconds where the mob is beating on no-one have saved non-tanks in my groups many many times, especially by giving the tank a little time to build up aggro. A good tank will notice the mob is stunned and keep spamming taunts while autoattack is off, and the mob will turn onto him almost every time.</DIV>

[SkeletorSKS]

<DIV>Not sure if this was mentioned, but heres what ya do... Cast petrify first, right after petrify gets casted and sticks you start casting frozen by time. Wala, mob that is already stunned is stunned again.  IMO this is a great method to use while soloing.</DIV>

[Timzil]

I use it all the time in groups. It makes it look like i'm doing something.

[Violat0r]

i think this is an extremely useful spell, I dinged 30 the other night and have used it in EVERY solo encounter so far. I do not see the point of "stacking" this spell with petrify as they both have long timers and you really should have one of these kept back for an "emergency" situation. i.e misjudging and over damaging/aggroing your target(s) so that they come to you. Considering all mage armour/items are effectively made out of moist paper, I would prefer to not get hit at all. If I have just spanked both of my effective stun spells at the same time on the same mob, I would be VERY nervous about hitting it with big damage/HO's until the timer had reset. Given that our root spell is next to useless, I would not stake my life and subsequent XP debt on an unreliable spell. Hence keeping one of the above available at all times except in emergencies. <font color="#ff3300"> </font><font color="#ff3300">Does anyone know any clear benefits to upgrading this? at lvl 30, adept 2 does about 50 dmg initially followed by the stun effect.</font> I fail to see entirely how this spell is not extremely useful in both solo situations AND groups. Someone has posted above about using petrify/FBT when a tank is about to die (to buy time for a healer to get to them) OR when a mob goes after a caster/healer to buy valuable seconds for the tank/our pet to regain the aggro. These stun spells and their timing/use are absolutely integral to competent conj play. <div></div>

[Alouiscio]

<P>Hey <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/view_profile?user.id=146241" target=_blank><SPAN>Violat0r,</SPAN></A><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff><BR>Grats on getting 30 btw!</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>I played around with this spell last night and found it to be of some value myself. What I've done in the past to pull while soloing (haven't been that successful with the send pet in, spam back-off method) is to hit the mob with a light spell (bludg earth, etc) and then back off and hope pet grabs aggro quickly. When that doesn't happen immediately, I've used Petrify to give the pet time to gain aggro. Works most of the time and as long as I'm not soloing reds, I rarely have to worry about my pet losing aggro again before the petrify timer resets.</FONT></SPAN></P> <DIV>What FbT will give me is a different "first stun" than old reliable Petrify - leaving the better Petrify for emergencies. I think it will allow me to solo the low level reds more effectively. I haven't seen it resisted yet (maybe with the reds :smileymad<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. That will suck if that starts to happen. I do hope this spell is not meant to replace Petrify, because it doesn't which is disappointing given the relative levels of the spells.</DIV>

[lastlig]

Off the top of my head, Petrify will stop working at level 35.  You simply cannot use it on creatures that are higher level.  Thus, if you really like stunning, you better get used to Frozen by Time as it is pretty much the only stun you have for eleven levels or so.

[Jgok]

<P>Yup, petrify will not work on level 35 or higher mobs... period.</P> <P>Considering I'm 35 now, that kinda sucks <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Violat0r]

well, at least we agree that stun and root spells are important. I too have discovered, well no, confirmed that petrify does not work on 35 or higher ! I am now experimenting with a couple of the tactics above: 1/. Pull with pet and (use backoff in combination with root and fbt if i need to pull them away from their initial spot) 2/. Pull with nuke or "weak spell" having already sent pet in on his enexorable route to the target to he pulls aggro off me ASAP. You can also use 1 root or fbt to assist this. 3/. Start with FBT and hope it sticks , if not use root and gain aggro with pet ASAP. So far, by far the safest option is to pull with the pet (fully buffed already) and be careful with the ammount of damage you pile on. If the creep comes for you, kite away and try to root it first (quicker cast time), then petrify (if applicable), then FBT (risky because of long cast time, potential resists and potential interrupts). Note, I am aware I have only mentioned petrify once in the above, this is for the simple reason that i am trying to get out of the habit of using due to the fact 35+ lvl mobs are immune. Also note, frozen by time gets resisted ALOT by these 30+ lvl mobs. The best combination appears to be repeated root spells and lots of kiting if u pick up too much aggro. You will get volatile refuge soon (a spell / ward that soaks up damage). This can often be very useful to buy you time to lose the aggro while also leaving you with most of your health to use for instant vim and splinter (if necessary). Hope this is useful food for thought Belmakor <div></div>

[DragonMaster2385]

<DIV>I use it now an then, when I am waiting for my petrify recast timer to be reset.  I HATE the long cast time and my petrify is becoming obsolite because it is now gray and targets are becoming "too powerfull" for it.  This is killing me and I hope that I get another stun spell real soon.</DIV>

[Jgok]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> DragonMaster2385 wrote:<BR> <DIV>I use it now an then, when I am waiting for my petrify recast timer to be reset.  I HATE the long cast time and my petrify is becoming obsolite because it is now gray and targets are becoming "too powerfull" for it.  This is killing me and I hope that I get another stun spell real soon.<BR> <HR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>Unfortunately, you don't.</DIV> <DIV>Well, you do, but nothing with a short cast time <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[DragonMaster2385]

I /feedback in the game and I suggested that they remove the DD and shortened the cast time.  I think we should ALL do this and maybe they will get the message. <div></div>

[KingBald]

<P>I will ammend my previous statement: I do tend to use this spell in combat, even solo play, but only to finish an HO or to help the pet gain agro.</P> <P>Lately the groups that were 2x single ^ or 3 individuals I have tried to solo, usually they are the bane of a conjuror as all of them (most times) except the one you set the pet on come after you.</P> <P>I have the lvl 30 training root spell and I like it alot, and have been using it to root members of these multi-enemy groups while the pet hammers on its target.  Frozen by Time has become useful to stun one of the rooted mobs just as the pet is about to jump on it after finishing off one of the other enemies of the group.  This gives me the time to back off a bit (for safety and because proximity seems to help agro issues).</P> <P>Unfortuantely, as has been stated before, this spell gets resisted alot, even on green singe ^ or non ^ mobs in a group.  My root often times is much more useful, has such a short casting time and allows me to get away from a pursuing mob and lets my DoTs and pet hammer it even as it chases me.</P> <P>If only SOE would provide an upgraded Petrify that lasted to 50...</P> <P> </P>

[DragonMaster2385]

<DIV>I think I would bust a nut if I logged on and there was a new petrify spell in my spell book.  That is gray to me and I still use it, by far the most used spell in the class (in the long run).</DIV>