hammong
09-14-2005, 07:54 PM
<DIV>Positive Impressions: </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- The Lifetaps are wonderful. Having a means to heal myself after transferring my hitpoints to Jobaber is a real plus. Makes me feel a little more like a Necromancer, as opposed to a Mage with a Zombie. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- The pet tanks just as well as he did before, as long as I'm using defensive stance. I was deftly afraid that my pet tanking would suffer greatly with Boon of the Lifeless, and I was right. The offensive stance cripples pet defense, and you will spend a lot more time and mana maintaining your pet's health with the offensive stance on. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Pet holds aggro vs. group mobs VERY well. I was unable to pull aggro from Jobaber on groups of 2-target or 3-target solo con down-arrow mobs. Once he casts his group aggro spell and the mobs start beating on him, the build aggro with each successive hit. Group DOTS would not pull aggro, and I actually stopped assisting Jobaber and picked a new target to nuke/dot because he retained group aggro. Nice. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Swarm of Rats - Master II does 40+ damage per rat (there is 3 of them) per second. Couple this with the fact the rats can be summoned every 30 seconds instead of every 2+ minutes, and this becomes a very useful spell you can use at every encounter. Bonus that rats don't take barrage or AOE damage unless they're specifically targeted. I haven't lost a single rat yet, and they're launched facing the front of the mobs! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- My DPS went up. I can't quantify it without a parse, but I am killing the "same old mobs" in less time in Enchanted Lands and Zek. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Negative Impressions: </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- The new con system is fairly well balanced, but I find that anything with even a single up arrow is significantly harder than a no-arrow mob. Blue single-up arrow beetles in EL were beating my Adept III tank pet down fast, and that's with the defensive stance! The experience reward wasn't much better than an even-con no-arrow mob, which incidentily was a lot easier to kill with less mana downtime. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Not happy about Bludgeoning Earth being changed from my Adept III level 17 spell to a Apprentice I spell. At level 33+ the spell is green/grey anyhow, but it's a matter of principle. Lots of younger necros depend on BE as a primary damage spell. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>- Loss of Parry skill for priests and mages means taking a LOT more damage from grouped encounters that Jobaber loses aggro on. Fortunately, he hasn't actually lost aggro yet, so maybe this point is moot. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Overall: </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I like the update! I think the changes bring EQ2 necros more in-line with EQ1 necros and necromantic lore. Life taps, clinging darkness, transfer of hitpoints from caster to pet/others, and strong fast DOTS are all about being a necromancer. We may be "summoners" at level 19, but once you cross the threshhold to Necro at 20 - it's a whole new ball of wax. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Good change so far! I haven't explored a group role much lately. So far vs. even con mobs in EL/Zek my necro kicks major [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot], and thats' even with the Apprentice I replacement spells that we got saddled with. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> Salsa Picante, 33 Necro of Mistmoore, Soul Harvest</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>