Whare are my lvl 34 Master Choices?

[Anganos]

<DIV>Hello,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anybody have any thoughts on what to choose on the 34 master spell? And why they chose it? I looked at the sticky (F.A.Q.) and see that El Chupracabra (sorry if i misspelled your name..) really didnt go into what per se, but rather go for master spells that will scale with each lvl. Could someone whos gone through this help me out choose? I do solo mainly if that matters...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks,</DIV>

[Anganos]

GRRRR I just noticed my title is wacked...It's supposed to say "What are my lvl 34 Master choices?"

[El Chupacabr]

<OL> <LI>Breath of the Unearthed</LI> <LI>Withering Affliction</LI> <LI>Transfer Life</LI> <LI>Grisly Brace</LI></OL> <P>This one is fairly tricky and I should probably go into this level a little bit in the FAQ... the only spell that even seems to scale in that list is grisly brace.  By my FAQ advice it seems like a no-brainer, right?  Unfortunately, grisly brace is a level 28 spell so you've lost almost half of its effective lifetime if you upgrade at 34 (and at 44 you can get the defensive buff master2 again).  Transfer life, however, is a level 33 spell that you'll get alot of life out of (pun intended) since the master will be better than it's upgrade exchange life when you first get it.</P> <P>Only you will know for sure which is the right choice, from my frugal viewpoint the transfer life upgrade is the best for all playstyles since it is a massive utility, there aren't alot of adepts on the market yet since this is a new spell (and they're probably price gouged by anyone that knows what these spells do) and it has the longest service life.  For the soloer the brace is probably a better spell for the few levels you have it but it's longevity is a little too short for me to recommend that as the upgrade.</P><p>Message Edited by El Chupacabras on <span class=date_text>10-04-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:17 PM</span>

[Anganos]

<P>Thanks El Chupacabras!</P> <P>I see what you mean inregards to those spells. I will have to ponder on this <bites into sandwich> hmmmmm</P>

[Eriol]

I'm 33 now, and so will be faced with this choice myself in the next few days (I tend to level doing other weird things at the same time, so it can be slow). I guess the determining factor is: does anybody have an actual number for what the defensive is like at master II level? What's the numbers difference? Handle's site doesn't have it (doesn't have it for any below-50 masters really, which seems strange...). Since I mainly solo, my mileage out of my health-transfer heal is going to be less than defensive, though you're right about "longevity", which I am concerned about.Choices, choices.

[Amra-c0d]

I was wondering if taking breath of the unearthed might be a better choice for me.  I mostly do harclave when solo which doesn't require my pet to tank since he doesn't get the buff and when I do group it's with a warlock and we mostly ae.  I would still like to be able to take down a good amount of singles solo if I have to though. Will not taking the defense stance really hurt that much?

[El Chupacabr]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Amra-c0d wrote:<BR> I was wondering if taking breath of the unearthed might be a better choice for me.  I mostly do harclave when solo which doesn't require my pet to tank since he doesn't get the buff and when I do group it's with a warlock and we mostly ae.  I would still like to be able to take down a good amount of singles solo if I have to though. Will not taking the defense stance really hurt that much? <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>It shouldn't really "hurt", all of those upgrades have their uses and none of them are actually bad (those are all very important spells to necro's).  I just look at things from a maximum gain perspective... what can I use the longest, what can I use the most often and how much does it do x or y for?  Look at it this way, the AoE may give a little more damage against group mobs (cloud has a pretty long recast, something to consider) but the master buffed pet can taunt full groups of mobs so you and the warlock can AoE scot-free, the heal is a boon if your warlock friend does a little more damage than your pet can agro for.  None of them are really bad upgrades, what's best for either me or someone else may not be right for you.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And I know there's a screenshot of all the master spells out there from beta, have to poke around for it real quick.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Edit:  There they are... think it's all still right.  <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=30&message.id=9638#M9638" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=30&message.id=9638#M9638</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by El Chupacabras on <span class=date_text>10-04-2005</span> <span class=time_text>04:37 PM</span>

[SPAM_is_bad]

<P>I chose the Transfer Life option and think it was very wise....</P> <P>Hard to find that in order to upgrade and use it freq to keep pet up.</P> <P>I originally had Breath - but found that it would add on mobs due to the AOE effect and make my pet go down quiker.</P> <P>In short - now I am VERY happy with my upgraded heal spells - and then I use combo of Heroic Opp, Pes Blast, Word of force and Adept III Draw Life to "nuke" as needed.  </P> <P>If I need group AoE spells the Locust / Breath Adept seems to work pretty good in combo....</P> <P>Hope this helps!</P>

[Eriol]

<blockquote><hr>El Chupacabras wrote:Edit: There they are... think it's all still right. <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=30&message.id=9638#M9638" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=30&message.id=9638#M9638</A><hr></blockquote>Assuming that still is right, there's no way in hell I'm taking the defensive stance. Yes it's better, but not THAT much better (on the DS to the monsters yes, but not to healing the pet back up), and especially not considering I've already used up as much of the level range as I already have for it. That's an ENORMOUS improvement to transfer life, breath, AND affliction. All seem like solid choices. But as I've always been more offensive than defensive (blast em down before they can damage you too much), it's probably gonna be between breath and affliction, and considering I USE affliction more (though I still use breath quite a bit), it's likely going to be that.Edit: the board's pre-parse really screws things up.<p>Message Edited by Eriol on <span class=date_text>10-04-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:39 PM</span>

[El Chupacabr]

I'd look for an updated version of the actual stats on the defensive... it seems a little wonky looking at it again. <div></div>

[firewolf]

Since I solo grouped mobs (2-4 white to yellow cons) most of the time. I choose breath of the unearthed. Hardly ever need to heal pet (adept 1 pet and adept 1 buff) during battle. Only used pet heal and life transfer after the battle to top up pet's hp. The added ae damage is very nice for killing group mobs. Send pet on 1 mob, send rats and zombie limited pet on another, nuke and dot the 3rd. Follow up with  Locus and Breath of the Unearthed. Usually 2 mobs will be dead or in red with the 3rd in orange. Since Breath is used in almost every fight, I choose it over transfer life. <div></div>

[Eriol]

Dinged 34 tonight (yay me), and I took the DoT. That old screenshot is NOT correct, and the gains aren't as substantial, ESPECIALLY for the defensive stance (which is replaced earlier than the other choices). And the other two are a lot more situational (I don't use breath EVERY fight, and the heal is also going to be non-frequent), whereas I use the DoT EVERY fight, on more than one mob in group mob situations. So it was a better choice for me.Meh. Still have a /respec, so no biggie anyways.

[josie67]

I took the transfer health, and at 42, I STILL use this all the time.  I solo 95% of the time, and I get great mileage out of this spell.

[Anganos]

I wanted to thank you all for your insight. I dinged 34 last night and went with Transfer Life upgrade. From the link the was provided earlier, the Master pics are no longer true (stat wise). Anyways thanks all for your help!!