El Chupacabr
10-21-2005, 08:31 PM
<DIV>Doing some thinking about damage, as I'm wont to do on a slow Friday afternoon at work... I had to ask myself, "why do I do the same damage in full groups no matter the player makeup?". After a little searching of other classes buffing abilities it came to me, we can't or won't be buffed. I know, we can be buffed for all kinds of different things by many other classes but in the end, it does us little or no good. Figure I'll run down the list of why this is post-50, only working through the stuff we'd actually get any benefit at all from:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Pros:</DIV> <UL> <LI>Haste:</LI> <UL> <LI>Make pets hit faster</LI></UL> <LI>DPS Buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>These are pretty good since they'll stack with our pet buffs, and really boost our auto-attack heavy pets (Velocity ad1 would be around a 53DPS increase to a scout pet)</LI></UL> <LI>Stamina/health buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Increase our max health, a benefit to necro's and pets</LI></UL> <LI>Intelligence/strength buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Both the necro his pet get more power and/or hit harder</LI></UL> <LI>Power regen:</LI> <UL> <LI>Takes longer for the necro or pet to run OOP</LI></UL> <LI>Proc buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Melee pets will do more damage</LI></UL></UL> <P>Cons:</P> <UL> <LI>Haste:</LI> <UL> <LI>No player haste is for a higher amount than our pet haste and they don't stack</LI> <LI>Haste does nothing for the necromancer himself</LI></UL> <LI>DPS buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>So far as I can tell, velocity takes one concentration... who's getting this buff, the groups scout and tank or our pet? Yep, pet won't get it in a full group.</LI></UL> <LI>Stamina/health buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Lich's damage scales with your health, if your health increases, lich does more damage to you... high starting health is good in solo but in a group high health can be a bit detrimental, depending on how often you use exchange life. The lifetaps don't increase their health return as player health goes up... health group buffs don't benefit the necro.</LI></UL> <LI>Intelligence/strength buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Spells like Vim can put our intelligence at the cap but it costs a concentration for maybe a 50% damage gain when compared to another mage getting the same buff. Group int buffs have the same issue. Who in groups getting the Vim? The necro or another mage?</LI></UL> <LI>Power regen:</LI> <UL> <LI>If we need power regen, we will have already pulled the agro off the OOP tank and died in the process.</LI></UL> <LI>Proc buffs:</LI> <UL> <LI>Again, who's getting the proc concentration buffs, the scout or our pet? Yep, no buff for us there.</LI></UL></UL> <P>However, there is an exception to that list and it is the illusionist dynamism spell. That should be kept on us at all times since we have the fastest cast times in the game, proc'cing that spell more often than any other class (post-50).</P> <P>So, am I complaining? Nope, not really... it's all part of what necro's do and that is self-sustain. We don't buff groups any appreciable amount and they can't or won't buff us. Next time you're with someone that complains about how much damage your doing, be sure to point out that it doesn't matter how many buffs you get, you're going to do about the same damage every fight and in every group. A ranger with a couple proc buff classes will absolutely dominate any damage a group will do, not so the steady damage necro.</P> <P>This of course doesn't apply to small and unconventional groups where the necro is the single best class to team up with due to the heals and different pet types. In those small groups there is more chance the pet will be buffed, making the two to three person group the necromancers highest damage potential team.</P>