Few questions about defiler

[CustosL]

<DIV>Im fixing to restart a character after returning to EQ from guildwars and WoW.  I started liking a monk/necro on guild wars and would like to try something similar to that on EQ.  After looking through the priest subclasses it seems that defilers offer the most dmg and healing abilities similar to that of what I had in guild wars.  This made it nice for soloing which I have to do a lot.  So I am wondering am I reading wrong on defiler or do the DoT's and wards with the heals not make the defiler good for soloing and give it the style I am looking for of the dmg dealer with heals type set up.  I mean I realize I wont do insane dps but I dont want battles to drag out like what I hear from about druids.  So if any of you experienced defilers mind giving me your opinion about the solo ability and the overall style of the defiler to help me see if this is what i have come to see the fighting style of the class.</DIV>

[Hoserbaba]

My experience concerning soloing has been long and drawn out fights all the time. Anything with two up arrows are very hard to kill and most times i end up oop and running for my life. DPS output is negligible and at best you can help out a lot in a group with the wards/debuffs. Be prapared to take the backseat most times. <div></div>

[sostrows]

<P>If you want a priest for soloing,</P> <P>then Defiler or Fury are your best choices as they are most offensive.</P> <P>I have found soloing easy but just keep in mind we are not the best soloing class out of 24 classes.</P> <P>Dualing is great with a Defiler.  I dual with a Zerker and its great.</P> <P>DPS is very impressive if u count the STA debuffs as DPS.</P>

[Leechh]

<P>It seems that a basic rule of MMOGs is that healing is always more cost-effective than damage output for priest classes.  From watching various Furies, Wardens, Templars, Mystics and myself (Defiler) in my guild soloing, it seems that nobody beats the Wardens.  Their regeneration and damage shield combination allows them to whittle almost any mob down and still have a decent amount of power left for emergencies.  A Fury is far more tempted to start nuking, and end up with no power left for healing when the mob lands a special, or for keeping his regen / damage shield active.  (Our guild is fairly Druid heavy, with several 50th Wardens and Furies.)</P> <P>Soloing as a Defiler or Mystic is doable, but more mana-intensive, since our Wards and DoTs end up costing more than a Regen / Damage Shield solution.</P> <P>The Templars in our guild are a pitiful sight soloing.  They get it done, but it is even slower and more boring than Mystic / Defiler soloing...</P> <P>A saving grace to speed up soloing (and make it less tedious) is that our HO's can be triggered by our lowest level Smite spell, which costs so little mana to cast that with anything better than summoned drink, mana recovers between castings.  The Smite damage is pathetic at 40+, but the 150-200 pts of damage when the HO completes is a nice, and mana-free, bonus, allowing a priest to slowly nuke anything to death at little cost, saving his mana for heals, wards, regens, etc. significantly faster than if he tried to beat the mob to death with his beat-stick of choice.</P> <P> </P> <P>Helsdottir Gravedefiler, 42nd Troll Defiler of Permafrost</P> <P> </P>

[SisBoomB]

I agree with some of the others that soloing is a fairly tedious prospect for defilers. I think that generally, priests are not that well equipped to solo because we have a fairly easy time finding groups. Priests are often needed one if not two at a time when it comes to assembling parties and you usually do not have to wait long with your LFG flag up before your are sent an invite.I think that defilers are a cool class to play because they have a unique aura about them. However, their novelty starts to wear off starting in the thirties and you really do not get any "new" abilities that you can show off with until Purulence comes along in your late forties, at least that is how I see it. New spells up until then are usually just a rehash of our old spells with larger numbers attached, and for me, it got old fast. I'm sure every class has it's doldrums though. Luckily, there is a lot of content in the form of quests and such to possibly keep a person occupied until that breath of fresh air comes along.I played a necro in EQ1 and just about every spell level had something new to offer, so my expectations might be a bit skewed...

[Raff]

<DIV>I played a necro in EQ1 and just about every spell level had something new to offer, so my expectations might be a bit skewed... </DIV> <DIV>__________________</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>lol, I agree, and in some cases our spell upgrades are nothing more than our previous spells only relabeled.</DIV>