Advice for a new Defiler?

[Xova]

<DIV>So I made a Defiler on Vox (PvP), and I really love playing her. All of my spells are either Master or Adepts. I've worked hard to get the best gear I can for my level. And I've been working to boost my WIS and INT to keep my power bar as full as possible, the result being that as a L23 I outlasted a L50 Paladin power-wise who was healing a buddy of theirs that my two friends were taking on (go me!)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Problem though is that my groupmates seem to think that my playstyle calls for being a damage-dealer and not a healer, so I'm being encouraged to roll a Wizard (I think they're just tired of having to save my butt all the time). Plus I've got really low defense (like 23) and so once I get hit it's hard to do anything except try to heal or escape. So what can I do to make myself a little tougher in a fight, especially a PvP one? Is there a way to increase my Defense? And do Defilers get an "escape/evacuate" skill?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I really love the class and want to be the best at it that I can be, but a little advice from experienced players would be extremely appreciated. Thanks. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Xa]

<P>Solo to get your defence up</P> <P> </P> <P>Defence only goes up when your getting hurt.</P> <P> </P>

[Ishnar]

<DIV>to get your defense up, find something gray and just let it beat on you.</DIV>

[Devizi]

Meh, skip INT and go for STA as your secondary.  I guess its all preference though~ <div></div>

[Kinvore]

I believe that INT will only increase your spell damage but power pool for priests is solely determined by WIS.  I'm not sure about that, though.

[sostrows]

INT = spell damageWIS = power pool<div></div>

[Xova]

<P>Thanks for the tips. I've been working to get my defense up by going out into places like the Ruins and the Sprawl and just aggro'ing a bunch of stuff and letting it beat on me while I use my default attack. It seems to have helped because my Defense went from 23 to 32 in a few days' time and I notice that I am lasting a little bit longer in fights where I start taking damage. As I mentioned previously, I worked hard to boost up my power pool. Right now, as a lvl27 Defiler, my WIS is at 86 and my INT is at 64. STA is at 49, AGI is at 41, and STR is at 44. So if I want to increase my damage ability with my spells, I should also work on increasing my INT too?</P>

[sostrows]

Damage from spells is derived from:INTDisruption skill (later in game you can get +skill items)Quality of spell (Master 1 = 2 x Apprentice 1)Mob's resist mitigation (our nuke and aphotic aoe at ~32ish)Your nuke's noxious debuff will boost your damage on your spells.  The debuff only lasts 10 seconds though so you could do a start sequence like this if your soloing:Solo wardGrp wardPull with slow debuffStart HONuke (debuffs noxious)DOT Infestation (poison + WIS debuff one)DOT Fulginious (disease + slow)Fulginous = Infestion pretty much for overall damage, Infestion is a faster cast and lasts longer.<div></div>

[Xova]

<P> </P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> sostrows wrote:<BR>Damage from spells is derived from:<BR><BR>INT<BR>Disruption skill (later in game you can get +skill items)<BR>Quality of spell (Master 1 = 2 x Apprentice 1)<BR>Mob's resist mitigation (our nuke and aphotic aoe at ~32ish)<BR><BR>Your nuke's noxious debuff will boost your damage on your spells.  The debuff only lasts 10 seconds though so you could do a start sequence like this if your soloing:<BR><BR>Solo ward<BR>Grp ward<BR>Pull with slow debuff<BR>Start HO<BR>Nuke (debuffs noxious)<BR>DOT Infestation (poison + WIS debuff one)<BR>DOT Fulginious (disease + slow)<BR><BR>Fulginous = Infestion pretty much for overall damage, Infestion is a faster cast and lasts longer.<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>I' working on increasing my INT, and I've been playing with my skills to see which ones do what and how they work best with each other. Most of the time I am in a group, so I wait for my groupmates to attack, then cast my attack speed debuffs, then a group ward, then I watch my groups health bars to see who needs Spectral Ward, who needs heals, and then toss out the occasional damage spell. I'm using my wards more and it's made a huge difference, especially in fights where we're up against something a little tougher than we can take on usually. I still can go down pretty fast if my casting gets interrupted, but if I can get a few wards off, then alternate attacks in between heals and re-warding, I can do alright. And often times I can outlast whatever is attacking me, so long as my power regen is maintained.</P> <P>Several times now I've been attacked by players thinking they'd found an easy kill, only to see them panic when their health drops and mine doesn't. Just last night I was hanging around by the TS docks looking at my stats (dumb thing to do really considering how many higher-level Q's were in the area, probab;y announcing that they had a sitting duck with me right there) when a lvl33 Warlock snuck up and rooted me (I'm lvl28 now). He got in the root and at least one attack before I reacted so I was already at a disadvantage. My pet ran up to attack him and distracted him for a moment so I was able to cast a ward, then hit him with my two attack speed debuffs. He killed my pet, but by that time the root had worn off so I ran up and started melee-attacking while casting wards and my Imprecation spell. He got my health down to 40%, but then he ran off as soon as I got his health to yellow.</P> <P>That was his big mistake because once he ran off and disengaged combat I started healing up. I got my health back up to 80% in just a few seconds, threw on my wards, then went after him. He'd gone to a lvl41 buddy who proceeded to jump all over me and slash attack - either hoping to distract me or spook me into attacking him (it didn't work) while the warlock rooted me again. In the meantime I just kept alternating Imprecation, my DoT/debuffs with heals and Spectral Ward (he must have thought I didn't have range attacks - lol). When I saw his health go into the red as soon as the root wore off, I ran over to him, whacked him with my staff and he went down in two hits. 1600 SP, a lvl31 Fury Adept1 spell, and 90 silver, plus the satisfaction of taking out a player 5 levels above me. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>So doing pretty good now, and really liking my Defiler. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[sostrows]

nice, i cant imagine playing on a PvP server.  90% scouts hiding behind every rock at the city gate.try using your fear deagro spell in a pinch too.  fears him for 6 sec, give you enough time to use instant wards, land single target fear, land 3-4 non-damage debuffs while he runs off, then start nailing him with DOTs.stuns/interrupts are are nemesis.  deagro fear is .2 sec or something, hard to interrrupt.<div></div>

[Xova]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> sostrows wrote:<BR>nice, i cant imagine playing on a PvP server.  90% scouts hiding behind every rock at the city gate.<BR><BR>try using your fear deagro spell in a pinch too.  fears him for 6 sec, give you enough time to use instant wards, land single target fear, land 3-4 non-damage debuffs while he runs off, then start nailing him with DOTs.<BR><BR>stuns/interrupts are are nemesis.  deagro fear is .2 sec or something, hard to interrrupt.<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>It can be pretty hairy at times, but also a lot of fun. Last night I had the satisfaction of watching a lvl37 Conjurer turn tail and run from me when after three attacks my health didn't drop one percent. Nine levels above me and he RAN - lol. It was a pretty nice feeling, especially when he ran right into my boyfriend who was stealthed behind him. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Rangers on the other hand give me a lot of grief. They've got that one ranged attack that takes out 40% of my health, and it can be hard to recover from that at times. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>I've got Devigorating Chant, and I lucked out and managed to find the Master I version of it so there's definitely been a few times when it's come in handy - mostly when my group is out PvP'ing and the enemy figures out I'm the healer and they all attack me <EM>en masse</EM>. Oftentimes I've died regardless, but there have been more than a few occasions where I've popped it and watched the entire group run, giving me time to do exactly what you've said. I still have to remind myself to pop my wards first, then the debuffs, then the DOTs, and then heal as needed, but I'm definitely getting better. And I need to get in the habit of using my de-aggro in solo encounters and not just large group attacks like you've suggested.</P> <P>The other skill I really like is Abominus. When out PvPing in Antonica near the city gates, that spell has saved our hides on a number of occasions. We'll jump into the water to escape with the enemy hot on our tails, then I'll hit that skill and we all sink to the bottom and run off. Pretty funny to watch the confusion as the enemy tries to follow us and has to keep coming back up for air while we're running around jumping and attacking them. <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[sostrows]

thats funny, never thought of using the water breathing in pvp, wonder if you could start fight, jump off dock and and just DOT a melee type to death<div></div>

[Baradin]

I killed 2 assassins at once doing that as a fury, lol.