The Mystic Pet...! [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Nefaro

02-23-2007, 12:17 PM

[Removed for Content] the dev who came up with this idea needs to be fired! I have never been more disgusted with the mystic than I am atm. My pet dies in two hits. COMPLETELY [Removed for Content] useless. ( I know the pet is not like a Necro pet) As soon as I get AA's I'm going to add them to the pet line to see if that helps. I'm not holding my breath! I sat there last night and played for around 3 hrs and not 1 invite to grp, so needless to say I died alot trying to solo stuff. It seems most would rather go without than use a mystic it seems.I'm really trying here people honestly. This is just rediculous! Can someone please send me a link to voice my disgust to someone that might have some say in doing something about this? Not that they will, but it will make me feel better. Sorry for the soapbox, just really disappointed in this class. I had so much hopes for this class. Had I know then the problems I would be facing now, I would of never picked this class. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />jb

Zeltaria

02-23-2007, 12:33 PM

you have to realize, doggie is nothing more than a 1 second speed bump if you let mobs attack him or try to use him as your tank. Mystics are more of a group support class, we can solo, but slowly and carefully. And there's nothing stoping you from rerolling to another class if your really that unhappy.

Owlbe

02-23-2007, 12:37 PM

Just go down the agi line for melee and healing crits and forget the dog. Use the dog as a dot and thats it and if it dies it dies. The frustration is not worth it imo (and in alot of other mystics eyes as well). Between the dog being a 3x down arrow mob and the way buffs only give the dog a small fraction of what they are supposed to give makes it a wet blanket for me.

Nefaro

02-23-2007, 12:44 PM

Zel, I don't use the doggie as a tank pet. Just notice if he get's attacked first he's useless. I'm considering rerolling but I've spent so much time with mystic just hate to do that. Owl, I hear ya. I agree it's not worth the frustration. I don't rely on the dog at all, he dies, he dies.I can't believe the devs hear the crys and do nothing. Just sad and pathetic.Thanks all. Like I said in first post, sorry for the soapbox just disgusted. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />jb

Finora

02-23-2007, 01:12 PM

You are doing something horribly wrong if you can't solo and your pet is CONSTANTLY dying while you are soloing. If you are dying constantly to things you are trying to solo, maybe you should try different tactics or pick different mobs to solo. I have always found soloing as a mystic a tad slow, but extremely safe. It's even better and easier now that I have more aa's.I hate to say it but if you have grouped and really have had that much trouble with your healing and pet etc, that might be the reason you have trouble getting groups. Your reputation as a healer can be quite important. I know guildies and friends who have people they will NOT group with ever ever again that they've shared with the rest of us. If someone you've known for years in game (and out) tells you JoeSoandSo can't heal worth a (*#& then you tend to take it to heart and try not to have that person as your sole healer ever. So if you left a really bad impression with a couple of groups, it could come back to bite you =(.If you still want to tell SOE people what you think, I suggest /feedback or you could use the /petition thing as it has a choice to send feedback as well.

Specteral

02-23-2007, 04:47 PM

What is dogdog dieing from? He getting hit with AoE or is the mob chewing on him? At 70 with some semi-decent gear I can solo non-heroics fairly well (slower than dps, but pretty safe) and green heroics OK (but I tend to avoid it because it takes too long, lol). A couple things I've learned about my wolf: 1. Watch the Aura of Warding procs. If the ward is still up when you (or the tank in group/raid) pulls, the mob could very well bounce and wipe the floor with him. A good tank or some preparation can prevent this, IE taunting or landing a hit on the initial pull before the mob could bounce. 2. Spiritual Forsight for the win! It's not a 100% immunity, but it does block MOST of the AE's that would normally wipe out my cute little ... dead dog.. thing.. It helps alot. End ability of the STR tree in the Shaman lines. 3. Hold off there bitey! Don't send the pet in at the start of the battle, especially if you have one of his damage specials up (IE legbite/rabies). Let the tank gather some hate or let the mob wail on you for a moment first. Related to this, I keep my pet in the 'backoff' stance.

Nefaro

02-23-2007, 05:01 PM

Fin, I'm pretty sure it's not me as a healer. Most of the grps I've been in were guild based or friends I know in the game. I'm only lev 46, alot of the quests I have are for mobs my level or higher. When soloing, I can take most things 1 on 1 my leve or 2 lev higher, if it becomes 2 on 1 the odds are I will die, I died in SS with 2 deepwater crocs at my level. Sure I can fight mobs that are much lower than me and get xp very slow, but when trying to do quests that doesn't work. I have big troubles when I have to heal entire grp. As you know, mystic heals aren't the best. Were a backup healer at best. I can keep any tank alive as long as he can kill mob before I run out of power and the rest of the grp isn't [Removed for Content].At my level when tanking with other char, I haven't played with a mystic yet that can keep grp alive and be the only healer while fighting in a hard zone. I've played with Fury's and Templars that can.My best ward protects grp for 2000. When soloing, 30 seconds on a ward is nothing when you do crap damage (I have a good wpn). The DOT's aren't that great either. I'm sure I'm not telling anybody info they don't already know. From what I've seen, if you observe the grps that are playing most of them will have any healer but a mystic. That tells me somethings wrong.My point about this is the devs should see this kinda of BS thats happening and do something about it that doesn't involve taking things away from us. There I go again, back on my soapbox... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Specteral

02-23-2007, 05:20 PM

I haven't run into too many problems like that, finding it a bit difficult to follow. But you did raise an interesting memory.. I have two tanks in the 30's and 40's but I don't recall ever having a mystic healer. I can remember warden, several furies, many templars, a couple inquisitors, but can't recall any mystics or defilers. Creepy... Anyway, I honestly think it depends ALOT on the tank and the behavior of the DPS. Half the time I can sleep-heal solo in zones like HoF without any problems with guildies but get a newb tank and dps that think they need to go all-out right off the bat and I'll struggle in easy zones. That said, yes, I tend to feel like the backup healer in raids or grouped with our templar though the parse shows it's the other way... Just remember, mystic is all about prevention. Once the damage is done we're in trouble..

Korpo

02-23-2007, 05:44 PM

Yes, the pet sucks. It's not supposed to be the focus of the class though, it's supposed to be a bit of dps. It's the beginning AA ability, compare it to what everyone else gets for beginning AA abilities for crissakes:<ul><li>Brawlers get a 5% run speed buff.</li><li>Saders get a focus buff when they drop below 50% hp.</li><li>Sorcs get a pet that gives them a tiny dps boost, or a tiny hate reduction, or a tiny cast speed buff.</li><li>Bards get a reduced recast on their HO starter.</li><li>Summoners get a short-term pet possess.</li><li>etc.</li></ul>Nobody gets super buffs, awesome dps, or game-breaking abilities for their AA starters. You shouldn't be expecting to be different.As for healing ability, yes mystics lack there. It's a good thing that's not what the class is about. Mystics are about damage prevention, via wards and debuffs. If you cut the str, melee skills, attack speed, and dps of the mob you need much less in the healing department to keep a tank alive. What makes it through hits the wards that you should keep up, and anything past that you can heal up with your sub-par heals.If a mystic isn't for you, by all means re-roll. Mystics aren't a typical healer, and complaining about how they aren't isn't going to get you anywhere. People seem to have a notion that things should change to fit their idea of the way things are supposed to be. Sorry, but that's not the way anything, ever, works.

Finora

02-23-2007, 06:26 PM

<cite>Nefarous wrote:</cite><blockquote>Fin, I'm pretty sure it's not me as a healer. Most of the grps I've been in were guild based or friends I know in the game. I'm only lev 46, alot of the quests I have are for mobs my level or higher. When soloing, I can take most things 1 on 1 my leve or 2 lev higher, if it becomes 2 on 1 the odds are I will die, I died in SS with 2 deepwater crocs at my level. Sure I can fight mobs that are much lower than me and get xp very slow, but when trying to do quests that doesn't work. I have big troubles when I have to heal entire grp. As you know, mystic heals aren't the best. Were a backup healer at best. I can keep any tank alive as long as he can kill mob before I run out of power and the rest of the grp isn't [I cannot control my vocabulary].At my level when tanking with other char, I haven't played with a mystic yet that can keep grp alive and be the only healer while fighting in a hard zone. I've played with Fury's and Templars that can.My best ward protects grp for 2000. When soloing, 30 seconds on a ward is nothing when you do crap damage (I have a good wpn). The DOT's aren't that great either. I'm sure I'm not telling anybody info they don't already know. From what I've seen, if you observe the grps that are playing most of them will have any healer but a mystic. That tells me somethings wrong.My point about this is the devs should see this kinda of BS thats happening and do something about it that doesn't involve taking things away from us. There I go again, back on my soapbox... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></blockquote>Wow. I'm shocked by the bit I highlighted. I've always been 'the main' healer in the vast majority of groups I've been in even when another healer is present. Druids I group with usually go DPS mode. If I do group with a templar we share the heal duty and each do our puny dps unless I'm afk with my kid I'll both out heal and out dps the cleric. Wards are your main heal, if you are relying on your direct heals then you will most definatly have a problem keeping a group alive. Just like any other priest class, you class heal isn't just some back up flavor, that is your main means of healing. At your level I was capable of solo healing easy epic mobs (Dreadwake for example). I know lots of combat changes have happened since then but still I'm pretty sure it won't be out of the realm of possiblity these days either. I only had fulginate back then and various treasured dropped/quested things.Soloing my method is group ward, pull with stam/resist debuff(for you I believe that would be howl of the ancients), send in the dog, toss the single target slow and if its a hard mob the other debuff, hit HO starter, dot, DD, HO starter, other dot, dd (interspersed with the encounter AOE if it is an encounter). Rarely do I ever have to recast ward or do more then 2 sets of HO's, unless it is a herioc. I do have the ward proc for my dog at 5 points I believe, saves me a TON of self warding when soloing. However, even before I had the dog (I was already 60 when AAs came out) the above method was how I solo'd minus the dog bit of course, and a recast of ward was needed sometimes. I've never had a problem with it. I do upgrade spells to Ad3 or better as quickly as I can fund it and have since I was in my mid 30s, so I suggest doing that if you haven't. Worth noting I only just got my very first fabled item other than master spells last week, so all my observations have been made from the point of view of someone who had dropped/quested/crafted gear my whole time playing. Nothing particularly uber.There is no BS going on that I can see, other than the seemingly senseless SoW nerf. Mystics are doing very well these days and are formidable healers.

AziBam

02-23-2007, 06:55 PM

I'm trying not to be too cranky here although my blood pressure is rising. Nef most of your posts have dealt with how crappy mystics are and how it sucks to play one. You could be back to the mid 40s with another class in a few weeks. It's not that big a deal. The point of a game is to enjoy it and have fun. Not all classes appeal to all players. It seems painfully obvious to me that you need to experiment around and find a class that fits your playstyle better so you can have more fun. I get cranky when you call mystics backup healers at best. That is just plain false. If you believe it and play like that then for YOU it may be true but the rest of us don't feel that way. I can make ANY other healer type feel absolutely and utterly useless in a group if I am so inclined. There is no place that another class can solo-heal that I can't. Do we have strengths and weaknesses like any of the other healers types? Of course. If you choose to keep the mystic you need to think about how you play. 1). How is your tanks gear? This makes a world of difference for every healer. If their mitigation sucks for the level (or avoidance for monk/bruiser) you and every templar, warden, inquisitor, defiler, fury, or mystic out there will have to struggle to keep them alive. 2). Does your group deal with aggro well? I don't say just the tank as it is a group responsibility. If aggro is ping-ponging all over the place then again any healer will have their hands full. 3). What level of spell are your wards? Those are your bread and butter. I RARELY have to cast a "real" single target heal. The only one that occasionally gets brought out is the group heal if you have AE damage to deal with. You want to get the highest level of wards that you can afford (preferably A3+). For upgrades related to grouping (not raiding) go wards, heals, debuffs, buffs, damage. AAs will make a world of difference to your soloing and mean you don't have to buy damage spell upgrades. (The melee conversions from EoF tree and 100% melee crits from KoS tree are a very nice combo.) 4).. When tank is pulling, some people pre-ward but many don't as it may cause you to pull aggro. If the tank can handle it then have at it with a pre-ward. I'm going to tell you how you can do this in a manner than many would consider to be over-healing (including myself) but I think you would want to start here and learn when you can back down. Single target ward on or just after pull, immediately start casting your group ward. Group ward lands and you can see if your single ward has dropped yet. If so, timer either has or very shortly will refresh to allow you to recast your single target ward. Very few heroic encounters would eat through this amount of warding if you are in a full group. If it does, then you would need to rely on single target heals, group heal, pet heal (which I think you get around your current level), and re-ward as soon as timers refresh. Never choose a heal when you can ward. Your wards are far more power efficient and stronger. If after your first group ward lands you see that you now still have 2 wards up (single and group) you would want to either debuff depending on difficulty or attack. Again, mystics heal as well (and better IMHO) as any other healer class out there. Our main form of healing is the ward. If you are trying to heal via direct single target heals you will fail miserably. No healer class does that. Clerics primary heals are their reactives and druids primary heals are their regens. You have great tools at your disposal if you choose to learn how to use them.

thedu

02-23-2007, 10:39 PM

It would help if we could get some more specifics Nef. It's hard to help when we don't know exactly what your doing. Say for instance soloing: 1) How do you pull? What spells, debuffs, wards, etc. 2) Single or Group? 3) What AP lines do you have and what level? 4) What are your group make ups? For instance in solo play for me (and unfortunately RL has kept me from the game for a few weeks) so I'm rusty <img src="/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Single Mob: 1) Make sure dogdog doesn't auto protect 2) Ward self, single or torpor, usually single now that I have master <img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> 3) Pull either with a debuff, such as slow or with wrath of the grey for the snare component 4) Continue debuffing, i.e. sta, str, dps, etc while watching the ward timer 5) After two years I've become pretty good at knowing just when I would need to re-ward and I don't need to look 6) So after debuffs are done, I start HO chain 7) Disease dot, Cold Dot or DD <img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Re-ward 9) Disease dot, Cold Dot or DD 10) repeat and rinse * Get dogdog in somehow. AoE's will kill it if doesn't have STR all the way. There times when you don't even need to debuff anymore. It's pointless. Multiple mobs: 1) Same 2) Same 3) I use group STA and Group Slow 4) HO Chain This is where is Differ from above 5) Say 3 mobs - Disease dot, Cold Dot or DD on 1 6) Retarget to next mob, reward or Disease dot, Cold Dot or DD on 1 7) Retarget to next mob, reward or Disease dot, Cold Dot or DD on 1 I also mix in the group DOT as much as I can. DOTs are your saviors! Also, get Potions that have a damage shield, or give you extra boost attributes like STA and WIS. Get totems that regen faster out of combat so you can get back to soloing faster. Need a quest mobs and you have to get through other mobs? Engage and then yell! Sure you lose xp and loot, but you get your normal regen rates and then you can to your quest mob. One thing that is discouraging is that every class has a period where it seems like it's just not viable or fun. Your right at the line for that; the mid 40s are when it gets better for Mystics. I have very few problems keeping groups alive in most circumstances, but there are times when it just doesn't work out - either the group members are not playing well or the mobs aren't the right mix. After LU13 we are and NEVER WILL BE BACKUP HEALERS. Knowing what you and what you can do with it is your best tool.

Ouchy Dathurts

02-24-2007, 05:21 AM

I have a 48 Mystic alt. I cant speak to soloing as I really dont do it with my mystic, I have other characters I play if i'm in the mood to solo. He doesnt have much of a problem getting a group. The only problem is not all groups are created equal. Your tank being good is a massive factor. If he sucks or is wearing complete garbage its going to make healing a pain obviously, if you get people ripping agro on top of that it can be even more annoying. However if you're got a regular group of friends/guildies its quite nice. Someone else brought up the fact that your reputation counts for a lot, and its true. But people hating you isnt the only thing you need to worry about. If you try and go out of your way to step up your game and impress people you'll basically have a group whenever you want it. People will remember "SoAndSo" is an awesome healer, and the more you "show off" your healing skills the more people you can impress, and the larger network you can grow, and life is all about the network you have =) My AAs are basically all in the EoF stuff, I have ancestery so I dont have heal crits or anything like that. My gear is not that great on my mystic, but my spells are all adept 1 atleast with a few adept 3s and masters. On pull I'll single target ward the MT, then cast group ward. If the mob has already eaten the single target ward I'll go back and throw it back on. If the groups DPS is enough I'll basically just hang back. If you want to speed up the DPS some use your STA debuff(s), and if your tank is getting eaten slow the mob. As someone else said, 1 or maybe 2 single wards and 1 group ward will be enough for any decent group, the mob will be dead before it wears off and the mana use is pretty slim. If thats not enough there is more than likely something wrong. If you use your maintained spells window it'll show you how long the ward has left before it poofs, and if you mouse over it it'll show you how much damage it has left to absorb before it wears off aswell. Using that you can make better decisions on when to recast another without wasting mana. Again, I'm not wearing the best stuff, and I'm not yet speced for healing, but unless my tank intentionally gets a big head and pulls 3+ groups at once I've never had a problem being the main healer.

Ishnar

02-24-2007, 07:31 AM

<cite>Nefarous wrote:</cite><blockquote>I have big troubles when I have to heal entire grp. As you know, mystic heals aren't the best. Were a backup healer at best. I can keep any tank alive as long as he can kill mob before I run out of power and the rest of the grp isn't [I cannot control my vocabulary]."As you know?" None of us know anything of the sort. Dude, shaman rock! Wards by their nature heal before anyone else, ergo, if a shaman is in the group healing, the shaman is always the main healer. The only way for a shaman to be a backup healer is to abandon wards and use direct heals instead. BTW, any healer is screwed when they run out of power, that's hardly unique to mystics. I used to have power management issues myself for many levels, then I learned ways to better utilise my spells as appropriate to the encounter, instead of spamming a routine. The only times I run out of mana now is during raids. The manastone helps me a bit in those.Ways to save mana:1. Cures. They are the most mana efficient way to prevent damage in the game. 2. Watching your maintained window and refreshing spells only as they are needed. 3. Directing the group for better aggro control. 4. Not casting spells ineffective for the encounter. At my level when tanking with other char, I haven't played with a mystic yet that can keep grp alive and be the only healer while fighting in a hard zone. I've played with Fury's and Templars that can.Err, what is your tank's level? Shaman are pretty weak in the early levels, especially before they get wards.My best ward protects grp for 2000. When soloing, 30 seconds on a ward is nothing when you do crap damage (I have a good wpn). The DOT's aren't that great either. I'm sure I'm not telling anybody info they don't already know. From what I've seen, if you observe the grps that are playing most of them will have any healer but a mystic. That tells me somethings wrong.There is a hex doll to debuff a mob's magic resistance. This can signficantly improve your dps. I use it with crippling bash for a -1500 magic debufff. Then I hit hard with these while the debuff is up. The difference is pretty obvious. I don't use group ward solo. It takes too long to cast and I have more fun with the hex doll debuff. Solo ward is plenty for me. I also always keep my dog always positioned behind the mob for maximum dps potential. I've yet to see speedbump miss when I do a crippling bash. Even without any DPS enhancements, my dog is not an insignificant component of my DPS.My point about this is the devs should see this kinda of BS thats happening and do something about it that doesn't involve taking things away from us. There I go again, back on my soapbox... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></blockquote>

Dragmoon

02-26-2007, 07:13 AM

JamesRay

02-26-2007, 12:48 PM

I've got a 56 Mystic alt and I've noticed a few things regarding the dog.If you've got a multiple mob encounter, it will try to "off tank" the mob you aren't fighting, which gets it dead. You need to make sure it attacks what you are attacking.Also, soloing ability is seriously skewed by your defense skill and your offensive skills. It took me a long time to get my piercing and crushing up, but with the mystic AA's that turn your dps spells into CAs and the +50 to offense bonus along with the agility line final ability that procs rage, my little gnome is kicking butt. The DPS difference between having your skills maxed for your level is quite significant.The dog is just there for morale support at this point. If it behaves well, I let it bite my target in the butt.Once I max out my piercing I plan to try and do some parsing. So far I've been able to solo a ^^^ green heroic, which I engaged by accident. Keeping up the DPS debuff and attack speed debuff up at all times makes a big difference, as well as timing out your wards to where you land a new one right after it heals (if it doesn't get broken).

Ishnar

02-27-2007, 09:02 AM

<cite>JamesRay wrote:</cite><blockquote>I've got a 56 Mystic alt and I've noticed a few things regarding the dog.If you've got a multiple mob encounter, it will try to "off tank" the mob you aren't fighting, which gets it dead. You need to make sure it attacks what you are attacking.Also, soloing ability is seriously skewed by your defense skill and your offensive skills. It took me a long time to get my piercing and crushing up, but with the mystic AA's that turn your dps spells into CAs and the +50 to offense bonus along with the agility line final ability that procs rage, my little gnome is kicking butt. The DPS difference between having your skills maxed for your level is quite significant.The dog is just there for morale support at this point. If it behaves well, I let it bite my target in the butt.Once I max out my piercing I plan to try and do some parsing. So far I've been able to solo a ^^^ green heroic, which I engaged by accident. Keeping up the DPS debuff and attack speed debuff up at all times makes a big difference, as well as timing out your wards to where you land a new one right after it heals (if it doesn't get broken). </blockquote>I love my dog. I didn't spec your way, I'm currently all down the STA line. I've maxed Infective bites and Crippling Bash so most of my DPS is spells not CAs. I just took out a barely green ^^^ named last night, even though I used about 90% of my resources to do it. With the chaos doll and crippling bash, I'm actually hitting pretty hard (for a shaman). Even heroic's HP goes down in chunks while both magic debuffs are up with my nuke debuff. The melee DPS debuff + special DPS debuff (Crippling Bash) makes it much easier to last out the encounter. And the longer the encounter the more that dog's DPS adds up. The combined magic debuff makes all of my spells hit about 20-30% harder depending if both debuffs land. Which means, my nuke will hit for an extra 100 sometimes, and wow is that satisfying. Of course a fury might consider a named green ^^^ no big deal, but I was dancing a jig. When I remember I always tell the dog to NOT guard me. The bad part is the dog breaks off when whatever it is attacking dies, but the good thing is I have much more control and can keep the dog alive longer.

Nefaro

02-27-2007, 03:46 PM

Ok, I feel like a COMPLETE noob..!! I just realized last night that I can stack wards. [Removed for Content] do I feel like such a [Removed for Content]. Thank all for the responses and sorry if I made anyone crazy with my rant. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I have ALOT to learn, back to the basics I go... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Greggthegrmreapr

02-28-2007, 07:49 PM

<cite>Nefarous wrote:</cite><blockquote>Fin, I'm pretty sure it's not me as a healer. Most of the grps I've been in were guild based or friends I know in the game. I'm only lev 46, alot of the quests I have are for mobs my level or higher. When soloing, I can take most things 1 on 1 my leve or 2 lev higher, if it becomes 2 on 1 the odds are I will die, I died in SS with 2 deepwater crocs at my level. Sure I can fight mobs that are much lower than me and get xp very slow, but when trying to do quests that doesn't work. I have big troubles when I have to heal entire grp. As you know, mystic heals aren't the best. Were a backup healer at best. I can keep any tank alive as long as he can kill mob before I run out of power and the rest of the grp isn't [I cannot control my vocabulary].At my level when tanking with other char, I haven't played with a mystic yet that can keep grp alive and be the only healer while fighting in a hard zone. I've played with Fury's and Templars that can.My best ward protects grp for 2000. When soloing, 30 seconds on a ward is nothing when you do crap damage (I have a good wpn). The DOT's aren't that great either. I'm sure I'm not telling anybody info they don't already know. From what I've seen, if you observe the grps that are playing most of them will have any healer but a mystic. That tells me somethings wrong.My point about this is the devs should see this kinda of BS thats happening and do something about it that doesn't involve taking things away from us. There I go again, back on my soapbox... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></blockquote>A mystic should never be a back up healer. You are front line defense. If you do your job right (depending on the zone and what mobs they are) other healers in the group won't have to do anything. I say that part in paranthesis because there are times such as raids and certain mobs will just tear through a ward no sweat.Also using our debuffs is a great way to "heal." The less damage a mob does, the less that needs healed.As far as the pet? I am quite attached to him. 16% haste, Group ward and AoE immunity proc, and some constant damage make him very useful. Just keep an eye on the buffs on you for "Aura of Warding." If you see this up, tell the tank to hold for a sec or the dog may pull ward aggro. A good tank will be happy to wait so you don't get pummeled after DogDOg eats it.Soloing can be a bit tougher. Get your Debuffs and wards as high as you can, and put 5 points into each of the Spell to CA AA's. Get your target, pull with Grey line for the snare which gives you time to get a ward up or body pull if something is close. Keep wards on you, use CA's, and debuff... it takes longer than a lot of classes, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes pretty easy. I recomend a nice 2 hander as well.

LizzyIzzy2

03-01-2007, 11:36 AM

Mystic is a front line healer. In a group I don't really try for dps at all. I ward first and debuff second. Patch heal as needed. Group cure as needed. Reapply wards. I get a master strike or DOT thrown in if things are very stable but otherwise concentrate on warding. Oberon is also your friend in a group situation. On a single target I can throw that up on the tank and even if there is another healer they don't have to do much healing (maybe curing). In a raid situation I typically parse 25% of the healer parse by myself and I know that other shamens report this as well. You are correct that our heals are slow and not as power efficient as other healer classes. Our dps...well...what dps, lol? I suspect I could improve my dps by specing the AA's for it but I would only do that if I were soloing the majority of the time. I spec'd for warding and healing which makes my group utility better, imo.

Angilia Everheart

03-01-2007, 12:09 PM

I also want to point out a fact most mystics do not consider and its a dam nice spell. The healing pet. Umbral attendant. At Adept 3 the spell is doing a 250+ group heal over time. That makes a major difference on the scenario. When soloing that makes up for any dots you get on you till you clear them and also adds to the tad of healing you may need between wards. It gives the benefit or torpor without the drawbacks. And since its a pet if your raiding with more then one mystic the pets should stack since they are not an actual spell placed on people.The mystics are certainly a dam good class if played well. I will say its frustrating to have the majority of our first set of AA linked to the "onehitwonder" pet but that does not make the class suck it just makes the AA line suck. Our abilities would be better if they were given to us and not the dog. Or at least give us buffs we can give the dog to add to his survivability besides the one we get for spending 24 points on the STR line.The legitimate complaints I could say we have is that I wish our AA lines were not do dogdog centric like the other classes and if they do stay that way dogdog does need a hitpoint boost. I dont want him to be able to tank or anything thats his job but at least surviving past one or two swings would be nice since soo many AA are spent on making him usefull. Other classes get runbuffs and abilities they can use as long as they are alive. We get a ton of abilities that have a large chance of not providing benefit in the fightbecause one wrong move from the dog or one AE and the AA are all gone.