Illusionist or Conj?

[Dragonlor]

<p>First, let me say that I have tried most of the classes in EQ2 and still struggle to find my favorite (so far the troub has shockingly come the closest though I still need to try the dirge).  Anyway, I recently rolled up an illusionist just to see what they were like and I was pleasantly surprised (at least at low levels).  Now I am faced with a decision.  I am trying to decide between making a conjuror or an illusionist for my last character slot.  I have played both a bit to try them out (15 and lower).  Maybe it is my play style or maybe it is just the spell throwing pet but it seems like at leat early on that the illusionist handles multiple adds a lot.  For clarity here, I am not even talking about mezzing the adds but just straight taking them out.  This got me to thinking about some things that matter to me and I was hoping some folks here could help give me the info:</p><p>Who solos better between the conj and illusionist?  I will define "better" for you as I apply it here.  "Better" means who can steadily gain xp at a fairly good rate (speed wise) against either even con or ^^ mobs?  I am forced to solo alot and do not have a ton of play time so this is important to me.</p><p>Between the two who has the greater variety of tactics (i.e. can fight and kill in different ways just not same buttons mashed every time)?  I would guess illusionist here with the crowd control facets but I could be wrong...</p><p>Who, given equal player skill and gear, would tend to die less just based on class skills?  (I liked my wizard but he was too fragile soloing if he got adds etc.)</p><p>Who does more DPS?</p><p>Is the illusionist "pet" just stronger at earlier levels or is that just um...an illusion...sorry pun intended <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />?  </p><p>Does the conj ability to get different types of pets (tanks, mage, scout) make them more flexible in the end (able to adapt to different situations better)?</p><p>Thanks!</p>

[Kocia]

Conj is a better steady xp getting soloer.  Illusionist can solo more names, but slower.  I find illusionists WAY more fun than conj's, but that's just my subjective judgment.   Conjurers are very 1-dimensional and ultimately boring.

[Bombodale]

<p><i>Who solos better between the conj and illusionist?  I will define "better" for you as I apply it here.  "Better" means who can steadily gain xp at a fairly good rate (speed wise) against either even con or ^^ mobs?  I am forced to solo alot and do not have a ton of play time so this is important to me.</i> I would say conjurer by your definition of "better". Conjurers have good DPS and can solo well. However soloing named and ^^^ is easier with illusionist. </p><p><i>Between the two who has the greater variety of tactics (i.e. can fight and kill in different ways just not same buttons mashed every time)?  I would guess illusionist here with the crowd control facets but I could be wrong...</i></p><p>As a conjurer you have different pets for different situations. However you cannot change tactics midway in the fight as you cannot just switch pets. Illusionist can and will change tactics midway if one is not working. So ilusionist here. However in terms of really different tactics I would recommend coercer, as they have the ability to select from a wide variety of charmed pets to use in battle. </p><p><i>Who, given equal player skill and gear, would tend to die less just based on class skills?  (I liked my wizard but he was too fragile soloing if he got adds etc.)</i></p><p>I would say both of them are quite survivable, but conjurer requires less time to learn how to survive. Illusionist requires more much more skill than conjurer. </p><p><i>Who does more DPS?</i></p><p>Never really measured. I'm sure someone else has the answer. Suspect its conjurer. </p>

[sprogn]

<blockquote><p>Who solos better between the conj and illusionist?  I will define "better" for you as I apply it here.  "Better" means who can steadily gain xp at a fairly good rate (speed wise) against either even con or ^^ mobs?  I am forced to solo alot and do not have a ton of play time so this is important to me.</p><p>Between the two who has the greater variety of tactics (i.e. can fight and kill in different ways just not same buttons mashed every time)?  I would guess illusionist here with the crowd control facets but I could be wrong...</p><p>Who, given equal player skill and gear, would tend to die less just based on class skills?  (I liked my wizard but he was too fragile soloing if he got adds etc.)</p><p>Who does more DPS?</p><p>Is the illusionist "pet" just stronger at earlier levels or is that just um...an illusion...sorry pun intended <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />?  </p><p>Does the conj ability to get different types of pets (tanks, mage, scout) make them more flexible in the end (able to adapt to different situations better)?</p><p>Thanks!</p></blockquote><p> Soloing:  Both are pretty evenly capable with player skill, but significantly different.  I would say the Conj is slightly easier to solo with given the pet heals and the fact that if the fight goes the way it should, the conj will never even be #1 on the mobs hate list.  After L55, I believe the conj streams ahead.  With frigid winds and unabate, it is quite possible to take out yellow ^^^ and orange solo con mobs.</p><p>Tactics:  Again a close call.  The Conjurer can single target DPS, encounter DPS, Tank for a group or even provide a good strong healer (Hydro and KoS Wis AA + Master Sacrifice).  In terms of pure fun, the illusionist may take the edge being able to DPS up with the wizards or save a group from a horrible overpull.</p><p>Tend to die less?  Well I'd lean slightly towards the conj, with the right tank pet AA you can get quite a few mobs pounding away on it.  Both classes have the ability to root and back off (ok, mez is much neater especially if dealin with caster mobs).  Both are different however and depending what mobs/what day of the week this can change.</p><p>More DPS?  If equally geared and with the right player skill, Conj hands down.  Any Conj who can't rank in the top 3 raid DPS isn't doing his/her job properly.  In terms of sustained prolonged fight average DPS, the Conj has the game pretty much tied up.  Having said that, I have seen Illusionists do an ungodly amount of damage if they are DPS specced (we're talking 1200dps average in OOB/Valdoon).  I would not choose one class over the other basedon DPS though.  Bear in mind that the illusionist will contribute to a groups DPS much more than a conj.</p><p>The illusionest pet, this is the topic of so much discussion.  Bottom line is the DPS is nice when soloing but when grouped/raiding it can take up too many conc slots.  It doesn't keep up with the Conj pet DPS after about L30 but is still useful in the right situation.</p><p>Adapting to different situations, both are very very capable classes.  You always get a few who sour the reputation of the class a little by not playing it to it's potential.  Conjurer is definately the easier class to play at a novice level.  A novice player can get a high level conj and not worry about becoming "good at their class".  An illusionist is forced to become good at their class and when they do, they shine!  But if you run into a dedicated conj player who has taken the time to learn their class and become good at what they do, then it's suprising what they can do.</p><p>Bottom line is both are extremely fun classes to play.  If you get bored with one then you're probably not playing it to it's potential <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Delete oneof those alts and make a Conj and Illusionist would be my recommendation!  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Phineus]

 Illus is way more fun.

[Kocia]

Phineus@Venekor wrote: <blockquote> Illus is way more fun. </blockquote><p> /agree</p>

[Ardnahoy]

<p>Every one else has already summed up the differences quite well in the previous posts.</p><p>Only one thing to add - illusionists will destroy conjurers and necros in duels. I know thats not so important, but it is kinda fun to humiliate your fellow caster friends in a friendly duel.</p>

[Dooh]

I have a 70 Illusionist and Conjuror, and i would have to say Illusionist > Conjuror.

[Lovori]

What makes illusionists alot of fun? I like conjurers so far because there elemental and have variety of pets.

[Phineus]

<p> I like to play a class that makes me think. An illusionist is always hatching some plan. </p><p> Even on the bad pulls in unrest we pull thru with the enchanter. Cant really say that about any other class. To top it off I only moved down 1 or 2 slots on raid wide dps compared to my warlock and illus starts looking pretty good. The importance of crowd control and in combat regen cannot be understated in the tougher zones. </p>

[Fayline Fyrecat]

<cite>Dragonlord1 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Who solos better between the conj and illusionist?  I will define "better" for you as I apply it here.  "Better" means who can steadily gain xp at a fairly good rate (speed wise) against either even con or ^^ mobs?  I am forced to solo alot and do not have a ton of play time so this is important to me.</p><p>Between the two who has the greater variety of tactics (i.e. can fight and kill in different ways just not same buttons mashed every time)?  I would guess illusionist here with the crowd control facets but I could be wrong...</p><p>Who, given equal player skill and gear, would tend to die less just based on class skills?  (I liked my wizard but he was too fragile soloing if he got adds etc.)</p><p>Who does more DPS?</p><p>Is the illusionist "pet" just stronger at earlier levels or is that just um...an illusion...sorry pun intended <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />?  </p><p>Does the conj ability to get different types of pets (tanks, mage, scout) make them more flexible in the end (able to adapt to different situations better)?</p><p>Thanks!</p></blockquote><p>Conjuror is my main, but I've been enjoying my young illusionist (only 23) since EoF came out.  I'll give my 2cp from the conjuror perspective:</p><p>1.  Soloing:  I solo almost exclusively, and I would have to say that a conjuror can kill quite a bit faster than an illusionist.  Conj's can mow through greens and blues, and can kill yellow ^^ with relative ease.  Triple-up heroics, however, can be near impossible any higher than blue (expand on this later).</p><p>2.  Strategy & Tactics:  For killing solo-con mobs, yellow to green, conjuror can use any of their three pets effectively which gives some nice variety in strategy and playstyle.  In the 50's conjurors get their snare spell, which adds this technique to their arsenal allowing them to kite heroics while using high-dps pets.  It's more difficult for a conjuror to change tactics mid fight - we don't have the "pause" button (read: Mez) that illusionists do, only root.  I usually have a tactic picked out before a difficult fight and it can be difficult to recover if the tactic fails - be it pet tanking or kiting.  And if the conj pet dies, I'd give them a 30% chance of survival.  Conj is a lot of button mashing, but you do need to know when to heal the pet, and some thought is required.  Conjs just can't control the mobs with spell choice like illusionists can.</p><p>3.  Death Frequency:  I would have to give illusionists the edge on survivability.  Nothing like mezzing on the run <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>4.  HIgher DPS:  Conjuror.  I'm not saying illusionists don't do good DPS, just that conj's have the edge in this area in exchange for the control abilities.</p><p>5.  Stronger Pets?:  I've been impressed with the illusionist pet at early levels, but I realize that many of spells it uses are stuns and stifles, i.e. damage prevention.  Conjuror pets do more damage, and conjurors are designed to provide support to their pet through buffs, procs, and heals.   Conjurors are ALL about the pets, and are basically helpless/defenseless without them; not so for illusionists.  Conjuror pets may seem to take more of a beating, but that's because conjs don't have the damage prevention abilities that illusionists get.</p><p>6.  Conjuror Pet Variety:  Does the variety of pets conjurors have make them more flexible?  Yes and no.  As I said above, it's difficult for conjurors to change tactics on the fly.  Pet selection for a conjuror is most significant in that they can suit alternate roles in a group - be it a fill-in tank/off-tank, back up healer (AA water pet), or DPS (where we shine).  As far as being able to adapt to different situations better, the ability of illusionists to control mobs probably gives them the edge in adaptability, but the role in the group is less flexible.</p>

[Lovori]

Wow sounds like a very tough decision here.

[Dragonlor]

<p>I have decided on the Illusionist and say far I am quite happy.  It is early yet, but so far all is well.  Thanks for the help all!</p>