Lost soloer

[Alycen]

<p>I did a search but couldnt find anything under a year old about this and have seen very conflicting info in few posts in the general discussion....</p><p>I am new to EQ2 and am trying to find a good solo/quest class to do most of the quests and exploring. I have been tied between Wiz and Necro due to the speed of killing (for those go kill 20 deer quests) and being able to take out green named on occassion. I just read several posts that wizards are unable until around level 50 and I am wondering if its the same for Necromancers. There is a great post on the top 5 heroic killers and several necros have posted that they have a very hard time with names above grey. So what is the truth and what level are you able to take on things tougher then solo crabs?</p><p> Thanks a ton!</p>

[abominos]

I'm only 36 so I can only comment on my experiences thus far, and then mention what I've found in other posts pretty much on the same topic. First, I went down the Necro AA Manipulations tree and picked up Tainted Heals before anything else.  This flipped what I could kill on it's head.  People have posted it many times, people much higher level killing much higher level Nameds than myself, 13% heals for casting root/stun/mark/fear/cure arcane flat out rules if you want to kill Heroics.  The hardest thing I've done so far (and it wasn't that hard as I'd out leveled it a good margin due to trying to finish quests and some Fallen Gate farming) was soloing the Named in the Gul Thex Citadel for the Shiny Brass Halberd HQ.  You have to kill a group of 28/29 Heroics (5 I think) and then after that wave another spawns right after, then another and finally the wave w/ the Named.  I ran out of mana after going way too hard on dps on the first wave (I've been hording my plat and not buying gear, only spells I need etc. so I'm sure my stats are rather poor).  However I had about a bubble left and then just proceeded to alternate between cure Arcane/stun/root to keep pet up and let him beat down the mobs with the exception of Withering Affliction which is was I chose as my Master at 34.  I kept him healed just fine and when the boss spawned I ran off the agro, regened and went back to beat him down w/ ease. Mana regen gets easier for us from what I read when we get Lich.  My pet is starting to lose aggro on me however lately so that might be an issue but I've read that we need to go down Sta line to fix that.  Sta line, Wis line, 10% dmg absorption in Gravecalling, Tainted Heals and maybe Lifeburn and it seems like our soloing game gets pretty strong.  The necros I've read that have a hard time seem to not spec Tainted Heals due to raiding spec.  Also some don't like to root/nuke on the few bosses that require it because we are dot based.  But apparently we can pull out mage pet and do ok if slowly at taking those down as well.  I guess worshipping Cazic Thule and getting his cloak and some of the blessings/miracles can help alot as well due to fear but this is hard to pin down as I've not found a post elaborating on it because people are secretive about it.  If it's an exploit or glitch it's just as well since no use getting used to something that will get fixed.  However I suspect it's for situations where fearing mobs isn't going to bring down alot of secondary aggro and thus you can alleviate the dps bearing down on your tank pet greatly.  This is just a guess. There is a post with a great walkthrough on what the author does to take on pretty tough content.  Check out the threads on the first 2 pages of the board here, you'll find it.  Too lazy to dig up link <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> My original plan was to go Tainted then 10% and Lifeburn but w/ the aggro issue lately I've stopped after 3 in Lifeburn tree and am going to put all my other points in Sta till I max out the suggested build there.  Then maybe go Wis but will prolly go Lifeburn as I think I'd benefit more. Hope this helps at least a little and hopefully some higher ups will give a few more pointers/correct any mistakes on my part.

[Odium]

<p>Im currently lvl 70, and have not respected for solo play but here are my thoughts:</p><p>Summoner classess are good soloers, either of them. Necromancers, along with their Conj Cousins, have some of the best DPS in the game and can certainly keep up with a wizard - in most situations anyway. So in terms of damage output, your good with the Necro. </p><p>Another thing to consider is that Necros can Feign Death - not to play devils advocate, but not all of your solo attempts will work out <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Its nice to be able to feign death if your pet hits the dirt and that angry mobs comes to rip up your new robe.</p><p>Another good point is healing - I don't think Wizards can self heal - necro's can. Right off our life-tap line replenishes health everytime you cast it. Eventually you get Lich Which in addition to  replenishing your power (I almost never run out) Lich will tap health from your target and give it to you for every disease-based spell you cast.  So in terms of soloing - power replinishment and healing....nice combo dont you think? There is also an AA line that will alow you to use your pets life to heal yourself (or others) and Necros get a health transfer spell to use too. </p><p>Can you say FEAR? Fear is a spell that, as the names suggests, makes mobs afraid - basicaly they run off for a short duration. Now in a solo situation where your tank falls and all of a sudden your looking at obliteration, its nice to fear (mob runs away) Root (mob gets ..well...rooted) and recast tank pet....Viola...victory!! ...most of the time...if not see Feign Death above <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Sometimes I'll use fear to control mutplie mobs - if a mob brings a buddy or I somehow grab another, its nice to fear / root one while your tank beats on the other.</p><p>I terms of what you can take out, I dont play wizard so I cant really compare. With the right equipment  - and were talking master spells here too - you should be able to take out Green ^^^ heroics (most, not all) and Nameds too providing they dont have friends. Depending on skill and equipment, you might take on Blue ^^^ heroics - Ive heard it possible but I havent found any at my lvl that I can take...as for yellows - if you figure out how - write a book <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>My guess is that both Wizard and Necro would do well in solo but  I bet the necro has more fall-back plans. I think Wixards have but one option:  Root, root and root some more.  Necros however have pet sheilds, Fears, Feign death, self heals and ampel power replinishment. Over all, I' dsay a necro is a better solo, if only for those options. </p>

[shagr1414]

<cite>Odium wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Im currently lvl 70, and have not respected for solo play but here are my thoughts:</p><p>Summoner classess are good soloers, either of them. Necromancers, along with their Conj Cousins, have some of the best DPS in the game and can certainly keep up with a wizard - in most situations anyway. So in terms of damage output, your good with the Necro. </p><p>Another thing to consider is that Necros can Feign Death - not to play devils advocate, but not all of your solo attempts will work out <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Its nice to be able to feign death if your pet hits the dirt and that angry mobs comes to rip up your new robe.</p><p>Another good point is healing - I don't think Wizards can self heal - necro's can. Right off our life-tap line replenishes health everytime you cast it. Eventually you get Lich Which in addition to  replenishing your power (I almost never run out) Lich will tap health from your target and give it to you for every disease-based spell you cast.  So in terms of soloing - power replinishment and healing....nice combo dont you think? There is also an AA line that will alow you to use your pets life to heal yourself (or others) and Necros get a health transfer spell to use too. </p><p>Can you say FEAR? Fear is a spell that, as the names suggests, makes mobs afraid - basicaly they run off for a short duration. Now in a solo situation where your tank falls and all of a sudden your looking at obliteration, its nice to fear (mob runs away) Root (mob gets ..well...rooted) and recast tank pet....Viola...victory!! ...most of the time...if not see Feign Death above <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Sometimes I'll use fear to control mutplie mobs - if a mob brings a buddy or I somehow grab another, its nice to fear / root one while your tank beats on the other.</p><p>I terms of what you can take out, I dont play wizard so I cant really compare. With the right equipment  - and were talking master spells here too - you should be able to take out Green ^^^ heroics (most, not all) and Nameds too providing they dont have friends. Depending on skill and equipment, you might take on Blue ^^^ heroics - Ive heard it possible but I havent found any at my lvl that I can take...as for yellows - if you figure out how - write a book <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>My guess is that both Wizard and Necro would do well in solo but  I bet the necro has more fall-back plans. I think Wixards have but one option:  Root, root and root some more.  Necros however have pet sheilds, Fears, Feign death, self heals and ampel power replinishment. Over all, I' dsay a necro is a better solo, if only for those options. </p></blockquote>Actually yellows and blues aren't all that tough.  Trick is patience.  I'm able to do this in open areas on a pvp server so I know you all can do it on pve.  Anyways back to patience.  Think of yourself as a mini wizard in an way.  Root nuke works very well as a wizard, cept they have the giant nukes for the part.  They can take down a lvl 72^^^ solo named with little effort.  A necro can do the same exact thing cept one little problem. TIME.  All you need to do is come to terms with the fact we have no big nukes.  We do however have a good root spell. Find your mob, make sure you are totally aware of your current surroundings and look for the safest route to move when root breaks.  Root, debuff, nuke, root nuke root nuke root nuke for what seems like aneternity, but the mobs do come down.  Power can and does become an issue at times, but is easily remedied.  Use your a3 or master hearts as they pop, and use your pet health to mana spell when it pops.  Yes it takes 5 times as long as a wizard does to kill, but the same results happen.  One last thing, do not use dots, do not use snare.....only Direct dmg, those dots and snare will get ya killed almost everytime. 

[Raidi Sovin'faile]

If you have Tainted Heals and Fighter pet buffs then you can definitely take on stronger things than just green triple ups (at least while leveling, not sure about high level EoF). And yeah, the root is very powerful. Especially since it sends them packing when it wears off, so even if it breaks you have a buffer to recast it right away. I've approached most fights with my pet tanking, and if it's a hard one and he's getting beaten (despite the crowd control spells), i'll back him off and root the mob for a breather. Nice to recast pet too sometimes if things go bad.

[abominos]

The recast tank pet I don't get but I've seen a few people comment on doing so.  How the heck is it ever going to get aggro again?  Can't give it time even if I was that patient because it'll just get killed again doing so....you talking about just at the beginning?  So far if my tank goes down I see it coming early on based on how hard the first 2 hits are and I try to get the heck out of there <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> 

[Quda]

<p>To be honest, the necro gets better the higher they get, not weaker like most classes.  </p><p>With Lich in the 50's you will never run out of power again.  As long as your pet is staying alive long enough for you to benefit from tainted heals, yes, you can spam it.  One spell, the 4 second cast, that gives you a Esseance, can be toggled off, and cast again, and repeated for a heal of 13% every 4 seconds. Added with the others, you can constanlly heal your pet, never run out of power, and throw dots and damage when the pet is ok.</p><p>One disadvantage of a necro is aoe, we have very few, so take on single mobs if you can, the mutplies take some practice, just two?  root one, send the pet on the other.</p>

[gr8scott]

<cite>abominos wrote:</cite><blockquote>The recast tank pet I don't get but I've seen a few people comment on doing so.  How the heck is it ever going to get aggro again?    </blockquote><p> Check out the new version of the "perceptors command" ability <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>GS</p>

[Deila]

<p>Old-school Necromancer here. Started my first one on Lucan around LU5 or so, and took her to 60 when that was cap. With LU19, re-rolled Vyv on Test, which has been home since. </p><p>I've tried out most of the classes in EQ2, usually to around level 30 or 40, while messing around with alts. In my opinion, Necromancer is the finest soloing class available. We just have too many cool tools at our disposal, for a wide variety of situations. Lifetaps, fear, root, stun, pets to take the punishment for us (or help dish out even more, situationally), feign death - the list of assets goes on and on.</p><p>I won't go into specifics about soloing tactics here, for brevity. If you're considering the differences between Wizards and Necromancers for soloing, the biggest one (again, in my opinion) is in the amount of room needed to effectively solo. Generally, Wizards need a fair amount of space between them and the mob. Necromancers, however, can fight in extremely tight quarters, and very effectively. Should you want to solo in dungeons - where you often simply won't have much room to work, without attracting any number of adds - you'll really appreciate that aspect of how the class works.</p><p>And yes - if specced for soloing (or even hybrid solo/raid achievement specs, as I've been doing lately), you'll be able to kill far more impressive stuff than grey or barely green ^^^ heroics, with the right tactics for the right situation.</p>

[shagr1414]

<cite>abominos wrote:</cite><blockquote>The recast tank pet I don't get but I've seen a few people comment on doing so.  How the heck is it ever going to get aggro again?  Can't give it time even if I was that patient because it'll just get killed again doing so....you talking about just at the beginning?  So far if my tank goes down I see it coming early on based on how hard the first 2 hits are and I try to get the heck out of there <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </blockquote>Perceptor's command will regain agro most times.