My WoW Friend has a few questions

[roces9]

Long story short I think I nagged my xHardcorex WoW raiding friend enough to try EQ2 (he's actually sick of WoW in generall but I'll take the credit). Last night we talked about the game a little and he decided he wanted to be a Healer from Kelethin that could solo but still heal groups just fine. Right away I told him to roll a Druid because my experience with a Warden has been very posative. But when he found out that a lot of people have druids he said he wanted to be something more unique. He really wants to start in Kelethin so aside from druids he could be a Templar or a Mystic. Can anyone comment on their soloability vs druids and the "uniqueness" of all the Good healers- in your experience which one have you seen the least. Thanks.

[Cadori Seraphim]

I would not suggest a shaman (mystic/defiler) as their DPS is very low - lowest in fact of all of the healers. Fury, IMO, as they DPS better then wardens do and can also heal really well. Other then druid I would probably suggest Inquisitor, I hear they can dps really well if specced right <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Bloodfa]

Mystic wards rock.  If there's one in the group and a druid throwing healing, you can definitely take on higher level content than you should be able to.  Without fear of dying.

[roces9]

I know Inqs are good soloers too but he's hell-bent on starting in Kelethin. So does anyone know how Templars solo?

[Cadori Seraphim]

I agree Mystic (and defiler <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />) wards rock, but as far as soloablility goes I dont think they are the best of the healer classes to choose.

[Vellandra]

<cite>roces9 wrote:</cite><blockquote>I know Inqs are good soloers too but he's hell-bent on starting in Kelethin. So does anyone know how Templars solo?</blockquote> Reliably, but slowly.  If he can handle that, then fine <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Leemeg]

I do have a level 40s Mystic, and I don't really have any big issues soloing with her. Maybe not the fastest, but its fast enough. I do like my mystic better than my templar though.

[Zcore24]

<cite>Vellandra wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>roces9 wrote:</cite><blockquote>I know Inqs are good soloers too but he's hell-bent on starting in Kelethin. So does anyone know how Templars solo?</blockquote> Reliably, but slowly.  If he can handle that, then fine <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></blockquote> As Vellandra said...you will solo slowly until you can build up some AA's that will help your DPS.

[Deyaneyra]

Mystic soloing isn't that bad it used to be anymore, still slow but doable. Depends on which AA you choose for sure.

[Norrsken]

both templars and mystics can solo. both do it fairly slowly until they get enough aas to up their dps. Before that? I'd rather watch paint dry tbh. Bot once you get those aas, its less tedious. The mystic has the advatnage of CAs when soloing. Interrupts is a [Removed for Content] when you are a low aviodance plate caster. Believe me. more than 3 mobs and you might just call it a day.

[roces9]

The general impression that I'm getting is that Shammans and Templars have a very slow solo pace untill they can put AAs into their nukes. Is that right? I think I'm just going to tell him to roll a Druid and if he really hates good dps, good heals, good runspeed, ports and the like, I'll tell him to try soloing an Inq. Thanks guys.

[Argul]

Sidora@Crushbone wrote: <blockquote>I would not suggest a shaman (mystic/defiler) as their DPS is very low - lowest in fact of all of the healers. Fury, IMO, as they DPS better then wardens do and can also heal really well. Other then druid I would probably suggest Inquisitor, I hear they can dps really well if specced right <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </blockquote><p> I think I love you for saying furies can DPS and heal well.</p><p>Marry me? <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Norrsken]

<cite>roces9 wrote:</cite><blockquote>The general impression that I'm getting is that Shammans and Templars have a very slow solo pace untill they can put AAs into their nukes. Is that right? I think I'm just going to tell him to roll a Druid and if he really hates good dps, good heals, good runspeed, ports and the like, I'll tell him to try soloing an Inq. Thanks guys. </blockquote>inqys also need aas for soloing. about 36 of it I think.

[Tremelle]

Nah, inquisitors solo well from the start, but they are an evil class there for they can't start in kelethin. Templar are their good counter part but i have yet to play one, so I don't know how they are.Druids in general get al ot of toys and both do well soloing,both heal well (wardens are a tad better) , both can be good or evil and both can DPS (Furies are better at this) the biggest issue early on is interrupts.But like you friend noticed everyone and their mother has a Fury or warden healer.The only other otion is a mystic, they are a highly under estimated class and fewer people play them.

[zaneluke]

I have a 70 mystic that can solo well, but it takes a long time to level vs say a warlock, which I also have. ***** <b><span style="font-size: small">I had a lev 60 holy priest in wow and a 60 warlock</span></b>. The holy priest in WOW levels at about the same rate as a mystic. Tell him that and it should make up his mind.

[Finora]

<cite>roces9 wrote:</cite><blockquote>Long story short I think I nagged my xHardcorex WoW raiding friend enough to try EQ2 (he's actually sick of WoW in generall but I'll take the credit). Last night we talked about the game a little and he decided he wanted to be a Healer from Kelethin that could solo but still heal groups just fine. Right away I told him to roll a Druid because my experience with a Warden has been very posative. But when he found out that a lot of people have druids he said he wanted to be something more unique. He really wants to start in Kelethin so aside from druids he could be a Templar or a Mystic. Can anyone comment on their soloability vs druids and the "uniqueness" of all the Good healers- in your experience which one have you seen the least. Thanks. </blockquote><p>ALL healers can heal a group just fine. If he wants to start in Kelethin he'd have the choice between mystic/templar/fury/warden.</p><p>To before many aa's get put down fury has the best solo dps, wardens do fine,  mystics slightly slower (until they get some aa under their belts) and as far as I know templars do the worst solo damage. However, IMO mystics/templars are safer to solo earlier on due to how their healing works (reactive for templars and wards to prevent damage for mystics). Later on, I can't recall what level wardens get a group evac and furies eventually get a group invis. Both druids can do quests for ports at lvl 25 which can be convient, though I can't say I miss them when I'm playing my mystic not my fury.</p><p>Taking a baby soloing mystic up, I could kill stuff pretty steadily with almost no downtime. With the fury I had a bit more downtime because I invaribly ended up taking more damage and using more power to kill things. (I could just be a REALLY crappy fury though). While I can't blow things up in 2 hits with the little mystic, typically I've spent less time recovering from a fight.</p><p>And and aside, mystics do not put AAs into nukes. We melee, we have very very very nice str buffs which help that quite a bit. Also it doesn't take long at all to get a decent amount of aa. By level 21 I've a baby defiler (evil shaman, plays similar to a mystic) who's pulled in 20 aa's already without locking xp except when I was killing for an update and didn't want the quest I was working on to go grey.</p>

[ke'la]

If you do lots of quests, wich is very easy out of Kel, you will have no issues getting the AAs you need to up the DPS of a Mystic or Templar, also if your friend likes Hardcore Raiding being a Quality Mystic is all but an Auto Invite to the Hardcore Raiding guilds on most servers, once he gets close to the lvl cap. Also Mystics are one of the best classes to duo with especally if your a Monk, as avodance "tanking" + Wards to cover spike damage(a Monk's weakness) = a nearly impossable to defeat combo.

[rumblepants]

Mystics can solo just fine but requires complete reliance on achievement points to do so plus to some degree gear. Once set (which shouldn't take long as it took me only the first 10 levels after 10 to get the amount of points needed), we can effectively solo just about anything not labeled epic or heroic that has a few levels above us. Our wards prevent damage which is great, and we can debuff to weaken our encounters. We do not put achievement points into our nukes actually (this is an option but is a waste) but instead we gain combat abilities which are the equivalent of our nukes but the added advantage of split second cast time rather then cast and wait and wait. Also since STR is what provides the extra ooomph in damage to combat abilities and we have 2 buffs for that, makes it that much better. Does that mean we replace Warlocks and Wizards? No. Though not to toot my own horn, I parse as high as they do for my tier. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> We can do damage and heal just fine.

[VizP]

Sidora@Crushbone wrote: <blockquote>I would not suggest a shaman (mystic/defiler) as their DPS is very low - lowest in fact of all of the healers. Fury, IMO, as they DPS better then wardens do and can also heal really well. Other then druid I would probably suggest Inquisitor, I hear they can dps really well if specced right <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </blockquote> This information is completely incorrect - in raids I parse second to the fury in ALL situations and I am not even DPS specced (Im a defiler). Mystics have huge melee DPS if they spec the correct choice in AA lines and are the second highest DPS melee for priests after Inquisitors. Simply - shamans can be dps powerhouses if needed and second only to furies. After the last AA changes to Int Lines for Shamans and also the AA change for Mystics, this is now simply a fact. Basically furies will out dps all other healers but shamans can and will outdps anyone except furies if needed. However shamans are by far more stronger all round healers over furies so its a question of deciding what you want. P.S People need to understand that while furies can heal well, they are not pure healers like say templrs or defilers. Some healers are simply orientated towards being able to survive in the toughest situations with minimal effort. I can assure you that if I was healing a group and a fury was healing another group, both places in some very hard situations and both surviving, the fury will have worked four times as hard as me. Why? Fast smaller healers, far weaker debuffs etc vs huge wards, one of the best debuffs in game, huge hp buffs etc means simply, some healers can heal while eating a sandwich. Note furies make up for this by the ability to heavy DPS when needed and nuke happy when solo. Thus balance is restored. Also do note that furies are one of the most popular classes in game. Being popular is NOT a good thing - your masters will be purchased from the broker as soon as they are placed, your rare ones will go for incredibly high amounts etc. In these cases playing a rarer class i.e. defiler, inquisitor etc is a godsend. BTW I seem to have noticed that people are not noting the fact that shamans can solo the most difficult content out of all healers. This is because they can dps reasonably well and are the most resilient due to hp buffs and huge wards plus debuffs? Point to prove - i can solo most of Acadechism myself at a pretty decent pace. I know for a fact a fury can't do it because they'll be plastered across wall in there as soon as a mob hits them. Shamans on the other hand just go toe to toe with anything and can take out nameds and heroic content (chain + wards + debuffs). So about the non heroic content? I solo heroics and nameds all the time and see which instances I can solo. I learned how much i could do when I did the Corruption in Faydark quest in EoF and needed two updates in Acadechism. Because I didnt want to try and find a lowish group for it, i decided to just do it alone....

[Cadori Seraphim]

Ya shamans do solo fine, its just sloooow, and with added AA it gets a lil faster but not too much. But as stated above it has to be non heroic mobs. Furies on the other hand, and I know this because my BF has a fury, can solo named, heroic and all sorts of group mobs. Its rather unfair if you ask me but eh I like my defiler <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Cathars]

All healers can solo and be effective in groups.  Don't believe anything else.

[Norrsken]

<cite>Catharsis wrote:</cite><blockquote>All healers can solo and be effective in groups.  Don't believe anything else.</blockquote>very, very, <i>very</i> true.

[Cadori Seraphim]

<cite>Catharsis wrote:</cite><blockquote>All healers can solo and be effective in groups.  Don't believe anything else.</blockquote>Indeed, but how fast they do so matters to some people <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Saying all classes can solo is a bit misleading because some do it better then others as far as speed and down times.

[Finora]

Sidora@Crushbone wrote: <blockquote>Ya shamans do solo fine, its just sloooow, and with added AA it gets a lil faster but not too much. But as stated above it has to be non heroic mobs. Furies on the other hand, and I know this because my BF has a fury, can solo named, heroic and all sorts of group mobs. Its rather unfair if you ask me but eh I like my defiler <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </blockquote><p> This is not really true.  After you get aa it goes quite quickly. Heroic mobs are not a problem. (even before I got gear that was better than stuff I could get questing/grouping). </p><p>My defiler is very small yet (22) so it may be different for them when they get higher, but mystics do quite well for themselves. </p>