Considering a coercer

[Spor]

I have been considering a coercer, currently I have a lvl 20 SK, and it is almost easy mode to kill things.  Just wondering if all of the negative comments int he forums are true, or if it is just people venting.

[Balrok]

<cite>Spor wrote:</cite><blockquote>Just wondering if all of the negative comments int he forums are true, or if it is just people venting.</blockquote><p>Players not willing to put in the time to understand the classes abilities, limits and strengths.  Being someone that has played a Zerker, Assassin and Bruiser to 70.... my 70 Coercer is hands down the most complex, challanging, but yet rewarding class I've found.  Without question, my Coercer can do anything and a ton more then my other toons solo.  Grouping.. well, take your pick on what you want to be....  DPS, CC, Buffbot, etc.... the choice is yours.</p><p> btw.. Coercer is strongest at 70, so hard to relate to T2-T6 Coercer issues. </p><p>Enjoy</p>

[branvil]

<p>I just hit level 31 and I have found it to be very rewarding.  It all depends on how you feel about dying.  I die ALOT.  There is a definite learning curve on what you can and cannot do.  What to charm and what not to charm.  How long certain species of mobs tend to stay charmed.  That type of thing.  </p><p>With that being said; I joined a group in crushbone last week that consisted of a Mystic, Ranger and me and we dominated.  When the ranger would take to much damage I would stun the mob, when we got to many adds I would lock them down.   It's a very versatile class and i'm enjoying it.   I have multiple toons including a end game raid warden and like the above poster said, it's a very complex and challenging class.   </p>

[Turb]

<p>I've played a coercer alt up to the 50's.   It's a lot of fun, and very versatile.</p><p>A couple of points:</p><p>Soloing speed depends on pet quality... a good mage pet with Master charm and things fly.</p><p>We can't solo grey mobs so well, particularly melee mobs, because our reactives don't fire much.</p><p>When grouping, a lot of people don't really 'get' crowd control, so just focus on stuns/dazes rather than messing (which can reduce AE damage anyway).</p><p>As a scout main, boy do I miss evac (which SK's have I believe).</p><p>But overall, a nice class.    Then again, I've not raided with it <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Spor]

<p>Probably gonna make the switch, I was having a blast on mine yesterday.  It isnt as easy to play as my SK, thats for sure, but it is alot of fun to pull by charming, then mez a mob, stun a mob, kill the 4th mob, remez and kill the next mob and so on.  I dont seem to have a big problem with charm breaking yet, had 2 points in charm AA by lvl 11 and even before that only had it break early once or twice, generally I can remez and either recharm or just kill it by then. I found that using charm as a CC tactic and just killing the pet after hat encounter seems to work best atm, but I only have apprentice 1 skills so that might be why, as it usually breaks on my way to the next group. </p><p> I do wish that if I was to charm something, the other mobs around it would attack it instead of me first though.  Also, is there a good way to tell which mobs are mages?  (not erudite, I am a rat)</p><p> ! more question, are there any CC abilities that just won't work in PvP(I assume charm, but I am not counting that)  Like any mezzes or stuns or roots?</p>

[Iggyvyn]

<p>I almost never solo my coercer.  I created her in 2004 and she has very few AAs.  Her masters are mez focused, and I have never concentrated on upgrading her charms.</p><p>I spend 75% of my time with her in groups with two good RL friends.  These groups are excellent and some of my most rewarding EQ experience.  By and large this is because my two friends really know how to take advantage of my Mezzing.  There is fine dance of cycling through targets while the assassin slips in and out, backstabbing and maneuvering.</p><p>The other 25% is usually pickup groups, that can be fun, or not depending on the group.  </p><p>Some people just don't appreciate the power of a good mezz and I end up blasting away with my mediocre direct damage spells.  Those groups are not so satisfying.  </p><p>Other players, really get it.  They don't break mezzes.  They let me handle the adds.  These groups are almost as fun as my group of friends.</p><p>I find the coercer to be one of the most nuanced and skill reliant classes in the game.  Very rewarding if you have a good group.  Frustrating if you have a group that is clueless or just doesn't care.</p>

[Spor]

One more major question...do mobs always resist like this.  I am lvl 13 and I blow through my power bar because 3/4 spells get resisted.   Is that always how it is going to be?

[Oriax]

No it will get better. I had the same problems with resists at lower levels. Just make sure to try and keep your Subjugation skill maxeda s you level up. That coupled with upgraded spells will help you out alot. For me I think Coercer is a late bloomer. You will still be capable of some amazing things through lower levels but after level 50 or so things really start getting exciting.

[Turb]

<p>There is an AA line that inproves Subjugation (and other skills), which you may wish to consider taking earlier in the game to help avoid resists, then, if DPS is what you want, respeccing to AGI-INT later.</p><p>If you use a pet, your first 5 AA should probably go into enhancing Charm though.</p>

[Raca]

I started a coercer and after 18 lvls i've almost got the betrayal quest complete. Couldnt stand all the resists. Definately think they need some balancing at lower levels. Few things that really bugged me too. The fact that ^^^ once charmed are non heroic. And that the mob gets weaker when you charm it.

[Turb]

<p>Well they changed that to avoid our pets being too uber.</p><p>But you can use this to your advantage.   If you want to get somewhere that has a number of see-invis heroics in the way, charm the first, send it against the next, and when it dies (as it will as a regular mob against a heroic) charm the next one, rinse and repeat.</p><p>Again, you might want to go WIS as you level up for the extra subjugation and focus... more focus means less interrupts if you're being hit.</p><p>On mes issues, I find stuns far better, as you can stun mobs and dps can continue, where a messed mob takes no damage.   So for fast burning stuns are the way to go.   At L52 you get a great spell called Mindbend that (with the Coersive Healing coercer AA line) allows you to stun a mob for up to 4 seconds five times simply by damaging it.   Only a 30 second recast too.  This means your groups will rarely need a second healer and, more usefully, when soloing if you plop Mindbend on a mob you have a way to stun it quickly if you need to.</p><p>I'm now a L60 coercer, having gone from L30 in a month or so playing most evenings.    You can certainly take a slower ride to 60 but I've enjoyed it a lot, and am now probably making my coercer my main rather than my brigand.     So a new chapter for me with RoK <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Heartbrand]

It depends. What do you want to do with your coercer? If you are looking to do group content coercers are pretty decent in your average pick up group. They shine in Castle Mistmoore in poor groups who like to pull multiple encounters or simply don't have the DPS to take down mobs fast enough. But again this is not an optimal situation, a wizard or DPS class is more effective truthfully if the group is well geared. Solo wise Coercers are anywhere from average to amazing. Unfortunately Sony has slowly nerfed viable charmable mobs to such an extent that there are only a few left. But how fun is soloing with charm mobs that are in outside zones? In raids a typical guild needs (and I hesitate to even use the word need, but if your guild is doing avatars, contested mayong then mana ward is a big plus) only one coercer. In summary, for your average pick up group player, coercers can be fun and useful. For anyone who plays even slightly more than that, you're going to be disappointed

[Turb]

<p>The nice thing about RoK is that it introduces togglable AA setups, so you can have two setups for raids, or one for raids and one for solo, or whatever.   It means if your raid leader wants you 'tuned' a certain way, you can switch back out of raids to your preferred choice.</p><p>So, you could use Mana Ward and Coercive Healing lines for raids, with STA for extra heal crits, for example.   You can make yourself more raid useful without compromising solo/group play.   In theory.</p><p>Our raid force is at the point where we've cleared FTH/MMIS and are up to Wuoshi in EH, and will kill him next time (was at 23% when zone expired... dooh!).    We haven't done contested Mayong.   But I would say that a) Mana Ward is very useful on several fights (Mayong, Rumbler, Wuoshi) but that value goes down as your force's gear/resists get better.    Thought Snap is very useful with a coercer in the OT group, e.g. on Tender and Mayong (where you need to get the charming adds away from the MT).</p><p>Stunning out damage spikes on the tank is less useful in practice it seems due to the cast times, but it can help (and of course mindbend doesn't work on epics).</p><p>But yeah, if you had 3 chanters most forces would take 2 illu and 1 coercer, but on fights where add handling is key, a second coercer in the OT group is handy.</p><p>The main reason for me considering a change from brig is the endless asshunting <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>