Charm Undeath

[Thunderthyze]

Just got my necro to 55 and have this at Adept 3. I have searched the forum but there doesn't seem much discussion on this in the last year. Before I go out and make a fool of myself are there any issues I need to be aware of?

[Hobr0001]

No, not really any issues as far as I know.  Just know that the spell gives mob a continuous chance to break the charm so if you're running around soloing with a charmed undead mob it might decide to break free of your control at a bad time.  Also know that if you charm a ^^^ heroic mob it becomes un-heroic while under your control so you can't charm a yellow ^^^ and go around killing other yellow ^^^'s.  I really only use it for when I'm grouping in an undead zone like CoV and we get a undead add, then I charm and release after fight is over for group to kill.

[DrOctober]

Several disjointed thoughts in no particular order about control undeath:Make sure that your subjugation skill is maxed (and possibly above max using gear).  This will help keep your resists and breaks down.While you *CAN* charm mobs several levels higher than you are, I generally don't keep those pets for long.  I try to charm undead that compliment my tank pet.  Knowing that if I get a break, my tank can taunt the charmed pet off me, while staying standing is comforting.I have a personal preference to keep my 'Undead Legion' spell running when I know I'm going to be doing much charming in a group, so that any pet I charm quickly stops looking like the rest of the mobs in a group to help the tank sort out next targets.If you've played another class that can charm, know that you won't get the sonic vision yellow flash on your screen before your pet breaks charm.  1 minute he's shredding things for you, the next he's trying to eat your brains.From reading the coercer boards, I've picked up a preference for charming casting undead.  They 'seem' to generate much more DPS than melee oriented pets do.edited to add breaks for readability.

[Norrsken]

<cite>DrOctober wrote:</cite><blockquote>Several disjointed thoughts in no particular order about control undeath:Make sure that your subjugation skill is maxed (and possibly above max using gear).  This will help keep your resists and breaks down.While you *CAN* charm mobs several levels higher than you are, I generally don't keep those pets for long.  I try to charm undead that compliment my tank pet.  Knowing that if I get a break, my tank can taunt the charmed pet off me, while staying standing is comforting.I have a personal preference to keep my 'Undead Legion' spell running when I know I'm going to be doing much charming in a group, so that any pet I charm quickly stops looking like the rest of the mobs in a group to help the tank sort out next targets.If you've played another class that can charm, know that you won't get the sonic vision yellow flash on your screen before your pet breaks charm.  1 minute he's shredding things for you, the next he's trying to eat your brains.From reading the coercer boards, I've picked up a preference for charming casting undead.  They 'seem' to generate much more DPS than melee oriented pets do.edited to add breaks for readability.</blockquote>in t7 and 8, scout pets also churn out some awesome dps.in t8, charmed pets even outdps my ad3 scout pet.

[Za]

<p>If you want some warning of charm breakage. Keep you skeletal regimine spell running. The charmed mob will be a skeleton as long as its charmed... if the illusion breaks, take action immediately.</p><p>Also, I personally use my tank pet when I'm charming a mob for solo or DPS usage... The tanks a little lower DPS, but thats why you're recruting the charmed mob right... But if charm breaks, your tank pet can snag agro long enough for you to recharm or deal with the situation... or if the charmed pet attacks your real pet anyway, the tank will live longer than either the scout or mage with you adjust.</p>

[Cu Chulainn]

Don't know whether it's a bug or not but I've found that casting through the charmed pet (i.e. selecting the charmed pet to cast on the monster, like you would a tank) is a sure way to break the charm.  Even casting buffs on the charmed pet breaks the charm.

[Catodon]

The charm effect on a mob is considered a hostile arcane debuff on the mob, so it can be broken by 'friendly' cure casting... be wary if grouped with a healer who has group cure arcane (or any mage/healer who would find it amusing to break your charm).  A few mobs in t8 can dispell buffs (the fay drake things in skyfire region for one) and can break charms when they zap your other buffs.

[Supp]

<p>I believe subjugation used to matter in relation making the break chance less likely. If you were level 55 and you were 40 over on your subjugation, then theoretically a Level 57 mob would be 8 levels lower because the mob checked your subjugation when it thought about breaking. So it was effectively a green con mob as far as the break chance went. And green con mobs hardly ever break.</p><p>But I think quite a while ago it tey changed it so it stopped checking subjugation for your break chance. I tested it until I was blue in the face and that appeared to be case. And I heard it from multiple people. As a result, I dont really feel that necros are effective charm classes anymore. Even when I was 50 over on subjugation a mob that was normally yellow to me would break every 45 seconds to 3 minutes, effectively nullifying the value of charming it in the first place. And then there's the wonderful casting time trying to get it back under control. And before you ask, I had the master for it before I even got to that level.</p><p>Also, vampire seem racially resistant to charm. </p><p>I have seen the druid animal charm hold so effectively that they go AFK with confidence.</p>