solo AAs

[ailees]

I'm a raider. Then my aas are orientated raid and max DPS.I have a brain new mirror.Then I would like to create a new AA set for SOLO purposes, because I'm a kind of noob in that and would like to train a bit.as far as I could understand, Mana shield is a "must get" ?and what about manastorm ? (I tested it in raid long ago, no way)Well, in short if some wizard who soloes a lot could show me his (her) AAs, I would greatly appreciate.P.S. of course, I know that having good AAs will not turn me suddenly into a king, even a baron, of solo fights <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Thank you in advance, even if I find rather weird not to see here a already written topic ? (or should I work also on my "find" skill ?)

[SacDaddy420]

yea those mirrors are fun ailees, I'll tell ya what i did just messin around:definetly go to the bottom of STA and get manashield.   As by now any wiz that focuses on our main duty in groups/raids will have at -least- like 9K power, theres essentially adding 9K HP to ya.  The ability casts fast, and is on a minute 30 timer IIRC.  After that i filled out the AGI line for casting speed, then dropped the rest in WIS.  Foregoing STR.EOF tree basically where my focus was the the magi's shielding (like 700 pt regen ward at 80) and the Emergency shield.  Once those were filled i tried to spread my points out like a normal raid spec...filling out Ice line as I could for resists and Heat line for a lil faster recasts.It's fun to play around with.  TBH the only thing I do with this spec is stand around and pick duel fights.  I'm a beast with it, like 2 losses 30 wins.  But I can definetly see the viability in soloing with this.Have fun.

[ailees]

<cite>SacDaddy420 wrote:</cite><blockquote>...Once those were filled i tried to spread my points out like a normal raid spec...filling out Ice line as I could for resists and Heat line for a lil faster recasts.</blockquote>Thanks for your answer.I understood everything (well, I think I did) you did not go MANANURN, certainly because you went in the DUEL idea, where manaburn is no way.Would you go if it were just solo ?

[Dedos]

<p>The above poster nailed it.</p><p>I started playing very recently and am currently lvl 54. I've soloed the entire way doing quests. I usually only fight even to orange con mobs and when they turn blue, I move on to the next zone.</p><p>My gear is pretty much all mastercrafted with a few quest reward items thrown in when they are better than player-made.</p><p>I have 56 or so AAs and did the following:</p><p>10 pts in the magi shield. This is huge for soloing.</p><p>I then went down the STA line to get manashield</p><p>I am almost finished filling out the AGI line. </p><p>I tried STR line, thinking the AE talent would be useful but it turned out not to be. I LOVE the AGI line though and think it has improved my DPS in a big way.</p><p>The playstyle of a solo wizard is pretty much dependant on how you like to gear and play. My gear is balanced with HP and INT so I have alot of HP. I like to use the frost shield and static shield as well as the melee proc we get so I rarely bother with rooting. If there is a group of mobs I initiate with the AE ice spell (the three tick one cannot remember name) then I immediately cast frost shield then use the fire AE. Usually the mobs are all dead at this point. If not, I finish them off one by one with a fast cast low power spell. </p><p>Manashield is the "Oh [Removed for Content]" button. I rarely use it, but it has saved my hide more times than I can recount. It's also great agaist heroics. </p><p>Another thing to remember is when you solo you can mez the mob using the aurora spell so your shield can regenerate AND your spell timers can reset. This is great when you fight a heroic and you use your big nukes then mez and when it wears off you can then unleash another barrage.</p><p>Fun Stuff!</p>

[SacDaddy420]

ya, i prolly would spec the burn for soloin.  i  s'poseEdit :  then again maybe not.  Last time I checked the hit wasnt even that big anymore.

[Dunnerbane]

Unless you REALLY love the power line of AA's, I wouldn't spec down for Mana burn. You're looking at what, 40k damage for your entire mana pool, presuming you have 10k power? Whoopee! At level 80, you ought to be doing that much damage for less than 1/5th of your power pool. Manaburn just doesn't scale properly with the huge damage level 80's are doing, and the large amount of HP's the mobs have. In agreement with above posters, Manashield is awesome for soloing. That little spell got me out of many a tight spot. Plus the other benefit to going down STA is the added spell skills. Like +40 to all spell skills and focus. Combine that with your bonuses from gear and you end up with like 12 or more extra levels worth of spells skills. Resists become a rare occurence, and when soloing 80+ ^^^ mobs, you do not want your root resisted =)

[Kaldrin]

For soloing I went Manaburn first, then WIS an AGI. Now I'm working on the fire and cold sides equally. After a while I'll spec out of the manaburn probably. The AGI and WIS lines combine for a drop in recast, faster casting and drop in power consumption that is just about necessary when fighting on your own.

[Force Weaver]

<p>I thought I'd jot in an alternative into the foray.  </p><p>I'll interpret the desire for soloablity to mean actually soloing SOLO mobs with speed and efficiency and safety and not a "what build lets me solo COA."</p><p>Back when 100AA was the limit and 50 in each tree in EOF I <i>was</i> a massive fan of Manashield,  and Manaburn really has it's place pre-Ice Comet for soloing, non-farming wizards.  Anyone level 80 with over 125AA really doesn't need either of those for most run of the mill soloing stints.</p><p>Now the OP is at least lvl 80/125AA+ (I'm too lazy to look it up on eq2players) and if that's the ballpark we're working with in ROK I'd suggest some alternatives not suggested.</p><p>Lots of solo combinations work around having the <i><b>Agility</b></i> line for the faster casting which isn't just about the DPS but actually getting off that bomb/evac/ before your red life bar goes grey.  In addition the 10% incombat and out of combat movement buff on the 3rd ability on Agility line at rank 8 is often underutilized.  The lower reuse time honestly is most appreciated by me while solo for the "call home" and evac abilities being shorter waits.  Most "solo" fights are very very very short.  </p><p>So for me every solo combination begins with <b>Agility</b> at:<b> 4/4/8/8/2</b> which puts me at 10% incombat move buff (great for positioning and pulling away without having to use sprint), 14.4% faster casting (from memory here), and 12% recast reduction.</p><p>From there everyone splits.  Some say Str some say Wis.  I tried Wis but found that not having "Catalyst" made the fights last longer which made me more out of power with the Wis line than having the Str line without the 12% flat power cost reduction.  If you really want to solo SOLO mobs with speed and efficiency, "Frigid Gift, Catalyst, Ice Spike..." is more important than 12% power reduction and will shorten your fights substantially so that you'll actually use less power per solo mob.  </p><p>The reason is that a Ice Spike 13-17K damage vs a non-catalyst cast with damage in the lower end is like having to cast Magma Chamber or Ball of Lava to make up for a non-crit of Ice Spike.  So for solo mobs you'll see more of your blue bar left (because you're casting less spells than someone without Catalyst) with Str.</p><p>Now that I've laid the groundwork for how Str is viable as far as an "encounter shortener" let's point out that the dinky ward in the Wis line at rank 8 (which can't even compare to the EOF ward) isn't as good as the 8% flat parry which quite frankly is very very handy when things slip from you.  On that note, I'd suggest adding <b>Strength</b> at: <b>4/4/8/8/2</b> for a well rounded 8% parry (not skill, no adornment will help) the crit % upping and then Catalyst.</p><p>If you've got Adept III's or in your case raider usually = tons or all masters you really won't have issues with spell resist.  I'd go <b>Stamina 4/4/8</b> for the full mitigation bump.  </p><p>In EOF go for the full 10 in <b>Magi's shielding</b> (and get some + heal adorns for your hands and neck to up the ward amount) and the full 10 pts in <b>MOF</b> as it will be your emergency in leiu of Manashield.  Get <b>Spell Reach</b> as it will take the mobs longer to get to you which means more time for you to move/cast/whatever not to mention be out of range of some of the long distance attacks.  <b>5pts</b> in the Debuff, <b>5pts</b> in Ice Spike (damage and stun), and <b>4pts</b> in the Surging Tempest line for more DOT stuns/time will help you when soloing 4-6 encounters at once.  Pop 3 in the Sunstrike to get <b>5pts</b> into the Magma Chamber.  After that it's really all awash.</p><p>2 peices of equipment I do recommend are the Enspelled Vultak Eye (400pt ward up on hostile cast) and the Shield of the Magi (300 pt ward up on 10% of the time you get hit) for your secondary slots and you'll be good to go.  I couldn't bring myself to pay for the earrings of Sarnak Station since I had so much warding already.</p><p>An underutilized spell (or 2) that should find it's way back on the hot bar if it got lost would be Numbing Cold and Peak Shift.  Strategy for soloing that uses the single root to hold one mob, the group root to hold another mob(s), while performing flybys of groups of 2-4 mobs and poping them with the fast casting Numbing Cold while slicing away at the then slowed and (some auto-rooted) mobs with your spells sprinkling your 3 main Stun spells around as you need.</p><p>This is an alternative to casting 2 roots on one mob over and over between bombing which does cost you alot of power per dead mob.  If you want to root-nuke rather than manhandle several encounters at once I would suggest Wis over Str but keeping the Sta as presented and reducing Agi to 4/4/6/8/2 instead.</p>

[ailees]

<cite>Force Weaver wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Now the OP is at least lvl 80/125AA+ (I'm too lazy to look it up on eq2players</p><p><b>Agility</b> at:<b> 4/4/8/8/2</b> <b></b></p><p><b>Strength</b> at: <b>4/4/8/8/2</b> </p><p><b>Stamina 4/4/8</b> </p><p>10 in <b>Magi's shielding</b> </p><p>10 pts in <b>MOF</b> <b></b></p><p><b>Spell Reach</b> </p><p><b>5pts</b> in the Debuff, <b></b></p><p><b>5pts</b> in Ice Spike <b>4pts</b> in the Surging Tempest line for more DOT </p><p>3 in the Sunstrike to get <b>5pts</b> into the Magma Chamber</p></blockquote>very nice explanations, you perfectly understood my problem. I have all AD3, of course, and some masters, and (if you click on my sig) 140 AAs. My stuff is not too bad (but I'm far from uber) When I play on afternoon I plan to go to 2K quests, this will need me to solo much more than I ever did. <span style="font-size: large;">Thank you to all who answered.</span>BTW Force Weaver, I have a question : I have already been put into trouble by 3 green mobs adding to a 4th that I pulled, but <u>not grouped</u> : I generally flies away (if I can) because I don't see how to manage that. I'm alting a bruiser who just kill them all.. bastird ! (he's 30 100% solo and was NEVER killed by a mob or a a bad pull and his stuff is not twinked at all, his spells being adept 1)

[SacDaddy420]

catalyst is gonna take 25% of your health every time you cast it. There will be many times when you are soloing that you wont even have the hp to spare for it, especially if you are using dots, as you mentioned.

[TerabithianWhisperwi]

Very nice response Forceweaver.There is definitely the concept here that a solo build will differ based on the level of the wizard.I like the STA tree at any level, especially with the AGI tree. I never have liked the WIS tree. *shrug*my build for an 80:STA: 4-6-4-8-2AGI: 4-4-6-8-2STR: 4-4-4-8I admit, this gives up a bit of DPS for a bit of survivability, but I'm okay with that. I'm maximizing my casting speed and spell crits. I also have a manashield.yeah, I love catalyst, but I love the manashield more. I boosted my STA dmg shield a bit over my physical mitigation because if you're getting hit more than a coupleof times at level 80, you're in serious trouble. The dmg shield, when added to the other available dmg shields, makes for a nice surprise for 3-5 hits or so. The manashield and the boost to the casting spheres that the STA tree offers are still great at endgame. AGI is simply a must-have. faster = better. your damage shields and dots would be handy with those 4 greens Ailees, espcially if you had the HPS and warding to survive long enough!

[Marie-Ange Jourdelune]

Soloing = Root/Nuke = Power issues.Some heroic 3 up are soloable if you get enough power to burn it. (and they dont have big hitter range attack)My solo spec get magie shielding and manaburn  (with the power management) and the rest on the Cold Line.My sorcerer tree is the same at my raid spec.  STA lines could be nice, but I prefer going with WARDS and HEALING gear while soloing (healing = more power to take from health point).  Those gears are enough for me to keep my AGI, WIS, STR AA has they are.  (the robe from the nest get a lot of use for soloing heroic, has the necklage that give back 3k hitpoint from a quest in Rok, has my dispersion effect gear (absorb 1 full hit) and the stun,stiffle procs on hostiles spells has well : the stiffe effect from gear stacks, so having a lot of those effect in slot, give us enough stiffle to root/nuke caster if you know how to time your stiffle spells, stuns spells with the Tempest DOTS -> be sure your mob is snare tho) And to some extend, if you are soloing 1 up arrow and less, healing that procs on hostile spells permit to have zero downtime what so ever (5 pieces and more + the 3k hit point clicky necklace timer up).So,  actually, my soloing AA are my group AA at the same time.  So, its easier for me to top DPS parse on group with manaburn. (a lot of group encounter are too fast to cast DOTS and big hitter...  and without 2 or more dots + all your big hitter -> DPS lower) When I raid, I simply switch back to my heat and cold AA from wizards tree.A sure thing is:  Half of my inventory contains gear for specific situation:1- Soloing    (all my defensive gears slots)2- Grouping (putting all my crits and speed casting gears)3- Raidings (adding the procs that can break my roots and remove the less crits or spell cast slot)And when we get some wipe on a named in group situation, I can switch to my defensive gear and crowd control the mob enough (chains stuns + stifle + stifle procs + stuns procs) to have a tank full of HP at detriment of 400-600 DPS.Marie-Ange

[Force Weaver]

<cite>ailees wrote:</cite><blockquote>BTW Force Weaver, I have a question : I have already been put into trouble by 3 green mobs adding to a 4th that I pulled, but <u>not grouped</u> : I generally flies away (if I can) because I don't see how to manage that. I'm alting a bruiser who just kill them all.. bastird ! (he's 30 100% solo and was NEVER killed by a mob or a a bad pull and his stuff is not twinked at all, his spells being adept 1)</blockquote><p>Since you have 140 AP, I'd add whatever it takes to put 5pts in Fission for the reach and the leftovers in velium gift. </p><p>I think the main issue especially in ROK with how many you can handle at once is how you "start" the fight in addition to mob "type" (not con).  If you tap down 2 encounters with roots and ignore them while chain stunning a third (loose) one at max range then 3 simultaneous is probably all that's easy.  </p><p>You can keep adding a 3rd one to root anew as the previously rooted ones turn loose and are on auto-slow effects for a comfortable node walking effect.  So think: 2 encounters rooted, one stunned/killed, root a new one, old rooted one "group rooted" ends and is slowed by the residual effect which then is your new chain stunned mob.</p><p>How you can handle 4-6 requires a different "initiation" rite which I'll delay explanation for a moment. </p><p>As far as green/blue/white I haven't noticed any differences in resists at Adept III (even w/o the STA 4th line since they're tuned for App. IV's), but mob type does affect how fast they move (the time it takes for them to get to you) and therefore how many you can take.  I find "fliers and carnivores" generically faster than say herbivores or other regular mobs which means that I can't take on as many slashing type mobs as I can ones that favor crushing or so it seems.  </p><p>For example: The velociraptors in POF are VERY fast compared to many other mobs (i know they're heroic) but your average zombie mob is not lightning fast.  I see the same kind of trends in ROK, big things that aren't slashers tend to be slower than smaller flying and or slashing type mobs.</p><p>Sacdaddy does have a point that every usage of Catalyst costs you 19% (not 25%) of your health every 53.6 seconds (for me) but I find that as long as I'm not really getting pounded for more than a few seconds at a time during the "weaving" my wards absorb almost all of the combat damage and the majority of the health I loose during the fight is due to Catalyst.  But since there is some in combat health regen I'm not really seeing red lifebars on most occasions.</p><p>Here's how I'd suggest initiating the encounters of say 4-6 average mobs.  Don't try this with super-stunners (think corpse beetles in Nek forest) or mobs that you know heavily snare you (high %).  </p><p>Assuming you have both secondary items I mentioned kill a single mob till the 400pt ward off the ensnared vultak eye is up (lasts 10min).  Pop up your reactive damage shield and train 4-6 mobs in a circular route and stop momentarily to pop off the 0.8s cast of Numbing Cold then pull away.  (Usually the Shield of the Magi pops with a 300hp ward and a 300hp heal and occasionally the signet from darkness to light also goes off.)  The 5.9/min proc to root them usually means 1-2 just got rooted out of your pull for a free 20s root for those ones.  </p><p>Get at a nice distance (you're moving 10% faster & have spellreach) and then root 2 others, one with the group root and one with the single root .  The other 1-3 mobs will be moving 75% slower and position your self so that they come to you in a line (you know, kind of go around the group and stop so all 1-3 come straight for you in almost a line).  </p><p>Cast frigid gift, Catalyst, Fission, Exothermicity - Run through them (chance to proc that root effect from NC) and finish them once comfortably on the other side.  Re-root the ones that may be loose from the NC initial hit, if one is far enough away put your DOT stun on that one.  The two from the original roots are probably slowed and loose now go to them and pop a NC again if you can, if not pick one to Magma chamber, Ball of maga, and Ice Spike down.  Pop NC again once it's up.</p><p>Now the when you're down to 3 and 2 are slowed and loose (and closing) and the 3rd one is almost dead I usually pop the AOE fire pet, Exothermicity, Surge of Flames, Reactive Damage, and just tank them or dance them down depending on how much health I have at that point.  </p><p>Usually I might use Catalyst 2-3 times tops which rarely puts me at a disadvantage.  If I opted for Manashield instead of Catalyst I would have serious power issues and with those 2 secondaries I pointed out I find I have no need for it under these circumstances.  I will say that "walking" 3 mobs is pretty sustainable and I only opt for the "train" if there's some updates I really need and I want to work especially hard.  All in all, MS or Catalyst really depends on what equipment you have available and what you're looking to do.</p>

[Shoeco]

Just started playing EQ2 earlier this week and this post has been very helpful.  I am currently level 21 and find myself soloing 99% of the time, at this stage in the game I enjoy logging on and gaining some exp without having to rely on anyone else.  I have 2 questions for you guys...1.)  At what level does soloing become a thing of the past in terms of speedy EXP gaining?  I have never played this game but in most there is a cutoff where everyone starts grouping/raiding to level up.  Or is it completely possible to solo all the way to 80?2.)  I've read how manaburn isn't as great once you reach 70+.  However would you recommend it for a wizard my level who's trying to solo up?  Or would you still stick with the more defensive abilities first?  (Magi Shield, Mana Shield, etc.)  Again, I'm only in my 20's and trying to build most viable spec to grind/quest with solo.Thanks in advance

[Force Weaver]

<cite>Shoeco wrote:</cite><blockquote>Just started playing EQ2 earlier this week and this post has been very helpful.  I am currently level 21 and find myself soloing 99% of the time, at this stage in the game I enjoy logging on and gaining some exp without having to rely on anyone else.  I have 2 questions for you guys...1.)  At what level does soloing become a thing of the past in terms of speedy EXP gaining?  I have never played this game but in most there is a cutoff where everyone starts grouping/raiding to level up.  Or is it completely possible to solo all the way to 80?2.)  I've read how manaburn isn't as great once you reach 70+.  However would you recommend it for a wizard my level who's trying to solo up?  Or would you still stick with the more defensive abilities first?  (Magi Shield, Mana Shield, etc.)  Again, I'm only in my 20's and trying to build most viable spec to grind/quest with solo.Thanks in advance</blockquote><p>XP slows down in the 20's and 30's from mob killing and you'll need to focus on quest nodes (5-6 quest at once in the same area) for speedy leveling solo-wise.  There are some dead spots in the game (early 50's) where it just seems to take forever.  </p><p>You can easily solo all the way up if you like, but there's always groups at the lower levels that pickup just fine through the EOF (~70ish) instances.  </p><p>Once you hit 70ish you'll find in ROK there are 6 main places to go.  Mob killing xp is almost non-existent and quests are the only way to level in any fashion.  3 of the popular "top" intances seem to have a "be 80" or go home attitude at least on my server so getting a pick up group to go there won't happen till you're capped <blame the picky tanks> or you're guildies are carrying you. </p><p>Manaburn is a great offensive ability when you don't have Ice Comet (lvl 50) or its upgrades later on.  Really though if you're soloing <i>solo</i> content and doing quests for AP points the defensive outline is the way to go for speed.  </p><p>10 in magi's first then probably Sta then there's already plenty of info from there and by then you'll have a good feel for what you want.</p>

[ailees]

<p>I want to thanks people who gave me some nice ideas.</p><p>I added some gear with stone skin, some new shadow AA with shields as well, and voilà.</p><p>Could solo the 2d part of the Shadow Odyssey. I bet it is nothing extraordinary for soloers, but I'm happy to be able to do things I was not before <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" /></p><p>BTW, could someone solo the 3d part ? the NPC who becomes agro (82 ^^^) with 2 adds, not linked ? they splat me so fast <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" /></p>

[dirtymeat80]

<p>I've tried a bunch of different setups recently.  I get annoyed with going back to the mirror every hour when I want to switch between raid/group or solo kinda stuff, so I've just been trying to get better gear for the crit chance, and skip out on the STR line altogether.  Every time I get rid of the manashield, I find myself dying a lot lol.  Espeically with some AoE of the new instances, and even in raids - I just can't get rid of the manashield.  Also dropping out of the STA line, I lose the points put into the +skills (Subjugation/Disruption) and tend to get resisted a lot.  One resist no problem, get resisted a few times in a row and you're quite annoyed.  Only have a couple masters though, everything is at least Adept3.</p><p>On way more than one occasion, I've been the last one standing and rooting & nuking and manashielding, finishing off that one last mob that downed everyone else (obviously not in a raid, talking about instance/dungeon runs).</p><p>One thing I do notice is, I have a ton of power leftoever, and I chain cast a lot (as do most others hopefully <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" /> ).  With that power excess, I got rid of the end ability in WIS (Sagacity) and I'm still having plenty of power during long fights.  Self buffed over 10k.</p><p>44682 AGI44682 STA4548 WIS</p><p>I run this in raids/groups/solo.  Havn't even tried a manaburn spec, as it just didn't interest me for some reason.</p><p>For solo'ing mobs, I start with Magma Chamber for a good hit and stun.  While stunned, I'll toss on a root.  2 roots if it's heroic, since they stack (which is nifty, since if one breaks, you have another already on)  I watch my timers on the roots carefully, when I see one break, I sometimes pause until it's refreshed and re-applied.  I try not to toss on DoT's, even if it is a debuff, it's still adding to that supposed 15% chance to break (which feels more like 50% sometimes).  When they break all roots, usually Chamber is back up for another stun, and I root again, continuing until dead.</p><p>When I'm doing writs or just mass killing for quests, I'll open with pretty much whatever is up that stuns/knockdown, so Magma Chamber, Bolt of Ice, and even Storming Tempest, since at least it's a DoT with a knockdown.</p>

[ailees]

<p>What did you choose in <strong>Shadow </strong>options ? here too you have solo choices with shields and dps choice. For example, Root mastery and Runic protection (mage line) are good IMO for solo, and stupid for raid. Same for sorcerer Shielding, nope ?</p><p>Well, that's what I chose and I'm goonna see if it saves me against heroic mobs.</p><p>BTW, if you choose not to change your AAs, this means you don't go ALL DPS in raid. I'm quite sure I would not really enjoy that, I already am not very happy with those bl.; assassins. Manashield in raid is useless. But well, that' a personal choice.</p>

[dirtymeat80]

<p><span style="color: #ffffff;">I thought the manashield would be useless for a raid too, but the couple times I've died from an AoE, if I had a manashield, I would've easily survived.  I keep it as a "things happen" kinda deal.  Do I top parses?  Nope.  Hard to anyway with a few melee around.  Lately, been in the high 2k, low 3k dps area, with some spikes to 3.5/4 when everything lands and get some good rolls.  This will likely change as I get more and more geared up.  Only started raiding recently, having 2pcs from PR, and a 3pc set of the starting Shard armor as of recent.  Rest is quested or dropped from new instances.  Heck, I still have the charm from Everfrost I think <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" /></span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;">If I leave the STA line to the STR line, I gain 10-15% crit chance (not in game, forgot the number) and like I said before, I lose out on the + to skills and my resist rate is just beyond annoying.  Just didn't up my dps enough to make it worth my points.  Even by the numbers, that line gives the least amount of dps gain, and allows me to not have to switch in and out of stuff.  I'm always ready to go, anytime, anyplace.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;">Wizard Tree</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">Solar Flare 5, Heatwave 3, Magma Chamber 5, Exothermicity 1, Ro's Coil 1, Ball of Magma 5</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;">Ice Spears 4(will be 5 next point I get), Bolt of Ice 5, Electron Storm 2, Storming Tempest 4, Solar Wind 2, Fission 5, Velium Gift 0(after spears, will put points into this), Iceshape.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;">Shadow Tree - 5 in each Health/Power5 Root Mastery, 5 Strike, with the deaggro end ability - which is pretty darn sweet I might add.  Great for instances when I over-dps or tank doesn't hit enough buttons lol.  Used on raid a few times as well.also 5 in Sorcery, and I think I have 5 in Crit Mastery, but not in game so I can't check - the points is all from memory, and mine kinda sucks.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffffff;">I don't think any of the shield upgrading is worth the points in high end heroics.  It's only goint to save maybe an extra hit or two anyway, I'd rather kill them quicker and not even give an opportunity.  And if I do it smart, and just take my time with roots & stuns, they won't hit me anyway.</span></p>

[NightGod473]

<p><cite>Shoeco wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Just started playing EQ2 earlier this week and this post has been very helpful.  I am currently level 21 and find myself soloing 99% of the time, at this stage in the game I enjoy logging on and gaining some exp without having to rely on anyone else.  I have 2 questions for you guys...1.)  At what level does soloing become a thing of the past in terms of speedy EXP gaining?  I have never played this game but in most there is a cutoff where everyone starts grouping/raiding to level up.  Or is it completely possible to solo all the way to 80?2.)  I've read how manaburn isn't as great once you reach 70+.  However would you recommend it for a wizard my level who's trying to solo up?  Or would you still stick with the more defensive abilities first?  (Magi Shield, Mana Shield, etc.)  Again, I'm only in my 20's and trying to build most viable spec to grind/quest with solo.Thanks in advance</blockquote><p>1) I hit level 80/140 and I would estimate I was 97% solo for that (not counting grouping for raids). The only time I really grouped was the occasional "hey random group of people in the same area, let's group up for this one kill we're all having problems with and then split up again immediately after". After hitting max level/AA I did more grouping because of running instances, but the basic point is that soloing to max level/AA is a very viable strategy for us wizards.</p><p>2) Manaburn definitely made leveling up solo much easier than it would have been without it. It's great in the 50s-80 for taking down named mobs. It's a bit useless outside of that, but it can be fun to drop a 40K hit, especially if you're specced for mana regen and have some clicky regen toys so you can click your way back to near full in 20 seconds or so.</p>