New player rolled a mystic. Few questions.

[Aanwiel]

<p>I made a mystic hobbit dude he is lvl 20 and my highest lvl. But I noticed a thing while I lvled compared to another character I once played(dirge), this hobbit dont do alot of dmg so its kinda slow but utter safe way of lvl coz of warding magic and heal spells. My question is who is dishing out the most dmg of the mystic class or defiler 20-80 level range?</p><p>Another thing was as Im lvling in lovely Antonica I tried to find someone to group but at a time I just had the idea they always wanted a druid as a healer. So mystic is a raiding class mostly?</p><p>Btw I think the game is ok just havent got so much into it yet -altho its been awhile since I got it . Mystics are much like priests in warcraft with the shield/ward but have a druid like way of healing instead but I guess they get something special that is more everquestish.</p><p>Hmm just one last thing do the mobs in stormhold keep(Antonica) still warp into the walls? I just want to avoid that place then^^</p><p>And last thing is it harder to heal groups in eq2 than in warcraft? Got a priest in wow and it is sometimes like a downhill rollercoaster ride..</p>

[Aanwiel]

<cite>Aanwiel wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Hmm just one <u>last thing</u> do the mobs in stormhold keep(Antonica) still warp into the walls? I just want to avoid that place then^^</p><p>And <u>last thing</u> is it harder to heal groups in eq2 than in warcraft? Got a priest in wow and it is sometimes like a downhill rollercoaster ride..</p></blockquote>Doh! good night <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/499fd50bc713bfcdf2ab5a23c00c2d62.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[dgoodm]

First off: I"m a noob too. My mystic (was a defiler, I betrayed) is level 31. My highest level character is only a level 56 Monk. I don't have raiding experience, and I haven't healed a whole lot. On top of that, I'm an undergeared healer, and the tanks have been generally undergeared as well. This means few Adept 1 books, fewer Ad3s, and no masters, and mostly handcrafted gear (which is, at least, kept up to date as possible) + quest rewards. So take everything I say with a grain of salt, or better yet, the whole shaker. On the plus side, I do have experience with WoW so I CAN make comparisons with at least 50% certainty. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> 1.) "My question is who is dishing out the most dmg of the mystic class or defiler 20-80 level range?" Mystic has performed better for me, but both are very dependant on how many AAs you have. The mystic talents that turn your spells into melee attacks are powerful (and you don't have to purchase skill book upgrades) - At lower levels, a defiler doesn't have a lot of spells, either. Higher levels, when you actually have a proper arsenol of abilities and equal AAs, a defiler MAY catch up, but I don't have experience at that point. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> 2.) "Another thing was as Im lvling in lovely Antonica I tried to find someone to group but at a time I just had the idea they always wanted a druid as a healer. So mystic is a raiding class mostly?" From what i've heard, mystics are useful raiding, but only one mystic or defiler can have a Rune on any given target, so stacking them is pretty useless. I do not have trouble healing (as undergeared as I am) and I get group invites, so I can only assume that the groups who prefer a druid are misinformed about who is a better healer (or already have a mystic and want someone else as backup for some reason.) If they ARE better healers, it's not like a mystic CAN'T do the job either, you're not picking between "success or fail" choices. 3.) "do the mobs in stormhold keep(Antonica) still warp into the walls? I just want to avoid that place then" Stormhold was fine when I went there. Enjoy. =) I like the place, even though it has too many tight passages. 4.) "And last thing is it harder to heal groups in eq2 than in warcraft?" I feel it's harder to heal in EQ2. If a tank's health gets low, it can be harder for me to bring it back if I am lax in my rune'ing. I think tanks in WoW are designed to have more then enough mitigation and avoidance to easily tank multiple mobs, whereas crowd control and debuffs play a larger role in EQ2. This probably changes alot depending on your, and your tank's, gear. Hope that helps. If it does, woot! If not... sorry <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Hopefully someone more experienced will correct me/fill in the blanks I left.

[Miss_Jackie]

First and foremost, welcome to the Mystic class. We are classified as Shamans. We do not hurl a lot of damage, because we are a Priest class. My highest character is a 65 Mystic. I love playing her because I get a lot of compliments on how great the heals are. We get wards as well, which is superior (in my opinion) to any other healer class. Many groups I've encountered actually perferred my mystic over a cleric or druid type healer. So, stick with it. You'll get used to it.

[Aanwiel]

<p>Thank you both for your replies and so sry I did not wrote to you earlier(harddisc broke and had to wait for several days).</p><p>Now about that thing with the spell upgrades I have some adepts 1 and 3 and in my inventory I got two master 1. The first day I played mystic I meet a higher lvl who gave me some spells.</p><p>I guess I will have to find out if healing is harder in eq2 but I can see that the hitpoints drop faster than in wow but atleast I would hope noone rushes forward when your regen like they do in wow sometimes <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>My priest in wow is lvl 67 and they kick as for healing quite simple, can deaggro,shield(ward) and have loads of healing spells and 1 regen. Im glad to hear the mystics are great healers coz Im a former EQ (1) player and shamans didnt heal as well as clerics but had loads of buffs. Ive always been into the EQ story/lore The game is imo kinda surreal compared to wows common fantasy setting.</p>

[Finora]

<p>Welcome to the game!</p><p>=) Mystics are fantastic healers (can dish out nice damage if they go the melee route as well, which is nice).</p><p>The big thing with healing as a mystic, your first line of defense is your wards. Wards wards wards & more wards. Direct heals are secondary (slow cast & less efficient). It does get easier to heal as you level up, you get more tricks to pull out of your bag (healing pets, more debuffs, a heal over time).</p><p>Hope you enjoy yourself.</p>

[DwarvesR]

Biggest thing to remember for the mystic is that not all of your heals are actually "heals."As you've already seen, the ward is more of an HP buffer than a "true heal."Don't forget your debuffs either.  My mystic's Haze line debuffs 22% attack speed and then has the dps debuff at 28 right now, meaning if I've got both of those on a mob it's only doing 56% of its regular damage -- that's 44% longer duration for your wards, and 44% less health you have to restore if the ward breaks.So even though they're not "heals" they make our healing that much more efficient, and I consider them mandatory to cast in each fight -- every bit as mandatory as my heals and wards.  When I'm not on my mystic but am grouped with one, if they complain of "crumpling wards" I start watching to see if they're debuffing.  Invariably they aren't.  And thus their frustration with the class -- mystics prevent the damage before it comes in, but to do that we have to be very proactive -- debuffing as much as possible, refreshing wards right as they're about to fall, etc.  We can'tsimply focus on the health bars, but have to be more aware of what the mob is doing as well.So if you aren't debuffing along with your healing, then it's going to be rough.

[Erithorn]

<cite>Jonna@Befallen wrote:</cite><blockquote>Biggest thing to remember for the mystic is that not all of your heals are actually "heals."As you've already seen, the ward is more of an HP buffer than a "true heal."Don't forget your debuffs either.  My mystic's Haze line debuffs 22% attack speed and then has the dps debuff at 28 right now, meaning if I've got both of those on a mob it's only doing 56% of its regular damage -- that's 44% longer duration for your wards, and 44% less health you have to restore if the ward breaks.So even though they're not "heals" they make our healing that much more efficient, and I consider them mandatory to cast in each fight -- every bit as mandatory as my heals and wards.  When I'm not on my mystic but am grouped with one, if they complain of "crumpling wards" I start watching to see if they're debuffing.  Invariably they aren't.  And thus their frustration with the class -- mystics prevent the damage before it comes in, but to do that we have to be very proactive -- debuffing as much as possible, refreshing wards right as they're about to fall, etc.  We can'tsimply focus on the health bars, but have to be more aware of what the mob is doing as well.So if you aren't debuffing along with your healing, then it's going to be rough.</blockquote><p>** cheers Elynna **</p><p>Yes, exactly... your debuffs are as important in long battles as any wards or heals. In short fights, perhaps not so evident.... but still very useful.  They are a large part of our "warding" effectiveness, and we have both solo and group types at our disposal.</p><p>I am an 80 Mystic, and I love the amazing flexibility of this healing class. We have great debuffs, excellent wards and heals, possible melee specs to get in the face of the mobs... and we can wear chain armor for protection!  Couple all this with pet illusions, bumped SOW speed and excellent lore... WE ROCK!</p><p><img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>Welcome to the Shaman ...</p><p>Erithorn </p>

[Banditman]

That is not correct.  In fact, it's not even close to correct.Slow and DPS debuffs affect only the auto attack damage of any given mob, they have absolutely no impact on any special attacks a mob may use.  As such, to say that a Mystic is able to reduce a mobs total DPS output by 56% is misleading at best and honestly it's just flat wrong.Generally, about 30 to 50 percent of a "normal" mobs damage comes from auto attack.  So, even if you manage to get the mob fully debuffed before he takes a single swing, the best you can hope for is to reduce his damage output by about 25%.Realistically, most Mystics don't even debuff unless the fight is against a tough named mob and will last more than 30 seconds.  Less just isn't worth it.Against raid mobs, all bets are off.  We need to keep those debuffs up.  Again, this is where those debuffs shine - long fights, tough mobs.Mystics are a great class, don't misunderstand that.  It's just that our debuffs are not what make us great in most content.

[Sandain666]

<cite>Banditman wrote:</cite><blockquote>That is not correct.  In fact, it's not even close to correct.Slow and DPS debuffs affect only the auto attack damage of any given mob, they have absolutely no impact on any special attacks a mob may use.  As such, to say that a Mystic is able to reduce a mobs total DPS output by 56% is misleading at best and honestly it's just flat wrong.Generally, about 30 to 50 percent of a "normal" mobs damage comes from auto attack.  So, even if you manage to get the mob fully debuffed before he takes a single swing, the best you can hope for is to reduce his damage output by about 25%.Realistically, most Mystics don't even debuff unless the fight is against a tough named mob and will last more than 30 seconds.  Less just isn't worth it.Against raid mobs, all bets are off.  We need to keep those debuffs up.  Again, this is where those debuffs shine - long fights, tough mobs.Mystics are a great class, don't misunderstand that.  It's just that our debuffs are not what make us great in most content.</blockquote>100% correct BanditmanHere I was writing my own response and you beat me to the punch!

[DwarvesR]

<cite>Banditman wrote:</cite><blockquote>That is not correct.  In fact, it's not even close to correct.Slow and DPS debuffs affect only the auto attack damage of any given mob, they have absolutely no impact on any special attacks a mob may use.  As such, to say that a Mystic is able to reduce a mobs total DPS output by 56% is misleading at best and honestly it's just flat wrong.Generally, about 30 to 50 percent of a "normal" mobs damage comes from auto attack.  So, even if you manage to get the mob fully debuffed before he takes a single swing, the best you can hope for is to reduce his damage output by about 25%.Realistically, most Mystics don't even debuff unless the fight is against a tough named mob and will last more than 30 seconds.  Less just isn't worth it.Against raid mobs, all bets are off.  We need to keep those debuffs up.  Again, this is where those debuffs shine - long fights, tough mobs.Mystics are a great class, don't misunderstand that.  It's just that our debuffs are not what make us great in most content.</blockquote><p>I'll take your word for how much is auto vs specials.  I don't use a parser, but to me it appears that regular mobs I fight mobs don't throw specials very often (and notice that 80 coercer part of my sig -- I daze mobs to shut off their auto attack all the time, and they usually don't throw any specials in the 9 seconds they're dazed, and when I cast my stifle becuz it's a DoT, not becuz it's a stifle, though if it does prevent specials for the 16 seconds it's up, then that's a nice bonus).</p><p>And learn to read please -- I said that with my debuffs the mob's damage is it's reduced TO 56% at my level, not BY 56%.  That's simple math -- a mob hitting 78% as often for 72% of normal damage per hit is only doing 56% of what it would normally do.</p><p>In groups where the mobs die in 10-15 seconds, yeah, it's often not worth it to cast them.  But those also arent' the situations where you're going to be complaining of "crumpling wards" either -- a low-dps group fighting a lot of yellow ^^^ mobs is more generally when you need to worry about that (and I've been in 3 different groups in the last month where this was the case and the mystic was complaining about haow hard it was becuz his wards were "crumpling like tissue paper -- and not the same mystic each time either).  I'll admit that when soloing that mobs that are no-arrow or lower generally die fast enough that I only use the Haze line to pull in order to boost my Ordination skill rather than becuz I feel that the debuff is necessary -- self-replenishing group ward ftw and all that.  But that still doesn't mean that the debuffs aren't having a big effect -- it's just not an obvious one so it tends to be overlooked.</p>

[Titan-X]

<cite>Banditman wrote:</cite><blockquote>Realistically, most Mystics don't even debuff unless the fight is against a tough named mob and will last more than 30 seconds.  Less just isn't worth it.</blockquote>err....Personally I put at least a couple debuffs on<b> ANYTHING</b> that lives more then a couple seconds. First off, if you are dps spec'd debuffing resists at the least will up you and your groups dps. We have some very fast casting debuffs that are simple to cylce between wards/heals.

[Detton]

If it's a single non-heroic mob outside a dungeon, I generally won't debuff.If it's a non-heroic DUNGEON single, i'll just throw the attack speed slow on it.If it's a single heroic ^^^ type, it gets the full debuffing treatment - But, then again, I duo alot, and don't get into full groups often, because I don't want to wait a long time before doing stuff <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  If it's a weak group, i'll toss the group-encounter attack speed debuff.  If it's harder, i'll use that, and pick some of the meaner-looking targets to put the DPS debuff and the full-sized haze.I try to contribute what I can to DPS to speed things up while keeping up the debuffs and runes as needed, saving mana as I can for the big fights.  Unless it's a really tough heroic ^^^ or boss-type I don't have to actually cast my heals much.  My tankbot is a shadowknight, so rune 'em up and let 'em heal himself <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Aanwiel]

<p>Heya guys/gals thanks for yer inputs of experience<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Ive gotten further in EQ2 now its a very nice class mystic. Im running around with the bear disguise sorta like Beorn from "The hobbit" <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Im a very lucky person or they changed the adepts drop rate I just seem to find one I can use all the time now. Yea I finished my priest to 70 in WoW also - just had to do that for some reason but now its shelved for good.</p><p>Well yes I dont have to debuff normal mobs for questing coz of the effectiveness of wards. Its very nice you can take a small group of normal mobs also and manage to survive. The only thing that is nice with druids I guess is the root park nuking afaik. I might be working on a druid sometime just to compare and see what I like the most. So many classes in this game, so many choices<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Aanwiel]

<p>Oh well I guess theres no way going back now.</p><p>Patch 3.0.2 WoW. Everyone recieves huge improvements and buffs while priest is made a 3rd rank healer with bad mana regen. Even their DPS tree is nerfed.</p><p>I could carry on to the bitter end and hope for the best. Thing is, maybe EQ2 not a real great game but why am I having twice as much fun?</p>