Need some SK help, must be doing something wrong!

[Ozgood]

<DIV>Before I started my SK a month or so ago (I am 24 now) I decided to read as many forums as I could stomach.  Out of most of the forums, the SK forums were whining the least and some posts even went far enough to say, "I have hit T1 DPS" or "This is the most fun I have had playing a class" or "I feel like I can solo anything and really excel at groups".</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am on Vox, I have 7 AA's, I have a few app 4, some adept threes and one or two masters.  I have good armor and a very good one hand slash.  No, I am not geared to the hilt (don't buy plat).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In my group everynight we have a bruiser (full twinked) fury (worse gear than me) Warden (same as Fury) a wizzie (decently equipped) and a Dirge (nicely equipped).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here is a combat type parse:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You swing and hit for 45 hit points of damage, you kick for 56 pts of damage, your grim coil hits for 50 pts of damage (master 2) and your "lifetap" hits for 21 pts of damage and your feedback spell hits for the mob/player for 4 pts of damage! (4 casts/actions, 1 passive)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wizard casts and hits for 850! (1 round)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Fury casts and hits for 600 pts of damage and the swarm hits for 90 per tick.  She also bites for 20-30 pts of damage (three actions, over 10 times my damage)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Warden heals and drops heat nukes for 300-400 damage</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The Dirge, while running, uses numerous songs that hit for 150-250 each and pierces for 18-25 pts of damage quickly</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The bruiser hits constantly for 80+ and uses CA to hit well above 220 consistently.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Why in the heck do they even need me?  My friggen huge recast lifetap does less than the wizzies normal nuke!  I spam taunts, can't get aggro most of time and do absolutely minor damage to mobs and other players.  I grey, yes I said grey, 15 swashie attacked me and almost killed me!  My plate armor seems to stop very little!  My avoidance is in the red, for whatever reason.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I screwed up and put my AA's into reaving and after re-reading the posts, it appears I should have put them into spell crit AAs.  Again, my gear is OK.  I am a noob to EQ2, but know these types of games well.  What then, am I doing wrong???</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At this level-</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A brigand can outtank me and double my DPS.</DIV> <DIV>I can't go toe to toe with a Fury</DIV> <DIV>My lifetaps, even with reaving AA's do so little it seems crazy to even use them</DIV> <DIV>A melee INQ out combat damaged me BY A LOT just recently</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What can I do differently?  Does it get better? I thought we fared well in PvP, maybe I am wrong?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>/sigh</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any help is appreciated!</DIV>

[Rui]

<DIV>I'm relatively new to EQ2, and at 23, putting very respectable DPS on my SK, and having no problem whatsoever tanking, obviously I've not gotten to the point where I'd have spellcrits either, so that doesn't matter. However, it sounds like the big difference between my SK and yours is that you are, for some reason, refusing to use your Infernal Blessing, your AE abilities and taunts. You also need to make sure all your self-buffs and group-buffs are up, particularly X Caress.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If, as soon as combat starts, everyone on the group goes nuke/melee crazy, yes there's no way you're going to hold aggro. That's bad play on their part. If they want you to tank, they need to let you get initial aggro. You should pull with a ranged attack (or condemning anger, or grim coil), either before you pull or whilst they're inc, you should cast Infernal Blessing (or whatever it's called at that level), i.e. the spell which gives you the hit-triggered lifetap reverse procs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You also need to be in Defensive stance for the extra aggro generation, and the other classes who have abilities which re-direct aggro to you should be USING them on you (Wizards and Bruisers, for example, can re-direct a portion of their aggro to you, I don't know about the others, but pretty much all DPS classes can).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As the mobs arrive, blow the Encounter AE taunt + disease mit debuff (Decree of Decay), then blow the PBAE disease dot (Cruel Aura? something like that), then the PBAE disease damage + dot strike (Something of Decay at that level), then taunt the mob to be assisted on, then just start pumping out everything you can, damage-wise. Seriously, make sure ALL your timered abilities are down, and refresh all your AEs (particularly Decree) every single time they come up, and very importantly, keep Infernal Blessing up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If the rest of the group refuses to cooperate, though, for example, by refusing to use the aggro transfer buffs, things become trickier, but you need to explain to them that they need to do that if they expect you to be able to tank, do good damage, and so on (you do the most damage when you're being hit).</DIV>

[Dogfood76]

<P>I am also new to EQ2 but not to these types of games.  My SK is now 23rd level, and I have no trouble tanking.  I would second what the above poster stated, be sure to use the Encounter taunt (I didn't know it existed til I was 18th level, oops).  Also there is a single-target DoT+Taunt spell and a simple Taunt ability.  I spam them all as fast as they refresh.</P> <P>I use 1-handed weapons and a shield, and I enjoy the knockdown kick then knock them down again with shield slam.  I keep Blessing up (Mastery II and 2 points in the AA ability) whenever possible, and I can tank without needing a healer.  It's great!  Also, I would suggest making friends with a weaponsmith and an armorsmith.  Carbonite armor is pretty cheap and plenty good.  If you haven't started your armor quest, then do that first.  The first step is great gauntlets and should be easily soloable, with the second step being not much more difficult (bracers I think).</P> <P>Sure, the damage isn't going to keep up with a wizard or scout-type.  But that's not our job.  We are there to take the hits.  If you are doing everything you can to maintain aggro and the wizard keeps getting aggro, that's the wizard's fault.  I duo often with a wizard a level higher than me and he NEVER gets aggro.  Because he doesn't want it.</P> <P>I would suggest being careful with the AE spells and CAs though<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.  I've killed myself and/or my group with them several times ([expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] flying things I can't see!).</P>

[Incur]

<DIV>We are first and foremost a tanking class, we are not a DPS class but we can do the roll when neccecary.. Also unlike the bruiser who comes into his power quite quickly, we hit our stride between 24/34 and just continue to get better from there !</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Your lifetap ward is your best advantage, and ask the bruiser how much he wises he could use that! Great health, great aggro.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Use Heroic Oppertunities to help your aggro, My normal is pull with anger nuke, Aoe Taunt (Reduces Resists)-  HO - Dot - Brand dot melee attack - Taunt. That'll complete your HO and give a bit of bonus aggro, if your reactive tap was onyourself first you'll now get extra aggro from that damage + the heal effect.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We are not <made> for high damage, we are made for being the most kickass and impressive tanking class in the game with bucket loads of style =)  sure we have a lot of variety about how to be played, and in silk we can do incredible DPS but thats really only high end, or if you have another tank!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Reaver line is handy, but max int crit line is disgustingly amazing! not worth restarting over or the like and AA's are easy to get now with the solo quest lines!<BR></DIV> <DIV>Good luck!</DIV>

[Ozgood]

<P>Thanks all, I appreciate the replies.  First and foremost though, I never expected/expect to do Bruiser/Wizzie type damage.  I was hoping however to outdamage a Dirge or Warden.....</P> <P>I do use the AOE taunts and AOE disease spells.  I am sword and board and stay in offensive stance most of the time.  Again, I do 40-50 per swing with my Legendary cleaver, my master grim coil does 50 per tick and the rest do in the 20's.  NO WHERE near what every other class I have seen doing damage does!  That tarnished caress or whatever it is called hits for like 4-9 of damage :smileymad:</P> <P>I do use Infernal blessing but it only lasts like 5 hits or something and the health returned is minimal......</P> <P>Again, maybe this is because I didn't go the spell crit line, but I can't tank a blue, no arrow, without resting for awhile.  That is spamming everything as soon as it refreshes.</P> <P>Is there any way to respec out of SK tree into Crusader tree, or am I screwed?</P> <P>Lastly, based on your posts, I am definately doing something wrong!</P>

[Eluzay]

<div><blockquote><hr>Tiabella wrote:<div></div> <p>Thanks all, I appreciate the replies.  First and foremost though, I never expected/expect to do Bruiser/Wizzie type damage.  I was hoping however to outdamage a Dirge or Warden.....</p> <p>I do use the AOE taunts and AOE disease spells.  I am sword and board and stay in offensive stance most of the time.  Again, I do 40-50 per swing with my Legendary cleaver, my master grim coil does 50 per tick and the rest do in the 20's.  NO WHERE near what every other class I have seen doing damage does!  That tarnished caress or whatever it is called hits for like 4-9 of damage :smileymad:</p> <p>I do use Infernal blessing but it only lasts like 5 hits or something and the health returned is minimal......</p> <p>Again, maybe this is because I didn't go the spell crit line, but I can't tank a blue, no arrow, without resting for awhile.  That is spamming everything as soon as it refreshes.</p> <p>Is there any way to respec out of SK tree into Crusader tree, or am I screwed?</p> <p>Lastly, based on your posts, I am definately doing something wrong!</p><hr></blockquote>offensive stance is not worth it, better to do 2h and defensive stance than sword and board with offensive stance... if you are tanking you should use defensive stance for sure and in pvp def>off stance.  You have to have crits too fyi.</div>

[Rui]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Tiabella wrote: <P>Again, maybe this is because I didn't go the spell crit line, but I can't tank a blue, no arrow, without resting for awhile.  That is spamming everything as soon as it refreshes.</P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Well, you're definately doing something wrong, but it's pretty mysterious as to what it is, because I can't even understand how you could get damaged by a blue. Offensive stance whilst tanking things is generally a mistake (though you should be able to tank a blue no arrows w/o going below 90% health even in that!), so I have to ask, what kind of equipment are you using?</P> <P>Are you still in level 10 armour and wielding a 2H sword or something? If you want to tank, you need to be in good armour (i.e. at least the same tier as you), and you need to use a sword and shield, not a 2H.</P>

[Ozgood]

<P>I generally use sword and round shield in offensive stance, just to try to up my DPS.  My gear is good.  On Vox, it should be great, I know.  But before I spend what little hard earned money I have on this toon, I want to make sure it is what I want to play.  If gear truly makes the SK, then they HAVE to be one of the most expensive toons to play I would think:</P> <P>Best armor</P> <P>Best weapon</P> <P>Best jewlery</P> <P>Best CA</P> <P>Best Spells</P> <P>Best bow?  Here is one I KNOW I am noobing out on!  Is a bow even worth getting?  I fire it once and nothing else happens!  It hits, when I hit, for up to 80 pts of damage at 24, which I thought was decent.  How do I use this skill effectively and it SEEMS as though this would be a critical skill in PvP, if I could get it to work!</P> <P>I didn't say the blue kills me, but I have to rest or be healed before I can pull again.</P> <P>Truthfully, I don't want to be a meatshield, which is why I picked the SK.  I thought of the SK as a casting light tank and now with the mit siphon and some other goodies, a real force to be reckoned with.</P> <P>The highest a lifetap has every given me back is like 15 pts of health.  I get hit for 35-90 by whites.  It can't keep up.</P> <P>Again, can I repec out of reaving and go into INT or do I have to keep it in the tree I spent it on.</P> <P>Edit: I think I have crit with melee weapon once and it was again the level 15 swashie that almost killed me</P><p>Message Edited by Tiabella on <span class=date_text>12-22-2006</span> <span class=time_text>12:05 PM</span>

[Coica]

<P>edit: didnt realize you were PvP server.</P> <P>from my experience, there is a few lvl's in the early going that are a little tougher than others if you dont really make an effort to get the best possible gear and develope your playstyle.  ie: try different things.  SK's do develope better and better as they lvl up, some classes are like that.  the key to this is trying different things .</P> <P> </P> <P> you dont have to support plat sellers to get really good gear if you work on crafting and sell evrything you can for the best price, even do a little farming if needed.  you may not want to spend time killing the same thng over and over to make money, I'm just offering some suggestions.</P> <P> </P> <P> but back to playstyle.  I ushed thru lvl's 65-70 pretty quick and so I still am experimenting. that means trying combinations of weapons and stances and potions and opening attacks and timing of thins like pestilence and doom circle.  If I had a hard time with a certain mob I will try it again with a slash weapon instead of crush.  if I had a tough pull I will try using coil instead of my attack speed reducing thingy instead.  starting off in offensive stance  and 2h and switching to deffensive isnt hard to do and I can tell you the last 3 nights Ive spent working on a quest in kaladim I have gone back and forth all night between defensive/offensive stance, 1h and shield/2h  3 types of weapons and int potions VS stamina or str potions to see what makes me the most effective killing machine there.</P> <P> </P> <P> dont give up.</P> <P> SK's are bad mofo's and just get better. </P> <P> not sure what to say about the reaver line spec thing. I would probably start over myself, and spend a little time at lvl 5 or 6 on the starter isle with xp turned off to get some low lvl adepts to sell to get a good start on reequipping .  </P> <P>or you could just start now and put those next AA's into the INT line and worry about a respec later on. its cheap the first couple of times.</P> <P> </P> <P> AA's arent that hard to come buy if you havent explored a lot of content yet. lots of mobs can easily be outrun if you know the lay of the land.</P> <P> </P> <P> hope something there helped ya out.</P><p>Message Edited by muguguypan on <span class=date_text>12-22-2006</span> <span class=time_text>12:23 PM</span>

[Legaroth]

my SK is only 26 atm but hes fun and a good fighter so far... but his gear is starting to show slight reduction of usefullness as i get closes to the next tier upgrade. but atm he can pull a TON of greens of a few 3 or 4 blue solo mobs and get out full hp if i play it right. i can kill named greens 3 arrows up, but casters tend to be a bit harder overall so far.the dmg is OK atm, i hear it gets better and my int isnt that high, as most my gear buffed strength so far. in the end, you are a tank who (i believe ) uses part of his dmg for agro controll aswell as normal taunts, that would put the dmg slightly higher(mostly in aoe way) then expected. i tanked the Ree guy in wailing caverns few days back and as long as i got the first taunt of a group i kept agro.im pretty new and using ATM handcrafted 20, a MC shield, and adept3 or masters for the spells i like. the good thing is transmute market was high when i started so i made TONS of money and now i got enough to make it to 50 in top gear i think, but will have to harvest for spell upgrades as some masters are.. to expensive :p<div></div>

[Rylight]

why exactly are you using a roundshield? it honestly baffles me because I have used a kite shield since day one of EQ2, but then agian I never really thought to play around with a round shield. they make you attack more or something? more agi? anyways your lifetap should be giving you way more life then that, even at that lvl. then agian you really need to go ahead and hit lvl 26, your spells will start to cycle out plus you will get your pet. <div></div>

[Legaroth]

personally using a roundshield atm because i could pickup a mastercraft for just a few gold on broker <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> for rich people it might not matter tho hehe.. im gonna ttake a big shield at 32 when im gonna try and fit myself out with full mc if i can afford it<div></div>

[Legaroth]

<div></div>dont wanna make a new topic just for one question so ill just ask it here now.ive been reading deeper in the forums and found alot of people said berzerkers where better at dps be it single or multiple targets, where i read on more resent posts alot of people say SK dmg is very nice if you do it right.. so what is it ??is SK dmg poor overal compared to the zerker ? only single target ? or multi?> or did something change where the SK dmg went up to be more on parand.. another question came to mind.. whenever i enter a random zone.. i see out of x people atleast 20% SKs often more. is it the fotm tank or character or what ? i dont mind being a .. average played class, would rather be rare, but atm i feel like a fotm reroller because i see SK everywhere on my server. is it just me ? i play on splitpaw, just wondering if it is.. and if tehres reason for it<div></div><p>Message Edited by Legaroth on <span class=date_text>12-23-2006</span> <span class=time_text>12:19 PM</span>

[Norrsken]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Tiabella wrote: <P>The highest a lifetap has every given me back is like 15 pts of health.  I get hit for 35-90 by whites.  It can't keep up.</P> <P>Again, can I repec out of reaving and go into INT or do I have to keep it in the tree I spent it on.</P> <P>Edit: I think I have crit with melee weapon once and it was again the level 15 swashie that almost killed me</P> <P>Message Edited by Tiabella on <SPAN class=date_text>12-22-2006</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>12:05 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>If your blessing havent healed you for more than that at 24, I am perfectly sure of that you didnt pick it as m2 at 24, which you should have. Your blessing line is one of your best lines. Get it as m2.</P> <P>And secondly, the only big hit we get is HT. And its not too sexy with that 15 min reuse timer.<BR>Nothing about the sk really look sexy when you take each thing out of context and look at only that particular thing. No big damages, no good taunts and all that. Its when you put it all together that you get one hell of a package of power.</P> <P>You also need to focus on gear with int as well as str as a sk. ITs not just a nice thing to do, you have to do it. If you go with run of the mill tank gear, str sta agi, you will not be much of a sk.</P> <P>No, you cannot respec out of the tree you have currently put your AAs in. But still, 24 is not a very high level and you can reroll your toon to fix the mistakes you made. </P> <P>And as far as that swashie. I could kill orange con scouts with nothing but my lifetaps at 24 (And if they werent twinks, I only needed blessing to kill them). You have to be doing something wrong or your gear is not up to par, as a tank, <EM>any</EM> tank, you need gear more than any of the other classes. Handcrafted or similar gear will not do if you want to tank. And your lifetaps need to get upped to at least ad3 (And the blessing, at 24, should be m2). Lifetaps are the bread and butter of the sk.<BR></P>

[Norrsken]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Legaroth wrote:<BR> dont wanna make a new topic just for one question so ill just ask it here now.<BR><BR>ive been reading deeper in the forums and found alot of people said berzerkers where better at dps be it single or multiple targets, where i read on more resent posts alot of people say SK dmg is very nice if you do it right.. so what is it ??<BR><BR>is SK dmg poor overal compared to the zerker ? only single target ? or multi?> or did something change where the SK dmg went up to be more on par<BR><BR>and.. another question came to mind.. whenever i enter a random zone.. i see out of x people atleast 20% SKs often more. is it the fotm tank or character or what ? i dont mind being a .. average played class, would rather be rare, but atm i feel like a fotm reroller because i see SK everywhere on my server. is it just me ? i play on splitpaw, just wondering if it is.. and if tehres reason for it<BR> <P>Message Edited by Legaroth on <SPAN class=date_text>12-23-2006</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>12:19 PM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>YEs, in the lower levels, since EoF, the sks are running rampant. People finally realised we are as good a tank as the rest of them, and a much more reliable soloer than the other plate tanks. We are not as rare as we used to be, and yes, we might be looking at our time as the FoTM tank, since the zerk has lost its shine.</P> <P>The funny thing is, the sk is a harder class to play well than the warriors, so I think we will keep our bad reputation anyways. Hehe.</P>

[Legaroth]

bah figures.. finally find a class i like and it becomes the fotm, making it 90% less apealing for me. i dont really enjoy the clone army i see in every zone ive been in so far, and most of the people i see are SKs. offcourse this is all my bad mind set to blame <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> i cant play a class, even if i enjoy it, if i know people will look at me as just another sk, one of a thousand.but oh well.. ill try and stick to it. maybe people will think its to hard to play and quit <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> i do enjoy it appart from all the stuff i mentioned so.. i hope my warlock alt doesnt  become the wizard2 for some reason<div></div>

[hellskitten]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> roxer2b wrote:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>Nothing about the sk really look sexy when you take each thing out of context and look at only that particular thing. No big damages, no good taunts and all that. Its when you put it all together that you get one hell of a package of power.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>The most truthful statement ever made about SKs.  If ya try to disect us then the conclusion will always be we BITE. If broken down our tanking sucks, our taunting sucks, our DPS sucks.... But somehow, in some unexplainable fashion, once a SK is turned loose on the world.. some serious booty kicking commences.</P> <P>As for the original poster... I honestly dont know what to say. If take out the pvp portion (never played on a pvp server) then Ive never expereinced any of what you speak about. For leveling I always solo and I xp grind on yellows and oranges. Constantly get asked to tank epics, and have NEVER had a failure or wipe on one. When not acting as MT on them I have repeatedly had issues of snagging agro from the MT without meaning to. Yes a brusier or wizard will yank agro from you if they dont have a clue what they are doing. But in those situations.. ya just get that evil lil SK smirk on ya face while they die for thier stupidity, and go back to stomping that mudhole into whatever ya was fighting.</P> <P>Just make sure your using every available tool. If you drop out even one of them.. ya setting yourself up to fail when playing a SK. We not a class that can just go along on autopilot. Also dont worry about investing your savings into a char ya not sure if gonna like. Trust us, the longer ya play your SK the more ya will fall inlove with it. </P> <P> </P> <P>As a side not.. I dont know why everyone cuts down 1hs, shield and offensive stance. Thats all I ever use. Even when tanking I generally forget to drop to defensive and honestly never had a single issue with it. Ill admit it might change when tanking lvl 70 encounters.. but upto 55 it has worked great for me.<BR></P><p>Message Edited by hellskitten on <span class=date_text>12-24-2006</span> <span class=time_text>08:32 AM</span>

[._Jammer]

<P>Your misstake was to not take the master blessing!</P> <P>I played up to 42 without any expansion, so no aa:s, i used hand crafted armor, but legendary/mastercrafted weapon and shield. Solo, no problem, in group aggro was a problem if i didnt pull, but if you do, its alot easier, also if there is a scout in group he should never have aggro for long if he knows what hes doing at that lvl atleast( got a 36 swash), they got a many different aggro reducers.</P> <P>Also, when you group you often have a healer and those classes have group mitigation buffs, so having hand crafted armor isnt that big deal.</P> <P>AA:s Im lvl 64 now, got quite a few aa points, so getting expansion late doesnt feel like such a setback!</P> <P>Damage :While wizards/assassins just blow me away on damage done, its actually quite good compared to other classes as long the fight doesnt end to fast, you got a ton of spells, lifetaps, especially the life tap proc is a think of beuty when you get some aa points and your double aoes put out some nice dps aswell.</P> <P>Aggro : Not played another tank in eq2, but i think the big secret seems to be to be the one to pull, isnt like that in other games iv tried but in eq2, getting that first hit is verry important, especially as a sk as  your taunts are not instants but dots.</P>

[Typhonian]

<DIV>Yeah, I have to add my vote to the consensus. Something is seriously wrong somewhere. My 35 SK with average gear can kill green triple-up heroic mobs without losing any health just by using lifetaps to keep my healing up (admittedly, I will almost completely run out of power on the ones that are on the verge of turning blue, and using a 1H and a shield), and I can chain pull multiple half-a-dozen blues without having to rest to regen power.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As others mentioned, the most important things are</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1) Keep your lifetaps/wards up <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>all the time</FONT></STRONG> - as soon as Infernal Pact becomes available, spam it - time your kicks and bashes so that you use them to stun the mob to avoid the Infernal Pact being interrupted.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2) Use your drain ability spells, and keep them refreshing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3) If you're HO-spamming, only spam those involving lifetaps. You should be able to cycle between them all 90% of the time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4) Your two most important stats are STR and INT - in fact, my INT is actually higher than my gf's 33 Necro!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>5) Use your pet! Its not great, but it does do reasonable damage and does build aggro over time!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Sorry if all this seems like telling you to suck eggs, but there's obviously something wrong somewhere. You're not getting maximum enjoyment out of this enjoyable class, and that the real shame.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV>Typh</DIV>

[Beldin_]

<P>You do definitly something wrong. First stupid question : are all you conecentration buffs up ? Second .. if you you pull do you first try to complete an HO with the group taunt .. after that single taunt .. and when there is no danger of pulling adds use your AoEs when you have multiple mobs ? The damage of your swings really aren't fromn big interest .. your main damage is spell-based and comes from your styles .. and specially in the later levels from your AoEs.</P> <P>@Legaroth: I don't raid but only play solo or groups .. and i never saw a zerker there touch the damage of my SK, i read often about the ub0r damage of some zerkers but i think that only may happen to some crazy raid-buffs where the zerker gets massive procs that trigger on melee or whatever. In group instances depending on how much multi-encounters there are, i can often even do more damage then brigands,necros,conjis <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Naelael]

<P>My advice to y ou is to just keep on going. Things get better. There are a few levels... trying to remember... It may have actually been lat 20's or early 30's... That things just seem a bit difficult. They get better. If you learn how to play your SK well, and yes it take a great deal of work to do so, you'll be fine. The Reavere line to me is essential to soloing. I can Take out heroic orange con mobs without losing much HPs. My power is gone, so thats an entirley different story lol. People seem to complain about the reaver line saying that certin abilities don't heal enough etc. But I think people miss the point that while its true that one or two abilities arent a whole lot of healing, when you max out your points in that line, it is a TON of solo healing.</P> <P>Spell crits are also very important not only for damage, but for criting your heals to yourself. A high INT is something that some would be SKs seem to overlook. Something you have to keep in mind is that a lot of your DPS comes from your spells. I don't parse or anything like some do. But I have played the SK character long enough in here, and in EQ1 to be able to see where my dps is strong, and where it is lacking. Your spells are a ton of it, and if you over look building your power, then you are just passing on a good chunk of your DPS.</P> <P>Do alot of quests, get cash, check broker for gear/spells, and buy them. I know it seems like you are dumping all of your cash on things right as you get it, and in fact... you are. But thats really what you have to do as a SK. Its a very expensive class money wise to play. You have to keep your gear in top shape, and you have to get all of your spells. Just wait till youre higher in leves and you have to worry about getting master spells and not just adept.</P> <P>I cant say where you are going wrong specificly from your post. All I can do is just offer you advice that I really don't see a lot on these boards which is pay strong attention to your offensive casting. If your a solo/duo/small grou player, its essential.</P> <P>Just wanted to edit in here that when I solo, I use 1H and shield in offensive stance, and when I tank its also 1H and shield, but in defensive stance. If I am pure DPS in a group its 2H.</P> <P> </P><p>Message Edited by Naelael on <span class=date_text>12-24-2006</span> <span class=time_text>11:18 PM</span>

[Galn]

I've finished the Reaver Line already, when I hit level 29 actually, and it is great having a ton of little lifetaps going off. This makes my SK very tough, havent tried any heroics yet, but yellow ^ mobs are all easy for me, might have to try an orange ^ mob someday. As a bunch have already said, play around with your tactics, I pull with condemning smite, then cast my ward, cast my aoe taunt/debuff, then hit with the shield bash, and then just spam as much as possible after that. THis sequence seems to work well solo and in groups, but may fine tune it more in groups when I do more full group fighting.

[Desdichada]

<DIV>Shalla's absolutely right - most of the SK damage comes from spells and of these AOE are extremely important. If you are fighting multiple mob encounters, your value increases dramatically.  Can't overstress the group taunt for the disease debuff. It must be up at all times as well as the Blessing line. Max INT line for spells up to spell crits.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you want the melee DPS improvements - quest the Halberd as soon as you can, then Ghoulbane and the Brass Shield.  I think I even used the PGT for a while just for the proc. (or was it Yakesha...)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I do know your pain. Until late 20-s SK was ... gimpy, although I went through that period when our pet was still a swirling water bubble...  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Overall, it is all in your mind - you can't be the most bad [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] (why is it bad [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] is better then good [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] - never understood that) class if you do not feel yourself like it. Charging into the midst of a crowd spreading disease and mayhem, actually healing yourself when mobs hit you is exhilarating. To come with full health out of a fight you got into at half and not because you healed yourself or laayyeed haaands, but because of the distraction your brought - this must be in your mind to win as a knight of shadows. Numbers be damned.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>/em licks her blade</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Ozgood]

<P>Well I think based on all the wonderful responses that I have made some mistakes that have taken away from things.  First, no I didn't take the blessing at 24, I took grim coil.  I hardly ever use blessing as it is App1 or Adept 1 and the return on it is so minimal I didn't want to even bother using it.  I see that some of you even cast it during the fight to keep it fresh!  I missed the boat on that one!</P> <P>Secondly, I didn't get EOF or any expansions until level 22, so I have had only 2 levels or so to get AA's.  When I did get all fricken 5 AA's that I do have, I put them into Reaving.  I did little to no quests, so my armor is good, jewelery is fair and weapon is nice.  But I realize after reading your posts that damage doesn't come from auto-attacks, but from CA and spells and maybe even moreso spells.  I like the idea of a tank mage.</P> <P>I honestly, before reading all these responses, was thinking of deleting the SK and go with a battle priest INQ.  My goal is to be tough to kill and do enough DPS to kill someone, LOL.</P> <P>If you were I, would you re-roll or stick it out?</P> <P>Thanks again SK community for all the feedback!</P>

[Legaroth]

im a 29 SK atm myself, and soloing the early bosses in FG, and multiple mobs in there too. i can keep 3/4 double ups on me (dont think theres tripples in the start)  and come out alive most the time hehe. our dps might not be GOOD as in awesome but we are tanks, not dps classes, and when looking at us as a tank i believe our dps is pretty good especially when fighting more then 1 mob at a time. specially with some lucky procs and near to no interupts you can take on a good ammount of mobs if you just keep your good skills and armor up to date. im still growing myself but i do feel im growing in power, and cant wait, even tho its not for a while, to get tap veins, the aoe life tap<div></div>

[Incur]

<P>Stick it out!</P> <P>the next *4 level you can fix your master choice, our Blessing is probably our single most usefull spell well worth the Adept III investment if you want to do some harvesting grind.</P> <P>We come into our prime as we get higher and higher, and personally the single most OH MY GOD I ROCK moment was when i got tap veins at 55... Thats when you start soloing heroic encounters of 5 or 6 single cons and finish at full health with 90% power!</P> <P>We excel if everything we do, IF we work for it.. we are probably one of the hardest classes to play, with a lot of variety of viable choices for our AA's ((unlike most which have a Cookie cutter choice really)) </P> <P>Also, Kite shield/tower shield = a LOT higher avoidance even if they have roughly the same stats as the round.</P> <P> </P> <P>Edit : DOH! 55 for tap veins, 58 for death march!</P><p>Message Edited by Incurus on <span class=date_text>12-28-2006</span> <span class=time_text>07:32 AM</span>

[Beldin_]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Incurus wrote:<BR> <P> and personally the single most OH MY GOD I ROCK moment was when i got tap veins at 58... Thats when you start soloing heroic encounters of 5 or 6 single cons and finish at full health with 90% power!</P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Just to correct it .. we geht tap already with level 55 <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><BR>

[Beldin_]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Tiabella wrote:<BR> <P>Well I think based on all the wonderful responses that I have made some mistakes that have taken away from things.  First, no I didn't take the blessing at 24, I took grim coil.  I hardly ever use blessing as it is App1 or Adept 1 and the return on it is so minimal I didn't want to even bother using it.  I see that some of you even cast it during the fight to keep it fresh!  I missed the boat on that one!</P> <P>Secondly, I didn't get EOF or any expansions until level 22, so I have had only 2 levels or so to get AA's.  When I did get all fricken 5 AA's that I do have, I put them into Reaving.  I did little to no quests, so my armor is good, jewelery is fair and weapon is nice.  But I realize after reading your posts that damage doesn't come from auto-attacks, but from CA and spells and maybe even moreso spells.  I like the idea of a tank mage.</P> <P>I honestly, before reading all these responses, was thinking of deleting the SK and go with a battle priest INQ.  My goal is to be tough to kill and do enough DPS to kill someone, LOL.</P> <P>If you were I, would you re-roll or stick it out?</P> <P>Thanks again SK community for all the feedback!</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Ok .. first upgrade blessing to adept1 or better adept 3 if it is possible. Second .. use it before every pull .. its damage and heal at the same time and so helps producing aggro in the beginning. </P> <P>AA-wise .. you are a young char .. before EoF we got the first point with 20 .. and i think i got my 4/4/8 in INT with around 55-57 .. now just do as much quests as you can and you will collect so fast AAs .. i started a Fae-Fury some weeks ago and she has with Level 63 now 74 AAs .. and i only soloed quests with her. With Shalla who has already done most of the available quests i only have 69 AAs and grinding mobs for AAs is really hard :smileysad:</P>

[CaradosC]

<DIV>Just briefly: Imo blessing line is one of the most important spell lines for sk. Perhaps the most important. i'm 62 sk atm and usually blessing line (a III) is among 3-4 best skills/spells what comes to dmg. And number 1 what comes to heals. Only exception is when fighting 6-8 mobs at the time when tap veins sometimes beats blessing line. I have 61 ill, 58 bruiser and 62 sk toons and I like all of 'em. Sk is just nicest to play with. I dont have a single piece of raid eq. Mostly using mastecrafted with some legendary pieces.</DIV> <DIV>I'd really recommend you to respec and take blessing instead of single target dot, since there's no way you do more dmg with dot than with the bless. You'll also generate much more hate thx to heal and dmg effect of dmg shield. And moreover when you get spell crits you see a huge change. Personally I find plate +off stance best way to play, tho there are moments i use 2h and off stance and plate + def stance. But 2h and def stance, its ahrd to me to realize why to use that...? You'll parse better dmg with off stance and shield and you'll also get hitted less. I ahvent found yet a fight type where def +2h would have been superior. And yes I do read parses almost every day..</DIV> <DIV>I know that many many sk's (and some other ppl) are able to solo better than me.. but I'd still say its pretty ok to be able to solo 6 x blue +,  4x blue ++, or 2x green +++ using non raid eq and mainly aIII spells (tho I 've got now 11 masters for t7, cant wait to be able to scribe 'em <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I for sure cant solo that way with my bruiser.. It can be done with illu, but I like the way sk does it mor than illus boring way <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV>So stick with you sk!!! Start using bless line every time it's up. Use single target and aoe dots, every time they are up. Dont forget to debuff (encounter taunt) before dotting and later on also use drain vitae/fetid smite lines every time they are up. Enjoy the ride <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ps for soloing setup I'd say AA setup 448 int and 5 into blessing line heal boost is mandatory. </DIV>

[Norrsken]

<div><blockquote><hr>Tiabella wrote:<div></div> <p>Well I think based on all the wonderful responses that I have made some mistakes that have taken away from things.  First, no I didn't take the blessing at 24, I took grim coil.  I hardly ever use blessing as it is App1 or Adept 1 and the return on it is so minimal I didn't want to even bother using it.  I see that some of you even cast it during the fight to keep it fresh!  I missed the boat on that one!</p> <p>Secondly, I didn't get EOF or any expansions until level 22, so I have had only 2 levels or so to get AA's.  When I did get all fricken 5 AA's that I do have, I put them into Reaving.  I did little to no quests, so my armor is good, jewelery is fair and weapon is nice.  But I realize after reading your posts that damage doesn't come from auto-attacks, but from CA and spells and maybe even moreso spells.  I like the idea of a tank mage.</p> <p>I honestly, before reading all these responses, was thinking of deleting the SK and go with a battle priest INQ.  My goal is to be tough to kill and do enough DPS to kill someone, LOL.</p> <p>If you were I, would you re-roll or stick it out?</p> <p>Thanks again SK community for all the feedback!</p><hr></blockquote>No bigge, you just need to get that blessing as adept 3. Its still gonna be a really nice skill even if not m2. Putting points in reaving havent hurt you too bad, since the first 3 had to go to blessing anyways. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> and, you can start working on the int line as of now. You'll have an easier time once you find yourself a t3 rare loam and an alchemist to make you the blessing ad3. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> No need to reroll at all. And yeah. Most of us actually cast blessing every time it is up. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Like I've said so many times, disect the sk and look at the skills one at a time, and none of them look sexy. Put em all together and you have a monster. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div>

[Humuhumunukunukuapua]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Tiabella wrote:<BR> <P>Well I think based on all the wonderful responses that I have made some mistakes that have taken away from things.  First, no I didn't take the blessing at 24, I took grim coil. <BR><BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>If it's that much of a problem, could you just use a /respec?  Since it sounds like you rolled your toon relatively recently, you might not have it, but at one point in time, after one of the LU's, all toons were given a /respec or two because they changed a bunch of stuff.   You may want to try /respec if you think it's worth it.  Or, as roxer suggested, you could just go the Ad3 route and continue to grind to the next level (which should go by pretty quick).

[Ozgood]

<P>Yeah, that was my next question; how do I get a respec?  I will try the /respec suggestion above, but are there other ways?  Maybe you veterans can save me some headaches by simply putting the masters you take (when free) the masters you have to buy (remember I am on PvP) so that I don't have this problem again :smileywink:</P> <P>Thanks again everyone for all your help!</P>