DEFENSIVE MAGIC

[dakhound]

Its all those crapy spells nobody wants or uses.

If you really thing the affliction spells are crappy maybe you should playtest them in a group situation first.

Stun, does what it says on the box and if you manage to get a link you can stop mobs hitting (less healing needed) double the damage of you tanks (quicker kills)

Root, if your in a high lvl group with no tank but a few nukers this spell is a godsend as it allows your nukers to destroy the mob before it even gets close

sleep, only good if your trying to escape a mob

fear, how many times have you been grinding away killing a mob only to have a destroyer kincher (or any other silly hard mob) attack you from behind. well cast fear on it (works very well on kinchers in particular) and it will run away for a short while meaning your group can finish their kil get healed up and be ready for its return (or run away )

Slow(movement) almost the same as root
Slow(hitrate) half the speed a mobs hits your tank (nuff said)

madness, never had it work effictivly yet so maybe others could add comment

Blind, means the mob cant dodge and finds it very difiicult to hit you, what more could you want

If your soloing yes they are next to useless but in a group they can speed your kills up no end. In my view a good affliction magician is almost as useful as a good healer

[iphdrunk]

madness, never had it work effictivly yet so maybe others could add comment

Agreed on the post (201 off affl/155 def affl)

blind/stun: useful when melees are "too low" for the mob, helps them hit and don't miss, reduces kill time. Blind good for kinchers, najabs, tyranchas, kibans. stun on gingos, kipees, etc.

madness: excellent against some mobs that hit hard, great example: cuttlers. May half the time requested to kill a mob, reduces the stress on healers.

fear: lands very well on jugulas. I agree, rarely used.

sleep: used to pull kinchers from a heavy aggro pack. used at 50m, instantaneous land will give you 2 seconds to run back to team. Just be careful not to run too far or it will lose aggro on you

To effectivelly use afflictions it is important to know which mobs are more affected by which spells. I agree with some players that they are not a "must" have, but a "nice to have"

Regards,
Ani

[mboeing]

If they are so useful I wonder why almost nobody uses them. Lets face it. The most optimal groups for leveling is either a melee and a healer or a nuker and a healer. Healer should be same or of lower level then the damage dealer. You just have to find mobs that give 6k exp at the lvl of the damage dealer for both to get 3k exp. Thats usually when mobs are around 20 levels above his level.

Take an affliction mage into group you need to kill mobs that give 9k exp. These usually dodge/resist a lot more.

In bigger group situations I prefer to tank the mob (as a nuker) and have rather 2 healers then one trying to afflict the mobs.

I can agree that some afflictions will be quite useful in Duel situations. Maybe in large PvP fights as well, but the bomb versions of affliction are missing for that.

[iphdrunk]

If they are so useful I wonder why almost nobody uses them. Lets face it. Take an affliction mage into group you need to kill mobs that give 9k exp. These usually dodge/resist a lot more.

I can agree that some afflictions will be quite useful in Duel situations. Maybe in large PvP fights as well, but the bomb versions of affliction are missing for that.

Yes, I see your point and I agree, as well, that's why I said they are not a "must have", but they are nice and add some variety. It is also a "what else can I do"-type of answer, when, for example ,your heal and nuke skill is too high. True, the level delta between team members must not be too high, but there are very good setups. Just to name a few: lvl 170 melee + lvl 150 healer + lvl 150 off afflict (maybe the afflictioner is too high to heal or nuke) against 190-200 cuttlers, maybe not for 3k, or lvl 100 stun + "mage that got bored nuking, has high mage resists and can raise low melee against plants".

You are right, they are not to be used in an "optimal xp over time" setup, but nice when team is large (would you refuse a guildie in your team?), It is similar to mace or even sword, for all that is needed is pike in most situations, but it adds diversity and variety. Few people use them, but I'd like it, not only Ele/Heal/Pike

And PvP... personally, I'd like PvP to be different, where skills and strategy would be taken into account. Madness is good against a melee, but who would go for it instead of a double nuke? similar for blind, against another mage, but why waste your double nuke window?

Best regards,
Ani

[dakhound]

Take an affliction mage into group you need to kill mobs that give 9k exp. These usually dodge/resist a lot more.

I conceed that point and I know sometimes its better for 2 healers but I will give you an example

we we're hunting boss mobs yesterday with our lvl 100-150 skills

theres an ocyx boss in dyron that hits for around 1600 at a high rate. we has 1 lvl 120 healer
1 support healer of lvl60
1 tank lvl 130
1 nuker (I think around 150)
and me using affliction magic (at a measly lvl60)

now theres never gonna be a shortage of xp in this fight.

the lvl 120 healer quickly runs out of sap/hp due to double spell and the support healer cannot keep up under normal circumstances
the tank is taking 1600 dmg a hit so he needs constant healing
the nuker is draining their sap/hp just as quick as the healer so also needs healing to deal damage. remember its gonna be a long fight.

so if I can stun/blind the ocyx for 5 seconds at a time at 1 in 5 times (which is the ratio I was hitting) it would give the main/support healers time to replenish the team. that is where its especially useful.

also remember the tank is 100 lvls lower than the mob and even if he lands a hit (a 5% chance if I read rightly somewhere else) he's only gonna do 300 dmg. if the mob is stunned/blinded he hits every time added to the bonus that is stunned he hits for 600dmg.

with a affliction magician in your team you can take on mobs you would have no end of trouble with normally -

all I gotta do is lvl it to a high lvl and I can imagine how effective it will be

[aelvana]

They're not leveled because they're not needed in groups. Everyone's more concerned with being able to fill necessary roles first I think.

[iphdrunk]

theres an ocyx boss in dyron that hits for around 1600 at a high rate.

indeed... Skellop and Taron are 210 named mobs. Our team was 2 ~200 melees, 1 150 heal, 1 150 nuker, and 1 198 offensive affliction. Madness landed almost everytime, and hold for several seconds, stun harder to land but still useful. xp at 3k and not-so-slow kills.

[dakhound]

They're not leveled because they're not needed in groups. Everyone's more concerned with being able to fill necessary roles first I think.

yep I agree with you totally, it is not needed.
what I dont agree with is jackmor's opinion that they are crappy.

but at the risk of repeating myself

If someone said "hey I can double the speed of your kills, make you take 25-50% less hits, give more time for your healers to heal and occasionally scare aggro away when it attacks from behind. Do you want me to join yer team" I'm guessing you would say yes.

even if you take 200-500xp off a 3k kill figure your still getting more xp over time

[jackmor]

Was going to reply back to a post but it seems almost everyone thinks their crapy. Well there is a reason there crapy and it has nothing to do with the spells them selves.

Like others have pointed out they are not needed when you can nuke the mob very effectivly. At higher levels all def off magic and fighting skills are so under powered that they are usless. All you need is a tank with enough hit points, a few (not one) healers and a nuke. Thats it more tanks just use up healers.

Of coarse nukes use sap like race cars use gas so, the more healers the better. I guess thats the "balance" . And please dont tell me about the poor caster has no hp because thats crap too. If you level up your melee and put on some good amps with med armor you can take alot of hits and every one knows it.

Why do I talk this way?

Because I wanted to be a defencive caster/tank. My freind was going to be offencive caster healer and another just wanted to tank. We thought this would work.

Nope.

Just need one tank, a few healers and a couple good nukes to take down any SINGLE MOB. You will need a couple tanks, some more healers and a few more good nukes to take down multible mobs.

Notice the role of the deffencive caster here. Crapy spells that nobody wants or uses.

[dakhound]

Why do I talk this way?

Because I wanted to be a defencive caster/tank. My freind was going to be offencive caster healer and another just wanted to tank. We thought this would work.

Nope.

Just need one tank, a few healers and a couple good nukes to take down any SINGLE MOB. You will need a couple tanks, some more healers and a few more good nukes to take down multible mobs.

Notice the role of the deffencive caster here. Crapy spells that nobody wants or uses.

yes nukers can take down single mobs quick
yes you can take down any mob without a affliction mage
yes healers/nukers/tanks are more vital to a group
yes I love being a healer with 2000hp

I conceed on every point but one, afflction magic is not crappy for reasons stated in previous posts