Hi, I was just wondering what is the best for a enchanter to spec in Abjuration, Alteration, Divination, Evocation, Conjuration? I also was wondering what does this do, when you spec in one of the above? I was wondering what should a person do if by accident they Spec in wrong thing, should they delete char and start over?

Thank you for taking the time out and reading this post. I couldn't find a good web site to find the answer to this question.

Thank You,
Jadded

Thank you for helping me out. I did mess up I spec in Abj by accident. I'm glad to know it's not the end of the world, that i can fix this by doing a quest. Thank You so much. /hugg.

How does alteration help with CC? Are you charming/rooting over mezzing for this?

Conjuration here, but it is mostly player-taste and scenario. Secondary Specialization I think will be Alteration more for the re-buff-while-running.

Though the thoughts of lowering my mana cost on nuke with Evocation is appealing, I find myself leaning more towards the Alteration-based DoTs to avoid drawing any more attention to myself than necessary. They're actually theoretically more efficient but slower than the nukes (4.9DPMP, 33DPS for Arcane Noose compared to 4.0DPMP, 178DPS for Psychosis), even though we could crit a nuke but can't crit a DoT.

Besides... since my alt's a Beastie and I have several Druid friends... I usually have Beastie-crack, P10, Clairvoyance, and my Beguiler's Aura all running at the same time. Especially with Scryer's Trespass, I rarely run out of mana in zones that I can ride the horse, and it's usually because some fool brought me six mobs to keep locked down. (Wake of Felicity and Echoing Madness will be your friends, if you can get the mobs to sit calmly next to one another. ;D)

SA (10) + P10 (9) + C6 (20) + BA (4) + FT (15) = 58 mana per tick while running; 25 more while standing still on the horse; and 50 per tick from Scryer's... oh, that's only 133 per tick.

While I agree you will spend more mana buffing than Mezzing, 95% of that buffing happens when there is nothign going on and that amna can be medding back with no issues at all.

I only care about saving mana when the fit hits the shan.

Since my last post on this board I was the only chanter on a Yar'Lir fight. I had 9 mobs mezzed at on point untill 2 despawned. Had 7 mezzed the whole fight, and those were some resistant mobs with with tash and malo on them. Chained Mezz till I went OOM and was at 30% at the end of the fight after using Gather mana. THOSE are the times it matters.

Alteration ~ primary Specialization
Evocation ~ Secondary Specialization

I parsed my casting over 3 months and found out how rare I actually mezed mobs compared to other casting. I normally Tash, Slow, Nuke, Buff. I rarely mez. If I do have to mez, it's one cast before the mobs dead.

This morning, I sat down and made a list of how many spells we have of each of the 5 Spell Skill types, Levels 1 through 75, from original EQ all the way to TBS. (Yay, Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder!)

Abjuration: 63 spells
Alteration: 184 spells
Conjuration: 47 spells
Divination: 71 spells
Evocation: 18 spells

Since Day 1, my Specialization's been in Alteration; even back in 2001, the majority of our spells were in the Alteration category, so I thought I'd make my Specialization the area we tended to cast the most spells of.

I've never regretted it.

Some say that Conjuration is the most important part of an Enchanter, but I find that this simply isn't true. At Level 75, there are only 5 spells based on Conjuration that I ever use: Ellowind's Animation (pet), Perplexing Flash Rk. II (single-target mezz), Bewilderment Rk. II (single-target mezz), Entrancer's Aura Rk. II (mana-regen Aura), and Wake of Subdual Rk. II (targeted AE mezz). Over the course of the years, Guilds (and groups) have gotten way too used to Enchanters either not being able to mezz the mobs they were fighting (due to mob level or innate immunity to mezz), or Enchanters simply not being available (let's face it; full-time Enchanter main toons are a dying breed). Ergo, they've perfected the art(s) of the single-pull, and off-tanking; this has pretty much obviated the need for us to mezz anything like as often as we used to.

On raids (and even in groups) I tend to buff far more than mezz. Even with the new out-of-combat regen mode, I'm often buffing people who are either engaged in combat (due to recent death, or because they were dispelled, or buffs wearing off), or who were recently engaged in combat; this means I inherit their "OOC regen" timer. Because of this, I am rarely in "out-of-combat" regen mode. Even so, the only time I've ever come close to being OOM is during raids, and it's almost always from buffing. Having to hit upwards of 6 groups with Voice of Intuition Rk. II, Hastening of Ellowind Rk. II, Legion of Alendar Rk. II, and Rune of the Kedge Rk. II will take the stuffing out of you post-haste.

Rune of the Kedge is a very high-cost buff, but the melee/spell damage it absorbs, combined with the -400 Hate it procs whenever a mob hits someone with it on, will quickly make it the most-requested buff you possess (especially by Clerics!). Alendar is a low-cost buff (group version takes no more mana than the single-target version does), and it is a must when facing any raid-worthy mob.
(I bot a 75 CLR on raids, so I usually team it up with Rallied Aegis of Vie Rk. II. You'd be surprised at how much longevity these two spells will impart to your raid members...even the squishy ones!)

Which leads me into my Secondary Forte: Abjuration. Yes, Abjuration! Even if not casting Alendar/Kedge on a whole raid, I always keep my own personal Runes up in the following buff order (and by preference):

Rune of the Kedge Rk. II or Polychromatic Rune Rk. II or Rune of Ellowind Rk. II
Aegis of Abstraction
Rune of Shadows or Draconic Rune Rk. II or Ethereal Rune
Legion of Alendar Rk. II or Aegis of Alendar Rk. II

These impart to me a hardiness I would never have without them, and because of these spells, I am almost always the last person to drop if my raid wipes. I always have them up, and during AE-heavy encounters, they often need renewing during combat (especially Alendar, which I keep up on the whole raid). Having my Secondary Forte in Abjuration really helps with the mana-cost of these protective spells, enabling me (and my raid) to survive longer, with fewer casualties.

Yes, I nuke when I can. But let's face facts...our nukes are way too slow-casting to add up to substantial DPS during a raid. It can't hurt, but it's certainly not an area that we shine in. Mana is much better spent keeping the raid members Shielded, tossing Mana Recursion Rk. II onto every Wizard/Mage you can, and keeping yourself alive via Runes, than it is nuking non-stop.
(However, tossing a Mind Phobiate Rk. II onto a raid mob, and keeping it on, is very mana efficient. Between any mana preservation items you may have, and the Recourse of the DoT, you're spending ~55-75 mana for 4k damage. Now that's a ratio I can get behind!)

By no means should you take this as a path for you to follow. This is merely the way I have chosen to go, and it works well for me. The playing style of Enchanters is as varied as our personalities, and one is just as valid as another. In the end, you pick what works best for you, for your group, for your raid, and for your Guild; each success or failure is merely a lesson in refinement. And despite the way that SOE has marginalized us (indeed, trivialized us) for the past few years, I still love being an Enchanter as much as I did when I first started playing one back in 1999. I still think the Enchanter is the most versatile, most interesting, and most FUN of all the Classes in EverQuest...but, then, I'm a little biased in that regard!

Cheers!

(P.S. Tanks, of course, must ensure they click off Rune of the Kedge. Since it's a group spell, you cannot pick and choose who it lands on. It's best if they have it auto-blocked, but a hotkey'd reminder in /rsay and /gu to remind them to drop it never hurts.)


Edited, Apr 21st 2007 1:33pm by Vesanus