hey im torn between spell howler and Phantom summoner, i keep hearing that phantom summoners suck, but spell howlers are so common now and i don't want to re-roll i don't know what to do, do Phantom summoners really suck? please help ><
hey im torn between spell howler and Phantom summoner, i keep hearing that phantom summoners suck, but spell howlers are so common now and i don't want to re-roll i don't know what to do, do Phantom summoners really suck? please help ><
They are completley different classes. One is a summoner that controls "demonic" forces while meleeing i battle and the other is a nuker.
So, one could say that PS's are the best thing since sliced bread but is that what you want to do? Or, One could say SH's are what to be. But do you want to nuke/nuke repeat all the way to lvl 80?
Just pick something that you will enjoy. Otherwise you WILL find yourself lvl 52 and realizing you wasted your time.
And believe me. No one ever says "oh boy! Now I get to do the second class change quests again. I can't wait."
Nuke/nuke repeat, yes! It can be very repetetive being a Spell Howler! I get so bored sometimes. =(
As a Phantom Summoner, you get a lot more freedom in your choice of places to hunt.
As a Spell Howler, groups of creatures or creatures with increased HP are problematic to say the least.
When I finally got to group with my PS buddy after 50, all I could think was "****, I wish I could play like that!"
Here's a good method to choose and in fact it's how i chose.
1. Does the thought of nuking 1 more mob make you want to kill someone?
2. Is said brutality dealt with a sword and a summoned demon rather than a spell.
3. Which do you consider more fun, kiting for the reamaining 40 levels or running 2 characters independently.
If you answered yes to the first to and chose the second option for part 3 then PS is for you. I love it personally and i capable at both PVP and PVE. PS is fun but it's not a play style that many want and as such it's pretty rare to find a PS but it can be a fun and rewarding class.
He is very good at both PVE and PVP, but that might be because he is very skilled at the game, and has been playing for a looong time.
I have a SpellHowler, one of the most hated and loved classes for the reasons you said and more. I play him when I want a power-high, or when I have just screwed up a PVP on another character. He is good stress relief lol.
But he won't make it past 50 because he is just that. Good fun for PVP (if you have the inherent ability to pwn) but not my preferred play-style (nuke, repeat, etc) overall. That is why my signature says Dishonourable Discharge- he is not a perma-red but has a PK count of 20+.
hey im torn between spell howler and Phantom summoner, i keep hearing that phantom summoners suck, but spell howlers are so common now and i don't want to re-roll i don't know what to do, do Phantom summoners really suck? please help ><
I was actually torn between the same thing for a long time, I did however decide to go SH. Why? I based my decision on the fact that SH is the fastest leveling nuker in the game & PS's servitors take 30-90% of your exp, & you will most likely be using them well leveling. PS & SH aren't for everyone, SH is a consistent nuker & PS have a servitor to fight with them. I can't handle controlling my buffalo, besides trying to control a servitor. a PS is a great class & they take skill to play, if your up for that challenge & not lazy like me go for it, you will never regret it. :p
**** why did you not use your summoners at 20 to 40 you while have got the idea witch way you wanna go,
also consider nuke just alwas nukes, PS alwas need it's sommon both a loss/\loss, also consider if your Sommon die you follow him in grave lol so 2x groep while never be for you solo + thing is you never ever have to upgrade your weapons, armor sinds your only thing you have is your sommoner witch reduse price a LOT of the class i whas in that place to when i made my PSP whas question my self if i sud taken a ES but i did not sinds i know my self i gonna borring my self after 25 hard levels then
yes you know at 20 you can summon them right :)
shadow and silhoutte
why do you think "they" add the summon skills their in the first place not becose it look good i asure you
yes you know at 20 you can summon them right :)
shadow and silhoutte
why do you think "they" add the summon skills their in the first place not becose it look good i asure you
**** why did you not use your summoners at 20 to 40 you while have got the idea witch way you wanna go,
also consider nuke just alwas nukes, PS alwas need it's sommon both a loss/\loss, also consider if your Sommon die you follow him in grave lol so 2x groep while never be for you solo + thing is you never ever have to upgrade your weapons, armor sinds your only thing you have is your sommoner witch reduse price a LOT of the class i whas in that place to when i made my PSP whas question my self if i sud taken a ES but i did not sinds i know my self i gonna borring my self after 25 hard levels then
This was so confusing to read. I understood the general concept of all this...but I had to pick it part to understand anything at all. Even then I don't understand the second half of what he's trying to say.
yes you know at 20 you can summon them right :)
shadow and silhoutte
why do you think "they" add the summon skills their in the first place not becose it look good i asure you
I did use a servitor for a while well I was leveling from 20-30 to see what it was like. I didn't like the servitor time of waiting to resummon it again.. I also couldn't stand giving 30% of my exp away to my servitor. I also had trouble understanding this, and thats hard coming from "the QUEEN of not using comma's etc" I tried to make the best of it thou. Like I said I'm also lazy when I played with the DW I prefer to 1-2 shot everything to get it over with & to lazy to control myself & my servitor. hehe :p
I remember trying out summoning as well and it was annoying as all hell as a dark wizard. It seemed like you had to babysit your private tank, the spell would eventually wear off, and then you'd have to wait forever to use it again. So you'd basically have to come up with a unique way to use these servitors to get things done...for only 20 minutes...whenever you could remember you had the capability of summoning something that sucked up XP/SP to begin with. Sure, phantom summoners don't have to wait to resummon things, and no doubt the class is great in its own way, but it's hard to get hooked on the basics of a class when the teaser has more limitations than a demo version of a major piece of software. And this is coming from a someone who in their last MMO, which was Evercrack, played a Magician (one of the MAJOR pet classes of the game) that could simply resummon a pet anytime. All you needed was the component, the mana, and the spell. They also handled pets really well in EQ as well: Every few levels you'd get a newer pet that kept up with your level progression. I think, while not trying to imitate another, PlayNC could have gone this route to better effect as far as getting people interested in the Phantom Summoner class. The shadow (it was shadow, right?) and the silhouette weren't exactly all that powerful to begin with. I don't think it would have been a major imbalance of a second class to have removed the wait time in between summons. Simply cut them off (the line of spells) at level 40 like they do for spellhowlers and keep going like they do with phantom summoners. That simple.
hmm never thought this whas a Competition of who is the best writer if it whas no human can write perfect anyway so why bother to try
No one is saying it's a competition. There's a difference between pointing out the odd spelling/grammar error and not being able to understand what you are saying. I think people are just asking you to restate your point a little more clearly. It doesn't have to be perfect; it just needs to be understandable.
I remember trying out summoning as well and it was annoying as all hell as a dark wizard. It seemed like you had to babysit your private tank, the spell would eventually wear off, and then you'd have to wait forever to use it again. So you'd basically have to come up with a unique way to use these servitors to get things done...for only 20 minutes...whenever you could remember you had the capability of summoning something that sucked up XP/SP to begin with. Sure, phantom summoners don't have to wait to resummon things, and no doubt the class is great in its own way, but it's hard to get hooked on the basics of a class when the teaser has more limitations than a demo version of a major piece of software. And this is coming from a someone who in their last MMO, which was Evercrack, played a Magician (one of the MAJOR pet classes of the game) that could simply resummon a pet anytime. All you needed was the component, the mana, and the spell. They also handled pets really well in EQ as well: Every few levels you'd get a newer pet that kept up with your level progression. I think, while not trying to imitate another, PlayNC could have gone this route to better effect as far as getting people interested in the Phantom Summoner class. The shadow (it was shadow, right?) and the silhouette weren't exactly all that powerful to begin with. I don't think it would have been a major imbalance of a second class to have removed the wait time in between summons. Simply cut them off (the line of spells) at level 40 like they do for spellhowlers and keep going like they do with phantom summoners. That simple.
lol I completely agree, I did feel like I was babysitting my servitor & I get so occupied with other stuff, that I forget to heal my servitor at times & it's dead. :(
For me the SH is the lazy route.
PS is much more challenging.
3. Which do you consider more fun, kiting for the reamaining 40 levels
I don't know about other people but I almost never kite (I hate kiting). I just take the lumps and use Vamp Claw to heal myself.
...or running 2 characters independently.
Or if you like running 2 characters independently you can dual box an SH and SE.
Honestly, though, you should experiment as a Dark Wizard with your 2 summons to see if you like that play style. Invest in top D duals and buy lots of DSS. Then bring out your summon and hunt that way until the summon expires. If you like that type of play style it only gets better as a PS. If you don't like it, I wouldn't think the extra perks you get as a PS (new summons, summon buffs, heals, and cubics) will make it that much better.
I know for me I regretted going SH from about level 40 until maybe 52 (since I had crap gear and was chronically broke so hunting was painful with lots of downtime). But after level 52 I saved up enough for good gear, got some new spells I loved (CDL and Tempest) and started to really enjoy hunting as an SH. I didn't start dual boxing with my SE until the mid 5X levels either. Honestly, though, with the Herbs in C5 running an SH solo has gotten a lot better. The Herbs of Life drop often enough you can really spam B2M to eliminate downtime for MP recharge.
3. Which do you consider more fun, kiting for the reamaining 40 levels
I don't know about other people but I almost never kite (I hate kiting). I just take the lumps and use Vamp Claw to heal myself.
...or running 2 characters independently.
Or if you like running 2 characters independently you can dual box an SH and SE.
Honestly, though, you should experiment as a Dark Wizard with your 2 summons to see if you like that play style. Invest in top D duals and buy lots of DSS. Then bring out your summon and hunt that way until the summon expires. If you like that type of play style it only gets better as a PS. If you don't like it, I wouldn't think the extra perks you get as a PS (new summons, summon buffs, heals, and cubics) will make it that much better.
I know for me I regretted going SH from about level 40 until maybe 52 (since I had crap gear and was chronically broke so hunting was painful with lots of downtime). But after level 52 I saved up enough for good gear, got some new spells I loved (CDL and Tempest) and started to really enjoy hunting as an SH. I didn't start dual boxing with my SE until the mid 5X levels either. Honestly, though, with the Herbs in C5 running an SH solo has gotten a lot better. The Herbs of Life drop often enough you can really spam B2M to eliminate downtime for MP recharge.
I also use my SO when I'm leveling my SH & I agree the herbs are really good. I was told to level my SH out by Field of Silence because of all the flying - weak to wind attacks creatures, & it's un believeable how often herbs -MP/HP pots drop, it was nice, helped my SH out a ton. :)
hmm never thought this whas a Competition of who is the best writer if it whas no human can write perfect anyway so why bother to try
Let me be crystal clear about what everyone means, Abisha. We aren't giving you a college level English class (or high school for that matter). Feel free two make az meny gramatical errors as ewe wont. We'll understand...eventually. Let me break it down for you though and show you what we read, okay?
**** why did you not use your summoners at 20 to 40 you while have got the idea witch way you wanna go,
also consider nuke just alwas nukes, PS alwas need it's sommon both a loss/\loss, also consider if your Sommon die you follow him in grave lol so 2x groep while never be for you solo + thing is you never ever have to upgrade your weapons, armor sinds your only thing you have is your sommoner witch reduse price a LOT of the class
Stop right there. The lack of punctuation just made this hard to follow. We weren't trying to give you lessons. Even looking at this NOW I'm understanding more and more...but how many times does a person need to reread something to get it completely? If once or twice isn't enough...problem. What you were asking is why didn't they summon in between level 20-40 so they could get an idea of what they want, to consider that all an SH does is nuke and all a PS does is summon...so both classes are screwed in that way, if the summoner's pet dies the player will probably die too, then something about soloing not an option, and then telling people to consider all someone has to worry about is the summoning and saving money on gear when better gear isn't necessary to summon. Does that about sum it up so far?
i whas in that place to when i made my PSP
whas question my self if i sud taken a ES but i did not sinds i know my self i gonna borring my self after 25 hard levels then
And here I'm guessing you were saying you questioning yourself if you should have taken an SE (not ES) but knew you would be bored after 25 levels of it? Or something. Just...taking the time to type it all out and preview it will make all the difference in the world.
3. Which do you consider more fun, kiting for the reamaining 40 levels
I don't know about other people but I almost never kite (I hate kiting). I just take the lumps and use Vamp Claw to heal myself.
...or running 2 characters independently.
Or if you like running 2 characters independently you can dual box an SH and SE.
This is what I use myself and its VERY effective. Granted I sometimes wish I had an Elven Elder at my side or a bishop or something to rez me for those really high %s, but my SE does wonders in saving my SH's life and keeping her churning out hurricanes like a machine gun. First...you got the heals. Very nice because, like you, I don't run and kite...my SH and SE can't seem to outrun anything...I doubt she could outrun a 1-legged sloth if there was such in the game. The heals can keep you alive PLUS, if you are being attacked by 2 mobs or something and your SE is decently geared up, the heals will attract a mob or two off your SH so your SH has a lot less chance of getting spells interrupted and maybe she can finish off that **** mob that has kept slapping her senseless and move on to the mobs screwing with her healer (did someone say...sleep?). Second your SE has root which, if it's up on levels with the mobs you're fighting, can either make nuking too easy (just root, nuke, rinse, repeat) or keep a mob firmly in one spot for when sleep wears off...or if you can't even get a sleep spell off to begin with. Finally...while it's well known they don't get the BEST rezes...you at least have a toon by your side who can restore SOME experience and get you back to fighting again...rather than taking it all the way up the...hmmm...and having to run back from town to where you were. Oh...and then there's always the buffing thing. It's nice. And oh...the portable mana battery...that can NOT be overlooked AT ALL. If you have your SE at a comparable level to you...go to town. Nuke nuke nuke nuke nuke...hmmm...down to half mana. SE starts doing the recharge macro...boom...back to full mana or close enough...SE sits down to charge up mana again. Filling you up with mana as fast as you can use it (except when the mobs get ****** and start conspiring and making deals with GMs and whoever else is in on these little conspiracies).
3. Which do you consider more fun, kiting for the reamaining 40 levels
I don't know about other people but I almost never kite (I hate kiting). I just take the lumps and use Vamp Claw to heal myself.
...or running 2 characters independently.
Or if you like running 2 characters independently you can dual box an SH and SE.
This is what I use myself and its VERY effective. Granted I sometimes wish I had an Elven Elder at my side or a bishop or something to rez me for those really high %s, but my SE does wonders in saving my SH's life and keeping her churning out hurricanes like a machine gun. First...you got the heals. Very nice because, like you, I don't run and kite...my SH and SE can't seem to outrun anything...I doubt she could outrun a 1-legged sloth if there was such in the game. The heals can keep you alive PLUS, if you are being attacked by 2 mobs or something and your SE is decently geared up, the heals will attract a mob or two off your SH so your SH has a lot less chance of getting spells interrupted and maybe she can finish off that **** mob that has kept slapping her senseless and move on to the mobs screwing with her healer (did someone say...sleep?). Second your SE has root which, if it's up on levels with the mobs you're fighting, can either make nuking too easy (just root, nuke, rinse, repeat) or keep a mob firmly in one spot for when sleep wears off...or if you can't even get a sleep spell off to begin with. Finally...while it's well known they don't get the BEST rezes...you at least have a toon by your side who can restore SOME experience and get you back to fighting again...rather than taking it all the way up the...hmmm...and having to run back from town to where you were. Oh...and then there's always the buffing thing. It's nice. And oh...the portable mana battery...that can NOT be overlooked AT ALL. If you have your SE at a comparable level to you...go to town. Nuke nuke nuke nuke nuke...hmmm...down to half mana. SE starts doing the recharge macro...boom...back to full mana or close enough...SE sits down to charge up mana again. Filling you up with mana as fast as you can use it (except when the mobs get ****** and start conspiring and making deals with GMs and whoever else is in on these little conspiracies).
lol nicely said. I use my SE mostly for recharging my SH. Eventually I will get to the point where my SH gets into trouble & I will need the Rez/Heals etc.. :D
There's only been on big area that I've had to use my SE for such a thing constantly and that was Valley of Saints (you should see my rant on the mob called Blade of Splendor...apparently some people consider mobs warping around while they are "sleeping" [and there is no partner Blade of Splendor anywhere] to be just "unlucky"...grrr.) I've had my occasional times when one hand has been furiously pressing the F3 key on one keyboard (hurricane...hurricane...HURRICANE ALREADY ******MIT! KILL THE **** MOB!!!!!!) and F6 on the other (BATTLE HEAL SPAMMAGE!!!!!). Those battle heals suck up mana fast but they're fast enough to keep an SH alive long enough to kill something plus draw off a mob or two. Then there are times, and you should be familiar with this having an SE yourself (or is your SE still an SO?) when, crap, my SH gets overwhelmed by mobs, dammit, but I was too busy to do anything with the healer or perhaps she was too late in healing or maybe because the mobs were concentrating on your SH they completely ignore the healer, and the SH dies (without them bothering with the healer). I've sometimes sat there and had to root some mobs, click over, cast rez, cast buffs real fast, and within 15 seconds of dying I was back to doing things without skipping a beat. Great times, let me tell you. You're ******...but already working on recovery...and that's a lot faster than waiting for some 40%, 70%, or whatever % person to come rez you or running all the way back from town.
There's only been on big area that I've had to use my SE for such a thing constantly and that was Valley of Saints (you should see my rant on the mob called Blade of Splendor...apparently some people consider mobs warping around while they are "sleeping" [and there is no partner Blade of Splendor anywhere] to be just "unlucky"...grrr.) I've had my occasional times when one hand has been furiously pressing the F3 key on one keyboard (hurricane...hurricane...HURRICANE ALREADY ******MIT! KILL THE **** MOB!!!!!!) and F6 on the other (BATTLE HEAL SPAMMAGE!!!!!). Those battle heals suck up mana fast but they're fast enough to keep an SH alive long enough to kill something plus draw off a mob or two. Then there are times, and you should be familiar with this having an SE yourself (or is your SE still an SO?) when, crap, my SH gets overwhelmed by mobs, dammit, but I was too busy to do anything with the healer or perhaps she was too late in healing or maybe because the mobs were concentrating on your SH they completely ignore the healer, and the SH dies (without them bothering with the healer). I've sometimes sat there and had to root some mobs, click over, cast rez, cast buffs real fast, and within 15 seconds of dying I was back to doing things without skipping a beat. Great times, let me tell you. You're ******...but already working on recovery...and that's a lot faster than waiting for some 40%, 70%, or whatever % person to come rez you or running all the way back from town.
My SE is still a little SO. Ya I have bigger problems then that lol I don't use the F Keys when I PVE I use my mouse for everything & I use my arrow keys to move around.. (My clans gotten use to me moving in circles) I don't depend on my SO to heal me much right now, so I'm usually stocked up with GHP, or run around like a crazy elf waiting for those HP pots to drop hehe ;)
If I may make a suggestion...if you're big on self-sufficiency you should wait up for your SO to become an SE so she can help out with with the mana. To be honest...I've never had to use GHPs before. I really SHOULD buy some for those PVP encounters where people are just malicious...but those are so rare it's never been a big deal. And if I can't save myself with my SE then a potion might save me...but the chances are slim at that point. Basically if things have gotten so bad (PVE-wise) that I need to use GHPs, when I have a perfectly good healing machine right next to me, then I'm [censored]'d.
A REALLY good thing you can do is get yourself an animal pet. Not a wolf...not a hatchling...but a kookaburro (that spelled right?) or a cougar or whatever. They eat baby spice (a really cheap pet food and they can hold it for you and eat it when they need to automatically) and heal you automatically without prompting. They tend to heal for about 26 hp when you first get them. Now...while that might not be all that much keep in mind they are doing that continuously...like a lesser heal potion...but full time. They also only consume 10% of the xp that the pet owner gets.
A couple of problems (minor ones at that once you get used to handling them) are how the pets are treated by the game. They are regarded, by aggressive mobs, as regular players. So if you run by a mob with your bird following you, the mob might chase you OR the bird...and those things have VERY little p.def. I could probably hit my bird with a swipe of my +12 homu and kill it in one hit...with no fancy melee buffs. That's very flimsy. That's where having a rezzing SO/SE comes in handy. Have the SH target the bird, have the SO/SE /assist the SH, cast rez, bird is back to life doing it's job with some xp recovered. I will tell you, true story, someone in my clan thought that the only way you could rez a pet was with pet resurrection scrolls...so if you believe that...it's not an issue. Just use /assist or manually type /target petname and go.
Now...you may be wondering (or getting mad when the pet dies and thinking you ultimately wasted xp you could have gotten), "How am I going to keep my pet safe from aggressive mobs that could randomly appear next it and attack while I'm not looking?". The 100% correct answer is you can't. The 99% correct answer is you can stash the pet somewhere close by where there are no mobs spawning at all and leave it there. As long as the pet isn't a HUGE distance away from you it will continue to get xp funneled to it and it will raise in levels. As they raise in levels they will grow in power and, so I've heard, do more than just heal you after a long enough period of leveling. I dunno...I got my bird when it was level 24...and it's close to 30...and I still don't expect it to do anything special for a long while.
So...getting a pet like that would be quite beneficial for your situation. It would slow down the rate at which your SH is leveling, allowing the SO to close the gap (as any lower level character would do when it's sharing exp with someone higher level within the level range), BUT it would also increase your hp regen rate and allow you to B2M faster. If you're in an area where there are no aggressive mobs even better. The pet's low power heals won't really piss anything off anytime soon. However...since I have a SE within 2 levels of my SH...I tend to park my bird at a unoccupied section near the western side of the Devastated Castle near a hill and kill stuff in this little tiny valley in between the...can't remember the name...and the doom knights/troopers. You vet's know the area. With the Corpse watchacallits, the doom servants, and the dismal poles or something...can't remember stuff...really tired...
Oh...and get your important heals and macros on F-keys...fast action can save your life more often than you think. Having to hunt around for a heal button on your screen in the heat of battle is really stressful and you can miss what you never had a problem finding before very easily.
As a Spell Howler, groups of creatures or creatures with increased HP are problematic to say the least.
Group mobs are usually no problem for a SH because they are half-health mobs. Use your overhit spell to oneshot the leader. Two more mobs will fall to hurricane before they reach you. The 4th mob may get in a hit before you kill it.
If you agro 2 groups you might need a live healer, but it is still 1 shot-1 kill.
I have had more success that way than trying to use an AOE.
As a Spell Howler, groups of creatures or creatures with increased HP are problematic to say the least.
Group mobs are usually no problem for a SH because they are half-health mobs. Use your overhit spell to oneshot the leader. Two more mobs will fall to hurricane before they reach you. The 4th mob may get in a hit before you kill it.
If you agro 2 groups you might need a live healer, but it is still 1 shot-1 kill.
I have had more success that way than trying to use an AOE.
That all depends on the quality of an SH's gear and if they're using a MHP or not but it's feasible. I don't like group mobs though. you might be able to kill most of them off pretty fast, but I feel rushed when I'm doing something like that. Hell...anytime I'm having to juggle more than 3 mobs I start getting very twitchy and careful. While group mobs would be weaker and easier to kill...they are still annoying in their own right.
I believe Hoss Delgado, a character on the cartoon show "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" said it best, "Stupid...but clever". That's how you could describe those group mobs. They're stupid because some of them are getting killed just running to you...but clever when they reach you and are getting pretty **** good at INTERRUPTING YOUR SPELLS.
I really do need to get use to the F Keys badly, I just haven't completely been satisfied with my hotbar, because of the nerf to sleep etc.. I'm trying to get my playing style fixed first.
I have a bird actually & I'm currently using it on another character, the only reason why I don't want to much stuff auto following my SH around is because they pull mobs to them & then I have to try & kill the stuff I've pulled & then kill the stuff they've pulled inorder to keep them alive. I don't usually have a problem with keeping my SH alive it's more keeping my SO alive.
I am also currently adding my SH into the same clan as my main, so soon I wont be soloing her.
All great tips, they will help me out tons when I get into bad situations.
Thanks for the tips :D
I really do need to get use to the F Keys badly, I just haven't completely been satisfied with my hotbar, because of the nerf to sleep etc.. I'm trying to get my playing style fixed first.
I have a bird actually & I'm currently using it on another character, the only reason why I don't want to much stuff auto following my SH around is because they pull mobs to them & then I have to try & kill the stuff I've pulled & then kill the stuff they've pulled inorder to keep them alive. I don't usually have a problem with keeping my SH alive it's more keeping my SO alive.
I am also currently adding my SH into the same clan as my main, so soon I wont be soloing her.
All great tips, they will help me out tons when I get into bad situations.
Thanks for the tips :D
You ARE aware you can park your bird and not have it follow you, yes? Just double click on the bird itself, go to the actions tab, and throw up some actions into the hotbar. Click the movement mode and it will stay put...most of the time. The bird WILL move to help heal you if you fall below a certain % of health and then run back to where you parked it. Not necessarily a bad thing...however if you're a good distance away from the bird and SO and the bird runs by and gets itself killed...well...then you have to rez it and repark it...since it will be in automatic follow mode again. Or, if you're really serious about leveling the bird like I am, park it far enough away that the bird won't care if you even DIE but still get exp. You can monitor this by double clicking the bird, so you can see it's EXP%, parking it a good distance away where it's safe and killing something. If the EXP% goes up...it's all good. The bird won't get itself killed and, when you get it way up in levels, it will actually be really useful and save money on potions. Even at level 24, in the time it takes a pet to get hungry enough to go from 100% food to 55% (just about where it goes to take another bite), one unit of baby spice is VERY cheap compared to the idea of sucking down nothing but lesser potions the entire time (which is about how powerful the pet's heals will be).
As far as sleep goes...can you tell me exactly how they nerfed it and when? Was it with this recent chronicle and was it the whole can't "sleep, nuke, sleep" thing I think I heard about? If so does that mean you can't do that all consecutively or that there has to be several seconds of time between sleep spells being used on a target?
I've never relied on sleep spells to do much. Sometimes I've used them on those Blades of Splendor to help split them up. One blade is immediately incapacitated and the other takes a couple seconds to form and run after you...giving you plenty of time to room and take it out. Then you still have plenty of time to take out the other while it's dreaming of female Blade of Splendors to make mini-Blade of Splendors with.
I never relied on sleep either for my SH or my Prophet, except when I needed it for emergencies. Well they nerfed sleep for it's a longer casting when you cast it, so instead of it taking like 3 secs to cast, it takes like 6 secs or so. (not sure of exact time) In my opinion it actually does suck, you can still use it, but now with the slower casting time, you have a risk of the mob being pulled & interrupting your cast before you can finish it.
Ya I know I can "park" my bird heh I was worried about it coming out to heal me & then getting killed on it's way back to the original spot. Right now it's not so much the trouble of having a SO or my bird getting killed, it's just having both of them going at the same time can get confusing. I'm currently using my bird on my Prophet, so when I'm out soloing in my Heavy, I've got my own personal healer there with me. *Baby pets are so cute* :)
I'd say park it somewhere it won't be inclined to venture from, then, and level it up.
What level is your bird currently at?
I've already leveled it up once & it's actually not that hard to level, especially if your a nuker.
I haven't played online in over a week...but last I remember it was on the verge of being level 30. Yes...it's quite easy to level it up initially, but it's easy to see it will get harder as time goes on. Since I have my SE with me at all times I don't need to rely on it, and it's more trouble than it's worth to keep it in the area of my SE while my SH is out blowing things to shreds, but I think it worth the effort in due time when it's leveled up far more.
The best areas to do this kind of thing, as a nuker, are where there's a safe spot nearby, such as a town, castle, a road where no mobs spawn or get close to, or any spot devoid of aggressive mobs or spawns and simply let it be while it chows down on a load of baby spice. I slapped 1000 units of baby spice on it a few weeks ago...I think it's gone through 80. Very economic. Especially when you, again, compare it against using potions. In addition during real downtime, like with a group after a raid boss battle, or after handling a lot of mobs...or perhaps just exhausting your mana pool of every last point of mana it's good to whip out. However...the higher the level it is...the more it will be useful.
And this is coming from a someone who in their last MMO, which was Evercrack, played a Magician (one of the MAJOR pet classes of the game) that could simply resummon a pet anytime. All you needed was the component, the mana, and the spell. They also handled pets really well in EQ as well: Every few levels you'd get a newer pet that kept up with your level progression. I think, while not trying to imitate another, PlayNC could have gone this route to better effect as far as getting people interested in the Phantom Summoner class. The shadow (it was shadow, right?) and the silhouette weren't exactly all that powerful to begin with. I don't think it would have been a major imbalance of a second class to have removed the wait time in between summons. Simply cut them off (the line of spells) at level 40 like they do for spellhowlers and keep going like they do with phantom summoners. That simple.
I never played a mage, but I did love my barbarian beastlord. You're right, EQ did pet classes quite well. I haven't tried and L2 pet class, but from what I hear, I'm kind of glad I'm not going that route with my Shillen Mystic.
And for those whose solution always seems to default to dual boxing, not everyone wants to pay for two accounts.
And this is coming from a someone who in their last MMO, which was Evercrack, played a Magician (one of the MAJOR pet classes of the game) that could simply resummon a pet anytime. All you needed was the component, the mana, and the spell. They also handled pets really well in EQ as well: Every few levels you'd get a newer pet that kept up with your level progression. I think, while not trying to imitate another, PlayNC could have gone this route to better effect as far as getting people interested in the Phantom Summoner class. The shadow (it was shadow, right?) and the silhouette weren't exactly all that powerful to begin with. I don't think it would have been a major imbalance of a second class to have removed the wait time in between summons. Simply cut them off (the line of spells) at level 40 like they do for spellhowlers and keep going like they do with phantom summoners. That simple.
I never played a mage, but I did love my barbarian beastlord. You're right, EQ did pet classes quite well. I haven't tried and L2 pet class, but from what I hear, I'm kind of glad I'm not going that route with my Shillen Mystic.
And for those whose solution always seems to default to dual boxing, not everyone wants to pay for two accounts.
It wasn't instantly my first idea or solution to anything. In Evercrack I started off a magician back when the only expansion there was was Kunark. My brother was the one who got me into it. He had an enchanter, got things going with him, and when he finally tired of it because it took time away from his wife and family, I bought the account from him and began dual boxing. I must say I kind of got addicted to the self-sufficiency of it all since, as you probably know, mages in that game aren't exactly the first classes to be recruited to a group: first a cleric, THEN a tank, and FINALLY some form of crowd control. Anything beyond that was optional. So an enchanter I had my own buffs right then and there (KEI or VOQ there would be someone similar to a spell called EMPOWER here...not sure how familiar you are with this game) Empower raises the magic attack rating, not rate of mana regeneration, though. At any rate here I had a class that was a good nuke, with a good pet, and someone who could do crowd control and portable buffs.
When I finally tired of that game and I came back to this one, I had tried it for a little bit and fell in love with the graphics and some aspects of gameplay. So it naturally followed I went with the characters I have now: a nuker, a buffer, both with different form of crowd control, and also with healing and resurrection capability. It kind of makes up for the lack of going the pet class route...but the second class stage of a caster, the dark wizard (for dark elves, that is), sucks for someone with pets in mind. Having to wait a few hours to use a pet again and then have to go back to your NORMAL routine of killing stuff once it dies or fades away is strange.
thanks a lot :) i think i will set up as a SH to pwer lvl me to 40 and just switch to PS at lvl 40. Concidering i'm a Clan leader, the PS is probably the best way for me to go. This way lvling might be slow but i will get the sp rquired for lvling up my clan a lot faster :) thanks everyone
thanks a lot :) i think i will set up as a SH to pwer lvl me to 40 and just switch to PS at lvl 40. Concidering i'm a Clan leader, the PS is probably the best way for me to go. This way lvling might be slow but i will get the sp rquired for lvling up my clan a lot faster :) thanks everyone
I'm a shade confused by this statement. A spellhowler is a level 41+ class. They can still summon the weak little monsters they could in the dark wizard class, but that's it and with the same limitations (would be rather pointless to). Once you are past level 40 there is no switching to another class. You are one or the other...in the meantime you're a dark wizard who's halfway in between. If you mean to say you are going to play yourself off as a pure nuker until you get to level 40 and do your second class quest to become a phantom summoner then that's something completely differernt.
Hey if you got convinced by any of these people that PS was a good class, I feel really sorry for you. Summoners got screwed once more in C5 and that particular class is doomed to nothing but solo PvE and will never be a good PvP class.
PS is a good and fun class, provided you do not intend to PvP outside the arena/1v1s/buffed.
Besides, making the choice of what you roll or not (except if you're taking a chronicle out for an alt) based on the current strength of a class is always a bad choice - for reaons that have never been as obvious as in C5.
It wasn't instantly my first idea or solution to anything. In Evercrack I started off a magician back when the only expansion there was was Kunark. My brother was the one who got me into it. He had an enchanter, got things going with him, and when he finally tired of it because it took time away from his wife and family, I bought the account from him and began dual boxing. I must say I kind of got addicted to the self-sufficiency of it all since, as you probably know, mages in that game aren't exactly the first classes to be recruited to a group: first a cleric, THEN a tank, and FINALLY some form of crowd control. Anything beyond that was optional. So an enchanter I had my own buffs right then and there (KEI or VOQ there would be someone similar to a spell called EMPOWER here...not sure how familiar you are with this game) Empower raises the magic attack rating, not rate of mana regeneration, though. At any rate here I had a class that was a good nuke, with a good pet, and someone who could do crowd control and portable buffs.
51 Paladin, 32 Bard, 18 Beastlord on the Raithe
And people wonder why playing a knight is starting to bore me to tears. Even playing a paladin was more interesting in EQ - three stuns, root, heals, buffs, pacify - there was always something to do there. That's why I left WoW, and why I'm starting to get bored with L2. And that's without toucing on the constant and eternal activity that is playing a bard (as well as the fun of Selo's Accelerando).
When I finally tired of that game and I came back to this one, I had tried it for a little bit and fell in love with the graphics and some aspects of gameplay. So it naturally followed I went with the characters I have now: a nuker, a buffer, both with different form of crowd control, and also with healing and resurrection capability. It kind of makes up for the lack of going the pet class route...but the second class stage of a caster, the dark wizard (for dark elves, that is), sucks for someone with pets in mind. Having to wait a few hours to use a pet again and then have to go back to your NORMAL routine of killing stuff once it dies or fades away is strange.
That does seem a bit broken. My main problem would be the amout of xp they leech.
You shouldn't go PS if you have the problem of talking to your summons rather than your RL friends. I gave up my ES when I started to chat with my unicorn.
You shouldn't go PS if you have the problem of talking to your summons rather than your RL friends. I gave up my ES when I started to chat with my unicorn.