I love my warlock. I really, really do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t PLAY him … I do kind of actually like the fact that I am a volatile magic using class that spikes high damage and brings a lot of chaos to the party … it’s a real kick, honestly.
Sometimes.
Other times … read on …
I can quote something that was said to me directly the other day, in Najena’s Hollow Tower (where nearly every encounter is linked):
“Stop using AE.”
And that was coming from an SK.
In an isntance that seems almost tailored for warlocks, I’m not allowed to shine. Becuase the tank either can’t handle it, or, just as bad, doesn’t WANT to put forth the EFFORT to handle it (this is more commonly the case, although it’s no less a problem, becuase it perpetuates the perception that warlocks are volatile and therefore undesirable - when the fact of the matter is that it’s actually a combination of strange aggro mechanics adding 20% extra hate to the encounter on TOP of lazy tanks who are stuck in the “single target burn” method).
And this is by no means uncommon. I get it all the time. I get turned down from groups becuase it’s less “headache” for a tank to handle, say, a brigand’s or an assassin’s aggro than it is for them to handle MY aggro. (Even when I parse 2nd or 3rd behind said classes and yet somehow die first, which is also not uncommon!)
I wish I had some constructive suggestion — but as it is, we have an open admittance from a developer that there is indeed an aggro mechanic which causes linked encounters to ’spread’ hate to their buddies, which of course means that on top of our already high AE damage nukes, we get even more hate on us because they talk to one another … and until that is just FIXED or CHANGED … our situation will not change, much. The better gear we get the more damage we put out, the more hate we create with NO means of getting rid of it on any relative level. Even with my weapon proccing a 12% chance to reduce my hate by 1, and using vulian, concussive, AND bewildrement REGULARLY … it just doesn’t matter. My hate FAR, FAR exceeds any amount of de-aggro I may have.
In RAIDS this is not so much a problem. I rarely rip on raids (COMPARATIVLEY SPEAKING), and can usually parse between 2nd and 5th (nowhere near any assassin, however, but that’s fine — they are what they are and I’d rather compete for the 2 – 5 slots than feel bad because one class parses triple what I parse, that’s just an obvious overpowering, and since it hasn’t been fixed yet I don’t ever expect it will be, and that’s just how it’s going to be, so).
But in INSTANCES … thats another story. De-aggro or not, the ONLY way to NOT die is too purely throttle my output to such a point that people assume I am ‘not trying’ or ‘can’t play’ — neither of which is true – but my god, when I DO try, I not only die nearly instantly, I run the risk of wiping the group on top of it becuase most of the time unexpreienced tanks (who leveld from 1-70 in 2 weeks) can’t gain aggro once they lose it.
And THAT is the PROBLEM of being a warlock!
Ara
Hate-sharing is an odd-sounding mechanic. My best guess would be that it was originally designed to help tanks hold aggro on multiple mobs, even if they weren’t doing significant damage to most of them. (I.e. an attempt to avoid the current situation, where tanks are showing up on parses – the tank can be designed to do less damage to other targets in the encounter if the hate they’re generating on the main target spills over.) You would think that it would be easy to set the hate coefficient on AOE spells down by a notch to keep it from becoming unreasonable, but I’m guessing that this situation only arises for a few classes (many of which are unpopular for precisely the issue you raise, namely that game mechanics tend to favor hitting single targets).
You’d think … but I guess they’ve boxed themselves into a corner with whatever code they used!
Nothing worse than a lazy or sucky tank.
We run with a high-parse warlock frequently and always tell him to cut loose as hard as he wants. The tank we typically use is a monk and he never has any issue at all keeping all the aggro.
But I do know what you are talking about. I’ve grouped before with tanks who couldn’t keep aggro off of ME… and I’m generally about as low on the parse as you can be without being afk.
Yes, with a good tank this problem is usually avoided. But I find tanks of that calibre exceedingly rare, and moreso with every new expansion. The average pick-up tank can’t hold aggro at all, and even some “raid” tanks that I’ve been with can’t hold it. It’s unfortunate.
Hrm. Read this after recently starting a new Warlock Alt, which I have definitely been enjoying btw. But with my Fury as my main, I realize I must be a glutton for punishment. Ranger alt next I suppose :p
Oh the warlock class is a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong. It’s probably one of the most unique classes in EQ2, honestly, and I’ve played just about all of them to post-40 if not post-60. There are very, very few that have kept my interest the way the warlock has.
We have quite a bit of strategy: we can adjust our tactics based on whether the target is single, or multiple, and whether, if multiple, it is a linked, or unlinked encounter. We also have a number of little tricks that constitute the finer points of DPS output when used in the proper situations. IMHO, a warlock takes more skill to excel, and is more rewarding, than a wizard.
I’ve been playing a tank since ‘99 in EQ. Which means I tend to think it is up to the squishies to learn to manage their own aggro (cause frankly, EQ Warriors had very very ways to grab aggro back). I’m a guardian now, which means I have precisely one AOE attack. But you know what? If I have a multi-group encounter and they aren’t all beating on me, I rotate through them all to get their attention. Sure, it’s kindof a pain, and you do risk dying if you let loose too soon, but like I said, I have one AOE. My (younger) paladin and SK have way less trouble grabbing aggro on everything.
err, that was supposed to say very very FEW ways to grab aggro. /sigh