Solo Artist Challenge

[Splorf22]

Erati, I think you have never played an enchanter.

First, starting at about the Master level as an Enchanter it's possible to just get fucked by the RNG. If you get a lull crit in HS South, it's probably time to cap - 3 HTs = 1500 damage and then you'll get chain bashed anyway. It's easy to get 2-3 charm breaks in one minute when you are charming 50+ mobs, and when you are charming a L50+ pet against a L55+ mob, a charm break = 1k damage or more. When you get to the GM level things get really dicey (well except the fire giants who were way easier than I thought they were). When you kill stuff in HS east you are charming 52+ mobs who don't like to stay charmed.

edit; my point here is that a) its not as easy as it looks from the screenshots, and b) no matter how good you are, you can lose

Second, as Svenn has proved the best class for this challenge is Shaman with strings. I should just not let that bastard recharge [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] A shaman with strings has all of the enchanter abilities except lull/mez and they also have 50% more hp/ac and the ability to heal themselves.

Third, everyone makes allowances for your class/level. We were all pretty impressed by Ploktor and Sanluen doing disciple level mobs on bards and druids. And in fact if you can solo the froglok king at L50 that is pretty good in my opinion.

Fourth, I am pretty sure that Necros, Mages, and clerics (with strings) could manage GM mode if they were so inclined. I'm slowly putzing around with Triassic; his two goals are to train a 100+ population Trakanon poopsock and work on the solo artist challenge if he gets high enough.

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Splorf22 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you get a lull crit in HS South, it's probably time to cap - 3 HTs = 1500 damage and then you'll get chain bashed anyway..

I was just thinking about updating my last post to mention this.

I don't think I've ever had a lull fail, even in the western cave where there are only 4 mobs, that I've managed to salvage. It's either hat or die every time. Just too hard for pet to kill a level 53 named mob while you're entirely busy with 3 HTing level 50-53s eating your face. Even the couple times I've managed to stun those 3 without dying, ae mez always resisted on one of the three and then that one would finish me off before I could stun him again... or charm would break... or I'd be below 20% hp and get summoned by whatever my pet what fighting... etc.

[Erati]

Originally Posted by Splorf22 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Erati, I think you have never played an enchanter.

First, starting at about the Master level as an Enchanter it's possible to just get fucked by the RNG. If you get a lull crit in HS South, it's probably time to cap - 3 HTs = 1500 damage and then you'll get chain bashed anyway. It's easy to get 2-3 charm breaks in one minute when you are charming 50+ mobs, and when you are charming a L50+ pet against a L55+ mob, a charm break = 1k damage or more. When you get to the GM level things get really dicey (well except the fire giants who were way easier than I thought they were). When you kill stuff in HS east you are charming 52+ mobs who don't like to stay charmed.

edit; my point here is that a) its not as easy as it looks from the screenshots, and b) no matter how good you are, you can lose

Second, as Svenn has proved the best class for this challenge is Shaman with strings. I should just not let that bastard recharge [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] A shaman with strings has all of the enchanter abilities except lull/mez and they also have 50% more hp/ac and the ability to heal themselves.

Third, everyone makes allowances for your class/level. We were all pretty impressed by Ploktor and Sanluen doing disciple level mobs on bards and druids. And in fact if you can solo the froglok king at L50 that is pretty good in my opinion.

Fourth, I am pretty sure that Necros, Mages, and clerics (with strings) could manage GM mode if they were so inclined. I'm slowly putzing around with Triassic; his two goals are to train a 100+ population Trakanon poopsock and work on the solo artist challenge if he gets high enough.

Well, I never stated that chanters doin the challenges would never die and i fully understand how quickly things can go sour for squishy char like ench if charm breaks at a bad time. But bringing up that a shaman w strings is the best combo sorta points to a portion of the point I was making. No matter how u slice things itll eventually end up with a charmed mob beating on your target. I know that seems like an ignorant statement as with any class "eventually" youll end up with the same X way to kill a mob(druid dot,necro fearkite, wizard nuke) but thats why I brought up the alternate class thing for Tec.

For sure Tec is right that most of the work is done by the time he takes his screenshots n I know how intense breaking into some areas solo can b. Eventually I may give the challenge a go as its a fun idea to categorize the kills/lvls. Bottom line is, one of the easiest way to kill a difficult mob is via a charmed pet. There is no debate there. I should have changed my initial post to say that enchanters should have their own tiered list and lesser soloable classes get a weaker progression ( in terms of mob difficulty) list. I mean soloing some of HS stuff is basically impossible for most classes and that is level two.

Edit: I in by no ways am trying to make this about "Ohh Bah Chanters are OP blah blah blah". I respect everything great enchanters can do, as its one of the most intensive, meticulous classes in EQ. You have to be on your toes at ALL times or you die/people rage at you. I have mad respect for the areas they can break into and then solo. With all that said, I dunno if it has been discussed before so pardon my ignorance, I have not read every single thing regarding this, but there really should be almost separate "challenges" for different tiers of solo classes. Enchanter/Necro/Shaman probably top tier and then everyone could make cases for who belongs in the next tiers, with tank type classes at the bottom. If indeed this is the solo artist challenge, I would like to see some options avail for classes that arnt go heavily dependent on a pet as some of the stuff even in the early stages of the challenge can summon which, no matter how baller you are, is a death wish for a lot of classes.

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Erati [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

enchanters should have their own tiered list and lesser soloable classes get a weaker progression ( in terms of mob difficulty) list.

See, this is what "touched a nerve" with me before. You posted what YOU want and what YOU think should be done and how YOU think things work. And here you've done it again. Last time you followed up by saying that you were actually just wondering if maybe I'd like to try another class, not that you were trying to tell me what to do or flame or belittle or anything.

How are you going to explain this time?

[Erati]

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

See, this is what "touched a nerve" with me before. You posted what YOU want and what YOU think should be done and how YOU think things work. And here you've done it again. Last time you followed up by saying that you were actually just wondering if maybe I'd like to try another class, not that you were trying to tell me what to do or flame or belittle or anything.

How are you going to explain this time?

Are people not allowed to state their opinion on a forum regarding a topic such as "The Solo Artist Challenge". I was just trying to bring up a discussion about some things that I observed while reading and using my experience playing the game. If you read my post, I have praised your work in all facets and have not belittled your accomplishments one bit. If this thread is meant to only show when you check off another target and no discussion about the challenge itself then that is fine I have nothing else to say. However I find it hard to believe that I am the only one out there that has read the stuff and plays a class that would not even be able to solo most of the 'warm up' stuff.

Why is it absurd to suggest that rogues and warriors ( probably the worst solo classes in game for obvi reasons) have easier 'warm up' targets, Discipline etc targets and get praised for their work as a "Solo Artist" as well. I feel that the term "Solo Artist" should apply to anyone up for a challenge, but it has to be fair. This is why on EQ live, whenever mages/necros duel'd they had to summon their pet during the battle not before it to be fair to the warrior class they were fighting. I was just trying to start a discussion about the potential on expanding the list of targets that would suit some of the weaker solo classes so people can come here and brag about those accomplishments as well.

Also the whole point of putting a entire thread up like this is to show the public people's accomplishments and open discussion/critique on how things are accomplished. If you feel no one is allowed to discuss manners that involve the challenge itself then I don't see the point especially if one opinion from the community bothers you this much. I am also in no way telling you what to do. You owe me nothing, nothing I say should force you to do one thing or another and I am sorry you felt that was what I was trying to do.

I sort of considered my query like a reporter interviewing Michael Jordan after a game. He can ask what he wants and MJ can choose whether or not to answer it, but he doesn't stand up on a soap box and berate the reporter. Other reporters may write about the outspoken reporter bc thats their job; to report. As an outsider I was just curious to see what a professional solo artist like yourself had thought about the idea, as obviously you are a very competitive person who loves challenges; while reading the stuff at work, I thought it would be fun to hear if you had given any thought to it.

[Tecmos Deception]

Yeah. Just nevermind. I'll be back in here next time I get a new kill.

[Splorf22]

Are people not allowed to state their opinion on a forum regarding a topic such as "The Solo Artist Challenge".

I don't see any moderators deleting your post. You expressed your opinion; our opinion is that your opinion is somewhere between silly and wrong.

For better or worse EQ has very heterogenous (and arguably poorly balanced) classes. The whole concept of a solo artist challenge makes no sense for warriors and rogues and would have very little interest. If you choose to attempt it with a less-than-optimal class, we'll be impressed. For example Ploktor has a rep as one of the best players on the server (which he is) despite completing only a small fraction of the challenge and abusing a lot of clickies to do so.

[Erati]

Originally Posted by Splorf22 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't see any moderators deleting your post. You expressed your opinion; our opinion is that your opinion is somewhere between silly and wrong.

For better or worse EQ has very heterogenous (and arguably poorly balanced) classes. The whole concept of a solo artist challenge makes no sense for warriors and rogues and would have very little interest. If you choose to attempt it with a less-than-optimal class, we'll be impressed. For example Ploktor has a rep as one of the best players on the server (which he is) despite completing only a small fraction of the challenge and abusing a lot of clickies to do so.

Thank you for making my point as you agree with me that the challenge is skewed to suit some classes where some other classes it doesn't really fit how it is currently set up. Saying it makes no sense for warriors and rogues is more a problem with the current tiers and list set up than the idea of a "Solo Artist Challenge".

All I have been saying is if you want to call something a Solo Artist Challenge, any class should have an opportunity to prove their worth and I see no problem with having additional lists that have mobs that would be fairly trivial to solo with some classes yet some classes would be an accomplishment. I find it is funny that you say my opinion is both silly and wrong but you agree with my core point that the challenge, as currently composed, is not for all classes yet it is generically called "Solo Artist Challenge" which says to me any class should be able to compete. However if they can't really progress as others, whats the point of that?

[Splorf22]

Life isn't fair Erati. Watching Enchanters and Shaman soloing mobs that can wipe whole groups like the Protector or HS East is like watching LeBron James soar through the air for a tomahawk dunk. Watching a warrior try to solo the froglok chef using 300 clickies is like watching a fat girl crawl across the 100 meters. Yes, you may be the fastest fat girl in the world . . . but no one cares.

[formallydickman]

Erati, it seems to me you are making much ado about nothing. Make a revised version for those classes you feel cannot participate and put them forward for scrutiny. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the Shaman/Enchanter party that is SAC.