Estu
11-27-2010, 12:33 PM
So my shaman hit 34 yesterday and I got all my new spells, most notably my pet (frendz 4 lyfe (http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5868/eq000004.gif)). Up until now, I've been root-dotting (at least, since level 14), and now I have a lot of options available to me for soloing. Here's the list, as far as I can tell:
1) Keep root-dotting, only send Konaner in when he has the spare HP.
2) Have the pet tank full-time, keep it buffed up with all the buffs, debuff the monster with slow and possibly Listless Power. No dots. Meanwhile, I med and heal.
3) Split tanking between myself and the pet. No dots.
4) SoW kite with the pet: keep aggro on myself, have the pet beating on the mob while I run in circles. I've seen shamen doing this, I think, but I'm not entirely sure what the best way to actually keep aggro off the pet is.
5) Dot the mob while the pet tanks. Keep minimal buffs on the pet (haste, regen). Don't debuff the mob.
I've tried all of these except for SoW kiting, and I've found (5) to be the most efficient by a large margin. I hit the mob with affliction and sicken (I don't bother with scourge since it's got such a huge duration) and have the pet beat on it. I don't need to spend mana on roots since the pet can hold aggro over these two dots. For the mobs I've been working on, the dots get about 14 ticks in before the mob dies, which is close enough to their max duration to be very efficient, I think. Also, the mob dies fast enough through the combined efforts of Lobarer and the dots that I don't feel as though it's necessary to debuff it or go the full monty with buffing the pet.
Here's why I like option 5 and why I feel like it's better than the other options I have available to me right now. First, I don't need to manage aggro. If I'm going with something like option 2, it gets messy because the debuffs draw so much aggro; I'm then forced to root the mob, often multiple times, which is extra mana spent. Second, I can meditate. My weapon is not super-impressive (a gloomwater harpoon), and I feel like the mana I gain by medding is more worthwhile than the damage I do by meleeing. Three, it's fast. I've found this to be the overall fastest method right now, allowing me to hold down a camp of three dark blues around level 30 with only about 30 seconds between each kill and the next pop. It's actually been so effective that I've found myself full HP/mana sometimes; when this happens, I can head in and poke the monster a few times with the harpoon.
So my question is, as a shaman soloing with a pet, which option did you find to be most effective (keep in mind that I am pretty much just geared in totemic and banded - see my signature) and to what extent does the most effective strategy change as you level up from 34 to 50? Also, how heavy do you go with buffs? I'm just going with regen, sow, and quickness on the pet, and regen, quickness (for timing on the pet's buff duration), fury, and sow on myself. I tried going whole hog with buffs but it didn't seem to make much of a difference for the extra mana and time spent keeping them up. Right now, the pet is dark blue (when I get a good summon, anyway), which was really surprising to me. I assume that this is not the case with later pets? Also, what options do I have for powerful proccing weapons at 50 as an ogre?
1) Keep root-dotting, only send Konaner in when he has the spare HP.
2) Have the pet tank full-time, keep it buffed up with all the buffs, debuff the monster with slow and possibly Listless Power. No dots. Meanwhile, I med and heal.
3) Split tanking between myself and the pet. No dots.
4) SoW kite with the pet: keep aggro on myself, have the pet beating on the mob while I run in circles. I've seen shamen doing this, I think, but I'm not entirely sure what the best way to actually keep aggro off the pet is.
5) Dot the mob while the pet tanks. Keep minimal buffs on the pet (haste, regen). Don't debuff the mob.
I've tried all of these except for SoW kiting, and I've found (5) to be the most efficient by a large margin. I hit the mob with affliction and sicken (I don't bother with scourge since it's got such a huge duration) and have the pet beat on it. I don't need to spend mana on roots since the pet can hold aggro over these two dots. For the mobs I've been working on, the dots get about 14 ticks in before the mob dies, which is close enough to their max duration to be very efficient, I think. Also, the mob dies fast enough through the combined efforts of Lobarer and the dots that I don't feel as though it's necessary to debuff it or go the full monty with buffing the pet.
Here's why I like option 5 and why I feel like it's better than the other options I have available to me right now. First, I don't need to manage aggro. If I'm going with something like option 2, it gets messy because the debuffs draw so much aggro; I'm then forced to root the mob, often multiple times, which is extra mana spent. Second, I can meditate. My weapon is not super-impressive (a gloomwater harpoon), and I feel like the mana I gain by medding is more worthwhile than the damage I do by meleeing. Three, it's fast. I've found this to be the overall fastest method right now, allowing me to hold down a camp of three dark blues around level 30 with only about 30 seconds between each kill and the next pop. It's actually been so effective that I've found myself full HP/mana sometimes; when this happens, I can head in and poke the monster a few times with the harpoon.
So my question is, as a shaman soloing with a pet, which option did you find to be most effective (keep in mind that I am pretty much just geared in totemic and banded - see my signature) and to what extent does the most effective strategy change as you level up from 34 to 50? Also, how heavy do you go with buffs? I'm just going with regen, sow, and quickness on the pet, and regen, quickness (for timing on the pet's buff duration), fury, and sow on myself. I tried going whole hog with buffs but it didn't seem to make much of a difference for the extra mana and time spent keeping them up. Right now, the pet is dark blue (when I get a good summon, anyway), which was really surprising to me. I assume that this is not the case with later pets? Also, what options do I have for powerful proccing weapons at 50 as an ogre?