Impatience = the most formidable EQ foe

[frefaln]

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

then what is your problem. even if they nuke or slow before you get your 1st blind you can still snap it back.

Welcome to the point. Yeah, I do "snap it back" and it gets old after a few thousand pulls, especially when all it does it create a few seconds of mild chaos that aren't even necessary. All it does is increase the tank's workload and, in some egregious cases, makes the healer have to dispense mana on multiple groupmates instead of one. This is basic EQ grouping mechanics.

A few seconds of patience is not too much to ask, no matter how much you'll inevitably try to argue otherwise.

[Yoite]

flash of light casts in 1.5 seconds btw, whats up with 3-5?

[Yoite]

i mean i know what your saying, but i guess what im saying is there is no solution, your group wants to pull and kill stuff fast becuase that nets fast exp. All you can do really is get it on quicker or snap it off them.

[frefaln]

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

flash of light casts in 1.5 seconds btw, whats up with 3-5?

I'm including inc. time, because as I stated part of the problem is nuking/slowing/dotting on inc. And I'm not suggesting there's a miracle solution here. This is the rants and flames sections, and I just ranted [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I feel slightly better now I think.

[Yoite]

hehe =)

[Spud]

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

Efficient XP grinding is just a two-resource optimization problem. The group has two resources: HP and Mana. Mana can create HP (healing, buffs) or limit HP loss (increasing damage output, decreasing incoming damage), and regens at a constant rate over time. Here, I think of damage output (DPS) as a means to limit HP loss (i.e. the more quickly you kill shit, the less damage it can do to you.)

The optimization problem is, ideally, using those two resources, maximize XP gain to the group without letting any single group member's HP reach zero.

The description is simple. Following this optimization problem can be complex, because you have variables affecting your HP loss such as:

a) Pull rate
b) # mobs per pull
c) crowd control
d) off-tanking
e) ping-pong aggro
f) level of mobs
g) resists against spellcasting mobs
h) group DPS

etc

So, here's a few things I take away from thinking about it in these terms:

- The characters who can convert mana into HP are key, because they effectively increase your group's collective HP pool. We already know this from a common sense approach, but that's how you think of it in terms of this model.

- In order to conserve both of your resources, you need to limit the incoming damage. That means your puller needs to bring mobs in controllable quantities such that you have one mob on one tank by the time everything is crowd controlled. Otherwise, you are putting a drain on your mana resource, and you are not limiting your HP loss.

- This means you are less efficient if anyone draws aggro off the tank (this also means your best tanks are probably SKs and Paladins, by the way).

- This also means that your puller needs to shoot for one mob per pull... the group's crowd control capabilities take up your mana resource. In most cases (exceptions can be AOE groups or non-standard groups designed for multiple pulls), crowd control should be for accidental adds, because between mezzes or root parks or snare kiting or off tanking, the crowd controller is going to use up mana doing his thing, and your healers are going to use up mana keeping the crowd controller's HP above zero.

- In general cases, if you do have multiple mobs you are engaging, everyone needs to be on the biggest threat (usually, this is the one that can potentially deal out the most damage, but one obvious exception to this is if a mob can heal itself or others in the area, you take care of it first.) The main assist needs to be able to determine which mob is the largest threat to the group. Because you want it to die the quickest so that you minimize the amount of time it can drain your group's resources.

So, in summary:

1) Minimize the loss to the group's collective pool of HP
2) The group's mana pool regens at a fixed rate and can be converted to HP or used to help limit the loss of the group's HP pool
3) Control the rate of incoming damage (limit adds, don't draw aggro off the main tank, control pull rate, kill tough shit ASAP, resist gear, appropriate mob levels, etc)

I think you just beat EverQuest

[Feather]

My first ever character was a Wizard. I wish someone had told me sooner about nuking and agro. I thought it was the norm to have the mob turn on me when I nuked. I think someone told me to wait until the tank got agro first when I was level 20. I didn't die after that.

[YendorLootmonkey]

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

I think you just beat EverQuest

When you play a Ranger, Everquest beats YOU!