Enchanter is broken and overpowered on P99

[azxten]

Previously I posted a thread about this which I believe was one of the most popular threads ever on this forum. However, Enchanter remains broken and overpowered. I'm now playing an Enchanter myself to better catalog issues.

The main crux of my argument is that other classes such as Necro and Mage have been nerfed in terms of known classic mechanics like fine steel daggers lowering delay while damage stayed the same. If overpowered mechanics like this need to be nerfed then Enchanter is deserving of the same adjustment regardless of if the issues making Enchanter overpowered are classic or not.

HOWEVER, even considering that argument, Enchanter does not seem to operate in a classic manner.

1. Enchanter summoned pets had low ability to tank. On P99 low level enchanter pets seem about as good as mage/necro pets. Level 4-12 enchanter pet should not be able to tank and solo an even con as they can here. They were extremely weak on taking damage and were almost a short "shield" spell which matches the chosen model used for it. Even up to level 30 I'm seeing my summoned pet solo blue mobs.

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/whitewi...ChantGuide.htm

"Your first pet spell. Strategy and tactics with pets will be discussed later. Requires 1 Tiny Dagger as a spell component, and your pet is a rogue. Hits for decent damage with low delay, but has weak HP. They don't tank well--and can never be commanded. "

"I don't know the hit points of your pet, but it's never good, so don't rely on your pet to take damage for you very long."

"Summons new animation. 2 Tiny Daggers required, hits harder now, has some more HP's, still no tank. (Little hint... without help, it will never be a tank.)"

"This animation hits for 10 to 14 damage now, and I'm not sure what levels they summon as--anyone want to offer that--and Bashes. Getting to be very good at shelling out fast damage."

2. Tashan is resistable. More evidence exists in the previous thread I posted but it seems to have been deleted so I can't reference the other thread's evidence.

https://fernworks.net/~dyeomans/Down...ll.asp%3FId=20

"Posted: Sunday, August 19, 2001 Psianne is a remake of my last enchanter Vayan. This spell was almost always resisted on everything that I cast it on. "

3. Mesmerized mobs should not retain their low health if aggro list is cleared.

No evidence to support but when has any mob in EQ not instantly regenned health once it's aggro list is cleared? On P99 you can mez a mob with the small mem blur component and it will retain low health while you avoid any aggro until spell breaks. This allows you to escape bad situations and then return to kill a low health mob that had no aggro.

4. Mesmerize did not mem wipe mobs so often. On P99 I'm mem wiping mobs something like 50% of the time it seems. Where did this rate rate of memory blur from mez come from?

https://www.project1999.com/forums/a...hp/t-9712.html

"Also mez would make them forget you but only like 1/10."

5. Channeling is still way too successful at lower levels. Starting at level 1 on P99 you can regularly cast through melee without interruption. This was a MAJOR part of making casters weaker early game that is missing from P99 and impacts Enchanter much more than other classes by allowing them to easily charm with 2-3 mobs hitting them which was often a death sentence on live.

http://www.zlizeq.com/Game_Mechanics-Spell_Casting

"Starting out at skill level 1, a new spell caster will have an incredibly difficult time getting any spell off when being hit by melee, but this gradually gets better as their Channeling skill is raised."

The combination of an overpowered tanky low level pet which allows easy leveling to 12, and charm, which used to be very difficult to do alone, with broken channeling that results in living through charm breaks much more often than live, and various questionable mechanics relating to tashan resists, mem blue from mez, and other minor quirks creates an extremely overpowered class that was never this way in classic.

Personally I think the channeling skill is the key to why Enchanter is so overpowered on P99. You seem to start at level 1 with the channeling ability of a max level character. While this makes all casters overpowered compared to classic it is even more impactful to charming Enchanters who can recharm with multiple mobs attacking them. Something that just didn't work on classic. I would really appreciate any help looking into channeling rates on P99 and historical evidence of actual channeling rates in classic.

Does anyone else remember when mez or charm broke and an Enchanter got aggro only for them to struggle and run in circles due to repeated interrupts from melee when trying to mez again? Groups often needed to help Enchanters in this situation but on P99 Enchanters lock down multiple mobs with very little difficulty as they cast through melee in almost all cases with ease and without using their stun spells.