How I spent my first 106 aa's

[Warspite]

Innate Run Speed 3
Swift Journey 2
What can one say about running fast, other than it's great. I did Swift Journey near the end of the first 100aa, but getting it has basically freed a buff slot that used to be used by Fabled JBoot buffs. Now I can run fast whether I am equpped or not... and it CAN'T be debuffed.

Innate Metabolism 3
This is optional. I like being frugal with my food and drink. It really pays off if you sit on a mount for long periods and / or are using stat foods.

Innate Regeneration 3
This needs no comments, all necros recognize the benefits of extra regen.

Natural Durability 3
My last 10aa points are going to finish the 2nd and 3rd ranks of this skill. Extra hp are always welcome.

Innate Invis to Undead
I bought this in order to make doing Unrest instances less tedious. It's pretty optional depending on where or how you hunt.

Spell Casting Mastery 3
As soon as Run Speed and Regen skills were done, I worked to finish all 3 levels of this skill. Saving mana is always appreciated.

Pet Discipline
I bought this skill as soon as I started fighting more caster mobs. Especially if you are doing Root Rot techniques with casting mobs.

Planar Power 1
Optional. I just wanted to max my INT and STA to the limits of my equipment.

Feigned Minion 3
I love this skill. It has saved me much time, mana, and trouble. Gotta get all 3 levels because the first 2 don't work very well.

Suspend Minion 2
A must have when you start doing some serious pet pulling. Hide your good pet away, summon your green puller, and go!

Theft of Life 3
Nice to have. Costs very little. But my experience is that it's a little spotty as to how often it works. The improved version may fix that.

Critical Affliction 3
Improved Critical Affliction 1
I just love watching a round of DoTs hitting for double their normal damage!

Death Peace
Like getting a free spell slot! Also, it can be cast while all your gems are still greyed out. In many cases you can cast a spell, FD, and be back up again by the time your spell gems un-grey.

Mnemonic Retention
Extra spell slot? What's not to like?

[richardrahll]

Originally posted by Warspite@Jul 7 2005, 07:46 PM
Death Peace 1
Like getting a free spell slot! Also, it can be cast while all your gems are still greyed out. In many cases you can cast a spell, FD, and be back up again by the time your spell gems un-grey.


m'kay...

If you do this too fast, like say before a tick cycles, isn't it possible to keep agro?

My reasoning: The whole tick thing is so that sony can save on the processing/bandwidth that would be required by real-time updating. We have 6 second ticks on everything because the world of norrath updates every 6 seconds instead of in real time (I suspect it is actually an approximation of 6 seconds, based on processor cycles and network/internet lag, but that is a digression). It appears otherwise only because of client software. So if i FD and stand back up before the 6-second refresh on the world of Norrath takes place, wouldn't i stay on the mobs hate list?

progression could be like this, in theory, as an example:
i cast Touch of Mujaki, and spell bar greys out
a world tick(six-second update) occurs. Both before and after the tick refresh, i am high on the mobs agro list, cause of Touch of Mujaki.
i click(or tap the 1-key on my keyboard) to cast deathpeace aa. it takes 1.5 seconds to fire.
I immediately stand up. Even accounting for network lag/delay, the World of Norrath hasn't yet got to it's next refresh/update, so wouldn't i still be on the mobs agro list?

Just an odd thought. I just barely got Death Peace AA and haven't sufficiently tested it to know the answer to my own question, hehe. So far, until i get to a non-critical situation, i've just always made sure to wait long enough to stand up for a tick to have passed.

[Rijak]

Originally posted by Warspite@Jul 7 2005, 02:46 PM
Swift Journey 2
i really wanna get this next myself... even though i should finish up CA3 and DP AA first :angry:

[Warspite]

Good point. I'd guess I'd need to see some sort of numbers. All I can say is that my own (limited) use and some small anecdotal evidence.. it seems to work. Certainly your point is arguable and well considered.

[Felicite]

Originally posted by richardrahll@Jul 7 2005, 01:13 PM
m'kay...

If you do this too fast, like say before a tick cycles, isn't it possible to keep agro?
Jeb said this was teh bomb.. I never question Jeb (bet he would disagree with that :P).

[Warspite]

Actually, now that I think of it, a perfect example of how fast a mob notices your 'death' is watching the HoTT box. A successful FD and immediate stand up reveals no reacquiring of agro. As far as I can tell, the mob thinks the other necro died of fright and there's a new necro casting on it when you resume the killing again.

[Xislaben]

FD:
I like FD, wait for the tick, then stand and dot, then fd again.

I've found that I'm more likely to get summoned when I mistime and FD fires instants AFTER the tick, and I stand before the next tick. It seems that I have more agro that way. Through this totally unscientific study of mine, I am tempted to say that agro is calculated on the tick itself (I suspect that's not entirely true), and nowhere in between as far as our dots alone are concerned, and that being FD during the tick reduces agro far more than just fd'ing after a tick and standing.

[richardrahll]

I'll have to test it sometime when i'm grouped with someone who has HoTT, and it's a tank that's easy to steal agro from.

TY for the idea!

[Schaeffer]

I would think, that if all the info between ticks was stored client side, the mob would recognize you as being FD'd, and then when the tick refreshed, the fact that you FD'd would be sent to the mob AI server side as well.

Just seems logical to me, not saying that that's the way it is, or that SoE cared enough to do it that way either.

[Sathras]

Originally posted by "richardrahll"
My reasoning: The whole tick thing is so that sony can save on the processing/bandwidth that would be required by real-time updating.A couple of months ago in the alt.games.everquest group were a discussion whether the server uses 6 ticks too or not. After the initial "of course it does, it has always been that way...." some people tested canni dancing to see whether the server catches the standing or not. The interesting result was that the client did NOT catch it, the server does! This was simply seen by taking the number from the client and after repeated canni dances casting a spell. The mana number gets updated then from the server and there were differences.

After all if you kite more then one mob and having dots on both you notice the different times they take effect. Not all dots tick on the same second. Though they do damage every 6 seconds.

The only conclusion from that was that the 6 second tick thing is not effective for everything. Though it won't hurt to wait for a tick when FD.

[Nirruden]

Death Peace
Like getting a free spell slot! Also, it can be cast while all your gems are still greyed out. In many cases you can cast a spell, FD, and be back up again by the time your spell gems un-grey.
Has anyone noticed anything odd about FD in groups that are long on stun effects? My GF plays a mage, and the air pet stuns regularly. I need to test it properly, but sometimes it seems that when the mob is stunned by the pet, and I both FD and stand before the stun wears off, I will not lose agro as normal. This wasn't a problem until I got this AA, because I'd be staying down until gems refreshed (2 seconds+)

Could be odd DOT tick timing, or just a failed FD that I didn't notice, I suppose...

Pet Discipline
I bought this skill as soon as I started fighting more caster mobs. Especially if you are doing Root Rot techniques with casting mobs.

I now wonder how I managed to live without this. No longer will I resummon a pet because I took a round of melee on a failed FD and Jaboner jumped into melee. This AA was worth everything it cost.

Theft of Life 3
Nice to have. Costs very little. But my experience is that it's a little spotty as to how often it works. The improved version may fix that.
As long as you're not relying on the effect to keep you alive, this is a nice one to have. Also works on soul orb heals, which is great when working with a shammy. (Canni+Soul Orb = DPS+Happy Shammy) Makes you more durable when tank tapping in a pinch, but not to be relied on.

[Felicite]

Originally posted by Nirruden@Jul 8 2005, 11:29 AM
Death Peace
Like getting a free spell slot! Also, it can be cast while all your gems are still greyed out. In many cases you can cast a spell, FD, and be back up again by the time your spell gems un-grey.
Has anyone noticed anything odd about FD in groups that are long on stun effects? My GF plays a mage, and the air pet stuns regularly. I need to test it properly, but sometimes it seems that when the mob is stunned by the pet, and I both FD and stand before the stun wears off, I will not lose agro as normal. This wasn't a problem until I got this AA, because I'd be staying down until gems refreshed (2 seconds+)

Could be odd DOT tick timing, or just a failed FD that I didn't notice, I suppose...
Using Target of Target's Health I see this even when my 67 Pet stuns a mob.

If I FD while a MOB is stunned, ToTH does not change until the stun ends.

[richardrahll]

Originally posted by Felicite+Jul 8 2005, 06:33 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Felicite @ Jul 8 2005, 06:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Nirruden@Jul 8 2005, 11:29 AM
Death Peace
Like getting a free spell slot! Also, it can be cast while all your gems are still greyed out. In many cases you can cast a spell, FD, and be back up again by the time your spell gems un-grey.
Has anyone noticed anything odd about FD in groups that are long on stun effects? My GF plays a mage, and the air pet stuns regularly. I need to test it properly, but sometimes it seems that when the mob is stunned by the pet, and I both FD and stand before the stun wears off, I will not lose agro as normal. This wasn't a problem until I got this AA, because I'd be staying down until gems refreshed (2 seconds+)

Could be odd DOT tick timing, or just a failed FD that I didn't notice, I suppose...
Using Target of Target's Health I see this even when my 67 Pet stuns a mob.

If I FD while a MOB is stunned, ToTH does not change until the stun ends. [/b][/quote]
It has seemed that sometimes aggro doesn't wipe in the way i would expect it to, and stun preventing agro from wiping with an FD could account for it. This is precisely the type of info i was looking for.

Thanx!

[Quezquotyl]

Feigned Minion 3
I love this skill. It has saved me much time, mana, and trouble. Gotta get all 3 levels because the first 2 don't work very well.

Suspend Minion 2
A must have when you start doing some serious pet pulling. Hide your good pet away, summon your green puller, and go!

These two go well with a pet summon clicky like the belt from Veksar. Once upon a time I noticed if I had my pet FD after me to save my arse, if the pet got up to soon I would have a train of mobs running after my rear. Here's the trick if you need to stay in the zone but get aggro on the move.

FD, have boner FD. Get up when you get the no aggro message and go to your destination, but leave boner FD'd. Upon arrival summon boner and suspend. Easy aggro wipe for boner. :P

[richardrahll]

Originally posted by Quezquotyl@Jul 8 2005, 08:26 PM
FD, have boner FD. Get up when you get the no aggro message and go to your destination, but leave boner FD'd. Upon arrival summon boner and suspend. Easy aggro wipe for boner. :P
sounds good, but i'd just suspend boner before going to my destination and save a cast of summon pet :P would be better for me cause i'm lazy and don't normally have summon pet loaded, and i'd have to find it in the spell book and load it.

[Xelgadis]

Originally posted by Felicite@Jul 8 2005, 01:33 PM
Using Target of Target's Health I see this even when my 67 Pet stuns a mob.

If I FD while a MOB is stunned, ToTH does not change until the stun ends.
I see this alot in groups with a paladin tanking, since they usually toss in a stun before breaking mez (assuming the mob is <=73). Takes a second or 2 for the mob to change targets.

I also see it happen when breaking mez (with my sk) on caster mobs. They'll usually be nice and dispel whoever was highest on their hatelist before they were mezzed, so I don't have to deal with it (unless I was the highest <_<). Once they finish casting, they'll switch to my tank. This part of it isn't really relevant to the stun factor, but it shows another instance where mobs take a bit to change targets.

[banewolf7]

Well Richard, I don't presume to read Quezquotyl's mind, but I believe he was referring to using this (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=21598) for summoning the pet. In which case you could have the pet summon clicky set up on your bandolier and switch over, right click, then switch back. Thus only taking a few seconds, and now you have a quick, easy, and mana free method of bringing your pet back to you in any situation.

Oh, and as far as finding the spell in your spellbook, you can right click an empty slot on your spell window and find it. It will probably be under Pet--> Misc section.