Tactics when fighting in a group.

[Josettee]

I just made it to a level where I can participate in LDON. I have read on many boards that Necro's that understand how to play the charecter are well received in groups. On the other hand those that are not end up not wanted. I am looking for pointers, suggestions, tactics and an understanding of grouping. How a Necro supports and fits in, where they shine etc.

Because I am not familiar with all the terms that the boards use if you could be specific I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the help!

[Jebasiz]

An actual level would help...advice for a level 57 necro is different then that for a level 20.

Jeb

[Jovhato]

Jos, I'm only 27 but been grouping in LDoN since 20. I have a couple friends I group with a lot. A cleric and a warrior. The cleric lulls rooms with more than one mob, the warrior pulls with bow. I dark and send in pet. I will apply sceaming terror to adds (be ready to FD when mez breaks if first mob not dead yet). I also keep the cleric twitched and add some dd when mana permits.

[NeSikWay]

I've been doing group in LDON since lvl 30 or less.

first, you add dps with your skellie, if you have a mage in the group get some armor and weapons, your pet and you can off tank.

Next, ask if there is a enc in the group. if you have crowd control then I don't concentrat on that but always have screaming terror up (its a ghetto mezmirized spell which will work for about 18 seconds is what I've figured out) also always have feign death in too.

Next unless you have an enc willing to haste your pet, I keep that up too.

Last one I always keep in is Lich(or spell that converts life to mana) unless I have a c3, some necro say a necro with a clarity is bad, I take it if it produces more mana than I can.

The last four are based on what else we have in the group and if I'm with a group higher or lower than I am.

ranger/druid - if you dont' have one of these put in a snare spell
enc, shammy - if you don't have one of these put in slow vs undead (may take it out if you kill them fast enough but I start with it.) for MM only
mage or whiz - if you have one of these, use DD rather than dots.

its also good to have life tap or life drain (DD or dot) to use.

if on your way healer dies - put in both of your life tap and life drain spells, and then I put in my transfer life spell (give my life to someone else spells) to heal the group and try and keep going.

If low on mana, or stopping because healer is low on mana, I ask how much mana they have if lower than mine to keep med break low I put in my mana transfer spell, and give mana to them til we are equal, then I med up with them, if short on time, I'll give them enuf mana to keep us going and me to do a couple of simple things.

If I'm lowest lvl in the group I get out the dots and spell hard to resist, which are the life tap and drain life spells.

when you get dead man floating its nice for those willing to take it because of the added resist.

Those are some of the group things I do and have learned, and used very well in dungeons.

Things that will kill a dungeon trip is the drunk curse spell if the party gets hit with that, you either all have to be willing to die, or give up. I've never been able to win one of those. Stay away from Assissnations and rescues (especially on pick up groups) and stay away from hard unless you have really good group.

[Josettee]

I just made level 19, I have been grouping with a Monk and SK so getting the hang of healing. I am at the point they want to go to LDON, it is something new as is EQ so I want to feel some confidence going in so I do not let them down. Both players have level 50+ and are using thier alts with me. They have a lot of experience and trying to teach me but I want to do as much research and help myself where possible.

I just started reviewing the boards so if you use abbreviations do you mind giving me full names till I get a full understanding of them.

Not dumb just really new!!! LOL

Thanks.

[Jebasiz]

Darkness, send pet, and fd if your getting agro. If you feel dotting is efficient(mobs are living a while) do that. Lifetap and stay in lich form.

We can give you all different kinds of advice, but every group is different, maybe the best advice you can recieve is be ready to adapt your playing to compliment what is needed in your current group. You could have 3 tanks, a cleric and shaman one time, where'd you and the shaman would root/cc, maybe ST some mobs etc. Next time you could have one tank a cleric and a chanter, and you won't need to CC.
This morning I had one of each type of group, so I was rooting 990hitters in EC, next time we were in Nro and had a chanter mezzing /shrug it changes everytime,...

Jeb

[NeSikWay]

Dot = damage over time
DD = direct damage
cc = crowd control


The spells I listed, change names depending on your lvl, you can look them up, I put little notes as to what they do. always review your spells :)

mez = putting a monster (mob) to sleep for a short while.
enc = enchanter class
shammy = shamman class

agro is when you have hurt a monster enough it wants to pound on you for a while, you can fd = feign death (make him think you are dead)
c3 or Kei is and enchanter 60th lvl spell which allows casters to regenerate mana faster.



if there is anything else you don't understand in my post let me know, I'll get you some more details.

[Ahura Mazda]

DPS is the term to learn and remember. Damager Per Second. This is what being in most groups but especially LDoN is all about.

Because LDoN is on a timer, you want the most damage you can do under the shortest duration.

You need to get into some of these dungeons and learn the different mobs. Not each LDoN adv location has the same mobs or same type of mobs as another. So what will work in one dungeon wont work as well in another.

My advice is to simply trial and error. Try different spells and see which ones will land on the mob first of all, then see how long it lasts( when it wears off how dead is the mob) if you are casting spells that are lasting longer then the mob is, you should pick a little bit shorter durations spell so that you get all the damage out of it for the mana cost to cast it.

For each dungeon you will have a sepll line up of the most efficent spells to use in that dungeon. Some dungeons you will use mostly DD(direct damage) spells and others you will use your DOTs(Damage Over Time).

Look at how much mana the spell costs, its damage and then its duration. These factors will help you determine which spells to use.

Your main use in any group should always be one of damage. Dont get suckered by a healer to start twitching and giving away your mana. I dont even remember what level you start getting twitch spells but if you have one then dont use it!! Only twitch after a wipe or if the cleric is simply OOM and you dont want to wait any longer.

Its very common to look over and see the only healer in the group nuking or casting stuns and then 10 seconds later call for a mana 'feed.' Please tell them to sit down and start medding. I refuse to ever feed a healer that is also casting damage spells at the same time.

Your mana is much better used for damage then to be twitching a healer who cant manage their own mana pool.

[Ebonstar]

Some good points made here already that I agree with.

I only twitch if we've had a wipe or mad pulls where the cleric has been healing frantically to keep the group alive. If they're meleeing or nuking, I ask them to sit and med.

At level > 49, the combination of your lich and lifetap dots finally end up giving you more mana over time than they use. At this point, make it clear to the healers that you DO NOT need their healing. Training them to not heal you can be hard and very very repetitive and frustrating, but eventually some of them will listen to you *sigh*. Up until this level you're probably better off letting them heal you. If you have someone healing you (or you're > 49 and healing yourself), always use lich, never clarity, it will give you much more mana at any level.

As others have said, choose your spells depending on what the group needs. Since you can fill nearly any role, just look at what the group is missing and mem spells appropriately. Make sure you TELL them what you're going to be doing so they know what to expect. "Guys, I'm playing healer, so don't hassle me for twitches".

Oh, and one of the best ways you can help your group in LDoNs is to double their kill rate by simply asking them to pull 2 mobs at once. You take one and let the rest of the group take the other. You will them in about the same time, and they can pull again.

[Panagiota]

Ok first and foremost remember our a necromancer, eventually you will find yourself in a group of idiots. Yu have two choices:

A) suck it up and leach xp

B) Kill them all without them knowing it was you


Depending on how evil I feel tha particular day I'd say go with "B". You can do this a number of ways, train them, feign dead when they're getting clobbered........

In the overthere agro one of the guards and feign dead.....watch them all die :)

Use your imagination

[Xyla]

I'm currently lvl 43 and been doing ldon since lvl 20. Although I have had trouble getting groups initially I've found that once I group with someone I am quickly welcome back. More importantly that being a necro though is your level of play. No one wants a bad cleric any more then they want a bad necro. It's your ability (or inability) to play a necro that will make you welcome in future groups.
With regards of how to play in a group in ldon it certainly depends on the makeup of the group and level of play. I have found myself a pure caster nuking anything that moves, I've found myself doing crowd control in MMC adventures and i've found myself a light healer when the going gets tough. I generally recommend be very open minded the first few fights and dont be afraid to change your spell set. Everyone raves about necro dot's but all a dot does is waste mana if you have a great group killing a mob within 15 seconds. You're better off nuking. If the group is slower maybe heart flutter will help more to start out with. very little damage from you but it will lower mob strength decreasing dmg taken by your tank and save your cleric mana in healing as well as reducing AC allowing for quicker kills also saving dmg taken and mana needed to heal. Be open to what your group is doing and adjust your play according to the needs of your group.
Good luck
Xyla

[HazardousPanic]

The best way I have found playing LDoN is to start my own group. If you can't be a tank or a healer - be the leader. I just start pulling people in and getting the show on the road. If you play the Mistmoore Adv. I have my pet setup to assist with a Shackle of Bone cast after that. If the target isn't undead I usually will drop a Shock of Poison around the %T's 30% health mark. DoT's in a good group are pretty useless.

[Antilight]

Questions: What LDoN Adventure set is the best to save points up in? In other words, which one would give you the best gear, items, etc. I have read where certain themes are better suited for certain classes.



Antilight :ph34r:

[Josettee]

Thanks for all the input!!!!! I had my first adventure and I have lived to tell about it. Best yet the other members did to so guess that is a good thing! :lol:

I apprecaite each person's input that posted here, feel free to leave me more tips.

The leveling experience was priceless!!!!

[Nox]

Originally posted by Antilight@Jan 15 2004, 06:00 PM
Questions: What LDoN Adventure set is the best to save points up in? In other words, which one would give you the best gear, items, etc. I have read where certain themes are better suited for certain classes.



Antilight :ph34r:
As a necro, the Mistmoore adventures based out of Butcherblock, are excellent. A good portion of the dungeons are undead, which open up the use of your undead-only spells. Necros can be a chanter stand-in, slowing, rooting undead mobs, and even mezzing the occasional add with Screaming Terror. Also, the undead nukes we get are better than any other nukes of an equivalent level. Just a warning: our Evocation scores tend to, how shall we say, SUCK. So don't be surprised if your undead nukes fizzle a lot. :)

[Jebasiz]

make a pet in POK(or any other zone, nexus works well too) mem your level 4 undead nuke, and nuke jabober til you evocation is maxed. hehe it's almost a necro ritual.

Jeb