Focus Effects?

[mgarvie]

I know not many come here any more but I thought I would ask the group
anyway.

I have a 65 Iksar necro and was thinking of finally getting some equipment
for it. I've been using hand-me-downs I've had for seven years on other
toons. I was going to try and max my mana regen and maybe HP also and
wanted to add some focus effect gear. What effects would anyone recomend
that I try to get?

[Don Woods]

Post by mgarvie
I have a 65 Iksar necro and was thinking of finally getting some equipment
for it. I've been using hand-me-downs I've had for seven years on other
toons. I was going to try and max my mana regen and maybe HP also and
wanted to add some focus effect gear. What effects would anyone recomend
that I try to get?

Never played a necro but some of the obvious foci that come to mind
are Spell Haste and Mana Preservation for general stuff, Affliction
Efficiency and Burning Affliction for DOTs, perhaps Improved Damage
(if you do nukes as well as dots) and Extended Range. Oh, and I
gather necros don't have a lot of buffs for others (besides DMF),
but for self-buffage you might want Extended Enhancement.

There are foci that reduce the mana/time for summoning pets, but I've
never seen the point to investing in those since I don't spend a lot
of my time resummoning pets. Of course, druid and SK pets aren't all
that powerful anyway so resummoning them in the middle of battle if
they die isn't a high priority; maybe necros need to worry more about
the cost or speed of getting up a fresh pet in an emergency?

One other general remark is that many foci can be obtained via augments
bought using DON crystals.

-- Don.

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[the wharf rat]

Post by Don Woods

Post by mgarvie
I have a 65 Iksar necro and was thinking of finally getting some equipment
for it. I've been using hand-me-downs I've had for seven years on other

Never played a necro but some of the obvious foci that come to mind
are Spell Haste and Mana Preservation for general stuff, Affliction
Efficiency and Burning Affliction for DOTs, perhaps Improved Damage

IMHO the two most important for a necro at that level are affliction
effiency and affliction haste. Niether are terribly hard to get and can
be gotten from tribute. Next in line is burning affliction, which has
become easy up to level IV but harder to find after that, and then the
affliction extension focii which are generally only available from higher-end
missions or other events.

Summoning focii are basically useless, and spell haste doesn't
stack with affliction haste. Mana pres is nice while you're buffing or if
you need to heal your pet. It's also useful if you tap tank.

[Prelgor]

Post by the wharf rat
IMHO the two most important for a necro at that level are affliction
effiency and affliction haste. Niether are terribly hard to get and can
be gotten from tribute. Next in line is burning affliction, which has
become easy up to level IV but harder to find after that, and then the
affliction extension focii which are generally only available from higher-end
missions or other events.
Summoning focii are basically useless, and spell haste doesn't
stack with affliction haste. Mana pres is nice while you're buffing or if
you need to heal your pet. It's also useful if you tap tank.

My main is a beastlord, so I'm curious what life is like for another
major pet class. How high of a priority would you recommend a pet
focus item for a necromancer? As a mainly bazaar-geared level 68 BST,
Binky still deals a sizable fraction of my total DPS and can briefly
offtank, if needed. Gaining a pet focus (Minion of Eternity) from
having none was a noticeable boost. I would put a pet focus as easily
competitive with any of my other offensive foci (e.g. Improved
Damage). Is a necromancer's pet significant as DPS/offtank or merely
a DoT with a graphic/speedbump? Was the rogue pet (backstabbing while
you kite; you'd delete his taunt skill, if you could) the best thing
to ever happen to necros, or do you typically lay down the pain from
afar while Jabober tanks?

I would tend to agree that Summoning Efficiency/Haste are not worth
seeking. I never re-summon unless something goes horribly wrong and
Binky has to take one for the team. I can't imagine having to absorb
the mana cost of chain summoning (and buffing!) pets. Are these foci
something that just sounded good to SOE over too much late night
Mountain Dew, or are there situations where they actually matter?

- Prelgor

[the wharf rat]

Post by Prelgor
My main is a beastlord, so I'm curious what life is like for another
major pet class. How high of a priority would you recommend a pet
focus item for a necromancer? As a mainly bazaar-geared level 68 BST,

People seem to have widely differing opinions... The necro
pet really isn't much of a tank. Properly geared and buffed and with
some help from AAs he can be a significant source of DPS, but almost any
dot spell outpaces him 2-3 to one. He _can_ interrupt casters, though.
And I use him to pull mobs from under water.

Frankly, I sometimes don't even bother with a pet (if I know
I'm likely to get adds or have to root a mob, for instance, or if the
mobs have an AOE like the ones in the sand elf missions).

Post by Prelgor
Are these foci
something that just sounded good to SOE over too much late night
Mountain Dew, or are there situations where they actually matter?

If you're in a group situation and you NEED the pet for some
reason summoning haste makes it possible to actually make a new one before
the fight's over... Last time I cared was an LDON mission I think.

[Mark Rafn]

Post by mgarvie
I have a 65 Iksar necro

...

Post by mgarvie
I was going to try and max my mana regen and maybe HP also and
wanted to add some focus effect gear. What effects would anyone recomend
that I try to get?

Depending on your playstyle, HP is likely far more important than mana,
especially for a necro. Out-of-combat regen has reduced the value of flowing
thought (mana regen) items quite a bit as well, though it's definitely nice to
have.

Improved damage, improved DOT damage, extended torment, and spell haste are
all very worth having, and if you kite at all, extended range.
--
Mark Rafn ***@dagon.net <http://www.dagon.net/>