How do you solo on a dirge?

rorion · 01-22-2008, 12:44 PM

Someone gave me a dirge near the end of KOS and he has pretty much been a buffbot on raids since then. So I know what abilities to use in a raid but ROFL I have no idea how to solo with him.

So now I am trying to get him up to 80 and might actually switch to playing him full time since there seem to be 5 total dirges on our server...

I have tried a couple different strategies and none of them seem to be overly successful, so looking for some advice.

Kuian · 01-22-2008, 12:58 PM

DPS spec'd...true story.

veloct · 01-22-2008, 01:31 PM

It can be done, if you're dps spec'd as Kuian stated. I went from 71-80 in 9 days. Her'es the spec I use:
WIS 4-4-6-8-1
STA 4-4-4-8
AGI 4-4-4-8
INT 4-1

kyros · 01-22-2008, 01:33 PM

and if you find yourself needing to solo heroics, the control line in the dirge tree can be helpful.

then you can just figure out a complex kiting system that works for you.

rorion · 01-22-2008, 02:37 PM

Thanks all, lol coercers and conjy's are pretty damn easy to solo, dirges seem to require a bit more finesse.

rukkis · 01-22-2008, 03:59 PM

Here’s my basic strat for soloing that I picked up in the past few months since I came back to the game and have been playing a dirge. It’s a combination of things I picked up here, learned from limited parsing, and mostly just learned by feel.

I am a bit worse off than most as far as gear goes since I just hit 71 on my dirge so I haven’t done to much farming/raiding yet. Mostly MC with a few KOS Fabled, EoF Legendary, and RoK treasured. For me the shield comes out whenever Im soloing anything challenging. The extra defense helps keep me alive as well as the extra stun / knockdown to either get behind the mob or get some distance to root.

From when I first hit 50 AA until I hit lvl 70 I was speced
4-4-8-8 Str
4-4-8-8-2 Wis

To me at that point there wasn’t really any point to not taking it. From a few limited parses and mostly gut feeling it was a 10-15% dps reduction and ~30% increase in survivability.

When I hit 70 I respeced to
4-4-4-8 AGI
4-4-8-8 Str
4-4-6-8-2 Wis
(cant remember where I put the other 2 atm)

Once I hit 80 Im gonna drop shield block and pick up 4-1 int like people have been recommending, but with everything I hear about soloing quests to level I am definitely keeping it in the meantime.

One thing I really miss is the debuff final in the dirge tree. I got so used to the quick casting while I had it, it was the shit to be able to use the root bow shot and have the mob completely debuffed by the time it got to me. Definitly going to be getting that asap as I get the AAs.

Against trivial mobs which basically cant kill me Ill stay DW and use Mana, +C/P/S, DPS, Crypts, and Stat songs. As the Mobs get tougher the first thing Ill drop is the Stat song for Stone. Next I take out the shield. Any thing tougher, which isn’t really efficient unless Im finishing up a few mobs for a quest or something, Ill drop Crypts for Parry. Also if your spending a lot of time running around tracking or doing whatever else not in combat don’t be scared to drop Mana song.

Vernon · 01-22-2008, 04:04 PM

Dirge's are awful as a solo class in pvp.

Cronoise · 01-22-2008, 06:31 PM

Items with healprocs helped me a lot while lvling.

WillyWonka · 01-22-2008, 08:10 PM

Solo'd 70-80 as a dirge, Solo'd Heroic names as a dirge. Tanked chelsith / coa and would like to tank vaults / maiden's. Still fairly shitty gear compared to what i could have. Kiting is your friend as are control effects and Avoidance. Sitting at 60% avoidance, with avoidance food/drink get up to 63% and roughtly 45% mit.
Spec for the curious:
Int 4-1
Wis 4-4-8-6-2
Agi 4-4-8-1
Sta 4-4-7-8
Wrist has +4parry on it
Belt has +4parry on it
Gladius with +3% Reposte/Parry
Shield from Hidden Plunderer's w/ Spiked adorn
Shoulders from Stormguard's line in JW w/ Spiked Adorn (coming soon)
Band of Darkness ring +5parry

Going to at some point have all my avoidance gear and see just how close to 70% i can get ^^ still need incarnadine earring, brigade wrist, bloodthirsty bangle, brace of deflection, forearm and wrist adorns.

But yeah my experience is mass defensiveness and kiting. Lanet's and Deprivating Shot are your best friends. Stack the snares as well. It's been my experience mobs hit harder autoattack than they do with their CAs, save for a few select mobs / names.

a tip for when you get to 80; Use Gravitas on yourself a lot when solo. It increases the healing of Everything by 28% @ Adept 3. That includes Item heal procs, Our small lifetaps, heal pots, lifestones, manastones, power pots, powertap procs. it has saved me plenty of times when I get in over my head with multiple mobs on me or when I get it off in PvP fights. overclocked lifestone + gravitas = 29% heal :D black phalactery + gravitas = 4200 heal :D

Kytar · 01-22-2008, 10:40 PM

Adding in my vote for defensive stuff all the way when soloing.

I can't imagine not spending 8 AA in Skald's defence if planning on soloing. I use a sheild whenever I solo, it makes a huge difference

I would look into maxing the shield, parry and poison AAs. I focus on defence when soloing. I have a much easier time doing that that DPS speccing.

I believe the vast majority of players think of preparing for soloing as just choosing buffs and AAs. The single most important thing for me is choosing the right gear to wear. Take full advantage of the macro system. I have a set of gear for DPS, soloing and raiding.

Don't be too attached to your nice shiny fabled stuff, be prepared to swap in whatever item will help you solo the most. I used a great deal of KoS Claymore rewards with a few EoF legendary items. They simply add alot more defence/parry/mit than my more uber equipment would.

Back at level 70, I would often have ~10500 avoidance self buffed. I think it ended up around 62% avoidance and 52% mitigation. That makes a massive difference, it means you can go toe to toe with mobs that would otherwise rip you apart. Quiet a few white heroics are doable without kiting if you have enough avoidance.