nyquist

As we have all noticed, there have been a ridiculous number of new posts, all asking/stating the same thing. So here is a compilation of the common pieces of information dealing with Mystics.

What is covered:
1) Mystic overview (shaman; strong heals; good dps; good buffs)
2) Mystic comparison (dynamic healer, good for many raid spots)
3) AA/Char. Dev
a) Heal Spec
b) DPS spec (not done yet)
4) Spell questions
a) Oberon Obstruction
b) Lunar Attendant
5) Healing/Surviving/Casting
6) Gear

Mystic Overview:
Mystics are shamans, who use debilitating debuffs to cripple their enemies' defensive as well as offensive capabilities. They heal by primarily preventing damage with wards as opposed to replenishing lost hit points in battle.

Mystics are adept at melee combat as well, often supplying significant DPS while keeping their group healed and ready for action.

Finally, mystics bring some moderate buffs to their group, increasing noxious mitigation, health, power, and some stats of their fellow group members. They also have Bolster for temporarily increasing one ally's hitpoints and stats dramatically. On top of this, some of the mystic's alternate achievements can be setup to provide direct or indirect damage bonuses to their group members.

Mystics are generally thought of as a capable MT healer, OT healer, or DPS group healer (generally being a scout dps group healer because of [melee] dps buffs). Mystics can provide solid tank heals or put up solid healer dps; all of this can be accomplished in a mixed, hybrid spec; this kind of spec would take advantage of AA ward increases, heal increases, some buffs, combat arts, and melee related AAs.

Mystic Comparison:
Mystic versus Defiler: mystics are usually thought of as having more dps and fewer (or less effective) heals but this is debatable; both have similarly effective debuffs but defilers have more concentration on debuffing from AAs

Mystics have more efficient heals than clerics and druids, but the raw healing power has been decreased accordingly. Inquisitors and furies usually can do as much or more DPS than mystics, but mystics have stronger heals, as well as more heals.

AA's/Char. Dev:
Level 85 Grandmaster choices (note, these are with mythical equipped NOT converted, and in healing stance)


Once you get your mythical buff, Runic Armor is probably the best choice for your lv 85 grandmaster choice.





Heal Spec
I am listing a nearly pure heal spec; many mystics like to go for a mix between heals and DPS/util
DPS Spec


Specific Spell Questions:
1) When and how you are using Oberon Obstruction? This is a newly changed spell,no longer stunning the mystic when in use. That makes this spell VERY effective for mitigating large damage over time. This spell is most effective if it is cast before Single target and group wards since it is regenerating and only lasts for 16 seconds.
2) Is that spell used very often? Yes, you can save it for when you pull a mob to mitigate spike damage while debuffs are going in; or use it when you want to re-cycle your debuffs, or if the tank it taking a beating and you need 16 seconds of solid healing help.
3) When and how you are using Lunar Attendant? This is the most useless spell of our arsenal; it is, however, slightly useful if you are anticipating very small but drawn out AoE damage, as the spirit animals heals are also very small and drawn out.

Any advice of how to keep a tank alive during raid? Casting order or something that a mystic should think about?
I usually preward using the following order:
1) Group Ward (for a big anti-Spike ward)
2) Single Target Ward->Tank
3) Sometimes Single Target->Me and/or Squishies (if I think we might take a hit or two; also if we are taking something with a known AoE, I will start cycling my single target wards on 3 or 4 (i.e. casting it as soon as it refreshes on a different person, but only maintaining it on 3 ppl) people so they have an extra ~5k buffer before cutting into their health)
4) Group Ward (on pull, timed so that the mob's spike tears up the original GW just in time for the new GW to land)
**COMBAT BEGINS**
1) Start casting your debuffs (but make sure your tank doesn't die, obviously)
2) Stoicism->Tank or whoever is holding agro at first
Here is where it gets a little 'iffy'; you need to start cycling your debuffs as soon as possible. Instead of stoicism, Oberon could be used; this is a MUCH stronger spell, but has a long recast.

The tricky part is making sure your tank has a good buffer of wards, so if in the event that he get hit hard while you're cycling your debuffs, he doesn't drop like a rock; so this makes a definitive casting order almost impossible to determine, as there can be SO many factors...but if you're fighting something hard hitting, I would suggest these debuffs ASAP with warding inbetween:
- Lamenting Soul (Debuff DPS)
- Shrieking Haze (Debuff Atk spd and skill)
- Umbral Trap (Low lv. expansion debuff)
- Lethargy (Encounter slow debuff, usually only cast when facing large encounter because it is slow to cast)
Overall, these 4 should significantly reduce the mob's DPS and make healing easier for you, at which point you can cast your defensive debuffs to make killing the mob easier:
- Echoes of the Ancients (BIG Encounter Debuff)
- Deteriorate (Str and Sta Debuff)
(In quick and easy fights, I either skip the offensive debuffs, or skip debuffing in general b/c you can often add more DPS using your dots then you add debuffing)

What kind of gear should I go for? Reduced casting time, healcrit or heal amounts? note: please see http://www.eq2flames.com/mystics/265...set-lists.html for additional information

Heal Spec:

I usually mix-and-match till I get ~100% heal crit and a good mix of the following listed in approximate order of importance:

1) Potency (aka Base Heal amount)
2) Crit bonus
3) Casting and Reuse speed (about tied in my book)
4) +Ability Modifier

Explanation and info:

Cast Speed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by profe Casting and Reuse cap is actually 100%. You can find the new casting time for a spell with the following formula: base_casting / (1+casting_speed) = new_casting where casting_speed is your casting%/100 (for example, 24% is 0.24.) Reuse is calculated the same way [base_reuse / (1+reuse_speed) = new_reuse]. The confusion of 50% in whichever stat probably comes from cutting your time in half because you will be dividing by 2 with 100% speed.

Personally, I think our cast times SUCK ASS. So I generally go for casting speed (benevolent alacrity or, preferably the magical/generic one (and debuffs if you get generic casting speed reduction)) first and heal crit/+heals next. I feel that even if numerically casting speed does not increase heals as much, I find that faster casting allows me to string in more debuffs and react to dynamic situations better.

This being said...if I have a TC or CH then I usually swap out gear for more +heals bc my casting speed gets close to +50% which is lovely and good enough in my book. It really depends on your stats as +heals and heal crit eventually experience dimishing returns

here is a nice graph to show you the diminishing returns of casting/reuse speed improvement:

After casting and reuse speeds, heal crit and +heals are very important. There are too many variables to consider when looking at these stats, so it is really up to you to figure out exactly what stats you need most, as a guide, however, but you can use Profe's spread sheet as a general ration finder (note that almost every stat has diminishing returns as you get more and more of it).

DPS Spec:
To maximize DPS (in melee spec), a mystic needs WISDOM for damage. In addition to wisdom: Potency, Crit Bonus, Double Attack percentage, DPS mod, +Ability Modifier, and Attack speed.

For weapons, a [broad spectrum] two handed weapon will work very well. It has been covered in many places before, but to sum it all up, if you crit, your damage is multiplied by ~1.3 and if the resultant is less than your maximum non crit hit, then it hits for max-non-crit-hit + 1. So if you get a weapon with a damage rating of 100 with damage: 1-100 it will (in general) be better than using a weapon with damage rating of 100 with damage: 20-100.


P.S.
If there is anything that you do NOT see in this thread and would like to know about, please check
http://www.eq2flames.com/mystics/505...on-thread.html
or search here: EQ2Flames Forum - Search Forums
or here: Mystics - EQ2Flames Forum
before posting any new topics (it is VERY likely that any question you have has been asked before, here, in this forum) or if I have missed anything major, please let me know



Edit: Added some color and talked more about hybrid setups

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Xion385

Thank you and sticky please.

KFizzle

Just for the record i'm a somewhat 'combo' of your heal and dps when it comes to the KoS tree (I have str full, agi full and then wis with some extra in that uh second thing, and some in the cures). I would like the DA from stamina but it's not 'as' beneficial on an everyfight basis to me as the wis line part is, and i hate RoA because then i gotta lose points in crits (melee and/or heal). And im surprised you dont have the additional hitpoints on the str/sta buff thing.

But Bump, sticky this shit.

Edit note: DO NOT "sticky this shit" as someone already came up with the terrific idea (i am a stoner i already forgot who, prolly Kaizer) to have the other 'sticky's' (Solo, Group, Raid).

Verrie77

Very nice post

Saracen

why do you choose to place points in the single target hp buff instead of the group buff!

boosting premonition is nearly worthless especially before the group one.

and reducing the recast on sentry is far better than boosting shrieking haze imo. That thing is very powerful to have up on the mt just before aes.

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nyquist

I like my debuffs TBH, now I don't know why I chose premonition over grp HP buff, how much does the grp one give as far as HP goes?

and you can only have so many points in Shadows (60 I believe), so I chose other, higher priority spells, instead of Ancestral Sentry. I hardly ever find that that is a must anyway(it is nice to give you some more extra time to debuff and such tho)

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KFizzle

I honestly dont know how many HP's it gives, but thats why i asked why you didnt have it myself :-) I <3 HPs for the group (the best 'resist' ever, works for everything! Now if only we can get a 'focus ward'...).

kyrrah

If y'all are talking about the elephant it gives an extra 517hp to group members at 5 points.

If not please disregard.

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nyquist

doh! must have missed that kfizz :P

and TY kyrra!!! that is Exactly what I was asking
I will grab that next respec :P I just didn't have the points to put into the last line at the time...

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Ixer

Im not a full time mystic, but a couple things Ive done. With the heal spec instead of getting heal crit I went with the faster cures. Also for casting order I prefer to castint he group ward first then the single target ward second, mainly because the group ward has a longer recast so it is up sooner. I also keep Litany of combat in both specs, why I only use my heal stance for harder names, this way I can drop it off and get the Litany buff for my dog or myself depending on how the group is while on trash and lesser names.