On Thu, 23 Mar 2000, JasonF wrote:

> I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what stun spell to use when you
> *can't* use the color flux series. At the moment I'm fighting in the High
> Keep basement against the picklaws and AE is out. I can successfully use
> color flux 5 out of 6 times, but that 6th time the guards come and at the
> very least hang around and make our lives difficult and at worst kill me.

Bummer. Is it a matter of where you stand in the room, or do they wander
enough that it's simply luck?

> The problem is standard enchanter fare - occassionally I get a gob on me and
> need to mez. Normally *BAM* Color Flux, step back, mez, no problem.
> Without color flux I'm having to just stand there and take it and keep
> pounding the mez key until one gets through. Is there no better
> alternative?

Mez (and WTYH for that matter) has a 2.5 second cast time. If you cast
immediately after seeing the "hits YOU" message, you should be able to get
it off at least half the time. If there's only one.

Better yet, if you have a wizzie or cleric (or 30+ Paladin) in your group,
warn them in advance that this will happen and they should keep a stunning
spell memmed. In combat, just /g "please stun this unpleasant green
thing".

Root is another very good option, either from another caster that can't
stun, or cast it yourself, as it casts in 2.0 seconds rather than 2.5.
Once rooted, step back and mez away (or step back and leave it rooted, for
that matter).

In fact, in the hands of a competent group without an enchanter, root is
actually an effective small-crowd control method. It doesn't touch what
an enchanter can do, but with just a very small amount of maneuvering room
it can take 2-3 MoBs out of the combat.
--
Mark Rafn dagon@... <http://www.dagon.net/> !G