> I'm 25 at the moment, and up until recently Whirl Until You Hurl has been
You've obviously only been around for a short while (which isn't an
insult, just any enchanter who was around in the first year of EQs life
will likely have PLENTY to say on this topic).
Whirl 'til you Hurl (WTYH as it's more commonly seen) used to be a VERY
powerful spell. It was actually one of the few things that made
enchanters NOT totally suck (enchanters were a HORRIBLE class the first
few months, they really improved them a lot, but killed a couple of the
spells along the way). They thought it was TOO powerful after 6-8 months,
and tuned it down a lot. As it is now, it is a variable length single
target stun. It lasts from about a second to 15 or so. It is most
effective from 16-24ish, but on mobs 24 or higher, it starts to become
useless, and past 27 or so, it's completely worthless.
ANY stun breaks it (this includes bashes from your pets, other tanks, etc,
as well as stun components of wizard spells (the things that cause an
interrupt) and your own DDs. The biggest issue is bash, though.
There is an upgrade, Drynn's Dizzying Draught, but this is THE single most
useless spell in an enchanters repetoire. WTYH is actually more useful
than Drynn's, even at level 56 (where WTYH is next to useless, but DDD IS
useless, unless you feel you have too much mana and want to waste it
pointlessly).
You'll get a better version of WTYH at, what, 55? Lagarn's Lamentation,
which is a single target stun for 8 seconds, just like most other classes
(i.e. clerics) stuns. Until then, you'll have to make do with your Area
Effect stuns at 8, 20, 44, 52, etc.
Root, however, is still a great spell. As are many in it's line... you'll
find that some of your low level spells stick with you long into your
upper levels... I STILL almost always have the 16th level Mesmerization
memorized (the AE mez), at level 56, as well as the level 20 AE stun.
Lower level spells don't necessarily become obsolete, in some cases they
are much better than their higher level equivalents. Root is great,
because it's very low mana and resists less at higher levels than the root
upgrades... I always use either Root or Immobilize... Root for the low
casting cost and resists, immobilize for the low casting time. The ONLY
benefit that I've seen from higher level roots is they have less chance to
break when DD spells hit the creature. They don't seem to last longer (in
fact, my root usually lasts longer than high level root spells), though
some of the higher ones technically have a slightly longer maximum length,
because of the greater chance of resists on the higher level ones, they
break more easily, and rarely reach their maximums, while the low level
ones usually do.
The low level stuns are good because they cast faster, cost less, resist
less, and have a smaller radius from you... there are times when a larger
radius AE stun is good, but overall, that just means more chance of
attracting attention you wouldn't have had otherwise... it's better to
just learn better placement with a smaller radius. If I'm chain stunning,
I'll load my lvl 20 and lvl 44 AE stuns (and if I really want to be sure,
the lvl 8 one as well, to fill in the gap).
But remember, overall, lower level spells get resisted less than higher
level spells (cast by the same caster... obviously, a lvl 12 enchanter
casting the lowest root spell will be resisted more than a lvl 60
enchanter casting the lowest level root spell). They usually cast faster,
and often the difference in effect from the lower lvl spell to the higher
level spell isn't enough to warrant the costs in mana, time, and resists.
It is all situational, there are times you'll want the high ones memmed,
there are times you'll want the low ones memmed... I did SO much spell
juggling... I became a master at AE stunning, sitting down quickly,
dropping out a spell, memming the spell I need, standing, backing a
little, and trying to cast it before the stun broke. :)
Enchanters are one of the more interesting classes, I think... there are
SO many ways to do things, and to handle the same situation... you kind of
create your own style as you go, and in the end, very few enchanters ever
react the same to an identical situation. You do, however, have to be
unafraid of death. ;)
JM - Saidan/Eltanin/Aipex Soulblade
40/56/12 Paladin/Enchanter/Bard
Mithaniel Marr
-= recovering EQ addict =-
(I'm on step 11!!!! :) now, will someone go ahead and start a Dark Age
of Camelot recovery support group? I am sure I'm going to need it.)