Enchanter Play Guide (DAoC)
by Jester

NOTE: This guide is purely based upon my time playing an Elven Enchanter.

BUILDING

After selecting race, name, etc., you will appear in either Mag Mell (Elf), Connla (Lurikeen), or Domnann (all races). I will give the upsides to chosing the above towns in order:

  • Mag Mell: Good starting grounds, close to Ardee and Tir Na Nog.
  • Connla: Low population with good hunting grounds make this area choice for fast killing.
  • Domnann: With a close city and all lowbie mobs just around it, you will have little trouble finding things to fight.

After choosing your starting town, you will be facing your trainer. I would suggest doing the quests they give you, as they experience and money will get you a step up in the world. Since I chose Mag Mell as my initial hunting ground, I will start there.

Your hunting area will be directly out front of Mag Mell for all 4 levels. You should find plenty of blue mobs here without too much competition. If you are feeling a little adventurous, you could always travel northward to Ardee and fight the creatures that walk around there.

Now, I built my Enchanter as a dual Specialist. I have points in both Light/Sun, and Enchantments. This helps in multiple ways:

  1. You are able to throw damage spells with some good effect to them. Also, your specialist damage spells catch up and quickly surpass your base line spells at about level 10.
  2. You still get your pet buffs, your group buff (damage buff), and group speed spell with the points in Enchantment. You may not get bigger ones as fast, but you are able to solo just as well with the ones you have.
  3. If you travel alot into dungeons (as I am want to do), the pet helps, but your damage spells will be more handy, especially if a group is asking for you to join them. (But always keep a pet active. You never know when that little bugger can save your hide)

So a simple suggestion would be to train Light up to 2/3rds your level (round down) and then train Enchanment up to 2/3rds as well when you get it.

The progression should look something like this:

  • 6: 4 Light/ 4 Enchantments
  • 9: 6 Light/ 6 Enchantments
  • 12: 8 Light/ 8 Enchantments
  • 15: 10 Light/ 10 Enchantments
  • 21: 14 Light/ 14 Enchantments
  • 27: 18 Light/ 18 Enchantments

After 27, you have to start deciding on which path you want to truly follow. If you wish to take upon the roll of stronger pets and better buff spells, start putting points into Enchantments. If you want to dish out damage with the pet as a back up, start dropping points into Light. For example, by 50, my skills look like:

  • 12 Moon (Good for 3rd focus shield, and 2nd PBAOE)
  • 45 Light (The highest spec line DD)
  • 26 Enchantments (Decent Damage buff)

PETS

Pets are your bread, butter, and knife. They have multiple talents, being melee monsters, casters, or even healers. NOTE: Pets do not 'steal' experience from a group. They take a small percentage of experience from the caster (which can be reduced by taking the Minion Control Realm Ability), but this is a minimal loss when compared to what a death is worth. The only thing you need to do is decide what pet for what situation. Below are how I have found them most useful:

  • Melee: Useful for dungeon and non-aggro creature hunting. Just send them at the creature fully buffed, and heal and nuke while they take the brunt of it.
  • Caster: Best for aggro type hunting. Pick a spot, put pet on stay, then tell the pet to be "aggressive". The pet will start pulling anything within range that is aggressive. NOTE: This is useful if the aggressive creatures are blue and green. Yellows will tend to cause a problem. Also know that your two caster types have different spells now, one being a DD+Snare, the other being a DD+Heat debuff (which will help your Sun based spells alot).
  • Healer: Best for group hunting, as the heal spell they cast is basically the heal over time. It may not save someones life, but its some extra HP and a free buff. Also, they can melee better than the caster type. As of a recent patch, this pet will now cast its healing spell sooner than before. This makes the pet a little more useful for the healers in the group, but is no substitute for one.

As you play more with your pets, you will pick and choose the pet for you. Some people like staying with the new pet all the time. Some pick and choose. Some just stick with one that they like period, even if it was one of the 'older' pets. REMINDER: ALL your pets that you summon will ALWAYS be at 7/8ths your level, rounded down. This means there will be times that your pet is green to you, and will have a hard time taking down the big blue.

PULLING

Of all the classes I have played, I have found the Enchanter to be the one of the best pullers. When they reach 7th Specialist in the Light spell list, they receive a spell called Distracting Scintillation. This spell is an attack speed debuff, and also causes very little aggro. Plus, this will pull only a single creature to you from a mob, regardless of how social they are. (You will still need to pull them far enough from their friends though, as they can still yell for help) This greatly increases your hunting areas, due to the fact that you can find a good safe distance from any mob camp, stick the pet onto a spot, and then pull the creature towards you. After the creature steps from the camp, far enough from the rest of the aggro ranges, you are able to send in the pet, and then proceed to kill as normal.

DUNGEON HUNTING

Dungeons create a bit more of a problem, as the restricted area and tight quarters make it a bit harder to differentiate whats going on sometimes, and who is attacking what. If you are hunting solo, then pick a spot that you find as relatively safe, and use the aggro-hunt option up above. If you are in a group, buff up all the melee types with the harm shield and damage spell. Then, just keep the pet on follow, and use it as either an extra tank (if one of the tanks is running low on Hits and the healer is LOP) or has a back up heal buff (if you choose to use, and have available, that pet). Past that, hunting in a dungeon is basically no different than hunting anywhere else.

SUGGESTED HUNTING AREAS

  • 1-5: Mag Mell, Ardee: Lowbie hunting area
  • 6-10: Ardee, Mag Mell, Mardagh: Shoreline beetles, hill toads, blackthorns w/ lunatishees (BIG social group)
  • 11-15: Mardagh, Tir na mBeo, Ardee: Ghostly Siabras, Red Wolfhounds, Badgers, Muires Tomb (Dungeon)
  • 16-20: Ardee, Shannon Estuary: Muire Tomb (Dungeon), Siabras, Erius
  • 21-25: Koalinth Caverns (Dungeon), Lough Ger: Dampwood mites, Luch hunters
  • 26-30: Basar: Alp luachras, Pookhas, Treibh Caillite (Dungeon), Corruscating Mines (Dungeon)

Past that, you have RVR available, and you can then decide to either continue with hunting PVE or PVP.