Mystic
From EQ2-Daily.com EQ2 Wiki
| Mystics are a class under the priest archetype, available only to Qeynosians. Shaman (mystics and defilers} heal in an unusual sense; they prevent damage using wards (but have some standard heals as well). |
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Buffs and Slows
Mystics in supplement to the wards, get some of the best slows, debuffs, and buffs in the game. Mystics primarily buff Stamina and Strength, once again massively affecting tanks more than anyone else.
Buffs: "Runic" line buffs are useful in that they are a "maintained" (i.e. not requiring recasts due to a timed expiration) ward which also raises melee mitigation. This buff affects the entire group. Essentially, every 3 seconds it puts a very small ward on the entire group. Let's say it is for about 50 damage. This ward regenerates (i.e. refreshes, not to be confused with having an hp regen element) itself constantly. Let's look at a sample attack string on a MT
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 85
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 135
Mt is hit for 85
The hits for 85 would be an example of where the ward went into effect each time - it absorbs a portion of the regular melee damage every few hits/seconds. This ability, in conjunction with slows, can be a very effective combination for damage reduction and control. If the mob hits a couple times less every minute, then the regenerating ward's effectiveness will increase exponentially.
Buffs: Mystics also receive a single target (one person only) maintained buff (Avatar) at level 47. This is a decent buff which requires no concentration or refreshing(outside of if the mystic dies), and can either buff a MT for more HP's if their Sta isn't maxed, or a Scout for more DPS. It buffs Str, Sta and Agi. It is generally a great buff to have on someone at all times, but as it is a straight Statistic buff, it's uses may be more limited at higher levels due to players being closer to stat caps innately.
Buffs: There is also a concentration buff line (single target) that helps augment Both Health and Power. This buff line is usually only used on two separate persons at once (since other maintained spells are most likely filling up the shamans concentration bar as well), it's best the Main Tank be first choice. The second is always a hard one to choose however, and can be very situational, but being that the mystic could always use more power and hp, the second choice is commonly themselves.
Debuffs: Some Debuffs to take note of are those that decrease STA. If these are used right off the bat, such as to pull the mob or before actual dps engagement, then the enemy mob could start off with significantly less health. It can be enough to make a difference in how fast you kill things. It is worth noting however that these debuffs last for a very small amount of time, so if it's a long fight the shaman needs to be watching the timers for recasts.
Slow: Mystics have 2 types of slows, one for battle slow and the other is DPS type slows. The better of the two, if you're in constraints of a battle and only have time for one, is arguably the DPS slow. DPS slows last longer, and are usually more effective against all Melee type NPC.
Forms of Healing
Mystic's class type "heal" is the ward, which acts as a shield by absorbing damage on whomever it has been cast upon (similar to the enchanter's and wizard's runes in eq1). In the combat revamp, wards now have mitigation applied before absorption. Therefore wards are much more effective on platemail classes, and make a great form of "preventative" healing on tanks.
Of the wards we get 3 separate lines: Single Target, Emergency, and Group
Single Target wards are just that; they are the most used, and affect a single target (more often the MT than anyone else). Group wards are a bit more complicated, they have more direct strength, and when cast essentially place one big (shared value) ward on everyone. This spell is more useful when damage is coming from lots of places. The group ward is often used to save casters or to mitigate higher level NPC damage on a Main Tank. Group wards function slightly differently than one might think. If the ward is worth 500 points, and a guardian takes 250 points, and a wizard who got aggro also takes 250 points, the ward wears off everyone. Emergency wards also are self explanatory. They are instantly cast (so you can use while running), and require no mana. Emergency wards have 1 single and 1 group version, though the Group Emergency ward is not acquired until later levels. The single ward is usually somewhere near what the single target does in terms of damage absorption approx 500 and the Group Emergency ward is approx 1300. However, the recast time is about 15 mins, so thus they are really only for emergencies. The one drawl back is that DOT's and Many Combat abilities can land through wards..thus the person that has a ward applied can still take damage if the combat effect is not cured. Note: Wards become direct heals to the person it was cast upon if the total hp value of the applied ward was not used up during it's duration. Example: Ward casted will absorb 500 points of total damage, it will stay active for 20 seconds. During this 20 seconds it only receives 300 points of damage dealt to it from the engagement - now when the 20 seconds has expired, that remaining 200 points will be given as a heal to the person the ward is on.
Mystics also receive a poison mitigation buff / group poison ward at level 29.
In addition to wards, mystics get three "direct" (i.e. reactive) heal lines. Cookie Cutter, Massive, and Group. The first two are single target. The massive heals about twice as much as the first. The group heals everyone for about the same amount as the cookie cutter.
In the 40's and again in the 50's Mystics receive a Ghost badger pet that also helps augment Group heals. It's a low power cast and is a lot of help to the Mystic healing in any situation. The drawl back is it's a random AOE cast anywhere from 90's to 140's Health restored around 10 times per person in the group and its recast timer is 1 minute, it can also be killed by damage. As you can see this all adds up when there is minimal damage coming to the group from all directions.(this pet does not attack)
Mystics receive Topor at 52 which is a God send in terms of healing power it's similar to the way the regen heals of Druids are only a huge DPS killer. This really should only be used in extreme fighting circumstances. It lowers DPS approx 30% and run speed 40% so plan on not running for about 30 seconds or it will be a slow crawl.
DPS and Utility
Next, our offense. In terms of damaging lines, we get 4. Disease DOT (Damage over time), Cold DOT, Cold nuke, and disease encounter nuke. The two dots stack with each other, however the cold does more total damage than the disease, but last about half the time. The cold nukes have a snare component, which lowers the enemy's run speed temporarily. The disease nuke affects the entire encounter and is also the highest in terms of damage. It has a fairly high mana cost however.
One large drawback of mystics is their low DPS. They can't solo very quickly due to this, but they can solo, the mobs just die slower compared to other classes. You may want to look into getting a great 2h weapon, some people feel they help the meleeing shaman be more effective.
Mystic utility is very good. Like all priests, we get rezzes, both single and eventually group. We have spirit guides at a low level, which allow any member who holds one resurrect us (or any priest in group/raid)should we die. We get an enduring breath spell that allows the whole group to WALK underwater as well as never run out of air (very fun spell). The spell causes the group to sink to the ocean floor, and we can run as fast as we would on land and jump as if we were on the moon.
Several other nice spells we receive are a group poison/arcane cure at level 42, which cures both of these for the entire group in a single cast. Also in the early 40's, we get a spell which will save a tank from death, by applied a 300 points ward, 250 point heal, and Flowing thought 80 (yes, 80). When their health reaches 0 or below or if an NPC is about to commit an act that will be fatal this spell will kick in.
Finally, we got SoW. SoW was a spell EQ1 players will recognize- Spirit of Wolf. In Eq2, druids and shamans both receive this sell. The spell adds 20% run speed. It is indispensable. First it is one of the few spells that functions as an EQ1 buff did. This can be cast on any player, even out of group. It lasts 30 minutes regardless of where the caster is. Quite frankly, I can't think of a situation where 20% run would NOT be advantageous. Especially during jboots, this spell is one of the most useful. Regarding jboots, SoW (unlike pathfinding) does stack with the jboots, therefore giving the player with both buffs 30% speed. Because pathfinding is only 16% anyway, the only thing faster than a SoW is bard speed. With EoF achievement line, the SoW can be raised up to 50% speed.
Perhaps one of the most important things a mystic should have is a manastone. Also keep in mind, Mystics are one of the few class with no real CC. We get a hate reducer on a 5 min timer which is often packed with a stun, fear, or mez type effect, but we don't have REAL stuns, mezzes or roots which can be used regularly.
Achievements
With the launch of KoS, and the Achievement System in place, the shaman class gets a bit of a twist. The AA starter is a Ghost Wolf Pet (such as the one we had in Eq1), which cons even to the caster, but is a triple down arrow. The pet therefore is not able to really tank for you, however it can add a bit of DPS to the group. Don't however expect it to do enough DPS to make a noticeable difference in your damage contribution to the group. The only real dps benefit I could see from it, is constant DPS in a tough fight when you don't have time to cast. The pet is perhaps most useful for it's utility in a sense. Any class that has a pet can manipulate it to be a distraction, pull enemies from afar, etc...
Many of the AA's in the Shaman Tree especially the Wisdom line add to the pet's hate gain, DPS, and over all effectiveness. The different lines all require a different equipment type. The wisdom line for instance requires a symbol in your secondary, whilst other lines require spears, or bucklers equipped.
New AA's from the EoF line include higher damage, melee versions of our cold DoT and DPS spells, resurrection spell boosts and boosts to our cure poison/elemental/etc spells (adding wards to the cures), among other things.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I'd say the mystic is one of the most distinct classes in the game, because really no other class gets wards (other than the defilers of course) of such a level that they can be used as heals. The mystics is fun for anyone who wants to group a lot.
Extras
The the mystic level 20 "fun spell" is a illusion spell that transforms the shaman into a large bird, without any flying / slow falling capability. Some think that this form is preferred over the bear form since it takes a lot less screen space (if you like to keep your illusionary forms displayed in the settings). This fun spell can be bought from the mystic trainer.
~Xenmir some work added by ~Quylein & some (EoF) work added by Jouk
