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Animists...have they been nerfed into oblivion ?
Arawon
Member Posts: 1,108
I have returned to the game and used to play an animist...among many classes. They were nerfed hard for the umteenth time reciently. Are they still fun and a decent class to play...Or are they so gimp they are not worth leveling ? I play on classic.. Want to make Molvik char only.
Comments
I guess that depends on who you ask. I also think that leveling affects things. I can only tell you what things are like at 50.
Here is what happened:
1. Pets number cut from 15 to 5.
2. Pets in an area cut from 100 to 30
3. Pet duration increased by 30 seconds
4. 1 Min buff that helps your pets hit high level mobs
5. Bombers are now nukes
6. Pets have a little more health
The result of this is that your damage has been cut by up to 66%. Reduction in an area is cut by 70%. If you are on a ToA server, it is not impossible to really run out of power. You can keep your pets up all of the time. The worst thing is that "utility" shrooms are not being used. I mean that your tangelers and debuffs count towards your pet limit.
In PvE, it has had an impact but not as much as I would have expected. I can still take out a decent size higher level group. But, the number I can kill is a lot smaller. It takes a longer time. It is far more dangerous as well. Essentially before, the damage was so great and they are being hit by so many mobs, the targets would either not ago on you, die before they got to you, or would eventually be killed/taunted as you ran around the shroom stack. Now, you need to be very careful. You might need to stun a target that gets near you. You will need to use briar burst to get/maintain the mobs being off of you. Briar burst is really what drops the mobs quickly enough so that your pets do not drop. In ToA, things have been nerfed so much that for the most part 5 FnF is enough. I do die more often. I have problems with argo. I cannot kill as fast nor as many mobs as before. But with that said, it is still a decent farmer. Enchanters might be better now, but animists are probably second once you relearn how to play them.
In RvR, I am not so sure. The lack of animists playing has changed things. Those that ran with 8 man groups didn't use shrooms anyway so they are unaffected. I haven't done keep warfare. I have played mine in the Lab. In certain places they are still very effective. Shroom placement is very essential. There are many areas where you a neutered. The fact is that you are torn between utility or damage. The damage is not enough. You cannot hit enough targets. Your pets are easy enough to drop. So you need to place them in areas with poor line of sight and going up against a FG or less.
I will say this. The biggest loss in subscribers/Hibs playing this year is because of this Nerf. Within a month the number of people on my server (not cluster) was cut in half. I am not happy about it, but I still use my animist. Mostly for PvE. I have no idea how leveling is, but I imagine it is a lot harder.