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1.1. Introduction Congratulations! As a Coercer in Everquest 2 (揈Q2?) countless hours of intensely entertaining play time await you. In Everquest 2 there are few classes that are as challenging and exciting as the Coercer. Coercers have the ability to deal massive damage, perform crowd control by mezzing opponents, charm opponents and make them your allies, regenerate more power than any other class, force powerful casters to simply swing their weapons, and countless other skills that will set you apart from other players. Raiding guilds and groups alike covet Coercers because of these talents. While playing a Coercer is incredibly fun, it also takes skill and a little know-how. This guide will provide you with strategies that will take you from level 1 to level 60. You will learn how to be the most effective solo class in the game, how to be a hero to your group and guild, and how to minimize your enemies?damage potential while maximizing your own! Every spell you receive is analyzed to explain precisely how the spell can benefit or harm you and how it fits into your strategy. Upgrade recommendations are provided as well. Always remember, though, that Coercion is an art ?not a science. Learning to be creative with your abilities is part of the challenge of being a Coercer. 1.2. User Interface Just one quick note on your setup. The user interface in Everquest 2 is fully customizable, and you are encouraged to find your ideal setup for your hot-bars, chat windows, etc., (and remember you can lock your windows in place so you won抰 be moving your windows when you are trying to look around.) In this guide, it is assumed that you are using the 揹etailed?user interface. This displays the Mob抯 name with arrows ?^, ^^, ^^^, v, vv, vvv ?as opposed to the frames used in the 搒imple?setting. The detailed UI allows you to know much more about your enemies, and also allows the Coercer to know which mobs present the most danger so he can control them accordingly. Using the detailed user interface is highly recommended. 1.3. Terminology In Everquest 2, the player base has developed terminology to describe everything from where they are in the world of Norrath to the kind of attacks their character uses.This guide will use this terminology freely, so it is important for you to know what the terminology means. Here is a listing of terms: |
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In Everquest 2, the player base has developed terminology to describe everything from where they are in the world of Norrath to the kind of attacks their character uses.This guide will use this terminology freely, so it is important for you to know what the terminology means. Here is a listing of terms: Coercion Term Definition ^, ^^, ^^^, v, vv, vvv Definition This is one of the most important notations for Coercers. Using the “detailed” user interface, mob names are displayed with either up arrows, down arrows, or no arrows. For each up arrow in a mob name, that mob is considerably more difficult – just as for each down arrow, the mob is considerably less difficult. The more difficult the mob, the better the XP it yields. Add Refers to a mob that you or your group was not fighting, but now are. Generally, adds occur when you or a group-mate gets to close to a KOS mob. However, adds can also occur if you or a group-mate agros a nearby, non-KOS mob, often with a PBAOE. Agro Aggravate, aggravation – Agro is a versatile term, but it generally refers to the hate level of a given player. In Everquest 2, everything you do to a mob builds up your agro – hate level – with the mob. The MT’s job is to keep his agro higher than anyone else’s, so the mob is most aggravated with the MT and deals damage only to this player. Agro can also refer to the act of attacking a mob for the first time – PBAOEs can agro nearby mobs. Finally, KOS mobs are often described as “agro to you,” because if you even come close to these mobs, it will aggravate them. AOE Area of Effect – some spells affect multiple targets at once. Within the context of this guide, AOE pertains to spells that are encounter-based (green-background AOE) and will only affect the targeted encounter. This is distinct from PBAOE spells, which affect all enemies within a radius. See PBAOE, below. Breaking Mez Any amount of damage done to or power drained from a mezzed mob will break its mez. Broken mezzes leads to dead Coercers…don’t let people break your mezzes! Breeze Power Regenerating Spell Line – The first power regenerating spell the Coercer receives, and the name is often employed even to describe upgrades to the spell. Coercers have the most effective power regeneration in the game, and can provide this to their group. See also: Crack. Buff In general, buffing increases statistics of the Coercer and his allies. Any statistic can be buffed – power, health, intelligence, attack speed, etc. Charm The ability to coerce an enemy to do your bidding. Although other classes can charm, Coercers are the most effective at it. Conning –Solo/Heroic Generally refers to the difficulty of the encounter and whether the encounter should be fought solo or with a group. When you click on an enemy, your target window is populated with information about the enemy. Mousing-over the target window will provide even more. If the information includes the word “Heroic,” this encounter is Heroic-Conning, and will be quite difficult…a group is recommended. If the information does not specify that the encounter is “Heroic,” then the encounter is Solo-Conning and can be handled alone. Crack Power Regeneration Spells – Crack generally refers to the Breeze line of spells, but Coercer’s have other methods of regenerating power as well. See also: Breeze. |
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Crowd Control One of the Coercer’s most important abilities. Crowd control generically refers to the ability to reduce the damage capability of an encounter or of an add. Mezzing an add is the most obvious form of crowd control, but crowd control includes abilities such as stun, stifle, root, and even interrupting casters. DD Direct Damage – Spells and attacks that deal a single blow of damage – nukes for example. Debuff To decrease mitigation to a certain kind of spell damage or physical damage. Whereas buffs can increase mitigation, debuffs work to counteract this. For example, debuffing mental resistance allows mental damage spells to strike more easily. DoT Damage over Time – Some attacks deal sustained damage – or drain power – every few seconds in ticks. DoTs – particularly AOE DoTs – can wreak havoc with mez strategy. DPS Damage Per Second – the average damage done over the course of a fight. Epic As opposed to solo-conning and Heroic-conning, Epics are meant to be for more than one group. The number of groups recommended is indicated by a number – i.e. Epic x2 (2 groups), Epic x4 (4 groups.) Epic encounters are very difficult and require teamwork. Also, Epic Named mobs cannot be mezzed or rooted. Grouped Encounter Encounters consisting of enemies that are linked to each other to form a group. These groups can be either solo-conning or Heroic-conning. Haste Increases the melee DPS of a player. Melee weapons have 2 important statistics: average damage and delay.Increasing the melee DPS raises the average damage of the weapon by a certain percentage. (Increasing attack speed, on the other hand, lowers the delay of the weapon.) Healer All members of the Priest class. Healers have the ability to regenerate hit-points and keep you alive. Intelligence/Int The primary statistic for mages – as opposed to wisdom, strength, etc. Each point of intelligence increases the mage’s power pool significantly – the higher the intelligence, the greater the power bonus. Intelligence also increases the damage potential of the mages spells. Invis Invisible – Mages have the ability to render themselves invisible. However, when you invis yourself, some mobs can still see you,so be careful! KOS Kill on Sight – some mobs will have a red background around their names. Just going near these mobs will agro them,because they want to kill you…on sight! MA Main Assist – Member of the group or raid that all members of the raid should target when attacking. In groups, the MT is often the MA as well. Macro In Everquest 2, you can use Macros to perform certain functions.By pressing ‘o,’ you can then click on the macro tab and edit macros. Macros are useful to communicate to your group that a mob is mezzed, for example. Melee Melee generally refers to the auto-attack function – swinging |
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your weapon. However, melee can be used to describe entire classes – fighters and scouts are melee classes. Mez Mesmerize – the quintessential form of crowd control, mezzing a mob stuns it, making it stand still forever. However, mez is very fragile, and any amount of damage done or power drained from a mezzed mob will awake the mob – breaking mez. Mob The generic term for any attackable creature in the game. MT Main Tank – The tank that will be holding agro and taking damage. NPC Non Player Character – Refers to all mobs in the game, but also to all entities that cannot be attacked as well. Nuke A direct damage spell. PBAOE Point Blank Area of Effect – Unlike AOE spells that are encounter-based, PBAOE spells affect all enemies within a given radius. This means that PBAOE spells can affect multiple encounters at once, but PBAOE spells can also affect enemies that were not attacking yet – it can agro these mobs, causing them to add. PBAOE spells also break mez. PC Player Character – Refers to other players in the game. PvP Player vs. Player – Dueling between Player characters is PvP, but in EQ2 PvP can also refer to the arena games in Maj’Dul. PvP is distinct from PvE – Player vs. Environment (i.e. mobs.) Root Generally refers to spells that chain a mob in place, preventing it from moving. The mob can still inflict melee damage. Stifle/Silence A stifled mob cannot use spells or combat abilities – it can only swing their weapon. Stifle is a very powerful defensive ability, but it can work against the Coercer’s DPS so it must be used wisely. Tank Generally refers to players of the Fighter class. Tanks can wear heavy armor to soften enemies’ blows – or have enough agility to avoid them. However, tanking generally means taking the brunt of the damage – if you pull agro and the mob attacks you, you are tanking. Coercers make poor tanks! Tier1-6/T1-6 Refers to levels of characters, zones, spells, items, etc. In general, everything associated with: levels 1-9 = Tier1/T1; 10-19 = Tier2/T2; 20-29 = Tier3/T3; 30-39 = Tier 4/T4; 40-50 = Tier5/T5; 51-60 = Tier6/T6. XP Experience – Experience is how you level. Everything you kill, every quest you complete, and every new place you discover gives you experience. XPing generally refers to the act of killing to get XP. |
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The Road to Coercer Although the choices you make when creating a character in EQ2 are not as important as other games, your choices will be with you throughout the life of your character. When creating your character, there are a few things to keep in mind, and I willreview them here. Enchanters: Coercers and Illusionists In EQ2, there are two subclasses of Enchanters: Coercers and Illusionists. In general the two subclasses of Enchanters are fairly equal. Coercers regenerate more power for their group than any other class. Coercers can also “charm” opponents – placing the enemy under your control and coercing them to do your bidding – while Illusionists are able to create an illusory duplicate of themselves. In terms of damage, Coercers’ damage potential is far greater than Illusionists because Coercers can force the mob to inflict damage on itself, but Illusionists have more dependable damage in the form of procs that are triggered when ever a spell strikes an opponent – and they can cast this proc on allies. Illusionists also have a slight advantage in crowd control with their multiple mez spells. In the end, both subclasses of Enchanters are challenging and entertaining to play. Both solo effectively, both bring a great deal to a group, and both are welcomed by raids and raiding guilds alike. The major reasons that I chose Coercer were the ability to charm enemies, the potential to inflict huge amounts of damage, superior power regeneration, and the high demand for enchanters among raiding guilds. |