Monk/Shaman + Snare Advice

I've always liked the Iksar and Cabilis, so I went Iksar Monk/Shaman here knowing that it wasn't going to be nearly as strong as I was used to on P99. Mostly things are turning out fine, aside from turning into an ugly brown bear, but I have three problems: lack of snare, caster NPCs, and especially lack of snare vs caster NPCs.

Any advice? In Droga it wasn't so very bad because I could beat them down pretty quickly with Hagz' Tranquil Staff, but in Sebilis that won't happen and I am already guessing that every Wizard will gate on me and every Shaman will burn their entire mana bar on heals before I can kill them. In Luclin I guess I can carry 10 fungus glands, and at some point I might be able to get a Spear of Constriction or Sap Encrusted Branch but in the mean time I have a problem! Has anyone tried the Sceptre of the Forlorn? In theory I could camp 3 of those and have 20 charges of Clinging Darkness. Or should I just work really hard to get groups with Druids?

And yes I know Trolls can use the Regent Symbol of Innoruuk, and I know I could add an SK or Necro but I'd really prefer not to add another box as Monk and Shaman are already both pretty high APM.

 

Yes, or get yourself one of these: http://www.takproject.net/allaclone/item.php?id=5717

 

Can hunt for these in Crystal caverns. Have 2 charges and are sellable. Crystalline silk net.

everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=3930

 

Miranda's Dice quest in Stonebrunt. You'll have to use some tricks to do the quest at low faction levels (Flop to Miranda and then use sneak or something), but it's a zero weight multi-charge snare clicky.

 

Does the Warrens still have trivial loot code enabled?

 

You can use Blind. Fast cast and low mana.

 

Do NPCs not run when blind? What would be the advantage vs Root? No early breaks?

 

I used to do a monk / shaman duo and faced the same issues you did. I usually would have the shaman cast root when health was low. Ultimately I made a third Druid box

 

They run unless someone is in melee range

 

Do they run at full speed or a slower speed. I remember a long time ago it would be a slower speed, almost like a ghetto snare.

 

Seems pretty quick.

 

So if in melee range, blind, and at low hp they will fight instead of flee?

 

Yes and they will attack whomever is closest to them, like root.

 

Except nothing you do will break Blind, but all damage can break Root. I *think* that if you have sic'd your pet on the mob and the mob is blinded, you are golden. Guaranteed golden if a player is in melee range, at least. They will flee at their natural run speed if nothing is in melee range.

 

Hmm, could I push interrupt vs a blinded NPC? On P99 with an epic fist + efreeti standard I could interrupt Gate nearly 95% of the time if I was paying attention.

 

Push works to interrupt but blind would have nothing to do with it.

 

Well, you can't push rooted NPCs so that's a pretty big win in comparison.

 

Can't tell based upon comments if blind would work for what you want but you could always use Flash of Light or Blinding Luminance on your shaman. I use it on shuuhei all the time to tank. 12 mana for Flash of Light is super economical.

Only problem is if you get outta melee range they will run like they are feared which can get messy fast. Ask Lenas.

 

Remember also that as long as your player is low health they won't run. A way to manipulate this as a Shaman/Monk Box is to always save Mend. Slow the mobs obviously. Wait until mobs are below 10% before using Mend.

That takes some getting used to obviously. We all have the urge to heal our characters when they are below 50%. Casters obviously will make the tactic risky. Pretty much though. Just beat mobs down to about 40% healing as normal then when mobs get around 25% let them Damage you down. Then manage your Monks health with weaker heals keeping him on the verge of death. Risky but works.

 

A note of caution about this. As has been shown, as monks get low on HP they end up taking more dmg. I am not exactly sure where the thread is, but I am sure Pithy or Elroz can find it quickly. Ignoring this has caused me to inadvertently die several times when FD failed. It also used up a larger portion of mana from my shaman.

 

Haven't noticed that at all as a 60 monk. Besides with stonestance being awesome here it really isn't that risky.

 

I believe it only happens when your agility drops below 75 (at health 15% and below) that your avoidance takes a huuuuge hit.

 

Hmmm. I seemed to notice it about 30-40% that it got bad. I could go from 100% down to 40ish on like 4 mobs. Then the last one would just rape me every time, and I had to mend/FD/spam a heal if I did not heal before pull. And the mob would not even be half dead. I could be misremembering though.

 

Trivial loot code never existed on AK. It was removed less than a year after it was put in, I believe.