[Tarishya]

Hello,

I was wondering what is your solo routine, the one that makes the faster kills with the lowest downtime.

Personnally i charm a mob a round, send my pet on my target, put my 2 dots on it, a mind wipe or 2 to keep my pet with the aggro, and a DD or 2. If low on mana, i switch to TT on the next mob and regen to full, then doing the same routine. If Charm breaks, Time Trick it while keeping the other snare, recharm.

Repeat.

What's yours ?

Thanks

[ancksunamun]

well, it would help if you write for what lvl because my strategy varies from level to level :>

Currently on lvl 25 i am killing lvl 27-28 2 doted deers and spiders around New targanor.

Pyrenic rage on.

Lvl 27 2doted: yellow i blast/snare/wand-dot/nuke/wand -typical kiting
Lvl 28 2doted: similacrum, snare/dot - nuke/wand
Lvl 24-25 3 doted trolls: Either Thrall one and use it as meatshield, doting/snaring , now iif i am lazy i mindwipe and using dots to kill it with thoughpulse for the rest 10%, or i use thrall to get attention of mob and use it only for doting, then blast/kiting.

When getting adds (easy in troll area), time stop - time trick - similacrum and thrall on last target.

On 4 doted (not that it is worth of effort): Similacrum, Snare, CS dot, dementia, mindwipe, mindwipe, after a while resmilacrum and again. For 4 doted i prefer to use astral form because sometime they hit even for 400 dmg.

Ranged 2 dot mobs 25-27.
27 is very risky because they can hit for 180 dmg every 2 second ranged, so astral form is necessary, starting with similacrum, snare/dot and same as 4 doted to keep similacrum as agro mob's target, that's safe way, or lvl 25- just nuke hell out of them with pyrenic rage on before your hp lowers under 50%. Thralling is not recomended because if mob breaks, he woun't run to you but peper you from afar, so no time-stop/rethrall trick here.

Infinium sanctuary area:

For lvl 22+ it's good leveling place, i recomend strongly to thrall scorpion here for stun/snare effect and then solo 2 doted mobs there, scorpion helps alot in that area

[Tarishya]

Originally Posted by ancksunamun

well, it would help if you write for what lvl because my strategy varies from level to level :>

I'm 32 and doing level 33-35 2 dots mobs, 3 dots the same way.

[Spritzen]

Kiting 3dots lvl 16-18 - Temporal Shift, Simulacrum, Compression Sphere, Dementia, Time Trick, Mental Blast/Wand, Mental Blast/Wand, Run, Mental Blast/Wand, Mental Blast/Wand, Dead. This leaves me with half my mana left, so I have no trouble if I stumble into an add.

[Puuma]

On a relaxing day, sim-dot-dot method.
On a fun day, charm one to attack one. simm dot dot another. Repeat until charm is low on health, then break charm and blast, kite the last mob standing. Loot and skin the trail of bodies.

[Tarishya]

Originally Posted by Puuma

On a relaxing day, sim-dot-dot method.
On a fun day, charm one to attack one. simm dot dot another. Repeat until charm is low on health, then break charm and blast, kite the last mob standing. Loot and skin the trail of bodies.

Hehe i do that from time to time too kind of fun

[elvigy]

Originally Posted by Puuma

On a relaxing day, sim-dot-dot method.
On a fun day, charm one to attack one. simm dot dot another. Repeat until charm is low on health, then break charm and blast, kite the last mob standing. Loot and skin the trail of bodies.

I do the same at level 19. Sim, dot dot dot, wait a sec. Sim is disbelieved, thought pulse, dead. I can mow through 2 dots at 2 or 3 levels above me VERY quickly using this method. Perfect for grinding. Adds get the time trick till I can deal with them.

I'm finding Enthrall just too unreliable to be efficient. Fun, yes, but it breaks early far too often for me to use it as an efficient killing process.

[cloudymind]

Originally Posted by Puuma

On a relaxing day, sim-dot-dot method.
On a fun day, charm one to attack one. simm dot dot another. Repeat until charm is low on health, then break charm and blast, kite the last mob standing. Loot and skin the trail of bodies.

If you release and kill an ex-pet when he has little hp left, you get very small percentage of exp from him

[Puuma]

Originally Posted by cloudymind

If you release and kill an ex-pet when he has little hp left, you get very small percentage of exp from him

More xp than I get if he dies and lots more than if he kills me. "100 pennies make a dollar."

Originally Posted by elvigy

"I'm finding Enthrall just too unreliable to be efficient. Fun, yes, but it breaks early far too often for me to use it as an efficient killing process."

You will get better as you practice. L22 Time stop will help a lot too. It gives you time and distance. (Or time to evac!) When you are doing stuff levels above you, it's not as reliable. Try to charm the lower level ones, you have better odds of it holding for a full fight.

[Gangster-Man]

Originally Posted by Tarishya

Hello,

I was wondering what is your solo routine, the one that makes the faster kills with the lowest downtime.

Personnally i charm a mob a round, send my pet on my target, put my 2 dots on it, a mind wipe or 2 to keep my pet with the aggro, and a DD or 2. If low on mana, i switch to TT on the next mob and regen to full, then doing the same routine. If Charm breaks, Time Trick it while keeping the other snare, recharm.

Repeat.

What's yours ?

Thanks

Rush, go hand to hand, and finish him off with roundhouse kicks. Same goes for lvl 50 6 dots.

[coercion]

Ideally you want a bunch of quests to do in that area, and a good supply of 2-dot and 3-dot mobs for the quest. Then, you want a 4-dot somewhere for charming.

Still working on a guide (might make it a video guide) on the exact details of charming. Needless to say, 95% of the skill of charming comes from dealing with the recharms properly. Once you get to the stage where the "Your charm is about to break" message just sends you through an instinctual routine without a second thought about it, you're well on your way.

Details aside, though, two perfect examples of good places to solo as a psionicist at mid-levels are River Valley and Southwatch. Get to RV at 29-30 and you'll be able to cruise through all the quests and come out a few gold richer and 2-3 levels higher. The key here is to use Behemoths as permanent pets; with one, you can complete every quest in the zone (and quickly). You might want to just start off charming 2-dots, or 3-dot trolls, if you haven't had much experience. Just spend a few hours doing it, and concentrate really hard on refining your strategy as much as you can. That's all there is to it really; by the time I've finished this guide I'm working on, you could have easily come up with a strategy that works just as well.

Just start charming 2-dots and pretend that 2 hits from it will kill you, and then just go about your hunting trying to get hit by your pet (and your target, of course) as little as possible. Once you're able to kill regularly with a 2-dot pet without being hit at all, you're ready to give 4-dots a try, where the extra resists will hopefully not make up for more than 2 hits on you at a time. Again, at first it'll be hard but you'll notice with each hour you play you're refining your strategy further and further, and you'll have a very clear order of spells to cast depending on the situation.

Once you're used to it you'll be able to farm the named mobs in between running the quests, which drop some very nice loot (the named lizzie that wanders around, and the named 4-dot troll, in particular).

Once you're done in RV move on to Southwatch. Once again you can run all these quests solo, although one or two of them it's better to just invis (such as having to go into the gnoll cave). Now, the key to this place is to charm the 4-dot treant hanging around just past the first blockade. There's only one in the whole zone, so don't do what I did and get it stuck inside a house in the village while going to repair, as you won't be able to get it unstuck until the next server up. This thing hits for more than a behemoth (500-600) but also has a large reach, making it a bit harder to recharm when everything goes wrong and its up close and personal (especially as it hits you for 600-700). Once you've got the hang of it though, take it with ya across the chunk and clean up, you'll be 34-35 by the time you're done and have a shiny new rare hat.

[injin]

At level 21 I usually hunt outside of Hilsbury Manor (N of VE in Thestra).

There are a lot of 3 dot MOBs in the Manor which eliminates downtime. It can be dangerous, but very rewarding. Since there is really nothing outside of the manor you can pull the MOBs outside and run without getting adds. Right inside the gate there are multiple groups of 3 that are perfect. Lets just label them A, B, and C. Start off by mezzing A (applies snare), when the other two begin running towards you begin walking backwards out of the manor. Then mez B (again applying the snare while also breaking A's mez). Finally use instant snare DoT on C. Now that all of them are snared begin applying DoTs to each until all have been stacked. Reapply snares as needed and keep your distance. I've found that a speed buff from a SHM is very helpful in pulling this off. I would not recommend using rage until 22 since once you're out of mana you're dead.

The hardest part is timing the snares, it only takes about 8 hits to die so you have to keep your distance. After some pratice it can get easier, but never has it been easy. The fight can last a while, but when all three drop in a 10 sec span you really get addicted to the XP bar jump.

[petelta]

I am currently writing a Psi Guide on Multi kiting. If only we had a ae snare lol.

Right now I kite 3, +3 lvl, 3 dots at once. Takes around 1-2 minutes and 15 seconds of rest. Lvl 30 right now. Been doing mobs on each continent so that I can find the best ones to solo. Only part that takes getting used to is keeping the snare dot on all 3. After that its easy as cake and great exp.

[elvigy]

Originally Posted by petelta

I am currently writing a Psi Guide on Multi kiting. If only we had a ae snare lol.

Right now I kite 3, +3 lvl, 3 dots at once. Takes around 1-2 minutes and 15 seconds of rest. Lvl 30 right now. Been doing mobs on each continent so that I can find the best ones to solo. Only part that takes getting used to is keeping the snare dot on all 3. After that its easy as cake and great exp.

See, this is where I have problems. I can't find places where I can kite like that without adds. I was in Ra'Hazi (sp?) Forest and doing OK when all of a sudden some Pyrepaw (also sp?) Lioness and Cubs show up and I'm heading for the beach full barrel and end up dead from a few swipes as I skirt too close to some Ra'Hazi Tigers. The respawn rates in this game seem all over the place to me. Some places are slow and it's safe to clear and kite, others seem to pop almost as fast as you kill them.

Basically, between respawns and just general tight packing of mobs, I have a hard time finding spots to kite easily.

Though I did find the 3 dot Gauthek Totemguards and Gauthek Worshippers pretty easy to kite. Plenty of room there to run around and that area gave me a pretty good feel for using Enthrall.

[petelta]

the adds keep the exp coming. Psi's are the masters of crowd control, take advantage of that. I get many adds a fight usually. When i have 3 under control and i get an add i snare run out of range and charm once they get close enough, have it attack one with lowest helath as it chases me and just keep the snare up. sometimes you have to run, but you always have mez, simulcrom, and charm to keep the extra adds at bay.

[Twoboxer]

Originally Posted by elvigy

See, this is where I have problems. I can't find places where I can kite like that without adds.

Hehe. Adds are the least of the problems in his +3 lvl 3-dot kiting "guide" lol.

I don't know about his version, but my Temporal Shift lasts 24 seconds with a recast of 6.8 seconds. In order to keep three mobs dotted and slowed, you have to cycle through each of them with a 3 second error factor/reaction time in total, otherwise you won't get back to the first mob in time.

Since he proposes dotting them, Time Trick (besides having a 2-second cast time) is of little value, though with care it can be useful to delay/snare one of the the 3 mobs when you find Temporal Shift isn't up when you need it.

Try it on the few clusters of non-aggro mobs that are available - like the turtles on the Strand. Make sure they are 3 levels BELOW you though lol. These you can walk backwards through, toss a snare and DoT when a new mob is in the right spot, use Acceleration when you add the third, run like hell when they break and tab just doesn't get you the right one, gather yourself and run back . . . then tally it all up and discover it isn't worth it, even if you can get it to work.

On 2-dot mobs.

OTOH, Coercion's guide on charming is quite useful. Although I haven't found a lot of benefit-vs-risk in specifically charming 4-dot mobs. If one is handy and appropriately levelled, fine. Otherwise, any (melee) mob within one dot of your quarry is more than adequate.

Tips I would add

- staying at max range at all times reduces your aggro generation, allows max re-charm time, and is such an obviously good idea it is often ignored.

- Time Trick and Telekinetic Blast will both return aggro to your pet in many cases, particularly if you move out of max range after casting them. This gives you time to re-group, stabilize adds, dart back into range to fire Mind Wipe, etc.

- Bringing your pet a distance from its spawn point has varying effects. Often the pet will head for its spawn point after breaking charm, then head to you. That can give you more time to find/recharm it. Of course, if you bring it far enough away, it won't bother you at all after breaking - it'll just run to its home. Which, at times, can be exactly what you want.

- If you keep your sight-line to your pet clear of other mobs, a simple TAB will get you your ex-pet as a target rather than Trash_Mob_99.

- Use a melee mob as a pet whenever possible, and when fighting casters either use Mem Wipe liberally or charm-kite staying way out of range except to refresh Compression Sphere and Psychic Schism (for Finishers). Nah, use Mem Wipe liberally lol.

[Tashim]

Essentially, psi have three options for fighting solo effectively.
Kite, Simulacrum, and Charm.
You can use these independently, or together.

The easiest, is plain kiting. Snare the mob, damage it, and move to avoid being hit.
It works pretty good. There are tricks you can use, like lev & runspeed, but in the end, the principle is still the same. Move fast, don't get hit.

The next easiest, is Simulacrum Tanking. This uses your illusionary pet to keep the mob occupied while you kill it. You can use this on its own, by mind wiping to lower your agro, and keep it lower than your Sim. If the fight will last longer than 1 cast of Sim, then you need your own agro reduced to below 0. Lowering your agro takes extra time, and energy. This method isn't terribly efficient, but it is very reliable, and takes very little room.

You can use both of those, by simply using the Simulacrum to hold the mob still while you snare and dot it up, using it merely as a delaying tactic to begin your kite.

The third option, enthrall, is the most difficult method to use, and the one that involves the most risk. With Kiting you risk a resist, with Simulacrum, you risk over-agro from a crit. Both of those are relatively easy to compensate for. Enthrall, however, will last a variable amount of time. As such, the key to using it, is to be prepared at all time; to have a plan for dealing with charm breaking. It should not catch you off guard. If it does, expect to die.

To use Charm by itself, requires you to keep your agro below your pet's, like with Simulacrum tanking. Only, when charm breaks, you use Time Stop to pause the fight, while you recharm, and send it back against your target.

If your agro is significantly higher than your pets, you may need to lower it, or kite. Unlike the Simulacrum, the charmed pet is perfectly content to chase the mob and try to attack it, rather than disappearing. Charming and kiting is pretty effective, using your pet for extra dps, it is very much like a normal kite, with the slight difference of having to manage charm breaks. To do this, maximum range is recommended, to give the most time for recharm.

Using Charm with Simulacrum, however, is an interesting little trick that I find effective with high dps pets. I'll start off with my charmed pet tanking, setting it against a mob, but instead of being far away, I stand right behind the mob I'm killing. I keep my own agro low, like I would with a Sim-pet, letting my pet do most of the work. I'll generally start in thought thief form, stealing energy and lowering my own agro, before switching to phrenic rage to nuke. When charm goes to break, I switch to Astral form, and make sure my agro is low. The instant charm breaks, I hit both mobs with a time-stop, recast enthrall on my pet, and Simulacrum on the mob. The Simulacrum can build agro while the mob is mezed. If the illusion is disbelieved, then I have messed up, and my agro is too high. I can either mez and lower my agro (which will cause the mob to regen), I can kite, or I can flee. Either way, there is no chance involved. Assuming that I did not mess up, I continue the fight, and I send my pet back against the mob, until my pet steals agro from the illusion, causing it to vanish. I can continue this process indefinitely. The only thing that will hurt me, is if the mob casts AE spells, in which case I need to make sure to keep Mutation Shield active to absorb it.

--
If you're looking for the most effective means to gain exp, then you want the method that does the most amount of damage in the least amount of time, and you'll probably want to go with kiting, or kiting with added pet dps. Tanking with a Simulacrum or a Charmed pet, is very effective for killing tough (4+dot) mobs where kiting is not an option, but every spell that you cast that does no damage (mind wipe, simulacrum, etc) slows you down.

[Twoboxer]

Nice outline.

Originally Posted by Tashim

Using Charm with Simulacrum, however, is an interesting little trick that I find effective with high dps pets. I'll start off with my charmed pet tanking, setting it against a mob, but instead of being far away, I stand right behind the mob I'm killing.

In this technique, what's the benefit you find in staying close to the mob you are killing? I've convinced myself lol that a stray comment from one of the Devs is correct: aggro generarion is a non-trivial formula that includes your distance from the mob. IOW, for any given action, furthest away = least aggro.

Originally Posted by Tashim

If you're looking for the most effective means to gain exp, then you want the method that does the most amount of damage in the least amount of time, and you'll probably want to go with kiting, or kiting with added pet dps. Tanking with a Simulacrum or a Charmed pet, is very effective for killing tough (eg, 4+dot and caster) mobs where kiting is not an option, but every spell that you cast that does no damage (mind wipe, simulacrum, etc) slows you down.

I think you have summed it up pretty well . . . hope you don't mind the minor addition lol.

[Tashim]

Originally Posted by Twoboxer

In this technique, what's the benefit you find in staying close to the mob you are killing?

I keep close, to be able to affect both with time stop on charm break. I can land an AE mez after charm breaks, before either have changed their offensive target.

As I indicated, its primarily a technique I use to kill mobs when kiting isn't viable. Either by mob density, ranged attack ability, mob speed/snare immunity, etc. Casters do fit into that category, as do mobs with ranged attack skill, or places where you don't have room to remain outside of melee range.

[Multiplex]

Originally Posted by Twoboxer

Hehe. Adds are the least of the problems in his +3 lvl 3-dot kiting "guide" lol.

I don't know about his version, but my Temporal Shift lasts 24 seconds with a recast of 6.8 seconds. In order to keep three mobs dotted and slowed, you have to cycle through each of them with a 3 second error factor/reaction time in total, otherwise you won't get back to the first mob in time.

Actually, if you're up for dealing with the hassle of kiting three mobs at once then mez snaring + two snared with temporal shift is easy money. I don't personally think that kiting 3, 3+ 3-dot mobs mobs at a time is all that efficient but it can certainly be done reliably.