Enchanter Leveling

[Raved]

So I’m a level 52 enchanter and I’ve been trying to level to 60. Does anyone have any tips to help make it faster? Should I just duo or stay solo? I’ve been leveling in Howling Stones. Should I stay here till 60? Or are there other zones that would be better?

[Baylan295]

So I’m a level 52 enchanter and I’ve been trying to level to 60. Does anyone have any tips to help make it faster? Should I just duo or stay solo? I’ve been leveling in Howling Stones. Should I stay here till 60? Or are there other zones that would be better?

You are still a touch low for HS, though entrance is probably doable. At 52/53 I was spending most of my time in The Hole, KC, or the upper levels of CoM depending on what kind of experience I wanted. I moved to HS full time at 54 and have pretty much stayed there til now (59). It’s an amazing zone and once you learn how to deal with the things that will insta-gib you, it’s a lot of fun. Plus ToT on like 3/4 of the mobs in there means that mana is rarely the factor limiting you from leveling. I plan to stay in HS into 60 - in part because I am close and I now know North and West so well that it would cost me more time to learn another zone as well as I now know HS.

[Raved]

So you recommend I stay at The Hole till 54? I was there for a little bit camping the ent. When I moved further in I kept getting ganked by the pathing rock golem.

[Baylan295]

So you recommend I stay at The Hole till 54? I was there for a little bit camping the ent. When I moved further in I kept getting ganked by the pathing rock golem.

I think Hole ent is viable, or form a PUG with some friends and go deeper. I was able to do some KC Hands in that area, but was not a huge fan of the feel of KC. Finally, I spent some time on the 2nd floor (mostly solo) or 3rd floor (always duo) of CoM. All are solid options in the early 50s.

[Raved]

I really don’t like groups. Xp just seems a lot slower. You always have to depend on the group for everything to go smoothly. People go afk, xp slows down. People are higher level then you, you get lower xp. Puller slacks off, slow xp. I like not having to worry about others, and to be able to afk if I need to. I would duo only if it’s another enchanter or a cleric.

[Baylan295]

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146423

[Triiz]

This might not be applicable anymore, some people have said the massive ZEM has been nerfed for Kedge, I haven't tried it personally. When I was leveling around 52 a while ago the Mermaids were awesome xp and they pretty frequently dropped 100pp+ vendor gems. They are always rangers so you can Theft of Thought/Wandering Mind all of em.

I mostly did the two rooms with 3 spawn + 1 roamer and 2 spawn and the 2 that pop above Estrella's room. Side benefit is you're right under the "safe room" where you can afk for hours if needed. They were never camped, not once in multiple levels did I have to wait on someone. The one annoyance was the 10hp AOE fish when you sit to med, but you can Mez blur them easily.

HS Entrance doesn't really give you the full HS Enchanter leveling experience since only the roamers even have a chance to spawn as mobs that can be ToT'd. I love HS, but I was never a fan of xping at Entrance.

Kedge(if not nerfed into the ground) to 54/55-->North to 57/58-->West to 60

[Raved]

This might not be applicable anymore, some people have said the massive ZEM has been nerfed for Kedge, I haven't tried it personally. When I was leveling around 52 a while ago the Mermaids were awesome xp and they pretty frequently dropped 100pp+ vendor gems. They are always rangers so you can Theft of Thought/Wandering Mind all of em.

I mostly did the two rooms with 3 spawn + 1 roamer and 2 spawn and the 2 that pop above Estrella's room. Side benefit is you're right under the "safe room" where you can afk for hours if needed. They were never camped, not once in multiple levels did I have to wait on someone. The one annoyance was the 10hp AOE fish when you sit to med, but you can Mez blur them easily.

HS Entrance doesn't really give you the full HS Enchanter leveling experience since only the roamers even have a chance to spawn as mobs that can be ToT'd. I love HS, but I was never a fan of xping at Entrance.

Kedge(if not nerfed into the ground) to 54/55-->North to 57/58-->West to 60

Awesome thanks for the info. I always wanted to try kedge I heard the xp was crazy but I was always nervous about the water and pathing

[Swish2]

Pathing is a little screwy, not sure its been fixed since the days of Hathaway messing with mobs to do Phinny solo but its worth a go - just be careful :p

[Raved]

Pathing is a little screwy, not sure its been fixed since the days of Hathaway messing with mobs to do Phinny solo but its worth a go - just be careful :p

I’ve watched some of his things. Was he really able to kill phinny?

[wagorf]

solo in HHK until 55 , or duo/trio CoM 2nd and 3rd floor until 56 57

[snyder43]

As much as a I used to love Kedge, the exp was nerfed last July. I don't think the exp there is terrible, but it's not what it once was.

Good luck with the mermaids! Just make sure to back yourself into a corner to prevent interrupts while casting.

[Tecmos Deception]

duo/trio CoM 2nd and 3rd floor until 56 57

I can't imagine leveling a chanter somewhere without casters to constantly be ToTing.

/shudder


I'm obviously biased in favor of HS, but I've started entrance there at between 50-52 (50 is fine, 52 is just about trivial). Basement is a bit trickier cause you can get pather adds and there are wizards, but it's not bad at 52. 54+ you can go pretty buck wild in north. Even when you die, just leave something on your corpse and keep at the xp. It's pretty rare to spend 3 hours online in HS without a cleric being at entrance and able to rez you. Between relative ease finding rezzes, absolutely insane mana regen with ToT (and possibly WM too), mobs killing each other quickly because of the up-front HT... HS solo XP is awesome.

Watch my videos for leveling (and at-60) work in HS, if you have a mind to:

entrance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mvvgeBeqhQ&t
basement - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vt9pUlviuc
north XP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXRO-BpaUxI
north XP further in - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhIOuKvNCec&t
north boss - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vi9CcrefAU&t

[Baylan295]

I can't imagine leveling a chanter somewhere without casters to constantly be ToTing

This. ToT is probably the second most game breaking spell enchanters get (after charm). It completely changes the viability of soloing in different places and the amount of downtime you have.

[Raved]

Tecmos you’re the reason I started playing an enchanter. I’ve already seen all your videos a couple of times. I was just wondering if there was more spots. Once I hit 54 I’ll be heading back to Howling stones. I’m about 30% away

[Quinas]

I started at 53 and wouldn't have wanted to start there much earlier. Now I'm halfway through 57 and have basically never left.

[ZiggyTheMuss]

You are still a touch low for HS, though entrance is probably doable. At 52/53 I was spending most of my time in The Hole, KC, or the upper levels of CoM depending on what kind of experience I wanted. I moved to HS full time at 54 and have pretty much stayed there til now (59). It’s an amazing zone and once you learn how to deal with the things that will insta-gib you, it’s a lot of fun. Plus ToT on like 3/4 of the mobs in there means that mana is rarely the factor limiting you from leveling. I plan to stay in HS into 60 - in part because I am close and I now know North and West so well that it would cost me more time to learn another zone as well as I now know HS.

If you play chanter well, 52 is definitely not too low for basement and north, especially if you duo with a cleric. If you feel confident, go for it OP, exp is great there at that level!

[Raved]

Yeah I’m just about 54 I’ll hit it tomorrow night. I’ll head back to HS then

[Quinas]

If you play chanter well, 52 is definitely not too low for basement and north, especially if you duo with a cleric. If you feel confident, go for it OP, exp is great there at that level!

Duo yes, but I would argue it's not worth trying to do Basement and North solo at 52. You can kill mobs there, and you might get a bit more exp per kill, but the downtime you're likely to get from CR or regular health/mana recovery might mean entrance is more efficient. Your ability to recover from a resist or charm break increases significantly as you level. Because shit will happen.

[Baylan295]

If you play chanter well, 52 is definitely not too low for basement and north, especially if you duo with a cleric. If you feel confident, go for it OP, exp is great there at that level!

I am assuming this person is unfamiliar with HS. I still get gibbed when I make mistakes. The margin for error at 52 is pretty small. Entrance is doable, but basement or north for the inexperienced seems unnecessarily risky for those that don’t understand the mechanics.

[Aaeriele]

This. ToT is probably the second most game breaking spell enchanters get (after charm). It completely changes the viability of soloing in different places and the amount of downtime you have.

oh my gosh yes, it's literally night and day

[ZiggyTheMuss]

I am assuming this person is unfamiliar with HS. I still get gibbed when I make mistakes. The margin for error at 52 is pretty small. Entrance is doable, but basement or north for the inexperienced seems unnecessarily risky for those that don’t understand the mechanics.

I am assuming you are worse than the average chanter if you think north is out of reach for a 52 solo chanter. I consider myself about average and handled it just fine at 52 aside from the usual unavoidable instances where the RNG screws you. That can happen at any level.

Edit: word

[mefdinkins]

I am assuming you are worse than the average chanter if you think north is out of reach for a 52 solo chanter. I consider myself about average and handled it just fine at 52 aside from the usual unavoidable instances where the RNG screws you. That can happen at any level.

I think it just depends on an individual's tolerance for risk. I solo'ed an ench from 1-52 (he's still 52 now). The difficulty/risk level increased exponentially from doing outdoor jboots solo'ing at 49 (nearly 0% risk of dying) to indoor dangerous zone leveling 52+ (one resist or interrupt can possibly lead to death).

I played this game for a long time and love charm killing on my druid, however, it was a big change to me from being able to have regen+self heal, utilize 0 mana free damage dots, and then going to a frail Enchanter who can easily get hit to 50% health in one round from a charmed pet.

All that being said, Enchanters are still pretty beast and if played well and geared appropriately you can seriously limit risk of death. I would say work your way up and progress to more complicated stuff once you become comfortable. With Velious out you could solo outdoor dungeons from 52-60 but I think it's best to learn by doing and eating a couple deaths on the way, so I would recommend taking a shot at some of the indoor stuff and seeing what works for you.

[Izmael]

North at 52 is not out of reach but probably not worth the stress / risk.

At 54 with C2 it becomes fun and rewarding.

[Baylan295]

I am assuming you are worse than the average chanter if you think north is out of reach for a 52 solo chanter. I consider myself about average and handled it just fine at 52 aside from the usual unavoidable instances where the RNG screws you. That can happen at any level.

Edit: word

Call me a shitty enchanter all you want, the argument you’re making is goofy. There is easier XP available at 52 that will be less stressful and less hard on the enchanter. RNG screw ups happen, and they happen more when you are dealing with mobs that are only 6-7 levels below your level compared to 8-9.

Why work so hard? One of those easier places is the entrance of HS. Just because it’s doable doesn’t mean it’s smart, or efficient. Part of being an enchanter is working smarter, not harder. This also doesn’t apply to people that know the zone or are gifted players, because the RNG variance will also be smaller for them.

[Seiter02]

RNG screw ups happen, and they happen more when you are dealing with mobs that are only 6-7 levels below your level compared to 8-9

Baylan is correct on this point; level is by far the most important variable to success when xping in this way.

The optimal enchanter charm soloing range for xp/hr when deaths are factored in is +2-3 levels above the high-green/low-blue con range for your level.

[Quinas]

Why work so hard? One of those easier places is the entrance of HS. Just because it’s doable doesn’t mean it’s smart, or efficient. Part of being an enchanter is working smarter, not harder. This also doesn’t apply to people that know the zone or are gifted players, because the RNG variance will also be smaller for them.

This. And it was a pretty dickish comment in a fairly constructive discussion lol.

[enjchanter]

Call me a shitty enchanter all you want, the argument you’re making is goofy. There is easier XP available at 52 that will be less stressful and less hard on the enchanter. RNG screw ups happen, and they happen more when you are dealing with mobs that are only 6-7 levels below your level compared to 8-9.

Why work so hard? One of those easier places is the entrance of HS. Just because it’s doable doesn’t mean it’s smart, or efficient. Part of being an enchanter is working smarter, not harder. This also doesn’t apply to people that know the zone or are gifted players, because the RNG variance will also be smaller for them.

Baylan I had an RNG nightmare in south last night, fluid was sitting up at like 520am my time and I waited for repop and I
Got a spectre and I tab over to skip a shitty song on spotify and I get hard raped

#mycorpseisstillthere

[Baylan295]

Baylan I had an RNG nightmare in south last night, fluid was sitting up at like 520am my time and I waited for repop and I tab over to skip a shitty song on spotify and I get hard raped

#mycorpseisstillthere

Well if he’s still up I want the fingerbone hoop (of your dreams).

[enjchanter]

Well if he’s still up I want the fingerbone hoop (of your dreams).


Nah lol I killed fluid easy but I was gunna log after spectre so I got lazy and allowed myself to die to a classic Tab Out Charm Break (TOCB)

[Baylan295]

Nah lol I killed fluid easy but I was gunna log after spectre so I got lazy and allowed myself to die to a classic Tab Out Charm Break (TOCB)

Charm breaks are the worst and the only reason I don’t want to play a necro or Druid. My next toon will not require me to pay so much damn attention always.

[Xaeophi]

52-60 .. I want to say i spent most of that time... If not killing guards in various cities to make money while still making better exp then most There was two zones that stuck out.
KC Soloing (Entrance, Captain house) then eventually moving to Seb for NG Duoing with a cleric. If you do just this it will be the easiest ride to 60. If you can handle seb then it will also be a profitable experience as well.

I would personally leave KC at 54-55. The zones still good at that level but Seb just seemed more relaxing. You didn't have to worry about that monk in the hand room or paw buster room running around lcy/rcy stealing your mobs :D

[Swish2]

KC is definitely forgettable after you hit 54. Way too slow grinding 54 out in there.

Better as mentioned to either hit Sebilis or if you know a small crew, hit Howling Stones <3

[Aaeriele]

Charm breaks are the worst and the only reason I don’t want to play a necro or Druid. My next toon will not require me to pay so much damn attention always.

You mean you don't like taking 96 second bathroom breaks? :)

(I feel you here though. Playing my monk alt feels so liberating... "you mean I can just FD and go afk nearly anywhere, any time??")

[enjchanter]

You mean you don't like taking 96 second bathroom breaks? :)

(I feel you here though. Playing my monk alt feels so liberating... "you mean I can just FD and go afk nearly anywhere, any time??")

Love my necro for this

I also finally made an alt that doesn't require focus and constant attention (rogue) and it is so relaxing to play
Enchanter can be extremely exhausting especially when soloing. So many buffs to maintain and constant spells swaps and then to increase immersion you have the impending doom that is a charm pet hanging over your shoulder

[deniedius]

I'm constantly stressed out with my enchanter

[Baylan295]

You mean you don't like taking 96 second bathroom breaks? :)

(I feel you here though. Playing my monk alt feels so liberating... "you mean I can just FD and go afk nearly anywhere, any time??")

96 seconds? Charm can break and I can die in way less time than that...

[Aaeriele]

96 seconds? Charm can break and I can die in way less time than that...

96 seconds = intentionally break pet and Dazzle it, recharm when you get back from the break (before Dazzle's 96 second duration expires).

[Triiz]

Fuck Dazzle, Calm gives ya 3 minutes

[Aaeriele]

Fuck Dazzle, Calm gives ya 3 minutes

Assuming your pet came from where you're fighting...

[Tecmos Deception]

Fuck Dazzle, Calm gives ya 3 minutes

Everyone knows you can calm a pet while it is still charmed right?

I played years on p99 before I knew that.

[Bristlebaner]

I found CoM 2nd floor to be faster XP than HS at 50-54. It drags at 55 though, at which point I did HS until 60.

[Quinas]

Everyone knows you can calm a pet while it is still charmed right?

I played years on p99 before I knew that.

mindblown

[Triiz]

Everyone knows you can calm a pet while it is still charmed right?

I played years on p99 before I knew that.

I assume most higher level Enchanter's know. I always figured this works because Calm is treated similar to a buff, as in you can cast it on yourself then click it off.

[wagorf]

when other chanters die, it's cuz they are "not skilled" or "below average chanters"

when they die its cuz of "RNG" or "im lazy" or "accident"

such a great logic u delusional noob

[snyder43]

Everyone knows you can calm a pet while it is still charmed right?

I played years on p99 before I knew that.

This is awesome! Thanks, Tecmos :)

I didn't know this as a level 59 enchanter... I always figured that it would just get resisted like other debuffs on pets.

[Bummey]

96 seconds = intentionally break pet and Dazzle it, recharm when you get back from the break (before Dazzle's 96 second duration expires).

Fuck Dazzle, Calm gives ya 3 minutes

Everyone knows you can calm a pet while it is still charmed right?

I played years on p99 before I knew that.

Can you be a little more specific about this? I get breaking the charm and mezzing the pet for a quick pee pee break, or whatever, but what would Calm do in this context and how exactly would you use it? I have a little experience charming on druid/necro and absolutely zero as an enchanter.

[Baylan295]

Can you be a little more specific about this? I get breaking the charm and mezzing the pet for a quick pee pee break, or whatever, but what would Calm (or any lull with a Pacify effect, I presume?) do in this context and how exactly would you use it? I have a little experience charming on a druid and necro and absolutely zero as an enchanter.

Calming a pet, breaking charm, and then blurring it will cause it to path back to its original location. Given the agro radius on calmed mobs is essentially 0 (I mean, I’ve been ON TOP of some mobs without agroing), it effectively gives you 3 minutes of safety after the blur. Because you can calm your pet before breaking it, this allows you to just blur it without having to worry about hard CC to then calm. My order of operations is usually: calm, break, mez, blur, if i want it to go home. Fetter and then blur if I want it to stay close.

That being said, at high levels a pop kills you so fast if you’re AFK that I won’t AFK for more than a few seconds unless I know I’m in a safe spot, even without a pet.

[Aaeriele]

Calming a pet, breaking charm, and then blurring it will cause it to path back to its original location. Given the agro radius on calmed mobs is essentially 0 (I mean, I’ve been ON TOP of some mobs without agroing), it effectively gives you 3 minutes of safety after the blur. Because you can calm your pet before breaking it, this allows you to just blur it without having to worry about hard CC to then calm. My order of operations is usually: calm, break, mez, blur, if i want it to go home. Fetter and then blur if I want it to stay close.

That being said, at high levels a pop kills you so fast if you’re AFK that I won’t AFK for more than a few seconds unless I know I’m in a safe spot, even without a pet.

When leveling I generally have GINA set up to keep track of the pop timers for every mob in my rotation, which is helpful for determining when things are likely to pop on top of you (or not).

[Bummey]

Calming a pet, breaking charm, and then blurring it will cause it to path back to its original location. Given the agro radius on calmed mobs is essentially 0 (I mean, I’ve been ON TOP of some mobs without agroing), it effectively gives you 3 minutes of safety after the blur. Because you can calm your pet before breaking it, this allows you to just blur it without having to worry about hard CC to then calm. My order of operations is usually: calm, break, mez, blur, if i want it to go home. Fetter and then blur if I want it to stay close.

That being said, at high levels a pop kills you so fast if you’re AFK that I won’t AFK for more than a few seconds unless I know I’m in a safe spot, even without a pet.

That makes more sense. Thanks.

When leveling I generally have GINA set up to keep track of the pop timers for every mob in my rotation, which is helpful for determining when things are likely to pop on top of you (or not).

I do this too. I've found that I need to make sure I'm standing almost on top of the mob as it dies or the log/GINA won't pick up the kill message.

[Baylan295]

When leveling I generally have GINA set up to keep track of the pop timers for every mob in my rotation, which is helpful for determining when things are likely to pop on top of you (or not).

Gina does not place nice with my computer, so I have to rely on memory and little tricks (like making sure I kill the spawns at the top of the ramp in HS first in my cycle and giving myself a minute before moving on, so that I can easily look and check to see if more pops are coming by looking up the ramp).

[Aaeriele]

I do this too. I've found that I need to make sure I'm standing almost on top of the mob as it dies or the log/GINA won't pick up the kill message.

There's an easier way - make the repop timer trigger on experience gain messages. Obviously it only works for higher level areas, but that's where you tend to need all-mob repop timers.