Time to full mana is the difference. Cann2 is a little more efficient, but Cann4 is much better for slamming out a bar as quickly as possible. Also, efficiency becomes less useful when you have more regen than the hp you're eating or when someone else is healing you.

Cann2 returns 36 mana at level 60, with a 1.25 second cast time and 2.25 second recast. With a max of 2000 mana (for math's sake), it takes 56 casts to go from 0 to full. 56 casts takes 196 seconds.

Cann4 returns 82 mana at level 60, with a 2.5 second cast time and 3 second recast. With the same mana pool, it takes 25 casts to get from 0 to full. 25 casts takes 137.5 seconds.

That makes sense described that way, thanks for taking the time to type that out

There is a second tick on p99 that really messes with canni of any kind. I was told it was done originally to stop people exploiting an aggro issue, but it is set slightly off of 6 seconds so it cycles its position throughout the original 6 second tick.

If you cast Canni thinking the fake tick is the real one, you wind up standing at the moment you would have gotten your normal sitting hp/mana amount. You basically have to open your inventory and watch your mana move up the proper amount. It really, really, really sucks, but once you get used to it, it becomes more managable.
Later on you can just watch your hp and know when to cast, you'll see it jump up 2-4% then down as the fake tick disperses.

I have a 54 shaman on Blue and a 60 shaman on Red, I've hated the problem but you just learn to live with it.

i would suggest using a ui that shows your inventory mana as the default.

FYI, this is way off for Cannibalize II, at least. At 59, it returns 32 mana while Cannibalize III returns 47.

Super twinked druid was telling me canni is better than a manastone. I've never super twinked before in EQ so I've taken his word for it since.

This. If you used the time you save by using cann4 over cann2 to just regen HP(to make up for the poorer ratio) you probably come out ahead just doing that.

As Kiwaukee described, Shamans (particularly at 60 with Torpor) often find that their major limiting factor is time rather than hit points. It's a very busy class. The higher ranks of Canni might be somewhat less efficient on a per-hit point basis but allow the user to convert significantly more hit points per unit of time, hence gaining mana more rapidly overall.

Note that Canni4 is a Velious spell and hence isn't currently available.

Danth

efficiency < > utility

(at least not in all circumstances.)

bunko