I think it's mostly a question of level. If you're trying to CC yellows or reds then AOE Mezz will get you killed because of resists and multiple aggro at once.
If you're CCing blues then it's a convenience that saves your healers mana and gets things rapidly under control.
For non-crisis CC I would say AOE Mez is just one option out of many. It's a good option but there are alternatives.
However, AOE Mezz is unique in having the ability to stop crisis trains. When someone is about to die, or when many people are about to die, AE mez can be like pushing the pause button. In a crisis, the time it would take to use a different CC option can result in deaths. Those times should be fairly rare. But when those times happen, AE Mez is unique in it's train stopping ability.
I think AE Mez causes controversy because having it sit there on your bar really does feel like a waste. It's just so rarely uniquely needed. But then every other week you have that one situation where it's a lifesaver, possibly a group wipe preventer.
When your group accidentally pulls a few blues with one or two reds in the mix, there is a great temptation to AE Mez. These situations call for restraint. It's more effective to single target mez because the AE mez can so easily lead to multiple aggro, which according to enchanter reflexes will cause you to try to stun, which will then lead to more more resists and more aggro. Then you die even if your cleric is full mana.
AE Mez when there are reds or yellows around is suicidal. So what I do is con everything before AE mezzing. If there are reds I single target mez them.
|