Don't listen to these guys. Charm soloing works great all the way to 60, and it really isn't hard (EQ in general is more about spending 5000 hours in front of the computer than developing massive skill). And no, you don't have to be next to the zone.
Side note: Unlike most casters, Enchanters are somewhat gear dependent, so to really charm solo well you need 200 charisma (easily obtainable for me at level 40+ even as a Gnome with 75 base charisma with self buffs and Rod of Insidious Glamour, Siryn Hair Hood, Crude Stein, etc) and a Goblin Gazughi Ring if you aren't a Dark Elf (more annoying, but still not more than a few thousand plat IIRC). This lets you break charm without casting invisibility and waiting for the 2.5 second recast delay during which your ex pet is beating on you.
A few tips:
Know the locations of the mobs, especially the pathing ones. If you get jumped by mob #3, things can get ugly.
Always use Rune. If you are cheap, you can put Berserker in a spell slot above it.
Always root the target your pet is fighting. Especially at 49+, Paralyzing Earth lasts forever. This way the only time you are in serious danger is when root and charm break at the same time.
Always charm the caster mobs. This is critical because Wizards and Shamans can nuke you while rooted (bad). Fighting two casters at once is very dangerous and not recommended.
This goes double for summoning mobs - fighting two at once is a recipe for disaster. You can however kill one by charming it and having it fight weaker mobs. The key here is to stand right behind it, so that when charm breaks you are already in melee range. Otherwise it will summon you, and since it is facing mob #2, that places you right between the two.
Charm mobs near the dark blue floor. You will get fewer resists, longer charm durations, and shorter fights due to less mob HP. Especially at 40+ the HP increase is ridiculous; it's something like L40: 2500 HP, L45: 5000 HP, L50: 10000 HP. So charm has to last 4 times as long on a 50/50 fight vs a 40/40 fight.
Set up your UI correctly. Make a hotkey for color flux (I generally did stun/L4 mez since color flux has a casting time of 1.5 seconds compared to 2.5 for mez) with three /cast X lines, which will basically allow you to ignore fizzles. Add an audio trigger for 'Your X spell has worn off', and after a while hitting stun will just become a reflex as soon as charm breaks. With a little practice you should get very good at recharming.
Never use DoT spells (I usually prefer the L1 nuke due to the silly 'you must damage the mob for full XP' rule). If your pet is losing, the best strategy is to back it off at <5% health, mez thing 2, break charm, nuke the former pet, and go look for another pet to finish off thing 2 (memblur if you can't find anything).
The only time I really died was when I either was tired after a long session of grinding or when I took chances. But I still recommend a lot of grouping, and casting clarity on every cleric you see . . . .
|