Beam Kiting still valid?

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Wati
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Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Wati »

Ill grab lots of AAs before I hit 72, but then Id like to try some beam kiting.

Is it still valid, or is it nerfed, or was it never used by Mages?

Any suggestions on zones where you could try this out at lvl 72?

Even if this isnt really worth the time id like to try it out...
Beam Kiting
Very similar to Quad Kiting, Beam Kiting involves use of a specific wizard spell (e.g. Cone of Cold?) which fires a directional blast radiating in a cone shape from the caster and can hit an unlimited number of targets. This technique can be used on non-summoning NPCs to kill as many at a time as the caster can get chasing him.

This technique is considered by many to be an exploit of game mechanics similar to the now defunct Shakerpaging and a nerf/fix is expected at some point in the not-too-distant future.

With the launch of Secrets of Faydwer, many beam type spells now have a limit of 8 targets. While Beam kiting is still a viable technique, it's no longer at the same level that it was


Quad Kiting
Mostly the domain of Druids and Wizards, quad kiting involves killing four NPCs at roughly the same time. The goal is to gather up four NPCs and snare all of them, then run circles around them until they are basically on top of each other. The kiter then gets some distance and casts a targeted AE on one of the mobs, the AE will be hitting it's max number of mobs and therefore becomes a very efficient damage/mana cost way of kiting.
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Bastler
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Re: Beam Kiting ever valid?

Post by Bastler »

Hmm I only saw Wizards beamkite for xp never mages really. Its nice for farming though. 8-)
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Elentarri
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Elentarri »

i bea, kite the dragon army in FoS easy to do once u get the hang of it about 2 aa's every 30 mins for me
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Dadani
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Dadani »

Beam Kiting, was a lot of fun in OS. No chance of getting hurt really and was mainly for farming NBL's for my wife's shammy.

I have done it in Sunderock Springs with a lot of success doing basilisks. There are higher level ones in the zone that drop basilisk eggs I needed for my baking skill ups. Got decent AA exp when it was the hot zone. Nice to farm something and actually get some exp instead of backpacks of semi-worthless vendor trash. Was 81 at the time but not sure how it would pan out for exp now that it is not a hotzone and I am 85.
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Darkenr
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Darkenr »

Wati wrote:Ill grab lots of AAs before I hit 72, but then Id like to try some beam kiting.

Is it still valid, or is it nerfed, or was it never used by Mages?

Any suggestions on zones where you could try this out at lvl 72?

Even if this isnt really worth the time id like to try it out...
Beam Kiting
Very similar to Quad Kiting, Beam Kiting involves use of a specific wizard spell (e.g. Cone of Cold?) which fires a directional blast radiating in a cone shape from the caster and can hit an unlimited number of targets. This technique can be used on non-summoning NPCs to kill as many at a time as the caster can get chasing him.

This technique is considered by many to be an exploit of game mechanics similar to the now defunct Shakerpaging and a nerf/fix is expected at some point in the not-too-distant future.

With the launch of Secrets of Faydwer, many beam type spells now have a limit of 8 targets. While Beam kiting is still a viable technique, it's no longer at the same level that it was


Quad Kiting
Mostly the domain of Druids and Wizards, quad kiting involves killing four NPCs at roughly the same time. The goal is to gather up four NPCs and snare all of them, then run circles around them until they are basically on top of each other. The kiter then gets some distance and casts a targeted AE on one of the mobs, the AE will be hitting it's max number of mobs and therefore becomes a very efficient damage/mana cost way of kiting.
Our beam though is a bit different than the wizard beam. Our beam is from what I can tell made to work more closely with our pet tanking instead of kiting. Reason I say that is that the wizard beam spell is an instant cast when ours is 3 seconds.

Differences:

Wizard Beam
1338 Mana cost
Instant Cast + 12 second recast
2376dmg at rk1
-50 Fire resist check
Limited to 8 targets
Has a chance to blind the caster

Mage Beam
589 Mana cost
3 second cast with only global recast delay (1.5seconds)
1056 Damage
-10 Fire resist check
Unlimited targets
No chance of causing any ill effect on the caster

When you compare the two it seems that the mage beam has the upper hand, but when you think about when it should be put into kiting play that's where the main difference is.

Wizards as long as they can find mobs that run at regular run speed don't even necessarily need to snare mobs, so they can go pull 8 mobs, and every so often turn around and hit an instant spell, keep running, and rinse/repeat. As long as the wizard is careful, and understands his surroundings, the blind doesn't really affect them very much.

Mages don't have any kind of snare, so when a mage tries to do the same thing, we can pull even more than 8 mobs, but good luck trying to cast the beam on them without interrupting your spell. The risk is higher because you need to actually stop and cast a spell instead of casting it on the run like a wizard. Until you get really good at gauging how far to run, and then stopping completely before starting the cast of the spell you'll probably end up going squish a few times in the trial phase.

That all being said. Yes beam kiting does work for a mage... but the question to ask yourself is, is it worth all of the hassle? Not really personally. It's extremely risky, and with how powerful our pets are, there are plenty of places you can go at every level range to get some decent experience just pet tanking (Splitpaw for your level).

Beaming is great for pharming though that was already mentioned earlier.
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Elentarri
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Elentarri »

"Wizards as long as they can find mobs that run at regular run speed don't even necessarily need to snare mobs, so they can go pull 8 mobs, and every so often turn around and hit an instant spell, keep running, and rinse/repeat. As long as the wizard is careful, and understands his surroundings, the blind doesn't really affect them very much.

Mages don't have any kind of snare, so when a mage tries to do the same thing, we can pull even more than 8 mobs, but good luck trying to cast the beam on them without interrupting your spell. The risk is higher because you need to actually stop and cast a spell instead of casting it on the run like a wizard. Until you get really good at gauging how far to run, and then stopping completely before starting the cast of the spell you'll probably end up going squish a few times in the trial phase.

That all being said. Yes beam kiting does work for a mage... but the question to ask yourself is, is it worth all of the hassle? Not really personally. It's extremely risky, and with how powerful our pets are, there are plenty of places you can go at every level range to get some decent experience just pet tanking "

Like i said i kite the entire dragon army in FoS is very easy to do as once i have them all rounded up they run slow enough/lag that i can stop at the top of each oval i run around in and cast 2 beams i dont use pet at all except for the mana regen we get from our pets, Takes me about 30 mins or more to get em all dead not to mention when i havee a few that resist the beam but at the ends can get like 4 or more aa's all at once and i have made 20k each time i do as i loot all the sellable stuff. this can also be done in Vald in the pit or in icefall tho that is not the best place also our beam does have a range on it so u have to practice on how close u can let the mobs get close to you b4 u cast it
to me it is definitle worth the hassle i do it the same way wizzys do and rinse/repeat only time i die is if i misjudge how close they are to me and my beam has never been interupted thank you very much this is one very good side of mages that very few know how to do i myself am only one of several mages on my server that do it at all
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Elentarri
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Elentarri »

and if they havent nerfed this by now when will they? i knew about this technique long before they nerfed the wizzy beams
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Darkenr
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Darkenr »

Elentarri I understand that this works well for you and all, but there are still easier ways to gain AAs in a half hour, and faster ways really is all I was trying to say. 4 AAs every half hour isn't the maximum potential if you're going for pure exp. Although I do see the benefit to beam kiting the armies in FoS so I do stand corrected in that respect, and that it actually sounds worth while to do. Although I also see you're a bit better geared than a good chunk of mages out there as well which also makes this harder to do for those that may not be in as good of gear.

Thanks for the advice on it though, I'm going to give this a try. Would you be willing to tell us which sets of armies you do this with? Because I know some mobs are casters, and those don't line up very well for beam kiting unfortunately. :(
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Gadjett
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Gadjett »

i beam kite the bears in icefalls all the time... usually I run to the river near zone in and grab all the bears and them just beam kite around 13 bears at a time.. fast respawn on them too
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Elentarri
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Re: Beam Kiting still valid?

Post by Elentarri »

i only touch the dragons and i tend to be safe and only pull the ones around Trak as if i try to pull all of them well i have bad luck and end up dying lol i wouldnt touch the iksar army as they run WAY TOO fast for they own good and yes i know theres easier places to exp for instanced if im really realy bored i load up my hubbys toons and grab the task in tosk "hiding in plain sight" get about an aa per run and takes me 10 mins to clear all the boars and the rallosians closest to the center and as to me being well geared to do the beam kiting the mage that first introduced me to this particualr spot in FoS he has only 20k mana about 10 k less then me i think and hes able to do it
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