Arcane Distillect

[nako]

Mana Regen (assuming all rk2's, activated stuff is recast immediately after cooldown, and have access to best group stuff, ~200 hINT):

100 - or so for Mounted regen (max aa)
88 - NEC Group tap (doesn't stack with symbiosis or cognizance)
58 - BRD Cantata
50 - BRD Aura of Rodcet (wouldn't be using this if going garg heavy, but just for the sake of argument)
49 - ENC VoP
45 - ENC 2nd Spire (max)
27 - KoTP5
26 - SK AA bite
25 - SK Laarthik's Bite
24 - BST crack
21 - MAG Emp Guard
18 - MAG Symbiosis
13 - SK Ancient Bite of Muram (yeah this is raid, but easily attainable by a group)
2/5 - Shield of Auras or LoN familiar (icy gelidren) -- doesn't stack with enc spire.

Alternatives:

24 - Bottled ENC crack
14 - Bottled BST crack

Variables & Beastlord stuff I don't know much about:

~200 - BST FPoS (max)
~150 - BRD Grubers (if bard is pulling more like 75 due to range issues, or less if bard is low AA and can't chain it due to mana issues).
~100 - BST PoS (max)
~100 - Brell's Shawl (probably worth slightly more than a symp alleviation aug?)
~100 - per symp Mana aug (conservative: assuming 4ppm at ~250 mana/proc... but then again you wouldn't be casting all that much, about right)
~50 - MAG Thaumatize (avg)
~30 - 15% Spec Conj aug (raid but easily soloable, assuming spec'd conj, 5 RmS casts per min, ~60 mana saved per cast)
~25 - MAG Modrod
~20 - ENC Group T9 robe clicky (doesn't stack with NEC tap or symbiosis)
~8 - 200 hINT
~6 - ENC Group T5 robe clicky (doesn't stack with NEC tap or symbiosis)

Grubers, NEC/SK taps, BST paragon, ENC spire/robes, etc will be all over the board. It really depends on:
A. Who needs the mana most?
B. Does anyone actually need the mana?
C. How much are they slacking.
D. Do they like you?

Trends:

As you can see, the $$$ stuff is mostly activated, having two of the 'mana-battery' classes present is pretty much a prerequisite to chaining gargs. A bard worth his salt doing grubers, a necro group tapping, or a beast FPoS'ing you, will go a long way towards making this a reality.

Unknowns:

?? - Clairvoyance (shot in the dark really, 400 clair or so for max group gear? 5% chance of going off I think, maybe worth a couple FT)
?? - Befuddler's Aura (don't know, don't really care, probably about 20 or so)

Summary:

So with just bard in group ~400-800 mana / tick (depending on outside buffs, augs or lack thereof) assuming bard is hitting Grubers every 45 sec and you're hitting Thaumatize every 2 min. Let's say RmS Rk2 averages 2k per cast after spec/pres/etc, and with aa's it refreshes every 12 sec or so. You'd need to regen approx 1k/tick to be able to chain them forever. With any combination of nec/sk/enc also in group this becomes theoretically feasible. It's even more possible if you get a tick or two of OOC every few min. Take GoM's into consideration and you can start tossing around nukes also.

[EDIT]: RmS2 = 3071 mana, 23% fixed mana pres (10% from SCM3, 13% from 260 Primary Specialization Conjuration) and average 8% foci (1-17% from group shoulders) means gargs will cost you about 2100 average, so ballpark wasn't that far off. I could be calculating that wrong though, I'm not entirely sure how the mana pres stuff works out.

Randomness:

I grouped a lot with sk/enc/clr team (until he retired), occasionally bringing my bard along too, and it's pretty insane what you can do with a crapton o' FT. I was group geared until dec of 2009 (we merged with a raiding guild and he quit) for what it's worth. During SoD era the 2 of us would do lessons at Murdunk's whenever a guildy was working progression (sk/enc/clr/mag/brd + whomever needed it), and we would kill everything and never drop below 80-90% mana.

Back on topic:

I don't use UF aura unless I'm in a make or break burn situation. The dps I lose from occasionally being OOR generally negates it's higher damage mod.

[Edit] Lots o' stuff, cleaning the mess. Got bored and started listing everything I could think of, probably forgetting things too. Did I mention I was OCD?

- erojiji/saryrn

[svenalo]

You musta been bored to go look all that up hehe... Thanks for helping make my point.

[Voragath]

First, I'd like to say there is some really good info here and wow, Nako lol Good stuff though.

As to AD helping out other pet classes: only the necro. The beastlords get a pet buff similar to ours with the exact same dmg modifier as ours while the necros, according to alla, have a level 77 spell that was never upgraded and does dmg increases of 9/10/11 (for rk 1/2/3).

It'll help out there swarms though.

So it looks like the answer is that it's not a must have in most situations during group but it is handy. That makes it more subject to group makeup and personal decisions as to how much you value the spell. Though my question is answered, for me, I would like to see further discussion. Even though there isn't much left to do after Nako's breakdown (double meaning intended )

[Merlaina]

Don't forget enchanter pets. Gimpy McStabstab isn't a huge help, but it's certainly a large boost for charmed pets. Chanter haste doesn't add a damage mod, just an increase to crit chance and damage, so an extra 15% on charmed pets it huge.

[Voragath]

Don't forget enchanter pets. Gimpy McStabstab isn't a huge help, but it's certainly a large boost for charmed pets. Chanter haste doesn't add a damage mod, just an increase to crit chance and damage, so an extra 15% on charmed pets it huge.

Now I'm gonna stir up trouble

Their 3k dps buzzsaws don't need help from our AD!!

/pet envy off

[Merlaina]

Now I'm gonna stir up trouble

Their 3k dps buzzsaws don't need help from our AD!!

/pet envy off

As someone who boxes a chanter with their mage, let me say that charming on a chanter is like being a heroine addict. It feels soooo good, but every time you do it it may easily be your last time. Usually I just use gimpy because charming with the chanter makes me terrified of switching over to the mage, lest charm break and things go terribly, terribly wrong.

Also, off topic, hasting RS pets = win.

[Voragath]

Also, off topic, hasting RS pets = win.

LMAO

[Tweelis]

Now I'm gonna stir up trouble

Their 3k dps buzzsaws don't need help from our AD!!

/pet envy off

As someone who boxes a chanter with their mage, let me say that charming on a chanter is like being a heroine addict. It feels soooo good, but every time you do it it may easily be your last time. Usually I just use gimpy because charming with the chanter makes me terrified of switching over to the mage, lest charm break and things go terribly, terribly wrong.

Also, off topic, hasting RS pets = win.

This reminds me soo much of charming and hasting in LDoN's back in the day. Scary but also fun as all get out. Many mages had the itchiest finger for elemental silence back then. Even snared those rock thingies were mean.

[Tlobad]

Wanted to point out necros self pet haste does have a damage mod=
2: Increase All Skills Damage Modifier by 17%
3: Increase STR by 211
4: Increase Attack Speed by 70%
6: Increase AC by 67

http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?i ... ource=Test

[Janiblis]

Would love it if we could cast our Pet haste spell line "Burnout" on the RS pets.

Is there any form of haste ( Potion or or other) we can get as mages, that we can target our RS pets and haste them?

I do cast the "Surge of Arcanum" on ther First RS pet on the mob which the RS pets holds aggro for about 10-12 seconds of the RS pets 18 second life span.

Is there any other spells we have worth casting on the RS pets considering his short 18 second lifespan?