Hi All,

Thinking of trying an SM. Suggestions for leveling? I've heard arguments for both full Summoning and Darkness. I plan on being solo most of the time. Looking for some thoughts on the fastest way to solo level from 1 - 40 with the least amount of downtime. I have no money and no access to pots or buffs.

Thanks in Advance.

Mord

Darkness: Solo efficiently, 1 monster at a time.
- Lifetap
- Mesmorization
- Debuffs

Summoning: 100% reliant on pet, can pull multiple monsters at a time. More efficient with a Healer/Shaman to duo with, still able to solo PvE.
- Pet Damage Shield
- Pet Buffs
- Resurrection

You would find Summoning to be more effective in PvE. I personally do not like the spec since you are so reliant on the pet, and it's absolutely unplayable in the Battlegrounds if you plan to attend them. Darkness is more versatile to work with, and can be extremely devastating in Solo RvR.

What about downtime? I'm assuming with summoning after you complete a big pet pull you have to sit and rest for a while. How many single targets can a darkness spec pull before having to rest?

mordakane wrote:What about downtime? I'm assuming with summoning after you complete a big pet pull you have to sit and rest for a while. How many single targets can a darkness spec pull before having to rest?

i think you have to sit at the end nearly the same time.. depends ofc of the lv of your target.. and forget to think "a big pet pull" the time is over on Uthgard, if you have more then 2 mobs (without healer) you have no chance with handle healing/mana/aggro

even with healer on low lv (under 20) you have most time no chance to kill more then 2 mobs on one time with summon. the only thing, what is even better for soloing in pet is for me, that you can kill ora mobs and got cap xp always. (you can kill red and some purple ofc too, but dont get more xp then on ora)

in darkness i think you need to stay on yellow because in my feeling the resist rate on ora is very high.

but as i said its my feeling.. you need to cc and kite sometimes

at the end its the same.. kill 5 blue mobs (count xp for it) sit and reg mana or kill 2 ora for same amount of xp and sit down

you have to sit in every specc from SM if you dont have access to pots or tinder

Thank you for the explanation. So did they do something to the SM pets to prevent them from being able to pull 5 Yellows at a time? I remember not too long ago they were able to do this solo. If this is the current state of SM's then I am going to probably play a Darkness spec so I will be able to have some fun in the BGs.

Cheers.

mordakane wrote:Thank you for the explanation. So did they do something to the SM pets to prevent them from being able to pull 5 Yellows at a time? I remember not too long ago they were able to do this solo. If this is the current state of SM's then I am going to probably play a Darkness spec so I will be able to have some fun in the BGs.

Cheers.

Mob damage/absorb was changed to live like(or close to it) a year ago I guess. Basically, blue/yellow mobs are hitting way harder than before, so it's not possible to pet pull like before.

I leveled my SM up to 48, solo the entire time. He is full summoning spec, and he can definitely kill more than 2 mobs at a time. My pulls usually consist of yellows/blues and I kill 4-5 mobs per pull. Anything more than that and it does start getting tough with alternating heals/focus dmg shield. I've always been able to kill purps/reds single pulls, and can kill 2 oranges at a time. Greens I kill 5+ at a time. Downtime is my only issue with resting between pulls. Easily fixed with lots of potions.