I am purposely discouraging ppl with less than 10 prof to not cata cast. IMO, they have no place doing it in the game and are much better simply utilized as a healer. This was actually my purpose of this posting. Those with less than 10 prof Should NOT cast and tend to be more of a hamper on the group than helpful. Noone enjoys someone in a cata being OOM with 50% mana left. There is no benefit a low prof person holds as a full caster. Whether a person leaches during the run casting sparingly to give the impression they have mana at the end of the level or simply goes OOM at 50%, the total damage will be less than the constant melee counterparts. W/O a higher probability of megacritting, you shouldn't take a cata slot as a caster.

As an example, I am w/o a doubt the best equipped caster in the game. That being said, when I joined UA I had 6 prof in light. I attempted my first cata with guildies after the update and noticed that I was not only a horrible teammate, but a hinderence on my group. Two of my guildies with 22 and 23 prof respectively were something to be admired. Moral of the story is that I didn't cast again until I had a 15 prof to test it out and simply worked on my prof in arena. I would highly recommend others to do the same.

This post was edited by Stok3d on Aug 18 2010 04:17pm

we didn't even let him in our groups until he was 15 prof. even with his 278 ee mq charm

Sry, bad day, lots of r/l stuff going on.

This post was edited by Leee on Aug 18 2010 04:47pm

i agree have 8 wind prof and that hardly seems to megacrit atm, currently building up my light now though nearly 5

Nice guide.

Personal opinion here based on my character builds and my casting rank being only 7, and my healing rank13.

1. My builds are hybrid (melee with either Casting or Healing abilities)
2. Main concern for my build is Melee, anything else is secondary.
3. My gear / stat placement is based on being able to solo when there are no groups
4. Group Setup decides what I will primarily doing.

So... if there is 1 healer in the group that is effectively keeping everyone alive while encountering EPs (not ambush), I will be melee and Casting, even if my cast damage is only 250-450, as I tend to burn my mana on every single wave that I come into contact with and then I go directly to melee when OOM.

If the group healer is more of a caster with higher ranks than me, then I will use the "Switching" method of melee/healing cata, the only thing that is wrong with this is getting caught with melee gear and encountering EPs, but then that is just what happens.

Note: your gear is by far better than alot of people that are in "OPEN" cata games, you play mostly solo or in UA groups now, and your advice is based on Elitism... please remember that we underdogs do not have the gear to be as effective as you or even most of UA members, with that said, it should be recognised by others that it is fine to Cast in open cataruns even with only Rank5, at the end of the day, that person is gaining proficiency points and also aiding the party a little bit.

If the wave is 9, 8 or 7, and the caster gets 1x AoE on that wave while doing 300 damage to each, that is still over 2k damage done, that is alot of damage dealt.

Even if you can cast at 5 prof, hell you can cast at zero there is no point to it.

Arena is where its at until you are higher have to agree with Nick here.



Pink floyd - Another brick in the wall (of text)

His advice is NOT based on Elitism , its based on how to contribute to your group EFFECTIVELY . Us users without elite gear will benefit from following this guid.
It is in no way shape or form "fine" to cast in cata with anything less than 10 prof . "At the end of the day" the person in cata with 5 prof casting WILL NOT be helping at all , he WILL NOT be getting any megacrits , he WILL run out of mana , his total damage WILL NOT be equal to or grater than a good mele . Your little equation on damage is seriously flawed , I have a 15 prof and I dont megacrit on every wave I cast on , saying a 5 prof will is ridiculous .

Great artist for that era...

There was one main point that I also forgot to mention.

When casting vs 9, 8, or 7 wave of monsters, a caster can determine the monsters defense vs casting/melee, thus, once they recognise a monster that has high defense vs casting, then they should move to another monster... please note that casting does not always involves AoE... it is about killing the monsters faster for the team, thus, any rank5+ in casting is viable in catacombs as long as they know how to identify weak monsters in the pack.



Think of it in another way instead of thinking about the obvious topic and also take into consideration that the following is based on Rank5-10 casting ability.

1. Casters should only cast vs waves no less than 6 (6, 7, 8, or 9).
2. Casters with a Rank below 10 should also heal.
3. Intentional Caster/healer in group should conserve mana by the entire teams capabilities, 25-75% reserved for healing based teams speed in killing.
4. Read notes on previous quote

How can one give advice when they have gear that deal 2-3 times more damage than the average gamer?
I have sub-standard gear, I have Rank7 Ice, I help my group out immenselly... and I cast in groups... you telling me that I shouldn't cast?
____________________

Effective Healing Tip In Catacombs.

1. Keep team above 50% life
2. Heal when there are only 4 or 3 monsters left out of a pack of 5-9 (if needed)
3. In reflection to #2... attack monsters that another team member is attacking on packs of 5-9, then heal @ 3 or 4 monsters
4. Instant readiness to heal when exploring the maze (never know when Ambush comes out... besides the 6 second delay)
5. Say OOM when you have 1 cast left.

Notes: 1 tank / 1 middle... rest in back even if they have Plates/Chains/Scales... this conserves your mana... also remember that you should only heal yourself if you are below 50%


This post was edited by izParagonzi on Aug 18 2010 06:48pm

Yes this is an Elitist group that climbs as you say and for approx.. 80% if not more of slashers are not even close to being good enough for this guild to even consider playing with, but the advise they give is usually quite good. The proficiency that you gain in cata's is extremely low. The guide didn't mention that part but jump on a few vents and you can hear all about it. The aiding of the party a little bit is just that with 5 prof you would probably aid more with melee setup on you mage and still heal a little too.