A quick defense of mages (who I often think are the worst group players
in the game). A mage who wants to learn group tactics (and they can be
real benefits in a group if played well) has a very hard time. Problem
1: Having the ability to solo through 20 easily and beyond there still
fairly well is a dangerous temptation. Especially when you consider how
frustrating pickup groups can be. (this is not a real excuse though)

Problem 2: Since there is so much talk about how much mages suck in
groups (including how pets suck up xp, if you think the jig requests are
bad see how many people insist that your pet is hurting their xp), no
one wants to group with them. My second char was a mage and I almost
NEVER could find a group. The prejudice against mages is huge. Which
is a shame because I'm pretty convinced they can outdamage a wizard in a
good group (though no evac hurts).

On the same thread, I was with the same two (enchanter and shaman) again
last night. Most of the night, wisely we decided a buffed up Elfson
(Thats me, 15 bard) was better than a crap shoot tank. They also
encuraged me to experiment with songs since we were a pretty unstandard
group. It actually seemed that just continous Discord was our best
bet. (Bellow was almost always resissted by DW crocs). In any case it
was fun to be tank for a night, I had more than a full column of buffs.
(Most of the night we bough resolution for me from friendly clerics,
usually traded a set of shaman buffs for cleric buffs). I think I had
115 str and 550 hp which is pretty cool for a lvl 15 bard... Only one
death all night too, and that was when the enchantress was talking to
her mom and missed all my "SG near", "SG Approaching!" "SG!" "SG!" "SG!"
messages.
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We now return to the non-stop rock.

Matt DeBarger