On Mon, 4 Oct 1999, David Knadler wrote:

>
> I have a question for y'all. I know some bards are huge fans of Siren's
> Song (aka "Charm"). For me, however, it just doesn't match the power of
> Fear + Chains. The problem with Charm, IMO, is the fact that you have to
> find two equal opponents within close proximity of each other. Even if

I don't think the song builds up hatred the longer your pet
attacks a mob. So you can charm a green mob, send it after a
mob, when your pet gets killed charm another green mob and
send it after the mob, repeat until you can melee the mob.

> you're lucky enough to find two MOBs like this, they are usually so well
> matched that it's hard to end up in control of the victorious MOB. I was

This shouldn't be a problem. You charm one mob over and over.
If the mob you charmed wins, great. If the other mob is going
to win, you can usually tell because the mob you charmed will
get close to death. Once it's close, to where a couple rounds
should end the battle, you charm the other mob. The first mob
will be hitting you, but the winning mob should finish it
while charmed thus getting you the kill. If you don't want to
be hit, you can play the riskier game of Chaining the losing
mob, then charming the winning mob. That'll slow down the
loser (who will be chasing you due to having been charmed) to
where the winner can catch up and finish it off.

> playing around with Cyclops in Rathe Mnts. using Charm... I had terrible
> luck. Either my charmed Cyclops wouldn't attack my intended victim (he'd
> run around almost randomly), or I could never end up in control of the

He was probably out of command range. Your pet must be within
a certain distance for you to give it commands. That's why
you hear horror stories about magicians' pets causing trains
in dungeons. Once a pet chases a mob out of command range,
there's nothing a magician can do to bring it back.

--
John H. Kim
kim@...