I'll try not to go on too long, here, but I will admit that my experience with Enniallien was extremely frustrating. After I lost my only good set, I died multiple times trying to pull things that just don't work with 500 base hp and iron vuln. Ugh.

Commentary: Transmuters are a really tough class to play. I think I did okay in PK, but later without any wands or decent hp gear I was pretty much easy meat.

I just don't see transmuters as viable for anyone with less than crazy prep knowledge. I did okay when I had a really sweet set and some wands, but the second I lost them I became weak as all hell. I know one barrier location (located behind a maze I've yet to figure out), one shield location (which is never there), and one aura location (which everybody and his mother knows) that I can get to by myself. All the other wand locations I know of require immense groups and plenty of time. Basically, most of my preps were spares in the chest, which was nice, but the second I lost them I was unable to replace them, which sucked.

I especially dislike how transmuters cannot kill mobs, period. At hero I was still afraid of soloing some of the weaker dragon mobs without aura, barrier, and shield, not to mention basic transmuter spells. A golem of almost level could solo me without trouble.

Last of all, transmuters seem to be way too dependent on duo. When I lost concentration at the altar in Voralia three times attempting to duo, Villka killed me in the time of one headbutt. When I was fighting Cabdru and worded out quite close to death, I lost my concentration trying to duo at the altar and disconnected right after. I logged on a few hours later and found myself a corpse with nothing left (thats how I lost my nice set, damn it!)

While I'm sure there have been plenty of incredibly good transmuters around, I do not think I have the patience nor knowledge to be one of them.

I just have one thing to say, though: is it even possible to have a remotely honorable gank-o-meter on a transmuter? I think the entire class is designed to encourage ganging - solo kills on a transmuter seem to be so rare its not even funny. I do not think it possible to play one effectively without having at least one or two group members around at all times... sure transmuters can compete one vs one if he's prepped to the point of no return and has over 1100 hp from his set, but I find that somehow that wasn't always the case for me.

Now, onto goodbyes.

Fortress:

Kavan - I liked your style, you definitely stood out from the rest of the Fortress in your RP.

Hyzin - How scary you are. I didn't get to see your sexy forms in action, though, not many evils about whenever you get on. For good reason, I suppose?

Anaisah - Thanks for always being there when I was bored, interacting with you was probably one of the major upshots of joining the Fort, I had this tendency to be bored.

Brinton - You freak. I don't understand how you got so many kills, I really sucked at it when I was Dinian. Oh, wait, you can actually PK. Damn. Knew I was missing something. I somewhat enjoyed our interactions, and I didn't mind being your haste/earthbind bitch, cause it was always so entertaining around you. Heh.

Rienis - The other guy I stuck around with a lot, I vaguely remember pking you with Illsaneth, my lowbie duergar A-P. I always thought there was a vague sense of irony there. Especially after I learned how much more experienced at CF you were. Ah well, lowbie elf dagger specs are anyone's meat. Nothing personal =(

Fjal - You seem really solid, I remember killing you a few times when I was Breannian, I now wonder how the hell I ever did it. Meh, evil rangers are really cheap.

Others:

Cabdru - you are overpowered. Seven level 51 dispel magics didn't touch any of your important spells. Was hoping to dispel iron grip and get your damn axe. Sigh...

Inthulnizra - Poor Imperial. It must be frustrating being a healer with no one to... heal.

All the Outlanders who came to the Fort to try Cabdru, even though you didn't have any sanctuary or bard resist whatsoever - You have 10x more balls than I do. I had shield and aura on top of all that, and still got owned.

Nreisshe - you are damned scary, and one of the very few to kill me when I had a decent set and was fully online. While I have a great deal of respect for you as a player, I think your "snare by fortress/arial city, unspeak ambush, kill enemy in next two rounds with crazy set" is getting kind of old. Perhaps you should make a character which requires a bit more skill. I think, in general, a monkey playing an evil ranger could net most of the kills you get. Having played an evil ranger myself, I still feel kinda bad about all the cheap kills on people while they were ranking or otherwise simple kills. This is nothing personal, understand, just something I dislike about the class in general.

Its getting late, so anyone else posts and I'll respond, kind of tired now.

I'm really sorry to see this. I like Enniallien a lot and I'll miss having him around. I loved your sense of humor and your use of emotes. I wish I could have helped make the pk situation better for you, but our times just didn't mesh all that often. Hope to see you again! And really soon! Hint hint.. 4 Acolyte applicants in 4 months... throw me a bone.

I always called you Ana when I was talking about you, but whenever you were in the conversation it was Elder Prophet =)

Thank you again for relieving my boredom via RP. Damn, but there isn't much a trannie can do on his own other than explore a few low-level places, and I'm much too lazy for that.

Doubtful about your Acolyte App, though, I definitely have to try getting into the outlander/tribunal dynamic. Its one that I haven't really had the chance to experience fully.

See ya. I could have helped with gathering wands if you asked :) You did a great job -- from a min-max standpoint, I think an Acolyte transmuter would be better, but hey, you went the tougher route. And sorry about the rager humiliation. I really thought I could handle him alone (forgot that my str gear was looted) and seeing how he was neutral, fighting him alone seemed like the best RP at the moment. If I'd known I'd go down like that, I would have planned it with you and neither of us would have fallen. :( All in all, my bad.

Well, thanks and good luck!

I was always meat to any villager with spellbane up.

min-max standpoint = better acolyte transmuter? You have a point - Maran powers don't do much for transmuters. Protection from evil is pretty damn easy to get, detect evil too. But I don't think the Acolyte thing would have fit into my role - Enniallien wanted to be a hero and a chance at the glory. Secondary to his belief in the Light, perhaps, but a major motivation in trying to join the Fortress.

Was glad to Hero with you and be able to spend soem time with you. Told you that one time I was going to show you around some prep locations, to bad we didnt get a chance to hook up after that.

All in all I thought you played a fine character, and wish you all the luck in the future.

>I just have one thing to say, though: is it even possible to
>have a remotely honorable gank-o-meter on a transmuter?

I'd say so. Some of the better transmuters I've seen -- Runaktla and Qulenit being two off the top of my head -- pulled a lot of impressive solo kills. (Though neither was shy about using other people when they had them available, so you're probably not going to find a 1.05 Gank-o-meter there.)

Like Nepenthe's alluding to, solo killing isn't at all
impossible as a transmuter. Given, I had a few nice powers
like despoil and volley, I'm not exactly sure what Fort
powers you get as an Acolyte (were you one?) but regardless,
you would at least have a better chance at obtaining sanc
from one of the healers/paladins, and don't you get a prot
evil power? That helps a tad. Now that I think of it I
nearly never used protection from good, which I should have.
Also, AT LEAST as a Fortie you aren't fighting Ragers 24/7
which, well, you know how hard they are as a transmuter. Geez,
it was me vs. the world for quite awhile as Runaktla.

Anyways, besides that, transmuters need to perfect their
most useful spells (neuro and disrupt bone/organ) and also
go be selective with your enemies. I didn't even take a
glance at malleability and instead did the damage redux
stuff all the time unless fighting say, a thief who could
trip me while I was calcified. With just desensitize,
calcify and corporeal hardening you got a decent amount
of redux. I have to admit I did have a constant source of
barrier, but that was only necessary (A) against Ragers
and (B) when little ole me was wading solo into into fights
with a Fortie thief/warrior/healer group. I also had some
aura, but never shield, for the record.

One of the transmuter's best thing is always being able to
pick your fights better than many other classes. Also,
transmuters are awesome in group to group fights, especially
with certain allies and especially against certain enemies.

All in all, transmuter's are the bomb diggity, and trust
me, there will be yet another 3rd edition of the Scion Drow
Transmuter eventually.

- Runaktla (my 2nd edition of Scion Drow Transmuter, 1st was
Kazadan)

PS: Thanks for the compliment, Nepenthe

I had plans for us man, plans! You never asked for wands or tactics or advice! Come on man, we were going to be big. =(

Damn. Back to sucking.

"Plans" is it?

You just want me for my earthbinding. You never really loved me as a person!

Kidding. <3 Brinton. I felt really sorry for Inthulnizra when we were both on.

When you and Brinton were both around, you have no idea how deathly scared I was 100% of the time. Earthbinding + Cheapshot when you have someone with the power over slow/haste to deal with - it turned me into a complete and utter coward.

At least I got to have some fun once, with that nifty retrieval against you and Fuzi :) . In my experience, transmuters are fun enemies; their melee buddies are certainly not.

Transmuters are a tough class to really get a handle on. Being an elf doesn't really help that. They don't have to be ganky though. With just standard spells they can take out most people if they play it right. Soften + disrupt = ####loads of pain to anyone without damage redux. And the only other class I think is on par with being able to pick their fights are rangers. Toss in some wands and I'd put them right next to an invoker. Problem people have is the giant bash mentality, if all you want to do is neuro then you're probably going to lose a lot. Anyways. Did like you for the brief time I knew you.

I do recall that A-P. Lowbie elf warrior who can't see invis sucks.

Once you have a control for it, it isn't dispellable.

Correct. Halfway to fire control iron grip can't be dispelled anymore. Which was a wonderful change. And I'm being serious.

I figured it out later =(

It was really nice having a transmuter around and I will certainly miss all of the haste & slows, but I will also miss our conversations, and your general antics. Racing you a bit, talking to you, and relying on you to do your part all made you a great asset that will be tough to replace. I really wish you had made these concerns known to me in the game I think things could have been a lot different if you had.

Good luck with your next character, I hope to see you in the fields again soon!


Saroiya

I mean, its not all that easy to come by haste sources man :P. Don't get me wrong, I tried not to use you like a haste/spiderhands/*insert random prep here* bitch. I enjoyed our lighthearted banter and I was sure that someday I'd get to show you my proficiency with iron :). Oddly enough, I remember fighting your ranger in the earlier hours of my life, and I'm glad you wisened up and came to the light, man :). I hope nothing that happened in the fort left a bad taste in your mouth. I think everyone in the game is experiencing the same frustrations with cabdru you had. Also, had you made it known that you needed wands and preps, we definitely could have remedied that. As far I can remember I don't recall you ever mentioning it(but I also get like a billion peeps trying to talk at me in game so I probably missed it). Believe it or not, I was present when you got hammered at the altar today by villka. I had been stalking the guy for a while when you worded. I thought for sure that you saw him and you'd go duo(tough break on failing it). Needless to say I saw him moving towards you, and I probably should have intervened. That was my bad, but in my mind I was very sure that you would duo. Anyhow, I'm sorry that happened. If it makes you feel better I dedicated this to you shortly after you logged off.

You slide up behind Villka and drive your sword through her back.
Villka falls to the floor, blood flooding from her pierced heart.
Villka is DEAD!!
Villka's eye pops out of its socket.
Villka can no longer find the strength to wield a twin-edge battle axe called 'Arctic Fury'.
A kobold slave slowly fades away.
A kobold slave slowly fades away.
A kobold slave slowly fades away.
A goblin raider slowly fades away.
A goblin raider slowly fades away.
A goblin raider slowly fades away.
A goblin raider slowly fades away.
A goblin raider slowly fades away.
A Grinning Skull berserker slowly fades away.
A Grinning Skull berserker slowly fades away.
Pigar the Orc Captain slowly fades away.

Hope you make it back to the fort with something you'll enjoy a little more than muter. It was fun, and good luck with your next.

Kavan

Heh. You were damn right I was going to duo, I just happened to miss.

I really don't mind being the haste/spiderhands/whatever bitch, I have a pretty diverse gaming experience and don't mind being support characters (though ranking was a little boring). It wasn't my main gripe with the class.

As a cabal, I generally enjoy the Fort. However, in specifics, I didn't really enjoy getting owned by everyone and his mom after my hp was less than 600 with no wands =(

And no, you were right, I didn't talk about my wand woes over CB. Sorry? =P

>> Nreisshe - you are damned scary, and one of the very few to kill
>> me when I had a decent set and was fully online. While I have a
>> great deal of respect for you as a player, I think your "snare by
>> fortress/arial city, unspeak ambush, kill enemy in next two rounds
>> with crazy set" is getting kind of old. Perhaps you should make a
>> character which requires a bit more skill. I think, in general, a
>> monkey playing an evil ranger could net most of the kills you get.
>> Having played an evil ranger myself, I still feel kinda bad about
>> all the cheap kills on people while they were ranking or otherwise
>> simple kills. This is nothing personal, understand, just something
>> I dislike about the class in general.

Well, I have to defend myself a bit (okay, if it's not personal, Ill... defend rangers?); I tend to leave the snares where I find people, and those places are often logical to check (not to mention populated). And if you think that's how my fights go... yeah, well, they might go like that against elf mages, but about anyone else not so much. Also, I still persist my set isn't so crazy, try a felar ranger outlander sometimes. You'd be surprised how much damage they can put out with just their weapons, outlander skills, some felar gear and handy frenzy preps. :P

I do insist rangers take some sort of skill, but not in the same way as, say, warriors or muters. After all, those unspeaks are woefully rare on most foes, and at hero most people just shrug it off, so it becomes a game of patience and observation rather than hectic in-fight tactics (or plain bash bash bash). Yes, a monkey could probably land some of those kills, but so could they with a giant warrior or a cheapshotting thief or... etc.

Personally, I do enjoy the ranger rampaging (which I didn't really think I would, the original plan was to check out exotic weapons but let's not go into that) and I'm afraid I'm not quite age-dead yet so you'll just have to live with my antics for a while longer. Sorry!

I seem remember you killing one of my groupmates over a year ago while I was still trying to figure out how to play this damned game. Heh.

Yeah, you seem to be at a bigger disadvantage at hero, but thats only for getting kills. I don't think you will die more than once in a blue moon, because Rangers are so good at picking their fights, and every time I located the few interesting preps I know of you always had 5 of them =P