Hi, guys. Hopefully, this is a safe space for some Enchanter feedback. I got torched on Reddit, lol. It seems people frown on any feedback about making Enchanter a little better. And apperantly I'm a bot who writes AI slop. Enchanter has been my favorite class since EQ days. I look forward to your feedback. I hope it makes sense to everyone who reads it.

TL;DR: I loved early 2000s Quiznos. (Spicy Monterey). I love Purple Beam. Please improve the Shadowkin pet. Make 2 Enchanters viable in a group. Ghostbusters!

Remember Quiznos back in the early 2000s? Subway was fine, but Quiznos was in a different league. My go-to was always the Spicy Monterey. It wasn't the most popular sandwich, and it wasn't for everyone. But that Batch 83 sauce was the spice I needed. It wasn't overly hot. It was a perfectly sweet, tangy, and smoky chili-infused mayo that caramelized beautifully under the heat.

Now picture Quiznos reopening under new chefs. Imagine my surprise when I saw the other specials and everyone enjoying those old flavors again with a new twist. Something familiar, but something better. But I came back for one thing in particular, the Spicy Monterey. I couldn't wait to try my old favorite. And when it showed up, it was a watered-down version of Batch 83. Same sandwich, missing the thing that made it good.

That's Enchanter in M&M for me.

I've played Enchanter since the original EverQuest. Mez, buffs, debuffs, and charm all worked together, and no other class played like it. A mob wasn't just something to kill. You could lock it down, mess with its head, or turn it on its friends. If you read the fight right, you had options. That was the sauce.

And don't get me started on pet twinking

Half the fun of charm was dressing up your pet. I carried a bag of gear just for charmed mobs.

Hand a pet two weapons, even a cheap vendor torch in the offhand, and it would dual wield and quad attack. Better yet, give it something that procs. A Gnoll Hide Lariat. A Locustlure to slow whatever it was hitting. A Journeyman's Walking Stick so it would tash the mob for you. (Kunark had amazing pet weapons)

And then there was the gamble. If your pet died while charmed, all that gear was gone forever. So when it got low, you had to break charm with invis or mem blur, then land the killing blow yourself to loot your stuff back off the corpse. Mess up the timing and your gear was gone.

That's the kind of risk and reward I miss. It was dangerous, and that's why it was fun.

I get the group flexibility thing

Nobody likes sitting in a camp waiting for an Enchanter or Bard to log on. Giving other classes enough healing, support, and control to keep a group moving makes sense. Roots aren't mez, but sometimes they're enough. The Elementalist Water Pet's regen stacks with our mana buffs, and oftentimes their pet mana regen is just enough to keep the group steadily pulling. That helps a group get by without a CC class.

But being wanted was half the fun. Throw up the LFG tag, get invites, because people knew what you brought. A group should be able to succeed without an Enchanter. Bringing one should still open doors. Now I'm often waiting 30+ minutes to find a group. It's not that my services aren't needed. It's just that other classes now cover pieces of our toolkit.

So here's my real question. The alternatives are good enough, our buffs are covered, and the fight doesn't need much CC. What is the Enchanter actually doing for the rest of that fight? Even when I find a group, I sit back, toss a few mezzes, and chill. There's no excitement. No spice. Easier buff upkeep is nice, but it's not gameplay.

Look at the changes together

There's good stuff in this update. Consolidated buffs, group versions of some buffs, broader Charisma scaling, and a Shadowkin that summons at our level. But charm damage got cut. Summoned pet damage got cut. Pacify is single-target now. Enchant Ally is gone for now.

Every one of those can make sense on its own. Stack them together and the class feels thin. Druid Seasons and the Elementalist's caster and pet interplay prove this team can take an old class and give it something new to do. Enchanter deserves the same treatment.

About charm

I won't pretend I'm happy about the charm nerf. I'm not. But the devs said charm was doing the damage of several extra DPS players, and honestly, it needed to come down. So I'm not asking for it back. I'm asking for something else to pick up the slack, and two tools are already sitting in our kit: Mindshackle and the Shadowkin.

How I stumbled onto Mindshackle

I ignored Mindshackle at first. It's new for Enchanter in M&M, and it didn't look like much. Then one day I sent my Shadowkin at an NPC way below my level. Easy fight, I figured. It wasn't. My pet was doing no damage, and we were losing. I quickly memmed Torment and Mindshackle, burned every last bit of mana, and barely won.

I won, but what I remember is the beam. That purple line locking onto the target looks exactly like an Enchanter imposing their will. The damage still isn't great. But it's a fantastically cool-looking spell, and now I want it as my main source of damage.

Make finishing the channel worth it

The channel already has a built-in tradeoff. While I'm casting it, I'm not mezzing the add, refreshing a buff, debuffing, or catching a charm break. I can stop anytime, but I lose the rest of the channel.

That's a great core loop. CC adds, Torment the target, then wait for an opening and decide if it's safe to finish.

Give it a real burst on the final pulse. The early ticks should still do useful damage, but finishing should pay off. When something breaks, I have a real decision. Do I finish, or does my group need me right now? Breaking off to mez should still be the right call when it's needed. But finding that safe window and landing the full beam should feel great.

The secondary effect could lean into mind control too. Drain the target's mana. Or a completed channel could strip a buff.

It also balances itself. An Enchanter holding the beam isn't casting anything else. You get real tension between damage and control without bringing old charm damage back.

Give Shadowkin a real job

Remember, my Mindshackle story only happened because the Shadowkin couldn't beat a mob far below my level. I genuinely can't tell when it's doing damage. Keep it below a Necro or Mage pet, sure. But it should be worth the cast.

Give it a bump in damage and one effect it applies on its own. We're already watching mez timers, debuffs, and charm breaks. For example, its hits could apply a short Mental Fracture that makes the target take more from Torment and Mindshackle. It refreshes instead of stacking.

Now the pet ties into our spells. It should still hit for real while we're busy mezzing, though.

Let a second Enchanter matter

Two Enchanters can split CC duty. But once control and buffs are covered, the second one needs something to do. With a stronger Mindshackle and a useful Shadowkin, one Enchanter holds targets while the other commits to damage. Swap as the fight changes.

And one experimental idea: a bonus when two or more Enchanters channel the same target.

Crossing the streams. Ghostbusters style.

Multiple purple beams meeting on one mob would look amazing. It would also give us a viable job in raids where charm isn't allowed and extra CC isn't needed. And we'd still be watching for the moment we have to cut it to mez or reposition.

What I'm asking for

Make Mindshackle a real damage option, with a payoff for finishing the channel and a thematic secondary effect.
Give Shadowkin noticeable damage and one auto, mind-themed effect.
Give a second Enchanter a real role once buffs and CC are covered. Healers can go DPS mode, so why not Enchanters?

These ideas build on tools already in the game. If the devs have a better fix, I'm all for it.

The Spicy Monterey is still on the menu. The ingredients are already in the kitchen. Just bring back the Batch 83.