Introduction
The Enchanter is simultaneously the most overrated and the most underrated class in the game, for various reason. Most people think this class is nothing but a DPS class and/or a buff bot, some believing it can only be one or the other, and a good majority of people don't understand that it is both of those things (currently) and more. Some people constantly glaze their fellow Enchanters by getting 60 Charisma and Charming a mob, throwing whatever tier of Haste you currently have onto it, and thinking this is "normal behavior", looking down on the peasants who cannot Charm. Other people log into their buff bot (their Enchanter), buff their raid party, and log into their "real" character. Real Enchanters will do everything in this guide and laugh at how ridiculously overpowered the class is, while constantly telling the devs that it is absolutely not okay to be this strong and that it needs to be nerfed (they really should just remove Charm).
Heads up - lengthy guide, as usual for me. Sorry! Ctrl+F is your friend. I will cover these topics below regarding the Enchanter:
- What Stats and Why?
- Your Role in Groups
- Spell Bar Arrangements
- Actually Playing the Enchanter
- Charm Break Scenarios
There will be a link at the bottom of the guide to my Charm Calculator. This is just a rough estimation of how easy (or hard) it will be for you to Charm something based on your Charisma, your level, and the mob's level you are Charming (and subsequently it's con to you). This was thrown together strictly using my in-game experiences while I have been testing the Enchanter. Easy means less Mana taxing (and usually worth attempting to sustain a Charm on that mob), hard means more Mana taxing (and usually not worth attempting to sustain a Charm on that mob).
What Stats and Why?
Enchanters should seek to max out Intelligence and then Stamina, while always making the baseline Stamina requirement for reaching 25% when using Enchant Ally. While I have not taken the time to get an estimate on what that baseline number is, I can tell you that I only have about 90 Stamina at the moment and the last time I used Enchant Ally it gave my tank roughly 21% more health. I don't imagine it requires much more than 120 Stamina to reach 25%, if it is even that high. More Intelligence is pretty self-explanatory - this gives you both a larger Mana pool and increases the rate at which you will regenerate Mana while Meditating.
Currently (cuz ya know, game is in development) there is almost no reason to ever go above 155 Charisma. That should be a major focus for you if you are attempting to Charm. You cannot Charm mobs above level 52, which for the majority of your 50s these will remain Dark Blue con to you. You may be able to land a Charm on a target, but maintaining that Charm becomes significantly more Mana taxing if you do not meet both/either a certain level difference and/or minimum Charisma requirement. Adding in a Magic Break will always help this process.
Your Role in Groups
The Enchanter is a class that can wear a few hats. Realistically you should always be giving out your buffs - this is how you act as a force multiplier for your groups. Giving your physical DPS friends Haste, giving your spellcaster friends better Mana Regeneration, and de-buffing the enemies you encounter with a Slow will improve your group's efficiency by a hefty amount.
Arguably the most important role you can fill as an Enchanter is the most boring one for most people - just be the reason your group never wipes (mostly while leveling). This might be overall a less active role to fill, but it is extremely important nonetheless... and when you need to be active, you are fully occupied and it can be a nice little adrenaline rush. You have crowd control options that allow you to do this at very little cost. Mesmerize, a literal level 1 spell that costs you 15 Mana, still lands on those pesky level 50+ mobs (so long as they aren't special - named monsters in particular, and even some whole species of mobs seem to be immune to this effect). Combined with Fascinate (the Area of Effect/AoE variant of Mesmerize) and your Scintillating (Point Blank Area of Effect/PBAoE Stun) line of spells, you can single-handedly ensure that your group never wipes if you simply don't AFK (or don't fall asleep while probably doing nothing else besides for Slowing enemies the majority of your time) and don't somehow OOM yourself.
Do not underestimate the value that Enchant Ally provides your group with in the end game. Part of your role as an end game Enchanter is to be able to help your healers in sustaining your tank and handing out Mana to your spellcaster DPSers if they end up running out. Most people do not enjoy being a Mana Battery, as it is commonly referred to, but this role is just as important as being a healer is. You are effectively a healer for Mana bars, and that can and will make or break fights (especially in the end game). Back to the original point - Enchant Ally is a unique buff that is much more powerful than people give it credit for.
Every 30 seconds, for a whopping zero Mana cost, you are able to provide your Tank with a Runeshield for 800 points of damage. Using your Runeshield on yourself costs you 200+ Mana for the same amount of Shielding. The crazy part? There are two more effects this buff gives you/your target (your Tank). When placing Enchant Ally onto your target (again, should be your Tank), they gain a 25% Health buff. That in itself is absurd. The last effect allows you to fire off some additional DPS via a small nuke every 8 seconds for, you guessed it, zero Mana. It tickles, but it is free. And, let's be honest, the rest of the effects of Enchant Ally are insane for the cost (ZERO MANA). Any time you are unable to Charm or if it would not be beneficial to do so, which is likely the majority of the time you will spend in the end game, this needs to be up and running on your Tank. If I am being honest, Enchant Ally is the best buff in the game outside of SoW. Haste would be a close third, which you also provide (see above: overpowered).
If you can swing the Mana and have enough Charisma at your level to make it a reasonable thing to do, you can also add Charm to your repertoire. Charming is insane, because it will probably double the DPS output at a minimum of your whole group at most-all levels while simultaneously being capable of serving as a Tank for your group, and in most cases will just be your Tank because your actual Tank wouldn't be able to hold aggro from the DPS your Charm pet provides. You can also use your Charm pet as a form of quick and effective psuedo-crowd-control by just telling your pet to attack mobs one by one, letting it take aggro, swapping to your group's focus target, and tabbing through the mobs and Mezzing them one by one after they are all attacking your pet. This is much faster and safer than Mezzing one by one while letting the mobs run through your group while everyone freaks out and runs around in circles trying to get the mobs off of them because they are scared they are gunna die when a bad pull happens.
Spell Bar Arrangements
My spell bar (keep in mind, I am a PvPer and this can be modified for non-PvPers, although it would not change much) consists of:
- Scintillating line
- Torment line
- Mesmerize (yes, the literal level 1 spell)
- Magic Break line
- Slow line
- Fell Mana line (mostly for PvP, swap for highest tier Psionic Hemorrhage line if PvE)
- Mana Drain line (mostly for PvP, but fantastic for PvE camps vs caster mobs - use on cooldown if you can)
- Charm line
- Fascinate
- Runeshield line
If you are not Charming, swap out the Charm line for Psionic Hemorrhage line. Lulls and such are too situational to need a spot on the bar, same with Invis (unless you are solo Charming to level, then Invis is good for reverse Charming - explained below)... and if you are ever playing with Gate on your bar... well, I won't say what I want to about you.
For a purposeful PvP situation (as in you are specifically going out looking to PvP), replace Magic Break with Root and Charm with Dispel Magic.
Actually Playing the Enchanter
At no point in time should you ever be using any Mez outside of the literal level 1 Mesmerize spell that you get. The increased Mana cost for the increase in duration is never required (this may change as they adjust resistances and how they work, who knows). You should literally always have your Runeshield up (along with all of your buffs, including buffs on your group-mates).
Generally speaking, your job while leveling in a group as an Enchanter is simply to ensure that when your group-mates mess up, that it does not wipe your group. If you choose to Charm, you will be much less capable of doing this without having the appropriate amount of Charisma (see the calculator I threw together linked at the end of the guide). If you have enough Charisma to make it reasonable to Charm, you should always do it. If not, I highly recommend using Enchant Ally with your Shadowkin out for the additional Shielding on your Tank.
During end game content, you will effectively become a buff and de-buff machine (Haste, Mana Regen, Magic Break, and Slow, most importantly) that provides minor DPS and exceptional, more often than not completely unseen and unrecognized Shielding that can honestly make or break practically all fights. Magic Breaks and Slows are extremely beneficial, and are even more-so the higher you get.
It is genuinely more important for you to stay at high Mana waiting for the moment your group needs you to save them, using your whole Mana bar to do so than it is to feed Mana to a healer or something, unless that is literally what will end up saving your group/the raid. In which case, you will probably just forego Psionic Hemhorrage on the bar for being a Mana Battery.
Enchanters are possibly the most broken solo class in the game as of my writing this, and I am not sure that will ever change (assuming Charm stays). With the combination of all of their capabilities and the generally low stat/gear requirement needed to Charm even in the end game (compared to being a top-tier physical DPS or Tank class), it is no surprise they remain one of the most-played classes in the game even following Charm nerfs.
Soloing will look like this - Charm a pet, Haste it, send it on a mob of similar power and then Slow that mob. When your Charm pet gets low on health eventually, you have a few options - you can Mez your current target and tell your pet to back off to prepare for a Charm swap (this process is commonly referred to as reverse-Charming), or you can just Invis yourself if you want to live on the edge. Once you Mez and then Invis yourself (or your Charm breaks), you should use your Scintillating line to stun, and then Mez the former Charm pet. This gives you time to grab a new Charm pet that is at full health to repeat the process with. Keep in mind that Invis is not a spell I normally keep on the bar (I do not solo often, being a PvPer) - but 30 seconds is more than enough time if you Mez these mobs back to back to get Invis onto your bar if it is not, or you can modify the bar as you see fit to have it on there all the time.
Charm Break Scenarios
You should always have the highest tier of the Scintillating line (PBAoE, near-instant-cast Stun) ready for when Charm breaks, because let's be real here - even in groups, you can't rely on those plebs unless they are honestly in the top 20%, maybe even top 10% of players, to even realize that your Charm broke let alone to react to it quick enough to save you from getting mauled. So, slap a Stun down and Charm that mob again.
In the event that the Stun is resisted, do not panic. All you have to do is create some distance, and any group that doesn't run with SoW on probably should be fired from their day jobs. In the event that you are in a confined space where creating distance is not possible, this is what your Runeshield is for. Tank a few hits, get the Charm pet back, and re-cast your Runeshield. You cannot be interrupted if the mob does not break through your Runeshield, so again - don't panic. You will be fine.
As an Enchanter, you have many potential functions, but if you are Charming at all, you need to be cognizant that those functions will be reduced in some capacity in order to ensure that a Charm break does not kill you or, worse, wipe your group. That responsibility lies on you, so make sure you have enough Mana to maintain it or at least be able to get a Mez off (which dear lord if you don't have 15 Mana to do that with, what are you doing?) and allow yourself to Med enough Mana back to do so, reapplying Mez as necessary.
Ending Notes (Link to Charm Calculator)
Hope you guys enjoyed the guide. Any additions, feel free to throw em into the comments. Any questions or requests for future guides and/or spreadsheets or calculators (as simple or as complicated as they may be), leave em in the comments or contact me directly here or on Discord.
Keep in mind that you all will have Editor access to this Google Sheet. I have annotated where you should NOT modify values to make sure it is not broken, but please be careful such that I do not have to come fix some whoopsies if you do mistakenly overwrite the equations for those cells. Link just below to the Charming Calculator:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LAlrClelHX2F4TrqcMncFJXfXRjF_k2h1L6p1ILGL-k/edit?usp=sharing
