Grouping
is an interesting endeavor in Aion.
In many games grouping is essential for end game progression,
but with Aion’s PvP focus the grouping for PvE seems to be
secondary. Speaking
of second class systems, Spiritmasters are the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76696">lowest
percentage played class
in the game. Some of this may be due to the perception of Spiritmasters
in
groups, not all mind you, but some. Of course most people enjoy
bringing along
a Spiritmaster for the Spirit Erosion skill that increases the drop
rate of loot
off mobs by 20%. This is of course significant and should mean that
every group
would have a designated Spiritmaster spot. Like the late Billy Mays
said
though, “That’s not all you get!”

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First
let’s start off with the weaknesses of bringing a
Spiritmaster to a group. The Spiritmaster is a
“tweener” damage class that does
not provide the best damage output, or offer better crowd control or
buffs than
other classes. Gladiators and Assassins will dole out more damage and
the other
classes bring similar and in some cases better function than our
Spiritmaster.
This being said, a well played Spiritmaster will be welcome in most
groups due
to the support offerings and with our pets we can produce respectable
damage.

Should I bring
a side
dish to the party?

Wading
past the naysayers and landing in a group, what is it
that we bring to the party? Damage is first and foremost. Between our
pets
(contributing up to 30%-40% of our damage) and our DOTS and direct
damage, the
Spiritmaster brings a nice volume of sustained damage.

In
addition to overall damage, we do have a nice dispel
skill that we get early on in the levels. So far I have not seen a lot
of PvE
need for this spell, but I anticipate it coming in handy later on.
Let’s not
forget the 20% increase to drop rate that Spirit Erosion brings to the
group.
This is significant and I’ll be surprised if it stays in the
game as more
theorycrafters get their hands on parsed data to see just how lucrative
it is
to have a Spiritmaster around.

Outside
of damage spells, we also bring some crowd control
mechanics to the party. First up is the Silence and Root available
through
stigmas. 
These can be indispensible
when
you need an interrupt on a mob or to stop them from running. Another
crowd
control mechanic is the Fear option. Even though Fear can be used in
PvE, it
takes a skilled player to keep those mobs bouncing like a yo yo without
pulling
a whole lot of hate down on the party. Of course if everything goes
bad,
Spiritmasters do have some Stuns and Roots in their back pocket. Keep
them
handy in case you overpull or have a pesky runner for a mob.

Last
but certainly not least is the wonderful out of combat
spell for summoning group members, aptly named Summon Group Member.
This is a
nice to have skill, but with a ten minute cooldown it isn’t
near as functional
as it could be. Unlike some other games though, the summoning does not
require
additional players in the area. I guess we can’t have the
cake and eat it too.

As
with any of the classes that don’t fall under pure DPS
like Sorcerer and Assassin, a Spiritmaster is more group oriented (heck
with
all of our Spirits it seems like we’re always in a group). We
may not lead the
charge or damage meters, but we bring a well rounded attack and support
structure.
The bottom line is that groups are better off with us than without us.
How well
you play the Spiritmaster will decide just how much better those groups
are
that have us along.