Mobs killed by plague = no exp?

[Julzjuice]

Hi,

I have been reading the forums for quite some times now and found plenty of usefull informations, but I never found any infos regarding that: When I use the XMAX mod and cast plague in a group of ennemies, only the first one that is killed gives me exp. Is that a bug? I was planing on leveling fast by casting plague on HUGE groups of mobs but it seems like it cant be done...? I have the IT fan patch installed.

[yerkyerk]

I think it's a bug yea, iirc I remember Munderbunny testing this. We have no idea if it can be fixed though. Sucks, though Plague doesn't do a whole lot of killing on later difficulties (it's mainly useful for weakening enemies), so it's not a major issue, but still a bit annoying.

[Irma2]

Paradoxically, I have found Plague to be less effective when it kills outright. I made the mistake of investing too much too early with my Ritualist, and often I'd cast it on a monster only to kill it outright before it had a chance to spread to others.

The trick is not to max it early, but to invest at a rate where it will take off most of a monster's life but not all. That way, you get the maximum duration and spread, and you can then finish off the highly weakened mob with some AoE skill like Squall or Distortion Wave.

It stops being a problem late in Normal, where even maxed Plague won't kill. It remains highly effective for its slowing and debuffing, however.

[Julzjuice]

Meh, guess ill have to level the old way... but im glad to hear im not the only one with that bug I thought it was a mod bug or something. Anyways I only hope I wont lose too much of my exp to that bug because plague is so usefull.

[yerkyerk]

Well, as said, later on it won't be that much of a problem since the skill gets too weak for killing. You'll loose a few xp because of it, but it's probably nothing compared to the speed it allows you to mow through the bodies of your enemies.

[pr2thej]

Hmph, there goes my theories of a Warcraft Unholy DK build.
Any other reason to play Guardian? Mines only a baby at the mo, lvl 16 or so.
I was really looking forward to aggroing a bunch of mobs and plague spamming them to death :/

[yerkyerk]

Well, hehe, plague wouldn't have done that for you anyway, even if you got the xp.

Guardians are very sturdy characters, perhaps the best tanks available in the game. Pets to tank the damage, high blocking damage, lots of health, very good debuffing.
I found my guardian to be a bit too slow-paced though, so I abandoned it.

But, since plague also lowers the physical resistance, I bet you can do some pretty decent damage with your shield attacks.

[Boneflesh]

Refresh + Colussus + Heart of the Oak :surprised: + all the passive shield attacks, pets... Shield Charge and Batter too. So yeah, could work very well.

[pr2thej]

I wonder how a Guardian would work out with a lot of retaliation damage gear.
Im thinking just to run through packs and let the retaliation damage take everything out, Rally when available for the synergy reflection.