Description

The Defiler is a corrupted Shaman capable of healing itself and a group. The Defiler is mainly known for its ability to debuff, cause a significant amount of damage over time, and weaken the enemies to the point of almost useless. The Defiler is an evil Shaman and comes with one of the best and most necessary abilities in game; slowing an enemies attack speed.

Solo-Play

The Defiler has some ability to solo but not much. It can root it's targets in place while draining the life away and slow its opponents attack speeds to take less damage. If the Defiler gets into any trouble it can always heal itself or root a target and run away. You will find as you increase in level that soloing because so insufficient that you may want to consider grouping most of your levels. The main function of a shaman is to heal and it's other abilities can be considered bonuses to that attribute. Don't get me wrong, you can solo with a shaman, but it's reserved for the patient noob or the elite pro.

Group-Play

Probably the 2nd most preferred healer for grouping, next to a Cleric class, is a Shaman. The Defiler can play the role of main healer if need be but you will notice that groups in hard areas oftentimes employ a Cleric and a Shaman in the same group. Groups always welcome a good backup healer but the Defiler is no ordinary backup healer. The Defiler can make any tank shine because of it's ability to slow. Slowing an enemy by 20% not only means at least a 20% reduction in damage but also a 20% reduction in the amount of times the enemy is going to hit you, thus, making your mitigation skills all the more effective.

Summary

The Defiler is not recommended for soloing but it can solo if desired. The Defiler is the most powerful healing / debuffing class in the game. It can also through out a decent amount of damage over time on its enemies and has some pretty decent group and single target buffs.