New Red Mage Questions

[TreegreatesT]

Looking to roll a mage on Red. Couple questions is anyone can help me out would very much appreciate it:

1. starting stats - was thinking to go 25 int 5 stamina so that I can free up more slots for +MR gear. Alternatively, do mages go 25 sta 5 int if they are min/maxing an endgame character? (to me it doesn't seem worth going stamina on a caster)

2. Deity - Does it matter in Classic EQ? I Am rolling gnome looks like my options are Brell and Bertoxx and agnostic. I'm assuming agnostic is the best bet, but are there any items associated with the deities available to mages that are particularly useful during classic era?

3. Also forgot to ask... Which specialization Conjuration or Evocation?

[Samoht]

if you were dark elf/innorruuk or high elf/tunare, you could wear chain armour that has nice stats and MR

[Swish]

if you were dark elf/innorruuk or high elf/tunare, you could wear chain armour that has nice stats and MR

Accessing people that do cultural isn't so easy on red.

Mage is a good choice though, I think earth pets are still ridiculously OP/broken in a PvP scenario.

[TreegreatesT]

Thanks for the responses. The cultural armor looks decent, but not good enough to sway my choice to be either of those race/deity combos.

Still seeking some input on creation stats.
Will going 25 int allow me more options to stack MR for pvp? if so I think that's the way to go.

Or is the 20 stamina worth it...I mean what is that like 40 hp at lvl 60?

Also forgot to ask which specialization? Conjuration or Evocation?

[Zallar]

Go for Int, like you already have realized the stamina isn't going to give you that much of a difference at endgame and likely you'll spend the majority of your time not raiding.

The two arguments for Conj and Evo spec go like this:

Conj - You spend less downtime when you login or when equipping a group, you can also chain cast pets cheaper.

Evoc - When the shit hits the fan and you need fast nukes, you will appreciate your evoc spec.

Personally, I think Conj is the right choice. Group with the right people and play a smart mage and you shouldn't be in a situation where evoc spec is going to play that much of a difference. Also, The situations where evoc spec is going to be needed are like 5% of your playtime. The rest of the time, it's all conj.