Soloing as a mage and necro

[brokenpromise]

Long story short my PC took a fat shit several months back and I was testing out both mage and necro. I'll make this brief

I know everyone says necro has more utility. That's undeniable. My real question is does necro have more solo options due to utility? They can root rot, fear kite, charm etcetera etcetera. The mage pretty much just chain summons.

Is the mage class limited on what they can solo and farm? Let's set aside things like feign death. Does necro have simply more solo options due to utility? Let's say mage can only solo at X because they simply cant chain cast enough or effenciently enough. While necro can solo x,y,z because they can fear kite, charm, root rot. Or can mage solo just as much things as a necro, despite chain summoning?

I am mostly solo and farming.

I am very close to just going with necro. They have a ton of utility and a lot of different ways to solo. I love the mage class but I dont want to find myself in situations where I am very limited on what I can solo and where.

[Lurgort/Sseri]

You answered your own question in your post. Necro can do A, B, C, D, E and Mages can do A, B.

You also have nearly an impossible epic to complete due to how everyone wants to sell a key piece of the Magician epic (Earth Staff) for like 1 million plat. Necros get a Duckstick that costs around 200k total if you don't join a raiding guild / farm plat.

Mage pets are still quite a bit stronger than Necro pets, but that's about all they have going aside from nukes and summoning items. If you want to root something, you need to have an earth pet or root nets.

[brokenpromise]

You answered your own question in your post. Necro can do A, B, C, D, E and Mages can do A, B.

You also have nearly an impossible epic to complete due to how everyone wants to sell a key piece of the Magician epic (Earth Staff) for like 1 million plat. Necros get a Duckstick that costs around 200k total if you don't join a raiding guild / farm plat.

Mage pets are still quite a bit stronger than Necro pets, but that's about all they have going aside from nukes and summoning items. If you want to root something, you need to have an earth pet or root nets.

I realize it probably sounded stupid. I was just hoping mages could also do it, just with more summons. I love the mage class and I really want to continue playing my mage, I just dont want to find myself needing a group to level or being bottlenecked into certain zones. I want to farm and make plat to deck my toon out. Sounds like necro might be the way to do that.

You answered my next question. I heard about getting mage epic. You dont. Which is really sad because getting my epic is 100 percent on my check list.

[Izmael]

Mage pets tank and fight better than the necro pets of similar level, but the necro has oh so many ways to compensate for that, and then some.

I don't know if there's anything in the game that can be soloed by a mage that can't be soloed by a necro (actually wondering.. anyone?).

But there certainly are many many things that can be done by a necro, but not by a mage (unreasonable effort or clickies such as strings / soulfire aside).

[brokenpromise]

Mage pets tank and fight better than the necro pets of similar level, but the necro has oh so many ways to compensate for that, and then some.

I don't know if there's anything in the game that can be soloed by a mage that can't be soloed by a necro (actually wondering.. anyone?).

But there certainly are many many things that can be done by a necro, but not by a mage (unreasonable effort or clickies such as strings / soulfire aside).

When you say there are way more things necro can solo, is that because the mob would just tear through the mage pet too fast to reasonably be kept up with? Is that the only reason, or is there other factors?

Bear with me, for I am noob

[Lurgort/Sseri]

When you say there are way more things necro can solo, is that because the mob would just tear through the mage pet too fast to reasonably be kept up with? Is that the only reason, or is there other factors?

Bear with me, for I am noob

Necros have way more 'oh shit' tools. You have FD, if it fails, you can root an add then Harmshield or Gate, or root both adds and FD again. With a Circlet of Shadow, you can also get up instantly from a FD and invis yourself against mobs who can't see invis. Levant is self-evac at night. You also have Lich line and lifetaps / HoT DoTs for mana regen while a mage has medding and mod rods.

Much more survivability and utility,

A Necro is a swiss army knife while a Mage is a hatchet.

[brokenpromise]

Necros have way more 'oh shit' tools. You have FD, if it fails, you can root an add then Harmshield or Gate, or root both adds and FD again. With a Circlet of Shadow, you can also get up instantly from a FD and invis yourself against mobs who can't see invis. Levant is self-evac at night. You also have Lich line and lifetaps / HoT DoTs for mana regen while a mage has medding and mod rods.

Much more survivability and utility,

A Necro is a swiss army knife while a Mage is a hatchet.

This probably my biggest contention. A necro has potential to not die. A mage pretty much has to accept the death and hope he is bound close.

Do better clarify for a noob, can you provide examples on where and what a necro can solo and why they can and mage cant?

Like, necros can solo felwithe guards with root rotting. Can a mage also solo them at the same level at relatively the same pace? Will they burn through too much mana and components and have a long down time to make that camp viable?

If these questions are annoyingly noob, I apologize. I havent played in a very long time.

[Lurgort/Sseri]

This probably my biggest contention. A necro has potential to not die. A mage pretty much has to accept the death and hope he is bound close.

Do better clarify for a noob, can you provide examples on where and what a necro can solo and why they can and mage cant?

Like, necros can solo felwithe guards with root rotting. Can a mage also solo them at the same level at relatively the same pace? Will they burn through too much mana and components and have a long down time to make that camp viable?

If these questions are annoyingly noob, I apologize. I havent played in a very long time.

In your example, Necros can root/rot because they don't LoH from DoTs. They LoH if in combat and a mage has to send a pet in to tank for him/her or risk being beaten to death/interrupted while casting nukes. They will LoH if in direct combat and that makes them a lot harder to kill and it'll burn your mana bar quick.

[brokenpromise]

In your example, Necros can root/rot because they don't LoH from DoTs. They LoH if in combat and a mage has to send a pet in to tank for him/her or risk being beaten to death/interrupted while casting nukes. They will LoH if in direct combat and that makes them a lot harder to kill and it'll burn your mana bar quick.

At the risk of making myself look more noob, what is LoH? I guess in short, necros have more utility and versatility. They can simply do more.

I appreciate the replies and patience with what I'll look back on as painful questions.

Is sesserdrixes guide still viable? Is there a more up to date velious era one? Is there quests/gear I should be focused on getting? I'm very much a gear hunter

[Lurgort/Sseri]

At the risk of making myself look more noob, what is LoH? I guess in short, necros have more utility and versatility. They can simply do more.

I appreciate the replies and patience with what I'll look back on as painful questions.

Is sesserdrixes guide still viable? Is there a more up to date velious era one? Is there quests/gear I should be focused on getting? I'm very much a gear hunter

All good man, I was a noob when I came back to EQ 11 months ago here on P99. X)

LoH = Lay on Hands, a paladin ability which restores a large amount of health, in the case of those pally guards - ~50% give or take a few.

Sesseridrix's guide is incredible and worth reading! Quest you should do: Words of Darkness. You can also do Shadowbound / Harvester if you want some nice fashion.

[brokenpromise]

All good man, I was a noob when I came back to EQ 11 months ago here on P99. X)

LoH = Lay on Hands, a paladin ability which restores a large amount of health, in the case of those pally guards - ~50% give or take a few.

Sesseridrix's guide is incredible and worth reading!

I thought it might have had a different meaning, but rereading your post I understand what you meant now.

I've read a lot on the wiki but I dont remember the bit you said about LoH. That's a very useful thing to remember.

[brokenpromise]

Is there an up to date gear check list for necros? On the wiki for velious group it's almost completely blank

[Lurgort/Sseri]

Is there an up to date gear check list for necros? On the wiki for velious group it's almost completely blank

Honestly not very important, you can probably refer to the wiz/mag sections and focus on HP items more than mana items. You can also take a look at my sig if you want an idea of what the Skyshrine stuff is like (Rotting).

[brokenpromise]

Honestly not very important, you can probably refer to the wiz/mag sections and focus on HP items more than mana items. You can also take a look at my sig if you want an idea of what the Skyshrine stuff is like (Rotting).

Your necro looks pretty decked out. You even have your epic wtf Couple questions if you dont mind.

Epic is on my p99 bucket list. How horrible is the necro epic?

I've read through the necro guides. Is iksar regen really that much of a difference? Dark elf is usually my default race but if iksar really is that big of a difference I can be a lizard.

Edit: I noticed you opted for Strength of the elements over coldain shawl. I'm guessing the hp and lich out weigh flowing thought and mana. Really dumb question but are you raid geared?

Edit 2: yes it appears you are lol

[Lurgort/Sseri]

Your necro looks pretty decked out. You even have your epic wtf Couple questions if you dont mind.

Epic is on my p99 bucket list. How horrible is the necro epic?

I've read through the necro guides. Is iksar regen really that much of a difference? Dark elf is usually my default race but if iksar really is that big of a difference I can be a lizard.

Edit: I noticed you opted for Strength of the elements over coldain shawl. I'm guessing the hp and lich out weigh flowing thought and mana. Really dumb question but are you raid geared?

Edit 2: yes it appears you are lol

You get +18 HP a tick at level 60 sitting, +12 standing as Iksar.
As a Dark Elf: +7 sitting, +4 standing. With Lich, this makes a big difference to efficiency/effort.

Correct on Coldain Shawl, plus I haven't gotten very far in the questline. X)

[Wallicker]

Necros can charm undead / split camps / regen mana / interrupt spells / Mez CC / have super mana efficient dots.

Magician does not, on a single mob with no undead to charm a mage would probably fare on equal footing but not aware of many situations like this. However multiple Mages stack incredibly well.

[commongood]

Have not leveled a mage yet but have done shaman, enc and nec from 1-60 more or less solo.

The enchanter was probably a bit faster but the necro was - by far - the most enjoyable. The quality of life you get from the array of necromancer utilities is amazing.

93% rez,
evac
FD
DA
Incredibly effecient mana regen and dmg over time
Heals
Unlimited instant invis

The list goes on.

In terms of what you can farm later I think the necro will have an easier time than a mage soloing semi-profitable stuff. For the truly end-game money camps that are soloable you'd need to be chanter or shaman for most of them.

For instance you can solo 4-ways in Kael Drakkal as a necro. The lieutenants can drop thurgadin armor (robe mq is still, what, 30-40k?). It's very easy as a 60 necro. Even can be done pre-60. I've seen an epic mage do it once and it was hard going. With epic.

[Izmael]

When you say there are way more things necro can solo, is that because the mob would just tear through the mage pet too fast to reasonably be kept up with? Is that the only reason, or is there other factors?

Bear with me, for I am noob

Basically, if you're unsure about going mage or necro, go necro.

Necro is simply immensely more powerful (I played both to 60).


Mage is a simpler class to play at lower levels because you get a beefier pet and can just send him in and wait for him to kill a mob. This quickly stops working as you level up, and the mobs' strength scales faster than your pets'.

As the mobs start winning, you'll realize that you have very few tools to help you to continue to win the fights.

The worst thing is that the best (by far) mage pet is their epic quest reward, which is absurdly difficult to obtain, pretty much impossible if you're a casual player.



The necro, on the other hand, gets a million tools that allow him to help his pet, or even kill without a pet, or charm really strong pets. At the highest levels, many necros don't summon pets often at all, because they don't need it. They are strong enough without them, and can charm to become even stronger.

Necro's power doesn't depend on a huge bottleneck such as an epic quest. Their epic quest is reasonably challenging but doable and a necro can do without it just as fine.


So yeah, go necro, thank me later. If you want most efficiency, go iksar (you'll regen mana faster). If you want to be a little more unique (most necros are iksar), pick another race. For extra uniqueness points, go human (worst necro race).

[kjs86z]

There isn't even a comparison.

Necro superior by far. Mages are so one dimensional I don't know how anyone plays them.

Also, the "real" necro epic is the VP staff. Get your VP key and a guild that kills those dragons. https://wiki.project1999.com/Soul_Well

[Siberious]

There isn't even a comparison.

Necro superior by far. Mages are so one dimensional I don't know how anyone plays them.

Also, the "real" necro epic is the VP staff. Get your VP key and a guild that kills those dragons. https://wiki.project1999.com/Soul_Well

Can you provide examples where VP staff is better than epic? I've seen numerous people claim VP staff is real epic and I find it just plain incorrect in practice. At 60 with both items I've found epic infinitely more useful in anything remotely challenging (Chardok, PoM, Kael, HS, etc). Basically anything that requires some level of tanking and/or shadowbonding a group member or pet. Vexing already has a -100 mod so it lands on almost anything and does significantly more dmg/healing due to the splurt like nature of VP staff.

Necro snares are resisted much more often and I find epic much nicer for a free snare/dot that can be cast X number of times if resisted, and does respectable dmg. Also VP staff blows for healing when using demi-lich. For anything root rotting/fear kiting I still find epic superior, Though neither item is necessary for that.

[commongood]

Can you provide examples where VP staff is better than epic? I've seen numerous people claim VP staff is real epic and I find it just plain incorrect in practice. At 60 with both items I've found epic infinitely more useful in anything remotely challenging (Chardok, PoM, Kael, HS, etc). Basically anything that requires some level of tanking and/or shadowbonding a group member or pet. Vexing already has a -100 mod so it lands on almost anything and does significantly more dmg/healing due to the splurt like nature of VP staff.

Necro snares are resisted much more often and I find epic much nicer for a free snare/dot that can be cast X number of times if resisted, and does respectable dmg. Also VP staff blows for healing when using demi-lich. For anything root rotting/fear kiting I still find epic superior, Though neither item is necessary for that.

I think it’s hyperbole left from back when root and snare effects didn’t stack. Necro epic was a lot worse back then

[Polycaster]

When you say there are way more things necro can solo, is that because the mob would just tear through the mage pet too fast to reasonably be kept up with? Is that the only reason, or is there other factors?

Bear with me, for I am noob


If it's just 1 mob, a mage can probably solo close to or even better than a necro. For example, mages are the only lvl 50 class that can solo alizusaur (lvl 50 mob w/ 15k hp). But if there are multiple mobs all a mage can do is try to blow 1 up then zone, summon new pet and repeat till clear. This only works when near a zone though, so they can't camp level-appropriate dungeons or large outdoor zones like a necro can.

A necro can send in pet, blow up 1 mob, FD till mobs reset. Repeat till clear. Or if they are undead he can use charm, and not even need to FD or reset unless he gets a bad series of resists.

[loramin]

If it's just 1 mob, a mage can probably solo close to or even better than a necro. For example, mages are the only lvl 50 class that can solo alizusaur (lvl 50 mob w/ 15k hp). But if there are multiple mobs all a mage can do is try to blow 1 up then zone, summon new pet and repeat till clear. This only works when near a zone though, so they can't camp level-appropriate dungeons or large outdoor zones like a necro can.

A necro can send in pet, blow up 1 mob, FD till mobs reset. Repeat till clear. Or if they are undead he can use charm, and not even need to FD or reset unless he gets a bad series of resists.

Couple points:

#1 Mages will potentially have root nets. Not saying they'll be common or affordable, but they are a classic item that will exist.

#2 Necros won't just be charming undead ... if the classic reports are implemented, they (and Shaman) will have full Charm at launch :)

[Nagoya]

for me this feels so unfair for the Mage.

Mages are great duoers and groupers.
Necros are great soloers.

You are not comparing the same things at all.
You want to solo, play a solo class, which mages are not.

Mages shine the most in a duo/trio, good in full groups, summoning booze for everyone and typing up stories while the pet is working wonders for them. It's a social class.

Necros shine the most alone in some kind of dark dungeon, being a toolbox and some 100% autonomous and independant gurls. It's an anti-social class.

pick your addiction.

(PS: necros are actually fun in a group too.)
(PS: mages can actually solo a little.)
(PS: that doesn't change shit to what i just posted about.)

[Izmael]

Allizewsaur is a good example. It's a level 50, high HP mob which comes single and is pure melee.

A 55 necro will snare, fear, stick pet on it and maybe a dot or two, and finish the fight close to full mana.

If i remember correctly, it takes 2 epic mage pets to kill this guy, so if the 55 mage is not epic'd, he will have to chain X pets and finish close to OOM.

And that's on a single, pure melee mob. Every single additional factor such as multi-mob camp, caster mobs, roamers, gaters... will make the necro look even stronger compared to the mage.

[Deathrydar]

I love the mage class and I really want to continue playing my mage

Your search for which class to play should stop here!

[loramin]

If i remember correctly, it takes 2 epic mage pets to kill this guy, so if the 55 mage is not epic'd, he will have to chain X pets and finish close to OOM.

For example, mages are the only lvl 50 class that can solo alizusaur (lvl 50 mob w/ 15k hp).


I'm confused: one person is saying you need a 55 mage (ideally with epic) to solo the Gojira wannabe, and the other is saying you can do it in classic with a level 50. Who's leaving out relevant details? ;)

(I'll just leave the question of "why would anyone want to solo him?", when he barely drops anything worth the trouble, unanswered ...)

[Wallicker]

Laughing at the fact you think only a mage can solo Allizewsaur

[loramin]

Laughing at the fact you think only a mage can solo Allizewsaur

Are you saying that for level 50 or 60? I don't think anyone said "only Mages can solo Allizewsaur ... on Blue at level 60".

But having never played either a mage or necro at 50, in classic (ie. with crap gear), I'm curious to hear someone who has weigh in (with more than just a laugh).

Soloing a max-level even con (with any class/mob) is usually quite a challenge.

[Wallicker]

Multiple classes can solo alli on green hell a 46 bard could easily solo naked

[Izmael]

I mentionned level 55 just for the sake of an example.

If a 50 mage can solo him, I don't see why a 50 necro can't?

[Wallicker]

Enchanter, shaman, bard can all solo it at lvl 50, probably a deranged ranger as well

[Wallicker]

Add him to the green classic solo artist challenge!

[loramin]

Enchanter, shaman, bard can all solo it at lvl 50, probably a deranged ranger as well

See, this is why I'm so skeptical. I have a Shaman as my main, and with all the toys (including Torpor, which is basically level 61 for Shaman) I still die fairly often when I try to solo level 60 mobs. Even cons of any level are hard (even < 10, but especially once you leave the newbie zone), and max level ones more so ... even non-casters. Resists suck (50 Shaman don't have Malo), and if you can't slow or root something that's your level it's going to beat the crap out of you, quickly.

I'm not saying it's impossible: you can do a lot of silly stuff if you're willing to run around in circles for days. But I guess maybe we're both reading this differently. When I think "can solo it" I'm thinking reliably, like the class can farm the mob, and not take several hours to do so.

When you say it, are you thinking "it's possible, but you might die 50+% of the time", and we're just meaning different things? Or do you really think a 50 Shaman can reliably kill an even con (and specifically the OOT lizard)?

[Wallicker]

I’m saying I could kill it 100% of the time on those 3 classes, they solo it better than a mage, the necro would have to get super lucky landing spells bc they can’t chain a 490mana pet that isn’t as strong as a mages.

[loramin]

I’m saying I could kill it 100% of the time on those 3 classes, they solo it better than a mage, the necro would have to get super lucky landing spells bc they can’t chain a 490mana pet that isn’t as strong as a mages.

"Fraps or it didn't happen" ;)

Look, as a Shaman, what do you do when your slows get resisted? Which they will fairly often because it's hard to land stuff on an even con?

Again, I'll grant that if you're willing to spend long enough running in circles you can keep making attempts on a mob despite needing to make a hard resist check. But A) that takes forever, and B) even then, there's limits.

You don't have mana-free epic damage or JBB damage in classic. Your only "mana free damage" is your pet, and of course if you leave him alone with the mob he'll die fast. When you run out of mana, you have to sit and med (or maybe cann-dance, briefly, but no Torpor + Cann).

So you try casting on the lizard, and maybe you even get lucky and land a slow initially, but then he resists a bunch, and ... then what? You can run around and med up, but any damage you do will fade while that happens, and you're back to square one.

I'm not just trying to argue, so I want to be clear: I'm not in any way saying a 50 Shaman can never kill him. I'm just trying to understand your strategy for dealing with limited mana and a bunch of resists from an even con.

[Wallicker]

I’ll do it without slow, listen loramin just because I’m in another league you don’t need to get angry, I don’t have a 50 shaman but I’ll go fraps me killing it on a 47 enchanter and send it to you. The same concept would apply to the shaman killing it.

[loramin]

I’ll do it without slow, listen loramin just because I’m in another league you don’t need to get angry, I don’t have a 50 shaman but I’ll go fraps me killing it on a 47 enchanter and send it to you. The same concept would apply to the shaman killing it.

First off, no one here is angry, unless you are. I'm just trying to get you to explain your claim.

Same problem with root then: what do you when root gets resisted? Or are you somehow going to run him around un-slowed and un-rooted while he takes minimal DoT damage because he's moving (from the few rare DoTs you even manage to land on him)?

If this is so obvious, why not just explain your strat? It will take a handful of sentences to do so.

[Wallicker]

It’s more fun this way, want to make a 5k wager for each class, bard, sham, ench. I’ll kill him lvl 50 or below on each, self buffed, naked.

[loramin]

It’s more fun this way, want to make a 5k wager for each class, bard, sham, ench. I’ll kill him lvl 50 or below on each, self buffed, naked.

That might be considered RMT so I'm not going to bite.

But look, you're acting like I'm asking you to report your deepest and darkest fears or something here. You wrote:

I’m saying I could kill it 100% of the time on those 3 classes

Not me. But you still haven't answered whether that "100% of the time" includes hours and hours of running around with the lizard behind you, desperately trying to land stuff on an even con. If that's what you mean, then I have no disagreement with you whatsoever, so just say so.

But if you mean, "I show up on lizard isle with a nekid 50 shaman, and in 10 min I guarantee there's a lizard corpse and no Shaman corpse" ... great! I'll 100% believe that too. All you have to do is use the English language, the same way you have in past posts, to describe how.

[Wallicker]

Lol okay so you show up naked:
Step 1) summon max level pet
Step 2) sow yourself and pet
Step 3) haste pet
Step 4) locate giant lizard man
Step 5) https://wiki.project1999.com/Insidious_Fever
**above spell has a one sec cast time and debuff + 4 counters**
Step 6) send in dog
Step 7) run around and reapply aggro kiting, assuming dog does 20 dps dead in 12 minutes risk free.

[Wallicker]

Enchanter can do same thing with tash and pet

[Wallicker]

Bard just spams dots

[loramin]

Lol okay so you show up naked:
Step 1) summon max level pet
Step 2) sow yourself and pet
Step 3) haste pet
Step 4) locate giant lizard man
Step 5) https://wiki.project1999.com/Insidious_Fever
**above spell has a one sec cast time and debuff + 4 counters**
Step 6) send in dog
Step 7) run around and reapply aggro kiting, assuming dog does 20 dps dead in 12 minutes risk free.

Now was that so hard? And really you could have saved yourself the trouble of writing all that and instead just said "use a low mana spell to hold aggro while pet kiting", but I appreciate the details anyway :)

[bigjeff100]

You answered your own question in your post. Necro can do A, B, C, D, E and Mages can do A, B.

You also have nearly an impossible epic to complete due to how everyone wants to sell a key piece of the Magician epic (Earth Staff) for like 1 million plat. Necros get a Duckstick that costs around 200k total if you don't join a raiding guild / farm plat.

Mage pets are still quite a bit stronger than Necro pets, but that's about all they have going aside from nukes and summoning items. If you want to root something, you need to have an earth pet or root nets.

Btw.. What is that skeleton head on the end of the necro epic supposed to be? From what monster? All i can think of is Sarnak?

[bwe]

A duck

[Vexenu]

Phinny water staff and a 60 water pet is a nice consolation prize if you can't get the epic. Crazy damage, especially if pet is not tanking and can backstab. Plus even as a 60 Mage you hardly need any gear so you could literally fill two bags full of root nets rather than buy marginal gear upgrades. Necros are still better overall but there's something to be said for the brute Force DPS of the Mage.

[Aaramis]

Phinny water staff and a 60 water pet is a nice consolation prize if you can't get the epic. Crazy damage, especially if pet is not tanking and can backstab.

This is pretty much the goal for most Mages, I think.

Really torn on the Mage vs Necro camp though.
Love Mage as a class, but love the toolkit of the Necro.
Arrrgh.

[Wallicker]

Mage to 50 before Kunark then necro!

[1asdfasdf1]

$0.02

Multiple necros in a group or raid: their DoTs don't stack. Multiple mages: All their pets and nukes stack.

Mage epic is a beast. Maybe one of the most OP epics in the game. My mage is only 38 or so but I find a lot of his summons are frequently useful to myself and others.

I play both and they're both fun.

[brokenpromise]

$0.02

Multiple necros in a group or raid: their DoTs don't stack. Multiple mages: All their pets and nukes stack.

Mage epic is a beast. Maybe one of the most OP epics in the game. My mage is only 38 or so but I find a lot of his summons are frequently useful to myself and others.

I play both and they're both fun.

I really do love the mage class. It's not for everyone but I just love the pure dps of mage

[commongood]

$0.02

Multiple necros in a group or raid: their DoTs don't stack. Multiple mages: All their pets and nukes stack.

Mage epic is a beast. Maybe one of the most OP epics in the game. My mage is only 38 or so but I find a lot of his summons are frequently useful to myself and others.

I play both and they're both fun.

This is perhaps a bit lacking in nuance. Necros are mostly terrible DPS on raids, this is true (zones with undeads to charm change the equation, like Plane of Fear). But I never (at least very seldomly) see mages with their pets out on raids. So the mage is sadly not able to fully flourish as a dps-class on raids on P99.

Necros get the "subversion" spell line AKA "twitches" which allow them to give mana to other players. On raids this is used to a very large extent as the necros "feed" mana to clerics which means that necros stack quite well.

Mages make mod rods and CotH. That is also important. Neither shine as DPS on raids.

[Bardp1999]

Given enough warriors and clerics, every other class is 100% optional in the raid scene