Wizard Viability

[zoso]

I've seen so much conflicting information.

I have seen posts that say Wizards are the worst class in the game; I have seen others that suggest that they are the top raid DPS on AoW and other Kael fights.

Which is actually true? Sure, wizards aren't good in xp groups and are mostly solo machines. Got it.

Do they actually top DPS charts in raids to make up for this? Are they more than just port machines in Kunark / Velious raids? Do guilds need them for their DPS, and not just their mobility?

Are their lures / bane spells actually strong, or are they bandaids for an extremely underwhelming class?

[Pringles]

Generally wizards are out dpsed by most melee classes on raid mobs once they have velious raid weapons and maybe even before that for some like rogue/monk. Never heard of them being better the longer you are fighting as it takes a long time to med even one bane/lure once you've blown your load.

Basically there is a reason they were given so many new toys in Luclin.

[Vexenu]

They are very good in their specialized niche, which is helping kill raid mobs quickly. They are extremely, extremely good at this, all through the timeline of this project. They are absolute raid DPS monsters in Kunark with 32k HP dragons. But even in Velious their DPS holds up thanks to bane nukes and numerous ultra-high AC raid mobs.

They also help with raid mobilization and are obviously the only ticket to Hate/Sky. Translocate spells are VERY useful in Velious also, and not to be underestimated. Not only do they allow for some interesting pulling tricks, but melees will generally love having you around to TL them to bind.

They are by far the lowest responsibility and lowest APM (actions per minute) class in the game, which can have great appeal for a certain type of player. If you want to rack up DKP in the easiest way possible while still actually contributing to kills, play a Wizard.

You can also level a Wizard faster (in terms of actual time spent playing the game) than almost any other class besides Bard. In a good quadding spot you can pull and kill 4 mobs in under 2 minutes, then AFK for ten minutes and med before doing it again. It's very efficient and again appeal to a certain type of player who likes to multitask while playing EQ.

Then downside of a Wizard is that you have very little to offer XP groups. The best-played grouping Wizards basically function as a poor man's Enchanter with a dash of Paladin. Your mana is much better spent tossing out tons of root CC and well-timed stuns rather than nukes. You simply can't sustain good DPS over the course of a grind, even with Clarity and Bard song (and if you have an Enchanter and a Bard then guess what? The group isn't benefiting from your mediocre CC, either).

It really comes down to knowing yourself as a player. If you're guild and raid focused, don't mind quadding for 95% of your XP and prefer a low responsibility, low-APM playstyle, Wizard is a great choice. If you're a more casual player, enjoy the grouping aspect of the game and prefer a more active playstyle, you will be miserable with a Wizard.

[Videri]

Gorenaire has a cold-based AE that applies a 70% attack speed slow to everyone in a wide radius around her and is really hard to resist. Spells are not affected by this, so wizards are really helpful to defeat her.

I have seen posts that say Wizards are the worst class in the game; I have seen others that suggest that they are the top raid DPS on AoW and other Kael fights.

Since any given wizard has a set maximum mana pool, they will do a fixed amount of damage per raid target (assuming they live through the whole fight). If the fight is long, melee classes will out-DPS wizards. However, the shorter the fight gets, the better the ratio of damage wizards will have. They do the same X damage by dumping their mana pool whether the fight is 40 seconds long or 5 minutes. In fact, each wizard shortens the fight by some amount; so the more wizards you have, the better wizards become. For each raid target, there is some critical number of wizards where if you have enough of them, they top DPS. Too few wizards and melees will do more over time. I'm finding it a little tough to explain it in one sentence this morning, but perhaps you get the idea I'm trying to illustrate, and perhaps someone else can describe it better.

[Baler]

Wizard is not the worst class in the game. Wizard is arguably the worst class in velious due to end game raid targets having much bigger hit points. Other than a few cases rogues will 9/10 out dps a wizard in velious.

That said, Classic and Kunark raid targets are still excellent cannon fodder for wizards.

Example: https://wiki.project1999.com/Gorenaire
20-30 wizards can 1 shot this kunark dragon. I've seen kills in under 60 seconds on it.

So. you'll see me say wizards are the worst class in velious and this is due to their spells additional velious spells being lack luster.
Don't cry to me when you're stuck porting people to Hate/Sky for an hour each visit. :o

[pokishi]

If you can/like quad kiting, you can level your Wizard all the way to 60 np. In group scenario's, groups shouldn't be bad until you hit your 50's. At that point you offer very little to a group outside of ghetto CC. Melee with velious gear will always out DPS you. Your biggest contribution will be to burst down a fleeing mob, something you actually excel at doing.

In raids, your primary function, sadly, is mobilization. TL's are king in raids to get your guild to where they need to be fast. You need to quest your Bane spells though they are not really difficult. On a positive note, Kunark dragons are of such low health that a wizard strike team are capable on burning them down in mere seconds, after avoiding AE fear.

[Kirdan]

Wizards are the kings of old world and kunark raid dps (except some sky fights where mobs are virtually spell immune) due to the 32k hp cap on targets.

Bane spells are very underrated in velious. A bane wizard can compete for the top of parses on many fights (some dragons are not eligible porlos' fury targets, statue+AoW are not eligible hsagra's wrath targets, and there is no Dain-bane or Tunare-bane) without requiring the same healing support that rogues require to compete for the top. Add in the utility of ports, evac, and translocates, as well as additional power in some AoE clear situations (mainly fear), and the argument that wizards are the worst class in velious falls completely flat.

People who say that are generally basing it on the fact that wizards are not as good at putting out consistent high dps numbers in a group xp setting where pulls are constant. Sebilis ain't everything.

[Videri]

Almost everything in Norrath has a purpose, including Wizards.

If wizards are so bad, how come raid guilds have a bunch of them? ;)