Magician or necro?
 

Another thread I started got me re-thinking the class I will choose. So I wanted to start a new thread on that subject, so it'll show up nicely for future searches if others have the same question.

The big question = For pet class, Magician or necro?

My research so far says:

Necros might have more survivability if the fight goes bad (can fear and run, FD). Necros would need a little room if they are fear kiting. Necros are a powerful solo class.

Mages seem to have strong pets, and can tank a monster on the spot without kiting around. Mages are wanted more in groups (I think), but still good soloers (I think).

Both have to deal with pet stealing XP over 50% damage.

Which would you choose from these two, and why? I can see benefits from both, but I don't know how they play in P99 in higher levels. I do want to raid some day, so are mages better for raids?

Really depends on what you want.

Necro has more survivability and is a better exp grinder, but it's also a lot more complex. Mages really just send in pet/med and then stand up to nuke every now and again. If they're soloing they have to chain pets but otherwise it's a pretty simple class

If you want to be a bad ass and actually be useful, go necro. Mages are too simple and boring.

This is just my opinion.

Well the current meta for magicians is to chain-summon their pet because the pet heals are so inefficient, so that kind of gives you a feel for the magician class as it stands.

If you want to be dps and summon food/water for your groups, I would go mage. If you want to support heals, CC, dps, or have the best mana regen in the game, I would go necro.

I'm currently playing a necro on p99 (first time with the class) and I love it. I used to play a bard so the utility of a necro is really fun for me - I love wearing the hat of support healer and CCer at the same time. I also love being able to solo extremely efficiently.

The only downside to a pet class (and it is worth taking note of) is having to deal with pets. Pets can have extremely irritating pathing (read: pulls entire mob after falling through the floor on a dungeon) and extremely irritating AI (will not stop attacking a mob you are trying to mez, etc etc). 90% of the time they are fine, but those 10% can be annoying for you and your group.

PS - go Iksar. Long live the brotherhood of scales

I have both and when I am lazy, which I seem to be more lately, I play my Mage. But a Necro is WAY WAY more powerful what they can do than a Mage hands down. Big time. There is nothing spells wise a necro does not get in this game but sow and ports. And with J Boots that only leaves one line of spells they don't get. :p

They are in the top tier of classes that are best for soloing top loot. Now as to grouping you will do better as a Mage than a Necro for getting them. They both are cheap classes and fun classes to play but both, to me, can get boring as hell sort of quick doing the same thing over and over again. :(

... mages also get the best ds in the game (has FR on it too and its a group buff.) one of two classes that can Malo, can CC with earth pet, can stun with air pet to mitigate damage and/or interrupt casters. summons not just food and water but throwing daggers, arrows, 10 slot 100% weight reduc bags, EB items, pet toys, the works. CoH is huge and is not just for getting group members too you. lots of tricks with it as it erases agro. most powerful epic in game (also hardest to get.) pets immune to fear in velious, not sure when necro gets their fear immunity on the spectre pet (may already be the case.) gets monster summoning, one of the most fun spells in the game. speaking of fun spells bristlebanes bundle summons alcohol, spin the bottle, fireworks, and cake. i guess i should mention mod rod because mod rod is awesome. and ultimately can out dps a necro any day of the week (twice on sunday) on single target mobs. mages can also do something in raids other than twitch cleric.

oh there is more. mage owns. as far as chain summoning pets? only a moron would waste time doing that. if you want the best xp then duo with a necro or druid. mage soloing is just fail as mages have the ability to compliment almost every class.

all that being said, id go necro if you have social anxiety or plan to be soloing most of the time.

Before a bluebie chimes in with, "but necromancer epic more rare/harder to get" necromancer epuc sucks so naw

If you foresee yourself spending the majority of your time soloing then definitely pick a necro.

If you plan to do mostly grouping then I would go with mage personally. Grouping is where mages really shine for reasons already stated.

Yes, necros can do fine in groups and yes mages can solo etc etc.

Do you want to Fear Kite or Pet Tank?

Do you want to summon corpses or armor / weapons?

Do you like zombies or elementals?

Sorry but SK epic is the hardest to get, Mage one sucks and is tedious, but not that hard. (done both on live back in the day)