[August]

I didn't read any of this thread so now I will share my opinion.

Wizards suck because their utility functions are redundant and they provide no other benefit except for damage.

Wizards get better when casters can actually increase their potency.

Melee classes benefit from haste, fungi tunics, better weapons - all of them increase their damage.

Caster classes cannot increase their DPS at all. It's static between levels. The only thing you can increase is your mana pool - which is really just a statement of 'I can get X amount of nukes from full'. In a sustained situation where you're never full mana, your mana pool actually means nothing. Mana regen is static, it does not scale with how much you have, so it really benefits you nothing.

This is the reason enchanters can sacrifice int for CHA - we really lose nothing, however CHA increases our potency as an enchanter due to increased charm times.

Enchanters also charm, which means our potency scales with level.

Necros can fear, feign death, have a pet, steal life (self heal) - this makes them more powerful. These are class abilities, though, and can't be buffed.

Same with mage. A mage is a wizard in this era that has a pet.

The game is completely broken for the wizard in specifics. To play one, you need to want their specific utility functions - ports, ae snare, ae dmg, and large nukes. A naked 60 wizard is just as good as a fully robed 60 wizard.