The current state of Mages on project 99?

JeremyDS · #1 12-19-2013, 06:55 PM

I have been doing some searches about mages on project 99. I am unclear as to weather the pet Agro issues have ever been addressed, and if while in a group your group must out damage your pet to not lose 50% xp to your pet? Also if your in a group does the group have to outdamage all the pets or just out damage the one that did the most damage?

Basicly , what is the current state of the mage class, and is it still a powerhouse solo, or a slowly leveling / grouping class? Would/will I be unsummoning my pet every fight solo , Is a necromancer a better bet these days? Thank you for any information, most of the stuff I found was a year or two old.

Estu · #2 12-19-2013, 07:11 PM

Pet aggro is still difficult.

If you group, pet EXP penalty doesn't come into effect.

Best way to get around EXP penalty solo is to reclaim when mob is almost dead and nuke it.

Necros are better soloers, as they've always (?) been.

Tikker · #3 12-21-2013, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Pet aggro is still difficult.

it's the AoW "fix" that's breaking pet agro

Estu · #4 12-21-2013, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tikker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

it's the AoW "fix" that's breaking pet agro

I don't know what that means.

Tann · #5 12-21-2013, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Estu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't know what that means.

I'm thinking its the "fix" that was implemented on pet agro because the first couple AoW kills were done via charmed giant pets, at the time tanks didn't have the hp to survive those quad hits for 1100ish each and kicks for 600-700 coming every 2 seconds.. or something like that.

Legacy of Steel (along with another guild) did get the first legit kill after they patched pet agro, made us all nerdgasm when it was announced on the server.

Iumuno · #6 12-23-2013, 07:03 PM

I don't think the AoW thing is related.

First, it's out of line with patch history.

What happened with the AoW thing shouldn't substantially affect pet aggro in the end. What happened is the following:

1) The original classic pet aggro rule was that mobs would attack a pet if players were in range only if the pet was a) on top of the theoretical aggro list and b) closest melee target.

2) Then a patch changed that rule so that whoever was highest on the hate list. PC or pet, would get aggro. LoS killed the AoW a few days later. A patch came in pretty soon after

3) For a few days after pet aggro was almost non existent

4) Then another patch, which reverted to the 1) ruleset in terms of aggro generation, but coded NPC behavior so that they would always ignore pet if another PC was in melee range.

Itap · #7 12-19-2013, 07:25 PM

If you want to solo, you will be chain summoning pets. Reclaim pet for mana return once the mob is down to < 10%, then nuke the mob to get full experience. Buy lots of malachite

Iumuno · #8 12-19-2013, 07:42 PM

IMO: A class that was often a dubious choice in the classic era, particularly L51+, with few or no compelling reasons to invite in a group, that is even worse on P1999 with bugged pet aggro.

Edit: Although not personally tested on p1999, here is how it went on live back then. In a group a pet could take a "share" of xp, if it did over 50% of the total damage. So say you duo with a cleric, and the pet does 75% of the damage, than it would count as an additional group member, and it will take 33% of the damage. If you duo with a mage, both pet do 35% of the damage each, and the remaing 30% is done by the mages: then the pets will take no xp at all, since none of them did over 50% of the total damage.

So there are certain group situations in which a pet can take xp, but they should be rare.

Tecmos Deception · #9 12-19-2013, 08:22 PM

Mages are a rock solid choice for DPS in a group, Iumuno.

Iumuno · #10 12-20-2013, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Mages are a rock solid choice for DPS in a group, Iumuno.

And probably the best until the early 50s, at least untwinked. Back then on live though, they started to fall off the chart in the mid 50s and were definitely obsolete compared to melees by the late 50s.