Advice on strategy for a Wizard

[Ravager]

Originally Posted by Kuch7 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm sure competing with Dial-a-Port and making 200pp an hour is fine at level 30. Compare that to 800pp an hour a competent mage makes with Seafuries at 46+, and porting doesn't get you very far financially speaking.

If you like to do sea furies on your mage, you really shouldn't encourage a wizard to come over.

Grouping in dungeons is quite profitable and way better than fighting 12 people for 6 spawns.

[mgellan]

Wizzies are a lot of fun, just try to go somewhere where you can solo or group as the mood takes you. See the Hunting Guide below for recommendations on where you can go.

Regards,
Mg (maining Jiraze 60 wiz)

[Troxx]

Perhaps I should clarify.

This server is notorious for class discrimination. Sit in groups long enough and you will see it come through when it comes time to replace people who leave. Of all the classes that struggle - wizards have it the worst. Hell, even necromancers who bring a whole lot of everything to the table don't get invites easily. My point here is we've got a guy new to this server who has experience with the wizard class from live. Wizards on live from luclin onwards just get better - to the point that they are a premier dps class both for raid burns and for standard groups. Wizards here are very different. The new guy should know up front what his challenge will be and why it will be a challenge.

The argument that wizards bring a whole lot of "other" to the table is just disingenuous. 3/3 priests, 3/4 int casters, 1/3 tanks, and 1 melee class get root. 5 other classes get snare. Multiple classes can stun. These extra jobs aren't even jobs a wizard does better, it's just an optional extra they can do. Druids for example, do everything a wizard does for a group on top of a wide range of buffs and heals. The only thing a Druid does worse is flat out nuke - and the math already shows us that outside of a burn even the best nuking class can't put down consistent damage pull after pull. Mages have the benefit of a pet that puts out more sustained by itself than most reasonably well geared and buffed melee in their 50s ... their nukes are just extra icing on the cake that's still close to what a wizard can manage over time.

It's a niche class. If you enjoy it, by all means play it. If you want so solo quad - they're good for that. If you want to burn raid mobs - again, they are good for that too. If you want to get groups outside of charity invites or hunting exclusively with friends ... you might just find the life of the wizard to be lonely and frustrating.

For the record, I have/had plenty of wizard friends and have a nasty habit of inviting random people lfg even if we don't need them or their class isn't ideal. The social aspect is what I enjoy about eq - and sitting lfg for hours sucks.

[kjs86z]

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

Perhaps I should clarify.

This server is notorious for class discrimination. Sit in groups long enough and you will see it come through when it comes time to replace people who leave. Of all the classes that struggle - wizards have it the worst. Hell, even necromancers who bring a whole lot of everything to the table don't get invites easily. My point here is we've got a guy new to this server who has experience with the wizard class from live. Wizards on live from luclin onwards just get better - to the point that they are a premier dps class both for raid burns and for standard groups. Wizards here are very different. The new guy should know up front what his challenge will be and why it will be a challenge.

The argument that wizards bring a whole lot of "other" to the table is just disingenuous. 3/3 priests, 3/4 int casters, 1/3 tanks, and 1 melee class get root. 5 other classes get snare. Multiple classes can stun. These extra jobs aren't even jobs a wizard does better, it's just an optional extra they can do. Druids for example, do everything a wizard does for a group on top of a wide range of buffs and heals. The only thing a Druid does worse is flat out nuke - and the math already shows us that outside of a burn even the best nuking class can't put down consistent damage pull after pull. Mages have the benefit of a pet that puts out more sustained by itself than most reasonably well geared and buffed melee in their 50s ... their nukes are just extra icing on the cake that's still close to what a wizard can manage over time.

It's a niche class. If you enjoy it, by all means play it. If you want so solo quad - they're good for that. If you want to burn raid mobs - again, they are good for that too. If you want to get groups outside of charity invites or hunting exclusively with friends ... you might just find the life of the wizard to be lonely and frustrating.

For the record, I have/had plenty of wizard friends and have a nasty habit of inviting random people lfg even if we don't need them or their class isn't ideal. The social aspect is what I enjoy about eq - and sitting lfg for hours sucks.

/thread

[Jimjam]

Basically Troxx is right on the capabilities of a wizard.

As already pointed out they aren't useless; they are there to root, stun, dispel and provide the occasional burst or kite. Others can generally do it just as well, and in their defence, damageless roots synergise well with mez, and I miss them greatly when playing a ranger or druid.

It is nice to have a character that isn't going to be spending mana on heals/slows/etc so you can rely on them to have mana when ancillary utility.

While they sadly lack a damageless stun, they do have good variety in their stuns and also have a very nice/low aggro push nuke from 16.

Despite their (limited?) utility I can see why they are looked down on. Played lazily they are next to useless in a group. Played badly they at a liability in a group. Played well they are unnoticeable in a group.

[Cen]

My bard has been denied twice in groups because of a hatred of bards. One guy was on about how useless they are, but the other guy just seemed to have a more personal seething hatred of them in general. Both times it was a mage involved. Which sort of makes sense because those two classes dont work so well together at all.

I can imagine wizard discrimination is a nightmare

[Vexenu]

I used to quad Seafuries on my Wizard back when the island was less crowded. Every now and then you'd get a quad with gems on each cyclops. 500pp or thereabouts from a single quad - about 2 minutes of actual gameplay. Now that was good money. Too much competition for that these days, though.

I echo Troxx's sentiments about Wizards. Especially these days post-Chardok AOE nerf, you've got to be a masochist, a super hardcore raider or an inveterate and inexplicable lover of the Wizard class to play one to 60. They just aren't very good for much of anything besides dropping nukes on raid mobs. That's really it. They're most niche class in the game by a country mile. But in their defense, it's a pretty solid niche. A well-geared, level 60 raiding Wizard is a serious asset to any guild. But it's a hell of a long and boring road to get there.

[Kaezyr D`Shiv]

Once upon a late night Sebilis group, my group (started out mainly guildies) moved to Fungus King from NG. Then I, even as a 60 Wizard, had the opportunity to see the Myconid Spore King spawn, and drop Fungus Covered Scaled Tunic. I EVEN got to roll on said tunic!! Even being a wizard, despite everything everyone always says about wizards in groups, this new group with maybe only 1 guildy, didn't disclude me from the privelege of rolling on this highly sought after item.

Well, I lost the roll, and a monk alt (who already had one and had someone transfer it for him in EC on a mule) won the roll for it. (Thats P99 for you)

What can i say, your mileage may very. That said, i plan to try grouping in Sebilis again very soon as a 60 Wizard.

Will I, or any other wizard see a Fungus King group again? Your thoughts??

Btw, if you see me LFG in Sebilis pick me up please and thank you!!

[Lojik]

Get a flux staff. Might be questable at your level. It's great for tagging mobs for quadding and can also be used to to root park mobs out of LoS in dungeons.

[Sonark]

#wizardlivesmatter