Thinking of Wizard, a few questions (please no flames!)

[Kaitar]

<DIV>I'm pondering a wizard for my new Iksar I rolled when I re-opened my account. I have several reasons for this. A) I've played a melee class except for twice (Inquisitor in EQ2 a while ago and priest in WoW who never even got to 20) in every MMORPG I've had.  In WoW I played a Hunter...might as well call that a Ranger with a pet to help tank. I liked it a lot and found I was good at kiting and doing a fair amount of DPS. It was a nice change from the monk/warrior/paladin thing I usually go for.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, I read a few of the debates here and would like some nice clear answers without turning this into a big nasty flame war :smileyhappy:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1) DPS: how is the DPS on wizards?</DIV> <DIV>2) Solo : How well do they solo compared to a few other classes like fighter, priest, etc etc</DIV> <DIV>3) Kiting: Do wizards kite well? I know they don't take damage too hot from what I understand so of course kiting would have to be part</DIV> <DIV>of their tactics</DIV> <DIV>4) Fun factor: I like a challenge but at the same time I don't like incredibly slow killing (like what I got on my Inquisitor and my WoW priest). How "Fun" is Wizard using that statement above?</DIV> <DIV>5) Grouping: do Wizards have a useful role in groups?</DIV> <DIV>6) Stats: which are the best stats to focus on as an Iksar wizard? Int and wis?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks in advance for answers!</DIV>

[Stavenh]

<blockquote><hr>Kaitar wrote:<DIV>I'm pondering a wizard for my new Iksar I rolled when I re-opened my account. I have several reasons for this. A) I've played a melee class except for twice (Inquisitor in EQ2 a while ago and priest in WoW who never even got to 20) in every MMORPG I've had.  In WoW I played a Hunter...might as well call that a Ranger with a pet to help tank. I liked it a lot and found I was good at kiting and doing a fair amount of DPS. It was a nice change from the monk/warrior/paladin thing I usually go for.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, I read a few of the debates here and would like some nice clear answers without turning this into a big nasty flame war :smileyhappy:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1) DPS: how is the DPS on wizards?</DIV> <DIV>2) Solo : How well do they solo compared to a few other classes like fighter, priest, etc etc</DIV> <DIV>3) Kiting: Do wizards kite well? I know they don't take damage too hot from what I understand so of course kiting would have to be part</DIV> <DIV>of their tactics</DIV> <DIV>4) Fun factor: I like a challenge but at the same time I don't like incredibly slow killing (like what I got on my Inquisitor and my WoW priest). How "Fun" is Wizard using that statement above?</DIV> <DIV>5) Grouping: do Wizards have a useful role in groups?</DIV> <DIV>6) Stats: which are the best stats to focus on as an Iksar wizard? Int and wis?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks in advance for answers!</DIV><hr></blockquote>1. I find DPS to be good. Yes, warlocks are better at times, but the debate is still out. Mind you, they said all most all classes will be getting adjustments to DPS, so I suspect warlocks will be toned down.2. Solo is questionable. Certainly group mobs aren't something we can solo. So we have solo mobs availble to us. If your gear is in the yellow-orange range, this helps. If it's not, your gonna get pounded. However, they say agi is gonna mean more in avoiding being hit. The mitigation for light armor is going to be 10% of damage from an equal level mob. So it seems this means hit less, but harder when hit. Soloing isn't the easiest till you get Ring of Cold. It's an AE, and I have never had it break. Before that, it can be tricky, though they said they increased the effecitivness of other roots recently.3. Without snare, there is no kiting. If your running round, your fleeing.4. My friends often joke that I should at least let the mob get close enough to see my face before it dies. Or that they can spend 5 minutes taking a mob down 1-2 bubbles of health and I just come and nuke half it's life away in one shot. 5. This is where I shine, I feel. My buffs are liked, my procs are liked, and when you get the damage shield, this is liked as well. The main thing you bring to a group is DPS, extra power for others, and the over hyped evac. Evac isn't as amazing as people think it is. I've used a macrod Casting of Ring of Cold to save my friends more then evac does. (I have a call out for everyone to know that they can move back from the mobs because i am going to root it). I use evac more to get us to the exit then to save our hides. We experimented with the mezzes, but it didn't work as well. I use single roots on group encounters to hold the Boss mob in place while the rest pick off his cohorts. Works well.6. Int is good up to 200 with the soft cap. After 200, you get one power for one int. Other then that, currently INT doesn't do anything else. There is a push to get this changed. AGI and Stamina are good. More stamina means when you convert health to power, you won't be so close to death. Agi will help you get hit less.These are my experiences playing a wizard, others will have something else to say.But I hope this helps.

[Sorano]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kaitar wrote:<BR> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1) DPS: how is the DPS on wizards?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>DPS is good for wizzys with the exception of raid mobs. The majority of raid mobs are immune to cold and highly resistant to fire, so unless they fix this in a future update, be prepared to spend the endgame as a mana feeder. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Make sure you upgrade your nukes to at least adept1. If you have money to spare at lower levels, make adept3s. Ball of Fire will be your first high damage nuke and is a good candidate to upgrade. If you don't have money to spare, wait till your late 30s to upgrade to adept3, since you start getting the nukes you will be using at the endgame then. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Training options are vital to your wizzy. You receive them at lvl 10, 20, 30, and 40.  IMHO the first three choices you should make are</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Lvl 10-El'Arads Shielding. The upgrade to Magi's Shielding now scales with you and you will be using it at lvl 50.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Lvl20 Naedra's. This is the upgrade to Painful Meditation and is still something I use now because it is on a separate timer to your later lines of canni spells. It is in essence a free manastone.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Lvl30 Westfends Ice Spear. This is the upgrade to Ball of Fire and it eventually outgrows the adept3 of Ball of FIre. It is very useful to have a high damage cold nuke to alternate with all the fire based DD's we get and you will not regret getting it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2) Solo : How well do they solo compared to a few other classes like fighter, priest, etc etc</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Our soloing is dependant on one thing, how long our root lasts. As Stavenham said, we kill things a lot faster than other classes do, but it is a bit more risky to try to solo group mobs for us, since we die very fast. Until you get Ring of Cold, the unbreakable root in your 40's be prepared to run a lot on ^^ mobs. It is possible to solo a ^^ green, but it is dangerous since if root breaks they will kill you in 3-4 hits. We are losing parry in the upcoming combat changes and this might make soloing more difficult since you will no longer be able to avoid as well. But killing solo's should be reasonably easy for us, it's the group mobs we will have trouble with.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3) Kiting: Do wizards kite well? I know they don't take damage too hot from what I understand so of course kiting would have to be part</DIV> <DIV>of their tactics</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>No there isn't really much ability for us to kite since our spells can't be cast on the run. I did do a silly experiment with an imbued wand, by running round and round in circles while casting it, and it took me a good 5 mins to kill a solo grey mob. :smileyvery-happy:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>4) Fun factor: I like a challenge but at the same time I don't like incredibly slow killing (like what I got on my Inquisitor and my WoW priest). How "Fun" is Wizard using that statement above?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#33cc66>Wizards are a lot of fun. I love casting a big nuke and seeing a huge chunk of the mobs hps just go poof. You only really start running into frustrating things when you approach the endgame, and that is by in large due to our inability to do any kind of DPS on raid mobs. Hopefully by the time you get to 50, this will be fixed and you won't have to worry about it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>5) Grouping: do Wizards have a useful role in groups?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Yes we most certainly do! We add DPS, some nice resistance/power buffs and can even do a bit of CC to save the day with our roots. We can also mana feed healers if the situation is dire and they are OOP. I have to agree with Staveham on our evac though. It takes 5 secs to cast and is unreliable in that it will leave people behind if they happen to be standing on uneven ground. The majority of times I use it is to ferry my group across the zone.</FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>6) Stats: which are the best stats to focus on as an Iksar wizard? Int and wis?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#66cc66>Int until you hit the soft cap. I would focus on STA and AGI as well. It's good to have the extra hps, because when we get hit, we get hit hard!</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>

[Asterra]

Let me offer an endgame perspective. > 1) DPS: how is the DPS on wizards? SOE's stated intended DPS hierarchy is: Mages > Scouts > Warriors > Priests.  It would be safe to assume that Enchanters aren't supposed to be high on the scale since their class-defining abilities are strictly utility.  The current reality looks more like this: Warlocks > Bruisers / Berserkers / Shadowknights > Guardians / Scouts > Paladins / Wizards > Priests / Illusionists / Coercers.  Since I am speaking of raid DPS, there is quite a lot of variance here.  There are occasions where Illusionists do spectacular damage while Wizards in the same raid scarcely break 120.  DPS is slated for an overhaul, but the fact is that Wizards have already been adjusted, for all that it failed to accomplish the goal, and any further adjustment will be a long time in coming.  Get used to being, as another poster put it, the "red-headed stepchild". <div>> 2) Solo : How well do they solo compared to a few other classes like fighter, priest, etc etc A reasonably well-equipped and semi-competent Wizard can take on many of the double-up encounters and win.  Change that to two+ mobs, and they'd better be gray or the Wizard is likely to lose.  This is primarily because of the weakness of Wizard AE spells, which, in their current incarnation, serve more as a focus for player bewilderment than any legitimate source of DPS. </div> <div>> 3) Kiting: Do wizards kite well? I know they don't take damage too hot from what I understand so of course kiting would have to be part of their tactics I think this one's been covered.  Kiting in EQ2 is a very different process from what it is in EQ1.  Suffice it to say that it's beyond feasible for a Wizard. </div> <div>> 4) Fun factor: I like a challenge but at the same time I don't like incredibly slow killing (like what I got on my Inquisitor and my WoW priest). How "Fun" is Wizard using that statement above? Taking on double-up mobs can be said to be a fun challenge.  The risk of dying is ever present.  That said, being a fifth wheel during almost all raid encounters is the antithesis of fun. </div> <div>> 5) Grouping: do Wizards have a useful role in groups? Wizards provide adequate DPS against non-raid mobs.  A group generally wouldn't turn a Wizard down if they needed to fill a DPS slot.  That said, any informed group would have a very strong preference for a Warlock. </div> <div>> 6) Stats: which are the best stats to focus on as an Iksar wizard? Int and wis?</div> <div> </div> This depends on your goals.  Because of the soft cap on intelligence -> power, it could be argued that it's far more efficient to have a balance of intelligence, agility and stamina.  But ultimately, in the endgame, a Wizard's power is his purpose, and if you want to be able to say you're doing your utmost, just focus on intelligence and power, regardless of the dramatic decrease in gains.

[RSZ]

<P>My wizard became a solo mobmower once I got the ring of cold!</P> <P>Seriously, I am keeping Feerrott free of lizardmen groups one RoC at a time.  Making tons of cash and xp with it.</P> <P>Have paladin, warlock and wizard.  Wizard is the most joy to play.</P>

[Ironcleaver]

<div></div><div>1) DPS: how is the DPS on wizards?<b> </b><font color="#99ff99">Quite adequate. Once you get into your mid and late 30s</font><font color="#3366cc"><font color="#99ff99">, your DPS starts to really climb with such spells as Ball of Flames and Immolation.</font> </font> </div> <div>2) Solo : How well do they solo compared to a few other classes like fighter, priest, etc etc <font color="#99ff99">Much faster. I soloed from level 26 to 41 thus far and found I can kill with deadly speed. I also soloed a Tempar from 27 to 30 and found my wizard just chews through critters like a hot knife through butta. It would take a lot to kill my Templar, as he can heal himself, but the excitement deffently goes to the wizard.</font> </div> <div>3) Kiting: Do wizards kite well? I know they don't take damage too hot from what I understand so of course kiting would have to be part of their tactics <font color="#99ff99">No need to kite. I still use Frozen Manicals at my level, and it seems to hold quite well, well, most of the time. I guess you could grab one of the new wands (which can cast a 300 point nuke on the run) and wolf totems, though this could be expencive and in the long run, it would be just quicker to nuke stuff down fast.</font> </div> <div>4) Fun factor: I like a challenge but at the same time I don't like incredibly slow killing (like what I got on my Inquisitor and my WoW priest). How "Fun" is Wizard using that statement above?<font color="#99ff99"> </font><font color="#99ff99">On a scale from 1 to 10, I'd say a solid 8 for a fun factor, I love my wizard out of all my characters the most.</font> </div> <div>5) Grouping: do Wizards have a useful role in groups?</div> <div><font color="#99ff99">People do love our buffs, a weapon proc buff and multiable power proc buffs (I currently have 3 power proc buffs that all stack on the target, 1 being our levle 40 training spell which also returns some health). Evacuation Spell, a biggy for me. It may be a slow casting spell, and intrruptable, but it has saved my whole group from a complete wipe a few times. Damage, lots of damage.</font> 6) Stats: which are the best stats to focus on as an Iksar wizard? Int and wis? <font color="#99ff99">I play a woodelf wizard. woodelves are not know for their high int, but I do pretty good for myself. I souldn't focus on it too much right now, +power items are the way to go, but it dosen't hurt to have +int items as well. I only say this as there are rumors on the grape vine that Int might start ahveing more of a benift soon. <font color="#99ff33">My background: I soloed as a wizard form level 26 to 41, and grouped very little; my main chunk of xp was deffently from solo play. I have stuck with fighting yellow and orange con critters for most of this time. Currently I am levle 41, and fighting the lelve 46 deer in everfrost; nonstop chain pulling them at that.</font><font color="#99ff33"> </font><font color="#99ff33"> </font><font color="#99ff33">Well, I hope this helped, at least a bit.</font> </font></div> <div></div><p>Message Edited by Ironcleaver on <span class=date_text>05-02-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:27 PM</span>

[n0kn0k]

<div></div>As a lvl 50 whizzy in a highend guild i totally agree with <a target="_blank" href="../view_profile?user.id=33114"><span>Sorano</span></a> on all points.To add that when you choose your skills also take the Feeding spell at lvl 40 <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Dunno the exact name. My bad was that i didn't take it at that time.<div></div>

[Kaitar]

<DIV>Thanks guys for the answers! It helped a lot as I never have played a caster class in any game (unless you count FFXI Pld even though that was only light magic and definately was more a tank/warrior sort of thing.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[spyderopt]

"Re: Thinking of Wizard, a few questions (please no flames!)" When playing a wizard, you're the one doing the flaming. <span>:smileyvery-happy:</span>

[Kaitar]

:smileyvery-happy: I'm hoping to do some major flaming here in a few levels. Wizard just sounds fun, and it fits the RP I'm trying to do with this character better than a Warlock (for some reason I keep getting the Black Sabbath "the Wizard" song stuck in my head whenever I log onto Rasza...ehehehe!!)