Best mage at lvl 20

[Bjerde]

For grouping....who is the best at lvl 20ish , with say about 20ish aa's? Wiz, Warlock, Conj, Necro? I would level higher than 20 if there was a nice spell to give one and edge (ie- M2 spell) I have looked at spell lists, but it is kind of hard to tell...and with aa's I am not sure who has the best at lower levels.

[tass]

at 20 its either the necro or the conjurer. Id probably say the necro is better with all of those heal sucks and there mage pet. The sorcerers arent at there best until they hit lv 23 when ball of fire there main nuke comes out and at 24 when they can make it master 2.

[Splintered]

you forgot illus and coercer... but any of the 6 at lvl 20 if played right is the best.

[Leorange]

<cite>Bjerde wrote:</cite><blockquote>For grouping....who is the best </blockquote><p> I.m.o. you always go for <b>Qeynosians</b> when <b>grouping</b> is at focus, attack and defendwise.</p><p>It's like that with all freep archetypes: Going solo, the necro would be better then a conjy.  We Qs just work more ..as a team <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[tass]

lol what are u smoking. Everytime I ever killed a q or played a q those chickens ran their [Removed for Content] off the other way when I interviened. Learned a lesson as a q early on if someones getn beat on leave em to there fate.

[Abstract]

<b><i>if your gonna be grouped most of the time, i would say warlock. the have long casts but the encounter attacks have stuns and stifles that can really help to kill other groups.</i></b>

[Bozidar]

Warlock pwns at lvl 20.  There's no contest here folks, hands down <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Bjerde]

Thanks for the replies. After looking into this closer, the winner is Warlock....but just barely. Also it would make sense to go to lvl 22 for the AE upgrade (maybe 24 for M2) This comparison is for a grouping AE mage class. I am not focusing on single target spells, buffs or anything else. The Warlock and Wizard are tied at 2 for the amount of AE spells. They both have one AOE spell. I know further along the Wizard is more single target, but at low lvl they are basically identical (heat/cold vs poison/disease). I don't have the damage numbers on spells, but I can't imagine that they are that different from each other. The only bonus to the Warlock is that they have stuns and interrupts associated with these the three group nukes, which is pretty big in PvP. I found this site, is good for comparing spell lists <a href="http://www.eq2ref.com/abilities/diff.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.eq2ref.com/abilities/diff.php</a> Warlock - Suffocate (lvl 14) - Interrupts and deals great amounts of poison damage over time to all enemies surrounding the warlock. Wizard - Conflagration (lvl 14) - Deals great amounts of heat damage to all enemies surrounding the wizard. Conjuror - Seism (lvl 16) - Violently shakes the earth around the conjuror, dealing magic damage and knocking down all nearby enemies. Warlock - Negative Absolution (lvl 20) - Deals instant disease damage to the target and surrounding encounter members. Wizard - Chilling Wind (lvl 20) - Deals cold damage over-time to the target and surrounding encounter members. Necromancer - Grim Spellbinder (lvl 20) - Summons an evil warlock spirit to obey the necromancer. Conjuror - Igneous Apprentice (lvl 20) - Summons a native of the Plane of Fire to do the Conjuror's bidding. (AE nukes)    Warlock - Putrid Cloud (lvl 22) - Deals instant poison damage to target enemy and surrounding encounter members, plus stun. Wizard - Lightning Flash (lvl 22) - Deals magic damage over time for a short duration to target enemy and surrounding encounter members. Illusionist - Chromatic Storm (lvl 22) - Deals mental damage over time and interrupts the target and surrounding encounter members. When the spell duration expires, it interrupts the encounter again. Coercer - Simple Minds (lvl 22) - Deals mental damage over time and drains power of target enemy and surrounding encounter members.

[Bozidar]

<cite>Bjerde wrote:</cite><blockquote> Warlock - Negative Absolution (lvl 20) - Deals instant disease damage to the target and surrounding encounter members.</blockquote>This is all you need have said.. honestly.  lock at 20, get the really good high-teens treasured gear, some of that lvl 20 legendary/fabled stuff.. and you'll be bad-[Removed for Content].  Chances are that lvl 20 hand-crafted is better than lvl 12 mastercrafted in many cases, since you'll be getting STA out of it

[Abstract]

<b><i>warlocks have atleast 2 encounter spells that deal moderate to great damage at 24. not to mention the AoE they have deals around 100 damage every  second for 3 or 4 seconds, with a interupt. recast on aoe is really fast.</i></b>

[Titan-X]

<cite>Bjerde wrote:</cite><blockquote>For grouping....who is the best at lvl 20ish , with say about 20ish aa's? Wiz, Warlock, Conj, Necro? I would level higher than 20 if there was a nice spell to give one and edge (ie- M2 spell) I have looked at spell lists, but it is kind of hard to tell...and with aa's I am not sure who has the best at lower levels. </blockquote><p>I would say it would be either wizard or warlock. Both actually compliment each other in the same group surprisingly also. For PVP wizards get coldshield at 20 also which is the /anti scout win button most of the time (least at that level). At 20 it does around 200x's 3  pretty much one more nuke puts your opponent down if they are melee.  For AE's your right probably going to be a warlock hands down until 70. Like most subclasses each is going to have its greater strengths and AE damage is the Warlocks first function. I will tell you this, my 20 wizard in a group the other day with a 22 lock with better gear could keep up on dps on either solo or group encounters. Pretty even at a low tier..</p>

[Cocytus]

<p>It's a tough call. IMO, Wizards or illusionists.</p><p>Warlocks don't have hard enough single target nukes,  pets are easily overlooked at level 20, and coercers suck outside of groups.</p>

[Norrsken]

<cite>Cocytus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>It's a tough call. IMO, Wizards or illusionists.</p><p>Warlocks don't have hard enough single target nukes,  pets are easily overlooked at level 20, and coercers suck outside of groups.</p></blockquote>Correct me if Im wrong, but a buddy of mine has played two warlocks during the years he's been playing eq2 (a cps of months after release) and according to him, warlocks have harder single target nuking capability than the wizard up to 50. and in group fights, a warlocks ae nukes are the bomb. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I enjoy watching the 3-4 healers in the enemy group squirm as my warlock buddy just unleashes hell and melts face on their entire group. A coercer is a good thing in groups as well, but as stated, solo they are weak below high 20, and its not really until t4 they come into their own and starts to rip people apart with ease. wizards are cool for dropping single targets, however, assassins do that just as well, or even better at 24. More survivability. Illus are about as useful as coercers at those levels, with a small pet that screams to the opposing group "I'm dangerous if I know how to play, kill me first". Because, and enchanter that is well played can effectively turn a group of 6 into a group of 3 active players in t3. And 3 on 6 aint the best of odds. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> So, to me, an enchanter is a high priority kill (Or at least someone should be on them making their job [I cannot control my vocabulary] hard) and they are easily dropped. giving me a pet that tells me exactly who you are makes you so much easier to find. On my illu, in groups, I dont have my pet up for just that reason. Others can do dps, I lock people down. Summoners; Do a nice single target damage, and once they get rolling, people start dropping. the amount of healing a necro can do to his pet at 20 is pitiful. What the necro brings to the fight that is a nice thing is a fear. Fear the healer, root him away from the main fight and tear him a new one. giggle when your root procs its fear again. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> My pick for groups is a warlock. What the other damage mages do to singel targets, they do to groups.  And not only do the damage kill, it also forces the healers in the opposing group to heal. My buddy has effectively made 4 healers do nothing but spam heals, and well, the rest of our group happily abliged in tearing them up one by one at that time. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Damage is CC in pvp. Hehe.

[EQ2Playa432]

Level 20 necros with all ad3 / master spells and a master mage pet is pretty powerful!