They are very good in their specialized niche, which is helping kill raid mobs quickly. They are extremely, extremely good at this, all through the timeline of this project. They are absolute raid DPS monsters in Kunark with 32k HP dragons. But even in Velious their DPS holds up thanks to bane nukes and numerous ultra-high AC raid mobs.
They also help with raid mobilization and are obviously the only ticket to Hate/Sky. Translocate spells are VERY useful in Velious also, and not to be underestimated. Not only do they allow for some interesting pulling tricks, but melees will generally love having you around to TL them to bind.
They are by far the lowest responsibility and lowest APM (actions per minute) class in the game, which can have great appeal for a certain type of player. If you want to rack up DKP in the easiest way possible while still actually contributing to kills, play a Wizard.
You can also level a Wizard faster (in terms of actual time spent playing the game) than almost any other class besides Bard. In a good quadding spot you can pull and kill 4 mobs in under 2 minutes, then AFK for ten minutes and med before doing it again. It's very efficient and again appeal to a certain type of player who likes to multitask while playing EQ.
Then downside of a Wizard is that you have very little to offer XP groups. The best-played grouping Wizards basically function as a poor man's Enchanter with a dash of Paladin. Your mana is much better spent tossing out tons of root CC and well-timed stuns rather than nukes. You simply can't sustain good DPS over the course of a grind, even with Clarity and Bard song (and if you have an Enchanter and a Bard then guess what? The group isn't benefiting from your mediocre CC, either).
It really comes down to knowing yourself as a player. If you're guild and raid focused, don't mind quadding for 95% of your XP and prefer a low responsibility, low-APM playstyle, Wizard is a great choice. If you're a more casual player, enjoy the grouping aspect of the game and prefer a more active playstyle, you will be miserable with a Wizard.
|