The life of a mage and the life of a wizard.

[Jauna]

What are they like?

I have a bunch of low-mid level gear leftover from a failed project and even from live and here on p99 I never touched a Mage or a Wizard.

[SewingMachine]

What are they like?

I have a bunch of low-mid level gear leftover from a failed project and even from live and here on p99 I never touched a Mage or a Wizard.

I have been back and forth on these 2 for a long time,

Magi: I like to summon stuff it seems that 80% of the time it trash but 20 food and 20 water from 2 spells is crazy nice. Your pets are fantastic at start lvls, you can solo if you enjoy that, and seem to have more options in the game. Nukes are 2nd best.

Wizard: Hard mode, you dont have a pet. Early lvls are hard, when i mean early i mean 1- 29 and even at 29 things are hard because you need certain items to set it up. But you know porting is very much worth it, its crazy nice to port around and easy you get money. Every one hates you in groups, unless you have nice mana flow. I would rather go wizard, its just so boring waiting for your mana to come back up to do anything.

Break it down to base, Porting vs Pet

[Vexenu]

They're both good classes if you're a lazy player. The question is, do you prefer to solo, duo and group or do you prefer to raid? If you're a lazy player in the first category, Mage is a great class. If you're big into raiding, however, Wizard is a better choice.

Speaking as someone who has both, I enjoy the Mage more. The Wizard is really just a very boring class if you aren't actively raiding. It's an excellent class for mobilizing allies and killing raid targets, but quite terrible for everything else. Druids are leaps and bounds more fun and useful than Wizards for everything except raid kills. If you're thinking you want to play a Wizard and aren't a hardcore raider I would strongly advise rolling a Druid instead.

The Mage is a lot of fun to play in groups. Low actions per minute make the class very relaxing, but you're still contributing a lot of DPS and some good utility. The Mage is also quite good at grinding out plat by brute force (i.e. killing guards, seafuries, giants, mass killing mid-level dungeons) but isn't a very capable dungeon soloer on the level of a Necro, Enchanter or Shaman. Even still, If you like to solo the Mage is superior to the Wizard in every way.

Overall, as an analogy, consider the Wizard an insufferable diva: undeniable talent in your limited niche, but if you aren't singing (blasting raid mobs or porting people to raids) no one really wants to be around you because people think you suck. On the other hand, consider the Mage as a talented and versatile karaoke singer: you're never really anyone's first choice ("Need DPS, Monk or Rogue pls"), but you can roll with pretty much anything (duo/trio like crazy) and people rarely leave disappointed when you're done ("Wow, I forgot how awesome CoTH is and how much DPS Mages can put out").

[Morningbreath]

Mages level easy early on and the combination of powerful pets and summoned WR bags means you can farm like crazy if you need money.

[Raev]

Only someone who has played a Wizard would consider a Magician versatile. Mages don't even get Root! (basically I agree with you though, the Wizard toolkit is simply appalling for 90% of EQ situations)

[Nixtar]

Only someone who has played a Wizard would consider a Magician versatile. Mages don't even get Root! (basically I agree with you though, the Wizard toolkit is simply appalling for 90% of EQ situations)

While they may not have a diverse set of spells their different kinds of pets allow them to do some creative things.

Also, if you go mage, get the focus items ASAP. No piece of gear will have as much impact as those. If pressed for cash, just pick one for pet you see yourself using the most. It is also neat to have an instant reclaim energy-button.

[Vexenu]

Only someone who has played a Wizard would consider a Magician versatile. Mages don't even get Root! (basically I agree with you though, the Wizard toolkit is simply appalling for 90% of EQ situations)

By versatile I was referring to the overall place of the Mage class in the game, rather than the breadth of their spells and abilities. Basically, despite their limitations, they can wear a surprising number of hats - i.e. they fit into a wide range of duos and trios for both XP and item farming, they easily slot into full groups as a DPS/utility, they can solo for XP amazingly well and solo grind plat very easily, they can PL decently (DS at low levels, pet reclaiming mid-high) and they have a limited but irreplaceable raid role with CoTH and are otherwise solid DPS and mana support.

All that being said, the lack of Root is annoying and constantly felt! Amazing how much difference that one spell can make to how a class plays.

[Fasttimes]

By versatile I was referring to the overall place of the Mage class in the game, rather than the breadth of their spells and abilities. Basically, despite their limitations, they can wear a surprising number of hats - i.e. they fit into a wide range of duos and trios for both XP and item farming, they easily slot into full groups as a DPS/utility, they can solo for XP amazingly well and solo grind plat very easily, they can PL decently (DS at low levels, pet reclaiming mid-high) and they have a limited but irreplaceable raid role with CoTH and are otherwise solid DPS and mana support.

All that being said, the lack of Root is annoying and constantly felt! Amazing how much difference that one spell can make to how a class plays.

carry a bag of root nets, problem solved.

[Pyrion]

If you do not want to raid, just don't do wizard. The real choice then comes down to druid versus mage. Druid is so much more versatile than wizard and only a little bit less efficient in DD spells... and for that small difference you get animal charms, roots with damage, single snares, heals, dots, buffs... it's not even funny.

[RDawg816]

Yeah, but a mage can dungeon crawl a lot better than a druid.

Also, mage spells are researched...that's always fun. :/

[Nixtar]

Also, mage spells are researched...that's always fun. :/

Not that hard to find people selling the spells you need though. Should easily be able to get funds when crawling through them dungeons.

[Pyrion]

Yea, a mage is totally an alternative for a druid. But a wizard isnt, unless you want to raid. That was the point.

[dafier]

Regarding Mage focus items, they come in to effect at level 16. Your level 16 up to 49 pet spells benefit from them. Yes, they are worth it because they give ~ 20% more HP to the summoned pet. That's all, but it's worth it.

Wizards aren't bad and they aren't necessarily hated in groups but there is a lot of medding even with Clarity. They are a burst DPS class and in the group scene it's nice especially when it comes to named mobs, but even with the burst it's difficult to solo when it comes to farming or xping.

Overall fun: Definitely the mage from beginning levels to upper.

[Wiley]

Regarding Mage focus items, they come in to effect at level 16. Your level 16 up to 49 pet spells benefit from them. Yes, they are worth it because they give ~ 20% more HP to the summoned pet. That's all, but it's worth it.

Are you sure on this? The size difference was notable with the lv4 pet(s) and the message from the focus item in chat was working lv5+ for me.

[Troxx]

I can confirm it works for low level Mage pets, prior to 16.

I quested them for my Mage when it was level 6 and it was working on pets in that range.

[dafier]

Umm...did they change this? If not...wow, I really though what I wrote was correct.

Looks like I am wrong. Sorry about that.

[Boyblunder]

What items specific items would you suggest for a new magi to get?

[jolanar]

What items specific items would you suggest for a new magi to get?

Get at least one of the focus items ASAP. Other than that, anything that gives raw hp or mana will be helpful early on, but not required since your pet will be tanking unless something is going wrong. Also getting to level 4 can be annoying without a better ratio weapon than your starting dagger, but once you have pet your weapon won't matter.

[username17]

What items specific items would you suggest for a new magi to get?

One or all of the 1st 4 items listed here: http://wiki.project1999.com/Magician#Magician_Focus_Items

[Baler]

Get the torch first if you can. Chain summon PL yourself to 50 ezpz

[jolanar]

Get the torch first if you can. Chain summon PL yourself to 50 ezpz

Serious question, when I chain cast fire pet he doesn't cast his damage shield in time before engaging. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of using the fire pet? Am I doing something wrong?

[Jaxon]

When you summon your new fire pet you'll need to back the pet off and kite the mob for a few seconds until you see the pet cast its damage shield, then you'll be good to send the pet in again.

[Jimjam]

I found spamming /pet back followed by /pet attack meant he would still get most of his swings in but would cast the fire shield almost as quick.

[Naerron]

Wizards:
Pros: Great travel ability, great burst DPS, useful on raids, easy epic.

Cons: Very gear dependent, hard to find groups, lots of down time, need to be able to kite to solo effectively

Comments: Wizards aren't for everyone but I know a lot of people who really enjoy their wizard. They are a class that peaks on single targets and winds up sitting a lot more than nuking. They are much like warriors in that they are very gear dependent. They need a very large mana pool to be a successful at soloing or grouping. You can get the whole quad kite to 5% health, but if you are OOM then GL finishing it off =) And they really start to shine with epic and a mana robe, but those aren't easily obtainable. Basically this is a class that requires a certain type of player that is willing to stick it out.

Mages:
Pros: Can solo and group easily. Can farm straight forward camps efficiently, some cool novelty spells. Good DPS. Getting loot on raids that is mage spefic is easy because there are few raiding mage mains.

Cons: Can be a boring class at times. Gets abused for CoTH on raid scene. Not great raid DPS till epic pet. Hard epic quest. Horrible CC abilities.

This is a very fun class. Great at soloing for XP or easy farming where pulling is not an issue. As a mage you will be good DPS and with pretty nice nukes and the best pets in game. The different pets also offer a fun way to switch up your play styles. The best part is your DPS is not directly tied to your mana pool like the wizard. Also once you have epic pet you will wreck things. Take time to look up the stats on that pet, it will blow your mind. That being said, the epic is not easy by any means and has some huge bottle necks that require a raid force. In the end though, this is a chill class that has a good utility at all levels of gameplay. And like one poster said, people always end up remembering how awesome mages are in a group after you group with them.

Conclusion: INT casters have taking a major down turn because of the advantage given to melee first in Kunark and reinforced in Velious, so if you're looking to min/max or be that pivotal class on a raid these are not the classes for you. But that also means a lot of good caster gear can be bought on the cheap side. If I had to pick i'd pick a mage. EQ for me is rooted in the social experience and wizard is simply too isolating of a class. Good luck with the choice!

[jolanar]

^ Aren't mage nukes only like 10% below Wiz nukes? Wouldn't that make them a good burn dps class too?

I'd also add one small side benefit to mage, their damage shield is a nice buff to throw on newbies for some good karma or helping a friend get through those first 10 or 15 levels.

[Naerron]

yea the highest lvl mage nuke does a little over 1k dmg

[Naerron]

problem with mages is they are all fire and magic nukes, wizards get lures too which means they can't be resisted.

[Lojik]

problem with mages is they are all fire and magic nukes, wizards get lures too which means they can't be resisted.

Non lure wizard spells 50+ also get a slight resist mod (fire/ice at least) How much this helps? /shrug. Really have to look at mage v. Wiz nukes on a case by case basis.

[Naerron]

I meant in the raid scene. As a mage I often help more by doing rods and keeping my pet alive than running in to nuke

[Skinned]

I played a wizard to the high 50's in the live days and just dinged 36 on my wizard here on p99 last night before bed :)

As a lot of folks are saying, mages are a blast. I used to borrow my friends 55 mage to farm plat and just crush lower level dungeons/guards/creatures etc with zero effort. The pets are great, do good damage, tank well, and proc a lot. Mages are fun and you can play mage more constantly (less sitting around doing nothing).

Wizards are hard. The early levels are brutal and you just suck and die a lot and watch the pet casters run around on ez-mode (not really, but relative).

Wizards are good second charcters. When you can get your int to 200 at level 16 and quad with SOW potions....it is a lot better twinked and the second time around.

I'm a solo person. I soloed 1-36 on my wizard, 1-45 on my shaman, 1-31 on my nec. I did group with my shaman just for dungeon adventures, but if I'm just going to be killing things outdoors I can do it on my own pretty quickly and well on most classes. Even my warrior solos blues and the downtime isn't bad because troll + ikky regen BP.

Quadding makes up for a lot of the mana regeneration...you can kill 1.5 mobs per mana bar, or you can kill 4 while quadding. It is pretty sweet. When you start getting Pillar and Column line of spells you can do this, you don't have to wait to Cobalt Scar to slaughter things as a wizard :D

It is worth noting that SOW 10 shots are only 50pp per if you have a shaman make them, the trivial level is very low.