Are magicians the same as they were in 99/2001 ?

[Tarask]

Hello,

I'm coming back after 2 decades, for my first character i decided to make a magician since it was the class i enjoyed the most back then, and loved the research/components that made me discover lots of zones.
I'm the kind of player that enjoys the "chill, solo easy gaming" (which is a good thing since i met no other players actually beginning so far, the 4 first days i was alone in toxx and barely seen 1 or 2 twinks passing by). Chain summoning pets and such are not my jam. i love the "sit and watch the fight happens", taking my time, lost in my thoughts, almost "meditating gaming" if you see what i mean.

I have now reached lvl 16 (got a few "boosts" thanks to higher level passing by and buffing fluffy), and thanks to EC and some luck with random shops, i got the torch of alna, so i can get a focused fire pet.
Most of my memories are blurry since that much time passed, but, i'm pretty sure back then :
1 - i was able to get a yellow pet when i just had the new spell (i summoned my pet, focused, 17 times before running out of malachite and giving up, i got a few white, no yellow - maybe just a big streak of bad luck ? -).
2 - when i had my new pets i was totally OP for 2 levels, then struggling for 2 levels, this pace was part of the magician to me, but actually, at level 16, i tried a few different zones (lavastorm, oasis, runnyeye and some i probably forget) and with my new pet focused, i get rekt, simply, to kill a mob that is even (/cons white) i need to empty my mana bar in nukes and heals, my pet cannot solo a dark blue.

So... i'm wondering have there been changes compared to EQ in 2001, or are my memories wrong ?
Right now i'm a bit discouraged and will probably go for a druid, (at the same level a druid hits stronger than my mage, has snare and can play safer overall, while destroying /cons white) or any other class you'll recommend for my gamestyle. (i made a friend that is enchanter, he can solo mobs 4 level higher than him without major problems, i don't get why and how magicians fell that behind, or maybe i'm just bad, but i thought that "/pet attack, DS, sit and enjoy fluffy fight for a while, one nuke in the end if the enemy is strong" would be the gameplay i'd have)

I've read a bit the post about mages, i'm not here to complain, i'm just trying to understand and adjust my expectations/choices if needed.
thanks in advance.
Tarask

[Tarask]

Since i can't edit :
Question 1 is answered, i just got a yellow pet, total cost was 17 + 7 malachites. real bad luck i guess.

[PatChapp]

Lvl 16 pet spells are the last ones that con yellow to you, lvl 20 can be even but after that they will all be blue,and at higher levels you can summon green con pets.
Mages pretty powerful while leveling,but avoid white cons for xp. They will just be far too inefficient.
If your remembering luclin era in 2001,the game was much easier by then.

[Tarask]

Thank you !
Yes that's maybe the problem, since i played warrior/druid when i began the game and magician only later, i maybe remember more the later period that you say was easier. I remember being barely too high level to get exp in "paludal caverns" on luclin release, so i was around level 25 with magician when luclin was released.

[Byrjun]

https://wiki.project1999.com/Pet_Guide#Pet_Information_by_type_of_Pet

(linked directly to the Mage section)

That page shows what levels you can summon pets at, what they hit for, if they can dual wield, etc. I've always followed this and haven't seen it be wrong yet.

I haven't played a mage on P99 in a long time but I remember the pets being sufficiently powerful. You usually had to toss in some nukes if the mob was a few levels ahead of your pet (which is more common as you get closer to a new spell level).

You don't really want your pet to do more than 50% of the damage anyways since then you also lose 50% of the exp. This is why I like the fire pet, since the DS damage doesn't count for you or the pet so technically you spend less mana in nukes to do 51% of the total damage. Helps to run a parser (like GamParse) to see where exactly you and your pet are landing in damage percentage-wise.

Although I guess this doesn't matter if you're just leveling very casually and don't care how quickly you're leveling.

[Kich867]

Hello,

I'm coming back after 2 decades, for my first character i decided to make a magician since it was the class i enjoyed the most back then, and loved the research/components that made me discover lots of zones.
I'm the kind of player that enjoys the "chill, solo easy gaming" (which is a good thing since i met no other players actually beginning so far, the 4 first days i was alone in toxx and barely seen 1 or 2 twinks passing by). Chain summoning pets and such are not my jam. i love the "sit and watch the fight happens", taking my time, lost in my thoughts, almost "meditating gaming" if you see what i mean.

I have now reached lvl 16 (got a few "boosts" thanks to higher level passing by and buffing fluffy), and thanks to EC and some luck with random shops, i got the torch of alna, so i can get a focused fire pet.
Most of my memories are blurry since that much time passed, but, i'm pretty sure back then :
1 - i was able to get a yellow pet when i just had the new spell (i summoned my pet, focused, 17 times before running out of malachite and giving up, i got a few white, no yellow - maybe just a big streak of bad luck ? -).
2 - when i had my new pets i was totally OP for 2 levels, then struggling for 2 levels, this pace was part of the magician to me, but actually, at level 16, i tried a few different zones (lavastorm, oasis, runnyeye and some i probably forget) and with my new pet focused, i get rekt, simply, to kill a mob that is even (/cons white) i need to empty my mana bar in nukes and heals, my pet cannot solo a dark blue.

So... i'm wondering have there been changes compared to EQ in 2001, or are my memories wrong ?
Right now i'm a bit discouraged and will probably go for a druid, (at the same level a druid hits stronger than my mage, has snare and can play safer overall, while destroying /cons white) or any other class you'll recommend for my gamestyle. (i made a friend that is enchanter, he can solo mobs 4 level higher than him without major problems, i don't get why and how magicians fell that behind, or maybe i'm just bad, but i thought that "/pet attack, DS, sit and enjoy fluffy fight for a while, one nuke in the end if the enemy is strong" would be the gameplay i'd have)

I've read a bit the post about mages, i'm not here to complain, i'm just trying to understand and adjust my expectations/choices if needed.
thanks in advance.
Tarask

You shouldn't kill even con monsters at that point. Not sure why you'd be discouraged, not many classes can / should even bother dealing with killing even con mobs at that level.

Even/yellow con mobs are going to resist your spells way more often, hit your pet way harder, and take way longer to kill if you even can. Just chain kill blues. The difference in XP between an even con and a blue con isn't at all worth it, as it's not that much.

[Selene]

mage is a very "chill", solo capable class that can get xp very easily. it is probably among the most "chill" solo classes out there - but I'd argue that a necro might be more chill because you can just root rot with DoTs once you get root at 34. Before then, it's still very easy with the fear kite method.

unlike a mage, who has to gate or run if her pet dies, the necro can root and do other things like feign death. your life isn't dependent on your pet's life.

the other replies are spot on - by level 16, you shouldn't be going for even cons. all classes, no matter how good they are, fare better by killing blues more efficiently.

[Zuranthium]

https://wiki.project1999.com/Pet_Guide#Pet_Information_by_type_of_Pet

(linked directly to the Mage section)

That page shows what levels you can summon pets at, what they hit for, if they can dual wield, etc. I've always followed this and haven't seen it be wrong yet.

There is a slight problem on the wiki (or in p99's code, dunno which), the level 12 pet is supposed to be Level 9-12.

I remember being relatively disappointed back in 1999 that the pet didn't con yellow anymore when getting new spells at Level 12, and then delighted at Level 16 when the pet would occasionally con yellow again. Mage Compendium website on archive confirms this.

[btravis1990]

They nerfed a lot of the pets here, more for higher level pets. But they also messed up mechanics for chain summoning since all the aggro is now dumped on the caster.

[Selene]

Despite the above post, having leveled a mage (on blue) - they are still an incredibly powerful class. Just have to avoid camps where you need CC/root, or where the chance of an add is unacceptably high.

The ease with which mages can just plow through blues without breaking a sweat is not easily found in almost any class. You just sit back and watch your pet for the most part, nukes are optional

Post 55 your options are a little more limited due to the high level mobs being in dungeons, but there are still many places to level off the beaten path. Or you could just group, as mages are top tier DPS.