Show me some magic, disappear?

[Swish]

What happened to the flurry of magicians that used to be seen on the server? Maybe it's just me but they are becoming the "new ranger" in terms of scarcity... in fact I'd say there's more rangers than mages running around.

Any reason for this? As a die hard wizard on live I couldn't lower myself to create one (;)) but still, why are they less popular in the last few months?

[Slave]

Mages took a gigantic hit to the viability of their class when the pet experience rules were changed. Now, if your pet deals more damage than you, it steals 50% of the experience. For shamans and necromancers that is not a very big problem. For mages, it is an impossible condition to meet without gaining aggro or dispelling your pet.

[Swish]

Does the 50% damage rule still apply if you're in a group? (ie - your pet outdamages your nukes within the group's damage on a mob).

[mreynert]

No, does not apply in groups.

[Danyelle]

Does the 50% damage rule still apply if you're in a group? (ie - your pet outdamages your nukes within the group's damage on a mob).

No, not that I've noticed. And that's usually impossible to do anyway.

It IS possible to "mage kite" with Jboots (or a SoW) and an open space + Earth Pet and prevent having the pet out-dps you or having to reclaim it. But this is mana intensive and limits the solo areas the class can effectively hit. Usually not even remotely worth it.

But so yeah basically, as far as P99 is concerned, we're the robed equivalent to a Ranger. We're good for CoTH if we ever make it to 55. That's it.

[Sirbanmelotz]

dont be pussies i have a 68% xp penalty :D

[bluejam]

Most of them are lvl 60, fat on cash, bored, rolling alts / new mains.

[Rilen]

The pet xp change was definitely a factor. But before that the mage population had started to slip because the days of the old 20-30 mage raids were pretty much extinct after Kunark.

I bet 70% of your old ubers still have lvl 50 or 51 mages with full planar that never get touched. Old one-purpose toons. Relics of a dead age.

[Zorpa]

My mage is 45 and sitting in the stable. The pet experience change was a deal breaker for me.

[Flunklesnarkin]

My mage is 45 and sitting in the stable. The pet experience change was a deal breaker for me.

try grouping?

[webrunner5]

I have totally gave up playing mine. And I may be wrong but it is more like a 75% penality I think solo if you don't do 51% damage.

[Flunklesnarkin]

If you duo with another pet class.. exp penalty goes away.. kill twice as much.. get same treasure.


or just go with full group.

[Yardcore]

Is this also applied to charmed pet?

[Flunklesnarkin]

from what i've been told yes... my enchanter is only lvl 16 atm though.


Ill keep an eye on my exp bar though


in a group atm with two enchanters using charmed frogs.



edit.. exp doesn't seem to be going any slower than usually.. frogs are almost all the dps in group.

[Ikonoclastia]

sometimes grouping is not an option or its an unpleasant one.

[Flunklesnarkin]

sometimes grouping is not an option or its an unpleasant one.

i realize that.. but duoing or w/e shouldn't be that hard..


be a shame to just give up on a character you spent all that time on.


just do the work around to exp.. then solo camp w/e treasure you want after.

[HarrisonStillPosting]

What happened to the flurry of magicians that used to be seen on the server? Maybe it's just me but they are becoming the "new ranger" in terms of scarcity... in fact I'd say there's more rangers than mages running around.

Any reason for this? As a die hard wizard on live I couldn't lower myself to create one (;)) but still, why are they less popular in the last few months?

They broke mages in many different ways.

Kunark is a huge blow to mages' power, naturally, but combined with what they did to them dev-wise...they're nearly useless except for CoH bots.

[Danyelle]

No one wants mages in a group typically. I know..I'm in the same boat =/

/lfg for hours on end. Only ever get groups if it's someone in a clique lol

[Flunklesnarkin]

why wouldn't somebody group with a mag lol

[Danyelle]

why wouldn't somebody group with a mag lol

Ask people that don't group with us lol

[Ikonoclastia]

when I played live, pet classes and dungeons were not very compatible.

[Flunklesnarkin]

when I played live, pet classes and dungeons were not very compatible.

just dont summon your pet till you are at the camp.

[bman8810]

Mages really weren't hurt that bad post-29 or so due to how incredibly efficient pet chaining is. The problem is that leveling a mage from 4 to 29 is now incredibly difficult.

[Flunklesnarkin]

Mages really weren't hurt that bad post-29 or so due to how incredibly efficient pet chaining is. The problem is that leveling a mage from 4 to 29 is now incredibly difficult.

yah.. i started a chanter the week after the pet exp nerf.


chanter has to be one of the hardest pet classes to start from scratch with now.

[Calais]

Anyone got any tips for levelling pre-29 then? I'm struggling and thinking of a re-roll to a Necro...

[maverixdamighty]

No one wants mages in a group typically. I know..I'm in the same boat =/

/lfg for hours on end. Only ever get groups if it's someone in a clique lol


I've found on this server that LFG is a crutch used for the lazy. Being LFG doesn't mean sitting around waiting for a group of 5 to invite you, but you can also use it as a means to form your own group. Start it off as a duo/trio/whatever and expand it to a full group if possible if that's your goal. As for not inviting mages to groups I don't understand that. If I have my tank, cleric, enc then the last 3 spots are for DPS depending on the camp. I may want a monk type to fd pull etc, a rog for dps, etc. What I do have a problem with is if I invite a mage as a tank and the first thing they do is summon an earth pet. A good mage should look at the group compisition and determine what is the best pet for the camp/group composition. Also mages using bs'ing pets that don't worry about positioning their pets and leave it entirely to the tank frustrate me. Just my 2 cents.

[Scavrefamn]

BS, mages are extremely popular for groups.


High sustained DPS coupled with intermittent burst = always attractive.

[Messianic]

Mages took a gigantic hit to the viability of their class when the pet experience rules were changed. Now, if your pet deals more damage than you, it steals 50% of the experience. For shamans and necromancers that is not a very big problem. For mages, it is an impossible condition to meet without gaining aggro or dispelling your pet.

This is probably a big reason, but a lot of it is also that mages aren't nearly as dominant 51-60 as they were 1-50 in classic. The active mage pop seemed to diminish somewhat even before the xp changes...

And mages are a fantastic group dps class - it's primarily their solo ability, both in the xp they can turnover and their actual ability to kill blue mobs solo (severely diminished after 50) that took/take huge hits 51-60.

And maybe a large reason they aren't that good 51+ is because every fire pet after level 49 is a worthless piece of garbage (for the most part).

[timoris]

I don't mind mages in groups - they offer decent DPS. What annoys me though is mages that nearly never nuke, don't keep mod rods on tap if mana is an issue (and even if it isn't, every caster should have one available), and don't keep me DSed. I don't mind positioning mobs for BS pets since ideally fights will happen in the same place every pull.

[tekniq]

This is probably a big reason, but a lot of it is also that mages aren't nearly as dominant 51-60 as they were 1-50 in classic.

epic mages take care of this problem.

[Eleana]

I grouped with a mage in KC the other day (Riley i think ?)
He was really great, good dps, nice backstabbing pet and mod rod

On all caster, i think that mage are the highest DPS, and when they know how to assist and not break my mez it's a win win

[Messianic]

epic mages take care of this problem.

How many mage epics are finished every month? 6 months? Year? Not asking to be clever, just asking - it can't be many.

Mage epic is among the hardest - if not the hardest to complete.

[tekniq]

How many mage epics are finished every month? 6 months? Year? Not asking to be clever, just asking - it can't be many.

Mage epic is among the hardest - if not the hardest to complete.

didn't mean to denounce your statement or be clever, but if the p99 mage does achieve his/her epic, the game is EZier mode again. and as long as the mage has his staff from Inny, the rest of the epic is just a boring grind.

to the OP since I never answered your question, there are a handful of "true" mages on the server. A good portion of the high-end mages you see are cash farmers who rolled/bought a mage in order to farm gear for their mains. i'd say about <40% of mages 50+ are mains.

[maverixdamighty]

mage epic is pretty easy if you have the earth staff.

[elementalking]

mage epic is pretty easy if you have the earth staff.

This!

BTW Anyone looking to sell one? I know there may be some potential sellers out there. PM me details if so! =)

[Slave]

mage epic is pretty easy if you have the earth staff.

Yeah, it's pretty easy soloing Plane of Sky.

[Razdeline]

Tons of unclassic changes are ruining the Mage experience on Project 1999. Pet nerfs, pet xp penalties, etc. are taking away from the fun.

[tekniq]

Yeah, it's pretty easy soloing Plane of Sky.

assuming the mage is actually serious about getting his epic, your respective guild will most likely hand you the sky crown as your final piece, unless you're in a shitty guild where you would probably not be serious about getting your epic in the first place, thus taking that option out.

[maverixdamighty]

Yeah, it's pretty easy soloing Plane of Sky.

sky crown can be bought and they aren't hard to get.

[Danyelle]

sky crown can be bought and they aren't hard to get.

>60k
>something not hard to get going for 60k

[maverixdamighty]

just saying earth staff is the bottleneck the rest is obtainable via farming plats.