[Tuljin]

Originally Posted by teai [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've been stuck at lvl 35ish on all caster classes, Mage, necro, ench, and several melee classes as well.

I decided it would be a great change to try something off the wall and chose to play a wizard. I also sunk my life savings into Jboots for some reason around lvl 10.

I am stuck at lvl 21 with the endless cycle of nuke until no mana, hide, then come back and repeat with some icy wanding in between.

Does wizard get more fun or did I make a terrible mistake? I am kind of stuck with it because of the Jboots, and would feel terrible to sulk away to another char.

Over the past several years on P99 and the explosion of the "raid scene" the concept of "useful" and "not useful" classes has become a large part of the hot air/echo chamber phenomenon that has been a part of P99 since a year into Kunark. The economy is inflated, gear strength relative to level is inflated, and there are (and have been) thousands of powerleveled level 60 toons parked everywhere.

Wizard gets a bad rap but really since the explosion of the "raid scene" nobody plays int casters or priests anymore. Everyone on P99 anymore, including new players, rolls melees because of the availability of powerful gear to get through levels easily. Then you join a guild and get your DKP/RAP and bid on the all/all items that are on the Velious bosses because you are "useful." And we all know sitting at the entrance waiting for mobs to come is "fun."

It is known Enchanter is OP in classic but for "raids" (as they exist on P99) they are "useless." Nobody plays necromancer, not "useful." Mage is a COTH bot. Druids are "worthless" hell even Shamans are. The reality for many P99 players is a CH chain with far too many overgeared melees beating the ever living shit out of the loot piñatas week after week. Nobody is interested in the idiosyncrasies of the various classes in EQ which is really what makes the game special and interesting. The new players that have come to P99 over the years from other MMOs don't really get a "classic" experience at all and most of them probably wouldn't even like it very much.

If you play an Auld Lang Syne toon or you plan on rolling a toon on Green you will find that Wizards in old world really aren't "bad" at all. If you play with melee toons that have level appropriate gear you will find that they really do FAR less damage than we have become accustomed to. They can also take far less damage than we have become accustomed to due to inflated HP pools and overpowered gear.

When you are playing with level-appropriate gear you will find that a nuke from ANY class, not just Wizard, becomes far more important to have. When you have multiple mobs in play a quick burn of a mob becomes very valuable. Contrary to popular belief, DD spells are just one component of playing Wizard in "classic."

Fleeing mobs are far more of a threat when they don't get backstabbed by a rogue for 3 digits of damage with haste items. Caster mobs become much more of a threat and its crucial to make sure that you snare when they are under 20% instead of root so they don't keep casting. Its also important that melee mobs are snared so they don't inflict extra damage when HP and mana is at a premium. This very basic and important EQ mechanic is largely ignored in facerolling gear-inflated pickup groups in the hot zones all over the server.

Wizard has a very unique combination of spells that are in fact very powerful in dungeons - stun, interrupt nuke line, snare, root, evac. It is not as one-dimensional as the P99 hot air would have you believe.

In a "classic" group composition you won't have one enchanter with a massive mana pool group mezzing tons of mobs while overgeared melees mulch them down. Crowd control is very much a group effort between whatever motley crew of magic using classes are in the group. The twinked out flopping Monk doesn't carry the group when melee classes have level-appropriate gear, the magic users do.

The stun and interrupt nuke line are very powerful spells in classic. Classic dungeons are loaded with very dangerous caster mobs. For example Magician mobs are wizards with pets that DS everybody around them. If you aren't twinked in your 20s or 30s its an absolute nightmare. There are multiple in a room along with other mobs. Your enchanter (or cleric) doesn't have cranked out charisma and he crit resists a calm. You need to knock those casters out as fast as possible and make sure they don't nuke. Your healer has very limited mana. You need to dispel the DS. Everybody has to root and CC. The melees can't do shit besides pick a mob to hit but they are awful at agro generation. Both interrupt nuke and stun become very important in these situations. I exclusively drop interrupt nukes on caster mobs and only use elemental nukes on melees.

P99 is wonderful but it really is far from "classic" anymore, and really that's fine it has evolved. If you want to roll an ALS toon and go play "classic" you can and its fun. There are lots of leveling toons on the server but when you run into a twink that drills everything with lightning speed yeah the XP is nice but it most certainly isn't as "fun" as having the gameplay mechanics work as intended.

If you roll a Wizard on Green server you will get groups. Any int caster will get groups. Druids will get groups. Necromancers will get groups. Mages will get groups. If you roll a wizard on Green you can also solo if you want, but don't plan on having jboots or easily available clicky potions to do it. You will have ports and you will make money. You will be able to form your own groups and take them places to get XP. If you are competent and a good player people will want to play with you.

Your average P99 player these days really isn't in it for the "classic" experience. The new players are more interested in a Game Genie experience or one more similar to WoW with watered down classes and quest-driven character progression with highly developed and orchestrated "raid" content. In "classic" EQ the awful grind through levels isn't on a Wizard, its on a Warrior.

In "classic" EQ if you're a good player on Wizard you'll be able to get a crew together, take them somewhere, and move the XP bar. You can also move it yourself if you want. You can also duo/trio with a motley crew of casters if you want. You can get some levels and port for plat if you want. Wizard is a perfectly capable adventurer, just like every other class. As with all magic using classes in EQ it is the player that makes it shine. Over the years I have played with many different and unique class combinations and it is always fun. That's because I find classic EQ tons of fun. Many people actually dont.

If you are looking for a "classic" experience on Wizard (or any class for that matter) roll Green. You can join Auld Lang Syne if you want but you need to -want- a classic experience and discipline yourself to do it. If you want to hear about how much "Wizards suck" and never get a chance to actually play the class with the mechanics as they were designed get some Jboots and quad all the way to 60. Unfortunately there isn't too much middle ground anymore.