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 ([You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]) 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.

[Messianic]

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

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).

[tekniq]

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

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.

[Messianic]

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

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]

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

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.

[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]

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

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 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]