Game Mechanics: Are caster mobs OP here?

[Zliz]

Here is some relevant info. I remember when playing back in 2002 that with a patch, all of a sudden caster mobs went from being a joke to being something to be careful of. I do however rememeber that at lower levels, caster mobs were nasty, everyone knew that.

Patch on June 5th 2002 - http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020605a.html

NPC casters should be a little bit smarter now. They will choose their spells a little more carefully.

Safehouse discussion - http://www.thesafehouse.org/forums/s...ead.php?t=6188

Yep, some wizard npcs that used to cast Force Strike were casting stuff like Tishans Discord, Ice Comet, Draught of Jiva, and Thunderbold.

I also clearly remember going to Sebilis and have frogs near the entrance cast Ice Comet all of a sudden.

However, I also read that there was a follow-up patch on June 12th:
http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020612.html

NPCs are now bound by spell casting distance rules, meaning that an NPC's spell will no longer connect from halfway across the zone.
NPCs now have a chance to be interrupted by normal combat when casting newer spells.
NPCs that are much lower level than their target have had their potential casting damage reduced using a similar mechanic to the one that player characters' level differences use.
NPC Wizards no longer have an inherent bonus to their fire and cold based spells.
Most NPCs that had previously had their spellcasting level inflated to make up for poor spell selection have been brought back into line with their actual level.
NPCs no longer automatically get free access to rarely dropped spells, such as Garrison's Superior Sundering and Funeral Pyre of Kelador.

Since this was all patched in 2002 (Luclin era), maybe it can give some info on how things should and should not be on P99, if something is amiss?