Best Caster Class for a returning player?

[Gnomish Elite]

Originally Posted by mr_jon3s [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Mages suck. Go enchanter, necromancer, or wizard.

Could you elaborate on this please? Why do they suck?

[Gnomish Elite]

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

As first char I suggest druid (free unlimited cash from ports), necro (charm solo to 60 easily), enc (steep learning curve but so rewarding in groups and solo).

Mage is great but quickly loses power compared to the mobs unless you get epic - used to be very hard on blue 99, I don't know about now. Even then, solo wise it loses to most other classes unless you farm low level trash lile Droga or Gazughi ring etc.
Having played Mage I'd say it's the hardest caster class to play because your toolbox is so little (but has a big epic hammer).

So you've played a mage and found it weak later on? If I get the epic does that change things? I have no interest in druid. Necro sounds fun but only if I can play a DE or something which a lot of people say Iksar or play something else. Everybody is saying enchanter but apparently they are super gear dependent and difficult. I don't have any gear and very little plat to acquire any.

[mr_jon3s]

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

Could you elaborate on this please? Why do they suck?

1-40 mages seem like a strong class. You can solo stuff but at 40+ the mobs you fight start hitting a lot harder. You are going from fighting mobs that are hitting in the 60s and 70s to 100+. Now you can still solo but only if you get 1 mob at a time. You have no CC but the earth pet and the root nets from perma frost, you have no real way to solo pull a mob, you have no way to increase mana regen but a mod rod.

But on necromancer, enchanter, and wizard 40+ is when they start to shine. Necros get a whole bag of tricks, enc can charm those mobs that are now hitting for 100 and reck, wizards can quad kite stuff.

[Gnomish Elite]

Originally Posted by mr_jon3s [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

1-40 mages seem like a strong class. You can solo stuff but at 40+ the mobs you fight start hitting a lot harder. You are going from fighting mobs that are hitting in the 60s and 70s to 100+. Now you can still solo but only if you get 1 mob at a time. You have no CC but the earth pet and the root nets from perma frost, you have no real way to solo pull a mob, you have no way to increase mana regen but a mod rod.

But on necromancer, enchanter, and wizard 40+ is when they start to shine. Necros get a whole bag of tricks, enc can charm those mobs that are now hitting for 100 and reck, wizards can quad kite stuff.

Damn, now I have more consideration to do. Thanks for the heads up. I feel like with the time investment in this game, it will suck to have an under powered high level.

[wisenhemier]

all in all you should play what you enjoy

[Izmael]

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

all in all you should play what you enjoy

This.

Give then price of a P99 account subscription, just go ahead and try every class until you like one enough to stick with it. Sounds obvious but still.

As for mages, I played one to 60 so I suppose I have a fairly solid view of the class. Truth be told, mages aren't very useful at higher levels in a group context (the whole item summoning crap is barely ever used except maybe for a couple spells such as mask and daggers for necros/encs). A couple seconds of looking away from the screen to change the TV channel and your pet just brought a train and is wiping your group out. On raids you're basically a CoH / rod bitch. If you can find any fun in it, props to you.

But the one single deterrent to play mage is that their epic quest happens to be 1) the hardest epic in game, and 2) is pretty much class-defining. Many other classes don't have this problem because their epic is either 1) not hard to get - rog, enc, sham or 2) not class defining (nec, war, wiz, )...

There are a ton of places you can't even get around as a mage, while as an enc or necro you can just solo farm it for loot. I dunno, I might just suck at mage, too. Can a mage sucessfully farm HS? What about Seb?

But hey, as I said.. takes a minute to roll one and see for yourself [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Nagash]

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

First off, thanks to everybody for being so helpful. It's awesome for a new guy to get this much positive feedback from a community right off the bat. Very cool!

Second, based on everything I'm reading, I'd say mage & necro are most suited to my play style (although I will be reading up more on the enchanter since everybody seems to favor it). I'm a fan of the pet classes. I have a few questions about both:

Mage:
I remember solo being pretty easy with a mage. At what level roughly will groups become a must? I'm not all about solo but it would be nice to be able to if I am only on for a short bit or something.

How passive are mages? I seem to remember a lot of send your DS'd pet in, throw a nuke or two here or there and sit/med. That the case in P99?

Necro:
How big of a deal is bad faction? I seem to remember it being a pain in the ass being evil because I always liked to travel a lot. If it's just a matter of learning the best ways to get around as an evil toon, I'm good with that. If it's more than that I'd like to know up front.

I keep hearing be an Iksar or don't bother with a necro. Is this really that big of an advantage? I really don't like the look of the Iksar, don't want to be hated absolutely everywhere (although hated in most spots may not be a huge issue depending on the answer to my above question), and just won't enjoy the experience.

Also what are the raid roles for both? From what I gather Mage is a call of the hero bot/dps, and necro is a mana battery. Sound right?

From having a mage and a necro both at level 53, I can say xp is still faster solo so grouping is only a must when you get bored talking to yourself or want to explore some new places unsafe for a solo traveler.

Both classes solo really well although the only oh shit button a mage has is gate (mind you, your pet can usually tank two mobs at once, you have to be careful how you manage it and require some space (not great indoor) but it's doable) where a necro has many.

On the necro (mine is iksar and if it was to be redone, I would go iksar again but would dump all my point in int then strength strength then int). With no faction work, I never had any issue finding a seller not far away. Worst case scenario if you are near a newbie town, you can create an alt of the faction, drop the stuff to sell in bags in a remote and safe area or recruit a newbie to do the dirty work for you. Definitely a non issue.
Regarding the necro race, I would go iksar as the regen, especially at high level, is very good. However, you won't gimp yourself by going any other race, you will just have to use your drain life dot a wee bit more often. I just like the regen for when shit has hit the fan and I've FD with low hp which tends to happen a lot when you play like a berserker and try crazy stuff regularly.

[Gnomish Elite]

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

From having a mage and a necro both at level 53, I can say xp is still faster solo so grouping is only a must when you get bored talking to yourself or want to explore some new places unsafe for a solo traveler.

Both classes solo really well although the only oh shit button a mage has is gate (mind you, your pet can usually tank two mobs at once, you have to be careful how you manage it and require some space (not great indoor) but it's doable) where a necro has many.

On the necro (mine is iksar and if it was to be redone, I would go iksar again but would dump all my point in int then strength strength then int). With no faction work, I never had any issue finding a seller not far away. Worst case scenario if you are near a newbie town, you can create an alt of the faction, drop the stuff to sell in bags in a remote and safe area or recruit a newbie to do the dirty work for you. Definitely a non issue.
Regarding the necro race, I would go iksar as the regen, especially at high level, is very good. However, you won't gimp yourself by going any other race, you will just have to use your drain life dot a wee bit more often. I just like the regen for when shit has hit the fan and I've FD with low hp which tends to happen a lot when you play like a berserker and try crazy stuff regularly.

Very helpful! Thank you. I think I'm gonna roll a dark elf necro to try as well as keep playing my high elf mage and see who wins out long term. Good plan on the alts to sell for you.

Both seem fun and my playstyle so I guess the only way to know is to try both.

[Jimjam]

Is there a particular reason you want to roll dark elf instead of iksar?

[Gnomish Elite]

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

Is there a particular reason you want to roll dark elf instead of iksar?

Aesthetic/nostalgia. I know if I go Iksar I just won't stick to it and will just end up not playing the necro. If that means I sacrifice min/maxing, I'm okay with that.

Plus Innoruuk>Cazic Thule IMO.