Wanting to go wizard.

[Lojik]

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

I took a look at the Magelos on the wiki, and most went the INT, STR/STA route. Members of raiding guilds seemed to tend more towards the STA. This is a tiny, probably non representative group though.

I wanted to see how easy it is to get to the INT caps, so I made a quick fantasy gear list. None of this involves raiding to my knowledge, and everything except the staff can be bought (not for a new character, though). I believe everything is also pre Velious. This is not an optimal list for anything.

Gatorscale Sleeves / 4
Molten Cloak / 4
Froglok Bonecaster's Robe / 8
Batskull Earring / 5
Ivandyr's Hoop / 6
Sheer Bone Mask / 3
Sarnak Hide Boots / 5
Velium Rose Engagement Ring / 5
Velium Rose Engagement Ring / 5
Impskin Gloves / 5
Runed Cowl / 9
Loam Encrusted Pantaloons / 3
Sapphire Platinum Necklace / 7
Sarnak Ceremonial Dagger / 3
Loam Encrusted Amice / 3
Giants Reminder String / 5
Polished Bone Bracelet / 3
Polished Bone Bracelet / 3
Staff of the Wheel / 10
Glowing Black Stone / 9

That gives a total of 106 INT. An unmodified Erudite INT of 117 puts you over the soft cap already. So, yes, the cap might be an issue. I'm just not sure if you gain more from adding the STA or having a high INT to more easily substitute items and stay around 200.

Decisions are hard.

But a lot of this gear can be swapped for hp gear/mana gear, usually going for int on your character select then mana/hp items is more effective

[Tuljin]

Pure mana and HP is much better at lower levels than returns from STA and INT. For example a better (and cheaper) pair of gloves for a nub is the Dusty Bloodstained Gloves instead of the Impskin. I would also get a pair of Silversilk Leggings rather than spending money on Loam Pants because of pure HP. Gatorscale Sleeves are a good choice because of the pure HP. For bracelets you can buy cheap jewelcrafted HP/Mana ones, Golden Jaded Bracelets. A pair of HP rings is also an excellent idea for a nub toon, probably the best way to spend your money.

Also, if you're going to save up for something and you're not going to powerlevel your nub Wiz, get a Solist's Icy Wand. Its a great item until up into your 30s. They have crashed in price because everybody powerlevels these days. I've seen them sell for as low as 1500 plat, which is attainable even for a nub.

[Bweetza]

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

Pure mana and HP is much better at lower levels than returns from STA and INT. For example a better (and cheaper) pair of gloves for a nub is the Dusty Bloodstained Gloves instead of the Impskin. I would also get a pair of Silversilk Leggings rather than spending money on Loam Pants because of pure HP. Gatorscale Sleeves are a good choice because of the pure HP. For bracelets you can buy cheap jewelcrafted HP/Mana ones, Golden Jaded Bracelets. A pair of HP rings is also an excellent idea for a nub toon, probably the best way to spend your money.

Also, if you're going to save up for something and you're not going to powerlevel your nub Wiz, get a Solist's Icy Wand. Its a great item until up into your 30s. They have crashed in price because everybody powerlevels these days. I've seen them sell for as low as 1500 plat, which is attainable even for a nub.

None of those choices were meant to be optimal, just an exercise in seeing if it was easy to max INT without raid gear.

Wand is on my list. Might try and camp it as an alt, but I may be underestimating how rare a drop it is.

[Tuljin]

And you see how easy it is to hit softcap on Wiz =)

[Raev]

I am a full on HP whore, but I feel like going full STA on a Wizard is overthinking it, unless maybe you are already in a raiding guild and you know you enjoy it and you can twink decently.

First, on a Wizard you basically want two sets of gear: full mana for targets where you won't be AEd/nuked, and a mix of resists > mana > HP for targets where you will be. Swapping out those slots for resist gear really cuts into your INT total. For example, I went full INT on my Nagafen/Vox alt and even with fairly legit gear he has only 193 unbuffed.

But OK, even if you get a solid load of PD/Velious gear and are hundreds of points over the INT cap . . . are you really going to miss the 60 HP from 25 STA? That's 2% of your total HP and 1/5 of a wort pot charge. Let's also not forget how annoying it is to obtain raid gear on this server.

And in the remaining months it takes you to level up to 60, your Wizard is going to be even more gimped than the class normally is. How do you plan to make even 10k to hit the cap? Spend 2 months farming the sisters in Lesser Faydark?

[Bweetza]

I'm not too concerned about being gimped during the leveling/gearing process. I don't want to sink hundreds of hours into a character, realize I made a terrible mistake, and have no way to fix it.

Regardless of stats, definitely going Erudite. Hide is nice, but the Stamina and SVM that an Erudite gets seems more important to me. There's also less faction trouble, although that's more a convenience than anything.

[Lojik]

Int past the Softcap still gives better returns than stamina

[Tuljin]

Really it boils down to this -

An extra 60 HP at level 60

An extra 150 maybe 200 mana at level 60, depending on where you sit near the 200 softcap

Seeing how there are so many mathematicians that are published in scientific journals on this server it breaks down like this -

60 HP is 5% of an unbuffed 1200 HP pool, which for a non "raid" geared wizard is quite high. Its also quite high for most INT casters because most players here don't gear for HP at all. If you're not "raid" geared this will work out to a higher percentage of your HP pool.

150 mana is 5% of a 3000 mana pool, which is attainable without "raid" gear and focus on INT and mana gearing, which most players here gear for.

Its all up to what you are willing to live with. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer. In my humble opinion the HP is a better choice but it is definitely not a gamebreaker. There is also no "winning" at EQ, just dealing with people with online video game addiction and personality disorders.

[Rararboker]

60HP won't save you from anything after lvl 45.

Extra 150 mana = one cast of gate.


Take that from a lvl 60 wizard.

[Bweetza]

I'm confident that 60 HP is not as good as 150 mana, in most contexts, for a wizard. The issue is whether, once top end with good gear, it becomes 0 mana (from INT) versus 60 HP.

I may be agonizing over this more than I should for a game people play for fun.