Mages in classic

[oqrelord]

Ahh, that's dispelled any assumptions I had about classic mage... enchanter it is!

[Jadian]

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

Don't y'all kill and recast pets in there somewhere, for the XP?

Might be a bigger part of the strat these days or when killing bigger mobs. I don't think pet chaining was part of my moves until after I got the phinny staff. I didn't keep up all that much with pet exp changes but I think that was still when you got 90% or something, I haven't played my mage in years (something you're likely to hear from a lot of early mage mains)

[Snagglepuss]

Mages are incredibly OP in vanilla relative to other classes. Once focused, the pet is a beast. Low mob hp coupled with low ac makes mages (and necros) very strong. Fire pet just wrecks. In Kunark, mob hp and ac scaled up and mages were in a sense nerfed. Post 49 pets didn't really hold up as well either (until epic).

As others have mentioned, melee classes have poor itemization whereas mages aren't as gear dependent. A few mages could seriously rush some early content.

[Deathrydar]

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

Mages are incredibly OP in vanilla relative to other classes. Once focused, the pet is a beast. Low mob hp coupled with low ac makes mages (and necros) very strong. Fire pet just wrecks. In Kunark, mob hp and ac scaled up and mages were in a sense nerfed. Post 49 pets didn't really hold up as well either (until epic).

As others have mentioned, melee classes have poor itemization whereas mages aren't as gear dependent. A few mages could seriously rush some early content.

I am getting that they aren't as powerful after vanilla, but are they still wanted in groups and can they still solo in Kun and Vel?

[Videri]

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

What is wrong with their gameplay?

In my opinion, the toughest thing about mage gameplay is that they don't have built-in splitting techniques. If you are at a camp with two mobs close to each other, and you can kill one mob but not two at the same time, you can't do the camp.

There are strategies to get around this. One that might work is nuking one mob dead asap then zoning off the other mob, waiting for it to leave, zoning back in and returning to the camp, medding up, resummoning pet, then killing the other mob before the first mob respawns.

If a tactic like that is not possible for whatever reason, you'd need help to break certain camps.

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

I am getting that they aren't as powerful after vanilla, but are they still wanted in groups and can they still solo in Kun and Vel?

They are always wanted in groups as they contribute great sustained damage through their pet, nukes, and damage shield.

Furthermore, mages are always valuable once they get Call of the Hero at 55. Even if you never play your mage again, you can still get value from it if you park it in a location your guild would want to COTH to. For instance, a guild may park a mage at Poop Mountain in Sebilis, right around the corner from Trakanon. Then, once a group is formed that includes the mage on Poop Mountain and someone at entrance, you can summon a whole raid (one at a time) from entrance to the mage so the guild can kill Trakanon without having to fight all the way down through Sebilis for like an hour.

[Vexenu]

Even in Kunark and Velious Mages will out-damage all but the best geared Monks and Rogues in all groupable and light-raid content. Even without the Epic pet, a focused 60 water pet is quite beastly. Then add in the DS, nukes and clickie nukes. It's a ton of sustained damage. And Mages are also quite capable soloers and plat farmers, certainly far better than Monks and Rogues at both.

[Jadian]

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

In my opinion, the toughest thing about mage gameplay is that they don't have built-in splitting techniques. If you are at a camp with two mobs close to each other, and you can kill one mob but not two at the same time, you can't do the camp.

There are strategies to get around this. One that might work is nuking one mob dead asap then zoning off the other mob, waiting for it to leave, zoning back in and returning to the camp, medding up, resummoning pet, then killing the other mob before the first mob respawns.

If a tactic like that is not possible for whatever reason, you'd need help to break certain camps.



They are always wanted in groups as they contribute great sustained damage through their pet, nukes, and damage shield.

Furthermore, mages are always valuable once they get Call of the Hero at 55. Even if you never play your mage again, you can still get value from it if you park it in a location your guild would want to COTH to. For instance, a guild may park a mage at Poop Mountain in Sebilis, right around the corner from Trakanon. Then, once a group is formed that includes the mage on Poop Mountain and someone at entrance, you can summon a whole raid (one at a time) from entrance to the mage so the guild can kill Trakanon without having to fight all the way down through Sebilis for like an hour.

All truth

[loramin]

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

In my opinion, the toughest thing about mage gameplay is that they don't have built-in splitting techniques. If you are at a camp with two mobs close to each other, and you can kill one mob but not two at the same time, you can't do the camp.

There are strategies to get around this. One that might work is nuking one mob dead asap then zoning off the other mob, waiting for it to leave, zoning back in and returning to the camp, medding up, resummoning pet, then killing the other mob before the first mob respawns.

If a tactic like that is not possible for whatever reason, you'd need help to break certain camps

You forgot option #3: root nets! Those things are like essential equipment for mages (and boy is that ice goblin going to be camped on Green ...)

[Videri]

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

You forgot option #3: root nets! Those things are like essential equipment for mages (and boy is that ice goblin going to be camped on Green ...)

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] ohhhhhhhhh I didn't think of that! Rechargeable and not lore, too.

And on that note, actually, it might be possible to use an Earth pet and back it off after it roots one mob. But one wonders how much damage it would have taken, yada yada...might work sometimes.

[Jadian]

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

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] ohhhhhhhhh I didn't think of that! Rechargeable and not lore, too.

And on that note, actually, it might be possible to use an Earth pet and back it off after it roots one mob. But one wonders how much damage it would have taken, yada yada...might work sometimes.

Root nets are pretty key, or globs of goo later. I did the earth pet dance many times, it works in a pinch but you soooo don't want to rely on it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]