State of the Magician

[aaezil]

I think he means nerf like as in its super easy on live maybe?

[Troxx]

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

I think the problem is the server being over-saturated with so much higher end gear for twinking out melee-dps characters while mages gain nothing from it. Mages are explicitly a DPS class since they offer nothing else but can't tank, pull, sneak, interrupt spells, CC etc.

Meh. If I liquidated all the gear on my mage at market value I’d probably get 5k. Even with garbage gear the only melee who have consistently outperformed my mage in the last few levels were 2 raid geared rogues and a raid geared monk. A 60 warrior with 2 NToV weapons got close but my personal nukes managed to consistently push me over the top by a pinch. Non velious (raid level) geared melee can’t keep up. The majority of that damage came from a max summon hasted 57 earth pet that quads all day long for 70 a pop. I’m curious how good the 60 water pet will be once I finally get around to finishing the push to 60.

If a mage always chain summons a pet to maximum level (I hate when I watch pet classes settle for the first one out of the box), consistently keeps haste up on said pet, remembers to refresh DS, and judiciously distributes nukes ... they really are top notch group tier dps. Coth, mod rods, and pet durability (emergency off tank) give them some limited situational utility.

Mages are amongst the first lfg people I seek out for dps filler where most people would rather scoop up a rogue/ranger/monk that puts out less. I will say though, that I usually end up annoying most that join because I can and will make sure they pull a max summon (or close to) before they settle into the comfy chair of the grind. If I’m inviting a mage it’s for the pewpew and there’s no excuse settling for a 54 water pet that hits for 48 vs 56, backstabs for 144 instead of 168, and is 4 levels lower when that pet makes up 80% or more of your potential dps, is cheap to recast, and really only takes an extra few minutes to set up once at the beginning of a long grind session.

The state of the magician summarized:

Solo:
-good solo xp potential (albeit annoying and tedious)

Group:
-cheap to gear out and still operate at near maximum potential
-absolutely stellar group dps (top tier, lagging only behind charm pet)
-limited group utility
-does lack reliable cc; Achilles heel of the class

Raid:
-relegated to mod-rod bitch and coth whore for most all raid environments.
-while not glamorous, mod rods and coth are actually pretty vital to raids

[Ronzonius]

I can end the debate since I'm the friend of the OP that he's trying to convince to stop playing. First a little background: I played an Iksar Shadow Knight for 87 levels starting during Velious. So right off the bat, Necro was out of the running even though I agree it would be the best fit.... It's just a little too familiar. The real debate was between a Wizard and a Mage since I wanted a char with some solo capability.... And honestly, the simplest little things made up my mind.

Ports, clickies, and the ability to worship Solusek Ro as a Dark Elf. I think I've rolled a Mage twice before... And I always delete him in disappointment. I'm not saying they're bad... They're just not my playstyle.

[Vexenu]

Troxx is spot on about Mage DPS. Also factor in spamming a Burnt Wood Staff and that's even more sustained damage, along with your entire Mana bar worth of nuking reserve for burn potential if needed. Mage DPS is really, really good. But yeah, besides pure damage and CotH there really isn't much there. They're very niche in that regard. Mages honestly play more like a pure melee class than they do any of the other casters. No CC, very few tricks, just pure damage. Which is another reason the are great in a healer duo: the pet allows them to tank and DPS at the same time. Just throw in a Shaman or Cleric and let the good times roll.

[NegaStoat]

If you can stomach playing a character with a sharply limited spellbook, the Magician's DPS is absurdly good. Some players that take the class up might feel disappointed that obtaining an epic will probably never happen. Truth told, getting a water staff and finishing the climb to 60 for the focused pet feels like a fine 2nd place epic when you review the damage scroll. I did it once on Live and was not disappointed.

This time around I leveled up a necro on P1999 instead due to having a much broader use spellbook in terms of options. It felt like a far more complete class. As long as you know exactly what you want out of a character before you start, you won't screw up with either choice.

[rdrstar]

Having leveled both a mage and necro and having loved both, I would strongly recommend your friend level a necro. Mages can solo 100%, but their options are a bit limited compared to necros. What will you be playing? Mages duo very well with certain classes (necros for instance), but in general necros make better duo partners. I wouldnt consider leveling a mage unless I intended to complete the epic.

[doormat00]

Wait.. necro pets don't eat half your exp?

[loramin]

Originally Posted by doormat00 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wait.. necro pets don't eat half your exp?

All pets eat half XP IF they do more than half damage and IF you aren't in a group.

[Snaggles]

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

All pets eat half XP IF they do more than half damage and IF you aren't in a group.

Just to clarify: IF vs OR?

I don't know hence the honest question but always thought if soloing with a pet you had to outdamage it to get the full xp. I also thought grouping with one person removed this requirement since they basically take the pet's share and could be a different type of class (healer, support, etc).

Tl; DR

Question...
Solo = have to KS your pet to get full xp?
Duo/Trio/Group = doesn't matter at all. Pet is just a sideshow and doesn't impact the teams xp?

[stebbins99]

Group duo (x2 PCs) or more = no need to worry about pet stealing exp