Wiz Underrated

[Hazek]

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

So a lvl 39 wizard uses Lightning Shock (383dmg) in a group kill kobolds in solb (1575 hp). Thats 24% of their hp for 162 mana (180 base - 10% evocation specialization) . At this point they are regenerating 16 mana/tick. So approximately every 60 seconds a wizard can do 24% dmg to a lvl 35 mob. Higher level mobs bringing lower % and higher resist chance. Without clarity or anything to boost this is only a little over 6 dps sustained. Which is pretty bad. But i guess you would need to think about how many mobs you're killing before repops in your particular camp to determine how many casts per mob you can afford. They can also pretty quickly delete a dangerous add. They just seem a lot more finicky about when they are a good choice.

That said I would always invite one because I secretly want to have a wizard so I want them to be successful.

Your math seems right but but I feel like something is off and a few things come to mind:

1. Any time you can med for over 60 seconds without a mob it creates a buffer to help balance it out. Seems like a long time but still possible even in places like royals.

2. Right now I can nuke once per mob with "chain pulls". And since higher level spells have better DPM then it should only get better unless the damage versus mob HP ratio gets worse, which may be the case.

3. Almost all high lvl groups will have enchanter, but not every time of course.

4. For now, my damage outperforms everyone in the group. But we'll see later on.

[Christina.]

Wizards aren't underrated, people just don't like playing them because they can't solo like nec, enc, mag and shaman... Wizards have always been pro DPS. Especially at low levels, they will always parse high. "Xp leechers" who play wizards are the ones who give them a bad wrap. You'll definitely notice when a decent wizard is in your group much less a good wizard, cause they're blowing shit up lol.

[magnetaress]

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

Wizards aren't underrated, people just don't like playing them because they can't solo like nec, enc, mag and shaman... Wizards have always been pro DPS. Especially at low levels, they will always parse high. "Xp leechers" who play wizards are the ones who give them a bad wrap. You'll definitely notice when a decent wizard is in your group much less a good wizard, cause they're blowing shit up lol.

^

[Nightbear]

W I Z A R D S! SOLMN!

[Hazek]

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

W I Z A R D S! SOLMN!

You inspired me.

[Hazek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSmRCbjmjno

[Picked]

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

Wizards aren't underrated, people just don't like playing them because they can't solo like nec, enc, mag and shaman... Wizards have always been pro DPS. Especially at low levels, they will always parse high. "Xp leechers" who play wizards are the ones who give them a bad wrap. You'll definitely notice when a decent wizard is in your group much less a good wizard, cause they're blowing shit up lol.

Since when can't wizards solo? I solo all the time. Much more effectively than group exp actually. Was rolling through a level every 2-3 hours in highkeep. Holding down anywhere from 3-5 guard spawns at a time. Not to mention quadding? I'll admit up until about level 34 they aren't quite as efficient but once you get up there the spells become even stronger and more efficient.

I like grouping, and enjoy it. But when I can't find groups I often solo. Wizards are very capable of soloing. Maybe not quite as efficient as a necro, or even a mage. But very close, and when you factor in quadding there isn't many classes that can match a wizards ability to solo for exp.

I did sisters camp I think at 16 and have always had places to solo ever since when groups aren't available.

Not that this post was needed but it is definitely true, wizards are very underrated. It's a shame some bad ones give us all bad raps. Especially when an Enchanter is in group with Clarity. That basically doubles a wizards dps if not more.

[Christina.]

I have a wizard, a mage, a necro and enchanter [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
I think I know a teeeeny bit hehe . . . . . . . . .

[kaev]

A wizard once failed an attempted KS vs my solo paladin in Crushbone. I think he may have died of shame and embarrassment afterwards.

[edit] or maybe he rerolled as a ranger thinking nobody would notice or care about him then, not sure [/edit]

[Tuljin]

Most people have never played with a good Wizard before and like any class in EQ its a great class in the hands of a good player.

Many people think DPS DPS DPS on Wizard which of course is true, but there are a couple more very key abilities that Wizard gets that make it excellent in groups (besides the obvious Evac) - stun, snare, and interrupt nuke. Also Flux Staff for tagging.

Stun is an incredibly powerful spell that Wizard doesn't get until 20, and later on you can load two stuns in your bar at the same time. You can stun out Enchanters charmed pets and also stun out caster mobs. Classic especially is full of very difficult and dangerous caster mobs. You can also use it to stun fleeing mobs until you get Snare.

You can also use Stun and Flux Staff to pull caster mobs very well with "ghetto CC" of rooting out of LoS. Flux Staff is good for tagging pathers but also an essential global cooldown clicky. You can stun, clicky, root, pop out of LoS. With the abundance of resist gear for Wizard you can stand up to caster mobs very well. Eventually at 58 Wizard gets Fetter which is an incredibly OP root.

A highly underrated spell line for Wizard that most people don't know about because most people don't really "play" a wizard is the Interrupt Nuke line. If you aren't exclusively dropping interrupt nukes on a caster mob you're "doing it wrong." Really magic based nukes don't resist appreciably more than elemental nukes. A very high Blue will get lots of resists despite whether the nuke is magic based or elemental. A nice level Blue mob will not resist magic nukes appreciably more than elemental and you get the incredible added bonus of spell neutralization. Then clicky staff and drop a stun because a caster mob will instantly begin to cast again after a 0 second interrupt stun. For melee mobs obviously drop elemental spells all the time.

If you really want to talk about damage percentage from a Wizard, once you get snare your group gets 20% damage per mob mana free. At that point what you do is snare the mob then time your nuke so he's nuked down to 20% and immediately begins to flee. You are effectively now doing near 50% damage to the mob and saving your healer inordinate amounts of mana from damage-free DPS. This amount of mana saved goes far beyond the "paper napkin" arithmetic of EQ nerds. Its a ton. If people in your group are going to complain about how inconvenient it is that snare and root don't stack they need to go play another game. Its really not that hard to coordinate.

In Kunark this scales back a bit, but for example against frogs in Sebilis you can Draught of Jiva a snared Shaman mob from 30something percent down to 20%, they skip their heal and the go right into snared fleeing. Its a tremendous help. There are also some nasty casters in The Hole that Wizards deal with very nicely. On Blue I got much of my experience in 50s in groups with great friends in non-traditional group compositions and I would always pull, CC, and be on point. I also always have the Enchanter's (or sometimes Druid's) back on pet charm breaks. Not "nuke, Netflix, repeat." You definitely need to be a good player among good players to make this happen though, which is tough to find in the age of ~~~~~~~~~rAiDiNg~~~~~~~~~~ and investing in DKP instead of coin.

So yeah, Wizard is really good and especially in Classic they are very powerful from a raw DPS standpoint against XP mobs. Yes, "a Wizard can't solo like an Enchanter or Shaman," but no other class can solo like an Enchanter or Shaman lol. Wiz can solo for XP but not for farming phats and thats fine.

I'm not one to "share secrets" but I've been banging this drum for so long nobody "listens" or elects to group on a Wizard anyways so it doesn't matter lol. Solmn I hope you're enjoying your Squallsurge Shawl =)