Greetings All!

After reading Allakhazam's comment on how many complaints he had heard about the viability of Wizards in groups, I had to respond. I am not here to tell you that Wizards are the ultimate class. I am not going to say that Wizards are superior to all other classes. I am going to tell you that Wizards are a VERY important part of any group, especially at higher levels.

The problem is that we are now living in a twinkers world. Tanks are reliant on powerful armors and weapons that can be used at very low levels. Yes, verant has addressed this issue by creating a damage cap for tanking classes at L20. However, a first level twinker tank in full bronze with a FS two hander or a Lanseaxe (and yes, I have seen first level tanks in FULL crafted carrying an Executioners Axe) is far more powerful than a first level twinker wizard. That having been said, why would any tank or group want a low level wizard in their group when a tank is just as good? This concept holds true up to around L24. And in truth, it is not until L34 that Wizards truly come into their own.

To illustrate my above point, a twinked tank at L21 (damage cap is now removed) is now hitting for upwards of 40 or more damage with an Executioners Axe, has regular critical hits, and has an ungodly AC around 500+ with full crafted. Why does he need a wizard in his group who can only cast Lightning Bolt (125 damage) with any consistency? Force shock may be a L20 spell that hits for 170 damage, but it is so often resisted that it is not a viable spell at that level.

Quite frankly, if I were that super twinked tank, I would want a couple clerics at my back, and maybe a few mage/necro's with pets. "After all", reasons the tank, "A mage can do as much damage as a wizard at that level AND has a pet."

And, to a large degree, the tank is right.

But let it be said and let it be known, Wizards do not truly come into their own until L34. Once a wizard hits level 34, they have no equal in their own field. Let me repeat that: WIZARD'S ARE UNEQUALED IN POWER IN THEIR OWN FIELD. This is not an idle boast. Wizards are about one thing and one thing only: Burning mobs to the ground in as short a time frame as possible. When you want it dead, and you want it dead NOW, there is NO substitute for a wizard. None.

Wizards are all about Direct Damage. Either as Bolt, Shock, or AE spells, wizards have the singular ability to inflict more damage faster than any other class. Wizards have the ability to turn the tide of a battle in seconds, rivaled only by the chanter's ability for crowd control. At level 34, that super twinked tank is just about maxed out in ability. Sure, his attack and defense ratings will continue to go up, but his level of damage will not increase that significantly. However, from L34 on, our power grows almost exponentially. I have seen tanks up to L40 hit for 80 damage a swing, crit for 180, and have over 1600 hitpoints. And I at Level 39 have almost 1700 mana, or the ability to chain cast 9 Lightning Strike Spells of 380 damage each. Do the math. I have the capacity to deliver 3420 direct damage to mobs in under a minute. A mage with pet may do more damage in a longer period of time, and necro's, shamans, and druids can do more damage over time than we can. But NOTHING compares to our sheer knockdown ability.

I need to point out too that many people that I have grouped with fear the wizard class. I am afraid that wizards have gathered a bad name for themselves. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a caster over-burn a mob and get it stuck on himself. I know one particular mage who likes to burn a mob as hard as he can right at the beginning of a battle. Ok, that particular mage runs around the battle (with a mob attatched firmly to his tail) screaming "GET IT OFFA ME!!!". Geee, he is running around , the tanks can't get a lock on the dang mob to pull it off of him, and the cleric is over worked trying to get a lock on him to cast heals! It's all I can do sometimes but to try and root every mob in the room, or AE snare them with Bonds of Force. Sigh. That type of activity will and should get you kicked from a group.

This brings me to my second, and perhaps the most important point about wizards. We are paid to think. If you can't stand sitting back and surveying a battle to determine how to best spend your limited mana points, then change classes. That's right. Much like clerics, we wizards should be the last classes to engage a mob in battle. Let the tanks run up and the pets jump in. Let the Necro's, Shaman's, and Druids dot. My job is to calmly stand up, back away from the battle (if possible), and survey the situation. I look for many things before I do anything. Questions to ask include:

1. How many mobs are there?
2. What type of mobs are out there? Caster/healer mobs or straight tank mobs?
3. What are the abilities of the mobs? Root? Harm Touch?
4. Can the tanks comfortably handle the mobs alone?
5. Communication to the group
6. Who am I assisting?
7. Aggro?
8. EVAC?
9. And my favorite question: DD or AE or Stun?

There are many more concerns that I have when in battle. One major concern is runners. Mobs that run are very bad news. Hehe, a good time to hit EVAC without even thinking is when a high speed runner takes off down a dungeon hallway with the Chanters pet attached to it! The train that will return will annihilate most parties in seconds! I pay VERY close attention to the party's healers: If they start getting hit by a mob, that is my cue to stun, root, or just plain burn the mob into cinders.

It is also not a bad thing to pull a mob off of another player if you know what and why you are doing it. If I see one of the tanks getting hit hard, I will go full burn on a mob and do everything I can to pull it off the tank. Generally speaking, I tell tanks NOT to Assist me if a mob pulls to me. Why? If a mob pulls to me, I use a stun/root combo and leave the mob in a corner of a room, well out of our way. A good example of this is the Avatar Room in Cazic Thule. This is a wonderful room to fight in with lots of room to move around in. It is easy for me to nuke from 75 feet away, intentionally pull the mob to me, and root it off in a corner. This is in effect the wizard version of "Mezzing" a mob. There is nothing worse than that little caster running all over a room with a mob stuck to him.

Just a note on unintentional pulling of mobs from a battle: do not run around like a chicken with your head cut off! If you have to run, there is only one direction to go. Run back to your tanks, and STOP right in front of your tanks. At least you brought the mob back to the tanks so they don't have to chase you around a room.

Communication is one of the great challenges that face a wizard. If you have a chanter in your group, does that rule out the use of AE spells? If you have a druid/ranger in your group, does that free you from root duties? Does your cleric have the reagents (CEA's, Bloodstones, Jaspers) to Symbol your tanks? What can you, with the viewpoint of a wizard, offer to a party that exceeds the result of your spells? Truly this is what separates a good wizard from the lesser wizards.

Just a few notes on AE spells. I have read that if you target your tank and cast on him, you can cast AE spells to your hearts content.

NOT TRUE!

There is a theory that if you cast on the tank, the mobs see the damage as being done by the tank. This is wholly false. At earlier levels, up to around level 20, this may be true because in many cases the tank is dishing out more damage and is constantly taunting the mob (s). However at higher levels, this concept is totally false.

I am L39, and my two favorite spells AE spells are Thunderclap (PB AE) and Circle of Force. For this discussion, only Circle of Force is applicable which is a ranged AE spell. CoF hits for 214 damage per mob.

There is a GREAT thread in the discussion forum about AE use, and I HIGHLY recommend that you read it. But in a nutshell, casting AE's is all about aggro. In short, the primary mob that the tank is attacking must take MORE aggro from the tank than your spell creates!

Example: Your tank does 300 points of damage to the primary mob. CoF hits for 214. Result? Mobs stay stuck to the tank and do not pull off. However if the tank did only 100 damage before the CoF hits, YOU WILL PULL MOBS. Why? Because you, the caster, have created more Aggro to yourself than the Tanks aggro.

Mathematically it looks like this:

Wizard total Aggro < Tank total aggro

Your Aggro level must remain LESS than the tanks aggro level.

This becomes very complicated to judge when you are in a group with multiple tanks. I regularly group with 2 or 3 tanks, plus a pet or two. The problem is that since all the tanks are damaging the mob, it is very difficult to get a good read on who has aggroed the mob the most. Imagine that 4 tanks (including pets) have done 600 damage to a mob with 1200 hitpoints (Cazic Thule Lizzies and gators). Further, assume that each tank has done the same damage, 150 damage each. If my CoF AE spell hits right when the mob is at 50% health, the 214 damage that CoF does creates MORE aggro than the tanks have created individually. Result? I pull mobs.

Most often I pull only one mob, and its a non-caster mob. My solution is to Stun/Root the mob and walk away from it, leaving it to be addressed later.

The AWESOME potential destructive power of Wizard AE spells are what truly define the class. NO OTHER CLASS has the power of a Wiz AE. Druids would rank a distant second. Mage AE spells are rains (which still suck), or PB AE, and their power doesn't even come close.

Yes, Wizards have the greatest variety and have the most powerful DD spells in the game, but it is our ability to destroy multiple mobs so quickly that creates instant respect.

In one battle in Cazic Thule for instance, our group camped the lower Throne Room (Lizzie cloak and mantle spot). We were trained by upper TR by 6 lizzies. Our group consisted of 3 tanks, Shaman, Bard, and Myself. CAREFUL timing of my AE spells resulted in several 5 or 6 mob hits with AE's. Net result: OVER 3200 aggregate damage to 6 mobs, 50% mana remaining, one pulled mob rooted and left to the side. I had 3 bubs of health when all was said and done.

All I am saying is, know how to use your AE's, know when to use them, understand mob aggro, and PRACTICE AE's when your group pulls two mobs.

I hope I have made my point. Wizards are not the best class in the game. FAR from it. We have a singular duty in group applications which is to really give a mob a bad day. And we do it better than any other class in the game. We are the artillery, fighting with huge damage spells but lacking any armor. You must think before you cast. But I can tell you this. We are an awesome class to behold. Try forming a group consisting of a tank (paladin/ranger/bard preferred), 4 wizards, and a chanter. Four L34 wizards can deliver 1250 damage to a singular mob in about 6 seconds. The tank pulls and holds mobs for you. The chanter mezzes and keeps the wizard drugged up on clarity (ooooooh!). I tell you this, Cazic Thule was never the same when we finished with the sewers that day…

Good Luck!

Praxis

L39 Wizard of Rodcet Nife