New Magician
Doug Wolfe
good Magician sites to look at? Also, any advice would be appreciated (I
started in Freeport).
Desdinova
Some thoughts:
IMHO, the FIRST spell you should buy at *any* new level of
spells is an Elemental. Without an elemental, we're just weak Wizards
(spells do less damage, take more mana and take longer to cast). I
promise you that you'll live longer and take down more monsters with
an 8th level Earth Elemental and the 4th level Burn spell than you
will with a 4th level Earth Elemental and the 8th level Shock of
Blades spell.
Secondly, it's a definite fact that elementals work better in
different roles. You won't notice the difference with your first set
of elementals -- at that level they're all pretty much the same. At
later levels, the difference between the pets becomes more apparent.
The general breakdown is:
Earth: Most hit points of the four, highest strength, lowest
agility, slowest delay, average armor.
Air: More hit points than fire but less than water, low
strength, highest agility, fastest delay, low armor.
Fire: Lowest hit points, low strength, high agility (less than
air, but higher than water), fast delay (slower than air but faster
than water), low armor, fire shield.
Water: More hit points than air but less than earth, more
strength than air but less than earth, more agile than earth but less
than fire, faster delay than earth but slower than fire, more armor
than fire but less than earth.
What all the above means:
Hit Points: A common RPG term, this is the amount of health
the pet has.
Strength: In EQ, there is a maximum damage that can be dealt
out by a particular attack. For instance, 12th level pets can deal a
maximum of 16 hit points of damage. High strength won't make you do
more damage with an attack. What it will do, however, is make you hit
for the max damage more often. An Earth elemental almost always hits
for Max damage. Air and Fire elementals don't hit for max damage as
often.
Agility: High agility means you get hit less often. Earth
elementals get hit *all* the time. Air Elementals get hit less
frequently.
Delay: This is the time it takes between attacks. Lower
numbers mean quicker attacks. (For instance, a delay of 20 means you
attack more often than someone with a delay of 50.) So Air elementals
attack more often than Earth elementals.
Armor: In EQ, this affects your chances of getting hit in the
first place as well as affecting how much damage you take when a blow
actually lands.
There are essentially two situations in which a smart solo
Magician will find himself/herself: (1) Attacking white and yellow
MOBs and (hopefully) only taking on one at a time; and (2) attacking
swarms of blue and green MOBs.
For (1), Earth or Water are your best bets. When you're
attacking white or yellow MOBs, you're fighting a creature that's
going to be doing quite a bit of damage when it hits, and it's going
to hit often. So you need the high hit points of the Earth or Water
pets so they won't get killed when the MOB still has half health, and
you need the extra strength that these two elemetentals can provide to
finish the MOB more quickly.
For (2), Air or Fire are your best bets. This is because when
you're fighting swarms of blue and green MOBs, you want a pet that
will either (A) get hit comparatively rarely (Air); or (B) do damage
to whatever hits it (Fire).
My personal preference is Earth Elementals when I'm soloing
yellows and whites in North K. or East K., and Fire Elementals when
I'm in Blackburrow mowing down blues and greens.
Note also: If your pet dies, you won't be far behind him
unless you're close to the zone border or unless the MOB you've been
fighting is down to a sliver of health. This is especially true with
white and yellow MOBs. I had a pet die on me when fighting a carrion
spider once. I had full health but no mana. The carrion spider was
at 1/4 health. I died.
Remember that your pet can do more damage against these MOBs
than you can over the long term. With this in mind, you should be
spending some of your time tanking for your pet. Better that you drop
down to one bubble of health while your pet continues to beat the snot
out of the MOB than have your pet die (and then you). After 4-5
rounds of combat, stop the spellslinging and step in with a weapon.
You'll be a far more successful mage.
Finally, don't underestimate your ability to summon bandages
and the bind wound skill. I didn't have any appreciation for this
skill until I fought an Asp in East Commons that killed my pet and
almost killed me. When I finished the fight, I was down to about 30
health. If you've never fought an Asp, let me be the first to tell
you that those little buggers pack a nasty poison. It knocks off
about 6-8 hits per tick. (You regain 4 hits per tick while sitting
and 2 hits per tick standing.) The only thing that saved me was that
I just happened to have 20 bandages on me and I just kept bandaging
myself until the poison wore off. When it finally wore off, I was
down to 7 hits. But without the bandages, I would have already died,
respawned and making the trek back to my corpse. Ever since then I
don't go anywhere without at least 40 bandages.
Hope this helps.
Desdinova
Humble Erudite Conjurer of the 4th Circle
Innoruuk
Desdinova
>Hi there. Just made up a mew magician, and was wondering if there were any
>good Magician sites to look at? Also, any advice would be appreciated (I
>started in Freeport).
Forgot to mention:
There's an important distinction between /pet guard me and
/pet follow me:
/pet guard me tells your pet to stay near you and attack
anything dangerous that gets with a certain radius of you.
/pet follow me tells your pet to stay near you and only attack
things that attack you first.
Ever since I found this out, I've used /pet follow me
exclusively. Before that there were many instances where I'd be
sitting down regaining health and mana only to see something like
"Goner says 'Time to die, a grizzly bear!" Since I started using
follow instead of guard, that hasn't happened.
/pet sit down is a useful command for keeping your pet in one
spot. While this isn't important in the outdoor zones (pets will stay
in one spot automatically when you stop), it's vitally important in
dungeons. In dungeons, pets will pace around when you stop.
Sometimes they'll pace in front of a critter that wants to play. And
suddenly you've got a fight on your hands that you didn't need and
maybe can't win. /pet sit down keeps them from pacing.
Another useful trick with /pet sit down is crossing bridges.
If you stop on a bridge, your pet will begin to pace. If the bridge
is thin, your pet will drop off the side of the bridge and will have
to take the long way back to get to you. The long way back can often
mean passing up lots of MOBs. (This is called Pet Train Syndrome.
Nothing worse in a dungeon than seeing "Taunting Attacker Master" and
looking around and not being able to find your pet. A speedy exit from
the zone is recommended at that point.)
Unfortunately, some bridges can be tricky. The first bridge
you come to in Upper Guk, for instance, is a guaranteed Pet Train
generator. The bridge is very thin, and it curves in a couple of
places. So you can't take it at full speed. Which means your pet
comes up behind you, starts to pace, then falls off into the water.
Well, there are 2 guk guards and a gaz warrior in the water. Guess
what? They're about to make short work of your pet. Guess what
happens after that? They're coming after you. To avoid this, go
right up to the start of the bridge and use /pet sit down. Then cross
the bridge yourself. When you get to the opposite side, type /pet
follow me. The pet will sail across the bridge and the Pet Train will
have been avoided.
The downside to /pet sit down is that it's easy to forget that
you've told your pet to do this. When you give this command, your pet
will sit there until you tell it otherwise. There have been many
instances where I've run off into the depths of Blackburrow, looked
around and discovered that my pet was missing, ran back to the
Bleachers where my pet was still sitting, typed /pet follow me, ran
*back* off into the depths of Blackburrow, etc. The other problem is
that if your pet is in "sit" mode and you tell it to attack something,
it will become animated and will follow the MOB until it dies or the
pet does. As soon as the MOB dies, the pet will revert to its
previous command. If the previous command was /pet sit down, your pet
will stay right where it killed the MOB. This can lead to frustrating
searches for your parked pet unless you bothered to buy the Sense
Summoned spell.
Remus Shepherd
> Hi there. Just made up a mew magician, and was wondering if there were any
> good Magician sites to look at? Also, any advice would be appreciated (I
> started in Freeport).
The first spells you buy, at any rank, should be your elemental summonings.
Magicians live with their pets at their side, and die when they don't have
them.
Aside from that... You have chosen the 'Investment' class. :) Magicians
can invest their mana in summoned objects, so that when the time comes for
combat, they actually have more mana than any other casting class. While
most casters will go into a combat with a full mana bar, you will go into
a combat with that same full mana bar, a sack full of daggers to throw at
your opponent during combat, a summoned blade with which to hit the opponent,
a pet to throw at the opponent, and a bag full of bandages for recovering
after combat. Be a hoarder. A packrat. That's a magician. :)
... ...
Remus Shepherd (re...@netcom.com)
TPGramlich
yet to figure this one out. What happens to your pet when you gate within the
same zone. I am bound to Felwithe and I have had my pet on "Follow me" and
gated back from within Greater Faydark but haven't been able to determine what
had become of my pet. I didn't get the message that I dodn't have a pet to
command (as far as I can remember) yet my pet never caught up to me either (if
he truly was following). just wondering if anyone knew about this one.
Magnuum
Human Magician
Fennin Ro
Jim Williams
I still want to see the large races able to use the small races as 1h or 2h
blunt weapons.
The image of a female barbarian squealing at the top of her voice while
whaling away at some hapless orc with a nearby gnome is priceless :)
"Eek! <wham!> Orcs! I hate orcs! <wham!> Evil, nasty, *dirty* ole orcs!
<wham wham!>"
Remus Shepherd wrote in message ...
Jack Tang
TPGramlich <tpgra...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990608164243...@ng-fi1.aol.com...
Doug Wolfe
Hey, thanks for all the great suggestions. I think I am going to like this
Magician. I was playing a Ranger until now, but I think I will be spoiled
now
by the "instant partner" and the Gate/Bind spells.
BTW, no one mentioned a Magician website. I have seen some for Enchanters,
Rogues, etc. Are there none for the mighty Magician?
dno...@my-deja.com
know, I know, but these are fairly helpful sometimes) at
eq.stratics.com (look for the /classes/magicians/ board) and
www.eqvault.com ('Magic Shop', which is for all casters but has a lot
of magi hanging out on it). Also, make sure you read all the articles
about being a Magician on eq.stratics.com (although some of the
information is not totally accurate, it's helpful).
Good luck to you! Being a Magician is a lot of fun - you'll find you're
not as common as a Wizard, so you'll feel a bit more distinctive.
Oh and to throw in a few more things about being a mage:
- occasionally you'll see someone say something like "no pets - they
take experience". Set them straight. Your pet (at least when you're
grouping-not sure about solo) will only take a share of the experience
from killing a monster if it gets in the killing blow. So, make sure
you have /pet back off bound to a button that you can hit right before
the creature is about to die, so someone else gets the last hit in.
- Our Erudite Conjurer friend may have mentioned it earlier, but make
sure you map hot keys to (at least) /pet attack, /pet follow me, /pet
back off, /pet report health (a new command just added). I have a
hotkey bank with just a few offensive spells and these commands -
that's the one i use while fighting.
- You'll find that if you just send your pet off to kill something on
its lonesome, it will often not succeed, even if the enemy is blue
(especially as you get higher in levels before getting the next rank of
spells - e.g. if you're lvl 7, a blue creature might be lvl 6 while
your pet may be lvl 4). Make sure that you help the pet! I will often
send the pet in to attack, monitor its health, and when it starts to
get to about 2/3 to 1/2 its full health, i'll run up behind the
monster, and start whacking away with my dagger or staff. If you have
the monster in between you and the pet like this:
you -> mob <- pet
you'll find that it'll keep turning around to attack on of you or the
other, exposing its backside to the other (giving them a bonus to hit).
In this way you can also back off just out of range of melee to let the
pet take hits if you're getting beat up.
Generally there are three ways to fight with a pet (none necessarily
better than the other - they depend on circumstance)
1) let your pet tank (take the blows) while you cast burn spells on the
creature. This hurts your pet's health and your mana while keeping your
health unchanged.
2) let the pet tank while you fight some hand to hand (backing off so
you don't get hit too much). This hurts the pet's health and to some
extent your, while spending no mana.
3) Fight the monster hand to hand the whole time while the pet helps.
This is very adverse to your health, but saves mana and lets the pet
heal.
Alternate between these 3 approaches depending on your play style and
depending on the situation (i.e. if you're caught in a fight with a
hurt pet, or with low mana).
- Finally, be sure you buy a full set of cloth armor (maybe except for
shirt - i prefer to wear the robe) as soon as you can afford it. This
will greatly improve your survivability, esp. at low levels. Armor
reduces your chance to be hit _and_ the damage you take when you are
hit.
Well, i didn't mean to go on in such detail - just wish you the best of
luck. Enjoy the class.
Alhambraz the Red
Magician on Bristlebane
--
Drew Norris
dno...@my-dejanews.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
Desdinova
>- occasionally you'll see someone say something like "no pets - they
>take experience". Set them straight. Your pet (at least when you're
>grouping-not sure about solo) will only take a share of the experience
>from killing a monster if it gets in the killing blow. So, make sure
>you have /pet back off bound to a button that you can hit right before
>the creature is about to die, so someone else gets the last hit in.
When you solo, your pet sucks 25% of the XP. But with your
pet, you can solo whites and yellows (and occasional reds) which give
more XP than blues. So it all evens out.
>- Our Erudite Conjurer friend may have mentioned it earlier, but make
>sure you map hot keys to (at least) /pet attack, /pet follow me, /pet
>back off, /pet report health (a new command just added). I have a
>hotkey bank with just a few offensive spells and these commands -
>that's the one i use while fighting.
Nope, forgot to mention it. But it's a fine idea. I just
rearranged my hotkeys last night, in fact, thanks to the new /pet
report health command.
Many folks who know about hotkeys don't realize that they've
actually got 6 banks of hotkeys. Or they know that they've got six
banks but don't know that they can easily access the other banks by
<SHIFT>-<Number>. SHIFT-1 is my "travel" hotkey bank. The buttons
are, in order, Spells (opens the spellbook), Camp, /Loc, Sit,
Run/Walk, and Sense heading.
Magicians should have (at least) two combat hotkey banks: One
for the pets and one for the spells. My pet hotkey bank has:
/pet attack
/pet follow me
/pet sit
Shield of Fire spell
My spell hotkey bank has:
Most useful burn spell in inventory (usually NOT my most
powerful spell). Right now it's Shock of Blades (even though I've got
Bolt of Fire as well).
Next two slots are for specialty burn spells. Right now Slot
#2 is Rain of Blades and Slot #3 is Column of Fire. This is because
I'm doing a lot of dungeon crawling these days and those two spells
make great train derailers.
Slot #4 is /pet report health
Slot #5 is /pet back off
Slot #6 is /loc
David Schrank
out the whole zone if its a default one :)
David Schrank
or so. Then you realize you just wasted a lot of time on a flawed class. If
you must have pets play a necro. If you want damage, play a wizard. If you
want damage and desire to solo play a druid. If you want a pet for funs sake
and to solo play a shaman. Magicians have decent pets but slow spells which do
subpar damage compaired to a wizard.
You will come to this conclusion and play another character in time. One
of the people I play with now was a 17th level enchanter, I was a 16th level
magician. You will just end up in the graveyard of broken spellcasters.
ps. I LOVE my 13th level shaman, so I am not saying all classes suck by any
means. At this point with my mage I knew i was not going to be happy with this
class.
Desdinova
> I would suggest not playing a magician. They seem good till like level 12
>or so. Then you realize you just wasted a lot of time on a flawed class.
Uh.
Do what?
I can routinely solo white and yellow MOBs at 12th level. I
understand that this ability lasts for another few levels, which is far
better than most every other class in the game.
Our pets can cast spells now.
Our pets will attack anything (as opposed to running away from
powerful monsters like they used to do).
At least one pet from each level is available for purchase in the
guilds.
Each new circle of spells has a new Summon Weapon spell.
Wherein lies the flaw?
Hell, every time I download a new patch I pray that it won't
contain the inevitable nerfing of Magicians. :)
>Magicians have decent pets but slow spells which do
>subpar damage compaired to a wizard.
This is a problem how, exactly?
>ps. I LOVE my 13th level shaman, so I am not saying all classes suck by any
>means. At this point with my mage I knew i was not going to be happy with this
>class.
Sounds like personal preference. Maybe your playing style isn't
conducive to being a Mage (just like my friend Siddarta who sucked at being
a Wizard but kicks ass playing a Monk). Me, I can't imagine being any
*other* class but a Mage.
bott...@telusplanet.net
Jaquar
I like all my spells and I like having a pet. Sure magicians cast
slower but duh, that's what the pet is for, to put it in front so you
have time to cast.
------------------------------------------
Jaquar
High Elf Magician (EQ)
Grandmaster Mage (UO)
------------------------------------------
David Schrank
Our pets at higher levels become research spells, though they seem to have added at
least one pet per circle now
Our damage is so slow that it seems to fail when we get a monster on us everytime
We get the 'shock' direct damage every other circle this is our only mana efficient
way to kill things.This means any circle with out a direct damange or 'shock of
xxxx' spell becomes painfull.
The pet to monster ratio of effectiveness drops the higher level we make.
Eventually I hear pets become pretty ineffective.
Unlike wizards we get no real area direct damage. we have the 'rain spells' theese
require the monster not to move. monsters move. We also have one set that centers
on us. Thats usefull. At high level we die in mele (as we should).
Desdinova
>the problems are four fold.
>Our pets at higher levels become research spells, though they seem to have added at
>least one pet per circle now
Yep. That's a complaint that no longer has any validity. At
least ONE pet (sometimes two or three) is available for purchase from
vendors at each circle.
>Our damage is so slow that it seems to fail when we get a monster on us everytime
This is the price you pay for being a Mage. If you want
faster burn, be a wizard. But as someone else pointed out, having a
pet tanking for you pretty much negates the slowness of the casting.
>We get the 'shock' direct damage every other circle this is our only mana efficient
>way to kill things.This means any circle with out a direct damange or 'shock of
>xxxx' spell becomes painfull.
Right. But again, if you want a DD spell every level, be a
wizard.
Moreover, it's not that big of a handicap. You can kill more
MOBs with an 8th level pet and the 4th level Burn spell than you can
kill with a 4th level pet and the 8th level Shock of Blades spell.
I'm 13th level and I use Shock of Blades exclusively even though Fire
Bolt does 10-12 points more damage.
The pet is all. The DD spells are just gravy.
>The pet to monster ratio of effectiveness drops the higher level we make.
>Eventually I hear pets become pretty ineffective.
Only if you're counting on them to tank exclusively without
you or someone else diving in to save their bacon. I tank for my
pets. Hurts in the short term but pays off in the long term.
>Unlike wizards we get no real area direct damage. we have the 'rain spells' theese
>require the monster not to move. monsters move. We also have one set that centers
>on us.
But wizards don't get pets.
Sorry, Dave. I like you and all, but what I'm seeing in your
post is that you want the Magician to be just as powerful as the
Wizard, but with pets. That's unbalancing, and I respect the reasons
why Mages have fewer DD spells, and why those DD spells do less damage
than same-circle Wizard spells.
I don't want to be a Wizard (no offense to the Wizards out
there). I want to be a Mage. So far, I'm pretty happy with the
decision and with the differences between the classes.
Jaquar
>David Schrank <david....@webline.com> sez:
>
>>the problems are four fold.
>>Our pets at higher levels become research spells, though they seem to have added at
>>least one pet per circle now
>
> Yep. That's a complaint that no longer has any validity. At
>least ONE pet (sometimes two or three) is available for purchase from
>vendors at each circle.
Is this why I can only find a water elem scroll for 16th level? Where
do I get the research tools? Don't need a spoiler, just a little
direction.
>>Our damage is so slow that it seems to fail when we get a monster on us everytime
>
> This is the price you pay for being a Mage. If you want
>faster burn, be a wizard. But as someone else pointed out, having a
>pet tanking for you pretty much negates the slowness of the casting.
The nice thing about having a pet it that it can pull the monster back
off you after you drop a few huge spells on it's head. Wizards don't
have that luxury.
> Moreover, it's not that big of a handicap. You can kill more
>MOBs with an 8th level pet and the 4th level Burn spell than you can
>kill with a 4th level pet and the 8th level Shock of Blades spell.
>I'm 13th level and I use Shock of Blades exclusively even though Fire
>Bolt does 10-12 points more damage.
Yep. The Fire Bolt is only for a distant kill shot when you aren't
sure SoB will kill it. I watch some machines just use FB and I can't
figure it out. SoB is half the man and is much more consistent. In
fact 2 FB's do more damage for equal mana.
>>The pet to monster ratio of effectiveness drops the higher level we make.
>>Eventually I hear pets become pretty ineffective.
>
> Only if you're counting on them to tank exclusively without
>you or someone else diving in to save their bacon. I tank for my
>pets. Hurts in the short term but pays off in the long term.
Part of the reason some Magicians complain is because they are not
being smart about how they attack. Sometimes you gotta take some
licks for your pet.
>>Unlike wizards we get no real area direct damage. we have the 'rain spells' theese
>>require the monster not to move. monsters move. We also have one set that centers
>>on us.
>
> But wizards don't get pets.
I look at the AE Magi spells as a pet protect. If I have two monsters
on my pet I may start dropping Rain of Blades on them (haven't got the
16th level spell yet)
> Sorry, Dave. I like you and all, but what I'm seeing in your
>post is that you want the Magician to be just as powerful as the
>Wizard, but with pets. That's unbalancing, and I respect the reasons
>why Mages have fewer DD spells, and why those DD spells do less damage
>than same-circle Wizard spells.
In a same level duel I think a Mage has a better than 50/50 shot at
killing the Wizard as long as he has the right pet.
Desdinova
>Is this why I can only find a water elem scroll for 16th level? Where
>do I get the research tools? Don't need a spoiler, just a little
>direction.
The merchant you bought your Malachite from should also have
the appropriate books to tell you how to research spells. You get the
components by either buying them from players or getting them off the
rotting corpses of MOBs that are same level as you or higher.
sne...@my-deja.com
David Schrank <david....@webline.com> wrote:
> the problems are four fold.
> Our pets at higher levels become research spells, though they seem to
have added at
> least one pet per circle now
I don't have any problem with having to expend a little time, or effort
to find, or research the higher level spells. At level 16, I had no
problems, and was in fact quite happy with my one Water elem until I
could gather the components to research the Earth elem.
>
> Our damage is so slow that it seems to fail when we get a monster on
us everytime
If the mob is on you, you're in trouble. You probably also screwed up.
Rule #1 when playing a mage. Pets take beats. You don't. Do anything
in your power to *not* take beats unless your pet is on it's last legs.
Even then it's probably better to just burn the mob to the ground, since
if yer pet falls, it's comin' after you anyway. Might as well burn it
bad enough to put it on you, while the near-death pet can still whack it
some, rather than letting it kill the pet, then turn on you. If this
happens, not only will you not have a pet to damage it, you're gonna
have a real hard time getting off any spells. Bottom line, if the mob
is on you instead of the pet, you're in trouble, and either messed with
something too buff, or screwed up.
>
> We get the 'shock' direct damage every other circle this is our only
mana efficient
> way to kill things.This means any circle with out a direct damange or
'shock of
> xxxx' spell becomes painfull.
Man, what is it that you want exactly? So we get DD spells every other
level. So we're not the Kings of DD like a Wizard. You want to have
the best of all worlds, and that's just not 'balanced'. As a level 19
magician, I can tell you that I have *no* problems dealing plenty of
damage. In fact, when dealing with tougher mobs, I even have to slow
DOWN the amount of damage I do to keep the damn mob offa me instead of
the pet. Sounds like I do too much damage if anything. So a Wizard of
an equal level can do 113 damage per spell, and I can only do 93. Who
cares? In that same span of time, I have a pet out there issuing
beatdowns of it's own. In that same time-span my pet has gotten 4 to 5
thumpings in on the baddie for between 10, and 20 damage each and
probably cast a spell too. Sounds like I out-damage a Wizard. If
anyone is complaining, it should be the Wizard.
Magicians also have (IMO) the best DoT spell in the game. It's the only
DoT spell that can dish out a consistent 20, or more points of damage
per 'round' (whack whack bash and sometimes a spell), and when the mob
dies, move on to the next one, all with just *one* casting. It's the
only DoT spell that can go from mob to mob to mob 15, 20 or more times
before it dies. It's the insta-tank that casters need so badly. You
don't even have to feel guilty, and wait for it to retrieve it's bloody
corpse when it dies. PooF! Instant Tank, just add mana.
>
> The pet to monster ratio of effectiveness drops the higher level we
make.
> Eventually I hear pets become pretty ineffective.
I don't think this is the case anymore. I notice a definite improvement
now that my Pet casts spells. Hell, If i can find a nice druid to SoW
me, and the pet, I can even KITE! I get the mob pissed off at me by
doing about 300 points of damage in 15 seconds or less, then run in
circles while the pet not only whacks it from behind chasing it around,
but casts spells on it too! It's not the most effective kiting in the
world, but when I'm in trouble, or screw up it helps. At level 19, I
still love my level 16 pet.
>
> Unlike wizards we get no real area direct damage. we have the 'rain
spells' theese
> require the monster not to move. monsters move. We also have one set
that centers
> on us. Thats usefull. At high level we die in mele (as we should).
Cast the AE spells on yer pet. If you did things right, that's what the
mobs are hitting anyway. You're right about the melee. If you're
getting hit, you're in trouble, but again, you quite likely also screwed
up.
>
> Desdinova wrote:
>
> > David Schrank <david....@webline.com> sez:
> >
> > > I would suggest not playing a magician. They seem good till
like level 12
> > >or so. Then you realize you just wasted a lot of time on a flawed
class.
Flawed class? You have to be kidding. How many other classes out there
can solo damn near any white, and even alot of yellows past level 16
(except those Griffawns, them suckers are MEAN). There aren't many.
Show me a Wizard that can solo any white that comes his way. How many
Wizards do you hear saying "I can't even solo alot of blues." I hear
some level 23 to 25 warriors saying they can only solo greens! I solo
yellows! How is this bad for me? If anything, I'm overpowered.
From level 15 to level 18, I spent most of my time in Lavastorm. There,
I had only my level 8 SoB, and my Ward Summoned spells, which do about
35, and 42 damage respectively, since most everything there resists my
Shock of Flame spell. I was soloing. My friend who was a level 20
druid when I was a level 16 Magician was soloing there as well. He had
a hard time with mobs there that I would utterly destroy. He wouldn't
go anywhere near a Lava Basilisk, and had tough times with Lava
Crawlers. I maimed them. They were blue to him, and white, or even
yellow to me. This is that "horribly overpowered druid" that some
people whine about. It's also the "horribly underpowered magician"
class that other people whine about. He had to kite like a madman just
to survive there. The way I see it, Magicians have *no* problems in the
firepower department.
> >
<snip>
> > Each new circle of spells has a new Summon Weapon spell.
> >
> > Wherein lies the flaw?
The only semi-complaint I have with the magicians are that the summon
weapon spells do seem pretty useless by the time you get them. I've
bought all of them that I can so far, and the only use i've ever had for
them was in summoning daggers, fangs, and staves for hapless necros, and
others who wanted to hunt wisps. For myself, I've had no use for any of
the summoned weapons other than the throwing daggers (Why turn down a
free attack, even if it does only do a few points of damage). Come to
think of it, hrm..that's not much of a complaint. <shrug> I guess I
have none.
> >
> > Hell, every time I download a new patch I pray that it won't
> > contain the inevitable nerfing of Magicians. :)
Ditto. When I heard that they buffed up the pets to cast spells, I was
pleasantly surprised, and actually wondered "WHY?"
> >
> > >Magicians have decent pets but slow spells which do
> > >subpar damage compaired to a wizard.
> >
> > This is a problem how, exactly?
Of course they do. They're not DD Kings like Wizards. Their DD does
less damage, and is a bit slower, but in my experience, it's still been
*more* than adequate. Like the person above said...how is this a
problem? You can't have the best of all worlds.
> >
<snip the rest>
Desdinova
>If the mob is on you, you're in trouble. You probably also screwed up.
>Rule #1 when playing a mage. Pets take beats. You don't. Do anything
>in your power to *not* take beats unless your pet is on it's last legs.
Nah, I disagree with this. I start tanking for my pet when
he's around 50% health. More efficient that way since he has less
downtime.
Other than that, excellent post. I agree with all points. :)
Doug Wolfe
debate over the pros and cons of a Magician, but that helps, too because I
can get a variety of opinions. So far it seems Magician=good.
Last night I reached 4th level and summoned my first pet - a little fire guy
named Gobartik. He was really cool, casting his spells ("Gobartik begins to
radiate", and "The <such and such> burns") not to mention beating up on
anything I sent him after and especially those things that attacked me from
nowhere. I was still learning how to control him, so I didn't leave
Freeport's newbie zone, but we were still having a great time.
Unfortunately, poor Gobartik perished (luckily for me, I was going to log in
a few minutes, anyway). We just finished up a Fire Beetle, and I was looting
it when a Deathfist Pawn ran up to me. Before I even stood up, brave
Gobartik
had killed the evil Orc. Then before I knew it, a Wolf jumped me, and again,
Gobartik was there. He was still hurt from the other battles, but he didn't
care. The Wolf took him down, but not before he had beaten it down so that I
could finish it.
Brave Gobartik, my first pet. I have a screenshot of him from when I
summoned
him to remember him by.
(So far, I really like the Magician! Thanks for all the advice.)
Desdinova
>Last night I reached 4th level and summoned my first pet - a little fire guy
>named Gobartik.
Just a note: You're not a Real Mage(tm) until you've summoned
a pet named "Goner." :)
Desdinova
(I've summoned a pet named "Goner" twice. The first time it
was prophetic. The second time it was way off base as Goner was white
to me and kicked lots of ass. <G>)
David Schrank
hopelessly broken. Its really the casting time of our spells to be honest that I think
is the big problem. We do great fighting ONE monster. The problem is when we have to
fight more than one, i.e. a wandering blue decides to snack on us.
We cannot cast spells in combat. We make (as we should) horrible combat machines so we
die really fast in this situation. As we go up levels this will get worse. At level 16 I
have low 200 hit points and pretty bad armor. I can tank for my pet 2-3 rounds in which
I can't really cast.
Our pets are lasting less and less rounds also as we go up levels. In a good group we
can be helpful. The problem is not as helpful as wizards.
Further when a monster gets on us we have no escape spells at all. This means if a tank
can not get it off us we die. This is the reality I am seeing. At lest my shaman can run
circles till a tank can distract it if I am at low vitality. Wizards have the 'shadow
shift?' spell. Enchanters are in the same boat as us I think. Necro's get heal-drain
spells with a fast casting cost. Its not we are a terrible class. Just the sum of the
parts do not really 'work' right now effectivly.
Desdinova wrote:
> David Schrank <david....@webline.com> sez:
>
> >the problems are four fold.
> >Our pets at higher levels become research spells, though they seem to have added at
> >least one pet per circle now
>
> Yep. That's a complaint that no longer has any validity. At
> least ONE pet (sometimes two or three) is available for purchase from
> vendors at each circle.
>
> >Our damage is so slow that it seems to fail when we get a monster on us everytime
>
> This is the price you pay for being a Mage. If you want
> faster burn, be a wizard. But as someone else pointed out, having a
> pet tanking for you pretty much negates the slowness of the casting.
>
> >We get the 'shock' direct damage every other circle this is our only mana efficient
> >way to kill things.This means any circle with out a direct damange or 'shock of
> >xxxx' spell becomes painfull.
>
> Right. But again, if you want a DD spell every level, be a
> wizard.
>
> Moreover, it's not that big of a handicap. You can kill more
> MOBs with an 8th level pet and the 4th level Burn spell than you can
> kill with a 4th level pet and the 8th level Shock of Blades spell.
> I'm 13th level and I use Shock of Blades exclusively even though Fire
> Bolt does 10-12 points more damage.
>
> The pet is all. The DD spells are just gravy.
>
> >The pet to monster ratio of effectiveness drops the higher level we make.
> >Eventually I hear pets become pretty ineffective.
>
> Only if you're counting on them to tank exclusively without
> you or someone else diving in to save their bacon. I tank for my
> pets. Hurts in the short term but pays off in the long term.
>
> >Unlike wizards we get no real area direct damage. we have the 'rain spells' theese
> >require the monster not to move. monsters move. We also have one set that centers
> >on us.
>
> But wizards don't get pets.
>
> Sorry, Dave. I like you and all, but what I'm seeing in your
> post is that you want the Magician to be just as powerful as the
> Wizard, but with pets. That's unbalancing, and I respect the reasons
> why Mages have fewer DD spells, and why those DD spells do less damage
> than same-circle Wizard spells.
>
> I don't want to be a Wizard (no offense to the Wizards out
> there). I want to be a Mage. So far, I'm pretty happy with the
> decision and with the differences between the classes.
>
Jaquar
<david....@webline.com> wrote:
>We cannot cast spells in combat. We make (as we should) horrible combat machines so we
>die really fast in this situation. As we go up levels this will get worse. At level 16 I
>have low 200 hit points and pretty bad armor. I can tank for my pet 2-3 rounds in which
>I can't really cast.
I cast spells in combat all the time. All you have to do is watch for
when the monster swings and then fire away. 200 hp? Ouch. I have
291, wonder why we have a 91 pt difference.
>Our pets are lasting less and less rounds also as we go up levels. In a good group we
>can be helpful. The problem is not as helpful as wizards.
I disagree with this. It is all in the execution.
>Further when a monster gets on us we have no escape spells at all. This means if a tank
>can not get it off us we die. This is the reality I am seeing. At lest my shaman can run
>circles till a tank can distract it if I am at low vitality. Wizards have the 'shadow
>shift?' spell. Enchanters are in the same boat as us I think. Necro's get heal-drain
>spells with a fast casting cost. Its not we are a terrible class. Just the sum of the
>parts do not really 'work' right now effectivly.
I think we must be using our pets very differently. Aside from being
jumped I rarely get into actual combat much.
sne...@my-deja.com
abu...@erols.com (Desdinova) wrote:
> sne...@my-deja.com sez:
>
> >If the mob is on you, you're in trouble. You probably also screwed
up.
> >Rule #1 when playing a mage. Pets take beats. You don't. Do
anything
> >in your power to *not* take beats unless your pet is on it's last
legs.
>
> he's around 50% health. More efficient that way since he has less
> downtime.
This is something I've never really understood. I know the conventional
wisdom is to tank for yer pet, but this makes no sense to me. My pet's
HP regenerates almost exactly as fast as my mana. I have a little
downtime between tough fights anyway. I find that by the time my mana
has recharged, even a formerly near dead pet is at, or *very* close to
full HP. My pet gets back it's HPs a hell of alot faster than I do.
Let it take the punishment. If it's within an inch of it's life, i'll
make an exception, but other than that, me taking the beats really just
means I'm not casting my spells when I probably need them most, and
that's when my pet is about to die. If I'm REALLY in trouble, and I
know I'm not gonna make it, then it's tank/gate time. Pet tanks, I
sacrifice it to get the hell outta Dodge.
>
> Other than that, excellent post. I agree with all points. :)
>
> Desdinova
> Humble Erudite Conjurer of the 4th Circle
> Innoruuk
>
sne...@my-deja.com
David Schrank <david....@webline.com> wrote:
> I completely agree we can not be as good as burn as a wizard. I am not
saying we are
> hopelessly broken. Its really the casting time of our spells to be
honest that I think
> is the big problem. We do great fighting ONE monster. The problem is
when we have to
> fight more than one, i.e. a wandering blue decides to snack on us.
You can't win 'em all. There are always bound to be situations for any
given class that particular class isn't good at handling. Magicians
don't do well when getting beat on. When you're getting beat on by two
mobs, one thing that works for me with at least some amount of success
is to move real close to my pet. My pet should already be beating on
one mob, while the other mob is beating on me. Tell the pet to attack
the second mob. There will be about a 2 second window after the pet
gets hit by the mob it was already on to do this. If you can get it to
hit the other mob, and taunt it offa you..you have time to gate, and get
the hell outta town. If not, yer just in trouble. That's a situation
magicians don't deal well with. Every class is going to have those.
It's just the way it goes. I don't see it as a "problem" per se. Same
goes for the slower casting times. All in all, our class has
weaknesses, just like any class. Those aren't bad things. They make it
so no one class is the best at everything, or even most things, just
some things :)
>
> We cannot cast spells in combat. We make (as we should) horrible
combat machines so we
> die really fast in this situation. As we go up levels this will get
worse. At level 16 I
> have low 200 hit points and pretty bad armor. I can tank for my pet
2-3 rounds in which
> I can't really cast.
If you time your spells, they end up being alot more effective, even in
trouble situations. I dunno if yer doing this, or not, but when i'm in
a problem situation like that, I actually wait until the split second
*after* i get hit to cast a spell. It gives me the most possible amount
of time to get the spell off before i'm gonna get hit again. It means
taking extra beats, but I'd rather take the extra 30 point beat and dish
out an extra 90 point beat, than take the 30 point beats anyway, and
only dish out 15 point beats of my own if i'm lucky.
>
> Our pets are lasting less and less rounds also as we go up levels. In
a good group we
> can be helpful. The problem is not as helpful as wizards.
I don't find this to be true. Pets *do* die quicker at those awkward
"just before a new circle" points, like level 7, and 11, and 15, and 19,
etc. You do have a bit tougher a time there. I think every caster
class deals with this issue in one way, or another. It may be annoying,
and it may make things more difficult, but again, I don't see it as a
"problem" per se, I just see it as a difficult spot to be worked
around. Maybe at level 30, I'll notice that my pets have gotten weaker,
but so far I haven't, and I'm right at that awkward spot at level 19.
Even here, I can solo whites regularly. Yellows are real tough at the
awkward spots, but not being able to solo yellows quite as well as usual
is nothing to complain about :) The fact that a Magician can even
consider killing yellows speaks volumes in comparison with those Wizards
that usually wouldn't dare solo a white. In groups, Wizards do really
come into their own, whereas magicians really shine solo. In reality
though, even in groups, I find that with my DD spells, I still have to
slow down on the rate I deal damage in order to keep the mob from coming
after me. I can only imagine a Wizard has to slow down even more. So
much for the faster casting time.
>
> Further when a monster gets on us we have no escape spells at all.
This means if a tank
> can not get it off us we die. This is the reality I am seeing. At lest
my shaman can run
> circles till a tank can distract it if I am at low vitality. Wizards
have the 'shadow
> shift?' spell. Enchanters are in the same boat as us I think. Necro's
get heal-drain
> spells with a fast casting cost. Its not we are a terrible class.
Just the sum of the
> parts do not really 'work' right now effectivly.
You can't win 'em all. Shamans may be better at certain situations than
other classes. Magicians are better at other specific situations.
Don't solo two blues, solo one yellow instead (i know, sometimes easier
said than done, but such is life) :) Show me a shaman that can do that.
This is just a fact of life, and in my opinion a perfectly acceptable
aspect of the game.
Richard Cortese
news:7jr51t$sc6$1...@news3.infoave.net...
> Hi, everyone. I started this little thread, never intending it to become a
> debate over the pros and cons of a Magician, but that helps, too because I
> can get a variety of opinions. So far it seems Magician=good.
>
guy
to
> radiate", and "The <such and such> burns") not to mention beating up on
> anything I sent him after and especially those things that attacked me
from
> nowhere. I was still learning how to control him, so I didn't leave
an uber chr that can kill anything in the game, just plain fun.
Even for the pitiful spells you get like summoned daggers that disappear
when you log. In the mean time you can use them and they are actually 1 tick
faster then a bronze dagger, something you would have trouble aquiring at
that low a level.
It is really a fun class to experiment with.
Marc Fuller
> >die really fast in this situation. As we go up levels this will get worse. At level 16 I
> >have low 200 hit points and pretty bad armor. I can tank for my pet 2-3 rounds in which
> >I can't really cast.
>
> when the monster swings and then fire away. 200 hp? Ouch. I have
> 291, wonder why we have a 91 pt difference.
>
He probably did the same thing as my Druid, and got killed a whole lot
just after he leveled. My Druid hit level 10 about seven or eight
times. Currently at level 12, with about 240 hit points. The hit
point penalty for losing a level is really harsh.
Marc Fuller
Desdinova
>This is something I've never really understood. I know the conventional
>wisdom is to tank for yer pet, but this makes no sense to me. My pet's
>HP regenerates almost exactly as fast as my mana. I have a little
>downtime between tough fights anyway.
When you tank for your pets, you won't be going full burn. When I
tank for my pets, I throw 2-3 SoB at the beginning of the combat, which
puts me down two bubbles of mana. Then I step in and tank. With a blue or
a low white, we'll finish the combat with me down maybe a bubble and a half
of health, down two bubbles of mana, and the pet already back at 65-75%
health. Rather than take downtime, I can turn around right then and go
find another blue or low white to play with.
It's all in the way you like to play, I suppose.
Desdinova
>I was dueling a Wizard friend (1 level higher than I) and my pet
>wouldn't engage.. Was that the 'attacking higher level' bug?
Nope. Pets won't fight in a duel. They'll only fight in PvP areas
like the Arena.
Des
ka...@wwwaif.net
>He probably will also bring 'friends' .These friends will hug and play then
> take
>out the whole zone if its a default one :)
>
Nothing quite like seeing the words 'Taunting Attacker Master' when you're
waiting for your pet to catch up to you after in-zone gating. The suspense is
just dandy.
K
ka...@wwwaif.net
>He probably did the same thing as my Druid, and got killed a whole lot
>just after he leveled. My Druid hit level 10 about seven or eight
>times. Currently at level 12, with about 240 hit points. The hit
>point penalty for losing a level is really harsh.
Wait, I think I've horribly misunderstood something. I thought that when you
lost a lvl and then regained it, you got less than the maximum possible
increase in HPs *for that level*. Then, when you moved on to the subsequent
level, it was a 'clean slate' and you got the max increase in HPs for that
level regardless of whether you had less than someone who hadn't been
penalized.
Which is it?
K
Jeff K.
Desdinova wrote in message <37617ad3...@news.rcn.com>...
> When you tank for your pets, you won't be going full burn. When I
>tank for my pets, I throw 2-3 SoB at the beginning of the combat, which
>puts me down two bubbles of mana. Then I step in and tank. With a blue or
>a low white, we'll finish the combat with me down maybe a bubble and a half
>of health, down two bubbles of mana, and the pet already back at 65-75%
>health. Rather than take downtime, I can turn around right then and go
>find another blue or low white to play with.
>
> It's all in the way you like to play, I suppose.
I vastly prefer to cast Shield of Fire on my pet and stand back casting SoB.
Shield of Fire lasts at *least* two full fights when I cast it on my pet,
which makes it incredibly mana efficient. If I were to step in and tank then
some of that mana would go to waste. After two fights I meditate and repeat,
by which time my pet is fully healed. This seems to work pretty well with
strong blues and weak whites. I'll have to alter my tactics once I gain a
couple of levels though, because my L12 pet will not be able to pull this
off once I get to around level 14. At that point I'll probably cast Shield
of Fire on myself before stepping in to tank.
Jeff K.
Nystramo on Cazic-Thule
Jeff K.
ka...@wwwaif.net wrote in message <7ju3q8$3mc...@enews.newsguy.com>...
>Nothing quite like seeing the words 'Taunting Attacker Master' when you're
>waiting for your pet to catch up to you after in-zone gating. The suspense
is
>just dandy.
That's when I go invis so the pet suicides and then get the hell out of the
zone to avoid a train - or I just zone right away if I'm at the border. As I
rule I avoid in zone gating when I have an active pet, but, of course, some
times you don't have a choice. :)
Morgan
If the hit points work the way people here are saying, then you get a
random number of hit points when you go up a level and lose a fixed
number of hit points when you drop a level.
So, suppose you get 10-20 points going up a level and lose 20 points
dropping a level. Every time you lose a level, you lose, on average,
5 hit points off your total. This would be a permanent penalty. If
you lose level 10 and regain it 5 times, you will permanently lose
something close to 25 hit points.
I still don't know if this is true or not. I tend to believe that you
get a fixed number of points each level, so this permanent loss is not
actually happening. Perhaps we should take a poll of race, class, level,
stamina and hits (unbuffed) to determine the actual formula.
--
Morgan
Doug Wolfe
Hello everyone. Back again with more Magician questions. I have heard about
the Summon Staff spells, and was wondering if someone could give me some
more
information - like spell names, locations, levels, and stats. I know that's
a lot, but you've all been helpful so far. Thanks.
Jeff K.
Doug Wolfe wrote in message <7k3kfe$36c$1...@news3.infoave.net>...
Staff of Tracing is the level 8 weapon summoning spell. It's a 7 damage
staff, but I don't recall the delay. I don't recall what the later ones
are - there may be one at level 16, but I'm not sure.
All of the weapon summoning spells up to the mid 20's or so can be had in
Ak'anon, and I've heard they are available in Erud as well. As far as I know
they are the only two locations for them. I'm sure more well travelled
magicians can give you more info.
Desdinova
>Staff of Tracing is the level 8 weapon summoning spell. It's a 7 damage
>staff, but I don't recall the delay.
Delay is 40, same as a Worn Great Staff.
>I don't recall what the later ones
>are - there may be one at level 16, but I'm not sure.
Summon Throwing Daggers is the 16th level spell. Or at least *a*
16th level spell. A quick check of www.gameznet.com/eq will tell you the
others. (I'd do it myself, but I gotta go to work... <G>)
>All of the weapon summoning spells up to the mid 20's or so can be had in
>Ak'anon, and I've heard they are available in Erud as well. As far as I know
>they are the only two locations for them. I'm sure more well travelled
>magicians can give you more info.
Yes, the Summon Weapon spells (and the Dimensional Pocket spell)
are available from Chembla Ellent on the top floor of the Library of
Erudin.