Discussion: Sage vs. Demon
Thrieya - Lost City
Posts: 732 Arc User
Over the course of my wizarding career, I have both asked and been asked countless times the million-dollar question of "What's better for a wizzy, Sage or Demon?"
I think we all know that's a pretty complicated question to answer when it comes to our class, considering the wide variety of playing styles and personal preferences it can accomodate with its skills. So unlike some other classes, we can certainly say that when it comes to being a wizzy, there isn't really any definite answer as to whether the Sage or Demon culti path is better than the other.
Hence, in order that we may spare some of our junior wizards the pain, confusion and humiliation of picking the right culti path for themselves, let us discuss our own personal choices and paths over some tea and cookies, fresh from the oven.
IMO, there are many factors that will eventually decide a person's choice, but I think the largest factor by far would be personal preference and playing style, followed closely by budget.
Myself, I went Demon, and I've never regretted my choice, in spite of the constant state of Chi starvation and consequent lack of AoEs it left me in. Among my main reasons for ignoring these drawbacks were the increase in P. Def. Stone Barrier offered, the increased freeze chance of Hailstorm, and the additional 3% crit rate the masteries offered.
Over the years, I've found that some Demon skills tend to be highly overrated, while others are the exact opposite. For instance, while people talk about Demon Stone Barrier all the time and severely overprice the book, in the end, I'm still squishy even though I have it. On the other hand, a 50% chance to immobilise the target(s) might not sound like much, but when you actually put it into practice, Hailstorm becomes ridiculously helpful in many situations, yet people seem to dismiss it because it doesn't really do much damage. Another example of an underrated skill would be Force of Will. Compared to Sage FoW, which makes it an AoE, Demon doesn't sound that awesome, but again, when I put it into practice, it's unbelievable, the kind of difference 2 seconds off the CD time makes. I've lost count of the situations I've found myself in where had FoW been even a second later, I'd have ended up dead instead of living to tell the tale.
When it comes to gear, I chose to build upon P. Def and crit rate. My lack of -chan save for my rings and whatever I can get from armour pieces is truthfully bad enough that even being Demon can't really make up for it, so I tried to go the opposite direction and rely on crits to 1-shot opponents. Sometimes it works... and sometimes it doesn't, but I like to think that's the fun part of playing my wizard.
So, with that said, let's talk culti, and for anyone who's reading this thread to try and decide which path to choose, do remember that this is all based on subjective opinion, so don't let anyone else choose how to play your wizzy for you.
I think we all know that's a pretty complicated question to answer when it comes to our class, considering the wide variety of playing styles and personal preferences it can accomodate with its skills. So unlike some other classes, we can certainly say that when it comes to being a wizzy, there isn't really any definite answer as to whether the Sage or Demon culti path is better than the other.
Hence, in order that we may spare some of our junior wizards the pain, confusion and humiliation of picking the right culti path for themselves, let us discuss our own personal choices and paths over some tea and cookies, fresh from the oven.
IMO, there are many factors that will eventually decide a person's choice, but I think the largest factor by far would be personal preference and playing style, followed closely by budget.
Myself, I went Demon, and I've never regretted my choice, in spite of the constant state of Chi starvation and consequent lack of AoEs it left me in. Among my main reasons for ignoring these drawbacks were the increase in P. Def. Stone Barrier offered, the increased freeze chance of Hailstorm, and the additional 3% crit rate the masteries offered.
Over the years, I've found that some Demon skills tend to be highly overrated, while others are the exact opposite. For instance, while people talk about Demon Stone Barrier all the time and severely overprice the book, in the end, I'm still squishy even though I have it. On the other hand, a 50% chance to immobilise the target(s) might not sound like much, but when you actually put it into practice, Hailstorm becomes ridiculously helpful in many situations, yet people seem to dismiss it because it doesn't really do much damage. Another example of an underrated skill would be Force of Will. Compared to Sage FoW, which makes it an AoE, Demon doesn't sound that awesome, but again, when I put it into practice, it's unbelievable, the kind of difference 2 seconds off the CD time makes. I've lost count of the situations I've found myself in where had FoW been even a second later, I'd have ended up dead instead of living to tell the tale.
When it comes to gear, I chose to build upon P. Def and crit rate. My lack of -chan save for my rings and whatever I can get from armour pieces is truthfully bad enough that even being Demon can't really make up for it, so I tried to go the opposite direction and rely on crits to 1-shot opponents. Sometimes it works... and sometimes it doesn't, but I like to think that's the fun part of playing my wizard.
So, with that said, let's talk culti, and for anyone who's reading this thread to try and decide which path to choose, do remember that this is all based on subjective opinion, so don't let anyone else choose how to play your wizzy for you.
Post edited by Thrieya - Lost City on
0
Comments
-
Again? b:shocked
On topic. Demon>Sage(i got 31k pdef buffed)If someone hates you for no reason, then give that **** a reason!b:chuckle0 -
Demon Stone Barrier = 150% extra phys
Sage Stone Barrier = 120% extra phys
Not sure about you but 30% doesn't look compelling at all.
By the way I'm a demon.0 -
I chose sage back in May of 2009 lol; at the time Sage > Demon hands down because PvP for wiz was ostensibly AoE exclusive, at the time, especially on PvE servers the decision was this simple:
heaven > hell because chi
heaven > hell because lv99 ultis
heaven > hell because masteries combined with endgame refines was(is still?) greater damage than demon
heaven > hell because for some reason heaven stone barrier was actually obtainable (I got mine for 15mil in the AH before Thanksgiving in '09.
Coming back to this game now though, I'm looking at the possibility of there being a new preferred cultivation.
PvP has changed drastically with the advent of Nation Wars; HT had like 5 or 6 TWs this weekend (compared to when we used to defend 6 territories per day in Enrage), which means the need for those big AoEs is almost non-existent. In NW for wiz it seems like it's all about max damage per hit, score that kill and move on.
So because of the new PvP, I'm going to have to say that right now the game favors demons to sages, not by much, but all things lined up I think a demon has more benefits in today's PW.
My 2/cents.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 181.9K PWI
- 699 Official Announcements
- 2 Rules of Conduct
- 264 Cabbage Patch Notes
- 61K General Discussion
- 1.5K Quality Corner
- 11.1K Suggestion Box
- 77.4K Archosaur City
- 3.5K Cash Shop Huddle
- 14.3K Server Symposium
- 18.1K Dungeons & Tactics
- 2K The Crafting Nook
- 4.9K Guild Banter
- 6.6K The Trading Post
- 28K Class Discussion
- 1.9K Arigora Colosseum
- 78 TW & Cross Server Battles
- 337 Nation Wars
- 8.2K Off-Topic Discussion
- 3.7K The Fanatics Forum
- 207 Screenshots and Videos
- 22.8K Support Desk