Skills with diminishing value at high levels?

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pleinair
pleinair Posts: 2 Arc User
edited February 2009 in Wizard
So I've got multiple reasonably high-level chars already, and I'm starting a wizard. I've got the equipment to multibox and have become pretty comfortable with that setup, so at any given time, I can have cleric support, mob-killing power, etc. as needed.

Obviously, between buffs, heals, kills on demand, personal experience, and resources available to me, that means my wizard levels are going to be pretty easy for a long time. So even if I were to skip certain skills that might normally be important to soloing, I could still easily get away with it and have SP to spare later on.

My question is this: Are there any wizard skills / spells that I might want to skip or delay in such a manner, in order to make room for other, more useful skills (including element masteries, say)?

I'm thinking specifically of skills that are good initially, and that are generally recommended by wizard guides since they facilitate soloing, but whose usefulness eventually drops off, either becoming worthless at high levels or just of somewhat dubious value. Or maybe they're useful at any level, but you can live without them for a while if you have the right support.

For example, take the cleric's Celestial Guardian's Seal. Since it's a number-based boost to regen, rather than percent-based, it has diminishing effect as you level up. It looks enticing, and it lets an early cleric boost their regen and save on meditation time / need for potions, but ultimately it's an SP cost that might be best left for later. (This isn't a perfect example, since most clerics will max it eventually anyway, but you get the idea.)

An example that immediately springs to mind is Morning Dew. If I assume I'll either have healing support or have a tank that requires none, healing isn't so useful for a while. It's already on the "secondary" list in the Wizard Guide for Newcomers, but my situation reduces its value even further.

Another possible / hypothetical example would be spells that max out early (e.g. before about 50-60) and become less useful beyond that point. I notice that Pyrogram, Gush, and Stone Rain are all maxed out by the time you hit 51, but do you continue to use those in the 60s and beyond? (I'm assuming "yes", but if I knew, I wouldn't be posting this.)

BTW, this is above and beyond the basic recommendations in the guides. If a guide says "this spell is ****, don't get it", then obviously I'm not going to get it either way.
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • Tryangle - Lost City
    Tryangle - Lost City Posts: 51 Arc User
    edited February 2009
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    I haven't hit anything that this would apply to. Obviously morning dew. But other than that, the only skills you really use are the beginning few. A lot of people get 4-5 levels of the fire barrier just for grinding foxwings, since you'll have to do that for about 8 levels straight, but if you have a cleric that's somewhat pointless.
  • Master_Shake - Sanctuary
    Master_Shake - Sanctuary Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited February 2009
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    the three starting spells are useful at high lvls because of quick cast time and manacosts and you have to get one lvl of morning dew because you want glacial snare and possibly black ice dragon. i kept my MD at lvl 1 and still heals me 25-30% cause im squishy.
  • Mosabi - Heavens Tear
    Mosabi - Heavens Tear Posts: 378 Arc User
    edited February 2009
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    I beg the differ morning dew is great when lvled I have it at lvl 5 and not planning for it to go anymore though since it gives me a full hp boost..
    Is Back once more.

    sorry med school needs some time.
  • pleinair
    pleinair Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited February 2009
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    I beg the differ morning dew is great when lvled I have it at lvl 5 and not planning for it to go anymore though since it gives me a full hp boost..

    Yeah, I'm not saying Morning Dew isn't a handy skill. Even aside from the self-healing, sometimes a little squad healing can help too. I know it comes in handy when my veno squads with a lower-level wizard friend, and she can give me a little extra health before/after Soul Transfusion. But for my wiz, if I've got a cleric guaranteed on-hand 24-7, it's not as critical.

    The barriers are somewhat devalued by the cleric's presence, too, since with buffs, my regen is already pretty high. The only reason I'd consider getting those would be for the elemental resistances, or if MP regen becomes a serious issue. (The barrier +regen bonus stacks with Celestial Guardian's Seal, right?)
  • Pandora - Lost City
    Pandora - Lost City Posts: 454 Arc User
    edited February 2009
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    The barriers are taken for the mdef bonuses, and by the time you're 80, you'll want a maxed water barrier for fishing. Fire barrier is nice to have simply because you're going to run into fire magic mobs one way or another and it doesn't cost much to max.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Because the bigger your damage, the bigger your epeen.
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