Sage vs. Demon (preferences)

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Comments

  • Sejhia - Heavens Tear
    Sejhia - Heavens Tear Posts: 20 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    For me as a pure built wizard on a PvE server the sage mode appeals to me more. However ignoring my overall bias:

    Masteries. Since I have no dex my critical stat is pretty dismal anyway. Having my elemental damage boosted from 20% to 25% is more beneficial to me than a 1% critical increase. Were I a LA wizard the demon masteries woul appeal to me more.

    Shields. The demon shields are more pratical in my opinion especially stone barrier.

    Morning Dew. For a skill I don't use too often and that has a 5.7 total cast time I wouldn't be depending on a 10% chance for a full heal. I'll take the demon versions 600 additional heal points. Some may say "but with sutra....". Sorry but I wouldn't be wasting a sutra on morning dew unless its an absolute emergency. In any event morning dew wouldn't be a skill I would base my choice on any way.

    Spark Eruption. The sage skill here makes more sense but then again so does the demon version especially when demon stone barrier already grants you better physical defence. I would give demon spark the edge here only because of the demon shields ability.

    Wellspring Quaff. With all the channeling speed versus critical rate arguments going on anyone would be inclined to pick the sage skill here. I wouldn't argue much with a 100% damage increase even if its only for 15 seconds. Don't forget as a sage which ever skill you use after is already going to do more damage due to the sage masteries unless an LA demon gets the crit in. Even so an LA sage only has a 1% less crit chance here anyway (assuming all other details even).

    Distance Shrink. So this one boils down to can a demon shrinker get further than sage shrinker. Answer yup, duh...but...assuming you but another critical situation who stands better at the end of say a 30 second run? the guy who just burned 60 chi or the guy who burned 30? Pots or not I like the idea that I have more chi to play with. Gimme sage on this one.

    Frostblade. So does this skill work or not? In any event the demon version gets my vote but come one now does this skill work?

    Dragon's Breath. Once again another skill I wouldn't be basing my decision on but hey just for the sake of argument a 20% chance to stun sounds pretty good for the group dynamic since most likely a cleric will be around anyway. Sage wins here for me.

    So now we get to the meat of the matter.

    Lets start at the ultimates. One word where I am concerned. Sage. Lets start with BT. I really doubt that I would waste 5.8 seconds casting a skill hoping that it interupts a player. I mean what kind of timing would I have to be able to do that? 50% chance to use only 1 spark....yup, ty, sage wins.
    BID. In my opinion 50% is a far better chance than 20%. At a total cast of 5.6 seconds and a cooldown of 30 seconds I'll take my 50% chance on being able to cast a magical damage skill with a 30% critical rate in the next 10 seconds.
    Mountains Seige Hmm its not a skill I actually like when I read about it so it doesn't float my boat but I'll take the sage's 50% shot at only using 1 spark. The demons 5 extra metres doesn't seem evil enough to me. Mabey they should have made the demon version add in an accy loss, I mean after an earthquake I get kinda disoriented.

    For arguments sake! IF I felt like using emberstorm, I would use the sage version! More damage from mastery for less life lost. Having 65% HP left after using the miserable excuse for a skill for more damage beats only having 40% left for the sake of a 3second stun. C'mon its a million dollar skill, you mean you couldn't do more than 3 seconds for more than half my HP?

    Glacial Snare. I'll take the demon on this one because 2.1 seconds is enough time to launch another useful skill while the sage snare means I would be wasting it unless I cast sage gust.

    FOW. Distance is so situational. Sure for large scale PvP it would be pretty nice but I like the idea I can use this skill more often (presuming I last long enough in a mass PvP situation). Demon gets my nod here.

    WOF. If only the knockback worked in PvP. Oh well it doesn't. Sage wins for being more useful in PvE. I mean cmon which mage in PvE is walking around trying to grab attention from too many mobs. If I want distence I would be knocking back anything, Distance Shrink to the rescue ty.

    Crown of Flame and Pitfall. I guess these tow should be ignored BUT I actually like the demon pitfall. I mean for a 2 second total cast time you can get a 33% chance to freeze. If you can make an argument for regular hailstorm why not one for pitfall too. Ok ok so I'm being silly, you've read this far, indulge me.

    Hailstorm. demon seems like the best pick here but if my calculator is correct the sage version goes from poor damage to acceptable damage plus it gets a minor boost from the water mastery and would be an excellent follow up to a sage glacial snare.....If only it could all work so smoothly for real. Mabey a consideration for some awkward PvE combo. Otherwise 50% freeze seems like a pick to me. For once I state no position because Hailstorm just never caught my fancy. I don't like the idea that I just froze an enemy and its still hitting me. Wtf is that?

    Divine Pyrogram. Ok a very PvE minded skill. Ok so we sutra this bad boy go demon on it.......but we just "sutrad" it? Hmmm fill me in on the sense of this one. Default win to sage mode. 20% reduction to fire resistance + sage mastery boost + pyrogram or WOF seems good enough for me.

    Sandstorm. Once again whats up with the redundancy? Ok demon storm for now until I can clear that up.

    The Work Horses! I'll get straight to the point here! A faster stone rain beats everything else. 20% chance for more chi? Hmmmmm, I think demon wins there because 1) 20% is a small % and 2) how many times as a mage are you going to get to sit and fire off a pyrograms in PvP to build up chi. I mean even if its PvE, pyrogram benefits from the demons faster cast. If I want chi that badly I'll make pots at the apoth. But right from the outset I stated my bias towards the sage wizard so like it or not the chi pyro would be my skill. But strictly on the basis of "for arguments sake" demon pyro is better for PvP. As for Gush I don't really care either way. to me sages improved slow makes little difference in either PvP or PvE and the damage boost to demon gush just is not worth shouting about however just for arguments sake I'll take the extra damage over the modified slow.


    In conclusion if you bothere to read it all, thanks for takign the time out to read it. To me the choice of Sage or Demon depends on what skills you place most value on in addition to which build you chose. As a PvE pure mage, sage sounds like it fits me much better. If I were on the PvP server though I would definitely consider the LA demon spawn.
  • Xenesis - Lost City
    Xenesis - Lost City Posts: 84 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Well i just got 89 and went heaven cos i thnik from the 89 lvl skills sage are better and the 50 chi/minute skill also better in sage.
  • DiFiore - Heavens Tear
    DiFiore - Heavens Tear Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    The cooldown is 3 seconds, not 10s. Yes you can spam it to no ends but remember it does cost a spark xD

    But yes, I repeat, it is 15seconds after activation in case anyone missed it.

    Oh right, forgot about that part :(
  • Oz - Lost City
    Oz - Lost City Posts: 90 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    Hell vs. Heaven debate is always a hard choice since everyone will tell you a completely different story: "Hell is the only good thing" vs. "Forget Hell, Heaven rules!"

    Personally I think everyone should see the skills they will use most (and which are possible to get at all), and dont forget the style-related issue of what fairy you want to have b:shutup
    (lvl99 hell fairy beats all)


    One thing about skills:
    You will most likely not be able to get all of those skill upgrades, especially not directly once you hit lvl89.
    The skills which you will definitely get are your 3 noob-skills:
    Pyrogram, Gush and Stone Rain.

    The lvl99 upgrades (Blade Tempest, Dragon, Mountain, Glacial Snare, Force of Will) you can nearly only get by doing cube from lvl90+:
    Completing cube gives you 1 Fate Page, 30 of those are needed to get a skill.

    All other skills are VERY hard to get:
    They either drop from the last boss in fb99 (drop rate of about 1%, enjoy b:victory), or you can get them in advanced cube from lvl96+, equally slow as the lvl99 ones.

    This means: Even though there are a lot of nice things to get, its very likely that you wont get many of them, or that you spend an awfully long time to get them...


    One very important difference about heaven/hell really is: chi.
    Heaven gives you an extra skill that grants you 50 free chi like every minute. This is extremely helpful in PvP (since mages without chi are nearly as useful as a ham sandwich in PK), and also in PvE, since a lot of chi makes you able to grind without spending much on hiero or pots (together with wellspring and the 20% mana recovery from 3-spark burst).
    The hell skill (which reduces 50 chi from any person you use it on) isnt much more than an annoying tease you can use for fun, its rather useless except in a few situations.

    For my part, i chose hell because I like many of the hell skills better than heaven. Mostly earth barrier (150% pdef), stone rain (possible stun), gush (more damage), sandstorm (ridiculously high damage) and shrink (30meters instead of 25), made my decision.
    Also the passives are very nice, since crits for mages are rare - but very welcome...

    On the other hand I have to say I am VERY jealous of the heaven chi recovery skill, that thing alone is a very good reason to go heaven. (After dying or logging into game or whatever - immediately barrier up, no annoying 2-times-heal-before-I-can-use-my-barrier. Also makes you able to gain chi constantly while chilling somewhere, so youre able to go out safe with full chi b:cry)

    My advice if you are about to decide:
    Listen to what both sides have to say, but make your own decision b:victory
  • Taurzo - Lost City
    Taurzo - Lost City Posts: 170 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    This is going to be an ongoing debate for as long as PWI is around. One side will never be the "dominant" choice; however, each side has it advantages and disadvantages. It relies strictly on personal player strategies. I'm an unbiased person because I'm neither sage nor demon yet and I'm just trying to provide players with some outsourcing from both sides so they can grab and formulate their own concepts. I am going to go demon with this character and sage with my other character so that I can get a more centralized "hands-on" experience.

    b:victoryb:victoryBTW- Mosabi thanks for the A+ b:victoryb:victory
    I'll finish updating the list when I get the time xD
  • DiFiore - Heavens Tear
    DiFiore - Heavens Tear Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    For me as a pure built wizard on a PvE server the sage mode appeals to me more. However ignoring my overall bias:

    Masteries. Since I have no dex my critical stat is pretty dismal anyway. Having my elemental damage boosted from 20% to 25% is more beneficial to me than a 1% critical increase. Were I a LA wizard the demon masteries woul appeal to me more.

    Shields. The demon shields are more pratical in my opinion especially stone barrier.

    Morning Dew. For a skill I don't use too often and that has a 5.7 total cast time I wouldn't be depending on a 10% chance for a full heal. I'll take the demon versions 600 additional heal points. Some may say "but with sutra....". Sorry but I wouldn't be wasting a sutra on morning dew unless its an absolute emergency. In any event morning dew wouldn't be a skill I would base my choice on any way.

    Spark Eruption. The sage skill here makes more sense but then again so does the demon version especially when demon stone barrier already grants you better physical defence. I would give demon spark the edge here only because of the demon shields ability.

    Wellspring Quaff. With all the channeling speed versus critical rate arguments going on anyone would be inclined to pick the sage skill here. I wouldn't argue much with a 100% damage increase even if its only for 15 seconds. Don't forget as a sage which ever skill you use after is already going to do more damage due to the sage masteries unless an LA demon gets the crit in. Even so an LA sage only has a 1% less crit chance here anyway (assuming all other details even).

    Distance Shrink. So this one boils down to can a demon shrinker get further than sage shrinker. Answer yup, duh...but...assuming you but another critical situation who stands better at the end of say a 30 second run? the guy who just burned 60 chi or the guy who burned 30? Pots or not I like the idea that I have more chi to play with. Gimme sage on this one.

    Frostblade. So does this skill work or not? In any event the demon version gets my vote but come one now does this skill work?

    Dragon's Breath. Once again another skill I wouldn't be basing my decision on but hey just for the sake of argument a 20% chance to stun sounds pretty good for the group dynamic since most likely a cleric will be around anyway. Sage wins here for me.

    So now we get to the meat of the matter.

    Lets start at the ultimates. One word where I am concerned. Sage. Lets start with BT. I really doubt that I would waste 5.8 seconds casting a skill hoping that it interupts a player. I mean what kind of timing would I have to be able to do that? 50% chance to use only 1 spark....yup, ty, sage wins.
    BID. In my opinion 50% is a far better chance than 20%. At a total cast of 5.6 seconds and a cooldown of 30 seconds I'll take my 50% chance on being able to cast a magical damage skill with a 30% critical rate in the next 10 seconds.
    Mountains Seige Hmm its not a skill I actually like when I read about it so it doesn't float my boat but I'll take the sage's 50% shot at only using 1 spark. The demons 5 extra metres doesn't seem evil enough to me. Mabey they should have made the demon version add in an accy loss, I mean after an earthquake I get kinda disoriented.

    For arguments sake! IF I felt like using emberstorm, I would use the sage version! More damage from mastery for less life lost. Having 65% HP left after using the miserable excuse for a skill for more damage beats only having 40% left for the sake of a 3second stun. C'mon its a million dollar skill, you mean you couldn't do more than 3 seconds for more than half my HP?

    Glacial Snare. I'll take the demon on this one because 2.1 seconds is enough time to launch another useful skill while the sage snare means I would be wasting it unless I cast sage gust.

    FOW. Distance is so situational. Sure for large scale PvP it would be pretty nice but I like the idea I can use this skill more often (presuming I last long enough in a mass PvP situation). Demon gets my nod here.

    WOF. If only the knockback worked in PvP. Oh well it doesn't. Sage wins for being more useful in PvE. I mean cmon which mage in PvE is walking around trying to grab attention from too many mobs. If I want distence I would be knocking back anything, Distance Shrink to the rescue ty.

    Crown of Flame and Pitfall. I guess these tow should be ignored BUT I actually like the demon pitfall. I mean for a 2 second total cast time you can get a 33% chance to freeze. If you can make an argument for regular hailstorm why not one for pitfall too. Ok ok so I'm being silly, you've read this far, indulge me.

    Hailstorm. demon seems like the best pick here but if my calculator is correct the sage version goes from poor damage to acceptable damage plus it gets a minor boost from the water mastery and would be an excellent follow up to a sage glacial snare.....If only it could all work so smoothly for real. Mabey a consideration for some awkward PvE combo. Otherwise 50% freeze seems like a pick to me. For once I state no position because Hailstorm just never caught my fancy. I don't like the idea that I just froze an enemy and its still hitting me. Wtf is that?

    Divine Pyrogram. Ok a very PvE minded skill. Ok so we sutra this bad boy go demon on it.......but we just "sutrad" it? Hmmm fill me in on the sense of this one. Default win to sage mode. 20% reduction to fire resistance + sage mastery boost + pyrogram or WOF seems good enough for me.

    Sandstorm. Once again whats up with the redundancy? Ok demon storm for now until I can clear that up.

    The Work Horses! I'll get straight to the point here! A faster stone rain beats everything else. 20% chance for more chi? Hmmmmm, I think demon wins there because 1) 20% is a small % and 2) how many times as a mage are you going to get to sit and fire off a pyrograms in PvP to build up chi. I mean even if its PvE, pyrogram benefits from the demons faster cast. If I want chi that badly I'll make pots at the apoth. But right from the outset I stated my bias towards the sage wizard so like it or not the chi pyro would be my skill. But strictly on the basis of "for arguments sake" demon pyro is better for PvP. As for Gush I don't really care either way. to me sages improved slow makes little difference in either PvP or PvE and the damage boost to demon gush just is not worth shouting about however just for arguments sake I'll take the extra damage over the modified slow.


    In conclusion if you bothere to read it all, thanks for takign the time out to read it. To me the choice of Sage or Demon depends on what skills you place most value on in addition to which build you chose. As a PvE pure mage, sage sounds like it fits me much better. If I were on the PvP server though I would definitely consider the LA demon spawn.

    Thing about Sutra + Morning Dew is that it's more of a party combo. Say your group is taking a beating - Sutra and then caste 5x Morning Dews on each party member for 1000 + 35% of base magic damage healing. Sure you could use Sutra to kill maybe those 1 or 2 people, but there are probably situations where it'd be better to makes sure your party stays alive to get in their own skills.
  • Shana - Lost City
    Shana - Lost City Posts: 50 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    For my part, i chose hell because I like many of the hell skills better than heaven. Mostly earth barrier (150% pdef), stone rain (possible stun), gush (more damage), sandstorm (ridiculously high damage) and shrink (30meters instead of 25), made my decision.

    Does that extra 600 damage for Gush and 1200 damage for Sandstorm get reduced in PvP? I've heard both yes and no, but seeing as how you're a Hell Wizard yourself, I'd like to get clarification if possible. Thanks!
    Shana / 7x Robe Wizard / ReturneR Marshal
    ... And damn proud of it.
  • Legerity - Sanctuary
    Legerity - Sanctuary Posts: 1,072 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    A little thought should answer your own question.

    Ask yourself, do the additional damage in skills go towards PvE or PvP?

    In case you didn't get the answer, all the skill descriptions and numbers are RAW figures, meaning that they have not gone through any bonuses or multipliers, which means the 600 addition to gush is PvE damage. So you're really looking at 150 water damage in PvP not going through any resistances.
  • Shana - Lost City
    Shana - Lost City Posts: 50 Arc User
    edited February 2009
    A little thought should answer your own question.

    Ask yourself, do the additional damage in skills go towards PvE or PvP?

    In case you didn't get the answer, all the skill descriptions and numbers are RAW figures, meaning that they have not gone through any bonuses or multipliers, which means the 600 addition to gush is PvE damage. So you're really looking at 150 water damage in PvP not going through any resistances.

    What confused me was how he said "ridiculously high damage". 300 extra damage without resistance on Sandstorm isn't exactly ridiculous. Hell, it might not even be high. As a level 77 Wizard with crappy gear, I can already hit 3k on Heavy Armour users. An extra ~300 at level 89+ (or in Oz's case, 97) doesn't seem ridiculous or high.
    Shana / 7x Robe Wizard / ReturneR Marshal
    ... And damn proud of it.
  • Oz - Lost City
    Oz - Lost City Posts: 90 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    Every little helps b:cute

    I don't really know how that extra damage is calculated, but i do know that my hell gush hits really hard with its fast casting. If i hit a mob around 13k with glacial snare, gush still hits around 10k.

    Dont know if heaven version really hits significantly less, but as much as i use this skill im happy about the extra damage
  • dixienormous
    dixienormous Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    do u choose demon or sage for each skill?
  • Ihazacute - Sanctuary
    Ihazacute - Sanctuary Posts: 435 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    You choose demon or sage once, and all skills must follow that path.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • drag0nball
    drag0nball Posts: 119 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    so if a demon gush hits 10 k, than how much hits a sage gush?
  • Mosabi - Heavens Tear
    Mosabi - Heavens Tear Posts: 378 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    drag0nball wrote: »
    so if a demon gush hits 10 k, than how much hits a sage gush?

    each player is special you wont find 2 lvl 100s like each other let alone lvl 100 wizards b:bye..
    Is Back once more.

    sorry med school needs some time.
  • Skyannie - Lost City
    Skyannie - Lost City Posts: 351 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    drag0nball wrote: »
    so if a demon gush hits 10 k, than how much hits a sage gush?

    If it's only a hell/heaven comparison with ideal conditions, chances are it will be roughly the same. The nearly 2000 damage addition to gush that the upgrade to level 11 does, becomes, like, 300-500 PvP damage? There's really not much of a change for 600 or 1200, although it IS a fair addition, which is never bad to have.
    As only the child that I was, I tread with giants.
    Their footprints on the sand, marked for times immemorial, serve as evidence of hope.
    And though my short legs could not keep up, my heart was always by their side. Conqueror.
  • Kristoph - Lost City
    Kristoph - Lost City Posts: 2,016 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    Also depends on mastery, the Sage one would add a little damage.
    Wondering how much longer these **** packs are going to be around.
  • Taurzo - Lost City
    Taurzo - Lost City Posts: 170 Arc User
    edited March 2009
    Yeah most people freak out when they see that bonus damage but you gotta think that people's armor, build, and etc.. will all reduce that so you can't be disappointed when that large extra bonus damage turns out to be drastically then as stated.
  • Ladyaradia - Sanctuary
    Ladyaradia - Sanctuary Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    I've got a question if anyone could answer it. Im a wiz on the verge of going demon and I just noticed something about demon spark, according to ecatomb:

    [Discharge three Spark to recover 20% of your maximum MP, acquire 700% extra physical attack from weapons for 15 seconds, and increase attack rate by 25%. Grants invinciblity for 3 seconds after the discharge.]

    700% extra physical attack? Magic Damage is based off of weapon's magic attack #'s, so is spark eruption for wizard's a fluke? Lolz
  • Moog - Lost City
    Moog - Lost City Posts: 633 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    I've got a question if anyone could answer it. Im a wiz on the verge of going demon and I just noticed something about demon spark, according to ecatomb:

    [Discharge three Spark to recover 20% of your maximum MP, acquire 700% extra physical attack from weapons for 15 seconds, and increase attack rate by 25%. Grants invinciblity for 3 seconds after the discharge.]

    700% extra physical attack? Magic Damage is based off of weapon's magic attack #'s, so is spark eruption for wizard's a fluke? Lolz


    It's a typo
  • Ladyaradia - Sanctuary
    Ladyaradia - Sanctuary Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    good to know b:thanks
  • WitchBurner - Sanctuary
    WitchBurner - Sanctuary Posts: 1,394 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    I'm slowly edging my way there so here are my choices.

    Pyro-Demon, I hate my current cast times.

    Gush-Sage, added slowing is waaay better than a measly 600 damage.

    Stone Rain-Demon, Chance to stun for 4secs beats a .4 cast reduction.

    Barriers-I'm pure and always will be so Demon.

    Divine Pyro-Demon, Makes the fire nuke much better.

    Morning Dew-My emergency spell, I prefer a reliable effect for this so Demon.

    Dragon's Breath-Demon, If I'm reading this spell right I might be able to solo zhen with just pullers.

    Wellspring Quaff-Sage, that buffs like a 15 second spark eruption.

    Distance Shrink-Demon, Chi cost is usually gained by the time I use this anyway.

    Will of Pheonix-Now neglected by me, but Demon to help with low level fbs(Mob round up).

    Frostblade-Demon, I basically use this in squads to look usefull, but 50% is a good increase.

    SandStorm-Demon, more damage>5% inaccuracy debuff.

    Glacial Snare-Undecided, leaning towards Sage.

    Force of Will-Demon, the only problem I have with this Godly skill is the cooldown.

    Blade Tempest-Sage.

    BIDS-Sage.

    Mountains Seize-Demon, more range=good :D.

    Mastery-Demon, forever critical.

    Final Choice-Demon
    Still a long way to go, but man playing a wizard is so much fun.
    Currently flying internet spaceships around dodixie, moving to amarr soon.

    Send me a mail if you wanna ask/request anything

    Sanctuary's retired king of wizards alongside queen Saintblu.
  • CeliaZ - Sanctuary
    CeliaZ - Sanctuary Posts: 901 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Divine pyro-> definitely Sage. If you're looking for a faster nuker, use sandstorm and glacial. This one is only for sutra, and with the 20 % more fire damage, the second div-pyro in the combo will do more damage. Also if the combo is finished and target it not death, phoenix and normal pyro will do more damage and those are a good finisher.

    And the demon Dragon's Breath, is that every 3 seconds or only at the beginning? Well it doesnt even matter, 25 % is not enough to form your own zhen party. Allthough 20 % is not much for a stun (sage), it is a good way to silence the enemies attacking you while you are doing the zhen skill. Would be nice to know though how long the stun last.

    Glacial snare is the only skill where demon is better imo. By the time you will get this skill, you will have Undine anyway so the 20 % less water ressistance is useless for gush and maybe dragon after this.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • WitchBurner - Sanctuary
    WitchBurner - Sanctuary Posts: 1,394 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    My response :D

    Although debating this seems strange seeing as we're kids looking through the toy shop window at this level, I'll go ahead and respond.

    Divine Pyro, Demon because in my metalmob macro (which is already adequate for killing mobs unscathed) speed is more essential to me than damage, I already have other classes(Including 1 wiz noob) trying to ks me when they see me charging it.

    Dragons Breath, I'm really undecided by this, my interpretation is that for every mob it hits it will recover 500 health(25% chance) which would at least make zhenning safer. Arguably so does the stun but the lower chance devalues it. If the heal is a 25% chance every 3 seconds then Demon would be kind of worthless. Although Sage could be just as worthless if the stun time is lower than 5 seconds.

    Glacial Snare, true both effects are kinda crappy. Demon effect is absolutely useless since this spell is an opener/sutra spell so cast time really doesn't matter, if it had been a cooldown reduction Demon would've pwned this skill. Sage could be useful depending on how the Res red is calculated, if it goes by base water res and therefore can stack with undine to essentially make the opponent naked to water it's a huge boost to melee's using your buff and you nuking the mob to oblivion with BIDS. If it's affected by the mobs current resistance then it is worthless stacked together with undines effect.

    Also CeliaZ, I'm curious as to why you wouldn't prefer the Demon SandStorm, that ones a pretty clear cut choice.
    Currently flying internet spaceships around dodixie, moving to amarr soon.

    Send me a mail if you wanna ask/request anything

    Sanctuary's retired king of wizards alongside queen Saintblu.
  • CeliaZ - Sanctuary
    CeliaZ - Sanctuary Posts: 901 Arc User
    edited May 2009

    Also CeliaZ, I'm curious as to why you wouldn't prefer the Demon SandStorm, that ones a pretty clear cut choice.

    Guess I forgot about that one, but yeah demon sandstorm is better then sage. Allthough I believe the skill is nearly impossible to get.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Amour - Lost City
    Amour - Lost City Posts: 1,825 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Mmm 89, so good.
    Chi skill is AMAZING, chi proc on pyrogram is AMAZING. Also, Gush Pyro and Stone Rain do amazing damage :p

    Also, sutra ult ftw.
    "Amour is better suited to rainbow text, because he is a classy lady." - Nakhimov
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • WitchBurner - Sanctuary
    WitchBurner - Sanctuary Posts: 1,394 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Yeah Celia, those nukes are pretty rare and expensive. One of my main reasons for aiming for Demon is based on the two spark skills, they are extremely good for Sages but with a level 99 requirement they'll be the rarest and most expensive skills we'll ever see.
    Currently flying internet spaceships around dodixie, moving to amarr soon.

    Send me a mail if you wanna ask/request anything

    Sanctuary's retired king of wizards alongside queen Saintblu.
  • Jertor - Sanctuary
    Jertor - Sanctuary Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    demon wiz ftwb:cute
  • Ty - Heavens Tear
    Ty - Heavens Tear Posts: 604 Arc User
    edited May 2009
    Mmm 89, so good.
    Chi skill is AMAZING, chi proc on pyrogram is AMAZING. Also, Gush Pyro and Stone Rain do amazing damage :p

    Also, sutra ult ftw.

    Yay for sage :D

    Looking at Dragon's Breath to decide on Sage/Demon is kinda pointless, pretty much all of the lvl 11 skills capable of being learnt at lvl 92 are extremely rare drops. They are counted as 'additional drops' on bosses in FB99, therefore triggering only 10% of the time independently of other drops, then each book has a 1.04% chance of dropping, giving a 0.104% chance to get the book you're after.
    Unless you're extremely lucky you won't have DB until you're done zhenning anyway barring rebirth I guess.

    Lvl 89 skills are fairly easy to get, you can tie in apoc page farming and skill book farming in FB89s long before you hit 89.

    Lvl 99 skills are a little harder to get but definately do-able if you cube, 30 days of beating cube and you'll have a 1 in 5 chance at the following skills: BIDS, Seize, BT, Glacial snare and Force of will, you can chose the option of sage/demon when creating the books.

    I based my choice of Sage mainly on the 50 chi skill, pyro and stone rain because I thought I'd probably stop at 90ish. But now I'm 25/30 for my first lvl 99 skill I'm pretty sure I'll push on to 99 at least (zhenning with event pots is cheap stuff :D ) and I'm glad I'm sage as the 99 skills are much better for Sage IMO.
    I like pie