Mizuoni's Wizard Guide

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

-editing table of contents atm will post up tomorrow. Sorry for any inconvience.

-Mizuoni

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Builds

There are many types of builds for a wizard due to versatility. There are 2 main builds (common), 2 secondary builds (non-common/rare) and hybrids (non-common). When choosing a wizard build, think about what you will be doing at later on. Are you just playing to see how you like the class? Are you going all the way to 105? Are you a beginner are the wizard class? Or a expert? Here are some of the builds.

Pure Magic (pure/pure mag/ pure int)

This is one of the more common builds. It is:
-on even levels : 5 mag(magic)
-on odd levels: 4 mag(magic) 1 str (strength)

Light Armor (LA)

Another common build especially on pvp servers
-3 mag (magic) 1 dex (dexterity) 1 str (strength) every level
*NOTE: If you want to know if you are doing this build correctly, your dex and str must be your lvl +4 so at lvl 1 you need 5 dex and 5 str to wear light armor.*

Vitality (vit)

This build is one of heard of but never tried myself. It involves adding vit for more HP. Its great for beginners I heard.
-on even levels: 4 mag 1 vit
-on odd levels: 3 mag 1 vit 1 str

Heavy Armor (HA)

Since this guide is unbiased, I have to include this build. This build isn’t exactly complete yet since there are a few “kinks” to work out but possibly in the near future this can be a build up to par with pure and LA.
-3 mag 2 str every level
*NOTE: YOU WILL ALWAYS USE HEAVY ARMOR 1 LVL BELOW YOUR ARMOR LVL(USE LVL 30 HEAVY ARMOR AT LVL 40)!!!!!!!!!!!*

Hybrids

As you get more experienced with the wizard class, you may decide to fix some of your weaknesses or add more of “x”. This is where hybrid builds come in. Hybrid builds work with pure mag the best since you have extra points to spend. I myself use a hybrid build for more spike damage. Here are a few examples:

Dex Hybrid

The build I use. It involves adding 20 or 40 dex for 1% or 2% more critical % chance also adds good evasion so when you pop a sandstorm on melee classes you see “miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss miss”
*NOTE: The more dex you add the less base magic attack you will have!*
You can start this build early or do it later when you have enough mag points to support yourself.
-on even levels: 4 mag 1 dex
-on odd levels: 3 mag 1 dex 1 str
ALTERNATIVE
-on even levels: 3 mag 2 dex
- on odd levels: 3 mag 1 dex 1 str
*NOTE: YOU ADD DEX UNTIL YOU REACH 20 DEX OR 40 DEX!!!!!!!!!!! AFTER THAT FOLLOW THE PURE MAG BUILD*

Vit Hybrid

This build is like the vit build only you cap your vit at a point. A friend told me about this build basically you cap your vit at 30. Once again you can start this build early or later.
-on even levels: 4 mag 1 vit
-on odd levels: 3 mag 1 vit 1 str
ALTERNATIVE
-on even levels: 3 mag 2 vit
-on odd levels: 3 mag 1 vit 1 str
*NOTE: ONCE YOU FIND A VIT CAP WHETHER IT BE 30 OR 40, YOU FOLLOW THE PURE MAG BUILD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Heavy Melee Wizard

I added heavy wiz but now your pushing it >.>

Experimenting on Your Own

By now, you must have notice something in common with the hybrid builds. You need at least 3 mag every level and 1 str every other level to use a up-to-date magic weapon and armor for your level. Sooner or later you are going to want to try on your own so remember YOU MUST ADD AT LEAST 3 MAG EVERY LEVEL AND 1 STR EVERY OTHER LEVEL!!
Be Creative And Happy Experimenting! ^^

Pros and Cons of All Builds

I’m sure all the builds mention above look very interesting and some of you may or may not know what each does so I’m going to point it out here.

Pure Mag
Pros: High Damage, High Mana, High Magical defense
Cons: low defense, low HP

LA
Pros: Higher Critical Hit Rate, Average Mana, Average pdef due to Light Armor
Cons: low mdef, less damage than pure (unless you crit ^^ ), low mana

Vit
Pros: High HP, more survivability, average defense with enough vit
Cons: slightly less damage than pure

Heavy Armor
Pros: pdef through the roof, excellent survivability
Cons: less mdef, dramatic damage loss

Dex Hybrid
Pros: slightly higher critical rate, damage comparable to pure, high mdef, high mana, more evasion (and you can use bows yay!)
Cons: low defense, low HP

Vit Hybrid
Pros: more rounded, decent damage, decent mana, decent magical defense, increased HP
Cons: low pdef

You might have noticed by now that the hybrids have more pros and less cons. Interesting isn’t it? So that’s all the builds in a nutshell, so make your choice now!

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Armor

Now that you have chosen your build, it is time to learn about your armor choices. This is the part where many starting wizards mess up a perfectly good character. There are 3 types of armors, all with there strengths and weaknesses.

Arcane

This is the most used armor type for wizards. With arcane armor your phys defense will be laughed at (until you shard, refine) but your magic defense won’t and cleric’s wield thunder will only tickle you. All wizard builds can use arcane armor. You generally shard with citrine/garnet (HP/pdef) combination as arcane wizard. I recommend doing what I do. Shard your armor with garnets and your hat and cape with citrines. If your armor has more than 2 sockets try doing 50/50 citrines and garnets. At my level I shard with g5(average) shards and the seven seals quest (when I get unlazy and tank mantavip) I plan on sharding with 2 g6(beautiful) garnets and a g6 citrine. Wearing protection belts and necklaces can help with pdef problems. *ANY MAJOR SHARDING BEFORE LEVEL 50 IS NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!*

Light Armor

This is another common wizard armor type. With Light armor your magic defense will be laughed at (nothing to really help that) but your phys defense will make barbs, and BM’s cry. Only the Light Armor build (duh) can use light armor. *YOU SHARD WITH ALL CITRINES GENERALLY* LA gives you enough pdef to survive. You can get up to 1k pdef (unbuffed) with crappy LA armor. Wearing arcane necklaces and belts can help with your mdef problem.

Heavy Armor

This armor isn’t as common as the other two. With heavy armor your magic defense will make you prey to all other magical classes (sharding helps with this) but your pdef, especially fully buffed, will have archers, barbs, and BM’s doing no damage to you basically! Sharding with sapphires (mdef) and using arcane necklaces and belts will help with your mdef problem.

A note to add, most heavy armor wearing classes don’t shard with sapphires but citrines. I, personally believe that with the mdef you have as a heavy armor user, you shouldn’t be worried about HP (that’s why BM’s are easy targets for wizards ^^ ) So if you prefer citrines over sapphires, be my guest ^^

Skills

As a wizard, you have a wide array of different skills. If anyone has seen a wizard in action they all agree that wizard has the coolest looking skills. Some of the skills use terminology you may not be familiar with. So I’m going to point them out:

AOE- Area Of Effect- meaning it affects a certain area, most wizard aoes affect 12 meters.
DOT - Damage Over Time - Meaning the skills deals some damage after being used.

Please note that some skills change over level. In this guide all skills cast, cooldown etc are for the level 10 versions.

Skill List

Fire Skills
-Pyrogram - Your first fire skill and the first skill you get in the game. This shoots a card of fire.
Channel: 1.5 secs
Cast: 0.8 sec
Cooldown: 1.0 sec
Learned at level 1. Maxed at level 45. Often called pyro

-Pyroshell - This is your fire self buff. Increases Fire resistance and adds HP regen. It has a little cool fire animation around you.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.2 sec
Cooldown: 3.0
Learned at level 9. Maxed at level 54

-Crown of Flame - Your first Damage over Time spell.(DOT) Offers fast damage and then continues to deal damage over time.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast:1.0 sec
Cooldown: 8.0 sec
Learned at level 13. Maxed at level 58. Often called CoF

-Divine Pyrogram - Your first fire nuke. Longer channeling than pyrogram but damage is increased dramatically.
Channel: 3.0 secs
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 3.0 secs
Learned at level 19. Maxed at level 64. Often called DP.

-Dragons Breath - Your second aoe skill. This skill is useful for killing a masses of mobs(monsters) but since you have to be close, you have to find a way for it to work without you getting killed.
Channel: 1.2 secs
Cast: None
Cooldown : 15 seconds
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74. Often called DB.

-Will of the Pheonix - Your first and only knockback skill. Very helpful for kiting at lower levels.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 8.0 secs
Learned at level 39. Maxed at level 75. Often called WoP or WotP

-Emberstorm - Your suicide skill. Charging this skill and letting it off can put you at risk. What you need to learn to do is the be able to do it without taking away your HP.*Note: I found that double clicking the skill makes it casts taking only about 150 HP. It does about 2.3k damage*
Channel: Charge
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 15 secs
Learned at level 49. Maxed at level 85.

-Blade Tempest - Your fire ultimate spell. Does damage in half physical and half fire. Great against magic classes due to the high chance of one shotting them.
Channel: 4.0 sec
Cast: 1.8 sec
Cooldown: 30 secs
Learned at level 59. Maxed at level 86.

- Fire Mastery - Increases fire damage. This is a passive skill so it is always active.
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74.

Water Skills
-Gush - your first water skills. Has a extra effect to make your opponent slower increasing as your level. Really great skill.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 3.0 secs
Learned at level 3. Maxed at level 48.

-Glacial Embrace - Your water resist shield. It also adds a nice mana regen +. Use it when your meditating for mana.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.2 sec
Cooldown: 3.0 secs
Learned at level 9. Maxed at level 54.
Often called GE.

-Hailstorm - Slightly helpful, this is your first water aoe and the first aoe you ever get. Leveling it up increases the aoe range.
Channel: 1.8 secs
Cast: 1.2 secs
Cooldown: 12 secs
Learned at level 16. Maxed at level 61.

-Morning Dew - Your only healing skill. Great for between mob healing but works better later on with another skill. Can heal for quite a bit when maxed
Channel: 4.5 secs
Cast: 1.2 secs
Cooldown: 1.0 sec
Learned at level 24. Maxed at level 69.

-Wellspring Quaff - One of your best skills for grinding uncharmed doing those certain times *cough* after leveling sandstorm *cough* Increases your max mana by a certain % for x time. The percent increased and time gets higher as you level it.
Channel: Instant
Cast: None
Cooldown 3.0 secs
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74.
Often called WQ.

-Frostblade - The only squad buff you get. Works only on NORMAL MELEE DAMAGE. Level one of this skill is pretty good. Gave it to a barb and he was killing fire mobs super fast o.o
Channel: 0.8 sec
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 3.0 secs
Learned at level 39. Maxed at level 75.
Often called FB

-Glacial Snare - Your strongest non-spark skill. Does really nice damage at level 10, better than sandstorm but more expensive to level.
Channel: 2.5 secs
Cast: 1.8 secs
Cooldown: 15.0 secs
Learned at level 49. Maxed at level 85.
Often called GS.

-Black Ice Dragon Strike - The strongest skill in the game also the coolest looking one. Very high damage at the cost of 2 sparks. I love using this skill because its just that awesome.
Channel: 4.0 secs
Cast: 1.6 secs
Cooldown: 30.0 secs
Learned at level 59. Maxed at level 86.
Often called BIDS.

-Essential Sutra - Clerics call themselves godly but they dont have this skill. This skill is godly. It regenerates your mana AND makes spells require no channeling for 6 seconds after use.
Channel: Instant
Cast: None
Cooldown: 60.0 secs
Learned at level 59. Never Maxed
NOTE: YOU NEED A WELLSPRING QUAFF OF AT LEAST LEVEL 5 TO GET THIS SKILL!
Often called sutra.

-Elemental Shell - A skill to increase magic defense by 1000%. No one has found a good use for this skill yet so dont dive head first into getting it.
Channel: Instant
Cast: None
Cooldown: 30.0 secs
Learned at level 79. Never Maxed
NOTE: YOU NEED 20 APOCALYPSE PAGES FOR THIS SKILL.

-Soporific Whisper - The wizard sleep skill. Very helpful in 1v1 matches to get a double spark ult off.
Channel: Instant
Cast: None
Cooldown: 2 minutes
Learned at level 79. Never Maxed
NOTE: YOU NEED 20 APOCALYPSE PAGES FOR THIS SKILL.

-Manifest Virtue - Increases your matk by (mana/100)%. Probably a sneak spark skill since 10k mana would give you a 100% increase.
Channel: 0.8 sec
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Learned at level 100.

-Water Mastery - Increases Water damage. A passive skill so its always activated.
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74

Earth Skills
-Stone Rain - your first nuke, excellent damage and a skill your will use forever
Channel: 2.0 secs
Cast: 1.4 secs
Cooldown: 6.0 secs
Learned at level 6. Maxed at level 51.
Often called SR

-Stone Barrier - your earth resist barrier. At level 10 it DOUBLES! your pdef.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.2 secs
Cooldown: 3.0 secs
Learned at level 9. Maxed at level 54.

-Pitfall - Your earth DoT spell. Usefull for doing bosses such as Mantavip and as a cheap finishing spell.
Channel: 1.0 sec
Cast: 1.0 sec
Cooldown: 8.0 sec
Learned at level 19. Maxed at level 64.

-Distance Shrink - Most useful skill ever, "teleport" forward. Helpful against melee classes.
Channel: instant
Higher Level Has Lower Cooldown And Longer Distance
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74.
Often called blink

-Sandstorm - Your staple spell. Once you level this skill a few times you will always use it. Everyone loves sandstorm
Channel: 2.5 secs
Cast: 1.5 secs
Cooldown: 6.0 secs
Learned at level 39. Maxed at level 75.
Often called SS

-Force of Will - Another spell you will level. Silences the target so they cant use skills but can still move.
Channel: 0.5 sec
Cast: 2.0 secs
Higher Level Has Lower Cooldown And Longer Silence Time
It Should Be Noted That The Silence Time Counts The Cast Time So They Are Silenced For 5 Second But You Can Only Attack For 3 Seconds
Learned at level 49. Maxed at level 85.
Often Called FoW

-Mountain Seize - The best earth skill imo. Not by damage but because at max level it stuns for 6 seconds!
Channel: 5.0 secs
Cast: 1.4 secs
Cooldown: 30.0 secs
Higher Level Has Higher Stun Percent and Longer Stun Duration
Learned at lvl 59. Maxed at level 86.
Often called MS or Seize

-Undine Strike - A godly skill lowers targets fire, water and earth resistance by 60%.
Channel: 1 sec
Cast: 0.5 sec
Cooldown: 1 sec
Learned at level 79
NOTE: You need 20 apocalypse pages to learn this skill.

-Elemental Invocation - A skill that uses the 3 elements to harm the targets. Here is the description from ecatomb.net Utilizes elemental energies to attack the enemy. The power of
Water washes away target's spirit by reducing target's mana by 50% of magic damage over
30 seconds. The power of Fire burns up target's soul by making it lose 20 Chi for each
hit over 30 seconds. The power of Earth strikes target's body, inflicting Earth damage
60% of caster's maximum mana. The powers of Water and Fire affect only non-monster
targets. Caster's mana is still spent even if the spell is interrupted
Channel: 3 seconds
Cast: 1 second
Cooldown: 10 minutes
Learned at level 100.

-Earth Mastery - Increase your earth damage. A passive skill so it is always active.
Learned at level 29. Maxed at level 74.

What to Skills to get(coming soon)

Weapons

As a wizard, you will always use magical instruments as your weapons, and if your high enough level maybe your bare hands to crush your opponents (not recommended). The question is, which weapon is the best? This is a basic list of weapons and it shows what each weapon has over the other.

Magic Swords

A personal favorite of mine, and a weapon most wizards use! Their damage range is small enough to have constant damage but their upper damage is high enough for a great spike damage. Magic Swords are great for people who want constant damage but a little kick every now and then.

Glaives

Another personal favorite, glaives is another popular weapon for wizards. Glaives damage range isn’t as constant as magic swords but the minimum damage for higher level glaives is enough to one shot most things! Glaives are great for people who like pure power.

Wands

Wands are some what common especially the alancantha wand. Wands offer constant damage in a small range and many of the higher level wands offer great adds. Wands are great for people who want constant damage.

Patakas

Patakas are uncommon before level 20 but you see more of them past 20. Patakas have a VERY wide damage range so your damage is very inconstant but when you do hit the spike, it is going to be some very nice numbers. Patakas are for people who like to play the lottery. ^^

There are many great weapon choices, but there is one thing to remember about a wizard. A wizard is as good as his/her weapon. Always update your weapon WHEN POSSIBLE! So each level you can use a new sword, go for it! I recommend that you use crafted weapons with great adds or quest weapons until level 60 when you get your TT sword (dont worry if you like glaives or something you can get them later >.>)

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Player vs. Environment (PVE)

PVE is the main part of this game. It’s how you level, how you quest most of the time. PVE is fighting against monsters (mobs) which are a part of the environment thus given the name PVE.

How to do PVE as a Wizard

PVE as a wizard starts out easy, gets harder, then gets stupid easy. I am going to warn you now. The hard part is REALLY HARD, some people give up in frustration at this part. If you can make it through, you be known as a hero. Your goal as a wizard is to: MAKE IT OUT THE HELL OF PVE PRE-60

When you start out things shouldn’t get too hard until level 15 (this is what I heard, as for me I didn’t have a problem until level 26 when all those archer mobs started coming out) If you have too much trouble around these level the best thing to do is…get friends! Find people around your level who need the same quest. You can all quest in one big group so if you need help you always have someone to back you up. Make sure you always level up Pyrogram (pyro) Gush (gush) and Stone Rain (SR). At level 19, you get your second nuke Divine Pyrogram (DP) which has its uses.

At level 29 you get Distance Shrink (DS/blink) which allows you to start basic kiting. When the mob gets too close press the S key and then blink away. Once you blink start hitting them hard but using blink at lower levels is a bit hard since its not as spamable as it is in higher levels. Remember blink is your best friend, blink saved my life many times especially when I was that squishy wiz in fb 39 (steal aggro, blink towards the barb lol). You also get spark which gives a nice damage boost and Dragon’s Breath which is more helpful than you think so level it to at least 5. Make sure you keep on leveling up pyro, gush and SR.

At level 39 you get Will of the Phoenix (WoP) this combined with blink will improve your pve ability dramatically. You start out with a nuke skill SR, sandstorm (SS) divine program (DP) then you fire off a gush/pyro when the mob gets close WoP him and blink back.

At level 49 you get some great skills. Force of Will (FoW) Glacial Snare (GS) and Ember storm (ES). FoW is ANOTHER SKILL that plays a part in your kiting skills (man the devs surely must love wizards to give us 3 survival skills in a 20 level frame!). By now pyro, gush, SR should be maxed or close to it. So you start out with a nuke SR, SS, DP or GS then you gush/pyro. When the mob gets close FoW, then back to gush/pyro (they should be dead by now) if not just spam skills and when they get close WoP etc.

At level 59 you get your last set of skills (that don’t involve apoc pages and what not) Blade Tempest (BT) Black Ice Dragon Strike (BIDS) and Mountain Seize (MS) and Essential Sutra (sutra). These skills will be used as openers when you just want to waste 2 sparks. BT is good for mag resist mobs so you might use that a lot. BIDS (awesome sauce face) just looks awesome so you use it to see its pure awesomeness and the high numbers.

Maybe in your 50s (definitely in your 60s) you can do something call zhen. Zhen is what I am going to have to do to catch up in leveling since I been away for 2 weeks, all jokes aside, Zhenning is a great way to get exp. It involves you using dragon's breath for one hour with a archer using barrage and BMs, venos, and barbs pulling mobs toward you while a cleric uses regeneration aura to keep everyone alive. In order to zhen you need the following:

Gold MP charm - 4 gold (normal price)
Gold HP charm - 4 gold (normal price)
Esoterica (eso) - 50 silver

How to Zhen (coming soon)

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Player vs. Player (PVP)

One thing wizards aren’t known for is their pvp ability. They are known as easy targets but there is a way to change that.

How to do PVP as a Wizard

In early levels, PVP revolves around dueling. This is the point of time where you will beat most people in duels and etc. Basically you stay far away and start out with SR then spam gush and pyro until they die. PVP at this level shouldn’t be too hard.

At level 30 you are allowed to PK or depending on your server, forced to PK. PK is where things get fun. I actually made it on the top 50 list from Pking in my 30s. When Pking there are a few things you need to remember.

1. SA - it’s a army term, situational awareness. It involves staying aware of your surroundings (and it’s the reason why I never kite). Keep your mini map far out, and look out for green dots if you have monsters shown on your map turn it off. If your not looking at your map keep your camera swiveling around.

2. Check out the armor - if you can, get a look at their armor WITHOUT BEING SEEN! Find out what they are missing, once you know, hit them hard. If you can’t get close, start out with earth spells. A lot of people are missing earth resist and the earth element holds the wizard’s strongest spells.

3. Don’t stop attacking - Unless you see a bunch of people coming (white or red named/ in same faction) keep attacking. If you stop you might become the prey.

4. If all else fails, run - if the person you are attacking isn’t dying or you are close to dying, blink away and run.

At level 39 you get your main pvp skill, SS, this skill saves your life against melee. I sutra’d this on 7x archer and combined it with my genie skill blinding sand. To have all his attacks but 1 miss me (I was sooo happy when the stun missed) allowing me to beat a 7x archer which isn’t much of a accomplishment since his armor was missing earth resist.

At level 59, you get your ultimate spells (ults). They dramatically change pvp. Instead of you getting one shotted by clerics, you one shot clerics or close to one shotting one. Blade Tempest (BT) is a wizard’s best friend when it comes to FAC’s (FAc's

). . A BT crit at my level does enough damage to kill a FAC 3 times. Black Ice Dragon Strike (wth, who named that one o_0 )(BIDS) scares BM’s and barbs. Mountain Seize (MS) is ok in group pvp and for the extra stun

PVP tips (coming soon)

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Territory Wars (TW)

When you get high enough level (or if you join a new server) you can join a TW guild. TW is one of the things that makes PWI exciting. The way your stomach drops before a TW, the feeling you have inside that you can’t describe (insert awesome sauce face) it’s just beautiful.

What is TW

TW is territory wars. When you go to your map (press m) and click on territory the map changes to show perfect world divided up into sections. Factions fight over that land for money and bragging rights basically. To do TW is a honor that sadly only few can do. But as a wizard you have an advantage. High level wizards (about 50+) are always wanted for TW due to demand. There are 2 types of TW, PVP and PVE. PVE is just kill 199 mobs and the boss in 2 hours. PVP gets more complicated.

It’s a Job only a wizard can do

In TW you can have multiple jobs. I myself had done many from defense, sneak attack, sniper and catapult. I am going to explain a few of the jobs.

Defense

The most common thing a wizard does in TW, defense. When I first heard this I was like what? I only have 900 health how am I going to help? But what I didn’t knew is that defense is taking out catapults and offense barbs. Catapults are these little brown things with barbs hiding in them. Your job is to kill the barb (normally in squad) then take out the catapult. Sometimes there are barbs in human form, your job is to kill these barbs (once again in a squad). If you are a LA wizard, you might be asked to help out with archers too. The best way to succeed in this squad is to have one person attack and everyone assist attack on that person (the person probably is going to be a BM or a archer)

Sneak Attack

One of my favorite TW strategies, you go around the enemy, once you get behind them you let it go! Hit them as hard as possible and try not to die.

Sniper

It sounds cooler than what you really do. Basically you go out first and attack. You are usually in a team with other wizards and archers. You just clear the path out so everyone behind you can get through safely.

Catapult

Remember when I said that in defense you take out the catapults, well in a catapult squad your job is to protect your catapult puller. Anyone who attacks them you must kill before your barb dies. You escort the catapult to the crystal and your guild to victory. Usually in this squad you have wizards, archers, barbs and a cleric.

Sage vs. Demon, Heaven vs. Hell

To make it this far shows that you are dedicated to your wizard. I can count all the wizards that made it to this point with my hands. This is where you become a sage or a demon. Sage/Demon is the level 89 spirit cultivation where you are faced with a tough choice. Sage or Demon? Both allow you to get your skills to level 11, off the charts. Both have their usefulness but which is for you? Hopefully, I can help you make your choice.

Sage

Aware of the Myriad, Sage is the heaven choice. Sage offers many great skills. Pyro has a chance to give you 20 chi and your sage fairy gives you 50 chi per minute. All this makes you a chi machine. All this chi allows you to use skills like Sage BIDS which is, hands down, the best sage skill. Why? It gives you 30% crit! So if you have 10% crit and you use this skill, there is a 50% chance that it ADDS 30% to your crit % making it 40% instead for 10% AND it affects the dragon! Talk about one shots. FoW is now a 3 meter aoe allowing you to stop anything in your path in TW and then hti them all with WoP which has a wider aoe affect. All of your barriers now add 150% resist to their magic element and earth barrier adds 120% pdef! Your masteries allow you to get 25% damage added on!With sage you will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Sage Skill List

Demon

Aware of the Void, Demon is the hell choice. Demon offers many great skills. Pyro has -channeling which makes it more spammable than it already is! Wellspring Quaff (WQ) gives -10% channeling and demon spark gives you -25% channeling! With all of this you be one speed caster. SR has a 20% chance to stun. Emberstorm has a 50% chance to stun! And don’t forget it’s a AOE STUN!!!!! Hailstorm (HS) has a 50% chance to stop your enemies in their tracks. All your barriers adds 120% resist to their element and earth barrier adds 150% pdef! Your masteries also add 1% crit to each element (?) A demon wizard should definitely be feared.

Demon Skill List

Comparing Sage and Demon

Demon and Sage both offer many compelling aspects but which is the best? Well it depends on what you are going to do. Remember once you choose, you can not change. I repeat, YOU CAN NOT CHANGE! So I’m going to attempt to make this choice a bit easier for you. As you noticed sage has chi, and group control. In what situations would chi be useful? PK, TW, maybe grinding? But also notice sage has the AOEs making it more defensive. Demon has -channeling, more control options, and crit. This would be helpful in PK, TW, grinding again? But demon is more focused on 1v1 unlike sage making it more offensive like a fist BM.

Since the guide is non-biased I can’t really say which is the best. I might offer my opinion, *cough* sage *cough* but its entirely up to you. If you need help, do what I did. Talk to a Sage wizard and a Demon wizard. Here is a conversation I had with some.

Sage wizard would be referred to as Sage
Me: what do you like about sage
Sage: CHI CHI CHI CHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: oooooook
Me: what is your favorite sage skill?
Sage: pyrogram! don’t go demon, sage is much better for a wizard!
Me: Anything you regret about your choice?
Sage: no
Me: what is one demon skill you would like if you could have it.
Sage: Stone Rain is ok but I laugh as a watch demon wizards pray their stone rain stuns
Me: ok thank you for your time
Sage: np
LOL very energetic ^^ someone seems bright today. But what I found interesting was how “demon wizards pray their stone rain stuns“. That got me thinking about how practical is it?

Demon wizard would be referred to as Demon
Me: what do you like about Demon
Demon: I dunno its okay
Me: mhmm
Me: do you have a favorite demon skill?
Demon: pyrogram is ok, stone rain is also nice
Me: Anything you regret about your choice
Demon: no but sage has some nice skills
Me: which brings me to my next question, what sage skill would you want
Demon: there are a few good ones, force of will for example
Me: ok thanks for your time
Demon: ok
I liked how humble the demon was ^^. “First I thought what is wrong with him, he acts like he just seen satan himself!” But it was just him being humble I guess.

Funny thing is that both the sage and demon like pyrogram mhmm.

Back on topic, so there you go! Some conversations from demon and sage wizards. Below is the skill comparison list so you can compare each skill one by one.

*I would like to add some more thoughts from sage/demon wizards. Please post, or PM me the answers to these questions

For Sages:
What do you like about sage?
What is your favorite sage skill?
Is there anything you regret about your choice?
What skill would you want from demon

For Demons:
What do you like about demon?
What is your favorite demon skill?
Is there anything you regret about your choice?
What skill would you want from sage?

Thanks for taking your time to answer*

Sage/Demon Skill Comparison List

Conclusion

Thanks for reading my guide! I hope you enjoyed it and it helped you out. If it seems like I was being bias to anything just post what was and I will chance it. Any information that you feel should be added you are always free to post it. Friendly criticism is always welcomed to help make the guide better (hey it took me 1 and a half weeks its not perfect) so are suggestions. Please don’t flame, I want this to be stickied, and I worked very hard on it so no topic getting locked ^^

As I level, this guide will also “level up” so expect it to change! I hope this wasn’t a giant wall of text for you. It is rather a fast read.

Thanks to:
Konariraiden for his awesome awesome sauce face
My previous factions, BloodPact, Calamity, Armagedon who helped me get to where I am.

My current faction Equinox for being the best and having me meet lots of great people

Haiz my idol

My friends for helping (forcing) me stick with my wizard and let my archer collect dust ^^ (in the order I met them) Zeldor (Zel

) , Qultor (Qultor

), Pure poison (poison

), Koti, LightKyra, Kale, Supernova, BlackWulf (wulffy

), OkamiX, Queen Fox (Queen

), HaloAngel (Halo

), ChoasCrusher, Antaury (Ant

) Ursa (Ursa

) Anione (Ani

) Pucker (Pucky

) Lightwish, Bap, MagicMelody (Magic!!! XOXO

) Norina (nori

)and I’m going to stop there too lazy to do the rest lol

Thanks again cya in game (hopefully)

Sorry again the guide is kinda long =p

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Thanks everyone for viewing the guide.
I will post changes i made here.

Friday, July 24, 2009 - Added Earth Skills

Forp - Heavens Tear · June 2009

@thread:

you're level 62.

Chocooo - Lost City · June 2009

Zhen isn't called Zhen because of Zen.

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

@forp ok and

@chocoo ok thanks changing ^^

ya i changed it and added a bit more. Only been working on this for 2 weeks

Ursa - Dreamweaver · June 2009

not a bad guide, but still missing stuff here and there...
You say it's unbiased but... meh...I think it is at least a little b:bye.

One think I would add: If u want to PK, don't pick a wizz unless you want to PK after lvl 80. Before is more playing sniper than PK b:chuckle

Alithyra - Harshlands · June 2009

Forp - Heavens Tear wrote: »

@thread:

you're level 62.

So what if he is lvl 62?? He knows more than you obviously. Anyways...Thank you for the awsome guide. b:victory it should be stickied.

Alithyra - Harshlands · June 2009

Ursa - Dreamweaver wrote: »

If u want to PK, don't pick a wizz unless you want to PK after lvl 80. Before is more playing sniper than PK b:chuckle

um...lol...what are archers then?

Forp - Heavens Tear · June 2009

Alithyra - Harshlands wrote: »

So what if he is lvl 62?? He knows more than you obviously.

he does?

Zhoelle - Sanctuary · June 2009

Forp - Heavens Tear

Originally Posted by Alithyra - Harshlands View Post
So what if he is lvl 62?? He knows more than you obviously.

he does?

It doesn't matter one way or another. He's writing a comprehensive guide. I'm sure you're welcome to contribute.

Ursa - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Alithyra - Harshlands wrote: »

um...lol...what are archers then?

archers are more like rifleman...u die if they get a headshot(crit). If not, they can get the 2nd shot out pretty fast and you're in trouble. Beside, they can tank a few hits if necesary and will be able to fight back
Wizzies are more like pure snipers. Get info about the enemy, study his gear, find weaknesses get the best skill u have and hit it where it hurts the most. If u have the time to do this = huge chances to 1 shot b:victory. You have to be prepared to get out a second shot always, and if that one is not a finisher, you have to get out of there fast, cause you're fcuked otherwise b:victory

Mizorie - Lost City · June 2009

Add colours, makes it so much nicer.

meaangirl · June 2009

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

Wizards normally get 20 hp per level. If they also spend 3 vitality points every two levels, they get another 15 hp per level which almost doubles their base health (their health before equipment bonuses, like refines and shards). They lose maybe 20 or 25% off their magic attack but if they use leveled skills this winds up being maybe a 10% overall damage reduction.

From a vitality build point of view, pure magic builds sacrifice some significant chunk of their health for a minor damage bonus.

Also, every 8.5 vitality points adds 1% physical defense (and leaves your magic defense alone, if you would have spent them on magic otherwise).

Also, every 20-ish vitality points increases your health recovery by 1 point per second.

Unfortunately, however, you eventually run out of skill levels for your skills, which interferes with this way of thinking. And high level armor also gets interesting.

(You can also get good low-level armor but when people out level you, your armor benefits falls off painfully.)

Edit: if you refine your gear, everything sort of changes. Refined arcane armor gives you minor hp bonuses. Refined light armor gives you better hp bonuses. Refined heavy armor would give you awesome hp bonuses.

Wizards only get 10HP per vit.. if they are getting 20 everyone would be raising vit

Don't post if you're giving false information

meaangirl · June 2009

Also, to OP:

lol @ your hybrid build. if you are raising dex might as well do light armor. what a waste of stats in dex, would be much wiser to get crit rings and boost mag

_makina_ - Sanctuary · June 2009

meaangirl wrote: »

Wizards only get 10HP per vit.. if they are getting 20 everyone would be raising vit

Don't post if you're giving false information

I think person ment like everytime u lvl not every stat point of vit. I think its 28 hp per lvl though.

You are correct about the 10 per vit point though.

Ty - Heavens Tear · June 2009

_makina_ - Sanctuary wrote: »

I think person ment like everytime u lvl not every stat point of vit. I think its 28 hp per lvl though.

You are correct about the 10 per vit point though.

It's 20 base HP added per level gained.

_makina_ - Sanctuary · June 2009

Ty - Heavens Tear wrote: »

It's 20 base HP added per level gained.

b:victory Thank You for clarifying.

Piliener - Lost City · June 2009

Good start keep up the good work

Mysticlifex - Heavens Tear · June 2009

Good start, seriously.

Just add some colours.

maybe wait a while before finishing the guide.

tyrtallow · June 2009

10 HP per Vit actually starts to become more viable once you consider +HP buffs and items/skills that allow you to regen HP. One of the things you need to learn as a Wizard is how to get into other classes' good side. Remember that the only thing you can really offer other classes is more offense. More offense may be nice, but if it means dragging along an arrogant wizard then it won't matter especially since the other classes are already able to take care of themselves fine on their own.

I like your approach to making a guide. If you don't mind I'll try to add what I know to help you out a bit. There is some information that is very important to all wizards but is somehow lacking from other wizard guides.
Some of this is for 1-50 wizards, I don't claim to be an expert to any strategy beyond those levels.

First off, the first trick any wizard should learn about is how to chain spells. Although you can chain spells by macro-ing them or just hitting the skill button repeatedly, using macros is situational (especially if you expect to get interrupted a lot) and you'll need to be getting a new keyboard soon enough if you keep tapping those keys like crazy. To chain a spell, first let the spell finish its chanting time (the part where you're character is "charging" and a bar appears in the bottom the screen) and just when your character is in the act of releasing a spell quickly tap or click the spell you want him/her to cast next. This might take some practice at first. The advantage of this little trick is that it eliminates the time in-between castings.

Second, apothecary crafting is an absolute must for wizards. Unlike other classes Wizards are heavily offensive-skill oriented, so considering your rather poor health you need to make sure each one of those spells count. This means if you plan on doing serious stuff (TW, etc) you'll need to have attack charms. You can also use various herbs to make very useful "pills" that mean all difference between hellish PvE and a bearable/great PvE experience.

Third, wizards only start to become powerful as their skills approach higher levels. You will notice that Wizard skills that take into account your Mattack start out a lot weaker than a Venomancer's or even a Cleric's. You will need to focus on leveling your chosen skills if you plan to do any real damage soon. Fortunately the new genie system helps you accumulate spirit points without leveling up as much. Note that there is not much of a difference between the Spirit you gain from mobs with a 10-15 level gap from each other, and yet a mob 10-15 levels higher is a *lot* tougher.

Fourth, spells like Crown of Flame and Pitfall are your best friends in PvE for the following reasons:
-Although many people discourage the use of such spells remember that your Mattack spells only starts to become more useful at higher levels and in general you won't want to get hit as much as possible.
-These spells have very short chanting time and casting time
-Damage over time effects stack, whether its the same spell or not
-They are almost impossible to interrupt

Finally in PvE Water Barrier + Morning Dew allows you to economize your potions and significantly lowers your downtime (times when you stop to meditate).
There are exceptions though (like when you won't be using damage-over-time spells at all, usually in PvP or if your build discourages you from using any damage-over-time spells/you simply prefer tanking monster hits).

Mizuoni - Dreamweaver · June 2009

Thanks for all your comments! i will be adding color soon. right now im trying to get the skill list that are correct. i need more info on a few builds such as vit build so please help out. ursa what did you find that was biased im trying to give out the info without being biased once again thank you all

Rinnve - Lost City · June 2009

What info do you need on vit build? I can help

tyrtallow · June 2009

I'm pretty sure you can be interrupted while channeling, it happens to me from time to time. I don't use macros/combos much though. There also appears to be some sort of bug if you keep changing targets. Somtimes when you cast a spell on a new target it will instead be cast on the old target.

Also... damage over time skills can indeed do better damage per second than gush, but only if you have leveled them and only if your fight lasts long enough, and only if your crit chance and magic attack were both low enough.

True, you will have to level them to maximize their potential. In practice though these spells are not so affected by low/high crit chance and magic attack. They are more affected by whether or not you intend to tank enemy hits - if you do, then I suggest skipping these spells altogether. These spells actually scale well with levels and are basically just 2 seconds (casting+animation) worth of free damage. You can easily sneak them into your castings. You also don't have to worry about your fight lasting long enough. Unless you have a really, really good wand, then it will.

CeliaZ - Sanctuary · June 2009

I like your writing style:) Its funny.

Mysticlifex - Heavens Tear · June 2009

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

You might be right? But I have never noticed this happening.

of course you get interrupted while channelling.

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

Yes, and I hate this so very much. I should open a trouble ticket, but I am too lazy.

Never in 6 months have I noticed this.

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

mmm... in my case, I would need four or five ticks (12 or 15 seconds) for a maxed crown or pitfall to outdamage a maxed stone rain or pyrogram for a combat opener, and 3 ticks (9 seconds) for one of them to out dps a maxed gush or pyrogram. But most of my battles against white-named monsters last 6 to 8 seconds, unless I kite. (I will kite an increased life monster, but my drops seem to go down significantly when I kite, and i am impatient, so I currently prefer burning mana (with morning dew) or potions or maybe even a life powder instead of kiting. I would also kite increased magic resistance monsters but I need to burn about half of my mana reserve killing one of them, so I prefer leaving them and their bonus experience for other people.)

Even with 4 ticks of pitfall I doubt it will ever come close to the spiked damage of stone rain, i doubt kiteing decreases your drop rate.

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

Of course... when I start having to deal with PvP, I think I will be using damage over time skills purely for their annoyance value. I will be a low level wizard facing high level players (hi Ascii!), and will probably be dying without much effort on their part, and even when I am prepared to fight back, minor annoyance will be about all I will be good for.

If you even think of casting a DoT spell in PvP you will be dead before you know it.

Cholla.. you really have a limited knowledge of wizard (mines limited too b:laugh), and to be honest you have told people alot of incorrect facts,

maybe wait a while then.. share your thoughts ^_^

have a good one.

Forp - Heavens Tear · June 2009

who doesn't use pitfall in pvp? the chance to freeze is.. slim. however, it slows and, for me, ticks 108 on other mages with stone barrier up.

and once it goes dark, 33% chance to freeze is a big leap from 15%.

but of course, your knowledge is very, very limited.

oh, and it's best used on a pure build as the initial damage is based from your magic attack, not weapon.

Mizuoni's Wizard Guide

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