Wizard Usage? Hmm

Wizzies are mainly wanted for PVP purposes. Open map PVP/NW/TW/etc. Don't make a wizzie solely for PVE. You are going to need decent gear though if you don't want to just feel like you're dying pointlessly over and over again in PVP.

Also, that sounds like you're severely undergeared on your seeker more than anything.

AEU- controlling the fires with DB, phys immune "twin" boss
Seat-phys immune mobs, frostblade
Warsong- Soloing Metal pav.

Delta, Lunar, FCC, Warsong all have healthy amounts of aoeing that wizards can help with and may be selected simply because they need aoe dd and want a variety outside the usual people that get selected.

I want to emphasize the importance of frostblade. I can keep aggro on a phys immune mob on my bm with frostblade simply by triple spark->aps from most r8/G13 or below wizards. Not amazing dd but still nothing to scoff at. In addition I can HF/GS without having to waste 2 sparks first by using Drakes Breath first (making it a 4-6 spark combo) and that makes mobs go down fast. Similarly, a sin can stunlock/freeze for you and keep mobs out of range without having to use Condensed Thorn. Its amazing how many sins have never gotten this skill. And in addition to that, many barbs neglect to self buff Poison Fang and then can't ream/freeze mobs but if you give them frostblade they jump up to +80-100% magic damage on their hits.

I am very critical of how others play, although I usually don't say much. I've learned most people in this game hate friendly advice, no matter how politely I try to offer it. Usually I will ask for frostblade once or twice depending on the importance of it in the instance (Aba, who cares. AEU twin bosses, I'll flat out demand it, lol) and if I have to fight to get frostblade the wizard goes on my blacklist. If you're having trouble finding squads it may be for this reason.

well, don't expect for someone to ask specifically for a wiz. for aoe purposes in non phy immune mobs seekers are superior; and then you have a healthy bunch of aoers such as archers and psys.

having said that, at the moment you won't really have a trouble doing your instances (assuming reasonable gear)

well, I'd say the psychics rank lower in demand compared to wizzies but that's mostly because of squads that think that psys can't aoe (e.g. bh delta LF aoe wiz/archer). On the other hand, you don't really want to join such a squad and there is not a significant aoe instance anyway.

with the addition of aeu, psys finally got a unique role (shared with clerics), to soulburn the mob of the first stage of aohe and it was the first time I saw quite a bit of wc for LF psy.

anyway, I think that the temperamental luxury prostitute part is correct XD

@ursa : I like ur words, it describes exactly (like when me try to play this class properly).


Hmm, it is difficult to say. But I think
a Class that REALLY NEED 'something' BOOST is Wizard.



bcoz,
I am in confusion(like OP), 'What our class is?'
b:puzzled

for TW ? no it is not the real answer,
Every single class has it role in TW too.
They are Great at their job, and so do we on TW.

Adroit - Lost City wrote: »

Wizards are borderline useless in pve as others have stated (yes there are a few things that can be useful, but in general we are not really wanted..) the good news is that we dominate in end game pvp, so wizards are an ideal class for people like me who love pvp and put pve activities in the same category as watching paint dry.

The word "dominate" is make me surprised,
Yes we are magic class. That make us really able to by pass charm, or maybe a one-shot.
but mage class is not just wiz (Priest (capable of DD), Mystic, Psychic??).

When it is compared to EP and MS maybe we are choosen to be a better DD on PvP Squad. but when it is come to Psy?
its Debuff anoying, his DPS is way better than Wiz, and it is area Magic DD, his survivability skills are amazing.
feared class by the most end-game(CMIIW!!).

What is left for the wiz?

mynameiswizy wrote: »

The word "dominate" is make me surprised,
Yes we are magic class. That make us really able to by pass charm, or maybe a one-shot.
but mage class is not just wiz (Priest (capable of DD), Mystic, Psychic??).

When it is compared to EP and MS maybe we are choosen to be a better DD on PvP Squad. but when it is come to Psy?
its Debuff anoying, his DPS is way better than Wiz, and it is area Magic DD, his survivability skills are amazing.
feared class by the most end-game(CMIIW!!).

What is left for the wiz?

Psychic dps is a little better than wiz on average, but wizard dph dwarfs psychic dph. Psychics don't have anything that even comes close to undine + spark.. a competent wizard is able to drop a tanky opponent much faster/easier than a psychic can. Psychics do have some neat survival skills (seal buff, phys immune, white voodoo), but 2/3 of those come with strings attached. White voodoo makes their damage a joke, and phys immune obviously doesn't help vs casters and takes away large chunks of chi that could otherwise be used offensively. Wizards rely primarily on stone barrier and blink for defense, neither of which interfere with the ability to be offensive (and both are very effective at keeping me alive).

So in a very simplistic way of looking at things, wizards are just better at killing things than psychics. Wizards are dedicated DDs that do just that (wizards do not do well in a support role), and psychics are like half-DDs with the option to be decent DDs (wizard spike damage is an order of magnitude above that of an equally geared psychic though), and also have the option to play more of a support role by being annoying to kill and just running around soulburning people/purifying teammates/random CC etc. I haven't even mentioned other skills that further make wizards better at killing (reversions being another easy example) or other very useful support skills that psychics have (veil of shadow, spirit phalanx, psionic link, etc).. but I hope I've made my case.

Adroit - Lost City wrote: »

Psychic dps is a little better than wiz on average, but wizard dph dwarfs psychic dph. Psychics don't have anything that even comes close to undine + spark.. a competent wizard is able to drop a tanky opponent much faster/easier than a psychic can. Psychics do have some neat survival skills (seal buff, phys immune, white voodoo), but 2/3 of those come with strings attached. White voodoo makes their damage a joke, and phys immune obviously doesn't help vs casters and takes away large chunks of chi that could otherwise be used offensively. Wizards rely primarily on stone barrier and blink for defense, neither of which interfere with the ability to be offensive (and both are very effective at keeping me alive).

So in a very simplistic way of looking at things, wizards are just better at killing things than psychics. Wizards are dedicated DDs that do just that (wizards do not do well in a support role), and psychics are like half-DDs with the option to be decent DDs (wizard spike damage is an order of magnitude above that of an equally geared psychic though), and also have the option to play more of a support role by being annoying to kill and just running around soulburning people/purifying teammates/random CC etc. I haven't even mentioned other skills that further make wizards better at killing (reversions being another easy example) or other very useful support skills that psychics have (veil of shadow, spirit phalanx, psionic link, etc).. but I hope I've made my case.

Pretty much agree with this...much to my sadness. Wiz does so much more damage. Maybe not as much in PvE Because we can literally spam our AoE constantly even at distance...but otherwise I think you will be fine with a Wizard. I have never denied someone based on being a Wiz. They are great extra AoE and perfect boss killers with the spike damage.

@Adroit in particular. You make me sad. Mostly because you tell the truth. But I love my psy and I would not give her up. Except I play her like a magic tank (still have full MAG build) instead of a one shot cannon in PvP. In team play I feel like they are more useful simply because of the versatility. I can tank all of the things! ...Although I did just get wrecked 3 times in a row last week by a Wiz in 1v1...But that was not gear/class difference. He just out played me Dx

sometimes there are going to be exceptions where, at a particular point in time, one or two great players are giving people the impression that wizard is a good class. but if you expand this debate to the general populace, and look at wizard in its entirety, you find, without question, we are the shiitiest class in this game. talking about frostblade being one of the deciding factors to measure our value in PvE with is just embarrassing. frostblade is like the longest running inside joke we have in this game.

anyway, there is no sophisticated argument with foolproof principles from the 11th century governing the logic behind why I said what I said. let's just keep it real. how many wizards are genuinely causing problems for the great majority of you +12'd jaded people out there? now compared to every other class? thought so. why is everybody rolling a seeker, archer, or veno and not a wizard? thought so. don't give me this learning curve **** about people not being patient enough because they get discouraged from the slow channeling, give everyone else a little more credit than that. they realize wizards are trash.

I strongly agree with Ursa, in particular when he talks about static defenses, which is a concept a lot of people don't understand. every other class has a kit that affords them the freedom to decide how they want to play, whereas a wizard is entirely at the mercy of chi and cheesing spark, both of which are so unbelievably easy to bait. it always makes me laugh when I hear people talk about how op wizards are, which almost always follows a "OMG FIRE COMBO, FIRE COMBO!!"

yeah, real combo. b:chuckle

BLOODMYSTIC - Archosaur wrote: »

Link your gear, then explain what it costs, then tell him about the class dominating.

Then explain that the range and time needed to get undine+spark+skill and compare that to attack range/time for other classes.

Finally, tell him how equally geared archer can just bait you till purge bow procs then you die.

Wizards are absolutely lame, and with rrr9 psychics (or hell even mystics and venos) they are not even needed in TW anymore. Just watch WC - you won't see anyone look for a wizard for anything - pvp, pk, faction/tw. "Faction xyz recruiting wizards . . . ." you will never see it.

Watch in NW/TW - no one runs from a wizard, they all run TOWARDS them. Not exactly what one expects from a class that "dominates in end game pvp".

With equal rrr9 gear, nearly ANY class is better than wizard. They don't need an easily defended against genie spark attack to kill someone - most other classes equally geared at end game can kill a wizard by just pushing one button . . . .

inb4replythatfailwizardsthisthatortheotherthing

I leave the reader with this advice: want to know about wizards in pve? Watch world chat and see what classes are wanted. You will never see someone ask for a wizard

Want to know about wizards in pvp? Watch them. If wizards really "dominated" end game pvp, wouldn't you see them swarming around the pvp areas? I challenge you, go look. Bet you don't see one. And even if you do - you won't see them "dominating" by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't trust adolt - eternal wizard cheerleader and self-appointed expert. Don't trust me in fact. There is no need to trust anyone, really. Just go look for yourself.

Yes u r saying the truth, sir.
it is about the time : - cooldown, chi build, position, not to mention he press a 'surprise' soul of fire.
it is about the range : -30m? (it will be definitely pleasant if it is) no.. the truth is @#*&!
to take down only 1 opponent.

but yes indeed it is one of deathly power, we can take down the enemy even opponent gear is higher than us(including refines). but it is just it.
f:worry f:shy

oh no don't make a bad words of him(Adroit).
He is good , I mean a good person and a good player also.
don't be jealous because he can explain with detail what this Class capable of, it is feel not really good for me to read your saying that way, sir.

Check the range on genie spark - it ain't 30m - its 20m.

BLOODMYSTIC - Archosaur wrote: »

Link your gear, then explain what it costs, then tell him about the class dominating.

Then explain that the range and time needed to get undine+spark+skill and compare that to attack range/time for other classes.

Finally, tell him how equally geared archer can just bait you till purge bow procs then you die.

Wizards are absolutely lame, and with rrr9 psychics (or hell even mystics and venos) they are not even needed in TW anymore. Just watch WC - you won't see anyone look for a wizard for anything - pvp, pk, faction/tw. "Faction xyz recruiting wizards . . . ." you will never see it.

Watch in NW/TW - no one runs from a wizard, they all run TOWARDS them. Not exactly what one expects from a class that "dominates in end game pvp".

With equal rrr9 gear, nearly ANY class is better than wizard. They don't need an easily defended against genie spark attack to kill someone - most other classes equally geared at end game can kill a wizard by just pushing one button . . . .

inb4replythatfailwizardsthisthatortheotherthing

I leave the reader with this advice: want to know about wizards in pve? Watch world chat and see what classes are wanted. You will never see someone ask for a wizard

Want to know about wizards in pvp? Watch them. If wizards really "dominated" end game pvp, wouldn't you see them swarming around the pvp areas? I challenge you, go look. Bet you don't see one. And even if you do - you won't see them "dominating" by any stretch of the imagination.

Don't trust adolt - eternal wizard cheerleader and self-appointed expert. Don't trust me in fact. There is no need to trust anyone, really. Just go look for yourself.

1. My gear is linked in my signature, and wizards do dominate at end game (a wizard with my gear does very very well against other classes of similar gear).

2. undine + sutra + spark + d.pyro is one of the fastest, most deadly combos in the game (if not the most deadly)

3. end game wiz vs archer is so one sided it isn't even funny, the archer has no chance. I can bypass end game archers without even needing a crit.. and a purge isn't that big a deal against a single opponent (more of an issue when you are getting focused by several people). Yeah you need to rebuff yourself obviously, and maybe if they purged you at a bad time you'd want to use some genie.. but 16.4k hp, 110 def levels, and 9.7k pdef purged doesn't insta drop after a purge like you seem to think.

4. competent wizards are invaluable in TW/pvp.. you are clueless

5. People run from me all the time, I can understand why you'd think otherwise being a wizard and all, but having noob gear and playing like a noob isn't going to get people to run from you.

6. "Any class is better than a wizard.. and most other classes can kill a wizard with one button?" lmao, no. Self buffed I have 16.4k hp, 20k pdef, 19.5k mdef, 110 def level, it takes a lot more than one button to kill my wiz (if I'm not afk, generally more than one person). I've also yet to find anyone on server that could beat me 1v1 (meaning kill me more than 50% of the time), and I'm a wizard.. so I'm finding this assertion of yours that any class is better than a wizard especially ridiculous.


I was hoping after all of these months/years you'd have stopped blaming the class for your own incompetence, but you are as whiny/pathetic as ever. I have no interest in going in circles with you this time around, I'm quite a bit busier now than I was in the past.. but you can go ahead and have fun writing your QQ essays.. just don't be too surprised if I don't dignify them with a response.

Adroit - Lost City wrote: »

1. My gear is linked in my signature, and wizards do dominate at end game (a wizard with my gear does very very well against other classes of similar gear).

2. undine + sutra + spark + d.pyro is one of the fastest, most deadly combos in the game (if not the most deadly)

3. end game wiz vs archer is so one sided it isn't even funny, the archer has no chance. I can bypass end game archers without even needing a crit.. and a purge isn't that big a deal against a single opponent (more of an issue when you are getting focused by several people). Yeah you need to rebuff yourself obviously, and maybe if they purged you at a bad time you'd want to use some genie.. but 16.4k hp, 110 def levels, and 9.7k pdef purged doesn't insta drop after a purge like you seem to think.

4. competent wizards are invaluable in TW/pvp.. you are clueless

5. People run from me all the time, I can understand why you'd think otherwise being a wizard and all, but having noob gear and playing like a noob isn't going to get people to run from you.

6. "Any class is better than a wizard.. and most other classes can kill a wizard with one button?" lmao, no. Self buffed I have 16.4k hp, 20k pdef, 19.5k mdef, 110 def level, it takes a lot more than one button to kill my wiz (if I'm not afk, generally more than one person). I've also yet to find anyone on server that could beat me 1v1 (meaning kill me more than 50% of the time), and I'm a wizard.. so I'm finding this assertion of yours that any class is better than a wizard especially ridiculous.


I was hoping after all of these months/years you'd have stopped blaming the class for your own incompetence, but you are as whiny/pathetic as ever. I have no interest in going in circles with you this time around, I'm quite a bit busier now than I was in the past.. but you can go ahead and have fun writing your QQ essays.. just don't be too surprised if I don't dignify them with a response.

You already did respond. As of course I knew you would.

And you forgot to include the cost of your gear, as I knew you would.

And you also forgot to show up at west gate, as you always have.

And you failed to address the 3 points I raise that are indisputable - as you always do.

The fact is, I am free to admit that if you are 1% of the server with a wizard with adolts gear, you might do just fine. Just recognize that it ain't your skill, and it sure as hell isn't the class. THAT is what this post is about, after all. Not you, hard as that may be for you to believe.

And 1 vs 1? sure, you can seal and shrink and sleep and hop around, and with your gear survive, until you are lucky enough (or your opponent stupid enough) to get of a spark combo - but that's just it. Wizards are a one trick pony that takes a lot of work to get a kill. In tw or nw, an equally geared archer yes, could absolutely kill you with just hitting demon quickshot and watching. 1 vs 1? no, of course not. But most people who don't need to stroke their ego by 1 vs 1'ing people with lesser gear (after all, is it likely anyone could have BETTER gear than you?) will find little interest in that. I'm not surprised that you haven't.

And maybe I'll stop "blaming the class" when you stop crediting the class, or your skill, and recognize that its the gear, dummy. Or did you forget, that you disappeared for all that time till your gear was done? Because we haven't.

OMG, Hold your horses people!!
lets go back to the original question of the OP:

Do people look for wizards?

The answer is yes and no.

for PvE = NO . We have absolutely ZERO upside on other classes in this game.
for PvP = YES and NO. YES if you're not R9rrr because you're easy to kill. No if you're R9rrr because you're a pain in the rear.

So we basically have 75% NO, 25% YES for wizard's place in the gameplay. Now to make thinks really worse is that the YES applies to about 80-85% of the server's population and the NO applies to the top 1%.No one wants to go against a topped gear wizard, what abou the rest of the wizard population that's not R9rrr josd? well, everyone knows we're squishy so everyone takes their chances.
What I mean is what's the rist of taking your chances against a wiz? e.g: You see a Barb u don't know the gear? well, drop 1 shot, see how much dmg, evaluate if it's worth or not, you can get away easily (usually). With Bm you don't want to mess with cause he might just stun lock u to death. Archers have range and if you got purged you might be in trouble. But if you take on a wiz that you see it has a g16 (or worse) wep on, you might very well kill it or not ever get in danger anyway.

Since the first batch of people hit endgame gear back in 2009 the wizards were at the top of the food chain. Let me go through a couple of gear stages to explain myself (this is the view of a FULL MAG WIZARD):

LEVEL1: I remember when the best gear achievabl was TT90 green, TT99 was rarely seen. Having a +5 or +6 Wraith Conquerer was something to "awww" at. Once dressed up in TT90 gold sleeves, some hp+crit rings, Leather cape, and 3* boots+hat with 3xpdef stats each you were ready to rock. And damn I was rocking at that point I tell you that much.
The problem was, up to that point you were a joke. PvP under 90 was a total no-no. Unless you went against some really low IQ people you were royally screwed. This was the era when the LA wizards became popular on PVP servers specially.

LEVEL2: the "blessing" of something unseen before: anniversary packs. Yaaaay!!! PWI was 1 yr old! Everyone get in the streets and celebrate. To add to this, we hide in packs gear that would otherise take many many months to get: Lunar. Lunar Rings, Lunar weapons, lunar Capes, OHT map3 equivalent for Boots and Hat.
This came in before the big wave of players (not a few no-lifers) hit 99/100 so no one farmed for TT99 AA gear or wep anymore because the packs rewards were soo much better. Now with the new gear: 2 lunar rings, lunar cape, lunar weapon (I loved my NEON) and OHT boots+HAT a FULL MAG wizard with a max of +6 refines could have 8.5K HP barb buffed, 11k pdef full buffed and 19% crit. Man, i was rocking the effin boat again, because the only chance to kill me in TW (and I did not had a personal effin cleric) was to either gank me somehow or purge me. I was having 3 hour TWs with 1 or maybe 2 deaths. The TW faction we were going head to head each week actually had a 3 man (or 4 if veno was available) archer squad dedicated to only S&D me on the TW map.
That was cool and all, but the problem was if someone would have stopped at LEVEL1 gear they would have been spawning more than killing in TW.

LEVEL3: Tokens go down in price, 5 aps toons are becoming the farming standard.Archers especially are extremely effective making a lot of money out of the old TTs so there, the first R8 weapons arise. Damn those things hurt. When I exchanged my +10 Neon (that had many hundreds of kills on it) with a +5 R8 my jaw just dropped at the damage difference. And most of the server, and I mean 95% of it didn't got to the +10 lunar level ...there was a whole new world in terms of kill/survival. You could get wrecked really fast by anyone with a +5 or higher R8. But we were a few of us so I was still rocking the boat.
The problem was, the balance was broken again. The Level2 gear was not doing the job anymore , so either get good at kiting or just refine like madman. Cue introduction of SIN.

LEVEL4: Nirvana.This was the first instance that actually gave +Def /+ attk levels on gear sets. And the weapons!!!! Doom of Flowers, OMG, re-roll for stats, +10 it and damn that thing was hurting like a break-up from the first love. But at this point the Sins were ruling the PvE and PvP and this was the point were I took a long break from playing my wizard. Regardless of gear they had they pretty much wrecked everything in their way in PvP. Then it was the PVE side where they could do 6 man instances in 1/4 or the time (stealth to boss, kill, reset TT) with incredible productivity. That just added on top of an OP class because now they were just higher refined, higher defenses. First +10 ornaments you would see on SINs.
The problem was at this point the game was pretty much broken. A lot of very good wizard re-rolled other classes and never looked back. To me this was basically the only hopeless time in the history of PWI's wizards.

LEVEL5: R9 and R8 recast
This was the first attempt of PWI to bring back the balance at the top after they completely messed it up at the previous level. This gear made it all possible again, good wizards were top dogs again.
The problem though was that most of these wizards were alts of the farming sins. Skill = 0 when played. Then to add on top of it, the aps world also got to touch R9 obviously and there, the LEVEL4 gear was made obsolete. There was no match between the two. having LEVEL4 gear as a wizard would just make you fodder for the kill count of R9's. R8 recast was to stupidly expensive it didn't even matter for a long time. LEVEL 4 gear was still costing in the hundreds of millions to have for a set.

Level6: NW, R9rrr and g16
Disregarding the economic reasons behind the g16 introduction, PWI realised they need to close the gap a bit, so cue NW introduction with the raps+uncanny rewards + other goodies. To make the cash shoppers happy they also upped the ante a bit with R9rrr.LEVEL5 gear vs R9rrr is painful even to think about,R9rrr vs G16 you still cringe. But at least there's something work with, and making a full set of g16 doesn't cost an arm and a leg now. It can be achieved in a few months which is actually amazing.
The problem is now even inside the LEVEL6 we have major differences in survival and damage between the two options. One makes you a top dog, the other one makes you MEH....


Draw your conclusions about how much worth this class is and if you want to actually invest the time and effort to be at the top. Because really, if you're not at the highest level when it comes to gear your skill in playing a wizard really does not matter.

I will always beat in a race a Formula 1 world champion if I'm driving a Ferrari and he's driving a Ford Fiesta 1.4. Skill matters only when the starting offset of measuring it is the same.


P.S: not cheching for grammar, ain't nobody got time for that!

Ursa - Dreamweaver wrote: »

OMG, Hold your horses people!!
lets go back to the original question of the OP:



The answer is yes and no.

for PvE = NO . We have absolutely ZERO upside on other classes in this game.
for PvP = YES and NO. YES if you're not R9rrr because you're easy to kill. No if you're R9rrr because you're a pain in the rear.

So we basically have 75% NO, 25% YES for wizard's place in the gameplay. Now to make thinks really worse is that the YES applies to about 80-85% of the server's population and the NO applies to the top 1%.No one wants to go against a topped gear wizard, what abou the rest of the wizard population that's not R9rrr josd? well, everyone knows we're squishy so everyone takes their chances.
What I mean is what's the rist of taking your chances against a wiz? e.g: You see a Barb u don't know the gear? well, drop 1 shot, see how much dmg, evaluate if it's worth or not, you can get away easily (usually). With Bm you don't want to mess with cause he might just stun lock u to death. Archers have range and if you got purged you might be in trouble. But if you take on a wiz that you see it has a g16 (or worse) wep on, you might very well kill it or not ever get in danger anyway.

Since the first batch of people hit endgame gear back in 2009 the wizards were at the top of the food chain. Let me go through a couple of gear stages to explain myself (this is the view of a FULL MAG WIZARD):

LEVEL1: I remember when the best gear achievabl was TT90 green, TT99 was rarely seen. Having a +5 or +6 Wraith Conquerer was something to "awww" at. Once dressed up in TT90 gold sleeves, some hp+crit rings, Leather cape, and 3* boots+hat with 3xpdef stats each you were ready to rock. And damn I was rocking at that point I tell you that much.
The problem was, up to that point you were a joke. PvP under 90 was a total no-no. Unless you went against some really low IQ people you were royally screwed. This was the era when the LA wizards became popular on PVP servers specially.

LEVEL2: the "blessing" of something unseen before: anniversary packs. Yaaaay!!! PWI was 1 yr old! Everyone get in the streets and celebrate. To add to this, we hide in packs gear that would otherise take many many months to get: Lunar. Lunar Rings, Lunar weapons, lunar Capes, OHT map3 equivalent for Boots and Hat.
This came in before the big wave of players (not a few no-lifers) hit 99/100 so no one farmed for TT99 AA gear or wep anymore because the packs rewards were soo much better. Now with the new gear: 2 lunar rings, lunar cape, lunar weapon (I loved my NEON) and OHT boots+HAT a FULL MAG wizard with a max of +6 refines could have 8.5K HP barb buffed, 11k pdef full buffed and 19% crit. Man, i was rocking the effin boat again, because the only chance to kill me in TW (and I did not had a personal effin cleric) was to either gank me somehow or purge me. I was having 3 hour TWs with 1 or maybe 2 deaths. The TW faction we were going head to head each week actually had a 3 man (or 4 if veno was available) archer squad dedicated to only S&D me on the TW map.
That was cool and all, but the problem was if someone would have stopped at LEVEL1 gear they would have been spawning more than killing in TW.

LEVEL3: Tokens go down in price, 5 aps toons are becoming the farming standard.Archers especially are extremely effective making a lot of money out of the old TTs so there, the first R8 weapons arise. Damn those things hurt. When I exchanged my +10 Neon (that had many hundreds of kills on it) with a +5 R8 my jaw just dropped at the damage difference. And most of the server, and I mean 95% of it didn't got to the +10 lunar level ...there was a whole new world in terms of kill/survival. You could get wrecked really fast by anyone with a +5 or higher R8. But we were a few of us so I was still rocking the boat.
The problem was, the balance was broken again. The Level2 gear was not doing the job anymore , so either get good at kiting or just refine like madman. Cue introduction of SIN.

LEVEL4: Nirvana.This was the first instance that actually gave +Def /+ attk levels on gear sets. And the weapons!!!! Doom of Flowers, OMG, re-roll for stats, +10 it and damn that thing was hurting like a break-up from the first love. But at this point the Sins were ruling the PvE and PvP and this was the point were I took a long break from playing my wizard. Regardless of gear they had they pretty much wrecked everything in their way in PvP. Then it was the PVE side where they could do 6 man instances in 1/4 or the time (stealth to boss, kill, reset TT) with incredible productivity. That just added on top of an OP class because now they were just higher refined, higher defenses. First +10 ornaments you would see on SINs.
The problem was at this point the game was pretty much broken. A lot of very good wizard re-rolled other classes and never looked back. To me this was basically the only hopeless time in the history of PWI's wizards.

LEVEL5: R9 and R8 recast
This was the first attempt of PWI to bring back the balance at the top after they completely messed it up at the previous level. This gear made it all possible again, good wizards were top dogs again.
The problem though was that most of these wizards were alts of the farming sins. Skill = 0 when played. Then to add on top of it, the aps world also got to touch R9 obviously and there, the LEVEL4 gear was made obsolete. There was no match between the two. having LEVEL4 gear as a wizard would just make you fodder for the kill count of R9's. R8 recast was to stupidly expensive it didn't even matter for a long time. LEVEL 4 gear was still costing in the hundreds of millions to have for a set.

Level6: NW, R9rrr and g16
Disregarding the economic reasons behind the g16 introduction, PWI realised they need to close the gap a bit, so cue NW introduction with the raps+uncanny rewards + other goodies. To make the cash shoppers happy they also upped the ante a bit with R9rrr.LEVEL5 gear vs R9rrr is painful even to think about,R9rrr vs G16 you still cringe. But at least there's something work with, and making a full set of g16 doesn't cost an arm and a leg now. It can be achieved in a few months which is actually amazing.
The problem is now even inside the LEVEL6 we have major differences in survival and damage between the two options. One makes you a top dog, the other one makes you MEH....


Draw your conclusions about how much worth this class is and if you want to actually invest the time and effort to be at the top. Because really, if you're not at the highest level when it comes to gear your skill in playing a wizard really does not matter.

I will always beat in a race a Formula 1 world champion if I'm driving a Ferrari and he's driving a Ford Fiesta 1.4. Skill matters only when the starting offset of measuring it is the same.


P.S: not cheching for grammar, ain't nobody got time for that!

The problem is a lot of people can't afford to every TOP-gear level (including me here) that Dev give us.
so that is always be the downside of the Wizard class allthetime.
Q.Q

so this is 'what the class is' that I played(Obviously, I just found the real answer when you post that).