Revision as of 16:48, 22 November 2022

Welcome P99er's to my all in one guide!

Within I hope to enclose everything someone might want to know about the Magician class; fresh Green server starts, mature server raiding, leveling paths, tips and tricks, the epic, item upgrade navigation, character creation, and more!

Character Creation

Below is how the developers described the class, I will add my comments throughout in italics.

Magicians are master summoners, able to call elemental pets to do their bidding and to conjure useful items from thin air. Magicians are primarily a magic-using class, with the ability to wear cloth armor and wield blunt weapons and daggers. This is all true, and in general a good way to describe the class. While certainly being a magic-using class, a Magician is more like a melee class than the other casters because the pet is such a big part of how you interact with mobs. It's sort of like playing a warrior, who can also cast and summon things.

Elemental pets are at the heart of a magician's offensive strategy, and typically accompany a magician in all his adventures. This pet provides protection for its master, along with powerful attacks and special abilities. Magicians have a large selection of fire and magic-based damage spells, allowing them to mount a damaging magical assault in support of their elemental pet. The pet is everything while leveling up, I wouldn't say they have a large selection of spells at all, if anything they have the least amount of any pure int or wis caster. Direct damage abilities are limited overall, to fire and magic, and mostly just fire.

Magicians have a wide range of summoning spells, allowing them to conjure such diverse items as food, weapons, armor, and magical jewelry. In battle, the magician can encase his entire group in a shield of fire, damaging any opponent that strikes them. Magicians also have spells that lower a monster's resistance to magic, allowing spells to damage them more easily. Item summoning is fun, and useful at all levels, none of them are game changing, but some are very desirable.

Their signature ability at later levels allow them to summon a group member to their location. A highly sought-after ability in both groups and raids. Call of the Hero (COTH) is a blessing and a curse, incredibly powerful spell that is often just used on COTH bots. If you plan on doing any raiding, this spell is your bread and butter.

Magicians are a very focused class, sacrificing some diversity for power in their area of expertise. Magicians are able to adventure solo, but also provide value in a group situation. The magician is a good choice for players who enjoy managing a powerful pet and using a tightly focused spell selection. Mages are a great solo class to level 55 (beyond is much slower), a great grouping class, a good plat farming class, and a necessary raiding class. Some say that high level raiding is boring as a Mage, but some might say that playing a Rogue or a Cleric is equally boring. While Mage is definitely one of the lowest Action per minute (APM) classes, it's a useful class on almost every raiding encounter, good for raid leaders or anyone who is managing more than themselves on a raid. I often think of Magician as a commander class, you spend more time watching and calculating than actually being in the action, whether it's solo, grouped or raiding. Mages control the action from afar and have time to think through what needs to be done to succeed.

Races

Magician can be chosen by five races, here is the basic information for each race, and I will rank them based on a 10/10 scale for fresh start servers and mature raiding servers. Most of the races are comparable to each other, except for humans who have a large stat disadvantage, and gnomes wall vision. In the end, choose what you like to play and what you think looks cool, as the stats won't matter as much once you reach higher levels. Be aware that humans will always be behind intelligence wise and if you are creating a mage solely to be a coth bot, or you think it will be a coth bot in the future: ALWAYS choose gnome. You don't want to be using shrink pots on bots.

Dark Elf DEF

   Faction Alignment: Evil 
   Racial(s): Hide, Ultravision 
   Starting City: Neriak 
   Playable Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Rogue, Shadow Knight, Warrior, Wizard 
   Experience Modifier: None 
   Armor: Medium, Small 

Best natural vision, although with Summon Coldstone any race can see as well as a Dark elf. Built in hide skill of 50, it work's 35-50% of the time, and is useful for AFKing in weird spots, avoiding trains. Hide isn't the most useful on a mage sadly because it will kill your pet. Second highest starting int. Execelant noobie zone and access to Freeport, has a library in Neriak. Fashionquest is real here, and dark elves look fantastic. Fresh start 8/10, Mature Server 7/10.

Erudite ERU

   Faction Alignment: Neutral 
   Racial(s): -5 Disease Resist, +5 Magic Resist 
   Starting City: Erudin, Paineel 
   Playable Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Paladin, Shadow Knight, Wizard 
   Experience Modifier: None 
   Armor: Medium 

Highest starting int, and that bonus +5 MR is excellent! They start with 70 agility though, which is a serious handicap. Unless you put 5 points in at character creation you will have an AC penalty and often be running slower while encumbered until you get an item with +AGI on it. The noobie zone is pretty bad over all and most people have to take the boat to Qeynos, Erudin does have a library though. Fresh start 4/10, Mature Server 8/10.

Gnome GNM

   Faction Alignment: Neutral 
   Racial(s): Tinkering, Infravision 
   Starting City: Ak'Anon 
   Playable Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Rogue, Warrior, Wizard 
   Experience Modifier: None 
   Armor: Small 

The only small race available for Mage, this is invaluable for using COTH to invite people from the entrance of zones. (We will cover this later). Any race can be shrunk and perform the same trick, but only gnomes can do this at all times with superior wall vision. Decent int, excellent starting zone and access to a library make them a good choice at any point during the timeline. Fresh start 8/10, Mature Server 10/10.

High Elf HIE

   Faction Alignment: Good 
   Racial(s): Infravision 
   Starting City: Felwithe 
   Playable Classes: Cleric, Enchanter, Magician, Paladin, Wizard 
   Experience Modifier: None 
   Armor: Medium, Small 

High elf has decent starting int, the highest charisma, which is actually nice. You will make more money vendoring items throughout the character's lifetime and it adds up. Greater Fay and Crushbone are noob friendly and full of cash making opportunities. Access to the library in Ak'anon as well as the dwarf and gnome starting zones. High elf is never a bad choice, just maybe not the best choice, but style matters and they have it. Fresh start 8/10, Mature Server 7/10.

Human HUM

   Faction Alignment: Neutral 
   Racial(s): None 
   Starting Cities: Freeport, Qeynos 
   Playable Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Enchanter, Magician, Monk, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Shadow Knight, Warrior, Wizard 
   Experience Modifier: None 
   Armor: Medium 

Lowest int, male beard fashionquest, really good starting locations in Qeynos or Freeport, but the libraries are harder to access. No night vision, play a human to be more unique or to enjoy the advantages on an early server, they get a decent fresh start ranking purely because Qeynos, the catacombs, Blackburrow and the karanas are such a good place to play. Fresh Start 7/10, Mature Server 5/10.

Starting Statistics

As a general rule of thumb going 25 int/5 stam is a strong choice for any racial choice or playstyle. It wasn't until deep into Velious gear that I began to regret choosing 25 int at creation on the first Green server. I chose Dark elf, with 25 int and 5 str, and it served me well throughout the entire timeline. It wasn't until I started getting NToV caliber loot that I started going over 255 int, and even then as a raiding mage you will want to be using a Manna Robe anyway which will limit your int. The point is that going 25 int is never wrong, or a bad choice. In fact it is generally the best choice available for most players.

For Erudites on fresh start server I highly recommend going 25 int/5 agi to cover that agility gap. If you don't have 75 agility there is a run speed penalty when encumbered and an armor class penalty. On a mature server you can use items to cover this gap and instead I would recommend str or sta instead.

If you are the neckbeardiest of the neckbeards and know for sure that you will be gearing this toon out at level 60 with NToV quality loot then you absolutely want to go 25 sta / 5 int. The extra hit points will make a difference later and if you wanted to cap stamina as well as int, it's much harder without the creation sta. I also recommend 25 sta/5 int for experienced players who don't plan on using the character for coth bot status, and are going to twink it. I'll explain more on this later.

Experienced players can also choose 25 int/5 str at creation or a mix of the two stats. Str is very useful on fresh start servers and will pay for itself many times over being able to carry more loot out of a dungeon or exp session. Be wise about this and only choose str if you know what you are doing and understand you will lose out on stats at 60 that you might want at that point.

Deities

In general it doesn't matter what you choose at all, because the diety specific equipment is generally pretty bad for most diety/race/class combos. Bertoxxulous has some decent black sapphire gear, but is it worth being hated by everyone? Agnostic is the best choice for a mage, the only choice for a coth bot, and in general the best choice for most players. If you like the flavor of a diety, or want to roleplay, or just like the idea of it. Go for it! It doesn't matter and in the end, having fun on your character is most important.

Dark Elves:

Agnostic, Innoruuk.

There is some cultural chain armor that dark elf magicians can wear, you don't need to choose Innoruuk to wear the lower versions, but you do for the best. You will be KOS in many places, but agnostic dark elves are generally tolerated.

Erudites:

Agnostic, The Oceanlord, The Tranquil

Nothing really here for Erudite mages as far as cultural armor or items, some interesting flavor choices or roleplay opportunities and that's it. Nothing evil to choose. An Erudite Mage worshipping Prexus who only used water pets would be a really fun, but limiting way to play.

Gnomes:

Agnostic, The Plaguebringer, The Duke of Below

Bertox has some good jewelry, but that's it. Nothing much here, standard good or evil gnome choices! Brell would be interesting since elementals are kind of his bag and all.

High Elves:

Agnostic, The Rainkeeper, The Queen of Love, The Lightbearer, The Mother of All

Some interesting choices here, Karana and Erollosi Marr, but really if you're going to choose one, Tunare is the best choice. There is cultural chain armor similar to the Dark elf armor and Plane of Growth quest item for mages that's pretty good but Tunare only. A High elf mage worshiping Tunare who only uses earth pets would be a fun way to play and pretty good solo.

Humans:

Agnostic, The Plaguebringer, The Prince of Hate, The Rainkeeper, The Queen of Love, The Lightbearer, The Prime Healer

Humans have the most choices, which is generally true for most human class combinations. Can be evil with Bertox or Inny or choose some goodies. This would be the only way to get Rodcet Nife, although I'm not sure what you would do with that!

Creation Recap

I'd like to stress here that no matter what you choose your character will do fine, and at 60 you will hardly be able to tell the difference. Play what you like and have fun, don't let anyone tell you what's best for YOU or how you choose to play. That being said there is definitely a min/max approach here and if you want to know what is technically the best, or what I recommend, keep reading. A lot depends on what your plan is for the character, is it a first character on a fresh start server that will become a coth bot later? Is it just a coth bot? Is this your main through Velious? Is this character just a fun side project that you enjoy leveling? Have you the longest neckbeard and want to know the absolute best way to create the character? Also please note that Erudite's may need +5 agi at creation to hit that magic 75 agi number.

Farming toon for fresh start Green destined to be a coth bot:

• Race: Gnome
• Diety: Agnostic
• Starting Stats: 25 int/5 str

Coth bot:

• Race: Gnome
• Diety: Agnostic
• Starting Stats: 25 int/5 sta

Main character through entire timeline:

• Race: Any
• Diety: Any
• Starting Stats: 25 int/5 str or sta

Side Project:

• Race: Any
• Diety: Any
• Starting Stats: 25 sta/5 int or str

Neckbeard Project:

• Race: Gnome
• Diety: Agnostic
• Starting Stats: 25 sta/5 int

Gear, upgrades and item progession

Thoughts on gear priority

Let's take a look at how intelligence and stamina provide mana and hit points. Mana for some reason does not have a set calculation like stamina to hit points does. It varies based on whether you are under 200 int or over it, and how much int you are adding at the time. I verified this because this table looked confusing to me. I reduced my intelligence to below 200, then removed 5 int worth of gear and lost 54 mana, or 10.8 mana per int. I removed 3 int and lost 32 mana or 10.66 mana per int, then I removed 8 int and lost 90 mana or 11.25 mana per int. I repeated the process once over 200 int and added 5 int and gained 22 mana or 4.4 mana per int, then I added 20 int and gained 113 mana or 5.65 mana per int. What does this mean? For whatever reason it is variable and the more int you add or subtract, the more mana per int you will gain or lose. The table below seems to be roughly accurate, and like someone described there are rounding issues so the numbers aren't always exact.

You obviously want to gain intelligence if you can, and have at least 200 int if possible, because post 200 the gains drop off about 50%. Having a larger pool is useful most of the time, but while leveling it really isn't that necessary. Intelligence is one of those stats you will naturally gain as you progress through gear since most int caster gear is loaded with it. I wouldn't go after it, unless you're close to that 200 mark and want to pop over. What's more important is +mana items especially at lower levels. This table is showing mana only at level 60. At level 10 or 20 you will receive very little mana per int, making +mana preferable until 40+ generally. And even then, + mana or + hp gear is still better a lot of the time. A fresh Green server character might want that extra 25 int at creation because of the lack of good int gear in early classic. That 25 int at level 50 is a lot, and helpful, but as time goes on and the farther you progress that 25 int becomes progressively less attractive as mudflation creeps the stats up on gear.

Below or at 200 WIS/INT

   Mana gained = ((80 * LEVEL) / 425) * WIS/INT 

Above 200 WIS/INT

   Mana gained = ((40 * LEVEL) / 425) * WIS/INT 

NOTE: This calculation will often be a few points of mana off. This is because the decimal seems to fluctuate based on how much WIS/INT is added, probably due to a rounding issue of some kind. For example:

1. Adding 100 WIS/INT gives you roughly 11.27 mana per point of WIS/INT at level 60 under 200 WIS/INT.

2. Adding 10 WIS/INT gives you roughly 11.3 mana per point of WIS/INT at level 60 under 200 WIS/INT.

3. Adding 5 WIS/INT gives you roughly 11.6 mana per point of WIS/INT at level 60 under 200 WIS/INT.

4. Adding 2 WIS/INT gives you roughly 11.0 mana per point of WIS/INT at level 60 under 200 WIS/INT.

5. Adding 7 WIS/INT gives you roughly 11.5 mana per point of WIS/INT at level 60 under 200 WIS/INT.

Stamina to hit points is different and exactly the same. We can see below that if you choose 25 stamina at creation you will have 50 hit points extra at level 50, and 60 hp at level 60. This isn't a whole lot compared to what the mana would bring in (somewhere in the 11 mana per int range) or approximently 275 mana. It's up to you to decide how you want to split up the hp/mana you'll get there. Stamina in general isn't a great stat for mages or int casters in general because of the low conversion rate. However, because of how much intelligence gear there is, and the fact you'll be spending hours leveling up, stamina is better than it looks. For the more hardcore of us, I'd always recommend taking stamina at creation and focusing on sta and +HP gear while leveling. At 60, you may want to swap to more +mana, or HP/MP regen items depending on how you're playing your character.

While leveling your Hit points are just not a junk stat that you try to avoid using, by not getting hit. People often play int casters this way, and try to avoid ever being in the mob's crosshairs. This is a limited way of thinking and approaching combat. Mage's don't get a root spell, a mesmerize spell, fear, divina aura, self heals, or any kind of defensive spell at all. Mage's have shielding (AC,HP,MR), phantom armor (AC,HP regen), COTH (when it's working, it can clear aggro), and gate. That's all you have defensively as a mage without your pet. The only thing keeping you from death is your HP/AC values, so these are exactly what you should be looking for as you level. Anything with +HP especially is good, and the earlier you acquire these items you more you'll notice the power of it.

Obviously you'll have a pet out most of the time, and the pets are extensions of your spellbook, they have spells you lack, or more powerful versions of them. The pets from 4-49 are pocket warriors you can pull out at any time for very little cost, and all it costs to complete heal the pet is to summon another one.