Mage Ideas

[Raherin]

Ok, Wiz asked for some ideas for mages to keep people interested in them, so here I go...


AA Stuff

Pet Area taunt AA; What better way to help save the day for a mage? Got adds? Well, I know warriors get this, perhaps it can be a soloing AA for when you get too many adds and need youir pet to take agro off you. (Perhaps this can be traded with Permanency....as a mage, I know there ARE some neat buffs...but I would personally only get that AA if I was running out of possible AAs to practice on.)

I know lots of people would love to see Host of Elements AA working, just putting this in here because it sounds like alot of fun and would be great if mages (shamans even [Host of Spirits]) can use it.

Maybe mages getting pet exceptional healing AA? Kind of like the healing gift AA line. If healing gift is a passive AA, and so is Spell Casting Sublety, I would gradly trade Spell casting sublety for a crit healing chance for your pet. Also, this might really help because even with your level 64 heal, your level 65 relic pet still won't be healed too much due to it's amount of hps.

I'm not going to put too many AA ideas because alot of AAs can't be altered a certain way.

Misc Ideas

Well, it seems mages pets are fairly simular. At least it does to me. Perhaps making pet class more like I heard they were on live would be a good idea.

Fire Pet; is very weak physically but actually casts worthwhile DDs, and maybe it's melee damage is all fire based?

Water Pet; A pet balanced with DD/slow. Maybe instead of the DD part, make it a stat debuff. As your freezing from the blast of cold ex. Slow, agility/dext or strength debuff. (Damage isn't everything) All damage dealth is cold based.

Earth pet; Being the tankyest of the tanking pets. Better agro, more hps, and perhaps a taunt function that will actually grabs the mobs attention if the mage takes agro too much, but not out taunt actual warriors/pallys etc. Best AC/Sta/Str/hps of all other pets. Perhaps lowerest agility and dext. Another idea *You are smothered by choknig roots* DoT? Slow? Snare?

Air Pet; Stun proc, and overall balanced stats. Perhaps letting this pet Shadow Step (I know that might just be stupid and pointless ). Also, perhaps give it higher dext/agility to compare against earth pet. Give me ideas for Air as it's my favorite, so I pretty much like it the way it is.

What I'm going for more here is that you can use your pets more situationally than before. Because, usually it doesn't seem to make a big enough difference what pet you use. I find Fire/Water and Air/Earth to be very simular, and that each can fill each other's spots in situations. Yes, I'm aware some of these ideas are already on the pets, that means that I'm not suggesting certain attributes be taken out.


*Note* I know pet taunt works, but it doesn't really work if you take agro...like, once you take too much agro, the mob is not coming off you, your pet will never actually "taunt" and actually steal agro....and if the pet does taunt, it's not very reliable at all for taking agro of the mage.

These are not things I'm expecting will happen, read them and give feedback on what would be good and bad. I'm merely giving out ideas to hopefully let there be more main mages (I can't think of any mages level 65 that are mains, and that HAVE been mains for a while) on the server, rather than having so many mages quiting their class to make a different more interesting class. I realized part of the problem from Kindar's sustained DPS post, mages aren't underbalanced, they are not interesting to play after a while, there aren't many "OMG" AAs, like other classes.

I tried not to make this unbalancing, if something is, don't flame, maybe try being productive and think of an alternate solution. This IS JUST a breainstorming post

 

[Nuralia]

Permanency/Subtlety are shared by other classes; changing it for mages would change it for everyone.

Host of Elements will get working eventually.

 

[Noktar]

Ok i am one of those mages that stepped away from the class when i got all my spells and lvl 65 and some AAs.

It this point getting really better is like almost impossable because all the crit AAs wont improve you that much at all. since your best dmg comes from your pet anyway.

And besides that you miss real cool AAs to go to like

wizards have those ultimate blasts(primal blast), lifefire, manaburn

chanters get those gather mana, shapeshift, dire charm, perma mezz, perma

the only one you got is not working.

 

[Thorbain]

same boat the SK's are in with the 12 million HT AAs

 

[Mager]

more summons

allow them to summon more items and if possible could it be coded that they can only have the item if the Mage is in the group or give them a short duration of use.

Mana regen item that disappears after 10min, same for health regen item.
Up their Damage Shield to rule over the Druids.
Give Mages a chance to critical on a rain spell
Summon Stamina Rods
MONSTER SUMMONING!!!!!!!!
Change the benefits on the Mage AA's that turn them into various elements


more ideas if I think of any.... THESE ARE IDEAS if they unbalance stuff then don't use them.

 

[Anadin]

I don't understand the problem with mages. Maybe just because I haven't played one.

But it seems like the problem is lack of versatility? There DPS is quite fine... Adding crit rain spells, etc, would only unbalance them.

 

[Raherin]

Like I've said, it's not balanace. What the problem is you don't have any situational pets, all the illusion AAs are totally worthless with the exception of Water form, Host of Elements doesn't work (I know it will work sometimes though). I think alot of the reason mages quit being mages and make a different class is because being a mage gets really boring in the high end. You hit level 65, relic pet, there goes any kind of use for situational pets. I would never go back to a level 63 pet over my relic 65. Mages higher end summonings....hhmm, I bet they are really good, however, I will not pay a black sappire for 20 arrows, a spear that not even a rogue would use. Some more ideas are on the way. I'm just throwning out reasons why I quit mage.

 

[zodium]

Like I've said, it's not balanace. What the problem is you don't have any situational pets, all the illusion AAs are totally worthless with the exception of Water form, Host of Elements doesn't work (I know it will work sometimes though). I think alot of the reason mages quit being mages and make a different class is because being a mage gets really boring in the high end. You hit level 65, relic pet, there goes any kind of use for situational pets. I would never go back to a level 63 pet over my relic 65. Mages higher end summonings....hhmm, I bet they are really good, however, I will not pay a black sappire for 20 arrows, a spear that not even a rogue would use. Some more ideas are on the way. I'm just throwning out reasons why I quit mage.

Just...summon some, then summon the stuff?

 

[Raherin]

Like I've said, it's not balanace. What the problem is you don't have any situational pets, all the illusion AAs are totally worthless with the exception of Water form, Host of Elements doesn't work (I know it will work sometimes though). I think alot of the reason mages quit being mages and make a different class is because being a mage gets really boring in the high end. You hit level 65, relic pet, there goes any kind of use for situational pets. I would never go back to a level 63 pet over my relic 65. Mages higher end summonings....hhmm, I bet they are really good, however, I will not pay a black sappire for 20 arrows, a spear that not even a rogue would use. Some more ideas are on the way. I'm just throwning out reasons why I quit mage.

Just...summon some, then summon the stuff?

;(

 

[diolas]

Like I've said, it's not balanace. What the problem is you don't have any situational pets, all the illusion AAs are totally worthless with the exception of Water form, Host of Elements doesn't work (I know it will work sometimes though). I think alot of the reason mages quit being mages and make a different class is because being a mage gets really boring in the high end. You hit level 65, relic pet, there goes any kind of use for situational pets. I would never go back to a level 63 pet over my relic 65. Mages higher end summonings....hhmm, I bet they are really good, however, I will not pay a black sappire for 20 arrows, a spear that not even a rogue would use. Some more ideas are on the way. I'm just throwning out reasons why I quit mage.

Just...summon some, then summon the stuff?

It would be awesome if mages could summon black saphires and pearls.

 

[zodium]

Like I've said, it's not balanace. What the problem is you don't have any situational pets, all the illusion AAs are totally worthless with the exception of Water form, Host of Elements doesn't work (I know it will work sometimes though). I think alot of the reason mages quit being mages and make a different class is because being a mage gets really boring in the high end. You hit level 65, relic pet, there goes any kind of use for situational pets. I would never go back to a level 63 pet over my relic 65. Mages higher end summonings....hhmm, I bet they are really good, however, I will not pay a black sappire for 20 arrows, a spear that not even a rogue would use. Some more ideas are on the way. I'm just throwning out reasons why I quit mage.

Just...summon some, then summon the stuff?

It would be awesome if mages could summon black saphires and pearls.

Didn't know they couldn't, sorry.

 

[Duma]

Have to agree with the 65 mage being the most boring class. Yes, even more then clerics. That's one of the main reasons I do not play my mage anymore except for nostalgia or to Perm Aegis of Tarhyl (only spell mages have that uses permenancy)

Level 65, all spells and 100aa's and you're done. Other then sending in pet and chain nuking your mana away you sit there and hit AE rods every now and then and wait for the obligitory late comers to the raid who have to be ferried in.


High level summons: I think mages would have an extra use if they had high level summons using some of the new armor/weapon mods. How about a summonable range/ring item with nice stats and +% to Dodge/parry/riposte, Defense, crit strike or backstab, or slashing/blunt, stun resist, mind shield, etc.

Raid Summons: How about taking it a step further and adding special summon gems, that are dropped in raid zones, which are used for nothing but high level summons instead of requiring high cash gems as reagents. Like the new set of gems going in for Jewel Craft+.

Frenzy Burnout: How about modding this to an extreme level but afterwards prevents you from summoning another pet for 15-20 minutes? I was never impressed with this AA as a simple STR/haste buff that lasts 30 seconds or so. Only mages use this AA so modding it wouldnt have cross effects with anyone else.


All I have for mow.

 

[Duma]

Actually another idea on FB, why not give it the ability to let your pet take aggro on a mob like a beastlords AA style and then suicide the pet when it runs out or dies like warriors last stand AA?

 

[Wiz]

Just a FYI, frenzied burnout gives the pet 300% haste for one minute. It's absolutely no weak AA.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll spend some time in the thinktank about mages.

 

[Zambo]

Thanks for taking the time to talk about the Magician class everyone. The only suggestion I would have is to get AA's that affect the actual pet directly as a way to set Magicians apart. Sort of thinking like a necromancer from DAoC. Make the pet a more active part of the class.

If it is possible: Innate AA's that directly affect the pet. Like an AA that makes the pet dodge more, or nuke harder.

As that is all the input I have from my own mind, I'll just comment on the rest.

Pet Area taunt AA; What better way to help save the day for a mage? Got adds? Well, I know warriors get this, perhaps it can be a soloing AA for when you get too many adds and need youir pet to take agro off you. (Perhaps this can be traded with Permanency....as a mage, I know there ARE some neat buffs...but I would personally only get that AA if I was running out of possible AAs to practice on.)

I often kite adds as my pet kills them one by one. Also earthsplit makes this ability rather useless in my opinion.

Fire Pet; is very weak physically but actually casts worthwhile DDs, and maybe it's melee damage is all fire based?

If there was a way to actually make this pet a non-melee completely. Make it so it does not run up to the mob when it attacks, rather it sits back and nukes for the best DPS of any magician pet. Downfall is that it can't be used when soloing due to its inability to do a thing while under melee attack. It would probably need high resists so it wouldnt get slaughtered all the time on raids, and seeing that most leveling content is melee, I dont see it being a big problem.


The problem with the other pets would be that they are pretty much the same. The water does more damage, the earth has more hits, the air is pretty much useless really.

I always end up playing cleric for my pet when I solo. Which means that the pet that does the most damage while I can sustain it is the one I will use regardless of how well the others may tank. Which is the problem with the earth pet compared to the water pet currently.

What I'm going for more here is that you can use your pets more situationally than before.

The only thing I can see is there being a group pet, and a solo pet. If there is a way to make the different pets better than one another for different tasks that would be awesome.

Mana regen item that disappears after 10min, same for health regen item.

An idea on the right path, but i don't see it being used really. No one on a raid would equip it, we already have the FT staff also, which is for the lower levels(the ones i can only see being used with this spell).

Up their Damage Shield to rule over the Druids.

This would be another convienience, but no one would be making a mage so they can damage shield the tank on a raid. Would just make a mage bot brought on the raid more often.

Summon Stamina Rods

That would be cool.

MONSTER SUMMONING!!!!!!!!

Unless the monster is in any way better than the real pets, I would never summon it.

Raid Summons: How about taking it a step further and adding special summon gems, that are dropped in raid zones, which are used for nothing but high level summons instead of requiring high cash gems as reagents. Like the new set of gems going in for Jewel Craft+.

I like that idea.



Not meant as criticisms to anyones ideas, just putting my opinion on the class.

 

[Raherin]

In my opinion mages buffs are fine. I thought this over. Sure most people click off mage DS on raids, and (from time to time) it's called "trash buffs" up there with acumen for mobs that dispell, however, the fire resist on the higher DS's are really nice. Instead of focusing on making mages have a better buff, why not make their higher end summons useful, and not so pricey? Wizards have Blades, Chanters have lol hastes/regen, necros have DMF (lev is annoying but that disease/poison/water breathing buff is very nice), mages have a very situational DS, but fill in that with useful raid summons, and I would say it would make it more fair as mages are partly considered a utility class.

 

[Noktar]

you all want to make mages better but maybe the problem is mages get to their top to fast and to easy. I dont think they are bad at all i think you miss something cool to do like enchanters have shapeshift wich is kinda useless except for the fact that its cool and looks great.

The other problem is that melees can get like over 250AA and still they would truely get better with every AA choice. The problem with mages is that the AA affect the mage while the best dps of the mage is the pet. You would rather have AA boosting your pet then AA making your nukes do more damage.

 

[Zambo]

The other problem is that melees can get like over 250AA and still they would truely get better with every AA choice.

That is why I have a hard time liking my magician, I dont feel like im accomplishing anything when I get AA, because all I do is play pet cleric.

 

[Rurho]

I am a 65 mage(rurho) and just hit my 80th aa. I feel like after 100 aas i have nothing else to look forward to. At raids i do get bored, summon this and that and my weak nukes that are a joke compared to a wiz. As for pets they all seem about the same, and liked the ideas above about making them more situational. It would also be nice to have aas designed to make the pet get stronger, nuke harder or gain some new abilities. I would rather see my pet do more dmg than my nukes, but there are times the wizards in my guild make me cry when i see the damage they inflict. I have been told host of the elements is supposed to do some serious dmg, seeing this get fixed would be a step in the right direction. I really enjoy playing a mage but would love to see some more rewarding aas to keep me interested in advancing farther.

 

[tinkaa]

I am a 65 mage(rurho) and just hit my 80th aa. I feel like after 100 aas i have nothing else to look forward to. At raids i do get bored, summon this and that and my weak nukes that are a joke compared to a wiz. As for pets they all seem about the same, and liked the ideas above about making them more situational. It would also be nice to have aas designed to make the pet get stronger, nuke harder or gain some new abilities. I would rather see my pet do more dmg than my nukes, but there are times the wizards in my guild make me cry when i see the damage they inflict. I have been told host of the elements is supposed to do some serious dmg, seeing this get fixed would be a step in the right direction. I really enjoy playing a mage but would love to see some more rewarding aas to keep me interested in advancing farther.

Many things have been changed since the original topic was posted one year ago.

I have over 170 AAs and still find useful ones.
After maxing your crits, Subtlety, Mastery, Recall Minion (I find it very useful!), Mend Companion, etc and some fun toys (Host of the Elements and Frenzied Burnout - they actually do some damage ) - go for melee AAs.
Not only you will evade better and sometimes even hit the enemy melee, they really do effect your pet
I don't think mage AAs are bad at all, even though I'd love to be able to summon some better items (I didn't use the ft3 staff at level 55, maybe 2 times for medding, and I rather keep pearls I loot for wizards and clerics when they need them. The arrows are really useless. If only they didn't have 2 hours recast time.)

Also I find Air Elemental form 3 really good! FT4 and +25 to all resists is pretty nice. Too bad many zones don't support levitate. But I guess if it didn't have levi, it would be overpowered anyway

Some better pet taunt AA would be nice! Even though I don't have Talok's Taunting Echoes (aww ), I saw the other mage not being able to actually take aggro with it's earth pet over my air one. But on the other hand - Air pet holds aggro pretty well, especially for soloing.