Simon Hinshelwood <iktome@...> wrote:

> Well said Jay. Parties cant be bothered with wizards, they
>cant buff, cant heal
> and cant really help parties that much..."we were supposed
>to be heavy
> artillery" but that just is not correct. I think a wizard
>would be most parties
> last choice if they could choose from all the classes.

It's a matter of finding the right balance of classes within the party. With
that balance, the wizard can, if properly played, really shine. I find that
with a Paladin, Enchanter, Wizard and any other "tank" class in a party,
it's possible to kill fast, and keep moving. For instance, in the Steamfront
Minotaur Cave, I joined up with a group. The first time something came in at
us, I fired off a Shock of Ice right off, then would let the rest go to work
on it. I'd fire off a shot as needed to speed it to its death, but would
rarely have to expend more than 25% of my mana. While our runner went
looking for more Minotaurs to bring back, I could meditate and get back to
full mana before the next wave. I can root fleeing Minos, finish them off at
leisure, or nuke one to death if we get swarmed, giving the tanks some
breathing room.

Your fellow players may not appreciate you at first, but the first time you
run out of mana and there's a fresh creature up, they will notice real fast
that it's taking them 3x longer to kill it than when you helped. They don't
see how much damage you actually do when you fire off spells, so sometimes
you may have to give a "demonstration" to sway them to invite you. I am
happy to give them :-)

Vash, 11th Level Wizardess, Felwithe, E'Ci

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