i was wondering what the situation was for ice wizzards on here?.. i know the bolts and such are crap .. but doing research couldnt find much on ice wizzards... i was wondering if people played them and how they faired for such things like leveling... Both solo and group wise ..... as well as what type of specs would be best for again leveling and such?.. Thank you very much, have a great day !!!

Well I have yet to see the old days 8 man Alb bomb groups in rvr, but some ice wizzy here and there can be seen in rvr, but they mostly grped with guildies and such. There are tho few exceptions like Griselda ^^

But to your questions, ice is nice for group xping, and they are welcomed by others, For solo play ice might not be best specc, but earth would be better. Fire specc is fun in Battlegrounds, where there are hardly any resistance on enemy players.

Ice spec is used also for raids like Dragonraid, or relic fights. Also once a year a group of ice wizzy can wreck havoc in the christmas events ^^

And also I dont think an ice wizzy would be first, second or third choise for an rvr grp seeking members.

But dont let that discourage you, you will still have lots of fun with ur ice-spec wizard.

I think you picked the one class that is worse than a scout.
On the bright side. ice wizzies are loved in pve. but in pvp they are pretty much worthless.

casters are pretty much free rps for zerkers on utghard. between underpowered caster dmg, and lack of any answer to charge, you will spend a ton of time face down in the dirt. the only exception i can think of is for relic raids. id add keep defence to that list but nobody defends keeps on uthgard.

IF you could somehow get to a high rr (maybe a lot of guard missions?), AND had a guard tank with high mob to protect you, you MIGHT do alright with high PD, MOC 3, and high WP. but the same rr on a better caster (sorc, theurg, or even cab), would be way better.

I really hate to be the person to tell people "go play another class" because imo that is not a good answer. but sadly wizards may be the worst class on the server bar none. I cannot give you any good advice on how to make them viable, other than maybe make friends with a mob5 pally.
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In conclusion:
1) PVE = very yes. great class.
2) RVR = no. totally undesireable.

Ok i did some thinking and you might be able to justify an ice wiz in an RA dump bomber situation.

Things you need:
1) Sorc (ichor 2 or 3)
2) Reaver (twf 3)
3) ICE WIZZY! (DT 2+ and VP 2 maybe some moc)
4) Cleric (with bof 3)
rest is gravy, but a minst for sos, nother cleric, and maybe another reaver or pally (with WOC 2 or 3) wouldnt be a bad idea to fill to 8

on inc if sorc lands mez, you push in and bomb. if sorc does not, you stack on the sorc and wait for the zerker train to do target the cloth wearers adn spam doublefrost.

1) sorc dumps SOI, ae str/con debuff and quickcasts ae root or ae mez. (this is mostly to buy time). and then casts ichor 2 or 3 (if timed right should land between wizzy RA dumps).
3) reaver dumps TWF and rr5.
2) wizzy casts decimation trap, followed by Volcanic Pillar, and RR5, and quickcasts a pbae (maybe moc pbae after depending on RR).

hopefully if it is timed right you:
- debuff their str/con so they have less hp and do less dmg
- lock them in place at close range to you
- hit for a bunch of dmg
- keep them locked in place with ichor
- hit for a bunch more dmg
- keep them from running out with twf and finish off the leftovers.
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downside is that magic dmg is still underpowered, and odds are you just eat up a few DIs or force a healer to insta. but if you get lucky you make people explode. but in theory thats a buttload of dmg.

Netchel wrote:Ok i did some thinking and you might be able to justify an ice wiz in an RA dump bomber situation.

Things you need:
1) Sorc (ichor 2 or 3)
2) Reaver (twf 3)
3) ICE WIZZY! (DT 2+ and VP 2 maybe some moc)
4) Cleric (with bof 3)
rest is gravy, but a minst for sos, nother cleric, and maybe another reaver or pally (with WOC 2 or 3) wouldnt be a bad idea to fill to 8

on inc if sorc lands mez, you push in and bomb. if sorc does not, you stack on the sorc and wait for the zerker train to do target the cloth wearers adn spam doublefrost.

1) sorc dumps SOI, ae str/con debuff and quickcasts ae root or ae mez. (this is mostly to buy time). and then casts ichor 2 or 3 (if timed right should land between wizzy RA dumps).
3) reaver dumps TWF and rr5.
2) wizzy casts decimation trap, followed by Volcanic Pillar, and RR5, and quickcasts a pbae (maybe moc pbae after depending on RR).

hopefully if it is timed right you:
- debuff their str/con so they have less hp and do less dmg
- lock them in place at close range to you
- hit for a bunch of dmg
- keep them locked in place with ichor
- hit for a bunch more dmg
- keep them from running out with twf and finish off the leftovers.
------------------
downside is that magic dmg is still underpowered, and odds are you just eat up a few DIs or force a healer to insta. but if you get lucky you make people explode. but in theory thats a buttload of dmg.

Just plain and simple, no.

Not that easy

We also ran with a bomb setup on zerg days back on live. And really took some time to get the right timing for everything. Important is that the shield tank do a good job.

Back to Wizz. In my eyes wizz is anyway a really poor class. when I compare to what a sorc can do I just shake my head... what they were thinking!

Yep. a wiz offers zero utility. an eld or runie at least bring nearsight to the table. and often something else nice like pbt (rm) or disease (eld).

and while some argue that the best utility is a dead enemy, caster dps is just pathetic on uthgard (26 less acuity than live, 10% less magic dmg, 10% less casting speed and 26 less dex). and then on top of it no speed warps means you are waaay mroe likely to just die on inc without ever getting more than 2 casts off.

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still, if you have the realm rank to dump 40-60 rsps in toys during a fight and a guard tank that doesnt suck, almost any class can be viable. but yeah, you have to ask yourself, wouldnt the same high realm rank on a decent class be twice as good?

haha ok i get it .. not worth the time to make an ice wizzie... then which do u suggest?... Sorc, Theurg,, Cabalist.. i dont really know much about the Alb Casters as i never really played them.. i am looking for a class who aint bad at leveling both solo and group .. and also not bad for PVP groups... kind of an all around good caster class ...

Its a sliding scale for pvp and pvp.

1) Sorc: mostly useless in PvE, most loved for PvP.
PvE: with single pulls, all a sorc offers is mana regen, and soemtimes a heal pet. honestly a sorc can be replaced by a potion or tinder.
PvP: hands down the most desired caster in alb. primary ccer is essential to a group, so they wil accept you even tho you are wearing cloth. plus after rr5 you have at least one survival tool to help survive a charge vendo train.

2) Theurg: loved in PvE,liked in PvP.
PvE: pbt, dmg add+haste, and petspam. it doesnt get any better than a theurg. whether leveling or raiding, theurgs are loved.
PvP: liked because thier interupts are godly. but often replaced by just adding another merc or minstrel to a group because cloth casters are so fragile vs charge vendo zerkers.

3) Cabby: godly in PvE, a rare addon in PvP.
PvE: they are awesome in pve. ae dot, focus shield pet for low to mid range pve. juggy3 for high end pve. however they rarely do groups as they do best solo or duo with a cleric.
PvP: they offer a huge amount of utility. nearsight (uncurable on uthgard!), debuff+nuke assist train with the sorc, disease, and a cc immune pet after rr5. but for the same reason as the theurg, they are often passed up. cloth casters are just fodder for zerkers.

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Group PvE: Theurg
Group PvP: Sorc
Solo/smallman PvE: Cab

as for populations. there is a healthy population of all the classes. cabbies dominate the solo pve farming. sorcs fill out every rvr group. and theurgs fill in all the high end pve raids while sneaking into rvr groups for a few runs until they are replaced by a another merc.

I'd lean towards theurg. can never have too many theurgs in alb for big raids. you might have to wait a long time to get a pvp group, but while waiting you can farm GK or taj for a ton of plat. sorcs kinda reach a saturation point of 1-2 per 8man in emain, and while waiting they are pretty much useless. cabbies just sit alone and farm things, so what fun is that.

An alb rvr grp without theurg sounds stupid, its as wanted as sorc i would say (which means, 1 per grp). Caba is also wanted in most non Tankspam grps (read: Hybrid and caster Setup) so as long as you don´t go wizzi and if you play good you should find grps in RvR.

Netchel wrote:Its a sliding scale for pvp and pvp.

1) Sorc: mostly useless in PvE, most loved for PvP.
PvE: with single pulls, all a sorc offers is mana regen, and soemtimes a heal pet. honestly a sorc can be replaced by a potion or tinder.
PvP: hands down the most desired caster in alb. primary ccer is essential to a group, so they wil accept you even tho you are wearing cloth. plus after rr5 you have at least one survival tool to help survive a charge vendo train.

2) Theurg: loved in PvE,liked in PvP.
PvE: pbt, dmg add+haste, and petspam. it doesnt get any better than a theurg. whether leveling or raiding, theurgs are loved.
PvP: liked because thier interupts are godly. but often replaced by just adding another merc or minstrel to a group because cloth casters are so fragile vs charge vendo zerkers.

3) Cabby: godly in PvE, a rare addon in PvP.
PvE: they are awesome in pve. ae dot, focus shield pet for low to mid range pve. juggy3 for high end pve. however they rarely do groups as they do best solo or duo with a cleric.
PvP: they offer a huge amount of utility. nearsight (uncurable on uthgard!), debuff+nuke assist train with the sorc, disease, and a cc immune pet after rr5. but for the same reason as the theurg, they are often passed up. cloth casters are just fodder for zerkers.

-----------------------------
Group PvE: Theurg
Group PvP: Sorc
Solo/smallman PvE: Cab

as for populations. there is a healthy population of all the classes. cabbies dominate the solo pve farming. sorcs fill out every rvr group. and theurgs fill in all the high end pve raids while sneaking into rvr groups for a few runs until they are replaced by a another merc.

I'd lean towards theurg. can never have too many theurgs in alb for big raids. you might have to wait a long time to get a pvp group, but while waiting you can farm GK or taj for a ton of plat. sorcs kinda reach a saturation point of 1-2 per 8man in emain, and while waiting they are pretty much useless. cabbies just sit alone and farm things, so what fun is that.

When did u last play Alb?
Every decent grp needs a theurg because of his rupt. So every alb grp usualy has a sorc and a theurg.
And castdam is really not that bad. I hit for over 400 once i debuffed my target. And when u have a good sorc that assists you,
the overextended just explode. So caby does dam and gets a lot of utility (root, ns, disease, snare, pet).
But i admit caby is not easy to play with prekite and kite and deciding when to ns, disease or do dam.
But it is a viable class. And once ppl know that you can play you easily get grps.