The Wondrous Wizard

Ten Ton Hammer's Guide to the Wizard

Main Page and Credits
Overview
Wizard Spell List
Methods and Techniques
Sorcerer AP Guide
Wizard AP Guide

Methods and Techniques

Things That Make You Go BOOM!!!

As your opponent runs up to you with murder in his eye, looking at
you what does he see? A not very formidable person wearing a bathrobe,
waving a short stick and speaking in gibberish. Not much a threat he
accesses and leaps forward for the killing blow when, KA-BOOM, his
entire world is engulfed in flames and pain. This is pretty typical of
combat between those that fight with their brawn and those that fight
with their brains. Long years of arcane study and isolation have paid
off harnessing the fundamental forces of the universe. The powers of
Heat, Cold and Magic are literally at your fingertips.

Look out world...

Soloing:

Going out on your own early is an excellent way to learn the
strengths and weaknesses of your abilities. Not all abilities are best
used in every situation. With the power at your fingertips you will
naturally find out that there is little that can stand in your way if
you want to show them the error of standing in your way... as long as
they don't get to close to you. Honestly, as cloth wearing wizards, we
can't afford to take many hits. Physical combat is just icky and we
are not well equipped for it. So standing toe-to-toe with cyclops,
giants and even badgers is not recommended. If need be, throw a shield
of ice around yourself so that their hits on you cost them something.

For this reason one of your greatest tools for solo combat is your
Root spell. This will keep your opponent locked into place where you
can throw your biggest nukes at them. A word of caution in the use of
your Root spell, each time your foe takes damage the root has a chance
to break. Keep close watch on it and refresh it before it breaks. Due
to the frequency of it breaking because of damage you want to limit the
chances of that happening. My advice is to not use any of your damage
over time spells (DOTS), stick solely to your biggest damage dealing
spells.

If you are wanting to extra damage while waiting to use your biggest
spells again, you can get close enough that you can use some of your
Point Blank Area of Effect spells (PBAoE). Your range on those spells
will be greater than the reach of the melee fighter you are facing. If
the opponent is a fellow practitioner of the arcane arts then the
damage spells you have already been using will have most likely
finished him off already.

As a young wizard making your way across the world you will gain
experience in combat against some of the most skilled and tenacious
adversaries imaginable. This experience with stand you well for the
future as your foes will only get tougher and more resilient. It is
well that your powers and skills will grow to equal them.

Grouping:

When you put your feet on the path of adventure in the wild places
of our world you will find that the opportunity will arise when you can
be aided in your quests by other fellow adventurers that you meet. You
will have to have some level of basic knowledge about your fellows
skills to truly perform at your best. Remember that with great power
comes great responsibility. Each member has a specific set of skills
that they are specialists in, others which are rather generalized and
some skills which provide great utility when used but might not be
considered a combat skill. Knowing when to use these will be your
benefit.

As mentioned before when soloing you, as a hot shot wizard, do all
your damage as fast as possible so as to end the fight fast. While in
a group you have to almost always do the exact opposite of that. The
shear amount of damage you can do will quickly overwhelm your parties
ability to control the fight and keep you from being quickly hurt and
or squashed to death. Fighting in a group is about balance and control
of the situation, something that gets very very hard on both the main
fighter and your groups healer if your chain casting your spells. To
help in providing good damage to speed along the fight while not
becoming the primary interest of the creature you are engaged to kill,
start slowly with your single target dot spells, proceed to your
encounter dot spells if there happens to be multiple members that are
fighting your group, then finish the mobs off when they get low on
heath with your big nukes. Getting down the timing on these spells
will vary with the differing variety of fighters that might be grouped
with you. Some fighters have an easier time keeping the attention of
multiple mobs, and some fighters have a harder time. If they are doing
their job to the best of their ability then the responsibility for not
gaining extra hate from the mob falls upon your shoulders.

Lastly you will be learning some nifty spells which are not directly
tied to doing extra damage, which some might feel is contrary to their
idea of what a wizard should focus on. Each of those "utility" spells
has its use. You will find you will have the ability to cure arcane
trauma, which are spells cast by enemies. There are spells that will
allow you to teleport a single group member or your whole group to a
select few places around the world. The ability to assist others in
your group who might be low on power by giving them some of your own.
A short term power gain spell for when you are low on your own power.
One of the most interesting spell you will get for crowd control will
let you mesmerize an opponent for a short amount of time, but it has a
down side, you won't be able to cast while it's mesmerized. So as you
see some abilities are very very situational. Your judgment is
required on when to use or not use these abilities.

I hope this has given you a small taste of the vast power that rests
in the hands of a well traveled wizard and assists you in your future
adventures. As one wise and venerable wizard once said to another, "a
wizard's true character is only really seen once they have real power
in their hands." Heed those words and good journey...

Many thanks to my favorite mage of Kithicor, Tallika, for his wise advice! If you have any comments or questions, please send them my way!