Whizbang’s Handbook for Young Wizards
By Whizbang Dustyboots
(Translated from the original Gnomish, Edition 1.10)
I sit today in my hidden office in Ak’Anon’s Library Mechanamagica, where once Meldrath the Malignant taught necromancy, now hidden by the Eldritch Collective by a simple illusion. I have stocked the dusty shelves — empty since Meldrath’s departure — with tomes I have collected: the Wizard Compilation of Graffë M’yrddin, the Necrognomicon of Morty Undercrypt and the latest edition of the Tinkering Compendium as edited by Kredal Cookiegnomie and Kritta Didymus. All of these books have been enlightening, and helped make me the gnome I am today, and now I pass on what I have learned on my travels through Norrath, Luclin and the Planes of Power.
(Note: Those of you willing to listen to a humble gnome’s advice without a tiresome recitation of credentials first, please skip the next paragraph.)
I am Whizbang Dustyboots, gnome arcanist, baron of the Dragonscale Hills, a master of the Eldritch Collective, sage of Ak’Anon, knight of Qeynos, hero of Thurgadin and wielder of the Staff of the Four. I am the scourge of the Teir’Dal, death incarnate to the Kromzek and Kromriff, and have brought low dragons and demigods. None can deny that I am one of the greatest sages of this current age. In my presence, the wise take heed and fools perish.
Blah. I hope the above nonsense satisfies any ninnies who would otherwise argue with me about my qualifications to offer the following advice. This is intended to simply be a primer to the craft for young wizards, and not a complete guide by any means. My only intent is to help young wizards get off on the right foot with the following information
And for those who are unhappy with the openly pro-gnomish bias of this document, I promise to use as many small words as I can.
Without further ado, the Handbook for Young Wizards:
1. A WIZARD IS BORN
Race
When Solusek Ro, the so-called god of wizardry, gave four staffs to his greatest wizardly worshippers in a recent age, two of them were humans (Arantir Karondor and Demunir Scry), one was Koad’Dal (Sylen Tyrn), and the last was gnomish (Gabstik Firepot). In our present age, the most famous (or more accurately, notorious) wizard is the Erudite Al’Kabor. It was the gnomish wizard, Ognit Eznertob, who first reopened access to Luclin (with help from the hapless Al’Kabor, who managed to strand himself there by leaping into the breach before Ognit’s spells could be finalized), which had been cut off since the dawn of the Combine Empire civil war. But it was the Teir’Dal sorcerers of the Tower of the Spurned who rent the boundaries of space and time asunder, allowing wizards to travel to and from that distant world with impunity. More recently, the Jin froglok wizards were instrumental in the conquering of Grobb, and the establishment of Gukta, Outpost of Marr, in the Innothule Swamp.
In short, while gnomes are inarguably the greatest of all races on Norrath, any of the wizardly races can rise to near-comparable greatness, although they each have their own advantages, some of which will especially help younger wizards, but all of which balance out well before the time they earn the title of sorcerer. (Read your manual on character creation basics, please, as that information is beyond the intended scope of this guide.) Choose whichever race you like.
Religion
i. Roughly a third of wizards worship no deity. Our power draws upon the primal energies of the universe, not from the gods (although a few have inspired or even created spells) and thus there is no overwhelming need to be anything other than agnostic. Agnosticism will allow you to avoid some of the religious strife that mars Norrath, but otherwise offers no real advantages.
(I myself follow this path, having found the doctrines of the various organized religions too restricting in my restless youth.)
ii. Another third of wizards follow the aforementioned Solusek Ro, the Burning Prince. His faith places an importance on power, particularly the unrestrained use thereof. Not only did he previously destroy the elvish homelands on Tunaria (now Antonica), reports from explorers of the Planes of Power say that he is even now working on a creature with which he intends to destroy Norrath utterly. Some of you may find this oddly charming for some reason.
Worshippers of Solusek Ro can memorize and cast the rare Imbue Fire Opal spell (sold by the mysterious Zordak Ragefire, who moves through Nagafen’s Lair freely) and wear jewelry using imbued fire opals as well as carry idols and golden idols decorated with them. These items greatly add to the intelligence and fire resistance of their users, although not beyond that which other wizards can obtain with other items. From a faction standpoint, worshippers of Solusek Ro are almost identical to agnostics, although they’re killed on sight in the Plane of Growth and start off amiable in the Temple of Solusek Ro.
(While the rapacious nature of Solusek Ro would be enough to alienate me by itself, his destruction of the Eldarr Forest by raising up the Lavastorm Mountains also dealt a fatal blow to the gnomish city of Klik’Anon, where only a hardy mining company now represents the gnomes who once lived there, before the coming of the kobolds, goblins and the dragon, Lord Nagafen. Worship the god who callously destroyed the city of father’s birth? I think not.)
iii. A final third of wizards worship deities that others of their race follow, including Brell Serilis, Tunare, Innoruuk, Karana, Mithaniel Marr and others.
Most of these gods and goddesses have no real effect on the wizarding lives of those wizards who worship them, although Innoruuk has imbued sapphire items that compare favorably to Solusek Ro’s, with Bertoxxulous lagging slightly behind in third place with his imbued black sapphire items. Tunare offers a quest for devout evokers who visit the Plane of Growth. Wizards who worship Karana have their own quest that begins in the Jaggedpine Forest as well. Certain religions – most notably those of the high elves and Erudites – may also have special armors crafted by members of their race that true believers, including wizards, can wear.
(Endless sermons by Iony Gredlong half-listened to as a child were not able to do what a somewhat tipsy discussion with Captain Njall of Thurgadin did over the course of a long evening and many bottles: As I mellow with age, I find myself hoping that when I earn my final rest, Brell will find a seat for me at his table, despite the religious indifference of my youth. Conversion, I am told, is impossible for one of my age, but I remain ever-hopeful.)
Starting Stats
The most common choice when allocating starting points is to dump as many as possible into Intelligence. While not required, this gives a young wizard as much innate mana as possible, and also helps spell-casting skills go up more quickly. After that, the remaining points can be placed anywhere, but the biggest advantages can be found in Strength, Stamina, Agility and Charisma, with Strength and Stamina being the overwhelmingly popular choices here. Dexterity is close to useless (mostly good for learning melee skills more quickly) and Wisdom has no effect whatsoever, and points simply should not be placed there.
Note that whatever your starting statistics, it is fairly easy to get any “bad” statistics up later on, especially Intelligence, which is one of the easiest statistics to raise in the game. No matter how badly someone may tell you that you “screwed up” your points allocation at the beginning, it really isn’t that big of a deal.
Server Choice
It’s unfortunate but true that this makes a difference for a young wizard. If you have no particular ties to a server, strongly consider making your new wizard on the youngest server possible. Fewer high end melee weapons will have trickled down into the hands of newbie melee types, and you won’t have the humbling (to put it mildly) experience of having a warrior hit as hard as you do, without spending any mana. Things get better no matter what later on, but you’ll likely want to group at least part of the time for most of your career, and being in a more balanced environment helps. While I don’t play PVP, I’m told that wizards are also quite fearsome there, although know what you’re getting into.
Newbie Quests
All of the wizarding races have newbie armor quests available in their home towns. While it is certainly possible to be twinked with better items, it’s a rare young wizard who has better gear in all the available slots. At the very least, look into the quests for the slots where your gear is lacking.
Gnomish and froglok wizards especially should think twice before turning down their initiate spellbooks, which are exceptionally nice items for the level, and which young wizards will likely carry well into their journeyman years. (Note that gnomes who worship the Plaguebringer get a different non-armor reward for their quests, and it is a distinctly lesser item as compared to the normal spellbook.)
Erudites (and non-evil Qeynos native humans) should consider doing the Servant’s Staff and Gloves of the Gatecaller quests in Erudin, although neither results in a spectacular item. The quest for the Band of Rodcet Nife is more rewarding for young wizards from the west.
Frogloks should also make sure to complete their newbie quest to become a Soldier of Gukta, as that will unlock a later quest, the Heavenfall Girding, one few young wizards of any race would sneeze at doing.
2. THE WIZARDING LIFE
Spellcasting Skills
i. The vast majority of your skills, and all of your basic spellcasting skills have a cap of (level x 5) + 5. Thus, at first level, your Evocation skill caps at 10. While it is somewhat tedious to practice your skills, especially at first, it is always worth maxing them out at each level, as soon as possible. (I used to fish while doing this, in order to make it less tedious.) Your spells will fizzle less, and in combat, that can mean the difference between life and death. You ought to do this all the way through your career, but doing it to 100 at a minimum is probably sufficient for most skills.
ii. Do NOT ignore Conjuration. It’s true, for 28 levels, this skill is nearly useless. At level 29, however, you gain the ability to cast Minor Familiar, and it, like all its later cousins, is a giant mana hog and difficult to cast. Many wizards who neglected their Conjuration skill until they could cast the level 49 familiar (the first that helps the wizard regenerate mana faster) find themselves fizzling away whole bars of mana before being able to conjure up their familiar. While the level 29 familiar is only of minimal use, you will, without question, want the level 49, 54 and 60 familiars to be available. So put in that time with Halo of Light and Eye of Zomm (or Eye of Tallon or Flaming Sword of Xuzl) and get this skill up!
iii. At level 20, you get the ability to specialize in one spellcasting skill, which means you will use a great deal less mana casting spells of that sort and these spells have much less chance of fizzling. Specialize in Evocation, period. And remember to put a point in all of your Specialization skills and then cast Evocation spells until Specialize: Evocation goes over 51. The amount of mana you save in the long run will be huge.
Melee
You’re not a melee combatant, and if you forget that, you won’t be any sort of combatant for very long. Having said that, everyone runs out of mana sometime and this is especially true of younger wizards. At those times, it’s better to be able to hit your foe with SOMETHING than with nothing. Wizards have three main combat skills in which they can train: one handed blunt, two handed blunt and piercing. I strongly advise against the two handed route: Given the small amount of combat practice most young wizards receive, you’ll likely only be really skilled with one form of combat (to the extent that wizards are ever skilled in combat). If you learn two handed blunt as your primary weapon skill, the time will come when you WILL want to equip two separate somethings in your primary and secondary hands. That will mean your primary hand then is holding a weapon that’s NOT two handed blunt and you’ve just put yourself at a disadvantage. (And before you ask, no, there really aren’t any two handed staffs that are better than having two separate items in each of your hands. Strange but true.) So, really, it’s a question in my mind of whether you want to specialize in one handed blunt weapons or piercing weapons. Personally, I prefer a staff to a dagger, but it’s really just a matter of preference.
It should also be noted that it’s impossible to build up one’s Defense and Dodge skills without having faced combat — and it’s better to learn these skills early on, when one has a chance of living through the lessons. Since you only can train in Dodge at level 22, you’ll occasionally have to ignore conventional wisdom — insert your own wry comment about conventional wisdom here — and participate in melee combat even after it would inarguably be more efficient to sit down and meditate your mana back.
The Fine Art of Nuking
i. The craft of wizardry comes down to balancing two factors: mana usage and agro. Learn to do as much damage as you can without using too much mana or gaining too much agro, and you’ll be on the way to becoming a great wizard.
ii. When soloing, it’s quite simple: You get all the agro, so use as much mana as you need to live through it.
iii. When grouping — and wizards make excellent group members, especially once they get Lesser Evacuate — your goal is to (normally) let the tanks have agro, while you wait for your foe to be sufficiently distracted by them, and then cut loose. Done right, you can do a substantial amount of damage, and save the healers a great deal of mana.
iv. A simple rule of thumb is not to nuke in groups until 50 percent of the damage has been done to the target. Like most rules of thumb, this is a guideline to help you learn your craft. In time, you’ll learn to be able to nuke much, much earlier (I typically begin when the target is at 85 percent health or more), but 50 percent is a good place to start learning.
v. You will screw up on the point above — even at advanced levels and with years of experience under your belt. That’s OK, you’ll learn. Later on, you’ll be able to quest the Concussion spell, which removes roughly the amount of agro you’d get for doing 300 points of damage with a nuke. In the meantime, if you screw up, DON’T take off running. You are an easier target to hit while running (seriously — that big dress-wearing back is pretty easy to smack) and your melees will have to work a lot harder to smack whatever’s trying to kill you. Learn the discipline of standing there and taking your lumps for a moment before the tanks re-acquire agro.
vi. Make it a point to group as much as possible. It’s easy to solo as a wizard, but you will absolutely not have the skills needed to be good in a group without grouping, especially the ability to know what other classes are capable of. You’ll also find it harder to get a group when you want it if you don’t have people around who’ve enjoyed grouping with you in the past — this, of course, can become a vicious circle with the wizard in question soloing more, and making the problem even worse for later on; grouping early and often is the best solution to head off the problem here. When grouping, also take care to use roughly the same amount of mana as the healers in your group, assuming a group of roughly equal abilities and equipment, so as to keep needed meditation times roughly equal for the group. Also remember to keep a reserve of mana available whenever possible: Bad things happen even to good wizards, and you’ll want to be prepared.
vii. Don’t go for the kill shot. This may seem counter-intuitive because, hey, who doesn’t like seeing their name displayed as the great slayer of the monster? However, when a melee hits something with a sword, they’re almost always ready to hit something with that sword again moments later, and if they do far more damage than is needed for the killing blow, it doesn’t make a difference. For wizards, every bit of damage you do costs mana, and a kill shot almost invariably means some mana was spent on damage that more than killed your foe — and was thus wasted and is unavailable for you to use on the next target. Just nuke until the foe is running (if you’re in an environment where they do), and then sit down and meditate. When soloing, save mana by having a smaller secondary nuke memorized, with which one can use a smaller amount of mana to finish off an opponent.
viii. Use the right nuke for the right situation: Wizards have the ability to cast spells that use ice, fire and lightning to cause damage. A spell that does more damage but is less effective (or totally ineffective) against a given opponent is not the spell you want — get used to swapping out spells based on the resistances of your opponents. There is a mania among many wizards for erasing older spells from one’s spellbook, but always, always, always keep at least one high level spell of each type available. Certain nukes also have other effects, notably the ability to force a foe backwards or to simply interrupt their spells: To this day, Draught of Jiva (and its upgrade, Draught of Thunder) remains one of my favorite spells.
ix. Fast damage is more important than big damage. Again, it is hard to compete with the visceral thrill of firing off a spell for enormous damage — especially when greeted with a critical blast that causes jaws to drop in wonder — but your goal is normally to demolish your enemy as quickly and safely as possible, not to show off. There will be times (especially once you’ve joined the ranks of the channelers) where memorizing a faster spell that does less damage per blast makes more sense than memorizing a beloved spell that can level mountains with a single incantation. Be open to this and don’t resist adjusting as circumstances merit. (And, of course, there are also times where doing all your damage in one or two big shots is also important — it all balances out.)
x. Wizards also have a limited proficiency with bolt spells, although it’s not pursued beyond the apprentice years. These can do more damage than your direct damage spells, and have a longer range, but the line of sight issues and attempting to fire upon a moving target complicate things slightly.
xi. Don’t neglect your other spells: A nuke may be more viscerally pleasing than a stun spell, or simply using a root or one of our two area of effect snares to control your enemies, but it can make all the difference and doing so effectively and with assurance is the mark of a great wizard.
xii. While your goal is to have a certain amount of space between you and your target, there will be times that you get a beating while casting spells on an enemy. In addition to the obvious physical pain this will inflict, it can also interrupt your spells. While the skin line of spells (and the effect of the Staff of the Four) can prevent a portion of this, most melee interrupts are due to the wizard being physically moved from where they began casting their spell. If you are in this situation, putting your back against a wall can negate all of these interrupts. Obviously, this is not a strategy for those with weak stomachs.
xiii. Starting at level 11, wizards have an innate chance to cast a critical blast. You have a 1 in 50 chance (2 percent chance) per direct damage or area of effect spell target hit to have one of these blasts. The amount of damage added is random, but is up to 55 percent greater than normal. Later on, with Alternate Advancement abilities, you can raise this chance to 1 in 5, for double damage.
xiv. Raiding for a wizard is very similar to their grouping role and we’re one of the few caster classes who can say that. We’re also one of the few where we have a greater effect in greater numbers, as opposed to classes that mostly buff or debuff, where one or two can handle the entire load of an average raid just fine. You will be able to do tremendous amounts of damage on raids, where the targets typically have many more hit points than in experience groups, and once a main tank has acquired agro they (hopefully) will be very hard to taunt a foe off of. Situational spells like Hsagra’s Wrath (Giant Bane) and Porlos’ Fury (Dragon Bane) can be used in raids, and our 51+ Tears spells are fantastic in them as well (I cannot rave highly enough about how well Tears of Druzzil works in the Kael Drakkel arena, for instance, although I acknowledge that many wizards find them sometimes problematic in other milieu). Even on the least wizard-friendly servers, raiding guilds are always looking for wizards. Excel in this field, and you’ll see as much of the game as you care to.
Quad-Kiting
Using our column and pillar line of area of effect spells (which hit up to four targets each), wizards can kite four enemies at the same time. The added reward comes at the expense of a somewhat higher risk, and a longer time spent gathering enemies and preparing to kill them, but it’s seen as well worth it by aficionados. It’s not one of my specialties (I prefer to single kite, honestly), but Bicrius has what I consider to be the premier guide for this style of soloing. Just remember that you’re not playing a solo game and show other players the same courtesy you’d like if you were in their shoes.
Note that there is also a (much) more advanced variant open to those with the gear, mana and intestinal fortitude: swarm kiting. Utilizing Blood of the Wolf potions (or a fast horse), an Extended Range focus item and probably the epic staff’s effect, wizards can round up a whole BUNCH of stuff, run to maximum range, and start firing pillar spells into it, racing off when they get too close (without Extended Range to give a moment’s more casting time, this is close to impossible). Forget about snare, since you’ll need the mana. As I said, I’m a single kiter, and this is far beyond my ability, but for advanced quadders, it’s something to consider trying out.
AoE Groups
They became wildly popular during the era after travel to Luclin was re-opened, and the art of grouping one or two wizards, one or two enchanters, a healer and others together to lay waste to enemies in vast numbers became quite controversial at the same time.
The basics: AoE grouping is possible (although more difficult) at a fairly low level (the second floor of the Tower of Frozen Shadows is a good place to learn) using the Point Blank AoE (PBAE) spells that radiate out of the casting wizard’s body, hitting all available targets. Enchanters keep the foes locked down (hopefully) with an AoE stun, and everyone cycles their spells until their foes are dead. This becomes a practicality when a wizard is in their mid-50s and gets their second Jyll’s AoE spell and is able to cycle these two spells back to back cheaply and quickly. As a rule, you want a hunting area that has as many similar targets as possible so they all die at once, although this isn’t a strict necessity.
Note that jerks managed to give these groups a black eye with much of the public, including GMs. If you get into a conflict over what areas to pull, I strongly advise you to figure out a way to work it out before GMs show up, as you will almost certainly lose at that point, rightly or wrongly. Play nicely, and you can rake in lots of XP (although not nearly as much as the urban legends like to say) and what’s more important, it’s a LOT of fun.
AoE tactics also work in some raids — you haven’t lived until you’ve burned down the Chardok royal family this way, for instance.
Other AoE Spells
In addition to our quadding AoEs and our PBAEs, we have two other lines: the rain spells and the Al’Kabor spells.
Rain spells hit a variable number of targets: A single target will be struck three times, two targets will be struck twice each, three targets will be struck once each (and one target will be struck a second time). Pets are bonus targets and an unlimited number can be struck in addition to the regular targets.
This all sounds pretty good, and looking at the numbers, it is pretty good. But theory and practice are sometimes different things. For starters, rains are static, in that your enemy can move out of the way after the first hit. Unless you’re doing this in a group, and have some enthusiastic melee type person keeping your enemy’s attention sufficiently, expect them to move. Secondly, each wave has its own resist check, and while there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it on paper, many wizards feel the odds of an enemy resisting any given wave are far higher than they should be. While some wizards, like myself, love rain spells — mostly once we get the incredibly nice Tears sub-line of them after becoming a channeler — many other wizards refuse to bother with them. The choice is up to you.
Far fewer wizards champion the area of effect spells created by that self-important nitwit Al’Kabor. Once, back when the world was young, these spells worked as a hybrid between our quadding AoEs and our PBAEs. One could attack something at range like our quadding AoEs, and hit unlimited targets. Unfortunately, as legend has it, two enthusiastic wizards then proved they could kill everything in Castle Crushbone with them, and in vengeance, the gods made these spells only hit up to five targets. Five targets for double the mana cost of a quadding AoE is simply not worth it, not even close. What is really baffling is that, even after this, Al’Kabor kept making more spells in this line. You will sometimes encounter wizards who say that the spells are good for killing mass numbers of very weak foes, but that begs the question as to why they wouldn’t just use their PBAE line instead. Al’Kabor spells are useful for training Research, however, although I suspect that irony would be lost on Al’Kabor himself.
Fine Familiars
At the same level of power that wizards are finally able to open portals up around Norrath, they are able to reach out into the ether and conjure up a constant companion, a familiar.
The first familiars they’re able to summon are imps from the Temple of Solusek Ro, and they serve to encourage the growth of wizardly abilities. The first familiar able to be summoned is relatively weak, giving only the ability to resist slightly more spells and other effects, and their influence also makes their wizard a slightly better spell caster, marginally less likely to fizzle a spell. As the wizard advances in power, new familiars become available, first ebon drakelings from the Steamfont Mountains and finally forest drakelings from the Faydark forest. Their powers also grow, enabling their wizards are able to see the invisible, have more mana to draw upon (the wizards draw upon the manapool of the familiar) and even regenerate their own mana back faster.
This comes with a price, as I alluded to in the spellcasting skills entry above: Summoning familiars uses the Conjuration skill, one which wizards are notably lacking in many other spells to practice with. Well before they are able to cast their first spell to call a minor familiar, young wizards would do well to practice their Conjuration skill to the limit of their ability — failing to successfully cast these spells properly means an enormous expenditure of mana for nothing. The later familiars in particular are invaluable, and no wizard worth their staff would go without. And unlike most pets, they remain when a wizard becomes invisible, or their effects continue even after being dismissed.
For those interested in a more in-depth examination of familiars, I have penned an in-depth fact sheet on the subject.
Concussion
On the continent of Kunark, two outlander wizards – the human Despondo and the Teir’Dal Dyth X’Teria – both claim authorship to this spell and seek your aid in recovering the spirits of three human wizards, Morden, Hampton and Ryla in return for giving you a copy of the scroll. The fact that neither of them calls Concussion by its proper name (instead referring to it as “Brain Bite”) casts doubt on both their stories, as does Dyth X’Teria’s frank admission that he had all three killed by a garrison of dragoons dispatched from the Danak Shipyards. In any case, recovering two of the souls is relatively straightforward for a wizard of middle years, but one poor soul is lost in the ruins of Torsis, the so-called “City of Mists.” When recovering this spirit, bring good friends and your ingenuity, as it is this third of the quest that makes up almost the entirety of the entire quest’s difficulty — and do not be surprised or dismayed if you don’t scribe this spell before becoming a channeler, whatever level the spell is alleged to be.
Personally, I found the spell to be of middling use when I was that age, and it was only once I was an evoker, exploring the Accursed Temple of Cazic-Thule, may Brell protect all those who dare its haunted corridors, that the spell proved useful, even necessary. Likewise, it is extraordinarily useful in the Planes of Power or when meeting the challenges of the Temple of Veeshan, and beyond. By the time a wizard has advanced to those levels, Concussion has become a must in my opinion. I usually keep it memorized in non-soloing situations, tossing one off reactively if I get summoned or otherwise obtain agro, and proactively (when I think of it) by mixing it in with Strike of Solusek or another high agro spell.
Dungeons
A class with the ability to root, snare, kill enemies FAST when there’s an emergency, evacuate everyone to the safe spot when things go very wrong, and at worst able to bring someone back someone to resurrect the group after a wipe-out is tailor made for dungeons. Spend as much time in them as possible. The rewards, in terms of skills (it is impossible to learn what you’re capable of when you never push yourself), experience and loot, are unbeatable.
It is also an unfortunate wizard who has never explored the haunted libraries of Kaesora, climbed the Tower of Frozen Shadows, plumbed the depths of the Crystal Caverns or explored the ruins of Lower Guk. But again, I skirt the boundaries of what document’s intended purpose — perhaps I will write a travelogue of “must see” locations visited in my travels one day as a companion volume to this one. Certainly I want the chance to wax eloquent about the pleasures of hunting willowisps amidst the tropical breezes of Erud’s Crossing in my 12th season some day.
With the Wayfarers’ Brotherhood discovery of the so-called Lost Dungeons of Norrath, a whole new generation of wizards have discovered the joys of exploring ancient catacombs filled with peril, treasure and glory. In addition to the advantages outlined above, the ability to summon the Eye of Zomm, and its upgrade, the Eye of Tallon, has meant the difference between success and failure for many a group of adventurers.
While it is tempting to use Eye of Tallon for its longer duration, Spiffe, a gnome wizard correspondent of my acquaintance, points out that wizards may use Eye of Zomm to scout during battle, as casting spells while the eye is out and about does not disrupt the spell. Doing so while using Eye of Tallon breaks the invisibility effect that spell confers, and dispels the eye prematurely. Something to consider.
Research
Beginning in our sixteenth season, we are able to begin doing research to create certain spells on our own, using a Lexicon. Some of the spells are of dubious value (such as the aforementioned Al’Kabor spells), a few are sold by merchants anyway, but a few, like the legendary Ice Comet, cannot be obtained by any other means than some wizard sitting down and creating the spell.
When you initially train in the skill, you will be put above the level cap for the skill (which raises 5 points per level, only getting to 200 at level 55). Thus, you will not be able to raise the skill until leveling up some more. Strange, but true. Spend the time working on your tinkering, which you’re able to improve starting at level 16 as well. Or, if you’re a lesser race, spend yet more time wishing you were a gnome.
Researching skills may be improved upon by attempting to combine runes to create wizard spells (the near-worthless Al’Kabor spells are an excellent choice, as failing to create those spells is no great loss to the wizarding world). Training points may also be freely spent on research (which is what I ended up doing). Robe tailoring recipes distinct to each race also include research combines, and there are a fairly frustrating series of “practice rune” recipes wizards can attempt to improve their skill. Once a wizard has raised their Research to a fairly high level, there are a number of more complex priestly spell recipes they may attempt to create in a Sorcerer’s Lexicon for additional improvements. Honestly, though, training points is almost always the best choice, although it can become expensive at the top end.
Wizards and Other People
Although wizards are mighty on their own, working with others creates synergies that can make them even more powerful:
i. Melee types – Although I have known some young spell-casters who have inexplicably looked down upon those whose life’s calling involved sticking pointy objects into the vital organs of other creatures, most wizards should understand the benefits of having someone around capable of clubbing a stubborn opponent into submission as needed. For wizards, who sometimes attract a lot of unwelcome attention very quickly, rangers, paladins and shadow knights are particularly adept at shifting this attention off said wizard in a hurry. A much-missed lady ranger of my acquaintance – now retired from adventuring, alas – served this role in my own life for a very long period, and made it look easy, which I am sure was not always the case.
ii. Bards – The minstrels of Norrath and Luclin merit their own mention, as they have many magical songs that can help us. While they are well-known for their songs that help us replenish mana faster, they also have a series of songs penned by Solusek Ro’s cohort Rizlona that cause our spells to do more damage and are a particular favorite of mine. About those mana songs: Resist the temptation to ask for them to be played during battle. While the temptation is surely a strong one, almost invariably a bard can be more effective if they can weave other songs together in a medley and do not twist in mana song. Frustrating, I know, but true.
iii. Enchanters – Like bards, they have the ability to help us regain our mana more quickly, starting in their 16th season with the Breeze spell. When a wizard reaches their 45th season, they may receive the blessing of Koadic’s Endless Intellect. The many enchanters who make their living selling this enchantment will be happy to expound upon these spells at length. Enchanters also possess spells to add to your intelligence, overall mana pool and raise your effective casting level (for the purposes of preventing fizzles).
iv. Druids – While there are traditionally rivalries between many wizards and druids, the two groups also work together exceptionally well. Of particular note are their spells that make targets more susceptible to fire and cold magics. (I have copies of Hand of Ro in my bank, in fact, to hand out to druids when they come of age as a not-so-subtle inducement to cast this spell on my behalf.) And, once again, they have a line of spells that allow wizards to regain mana faster, but like Koadic’s Endless Intellect, the wizard in question must have passed their 45th season.
v. Beastlords – They come into these spells later in their careers, but these combat-minded animal trainers have the ability to improve the mana regeneration of an entire group all at once. Note that the effect does not always work properly with our skin line of spells, particularly the wizard epic, so work to find a combination that works – the overall mana regeneration is always higher, even if you end up having slightly lower protection from physical attacks.
The True Names of Wizardry
While the term “apprentice” is used informally, every wizard through their 50th season (if I may appropriate what is, at best, a clumsy term first used by the elves) is technically a wizard. At their 51st season, they become known as a channeler. At their 55th season, they are known as an evoker. At their 60th season, they receive the rarified title of sorcerer. And finally, at their 65th season, having reached the pinnacle of wizardly power, they are known as an arcanist. (Kill without a second thought any who would dare to even joke about calling you a taxi.)
3. PHAT LEWT
Three Staffs of Power
i. The Staff of the Wheel – Seek out Sulgar in the Everfrost Peaks to begin this 10 part quest, which will take you all over the old world to complete and get your swimming skill up quite a bit. No combat is required for this quest, although some of the portions of Tarton’s wheel are in quite dangerous environments. Nevertheless, this quest can be completed as early as level 20 by brave (and lucky) wizards and I myself completed this staff at level 31. This one handed staff has 10 intelligence among other characteristics, and many wizards bear it until they complete their epic quest for the Staff of the Four. Completing this quest is a rite of passage, and it signifies to many wizards that you are a serious member of their community — most will be happy to give you advice or aid along the way, in fact.
ii. The Staff of Temperate Flux – Seek out Gardern in the Temple of Solusek Ro to begin this quest. It’s difficult to explain what’s so great about this staff, considered by many wizards to be their most prized possession, so take this on faith: While having an instant click effect (that works from inventory) that debuffs a foe by 6 points in fire and cold resistance doesn’t seem like much, you will use this staff every day of your wizarding career once you have it. It’s a range finder, a means to pull, and more. The quest is more difficult than the Staff of the Wheel quest, but much shorter. Many wizards manage to solo much of it outside the Solusek’s Eye portion, although the quest is also a suitable challenge for a wizard’s group in their 30s.
iii. The Staff of the Four – Seek out Solomen in the Temple of Solusek Ro to begin this most important of quests. Wizards are blessed with an epic that retains its usefulness for all but the most elite of wizards (although the level 63 spell Force Shield ends up diminishing its value somewhat). The quest is deceptively simple: Of the four great wizards blessed by Solusek Ro I mentioned earlier, only Arantir still lives. The other three wizards are dead, and their staffs are scattered. If you can recover them, and give them to Arantir, he will bundle them all together for delivery to Solomen, a historian of magic in the Temple of Solusek Ro, who will gift you with this amazing staff. Of course, none of the three staffs are ones you’ll be able to retrieve solo, and while one is a guaranteed drop, the other two can sometimes frustrate and confound wizards trying to get them. It’s worth it: Not only does the staff have fantastic statistics, its effect is a free 800 point rune (damage absorber) that also causes the wizard to regenerate mana 3 points more per tic (6 seconds) than otherwise.
Intelligence and Mana Items
You have no power that is not derived from your mana, and thus it is your most precious resource. There are lots of good mana calculators out there, but here are some simple rules: Below level 30, you probably want +mana items, not +INT items. After level 30, try to get to 200 Intelligence. After level 50, try to get to 255 Intelligence. After level 61, try to keep your Intelligence maxed out at whatever your level’s cap.
Focus Items
It is impossible to overstate the value of focus items to spell-casters. For wizards, that essentially means Improved Damage, Spell Casting Haste, Mana Preservation and Extended Range items. Load up on these as soon as you can, and try and stay current on them as you outgrow your older items (something that becomes more difficult after you outgrow the level II foci). There are a series of relatively simple quests in the Plane of Knowledge for level II foci that I cannot recommend highly enough to young wizards, especially as most of the items required are droppable items from the old world, making them fairly easy to trade and obtain.
After level 60, Improved Damage is harder to find, and for the most part is split into three series of effects, one covering magic, fire and ice damage. In return for this inconvenience, they have a bigger modifier than Improved Damage items, so it balances out on the whole. I have compiled a separate listing of wizard-useable damage foci for use in finding level-appropriate items.
Remember that magicians have the ability to summon a whole line of focus items — make friends with them! Ask for their ring (damage haste), bracelet (improved damage) and earring (mana preservation) foci.
Crucible of Escape
Created by highly skilled potters, this item (which can be used from inventory) has the same casting time and effect as Lesser Evacuate — whisk your group to the “safe spot” in the zone and wipe all agro. This will save your life many, many times and even make travel easier when going certain places. Well worth the investment. If you’re not using this from inventory, and are swapping it out, the Di’zok Escape Staff from Chardok actually casts a little bit faster, although you’ll need to be in your late 50s for it to work. Personally, I think it’s worth making room for in your main inventory slots for the crucible, but I’ve never been one to carry around more than four large bags at a time.
Journeyman’s Boots
For a kiting wizard especially (and sooner or later, almost every wizard kites some), these boots are fantastic. They provide an instant click buff to make the user run 35 percent faster than normal (the same increase as a level 9 shaman’s Spirit of Wolf buff), which is more than sufficient for most kiting, especially when using the level 29 or 51 Area of Effect snare spells as well. The Ancient Cyclops in the Southern Desert of Ro can be soloed by a wizard in their late 30s, although young wizards are advised to not bother memorizing their fire spells for use on him, as he is totally immune. And prepare for a long, long, long wait before sighting him. A slightly inferior (1.5 second casting time) alternative can be purchased from the gnomes of the Solusek Mining Company in Solusek’s Eye, as well.
Right Click Nukes
For whatever reason, these are extremely rare in EverQuest. The most popular and best-known is Solist’s Icy Wand. It’s an exceptionally rare drop in Kurn’s Tower, and often goes for truly ridiculous prices. It lets a wizard chain cast their level 8 nuke (useable at level 12) free of mana. This stops being very useful in the early 30s, but until then, it’s pretty nice.
Other right click nukes include the Vermillion Orb and Robe of Torrefecation, dropped by Velketor the Sorcerer in Velious. Both are no drop items you’ll need a high level raid to get, but both can help considerably in cutting the amount of mana used by a wizard, as these can supplement bigger cast spells.
There are a handful of other such items in the game, but they are all charged, of very limited (or no) use, are insanely rare, or no longer drop. One of the limited use items is the Red Ceramic Band, made by highly skilled potters and usually available for a small sum in the Bazaar: It’s a right-clickable ring (that can be used from inventory) that does 6 points of damage with a 3 second casting time. If one doesn’t yet have the Staff of Temperate Flux (which is normally attainable a little later than level 20, which is when the ring is useable), this ring can be used to cover some of the same functions the staff is useful for.
Mounts
Expensive, yes. A luxury, yes. An immense help, yes, yes, yes! Horses and drogmars (riding lizard) allow you to cast spells without effectively standing up, meaning that you’re meditating the whole time (yes, even during casting) and that when you’re done casting, your don’t sit back down, meaning you don’t attract any extra agro. Unless you only quad-kite (as some wizards do), at some point you’ll group or raid outdoors, where horses can be used (this includes the Planes of Power). The ability to meditate without sitting down is a huge advantage, and it’s difficult to imagine hunting successfully in, say, the Accursed Temple of Cazic-Thule, without one. Once you start fighting in these environments after level 51 or so, seriously consider purchasing a horse or lizard, even if it’s the slowest old nag available.
Flowing Thought Items
These items let you regenerate more mana per tic than usual, up to a total of +15 mana from worn items. Very few of these items are droppable, and most come from extremely high level zones. Nevertheless, they’re very useful to have, and most wizards collect as many as they can, with the quested Earring of Solstice typically being the first acquired.
There it is; that concludes this edition of my handbook for young wizards. For more detailed advice, visit the www.Graffe.com forums for more detailed advice. Also feel free to contact me with questions in-game, and I may well end up updating this document to cover areas that I missed. But experience is always the best teacher, so go out there and learn. Happy hunting!
Yours in Gnome Power,
Whizbang Dustyboots
So it was with zero anticipation that I awaited the arrival of the “Elseworlds” 80 Page Giant earlier this year.
Then we come to the deal breaker, the story that kept the book from being published, “Letitia Lerner, Superman’s Babysitter!” by Kyle Baker, with Elizabeth Glass and David Gaddis. This is a cute little story about the Kents getting a night in a hotel room by paying the aforementioned Letitia to stay and watch the infant Clark. Reading this – and it’s very cute – I have to assume that Levitz has never seen a Warner Brothers cartoon, which for years featured indestructible toddlers making their signature characters crazy trying to keep them safe. OK, so Baby Clark gets trapped under a boulder, swings on a ceiling fan, sucks milk directly from a cow, wanders into traffic and eventually gets microwaved. Which one of those acts was Levitz thinking would result in copycat behavior? I watched Looney Tunes for years and never once did I drop an anvil on my little brother. Even when he deserved it. The worst thing about this story is that, in the end, it’s so damn good. This would have been the standout if fandom had gotten to see this 80 Page Giant. And knowing that it’ll probably be excised when/if the book is ever republished is just sad.
Chuck Dixon isn’t known for being Mr. Funny, but “The Vigilantes in Apartment 3-B,” with art by Enrique Villagran might just change that. Babs and Dinah are a pair of sexy roommates in this set of seven newspaper strips, who just happen to be the crime fighters Black Canary and Batgirl as well. The strip includes their dating perils, a gratuitous shot of Babs in a half-open bathrobe and a romantic reversal for one of the girls. It’s a fun riff on the venerable cheesecake “Apartment 3-G” newspaper strip.
Mark Waid and Ty Templeton visit the “DC’s Hall of Silver Age Elseworlds” next, unleashing the first pages of the very funny “President Abraham (Brainiac) Lincoln versus Clark Kent, Metallo,” “Luthor’s Daughter, Wonder Woman,” “Batman with Robin, the Squid Wonder,” “The Golden Age Teen Titans,” “A new tale of the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Revenge of Young Darkseid!,” “Menace of the Gorilla-Explorer” featuring Christopher Grodd Columbus, the Metal Men in “Liberte, Egalite, Metallica” and, my favorite, the hilarious “Batman with Eve” in “Garden of Evil!” which contains the classic line “I must be careful! I can’t let Eve know that her protector, Batman, is secretly her husband Adam!”
