ishru
05-02-2009, 12:59 PM
I'm not making this a flame fest thread, but it's just something that's been popping up ever since I made my Equality for Magic Users Thread.
I'm not going to name names, but I've recently been getting some flak for wanting to AOE vs grinding solo kills. You may all not know, but my main character is a Wizard (soon to be Archmage, I hope!). Most of this criticism comes from those whose mains are archer/ranger class, and I've heard on more then one occasion of how I don't do my share of solo killing, opting to AOE instead for the better experience (logical?). It just bothers me to hear this, because it almost feels like bullying, or that magicians are not good magicians unless they solo kill like an archer. I just thought I'd put my case and thoughts out there.
Why magicians (myself) rather AOE then grind solo:
1. Solo grinding can be very drawn out for a magician. Sure the damage is decent, but our casting speed is laughable next to an archers. Before I even kill one monster, an archer is nearly killing his 2nd baddie. How can archers expect magicians to compete with them in this? There is no comparison who is the most superior in this regard. Magicians also don't have access to the same buffs/items (ingame/sc) that are available to the physical classes to make grinding more effective.
2. Our skills cost a ton of mp, a huge difference compared to AOEing multiple mobs. It's expensive to repot every 3 minutes just to solo kill, and its tedious to go back and forth from merchant to map. Our point builds simply do not allow us to invest in increasing our weight limit.
3. Its a matter of wealth! AOEing obviously gives better drops. These drops are so much more important for a magician then any other class, because that is how we pay our way to advance/survive in the game. It's very expensive to repot constantly for solo kills, as an apprentice I had to borrow kron simply to buy pots to continue. Again this plays into our huge mana consumption in comparison to other classes. Another reason is because of how rare our class is. There are hardly any wizards. So that means all that investing into xening our gear is worthless (aside from the extra stats) because when it comes time to sell that +5/ap6 staff, you know you're going to get a fraction of it back if you're lucky enough to find someone who wants to buy it.
4. Our class was meant for AOE? Look at our skills. We have frost, lightning, icicle, volcano, and freeze splasher(sp?). Thats 5 AOE skills that come together pretty quickly in levels.
5. We are fragile. Magic shield is handy, but has some serious flaws. I'm not going to diverge into that, because I think everyone already knows. Other then that, magicians really don't have the self-buff skills that make solo killing that much more effective. Concentration is trash, so don't even go there (hehe). Coupled with lag issues a lot of users experience, it really doesn't take much to die and loose 7%. It's much safer for a magician to travel in parties and do their best to AOE.
So I guess that's it for now. I do enjoy grinding, don't get me wrong, but if someone want's to AOE then whats the big deal? Are the archers mad cause the new maps doesn't benefit them as much as the other classes? Is a warrior less of a warrior because he AOES 100% of the time? Or any of the other classes that are not ranged?
I guarantee you all of those who have achieved 13x did not get there by solo killing. So why do archer give magicians flak for trying to get up there to the same way? I grinded alone until lvl.80, so why is it a big deal to AOE the other half? Ive done my time! hehe
So if we are going to scrutinize magicians for AOEing, then we should drop the segregation and wonder why all the high lvl players, regardless of class, aren't grinding solo more.
Anyways, I'm not out to make enemies. Quite the opposite in fact! Archers if you see me sitting on my wizardly bottom, and want to grind together let me know! That is of course if im not already AOEing ;) (JOKE)
I'm not going to name names, but I've recently been getting some flak for wanting to AOE vs grinding solo kills. You may all not know, but my main character is a Wizard (soon to be Archmage, I hope!). Most of this criticism comes from those whose mains are archer/ranger class, and I've heard on more then one occasion of how I don't do my share of solo killing, opting to AOE instead for the better experience (logical?). It just bothers me to hear this, because it almost feels like bullying, or that magicians are not good magicians unless they solo kill like an archer. I just thought I'd put my case and thoughts out there.
Why magicians (myself) rather AOE then grind solo:
1. Solo grinding can be very drawn out for a magician. Sure the damage is decent, but our casting speed is laughable next to an archers. Before I even kill one monster, an archer is nearly killing his 2nd baddie. How can archers expect magicians to compete with them in this? There is no comparison who is the most superior in this regard. Magicians also don't have access to the same buffs/items (ingame/sc) that are available to the physical classes to make grinding more effective.
2. Our skills cost a ton of mp, a huge difference compared to AOEing multiple mobs. It's expensive to repot every 3 minutes just to solo kill, and its tedious to go back and forth from merchant to map. Our point builds simply do not allow us to invest in increasing our weight limit.
3. Its a matter of wealth! AOEing obviously gives better drops. These drops are so much more important for a magician then any other class, because that is how we pay our way to advance/survive in the game. It's very expensive to repot constantly for solo kills, as an apprentice I had to borrow kron simply to buy pots to continue. Again this plays into our huge mana consumption in comparison to other classes. Another reason is because of how rare our class is. There are hardly any wizards. So that means all that investing into xening our gear is worthless (aside from the extra stats) because when it comes time to sell that +5/ap6 staff, you know you're going to get a fraction of it back if you're lucky enough to find someone who wants to buy it.
4. Our class was meant for AOE? Look at our skills. We have frost, lightning, icicle, volcano, and freeze splasher(sp?). Thats 5 AOE skills that come together pretty quickly in levels.
5. We are fragile. Magic shield is handy, but has some serious flaws. I'm not going to diverge into that, because I think everyone already knows. Other then that, magicians really don't have the self-buff skills that make solo killing that much more effective. Concentration is trash, so don't even go there (hehe). Coupled with lag issues a lot of users experience, it really doesn't take much to die and loose 7%. It's much safer for a magician to travel in parties and do their best to AOE.
So I guess that's it for now. I do enjoy grinding, don't get me wrong, but if someone want's to AOE then whats the big deal? Are the archers mad cause the new maps doesn't benefit them as much as the other classes? Is a warrior less of a warrior because he AOES 100% of the time? Or any of the other classes that are not ranged?
I guarantee you all of those who have achieved 13x did not get there by solo killing. So why do archer give magicians flak for trying to get up there to the same way? I grinded alone until lvl.80, so why is it a big deal to AOE the other half? Ive done my time! hehe
So if we are going to scrutinize magicians for AOEing, then we should drop the segregation and wonder why all the high lvl players, regardless of class, aren't grinding solo more.
Anyways, I'm not out to make enemies. Quite the opposite in fact! Archers if you see me sitting on my wizardly bottom, and want to grind together let me know! That is of course if im not already AOEing ;) (JOKE)