User:ALKALOIDS/wizard
Wizards are one of four pure professions in GemStone, and are considered to be masters of the sphere of elemental magic. Wizardly offensive spells are primarily represented by bolt spells of a particular elemental energy, and are complemented by a wide array of defensive magics and utility spells. A common mutant Wizard sub-type is the War Mage, which relies on hasted physical attacks in combination with various utility spells.
Wizards can enchant weapons and armor by means of the Enchant Item (925) spell to give bonuses to attack or defense, respectively. Wizards can also imbed their spells into certain imbedable items by means of the Create Magic Item (420) spell, and recharge some of these items by means of the Charge Item (517) spell to keep their magic strong.
Finally, Wizards are able to summon a magical familiar by means of the Call Familiar (920) spell, which they can use for various non-combat purposes.
Defining spells
Wizards have three Spell Circles available to them: Major Elemental Spells, Minor Elemental Spells, and Wizard Spells. All three have important spells and how one decides to progress through the lists is a personal choice, and usually guided by the archetype the wizard is built to resemble.
This circle is one of the most widely available spell circles. However, it provides a lot of defensive and utility spells that will be important for a Wizard.
This circle provides several key utility and defensive spells, as well as a few important offensive ones.
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- A cheap and powerful defensive spell that should be acquired as soon as possible. The color of the specks of light is based on one's Attunement.
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- Not key for its level, the spell deserves mentioning because of it's incredible utility as soon as one acquires twenty ranks of Elemental Lore: Air. With twenty ranks of Lore the spell becomes a Bolt attack that uses Unbalance crits, which have a very high knockdown and stun chance.
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- Also not particularly key for its level, the spell is still very useful. Most Wizards find it helps tremendously with their carrying capacity, though several War Mages also use it for its offensive boost with their weapons.
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- One of the most sought after spells from other classes, this disk is used to hold items so that they do not encumber the owner. Again, not vital at its level, but another important spell.
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- This is the first bolt AS boosting spell a wizard can learn. It does cause a penalty with weapon-based attacks, but at this point only War Mages are likely to find that to be a hindrance.
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- Mana Leech is the best mana returning spell in the game; it will ensure that one has enough mana to make a hunt last long enough to fill the head with Field Experience.
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- This is one of the most powerful spells a Wizard can cast. It hits every creature in the room with Major Shock (910). It's an old spell, and very useful for destroying swarms of creatures during invasions. Great to show off with. Caution should be observed, however, when this spell is used in invasions. Certain creatures can reflect the Cone back at the caster and all player characters in the room.
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- Not a particularly useful spell, this is one of the most devastating spells available. It summons meteors into the room it's cast in as well as surrounding rooms. The meteors can deal damage to players, creatures, and even the caster. Casting the spell sends a warning to Game Masters due to its potential abuse. Caution should be exercised in using this spell.
This circle contains the majority of a Wizard's offensive power in the form of bolt spells. It also has some of the more profession defining spells such as Call Familiar (920) and Enchant Item (925).
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- Bolt spells deal damage to a single enemy based on Spell Aiming ranks and Dexterity bonus. Many Wizards use Minor Acid (904) as their primary bolt until higher levels or against specific creatures.
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- Ball spells tend to deal less damage than Bolt spells, but they have the advantage of being able to cause multiple flares beyond the first hit. These flares can hit multiple creatures in the room, which makes Ball spells ideal for crowd control. Most Wizards prefer to use Major Fire (908) because of it's higher damage.
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- One of the more popular spells among other classes, Mass Blurs affects everyone joined to the caster. It's not vital for a Wizard, but it does make you popular, and helps boost your defenses further.
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- Call Familiar allows a player to summon an animal to serve as an ally. Wizards who are attuned to a particular element have the opportunity to summon a wyrdling in addition to the typical mundane animal. Though familiars cannot perform any combat actions, they can deliver messages, watch rooms, carry an item, and find other players. Call Familiar is considered to be a defining spell of the Wizard profession.
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- Enchant Item allows a player to enchant weapons, shields and armor, increating the bonus to AS for weapons or DS for shields and armor. Enchant Item is limited to increasing the bonus of items to a maximum of plus thirty-five (+35) or 7 times (7x in game terms), with each complete enchantment increasing the bonus of the item by five (5). Wizards who learn this spell at level twenty-five (25) are considered capable of using Enchant Item to bring items to a bonus of plus twenty (+20) or 4x. Enchant Item is generally considered a defining spell of the Wizard profession.
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- Familiar Gate allows a player to create a gate between their own location and that of their familiar. While the gate remains open, any player may pass through it to travel between the two locations. The gate remains open for a short period of time, typically a few seconds, or until the player who created it passes through.
Popular archetypes
The stereotypical Wizard is considered a Pure Mage. Other popular builds include the War Mage, Enchanter, and Charging Mage.
Pure Mage
This wizard wields a runestaff, is well-versed and balanced in their in spell research and other magical skills.
War Mage
The war mage is a powerful hunting build that typically swings a large, high DF weapon under the effects of Haste (506). This wizard is an efficient killing machine.
Enchanter
The enchanting wizard will neglect the skills that a pure mage or a war mage would learn to be a successful hunter, and instead focus on those factors that enhance enchanting prowess.
Charging Mage
This wizard is a slight variaton of the pure mage build, and one that is really only useful much later in the game. The skills that are necessary to make one a truly effective charging mage are not available until near cap, so it is perhaps more properly considered a late branch of the pure mage archetype.
{{Wizard}} {{Professions}}