Wizard

Official Description

"Wizards are masters of elemental magic, the force that imbues the world and surrounds all within it. With this power, Wizards concentrate on spells which harness and bring to bear the forces of nature for use in attack, defense and utility purposes. Excellent at acquiring knowledge of magical lore and magical devices, Wizards are among the poorest in the use of weapons and gain skill at arms only at great expense. Heavier armor types are shunned by Wizards as they adversely affect the ability to cast spells." ~From Play.Net's Professions Page

Unofficial Description

Wizards are one of Gemstone's "Pure" spellcasters. They only use elemental magic, primarily by focusing the elements into magical bolt attacks. Wizards have plenty of defensive magics that they use to keep themselves safe from attacks, as well as a multitude of utility spells. Wizards can Enchant armor and weaponry to give bonuses to attack or defense, respectively. Wizards can also imbed their spells into certain items, and recharge these items to keep the magic strong. Finally, Wizards are able to summon a magical Familiar which they can use for various non-combat purposes.

Stat Placement and Race Selection

The ten basic stats are Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Aura, Discipline, Wisdom, Charisma, Logic, and Intuition. The most important stats for a Wizard are Aura and Logic, as they provide double the training points as the other stats. In addition, Aura determines the bonus for some of our Elemental Spells as well as how much Mana we start off with. Dexterity is also an important stat for any Wizard as it adds a bonus to bolt attacks, our primary form of offense. The other stats are less important, but should not be "tanked" as that can result in serious penalties. Strength in particular can be important if you want to be able to carry treasure back from a hunt without being encumbered, an issue that Constitution also factors into somewhat.

Stat placement should be optimized for either growth, training points, or a balance of the two. As most players will not hit level 100, I find it's best to balance the two so that you're effective at lower levels but also grow nicely, resulting in better stats overall. Since you'll be using primarily mental training points, you're best off focusing on Mental stats. Note that you will be converting a lot of Physical Training Points in order to train in all your skills, but due to the way the Trainer is set up, this does not penalize you in any way.

Race selection is a fairly non-mechanical decision. Though some races receive more appropriate bonuses (i.e. Dark Elves and Halflings) there is no single race that is superior over the others. Choose whichever one best fits your character.

General Training Suggestions

Wizards are expected to train primarily in magical skills and, of course, spells. The magical skills which apply to Wizardry are Arcane Symbols, Magic Item Use, Spell Aiming, Harness Power, Elemental Mana Control, and the four Elemental Lores. Magical skills and spells are key for wizards who use a runestaff, which requires at least 8 total skill ranks per level to be an effective form of defense. Wizards may also choose to train in shield, armor, and weapon use, depending on the specific type of Wizard you want to play. Both weapon and shield serve primarily a defensive purpose for most Wizards, though some choose to focus on more martial skills and supplement them with spells.

Arcane Symbols

Most Wizards recommend singling in this for life, possibly doubling in it if you're interested in being an Enchanter. It helps with reading spells from scrolls and casting them. Though scrolls aren't particularly useful in the middle of combat, they're very useful for casting utility and defensive spells outside of battle. This skill also serves as a cheap way to improve Runestaff defense.

Magic Item Use

This skill is particularly useful for using wands in a Wizard's early life. Magical items sometimes also require certain skill to activate. Singling in MIU for life is usually recommended, though a Wizard serious about Enchanting might consider doubling in it. MIU is another cheap skill to increase Runestaff defense.

Spell Aiming

This is a Wizard's primary attack skill. It determines accuracy with our aimed bolts, and therefore should always be doubled in for life.

Harness Power

Training in this provides 3 mana for each training up to your level+1. Training beyond that only provides a single extra mana point. Because of this, most Wizards train up to their level+1, and beyond that when they feel the need for more mana (especially at the lower levels). Some Wizards enjoy the extra mana, however, and find it well worth the cost to double in it.

Elemental Mana Control

This skill determines how effective you'll be in sharing elemental mana with other casters. Twenty-four ranks will give you maximum efficiency in sharing mana, but most Wizards will 1x for life. Again, serious Enchanters may train more in EMC to benefit their casting.

Elemental Lores

This skill can define a Wizard by determining which element they will specialize in. Though the primary effect is a small (.001) increase in a bolt's Damage Factor, steps are being taken to make Elemental Lores more important. It has been made clear that staff expectations are for Wizards to 1x in Elemental Lores. They're to be discussed more further on.

Weapon Skills

Since Edged Weapons are the cheapest to train in, most Wizards who choose to use a weapon will 1x in that for life.

Shield Training

Training 1x in this for life is the basic defensive training for any Wizard that chooses not to use a runestaff.

Armor Training

Most Wizards will recommend training 4 ranks to wear Full Leathers with no maneuver hindrance. Other wizards recommend enough ranks to wear Double Leathers, though you'll always suffer some hindrance with anything above Fulls. Opinions vary over whether the extra protection is worth the spell hindrance and extra training cost.

Physical Training

Train in this sparingly until you reach your maximum health (which is based on Race and your Con bonus). Afterwards, most Wizards will stop training in it entirely, though it does still provide some benefit regarding the length of stuns and severity of criticals.

Secondary Skills

Spiritual Mana Control

Handy for any Wizard who wants to share mana with spiritual casters such as Empaths or Clerics. Doesn't directly affect any Wizard abilities. 24 ranks will provide the most efficiency for your mana sharing.

Climbing and Swimming

These skills become more important with time, particularly Climbing. Generally, 30 ranks of each will get you everywhere you want to go, but having that many ranks is unnecessary until much later in life. I've found that 10 ranks of each around level 20 is more than sufficient for some time.

Survival and First Aid

If you choose to train in these, their primary application is usually the ability to remove pelts from creatures during your hunts. First Aid also reduces roundtime from eating herbs, while Survival can protect you from certain adverse conditions (particularly in the frigid north).

Perception

Most players get at least 24 ranks or so to allow them to find certain hidden paths that are scattered throughout the land and will allow you access to certain hunting grounds. Otherwise, this is a fairly unimportant skill, unless you want it for a different reason (i.e. Lockpicking).

Other Skills

Just because a skill isn't mentioned here doesn't mean it's entirely useless. The only skills that serve no purpose are the non-Elemental lores. All the other skills can be trained in and garner some ability. Wizards can pick boxes rather well, or train in Combat Maneuvers to disarm their opponents, or better defend against Disarming.

Spell Training

Depending on how much you want to train in spells, most Wizards recommend anything between 2x and 3x training. Wizards have three Spell Circles available to them: Major Elemental Spells, Minor Elemental Spells, and Wizard Spells. All three have important spells and how you decide to split your training between the three is up to you, though there are certain spells you may want at a particular level.

Minor Elemental Spell Circle

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. In particular, I recommend getting the Elemental Defense spells as soon as you can cast it. Once you've reached Elemental Defense II (406) you can stop training in this circle for a while to focus on the other two. However, some may prefer to get Elemental Wave (410) sooner rather than later, as it is a great setup spell. The last spells in the circle are also important to get near their respective levels, especially Elemental Targeting (425), as they will make Hunting much easier.

Major Elemental Spell Circle

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