Elementalists vs. Wizards

[GWAVE]

I've been lurking here for a bit and I admit that whenever I see a post about "friggin' easy classes to win with" I see Archers and Wizards mentioned. Archers...yeah, I understand. Wizards...yeah, I understand that, too, but why not elementalists? I know that elementalists aren't considered bad in the sense that -- for instance -- merchants are considered bad, but what is the primary advantage of wizards over elementalists? I'm currently running a Lvl 10 GE Salamander elementalist w/ level 19 in Burning Hands, Level 11 in both Frost and Fire Bolt, and Level 5 in Fireball. As a Wizard, I'd be lucky if I had TWO of those skills at that point.

Am I missing something? Admittedly, I rarely play Wizards (elem, priest, or mindcraft if I'm going for "magic" types), but I'm not seeing how Wizards are easier than the other magic casters.

[DeSt]

why not elementalists?
Am I missing something?

No spellbooks -> no teleport, no acid ball, no darkness, no cure *, no farsight, etc. Well, actually, totally nothing.

[Grey]

Yeah, you're missing something - keep playing and you'll see what.

The thing about wizards is that they're amazing in the mid-late game, though weak early on. They find a huge number of spellbooks and get loads of castings in every damage and utility spell they want.

The thing about elementalists is that they only get a select number of spells when levelling up. Early game this is great - few things withstand their spells and they have plenty of castings from frequent level ups. Later on (around level 15) levelling up becomes harder, and so you find yourself very short on castings. Books are much rarer than for wizards, and on top of this some monsters have elemental resistances and you don't get the reduced PP cost reduction wizards advantage from.

Overall wizards and elementalists are almost the oposite of each other. Elementalists have an easy time early game, but slow down considerably once they get higher up the level scale. Wizards start out weak, but once they have some spellbooks and morgia they can whizz through the game. Doesn't stop both classes having their own fun of course.

[GWAVE]

No spellbooks -> no teleport, no acid ball, no darkness, no cure *, no farsight, etc. Well, actually, totally nothing.

Ah, I see what you mean. To be honest, I play elementalists as ranged fighters in mid and late game when their magical abilities begin to wane. As far as teleporting, darkness (well, in this case confusion), farsight, etc go I usually opt for a mindcrafter if I'm looking for those ability types.

@ Grey

I guess since I've never given the Wizard class a chance I haven't been able to experience their mid- and late-game awesomeness. The longest I lasted with a Wizard was level 20-ish somewhere in the ToEF if I recall correctly, so I was probably on the brink of unlocking the character's potential. As I mentioned above, I use the Elementalist's early-game advantages while training up other skills. I typically end up being some flavor of a Very Defensive dual-shield slinger, archer, crossbow, etc and that has translated into two normal wins for me.

Maybe it's time to give Wizards a fair spin. :^)

[Soirana]

@Grey: What real benefit has elementalist early?

Plenty of spells? Wizards ussually get enough castings per book if done carefully [aka deplet and learn a new] and they are set to start with offensive book.

Elemntalists... They really heavily rely on fire. So if you get tension room of something resistant to fire but nut vulnerable to cold you better start digging arround.

IMHO, they are on par early and fade in mid game. Late it is not even something to compare.

[gut]

Skill modifiers for elementalists suck bigtime. If I recall correctly, it's
something like 1d5 for the CONCENTRATION skill after you get it in
the 70's. Wizards can max concentration at exp. level 2.

[Grey]

I can usually max my elementalists' concentration without too much trouble.

Soirana: Every elementalist starts with frost bolt, so those fire creatures are not a big issue! As for wizards vs elementalists, you're right about wizards being just as good I guess. However guaranteed cheap fire bolt is very handy, as opposed to wizards who may end up with a difficult ball spell or weak magic missile. ID-hopping can of course solve that.

[Passionario]

I find it more surprising that people neglect to include Priests when listing powerful and easy-to-play classes.

[Silfir]

Priests don't start with offensive spells - their early game survival is dependant on their halfway decent melee power early on. I'll agree that they are second only to wizards when it comes to versatility in spellcasting later - with even more awesome spell cost reductions - since they find books only slightly less frequently.

So yeah - they ARE easy to play.

[Grey]

They're also easy to play since they can be much beter with weapons than wizards - +50% marks cost instead of double. Elven and orc priests generally start with good enough equipment to survive until they find some good offensive spells, and are both quite fun to play.