Mage rant.

[Sero]

This is what I hate. No one will ever defend a Mage but instead point out all of it's supposed "pros" while comparing it to other classes that can't do the exact same things. Well no shit! If they did the same thing as me, again, what purpose would we serve? None, as I have stated before.

Defend? What you're wanting is for the Mages to have a bit of everything.

Edit: Seriously, the whole "Mages are wanted more than Archers" comment is just bullshit. There will be times when one class is preferred more than the other but most people are kind enough to accept either/or. If your server keeps picking Mages over Archers than I suggest switching to a new one.

I wonder how many others out there would think it is too.

Eh? Let me respond to you the same way you've responded to the suggestion of playing an Archer instead of a Mage. I will not switch to a new server because I enjoy playing in mine, already. I've dealt with it cause it's been like that for me for a long time already. So don't make those suggestions.

There will be times when one class is preferred more than the other but most people are kind enough to accept either/or.

We are basing this on stats and performance itself, not how people are kind enough to accept either/or. And even if we would base it on both views,
No one ever said "Mages are wanted more than Archers ALL THE TIME. You may want to read some posts again.

You know, I think I forgot about Mana Burn as well. I guess it really IS that useless. But yes, it does some damage. However, the damage is too low for it to be considered useful for anything other than sapping away SP in PvP but the cool down just makes it absolutely useless.

Yeah. 2 minutes lol. Plus, it looks gay too xD

EDIT:

late post again >.> D;

[Sero]

Usefulness of Spells (or lack thereof)
Ice Bolt or Ice Blast. They're both on a "global cool down" which means when you use one, you basically use the other. Minus the damage, slowing effect, etc. And the slowing effect itself is quite useless since you have to get pretty close to a monster anyways to kill it. Not to mention the effect is not always a guarantee.

Then don't use it. There's Nova Frost which deals damage 3 (or 4?) times, and also slows mobs down. Not to mention, along with Inferno, IT NEVER MISSES. AND, it has the same CDT with Ice Bolt/Blast.

I really don't understand this argument. Why do you need to use Mind Drain so often anyway if it's only useful for PVP? The reason why it has a longer cooltime is so that it doesn't unbalance PVP... >.> I can't even imagine how I'm supposed to PvP at all if a Mage is Mind Draining me every 10 seconds.....

Now THAT would be WRONG.

Casting Animations
Also, why in the bloody hell does Dispel make me look like some damn fairy? I'm a Mage for Pete's sake! Not a prancing fairy who goes around sprinkling fairy dust on people. Same for Purge. I'm not an Angel of light so why do I get wings when doing this? Makes no sense at all. I liked the old animation of Life Tap where as this new crotch thrust just embarrasses me.

I agree with this. The new animations of most skills [in all classes] are simply f*cked up and crappy. I mean, yeah sure we can cast em while running, but at least bring back the old animations for em? Rather than make us look TERRIBLE and GAY. And I know many others have been complaining since late last year [where they did the animation f*cking up] but eh.

Some of you may or may not agree with me on this (Mages, I mean). I feel that the range of our spells is far too short. I'm not saying we should be able to pick off monsters from halfway across the world (that would be nice though) but a reasonable distance away from them is required. Otherwise we're nothing more than a short ranged Fighter minus the power and defensive capabilities. This would go perfect with Ice Blast (or Ice Bolt) always having a chance of slowing our enemies down. This way, we can attack from a safe distance without the fear of being viciously mauled by something ten times our size.

You have skills that have ranges of 13.5m, the others' ranges are 12m. Well same goes for archers. Even us archers don't complain about our range, even if we are supposedly RANGERS. Imagine Mages casting skills with more range than Archers? Definitely WRONG.

I can rarely find a party for anything I want to do. And more often than not, the party is already full.

It gets worse for us archers. Mages are wanted, way more.

Kiting
Why is it, that only two of our spells allow us to kite? Everyone else can pretty much cast a spell or use a skill while running where as we get Lightning Blast and Lightning Bolt and then we're forced to stand there and get slapped around like a rag doll. Admittedly, kiting is not very effective for anyone but Archers because they can AoE while they run so taking down multiple mobs is fairly for them. I say this because if you kite, there is a GOOD chance you're going to run into a lot more monsters. As a Mage, that means you're boned. Don't just make two of our spells a "cast-on-the-run", make them all that way.

Why would I play an Archer? The only class I enjoy playing is the Mage.

Just put it this way. Archers are more of a kiting class than Mages. I don't think Mages are even build for kiting, at all. If the only class you enjoy playing is the Mage, then deal with not being an Archer, who kites.

Again, realize that this is the "Mage rant" not the "Cleric rant" or "Fighter rant" or "Archer rant".

Yes, surely everyone can tell by the title. But, your ranting about Mages would bring other classes in the rant as well, through comparison mostly. Understand that.

EDIT:

wadda late post D;

[Yosei]

FYI didn't read the 3 pages of replies...

But I've been a mage since Closed Beta ^^;;

Cool downs
I only used a few key skills, plus the 2 aoe skills. Magic Missile, Firebolt, Magic Blast, and the Frost Nova, and Inferno. I can have a forever going combo of skills there.

Damage
We do M-damage, not physical damage. We are actually very helpful in parties. The only way a fighter can match our damage is by having a +9 axe. But they too sacrifice their defense.

Usefulness of Spells (or lack thereof)
We can slow, fear, dispell, mana drain, steal buffs, remove buffs, and we have 3 aoe skills. I think we're pretty good. We have a bunch of awesome skills coming in the future. I hope <.<

Casting Animations
I've never been annoying with this, just the 2 aoes, but thats the price you pay for nice aoes. Fighters don't have any skills that load because they're intended to be a support class, the tanks. When they have to mock, kick, devastate or w/e its to save the parties life. A loading bar would not help us.

Range
Only skill I had an issue with was Nova in KKP. The others are fine. MD can get annoying, but everyone gets within its range, and its supposed to be a challenge. We aren't the "front line", that's fighters.

Kiting
Never been a fan of kiting period. But it is possible.
Nova> attack> attack>fear>attack>ice>attack etc. Attack being w/e the heck you want it to be. Our advantage is slowing them, giving us a chance to get distance. But we're better off in parties I say. I never liked soloing.

Stones
Too little HP stones, never had a problem with SP. But that's what clerics are for. lvramire and I used to duo a lot. Even with a fighter you can do good. Get an END build fighter with nice scrolls and an axe, and who knows how to tank, and you'll dominate.