Sh get ALOT better at 61.DC set+4WIT and an acumen weapon makes casting speed difference between humans and dark elfs non existant.There is a reason so many ppl choose necro-its simply the best class.
There are acumen pots in shop+knowledge set that can give you an idea how much your cast speed can be improved...give them a try
Warlocks are sumoners.They have cats as summons and they solo most of the time.Archer parties need them for the very good party buff one of your summons will have.
They also dont have ANY dps or nukes.All they do is buff/heal the summon.But maybe Maline would be better suited to talk about summoners... (i hope)
Spellsinger is the lowest damage of the nukers, but the fastest casting. They have zero methods to get their MP back directly except a mana regen skill which helps a little but nowhere near as much as a SH higher levels of BTM. They have a main nuke, an overhit nuke, and one ranged AOE nuke. They have two AOE nukes but one is literally point blank casting range so it's sorta stupid.
They also have aura flare which you can't use in pvp any more, which is a fast casting point blank range spell, aura bolt which is cheap, fast, with a slightly longer range, and some random goofy spells like freezing shackle and ice dagger. Last two aren't worth using really...
I like the class, I subbed a sps in fact. But I would not go with the class unless you dual boxed, or befriend at least a SE and hopefully also a EE or you'll have ridiculous amounts of downtime, even with herbs/walking/mana regen.
No one has said it yet, so I will. All of the mystics have pros that you'll love, and cons that will make you grind your teeth in frustration. What you are looking for -- high dps, fast casting and survivability in PVP -- is the Holy Grail for all mages. You will not find a class of mage that maximizes all of those categories without benefit of SA's, spiritshots, pots, tattoos, and outside buffs. So the question you should ask yourself is which class of mage has the downside that you can live with.
Secondly, because PVP is such a small percentage of the time that you'll spend in game, I suggest focusing on a class that has more up time than down time, unless you happen to have a mana replenishing pocket buffbot at your disposal.
As for which class to choose, as others have said, Necro is probably hands down the best mage type in PVP. In PVE, though, I side with the Spellhowler each and every time...at least until a miracle happens and they give Spellsingers mana management skills.
I don't know as much about nukers as others. (I play one SH as an alt, and I spend Fighters generally more interesting.) But, I will say, L2 seems to be a game of trade-offs. Every class and race has them, so no one type has everything. So if you want everything in one nuker, you might not find it. The same applies to fighters and buffer/healers. (Of course, it always seems like some trade-offs are more equal then others, so to speak.)
Since you don't want to be a flavor of the month and you seem to like to be a bit different, then choose a seldom played class rather than an often played class. Most players gravitate towards the classes which seem to do high damage easily. In other words, that are relatively easy to play...nukers, archers, daggers. Attack any mob, kill it, do it again and again.
If, however, you want a challange and want to be different, look for the rare classes that are hard to play. If you can become an expert in one of these, which takes time and brains, then you may fulfill your goal in an unusual way.
What would be examples? Bounty Hunter, Elven Elder, Bishop, Shillen Elder. Yes, most players will say these are support classes relegated to the second box, at best. That is because most players take the easy route and don't, or cannot, master these difficult and rare classes.
That is why a 7x BH or Bishop is rare and oh so valuable....unlike 7x archers and daggers which are so plentiful as to be generic.
One thing people didn't mention is your access to support classes.
Elves have incredibly fast casting speed, bad damage on their nukes and pretty bad mana management skills. Which means in higher levels you'll be casting tons of spells real fast and be out of mana after a few monsters.
Humans have average casting speeds, average damage and mana management depends on class: sorc has decent mana management and slightly expensive spells, while necromancers have great mana management (body to mind and corpse life drain) as well as the cheapest mana nuke (death spike).
Dark elves have the slowest casting speed, great magic damage, some pretty good mana management skills (body to mind) and also have death spike.
If adena isn't a problem for you, SH and necro are by far the best classes to play a nuker with. They have the best PvE nuke (death spike) and do a good job in PvP as well. They can also fight monsters for a good while before they run out of mp.
The main advantage of SH is they also get a wind nuke, so if you are faced with darkness-resist monsters, they can still do great damage.
And if the necro debuffs are too much for you to manage at first, you always have the option of not using them. In PvE debuffs are rarely used either way, so you won't be losing much in skipping out on their use until you get more accustomed to your class.
If mana isn't an issue for you (if you have one or more SE/EE), then sorc can be a decent alternative.
If mana is REALLY not an issue (if you have at least 3 SE/EE), then Spellsinger can become an even better option.
While there may not be a huge difference in PvP between the 4 nuker classes at the same level, you must also keep in mind that getting them to that same level will be a very different journey. If you can get a SH to 70 by the time you get a SpS at 60, which is probably the case for most people who don't have at least 3 SE/EE, I can assure you that your 70 SH will giggle at the damage of your 60 SpS.