Spellhowler: Highest Damage. Slowest cast speed. Has the option to move between wind and dark attacks in pve. Has Shadow Flare... an overhit nuke which adds up to 30% bonus exp if used as the second hit. If someone is using resist wind buff, surrended to wind removes it. Unlike Sorcerer and Spellsinger, Spellhowler has access to two sets of elemental attacks. Beyond Wind (main nuke, aoe nuke, surrender to wind, wind vortex) they have Dark attacks. They have Death Spike (low mana, fast casting nuke, uses cursed bones), Vampiric Claw (life stealing nuke), Curse Death Link (highest damaging nuke in the game under certain controllable conditions), Shadow Flare, and Dark Vortex. They are the only class in the game with two Vortex nukes. They also have body to mind and clear mind... making them the most mp efficient class in the game. As far as PVE goes.. they are the best class. As far as pvp goes... they are the strongest hitters, but being dark elf mages... they have the slowest cast speed, lowest con ( hp/cp/stun resist), and lowest p def.
Sorcerer. Medium damage. Medium cast speed. Sleep, AOE Sleep, and Aura Flare was nerfed. All that they had going for them when choosing between Spellsinger and Sorcerer is gone. You now chose between M atk ( Spellhowler ) or Cast Speed ( Spellsinger ). Sorcerer is out of the question... though most would disagree.... so Im not going to get into their skills/ playstyle. Ill let those who are pro sorc do that.
Necromancer: Medium Damage, Medium cast speed ( same as sorcerer ). Without having a surrender to darkness debuff, people can ( and are ) buffed to protect against it and there is nothing you can do about it. Instead you have gloom. Gloom lowers M Def, adding bonus damage equal to that of a surrender. Since lower m def has universal uses, it's better than a surrender. Despite what others say, it casts instantly. The only drawback is that it casts at a range of 600 instead of 900. Necromancer's have Corpse Burst... an AOE that does 100% more damage than all other AOEs. They also have Silence, Anchor (paralyze, this skill is amazing), Body to Mind, Death Spike, Vampiric Claw, Curse Death Link, and Dark Vortex. Here is the kicker. They have 3 insane summons (strongest in the games, the only drawbacks beingthe fact that Necromancers can't buff them) and Transfer Pain. They already have the highest hp of all the mages... but with Transfer Pain.... they stay up twice as long because 50% of their damage is taken on their summons.... a fact that makes them severely overpowered as far as mage to mage goes. Spellhowlers may do more damage... and Spellsingers may cast faster... but they will always lose against a necromancer.
Warlock: Non factor. Is nothing by themselves. Queen the Cat is amazing though. With her in a perfect archer party, you can overbuff your friends to the point of ruining the game. Queen the cat adds crit chance and crit power... and it stacks with focus, death whisper, blade dancer dances, prophecies, and all toggles/ passives/ epics/ sets/ special abilities. It is the final step in the buff ladder... and it makes the difference. Make no mistake though... you will be used and abused. EXP will be slow because people generally do not want to exp with you. People will expect... no... force you to serve as a personal gate keeper once you get to 56. More often than those rare pvp archer groups.... you will be used to summon people across the map.
It's 4am here... but I think I did a decent job breaking them down. FYI I picked Spellhowler/ Necromancer for main class/ sub class. As far as play styles go they are exactly the same. The only difference is passive. One has higher m atk... one casts faster... one has one set of nukes instead of 2.. one has summons + transfer pain.... but when you get down to it, you pve/ pvp with them the same way.
Spellhowler: Highest Damage. Slowest cast speed. Has the option to move between wind and dark attacks in pve. Has Shadow Flare... an overhit nuke which adds up to 30% bonus exp if used as the second hit. If someone is using resist wind buff, surrended to wind removes it. Unlike Sorcerer and Spellsinger, Spellhowler has access to two sets of elemental attacks. Beyond Wind (main nuke, aoe nuke, surrender to wind, wind vortex) they have Dark attacks. They have Death Spike (low mana, fast casting nuke, uses cursed bones), Vampiric Claw (life stealing nuke), Curse Death Link (highest damaging nuke in the game under certain controllable conditions), Shadow Flare, and Dark Vortex. They are the only class in the game with two Vortex nukes.
Spellsingers also have two types of attack - light (sacred) and water. Spellsingers also have two vortex skills, light vortex and ice vortex. The sorcerer is the only true nuker with only one vortex skill. Also, the spellsinger has the super advantage that half the mobs in game are weak to sacred attacks (all undead and demon type mobs with very few exceptions), which makes his solar flare and light vortex nukes do from 10 to 30% more damage, depending on the exact mob. Spellhowler and necromancer have a similar advantage with "weak to dark attack" mobs (angels and so on), just not as big since those mobs are rarer.
They have 3 insane summons (strongest in the games, the only drawbacks beingthe fact that Necromancers can't buff them) and Transfer Pain.
Warlock: Non factor. Is nothing by themselves. Queen the Cat is amazing though. With her in a perfect archer party, you can overbuff your friends to the point of ruining the game. Queen the cat adds crit chance and crit power... and it stacks with focus, death whisper, blade dancer dances, prophecies, and all toggles/ passives/ epics/ sets/ special abilities. It is the final step in the buff ladder... and it makes the difference. Make no mistake though... you will be used and abused. EXP will be slow because people generally do not want to exp with you. People will expect... no... force you to serve as a personal gate keeper once you get to 56. More often than those rare pvp archer groups.... you will be used to summon people across the map.
Necro summon are the strongets? that's wrong, no summon can compare to original summoners summons. And you underestimate warlock a lot, it's true that apart of archers party is not welcome and even if he is invited he gets 5% less xp(summon penalty) but he is the best solo class by far. with Kai he can hold a cata room by himself he is also not so equipmet dependant like other classes. In pvp now he just cannot be killed -transfer pain and light armor masteries make him imposible to kill from any meele or archers party and his antimagic masteries make him hard for mages also. In short he can take all meele and archer class down . with mages necro with summon out is wrong tactic just betray his summon and he has 3 enemy's instead of two. the other mages it's just if they manage to kill your summon faster than you heal it(silence from sh is usefull, sleep from sps it's just too nerfed). Mass pvp queen of cat is a must for archers party.
Sorcerer has the least ranged nukes and vortex which makes him the worst in mages, although he has two aoe skills make him one of the best in pve after 58.
If you choose a mage go Sh he is the most mp wise with two different type of nukes(dark, wind). In pvp although most people will be buffed with resistance to wind(se buff the most common buffer ingame) you still have two drak attack to damage them( unholy resistant is ee buff which is very rare). SpS is not bad, the best casting speed but in my opinion sh is better and you just fix it with dyes+ armor bonus and accumen you are quite close.
Necro would also be a good choice and in pvp a summon out make him very hard to die.
If you choose a mage go Sh he is the most mp wise with two different type of nukes(dark, wind). In pvp although most people will be buffed with resistance to wind(se buff the most common buffer ingame) you still have two drak attack to damage them( unholy resistant is ee buff which is very rare).
Unholy resistance is EE and Prophet buff, so it is pretty common. Also, EE and Bishops get divine protection, which is a resist buff to sacred and dark attacks, and it cannot be surrendered away. Given the choice (and buff slots), most people will probably go for elemental protection and divine protection, since then you cover all bases and the buffs cannot be surrendered.
Skip sorceror... dead class (along with spellsinger)
Necro and spellhowler are so much superior that it isn't even funny.
Sorceror is the red-headed stepchild of the classes you listed.
Necro is the best overall PvP/solo class matched only by buffed archers.
Even if they buff to stop you, you are still a pain the backside.
Not really desired in groups, however.
Necro is the PvP bruiser of the classes you listed
Spellhowler is less durable, but has more nuking options... no pet though... also great at solo (tied with necro IMHO) and pretty much not desireable in groups
Spellhowler is the "pretty big numbers" class of the classes you listed.
Warlock is the fastest way to 75 IMHO.... as once you get your queen kat, you have one of the best unique buffs in the game which when stacked is borderline brokenly good.
Warlocks also solo VERY well...
Warlock PvP is not as good as necro or spellhowler, but you are far from "easy pickins". If your pet ever catches someone, or your paralyze cubic ever does, they are in for one quick trip to town.
Warlock is the party animal and social butterfly of the classes you listed.
Spellsingers also have two types of attack - light (sacred) and water. Spellsingers also have two vortex skills, light vortex and ice vortex. The sorcerer is the only true nuker with only one vortex skill. Also, the spellsinger has the super advantage that half the mobs in game are weak to sacred attacks (all undead and demon type mobs with very few exceptions), which makes his solar flare and light vortex nukes do from 10 to 30% more damage, depending on the exact mob. Spellhowler and necromancer have a similar advantage with "weak to dark attack" mobs (angels and so on), just not as big since those mobs are rarer.
Vortexes aside, what is the light main nuke? What is the light aoe? What is the light dot? Where is the surrender to light/ light debuff/light buff? Yeah... they have 2 light element attacks. They are high damage, high costing, slow casting overhit nukes. That does not qualify as another set. Try to rely solely on those attacks to see what I mean before you compare Dark vs Light.
As for the advantages of Dark vs Light. Sorry... I don't buy it. With necro/SH.... I can tear up VOS from lvl 48-67(ish), then move on to FOD/Hotsprings/MOS without any issue (CDL is great if you're smart about it). SPS can't say the same.
but he is the best solo class by far.
Easiest, yes. Best... no. An unbuffed Spellhowler will always make better exp.
Spellhowler is the best PVE and Raid nuker. Curse Death Link rules along with the best mana management. I can stay in party and keep damage up and never stop.
PVP Spellsinger and Necros rule. Cast speed on the SPS and Hit Points for the Necro. The resist Dark buffs have really knocked the necro down so I would say the SPS would be the best pvp nuker.
SPS are hard to level, no mana management.
As a stormscreamer I can beat any other nuker, just not consistently since I have to rely on my silence. Even though we have the best Matck in the game the cast speed beats us straight up. Never try to outnuke even a sorcerer.
I dont know much about warlocks except that they are one of the most valued classes in the game since interlude is now here. If you are in clan you should get powerleveled like no tommorrow.
SPS is not the best pvp nuker. Cast speed brings certain advantages... but you cannot compare them to necromancers. Necromancers have twice the hp, silence, and anchor going for them vs sps. SPSs used to have cancel, sleep, and aura flare going for them... but this is no longer the case. Though Dark resist buffs are a pain... with gloom.... I want you to compare the damage between SPS and Necro. You might be surprised.
Noone plays sorcy anymore and i suggest you dont. Lets hope those guys up there see that only a few of us are left and boost us a bit xD
Ok seriously I would choose necro , but your worst problem is gonna be money ^^ You need a lot to lvl up.
Sps get reamed in PvP now... if you get the first hit, odds are you will win, if you don't you are dead. Cast speed helps, but frankly when every has 1200+ cast speed it really stops mattering that much...
Necros take a lickin and keep on tickin... yah sure, you can counter em in many ways, but they are by a large margin the toughest hombres out there... silenced spellsingers are worse than dead.
Archery makes spellsingers/mystic muse into a one-hit kill 50% of the time... necros tend to live long enough to give out a pounding even if they do manage to go down.
Straight up the #1 most powerful class period is a buffed archer.
Next up is the tougher but slightly less damage output Necro.
I can see playing a warlock to party or a SH because you don't want to look like a human mystic.
For sheer power and ease of use the #1 most powerful class in the game (buffs or not) is a necro period.
Hi. I've been playing Necros/ SHs almost exclusively for the last 2 years. You are wrong. If the necro has his summon down... I'm sorry... but all he has to do is jam his finger on the deathspike hotkey and he wins. He doesn't even need gloom or dark vortex to beat an sh. And as an SH... I know my chances of beating a necro. Pro or not.... the SH will lose. If it's mass/gank/field pvp... you have a chance since targetting/ timing is everything (it's more than possible to kill the summon before the necro targets you) but straight up 1v1.... SHs are dead.
Hi. I've been playing Necros/ SHs almost exclusively for the last 2 years. You are wrong. If the necro has his summon down... I'm sorry... but all he has to do is jam his finger on the deathspike hotkey and he wins. He doesn't even need gloom or dark vortex to beat an sh. And as an SH... I know my chances of beating a necro. Pro or not.... the SH will lose. If it's mass/gank/field pvp... you have a chance since targetting/ timing is everything (it's more than possible to kill the summon before the necro targets you) but straight up 1v1.... SHs are dead.
I can agree that unbuffed SH beats a warlock in xp over time only due to herbs.
Now for pvp i would suggest necro he has by far some of the best pvp debuffs(gloom, paralyze, silence). Gloom is almost 100% sure to stack and after that paralyze or silence it's what you prefer. I hate paralyze cause you end up not moving for half a minute a very long half minute standing in awkward position.
Silencing a mage is the same as paralyzing as he is the same useless but it doesn't always stack unless he is gloomed. Anyway necro is the king in one on one pvp.
p.s in my opinion death spike should be nerfed and has the same mp consumption and power as vampiric claw. necro supposed to be debuffers not nuker with debuff skills. A necro has more long range nukes than sorceror who supposedely is a nuker.
I didn't say it is like that i said it should be like that. Make the death spike to have the same consumption as vampiric claw, 123 the vampiric 123 the death spike. If they are the best at pvp at least nerf their grinding a bit. They can still use CDL to pve but that way is for live and good players. They cannot bot now so you won't have so many high lvl necros expect the good ones that can take the grinding
I didn't say it is like that i said it should be like that. Make the death spike to have the same consumption as vampiric claw, 123 the vampiric 123 the death spike. If they are the best at pvp at least nerf their grinding a bit. They can still use CDL to pve but that way is for live and good players. They cannot bot now so you won't have so many high lvl necros expect the good ones that can take the grinding