New wizard assistance (race, spell changes)

[Alashir]

Looking to start a new wizard but I've been away for several years and pretty ignorant of new mechanics game wise let alone profession wise. I've got my eyes on a burghal gnome however I'd love input on what the rest of community thinks about the viability of a gnome versus other recommended choices. Also curious about any significant spell changes that may affect hunting that could be beneficial.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Askip]

Race choice depends on whether it is for RP or mechanics, any race can be a viable wizard.

Would I have chosen dark elf if I had known about CoL and slow spirit recovery? There are numerous factors, encumbrance for the small races, etc.

Are you aware of the change to 502? Mages now have a low level CS spell with decent damage for two mana. Handy for when going offensive even at macro speed could be a problem.

[Sile2]

I like burg gnomes as wizards. They have great logic bonuses, good for warding and bolts. The only downfall is encumbrance which can still be managed with your disk.

Halfling is another good choice, especially if you want to focus on bolting. And they have great racial bonuses for elemental TD.

If encumbrance is something you worry about. Human is a good choice.

To be honest after when you get in the mid 40s the racial bonuses are not as noticable for the most part.

[Maerit]

Also consider if you plan to warmage at all, or just be a pure bolting wizard. I think the most general all-around capable race for either style is Elf. After that Human is pretty evenly balanced. Halfling is probably the strongest pure wizard option as you can have the highest bolt AS possible on a wizard while having +40 to Elemental TD (TD is a weakness for wizards). Burghal Gnomes make for good pures because they have very strong AS from DEX bonus while also having higher warding with their improved Aura. I'd say Burghals and DEs contend for #1 spot if you were going to be a CoL warding wizard (not a very loved variety of wizard). Although, having a capped Burghal I know that you cannot have "perfect" stats. You will have to have 2 stats less than 100 instead of having everything except your INF at 100.

In the end, you can only go wrong if you go Erithian (though half-krol makes for one ugly wizard who is slow to learn).

[Methais]

Assuming you're going pure, Half-Elf is the best all around imo. Unless you don't care about encumbrance, in which case you can't go wrong with Halfling either.

[Alashir]

Race choice depends on whether it is for RP or mechanics, any race can be a viable wizard.

Would I have chosen dark elf if I had known about CoL and slow spirit recovery? There are numerous factors, encumbrance for the small races, etc.

Are you aware of the change to 502? Mages now have a low level CS spell with decent damage for two mana. Handy for when going offensive even at macro speed could be a problem.

I didn't know about 502. Is it effective outside of early levels?

Mechanically Dark Elf looks amazing. How big of a factor is spirit loss at cap (outside of COL)? Either via hunting grounds or critters?

[Alashir]

Also consider if you plan to warmage at all, or just be a pure bolting wizard. I think the most general all-around capable race for either style is Elf. After that Human is pretty evenly balanced. Halfling is probably the strongest pure wizard option as you can have the highest bolt AS possible on a wizard while having +40 to Elemental TD (TD is a weakness for wizards). Burghal Gnomes make for good pures because they have very strong AS from DEX bonus while also having higher warding with their improved Aura. I'd say Burghals and DEs contend for #1 spot if you were going to be a CoL warding wizard (not a very loved variety of wizard). Although, having a capped Burghal I know that you cannot have "perfect" stats. You will have to have 2 stats less than 100 instead of having everything except your INF at 100.

In the end, you can only go wrong if you go Erithian (though half-krol makes for one ugly wizard who is slow to learn).

Is warmage a thing at cap? I'm assuming archery might work, what about UAC and or swinging?

[Sile2]

I didn't know about 502. Is it effective outside of early levels?

I only seen it for a little bit, but it seems like a very strong spell for 2 mana, and I'm sure it can bring you up to where you can start using 415 and 519 on your hunts. If you want to focus on warding only. It's base DF is very friendly to low endrolls also.

Concussion Damage = .400 × ((Endroll + Channeling Bonus) - 100), along with an open handed channeling bonus, you can see some nice damage even on a 101 endroll. It'll probably drop off end game and be more of a finisher spell, but at that point you wont have mana worries.

There is also phantom damage applied as well. So it can get pretty juicy.

[Maerit]

Is warmage a thing at cap? I'm assuming archery might work, what about UAC and or swinging?

I play a capped UAC warmage. Works fine. Is it as mechanically powerful as a pure with rapid fire bolts? No, especially not when compared to pure wizards vs swarms. Is it more fun and slightly more versatile? Yup. Nothing magic immune or resistant is a problem. Plus, I can still bolt if I really want, and I have better defenses naturally from specific training requirements.

[GSIV Rogue]

Human is a good choice.

Human is pretty evenly balanced.

Half-Elf is the best all around

I believe these two to be the best races overall (mechanically), regardless of profession - for the aforementioned reasons (well-balanced). Can't go wrong with either.

I lean towards humans but extremely strong arguments for half-elves as well.

Both races are well-rounded and have: Decent spirit regen, carrying capacity, hit points.

For a wizard:

Half-elf is going to be slightly better at:
-bolting
-dodging maneuvers

Human will have slightly higher:
-hit points
-carrying capacity
-weapon AS
-TD
-spirit regen

I'm not a huge fan of the smaller races for any character. That being said, many people love them.

I like CoL for pures, though there are good arguments for going Voln (End-game undead pwnage). If that's your plan (Voln) - you may want to consider dark elf as well (Very good at bolting, dodging maneuvers, and ability to have the highest wizard / elemental CS).

It all depends on what you want to do, your goals with the character, and style of play.

PS - One last thing which factors into my race selection when starting a new character. Simu has a history of nerfing anything / anyone that they consider to be "OP" in the name of "balance" - I believe that the more well-rounded races have a better time adjusting to these types of "changes" that make the game "better."