Hi, I started a wizard on Phinney server. I had been wondering how to be the most useful to my group. My delimna is that I want to put out good Dps without chain nuking for a fight or 2 and then needing med through 10 fights to recover the mana, but I also want to put out enough dps overall to be an effective group mate. What are your tips to being the best possible dps/ least downtime in fast kill groups that we see early in game, levels 1 - 50 or so?
Make friends with mana regeneration capabilities, keep one or two of your highest level nukes up for tight situations or namer, but maintain consistent damage by using lower, more manageable nukes. Always parse yourself, you'll get an objective view of how you're doing compared to everyone else in the group. I'd recommend grinding in zones where you can use a mount. In your late thirties you'll get harvest, keep that memmed.
Higher level nukes are typically more efficient than their lower level counterparts. Casting smaller spells to make mana go down less may feel one version of good, but it's literally throwing away damage. I don't know just what range I should compare to illustrate, so I grabbed a couple from the middle: Inferno Shock at level 26 costs 185 mana for 600 damage. It sure does use less mana than the next fire nuke upgrade Conflagration at level 43, 250 mana … for 900 damage. 1:3.24 damage versus 1:3.6. Casting four Inferno Shocks (740 mana) deals 2400 damage; casting three Conflagrations (750 mana) deals 2700 - and it does it faster by a whole spell. The real deal is to make as much use of "rain" style spells as you can. They're highly efficient to make up for the additional bother deploying them.
If you can get a mount that helps a lot. Rain spells are very mana efficient, but be careful when you have mezzed mobs, and at low levels your rains will do you significant damage if you stand too close. At higher levels you will start resisting it more often.
I am not sure when these unlock on your Phinney server. what is your Spell school specialization skills The four caster classes receive the entire set of these skills at level 20 Wizard Evocation is the best specialization choice for all common playstyles. The Secondary Forte choice is largely a matter of personal preference, but Abjuration is a reasonable decision for the sake of reducing the large mana costs on self-rune spells. Alteration (AoE snares) and Conjuration (temporary pets) are also options, but both are associated with spells of more trivial mana costs. http://everquest.wikia.com/wiki/Spell_school_specialization_skills
