Everquest Endgame Guides
This guide covers the Wizard class from Classic EQ all the way until the end of Prophecy of Ro. I consider PoR to be the end of the classic era since the game starts to change in dramatic ways after this expansion. One such example is with this class, since it's mediocre during this era but it eventually becomes one of the best DPS classes in the game.
Wizards are the premier caster DPS class in EQ, they have the strongest nukes and until Luclin they're the only class that can crit with their nukes. Once Luclin is added everyone will get Fury of Magic which lets them crit, for us this AA just increases the crit chance. During this era of the game casters are kind of weak. There are some fights that they will score top of the parses on but with the insane resists in this era and the small mana pools - casters are just not properly balanced.
For this reason most people tend to avoid playing a caster until Omens of War and beyond when they get better. Starting in House of Thule you'll start to take over as top of the parse since that's when Twincast and other goodies are added into the game. You will progressively get better though from OoW until RoF (Level 100).
Aside from having the best nukes in EQ you are also one of two classes that get port spells. You can port to (basically) all of the same locations as a Druid with some very slight variations. Two spells unique to a Wizard are Alter Plane Hate and Alter Plane Sky. Both of these spells will port you to raid dungeons for Classic EQ. Until PoP there is no alternative way to get to these dungeons; the only kinda alternative is to use an Agent of Change and pop a DZ of these dungeons.
Important Stats & Focus Effects
Your biggest power increases are going to come from your stats until Velious and Luclin when you start capping them out. Buffs and Raid Gear will put you at 255 in all of your important stats, once this happens you can only increase them with AAs (or Heroic Stats). As a Wizard you'll want to prioritize Intelligence and Mana the most with Stamina being an important secondary stat.
I'd recommend you look for gear with Mana Regen too (also called Flowing Thought). The only time you will be taking damage as a wizzy during this era is if you try and do an AoE group or if you're a boxer who is doing AoE leveling. For this reason most Wizards don't really focus on survivability all that much.
Intelligence: Increases how much Mana you have; the amount of Mana you get per 1 Int scales as you level up.
Stamina: Gives you HP.
Planes of Power adds Heroic Stats into the game and these become more and more common until eventually they are on every piece of gear. These stats will let you increase your character's potential in ways similar to their non-heroic counterparts. Much like the normal stats, Heroic Stats will come with caps too.
Heroic Stats get a soft cap, when you go over this you'll start to get diminishing returns for every point put into them. For this reason it's typically best to spread out your HStats a bit. Wizards will want to get Heroic Intelligence first and then focus on Heroic Agility and Heroic Stamina after that.
Heroic Agility (Avoidance/Strike Through): Increases AC, Dodge, Block and Many of the most important Mod2s. Use my Heroic Stats Guide for more information.
Heroic Stamina (HP/Mitigation): Increases HP, HP Regen, and HP Regen Cap. It also gives you some Mod2s which help with damage and stun mitigation.
Heroic Intelligence (MP/Regen): This increases your MP, Mana Regen and Max MP Regen Cap for Int Casters. You'll want to focus on this until you reach the soft cap then switch to survivability HStats.
Want more information about Heroic Stats and what they do/how they're beneficial? Curious what Mod2s are? Take a look at my Heroic Stats Guide for more information about what each stat does and why we're getting the ones that we're focusing on.
Important Focus Effects
Starting in Luclin and becoming more common as the game goes on certain pieces of gear will come with Focus Effects. For melee classes you don't start getting tons of Focus Effects until OoW and beyond. Below are the main Focus Effects that you want to get on your gear when they become available.
***Mana Preservation: Reduces the amount of Mana consumed with each cast.
***Improved Damage: Increases the damage your DD spells do. This is very important if you plan to deal direct damage (with nukes).
**Extended Range: Increases the range of your spells.
**Spell Haste: Reduces the cast time of your spells (makes your spells cast faster).
**Extended Enhancement: Increases the duration of your buffs.
*Improved Dodge: Chance to Dodge is increased by a moderate amount. Pretty much gives you a bit more survivability.
*Improved Parry/Block: Chance to Parry and Block is increased by a moderate amount. More survivability.
*Reagent Conservation: Decreases the chance of a reagent being consumed. It saves money since some of our useful spells do have reagents.
Important Spells and AAs
Like I mentioned earlier, Wizards get the best damage spells in the game--they also get a minor amount of utility to go with those spells. I strongly recommend you read all of the spells you get with your Wizard so you know which ones are best to use and why. For example, you'll want to use your Lure of <element> spells against raid targets or targets with heavy resists. Lure spells come with a built in negative resist check which will allow them to land much more easily.
When you are fighting normal monsters you'll typically want to use your highest damage nuke, which elemental type you use depends on the mob you're fighting. As a Wizard, you also get many lines of AoE nukes too. If you've played on the TLPs you've probably heard of AoE PL groups or just normal AoE EXP groups. This is done by having multiple casters us PB AoE nukes (Point Blank Area of Effect).
If you are part of an AoE group you will be using spells like Jyll's Wave of Heat and Winds of Gelid. There are also Targetted AE spells but they aren't as good as the PB AoE ones in my experience. You have many different options when it comes to spells and you get upgrades nearly every level. My advice is to look at the Wizard 1-70 Spell List on Allakhazam and figure out what spells are available to you in your level range.
Self Buffs: All Int casters get a self shielding line that stacks with most other buffs. Use yours! Shield of the Arcane is the PoP version, Mystic Shield is the OoW Version and there are many prior to this. Starting in Luclin you will also get a Greater Familiar, this is an important buff you'll be using at all times. Keep an eye out for other random self buffs like Resistant Armor, this will help you in some situations!
Utility Spells: As a Wizard you'll get things like Manasink, Spellshield, Reflect, Invis, Levitate,
How to Play: Wizard Basics
More Tips & Tricks
Wizard BiS Lists
I have BiS gear lists for this class which include both Tower and Pre-Tower BiS items. For those of you who care less about a BiS list and just want a list of good gear options, I have included that at the bottom of each page too.
Kunark Wizard BiS Gear List
Velious Wizard BiS Gear List
Luclin Wizard BiS Gear List
PoP Wizard BiS Gear List