Classes
Wizard
The nuker — biggest single-spell damage in the era, plus ports and emergency evac.
Wizard is the specialist nuker. The class spell book is dominated by direct damage (DD), a handful of port spells, group evacuation, and a small crowd-control kit. Wizards cast the largest single-spell damage numbers in the era, then sit to meditate. That is the Wizard identity: burst-down a target, sit, burst-down the next. The Wizard's secondary identity is transportation. Ports cover every major continent and PoP hub, and the Evacuate line group-teleports a wiping raid out of the zone in one cast. Outside combat, the Wizard is a bus driver. Inside combat, the Wizard is a missile launcher.
Role and identity
A Wizard exists to land the biggest hits in the fight. Ice Comet at 39, Sunstrike, Lure of Ice, Pillar of Lightning, Draught of Jiva — the Wizard's big-nuke ladder is the highest single-cast damage curve in EverQuest. Outside burns, the Wizard ports the group, evacuates the raid, or quad-kites four mobs at once for solo XP.
Identity is mana-spike economics. Wizards trade depth for height — short combat windows where they out-damage everything else, then long meditation windows where they sit and read the spellbook. Mana conservation AAs and burst windows define how many of those spike windows the Wizard fits in per camp.
Strengths
- Largest single-spell damage in the era
- Evacuate line saves wipes
- Port network covers every major hub
- Quad-kite — round up four mobs and AE-nuke for solo grinding
- Mana Burn (AA) — suicide-tier raid burst
- Lures bypass mob magic resist on most named
Weaknesses
- Low HP, vulnerable to any unintended aggro
- Mana pool drains fast under sustained casting
- No CC contribution at raid scale
- Useless without burst windows in long fights
- Aggro-fragile — out-damages tanks regularly without aggro management
Solo, group, and raid
Solo
Moderate. Nuke-and-stand for early levels, root-nuke for mid, quad-kite for endgame. The Wizard cannot take a hit, so solo play is distance-based and uses snare-rooted mobs as anchor points. Spell Casting Subtlety AA reduces aggro for safer kite play.
Group
Every group welcomes a Wizard for burst. Mana pool management defines the seat: Wizards who sustain 100% uptime get rotated out of frequent groups; Wizards who burn-fast-and-meditate become the metagame standard. Signature contribution is the opener nuke and the closer Ice Comet.
Raid
DPS seat for ramp-in and burn phases. Wizards lead most DPS parses on Plane of Fire and Plane of Air. AA priority is Mana Conservation, Spell Casting Reinforcement, and the Wizard-specific Hastened Mana Burn. Improved Familiar and Spell Casting Mastery round out late-tier picks.
The Last Camp any-race-class combos
The Last Camp opens Wizard to canonically forbidden races. Iksar Wizard is the standout — Cabilis starting, regen, and racial AC bonus on a caster body. Troll Wizard brings the highest regen in the game to mana recovery (paired with a meditation rotation, regen helps Lich-equivalent strategies — though Wizards don't have Lich, the class does benefit from HP-tap-to-mana itemization). Ogre Wizard is the absurdity build: frontal stun immunity on a glass-cannon caster, the only Wizard race that can guarantee burst windows against caster bosses where stun immunity matters.
Halfling Wizard is the smallest INT-stat-cap Wizard with the highest racial AGI for Spell Casting Subtlety stacking. Barbarian Wizard is the largest cold-resist Wizard, with Halas starting and a faction-friendly path through Everfrost. Vah Shir Wizard combines Safe Fall with caster scouting, ideal for vertical zones. Wood Elf Wizard of Solusek Ro is the corrupted-druid build, opening Faydark to fire-magic worship.
Spell / discipline highlights
Defining spells: Ice Comet (39, the iconic nuke), Sunstrike, Lure of Ice, Pillar of Lightning, Draught of Jiva, Evacuate (group port-out), the Port spell book (Cazic-Thule, North Karana, West Karana, Greater Faydark, all PoP hubs), Bonds of Force (root + DoT), Strike of Solusek Ro (high-damage fire DD), and Mana Burn (AA, sacrificial burst). No disciplines.
AAs to prioritize
Mana Conservation, Spell Casting Reinforcement, and Hastened Mana Burn first. Then Spell Casting Subtlety, Innate Intelligence, and Improved Familiar. Mind Over Matter (HP buff for survival) and Spell Casting Mastery round out the kit.
Leveling path summary
- 1-15: Starting city newbie zones, nuke greens.
- 15-30: Blackburrow, Befallen, Oasis. Ice Comet at 39 redefines the class.
- 30-45: Lower Guk, Sol A, Permafrost, Mistmoore.
- 45-60: Karnor's, Chardok, Sebilis. Quad-kite starts in Overthere around 55.
- 60-65: PoP. Plane of Fire and Plane of Air are DPS races — Wizards lead most parses.
Notable gear by tier
Early Wizards prize Staff of Forbidden Rites, Crystallized Wand, and any robe with INT and mana stats. Kunark adds Tome of Endless Enchantments, Lambent Sceptre, and Iksar caster gear. Velious provides Coldain Wizard robes and Plane of Mischief utility drops. PoP endgame is the Time-tier wizard set and the Wand of Falling Suns. Epic 1.0 Staff of the Four carries a four-element clicky line — the iconic Wizard ID weapon for any era.