I mean well, but I want to make a point that has been bothering me for some time: I am a level 79 (and I have looked up the higher level spells) fire main and have lots of experience at this game. I have seen every class and know what types of spells that they have in store for them. I would therefore like to start this by saying I KNOW what I'm saying.
1. High base damage Aoe, but with the end-of-the-stick Dot that you cannot buff on all enemies (as no aoe buffs for the fire class currently exist), you mine as well be looking at only being able to work with dragon's base 440 damage (300 something extra pointless Dot damage) and Rain of fire's 300 something base damage (with a whole 800 end-of-the-stick base damage).
2. No matter how you look at it, there are only a few ways to get fire's aoe spells to do massive damage: A. Spend weeks grinding for materials to craft decent gear (not like you have to for any other classes' Aoe spells to work well). B. Get to level 95 and finally have shadow pips (Low damage ones at low levels though but they are still shadow pips). C. Waste too much time and deck space with countless traps to spend too many turns trapping all of your enemies.
3. Now assume that we did all of that, but wait, now you are wondering how (against several enemies and having teamates who can kill much faster if they are not a fire main themselves) would you have that much time. The answer is: You really don't.
4. Most people would argue: Fire's Aoe has the second highest base damage succumbing only to storm, and the Dot is hard to block, but consider the fact that late game you get many penetration spells (star, sun and other spells, as well as base penetration from gear) so shields can not do as much. Then why does Dot matter? EXACTLY my point.
ANY other class in the game has Aoe spells that (while they have lower base damage) can be buffed to deal more damage FASTER because you only have to focus on buffing that base damage not the Dot.Take spells like Ra (balance), Scarecrow (death), Forest Lord (Life), etc for example. What I mean is that if you only had to worry about buffing the base damage of Aoe and not the Dot of these fire spells (like rain of fire, dragon, scald, etc.), then you could do faster damage, rather than higher damage that takes longer to use while you are stuck at 7 power pips for several turns. You see what I mean now?
Here is my over arching message: NEVER just consider base damage as a factor for which class is better, also consider which class has the ability to ATTACK in a lower amount of turns for almost as high of damage, and therefore deal a higher amount of damage in the long run. Fire's base damage is not much higher than other classes, yet it takes you longer to attack because of the excessive buffing you must do.
You should look at the GAMEPLAY of a class, not just damage, to decide which one is better and which is worse. There is no such thing as equal classes after all.
Every school not only has different styles of gameplay, but also a different set of challenges. Every school has something to overcome. For example, storm's lower health, or like in this case, what you have just described with fire. Where everybody has an advantage, they also have a disadvantage.
AoE buffs do exist in the form of Blades. Also, Wyldfire and damage-boosting Auras. Blades will buff each part of the attack, rather than one instance of damage as Traps do. This even applies to the DoT portion. A Fireblade will buff the base damage of Rain of Fire to the first enemy, and to the second, and to the rest, and will also buff all the damage they take from the DoT. With the ability to stack different Blades (even if that difference is Item Card vs. trained), Fire shouldn't have too much trouble turning that "base 440 damage and pointless DoT damage" into something with much bigger numbers. The DoT means you can kill with less Blades since Fire's AoEs are really strong. Less blades mean you can attack faster, which counteracts having to wait longer for the DoT to kill. And also, while Piercing is nice and all, school-specific shields do tend to be rather potent at blocking damage even with Piercing. You can go out of the way by casting Infallible or Shrike, but that takes a turn, and with Dragon/Rain of Fire you pretty much get to not even have to worry about taking that turn. There is a backside in that AoE DoTs aren't very good against bosses, but I'd recommend using Efreet (or FFA later) for bosses instead of Dragon or Rain.
I mean well, but I want to make a point that has been bothering me for some time: I am a level 79 (and I have looked up the higher level spells) fire main and have lots of experience at this game. I have seen every class and know what types of spells that they have in store for them. I would therefore like to start this by saying I KNOW what I'm saying.
1. High base damage Aoe, but with the end-of-the-stick Dot that you cannot buff on all enemies (as no aoe buffs for the fire class currently exist), you mine as well be looking at only being able to work with dragon's base 440 damage (300 something extra pointless Dot damage) and Rain of fire's 300 something base damage (with a whole 800 end-of-the-stick base damage).
2. No matter how you look at it, there are only a few ways to get fire's aoe spells to do massive damage: A. Spend weeks grinding for materials to craft decent gear (not like you have to for any other classes' Aoe spells to work well). B. Get to level 95 and finally have shadow pips (Low damage ones at low levels though but they are still shadow pips). C. Waste too much time and deck space with countless traps to spend too many turns trapping all of your enemies.
3. Now assume that we did all of that, but wait, now you are wondering how (against several enemies and having teamates who can kill much faster if they are not a fire main themselves) would you have that much time. The answer is: You really don't.
4. Most people would argue: Fire's Aoe has the second highest base damage succumbing only to storm, and the Dot is hard to block, but consider the fact that late game you get many penetration spells (star, sun and other spells, as well as base penetration from gear) so shields can not do as much. Then why does Dot matter? EXACTLY my point.
ANY other class in the game has Aoe spells that (while they have lower base damage) can be buffed to deal more damage FASTER because you only have to focus on buffing that base damage not the Dot.Take spells like Ra (balance), Scarecrow (death), Forest Lord (Life), etc for example. What I mean is that if you only had to worry about buffing the base damage of Aoe and not the Dot of these fire spells (like rain of fire, dragon, scald, etc.), then you could do faster damage, rather than higher damage that takes longer to use while you are stuck at 7 power pips for several turns. You see what I mean now?
Here is my over arching message: NEVER just consider base damage as a factor for which class is better, also consider which class has the ability to ATTACK in a lower amount of turns for almost as high of damage, and therefore deal a higher amount of damage in the long run. Fire's base damage is not much higher than other classes, yet it takes you longer to attack because of the excessive buffing you must do.
You should look at the GAMEPLAY of a class, not just damage, to decide which one is better and which is worse. There is no such thing as equal classes after all.
as for endlessly searching for the best gear water works suffices like every other class. we don't necessarily rely on DoT for a good battle. we set up for a hit with blades, traps, enchants like everyone else. back when I was using fire dragon regularly I didn't rely on the DoT to do the major damage, I expected the initial hit to do that and the DoT to take away any remaining health. Sun Serpent is a good spell because it does heavy damage for the boss but if that doesn't defeat them they get hit again by an AoE which is also good for taking out minions and if the minions don't fall I back it up with a meteor. however that strategy became obsolete when I got raging bull. raging bull when enchanted compared to enchanted sun serpent does almost as much damage as SS but never less and it does that heavy boss damage to all enemies so I don't have to bother with meteor. if for some reason the bull doesn't take care of the boss I have a fire from above in my deck because it does the most damage of any spell the fire school has. before you get the SS you use efreet for bosses and that spell is amazing because of the -90%. if you are fighting a boss that cheats when I single hit is used or they use a heavy damage spell that after effect will help you by pass it. like luska charmbreak in waterworks, if you use a single hit he uses an amped up skeletal dragon but since there's the weakness its nothing to worry about.
I mean well, but I want to make a point that has been bothering me for some time: I am a level 79 (and I have looked up the higher level spells) fire main and have lots of experience at this game. I have seen every class and know what types of spells that they have in store for them. I would therefore like to start this by saying I KNOW what I'm saying.
1. High base damage Aoe, but with the end-of-the-stick Dot that you cannot buff on all enemies (as no aoe buffs for the fire class currently exist), you mine as well be looking at only being able to work with dragon's base 440 damage (300 something extra pointless Dot damage) and Rain of fire's 300 something base damage (with a whole 800 end-of-the-stick base damage).
2. No matter how you look at it, there are only a few ways to get fire's aoe spells to do massive damage: A. Spend weeks grinding for materials to craft decent gear (not like you have to for any other classes' Aoe spells to work well). B. Get to level 95 and finally have shadow pips (Low damage ones at low levels though but they are still shadow pips). C. Waste too much time and deck space with countless traps to spend too many turns trapping all of your enemies.
3. Now assume that we did all of that, but wait, now you are wondering how (against several enemies and having teamates who can kill much faster if they are not a fire main themselves) would you have that much time. The answer is: You really don't.
4. Most people would argue: Fire's Aoe has the second highest base damage succumbing only to storm, and the Dot is hard to block, but consider the fact that late game you get many penetration spells (star, sun and other spells, as well as base penetration from gear) so shields can not do as much. Then why does Dot matter? EXACTLY my point.
ANY other class in the game has Aoe spells that (while they have lower base damage) can be buffed to deal more damage FASTER because you only have to focus on buffing that base damage not the Dot.Take spells like Ra (balance), Scarecrow (death), Forest Lord (Life), etc for example. What I mean is that if you only had to worry about buffing the base damage of Aoe and not the Dot of these fire spells (like rain of fire, dragon, scald, etc.), then you could do faster damage, rather than higher damage that takes longer to use while you are stuck at 7 power pips for several turns. You see what I mean now?
Here is my over arching message: NEVER just consider base damage as a factor for which class is better, also consider which class has the ability to ATTACK in a lower amount of turns for almost as high of damage, and therefore deal a higher amount of damage in the long run. Fire's base damage is not much higher than other classes, yet it takes you longer to attack because of the excessive buffing you must do.
You should look at the GAMEPLAY of a class, not just damage, to decide which one is better and which is worse. There is no such thing as equal classes after all.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and play style. I agree that base damage isn't the only stat. (Everyone always says that Ice is the best PVP school and they have the worst damage) I personally don't see anything wrong with Fire either and I do think that there are times when those attacks are valuable. I think it's more of the fact that your current level is where you perceive a rock and a hard space, because if you are annoyed by the DOTs you can use Meteor or the shadow spells as you suggested. You are also right that Storm is the fastest/hardest hitter. However, Storm also has drawbacks of it's own. Bottom line, you can do as you wish. Good luck!
I'm on my first time through wiz on a fire and I've liked it so far, I personally think the biggest issue for fire is having such low health. Because of your low health you end up having to use items of clothing that increase health rather than damage..
I mean well, but I want to make a point that has been bothering me for some time: I am a level 79 (and I have looked up the higher level spells) fire main and have lots of experience at this game. I have seen every class and know what types of spells that they have in store for them. I would therefore like to start this by saying I KNOW what I'm saying.
1. High base damage Aoe, but with the end-of-the-stick Dot that you cannot buff on all enemies (as no aoe buffs for the fire class currently exist), you mine as well be looking at only being able to work with dragon's base 440 damage (300 something extra pointless Dot damage) and Rain of fire's 300 something base damage (with a whole 800 end-of-the-stick base damage).
2. No matter how you look at it, there are only a few ways to get fire's aoe spells to do massive damage: A. Spend weeks grinding for materials to craft decent gear (not like you have to for any other classes' Aoe spells to work well). B. Get to level 95 and finally have shadow pips (Low damage ones at low levels though but they are still shadow pips). C. Waste too much time and deck space with countless traps to spend too many turns trapping all of your enemies.
3. Now assume that we did all of that, but wait, now you are wondering how (against several enemies and having teamates who can kill much faster if they are not a fire main themselves) would you have that much time. The answer is: You really don't.
4. Most people would argue: Fire's Aoe has the second highest base damage succumbing only to storm, and the Dot is hard to block, but consider the fact that late game you get many penetration spells (star, sun and other spells, as well as base penetration from gear) so shields can not do as much. Then why does Dot matter? EXACTLY my point.
ANY other class in the game has Aoe spells that (while they have lower base damage) can be buffed to deal more damage FASTER because you only have to focus on buffing that base damage not the Dot.Take spells like Ra (balance), Scarecrow (death), Forest Lord (Life), etc for example. What I mean is that if you only had to worry about buffing the base damage of Aoe and not the Dot of these fire spells (like rain of fire, dragon, scald, etc.), then you could do faster damage, rather than higher damage that takes longer to use while you are stuck at 7 power pips for several turns. You see what I mean now?
Here is my over arching message: NEVER just consider base damage as a factor for which class is better, also consider which class has the ability to ATTACK in a lower amount of turns for almost as high of damage, and therefore deal a higher amount of damage in the long run. Fire's base damage is not much higher than other classes, yet it takes you longer to attack because of the excessive buffing you must do.
You should look at the GAMEPLAY of a class, not just damage, to decide which one is better and which is worse. There is no such thing as equal classes after all.
You forgot about Fuel which you can place AFTER the first blow. Fuel plus Rain of Fire = dead enemies.
You also forgot about Backdraft.
You seem to think that the Dragon is all about the DoT, when I can tell you that I never got to the DoT part. The mobs were always dead with the first blast. (Its initial base damage is about the same as Scarecrow, by the way.)
You forgot about Efreet, which is basically a power-shot followed by a 90% Tower Shield. I soloed Nastrond with Efreet and Rain of Fire.
What this post tells me is that you haven't played Fire far enough to see how it it truly works, despite what you're claiming. Knowing "what spells exist ahead" is not the same as actual game experience, which is where you learn how to combine spells. You're certainly free to have your own opinion, however, and Fire is not the right school for everyone. If you don't like it, there are six other schools that might work better for your playing style.
Your comment about having to "spend weeks grinding for materials to craft decent gear (not like you have to for any other classes' Aoe spells to work well)" is seriously a head-scratcher. Um, ALL the schools need to have 'decent gear' in order to get the best out of their spells. Fire is no different from the others in that regard. If you don't like crafting, then I suggest Mt. Olympus at level 30, Waterworks/House of Scales at 60, and Darkmoor/Exalted duels at 100.
Alia Misthaven, 120 Rowan Ashcloud, 120 Sierra Stormcaller, 92 Emma Ravensong, 76 Fallon Raven, 75 Fiona Frostweaver, 73 Sophia Soulmender, 72
Fire was the first school I tried and from as questing point of view it's really handy I can one hit the littler minions, and if the first hit doesn't kill them than the dot will. So all that's left to do after that is grab some popcorn, heal up a bit, then sit back an watch 'em burn.
I'd like to add I think fire has an easier time working around things that tend to hinder other schools of magic (ex. wards and defensive auras) because we have so many dot spells. And effects of spells like Smokescreen and Efreet can be devastating when used correctly. Again this is from a questing perspective.
In terms of pvp I find it's a little harder to be a fire wizard in pvp just because there are other spell like tempest, judgement, mana burn, etc... that can out pace a pyromancer's spells. But then again pvp is so broken these days it's not even funny.
As for things like gear, fire school gear is actually fairly decent you just have to figure out which gear is worth using and what is a pile of uselessness which depends on what you want to stack your character to do. Do you want have a nuke, a support character, or a glass cannon?
Overall it's still a good school and one of the few I that I think are fairly balanced. Yeah, it not for everyone or something everyone will be good at but if you give it time and a chance it starts to grow on you.
Alia Misthaven, 120
Rowan Ashcloud, 120
Sierra Stormcaller, 92
Emma Ravensong, 76
Fallon Raven, 75
Fiona Frostweaver, 73
Sophia Soulmender, 72