Watch Your Mana and HP Bar

This has more to do with Solo play than with Group play, but it is a good rule overall. Watch your Health Bar and the Mana Bar while you fight. If your mana bar is not lower than your health, then you are not doing enough damage, and you will not win. Granted, if the monster is clearly taking more damage than you this is not an issue, but typically you will be fighting things that are not close to you and often you do not get accurate updates to its life bar. There have been several times that I have had a full bar of life and NO mana, and tried to stand and beat the creature to death with my staff. Do not attempt this past around level 8, because you will lose. If you are out of mana and the creature is not dead, poke him until you lose 2 bubbles of life, then RUN unless you are CERTAIN that creature will die within 1 more staff blow. This also means keep an eye on both bars, not just mana. Many is the time I almost died from totally disregarding the amount of damage I was sustaining (usually I am drawn to this fact by my tank yelling GRIM!! BACK OFF!! and heals going off -- typically backing off is useless, the creature simply follows). This has an amusing side effect of making you seem more absent minded and wizardy, which can't hurt in role playing.

Don't Over Damage the Creature

There is a tendency among wizards, enforced by lower levels and soloing, to uncork and blast everything as fast as possible. When you are alone, this is fine, the creature has to die before it reaches you, because you cannot cast spells as a punching bag and will die. But in a group, you need to resist this urge. There are two good reasons for this. First off, if you use up all your mana, you are a useless experience sponge. Do not do this, it makes Wizards look bad and upsets your friends if you do it often. Spread out your mana, never use more than two bubbles of mana when in a fight. Once you reach that point, either sit down and meditate or go up and assault it with your staff or dagger (should you be feeling bold). Be aware, however, if you melee with a creature you have been blasting, it will almost always turn on you. There are two reasons for this, first the creature sees easy meat, and the computer does not fight to win, it fights to kill as many players as it can. The second reason is more complex.

All NPCs in Everquest possess an attribute that no PC has. This is either Aggression or Hate, depending on who you ask. As an NPC is damaged, this Hate level raises for each person, keeping track of who did what damage. In a fight, the spellcaster, especially a Wizard tends to do more damage than any mere melee fighter. As such, east blast you gleefully unload on the target makes it hate you more and more, and inevitably it will turn and run to attack YOU if you do too much damage too fast. Thus, if you, as a Wizard, cast your best spell over and over into the target and savor the cries of pain and pretty special effects, you will suddenly begin reading many red messages about how YOU are taking damage, and blue messages about how your spell is interrupted. A side note at this point: Do not panic. Stand your ground, if you move, it is harder to target you for healing for helpful souls not in your group, and it is impossible for the tanks to taunt it off you. Take your licks, you are not made of glass, and stoically realize that a good group will save you. Once the monster turns on someone else again, back up away from it. Another side note: if you are standing too close to a monster who is not presently paying attention to you, it will turn as you cast spells, hit you once (interrupting the spell) and turn back to fight the tanks. Stay back from monsters.

What then should a Wizard do? First off, do not be the first to damage an incoming monster. Let the others hit it first, wait a moment and allow them to get it good and mad at them. THEN blast the monster, once and watch them fight. If the monster is dying rapidly, don't waste mana, let the tanks have their glory, they really enjoy this stuff. If the monster appears to be still rather healthy, pause a moment, consider your next spell, and then cast another spell (see Vary Your Spell Attacks below). Wait some more, repeating this process. Once the monster is at 1/3rd life or lower SIT DOWN, it is finished (unless the party is dying). Meditate, get a jump on the next monster so people do not have to wait long for you. If you do this right, there will be little down time for anyone else, and you can make the most experience and have the most fun faster by facing foes and working together with your party.

Use Your Taunt Wisely

Because of the aggression level mentioned above, Wizards are actually the supreme taunters in the game. Enchanter spells actually taunt worse by damage, but simply put, Wizards out damage the Enchanter class by a fair margin and can cast quicker. This can be used to your group's advantage. Remember, you are not made of glass, even if you die very quickly compared to other classes. Is your cleric being pounded on and unable to heal anyone? Is your tank about to die and freaking out (they run about worse than casters when they are dying)? Is that Enchanter getting slapped around because his Mesmerisation area effect spell was resisted? Fire off a few blasts in a row and watch that monster forget all about them. Don't over do it, you can make them so mad they will never forget you, but once they forget about that other guy, just relax, stop casting, and don't attack.

Remember, your hit points are so low compared to others at a given level that heal spells are incredibly efficient on you. Laugh as the healers marvel at how easy you are to heal. The others in your group will remember your selfless and group-oriented mind set as you sacrifice your safety to keep others in the group alive and active. Any time you expect there to be a lot of monsters at once and are with an Enchanter, memorize an AE spell. Use it only when he says, or if he is being swarmed. You can pull them off him, and that Enchanter can control the bad guys better than anyone in the game.

As a final note, there is a strategy called "Ping Pong" that people use due to aggression rating. Because the monster will run off and attack the person it is most upset at any given time, you can play ping pong with this hapless beast when with another caster. Each caster simply uses their best spell as quickly as possible, and the monster will run back and forth, 'aggroe'd' on first one, then the other caster. With skin spells and a healer, this can work remarkably well, especially out doors where the brute has to run a good distance to get to you.

Assist (target carefully)

I went 12 levels before I figured out the assist command. Turns out sometimes reading the manual is not such a bad idea (ok so that was not especially bright heh heh). Have an /assist hotkey set up in your primary spells set so you can just target the party member you desire (F2-F7) and hit 1 or whatever to highlight their target. This is not foolproof, sometimes it flat out does not work. Typically, however, it will save you time and make you incredibly efficient. This will let you hop from target to target and blow up whatever needs the most work (or help kill the monster for whoever is losing the most life). This also will prevent you from choosing the wrong target, which can be a problem when there are several groups in an area and the monsters clump up. If you blow up the wrong target, you will most likely upset the other party (especially if you are the highest level caster) and take their experience. In addition you have failed to assist your party, and let your friends down.

Vary Your Spell Attacks:

One of the subtle advantages a Wizard has is that we are given the most variety in direct damage of any class. True, there are often long gaps between getting a new type of blast, but Wizards get cold, fire, and magic more often than any other class. This looks somewhat annoying in the spell list (lets see, next level, sight spell, 2 blasts, 2 area effects -- four attack spells) and some other little stuff... arrrg boring!!!) but is very useful. Many creatures are more resistant to a given kind of attack than they are others. Some more obvious examples would be Fire Elementals, who ignore heat and fire attacks, but are damaged more easily (less resists) by cold attacks. Switch off as you fight creatures, you will find what ones are resisted more and what are resisted less. After a few fights you should have a good idea how this works. For example, the Gnoll Reavers in East Karana seem to resist fire more than they do cold or lightning, I learned after a few fights. This means that in an emergency (the monster is about to kill you or your friend or run too far and must be dropped) you want to avoid using fire.

Remember that your lower level spells cast quicker than the new big one you just got, always have one memorized from lower levels. Most of the time quick, small blasts are better than big, slow ones. In addition, your channelling skill actually makes spells from the previous circle and below faster to cast than they originally were. Specialization also helps with this effect. Don't forget those old spells, sometimes they might be the only of a given type you have to work with (for example, at level 8 you get Shock of Ice, which does up to 38 damage and casts very quickly. You will not get another cold spell until level 24).

As you go up levels, you will note that many monsters begin to resist certain types of attacks more than others. None have a vulnerability to any type of damage, that is none take extra damage from any type of damage. Choose your spells wisely. Clearly when entering Solusek's Eye with its lava and fire creatures, one should not have fire-based spells memorized. In Permafrost, the land of ice and snow, your cold-based spells will not be a wise choice. In general, magic-based spells are always a solid choice (especially since Enchanters and even Magicians and Shamans later on are able to lower magic resistance). It might take a few fights or some advice from your fellow elder Wizards to know what works best in given circumstances.

Watch Your Tanks HPS

The tanks are being so kind as to absorb damage and make the monsters mad so that you do not have to. They do this gladly, as its fun for them (curious creatures) and they get experience from the ordeal. As a good wizard, you should watch their life. Keep an eye on them, if their life goes below half on that red bar, start to attack more aggressively. You can keep an eye on everyone's life while you meditate, which you will find useful to do in combat occasionally, as seen above. Pop up (ESC key does this in one stroke, not requiring a mouse button click) and attack when anyone is getting hurt too bad. If they are reduced to 2 bubbles of life, expend all your mana on that target (see above on Assist). It is critical that your tank does not die, for several reasons. One is selfish, they are often bound a long ways away and thus you will be waiting for them to return AND get their gear back on. Second, this fellow is selflessly using his head to block shots you would take, and that kind of somewhat less than brilliant honor and friendship should be rewarded.

Keep Root Handy

What happens when a monster runs away in a dungeon? He gets healed and/or runs back with 50 of his best buddies, some of whom are even tougher. How do you stop this? Well Druids and Rangers can cast Snare, but if you don't have that available, your best option is to have Root handy until level 29 when you too can snare, in a sense. Keep an eye on the monsters, and if you see one run, target him and hit root, hit it fast. What happens when a monster gets his hate level at you too high? He comes over and beats on you like a rented mule, unless he has been rooted or someone can taunt him off you. Because of the way root works, it often is useful to simply root a creature and sit down. The monster cannot run, and it will stay rooted longer if you do not attack it, giving you a few moments to meditate (this works especially well when combined with Shadowstep. Do not worry where the creature is relative to you, not only will it find you, but you don't have to be facing the brute to hit it with your spells). This spell is cheap and often effective and I know many high level wizards who continue to use this spell at levels above 30th. Another good use of Root is to 'park' monsters if more come than you care to deal with. While not as capable as an Enchanter at this sort of thing, a Wizard can control a crowd using Root in some cases. Remember that root is not foolproof, but it will often get you out of danger when you have no other option.

Learn to Use Area Effect

Area Effect spells comprise the bulk of the spells a Wizard has in his book, more than the DD spells and bolts of all kinds combined. As a result, failure to understand and use these spells will result in a Wizard who is not living up to his full potential and power. Area Effect spells require some thought and understanding to use properly hower, and receive their own page for special attention.

Tactics and Strategy for the Wizard

There are many different things and ways to play your Wizard, and here I hope to give you a few tactics and ideas you can follow. This is where I will go in depth more specifically and give exact ideas and ways to do things, places to hunt, and things to do with your spells and items.

Wizards have a fairly narrow array of spells and tools to work with. Having the fewest total class-specific quests in the game, the fewest class-specific items in the game, and the fewest spells of any full spell caster in the game all has a limiting effect on Wizards. However, it has also resulted in Wizards working harder and finding newer and more creative ways to use their spells than any other class. Neccessity, after all, is the mother of Invention, and Wizards are by far the most innovative class in the game.

Controlling your Aggro

This is the most basic of Wizard skills and tactics, doing the most damage you can without making the monsters mad at you. This is just some tips and information from my experience.

Soloing 101

This covers some basic concepts and ideas for soloing as a Wizard. While soloing is boring and dangerous, it is very effective of gaining experience quickly, and this guide should help you some at this endeavor.

Kiting

Kiting is the practice of slowing or choosing a slow target, and keeping ahead of it far enough that you can damage it without sustaining damage. This is most common among Druids, but can be done rather well with a Wizard if he has the right tools.

Fear Kiting

Like Kiting, this tactic is designed to damage a creature without taking any damage. Fear Kiting uses a fear spell to make the monster flee instead of running from it.

Quad Kiting

Something that has gotten a lot of attention lately is the idea of "Quad Kiting," that is, the practice of gathering up to 4 targets and running ahead of them to blast them with Area Effect Spells. This is not remotely as easy nor common as it often is alleged to be, but it can be very rewarding and helpful as an experience gathering tool.

Ping Pong

As noted above, two casters can take advantage of aggro monsters have to make them run from one caster to another by damaging it. This can be an effective tool, although painful at times.

PBAE Grouping

This is the most complex of the topics, covering the Myztic Strategy in greater detail and exhaustive effort than given elsewhere.

The Staff of Temperate Flux

While this quest item from the Temple of Solusek Ro is not useful in its intended purpose, it has other handy uses that are not initially obvious.

Hoarding your Mana

Mana is life for a Wizard, more than any class in the game, Wizards are mana dependent. Learning to gather, control, and use it wisely is important for every Wizard.

Countering Casters

One of the roles you will play as a Wizard is to stop enemy casters, and this is some tips on how to do it best and why we do it well.