Mage vs Rogue - Who does the most damage?Follow

Who can do the damage the fastest our of a mage and a rogue?
i love to play as the highest damage dealing class, but i need to know if the mage or the rogue is the better class for killing the fastest. Any answers from people who are experienced with one or both would be appreciated, thanks

Edited, Sat Nov 20 05:08:02 2004 by DeathPidgeon

so a rogue outdamages a mage in 1v1, but a mage does more in groups... hmmm
i think i may go a rogue then because i want to be good 1v1

Well, in most MMO's I could tell you why...but in WoW I really don't think it matters at all. I think I might know why, though. It's probably because large numbers attract people. That's just a random guess though.

I just enjoy it the most when i can kill monsters the fastest, i don't care about being physically weak, i just find it the most fun when dealing huge damage, shallow i know but thats me :P

As a lvl 24 mage i can probably give a bit of insight on this one. This whole myth about AoE damage is way overdone, its extremely hard to kite in world of warcraft, mainly cause you have to face the target when you are fighting and you have to walk when moving backwards (no running). This makes kiting, even with slowing spells, nearly impossible. This makes it so AoE is only useful in groups when you actually have several mobs in one location, the only problem is when you use AoE you have 90% chance of getting the agro of 3 hard mobs which will bury you in 5 secs. I have never found a use for AoE except instant cast Arcane Explosion and that is only good for killing mobs 3 or more levels below you, even then you need mana shield and this drains your mana, arcane explosion is also very mana inefficient. Rogues outdamage mages by alot, especially on harder mobs (yes even single targets). When my group fights lvl 27/8 mobs most of my spells are resisted, whereas the rogue still HITS the target, maybe for less damage but its better then my 0. Another myth is this "long range damage" BS, i can get off 2 maybe 3 spells before the target reaches me , this forces me to use nova, walk away and cast more, hoping that the mob doesnt break free before i get a good distance away, nova lasts like 5-8 seconds but they can break out whenever and when you hit them with a spell its almost garunteed breakout. In groups mages are for polymorph, dont deceive others and yourselves by saying we are good damage dealers, paladins deal better damage then me. Mages = polymorph, rogues = damage. Mages can also teleport which is semihelpful but sorta a waste of money unless you are half way across the world. I have always been a wizard, i played EQ, ff11, L2, SWG, and others, i have a good amount of experience in this field i know what im talkin about =p. The conjure water thing is just a necassary spell, its nothing special - at lvl 24 i have to sit between every mob if i am soloing mobs my level or higher, if the mobs are lower i can usually kill 2 then rest. Granted i could live on the edge and risk running out of mana and kill 2 mobs of my level or higher but i usually end up dying.

Edit: Blink moves you about 10 steps forward, and it doesnt free you from Stun/Nova/Snare, if you are stunned you cant cast the spell, if you are rooted you move a few feet and are still rooted. Blink sucks end of story - i hate to say it like this but its true, i have tried it alot and its only use is in PvP, i know ill get arguements but its true. Evocation can only be used every 10 minutse, WTH? Yes i did have decent equipment, when beta ended i had a Staff of Westfall and a emberstone staff, i had a nice wand and nice equip. Intellect increases mp by 10 per stat point (my lowest costing spell scorch costs 65 mp and does like 60 damage), spirit does next to nothing.

Summary:
-Teleports not cost money
-We can only poly 1 mob at a time
-Rogues do more damage (yes i have seen it MANY times, with other mages and many rogues)-short term and long term
-Warriors/Pallys deal more damage over time and they dont get "resists", they also can take a good amount of hits
-Killing higher lvl mobs doesnt really give more experience then mobs your level. This may sound strange but its true - killing lvl 19/20 mobs when you are lvl 20/21 is much better exp then killing lvl 24 mobs. Rogues/Warriors can chain kill mobs lower then them while mages still need to sit regardless. if you get 3 or more mobs you will most likely die or be close to death.

Edited, Sat Nov 20 15:09:25 2004 by Qwestionator

Wow (bad pun)
thanks heaps questionator, i really appreciate the tiem you put into writing this down for me.
thanks heaps

I only played a mage to level 13. But even at the level he was a lot of fun. However, I was grouped with a cleric for most of that time. Though we were both cloth classes, it worked out well. He’s pull the mobs and hold agro. I would sheep a mob is we got an add and then blast away at the main target. If I pulled agro, the cleric would hit it with a mind blast and pull it right back. Though the cleric lacked good armor, he could keep himself healed while I finished off the mob. We made a very good team. As for soloing, I’ll bow to Qwestionator’s expertise.

During the second stress test and open beta, I played a rogue to level 21. Though I enjoyed playing a mage, and I’ll eventually be playing one again, I plan on playing a rogue as my main. I’ve always enjoyed rushing in and beating the mob about the head and shoulders. So a rogue fits my play style better.

If played right, the rogue is a killing machine. And with talents you can specialize in different styles of killing. You can play the type of rogue who sneaks up behind something and backstabs it. Or you can play more like a warrior and stand face to face with the mob and slice it to ribbons, or bash it to death if using maces.

So it boils down to what type of play style you enjoy the most; ranged or up close and personal.

There is a thing called sap.



Rogue must not have had vanish ready.

Edited, Sat Nov 20 19:36:08 2004 by VampyreKnight

I took down a level 21 Gnome Mage with my level 17 Undead Rogue. He even Frost Nova'd me but before he got away, I gouged him. A Mages worst nightmare is the Rogue that has snuck up behind him, because if that happens, that Mage is definately most likely dead.

Ambush -> Gouge -> Backstab -> SS -> Kick to stop any spells -> Kidney Shot for stun or Eviscerate to lead into-> kill.

Okay,

First, both are very comparable in most regards; A mage has better CC and has CC that is much more widely used late game. A rogue can scout and has some nifty ricks up his sleave.

I play a rogue in teh 1st stress to 26, in the 2nd stress and open beta, I mosly played a hunter, to 27 and a rogue to 16; I have played a rogue or rogue-like character at some point in *every* MMO I have played, and most RPG's. With that said, I play a rogue because I like the archtype. Silent Assassins, Paper Tigers, Melee.

A mage, although similar when it comes to numbers, is a completely different class (and not just in the fabrication and template we put on character classes - it really is a different class in playstyle)

My advice to you - since both classes are fairly equal in regards to damage output, play both to 10 (that is like a day's worth of playing, max) maybe 12, since you get some pretty unique abilities at 10 and the class often changes quite a bit post 10 then prior to 10. Find out which class you like to PLAY the best. Remember, if you can play a mage to give the most DPS possible, but you are killing yourself in teh process, you arn't playing the mage well, and will prolly get burned out. If you don't tire of the erratic nature of your progression, then I am sure healers and tanks *will*. Play what you like and can play the best. Then - get better at it. That is when you will be most effective.

tru, but by level 10 you have most the class defining skills, or at least a large part of them, and can get a feel for the way the class is gonna play in the long-term least I did.

Rogues can deal insane DPS mainly because of their high Crit chance and crits always do max dmg.
So with the speed of a rogue dishing out dmg (add to this poisons after lvl 20) no-one can basically come close to out dps'ing a rogue.
This all works well in PVP since there is no such t´hing as hate controll really only crowd controll. If you're in a PT however you most likely as a rogue will have to decrease your max dmg output or the tanks will not stand a chance keeping hate from you, unless they get lucky and get 2 400 dmg crits on the mob in the beginning. Our MAX DMG is kinda low PER HIT, but the fact is that with sinister strike, evisceration and backstab plus poisons we hit so fast and so many times that our dmg output is insane and no other class can come close in comparing with this.

I still don't see why people complain about mages the way they do. The main thing I see, however, is that people tend to go arcane and ice talent tree (That's the standard that I seem to see all the time, and namely arcane solely for the MP regen and what not). However, I recently talked it over with some other high level players from Closed and Open Beta about a Ice/Fire Talent tree, and , assuming the mage knows when not to spam the same nukes over and over in a span of 5 seconds (i.e. Overnuking BLM in FFXI), should be able to get a high, consistent DPS. (I'm still waiting to see someone do Pyroblast + Firepower + Combustion + Ignite >:D)