Wizard Builds

For Wizards there are 3 main builds that people will usually refer to. They are the Pure Mage build, the Hybrid build, and the Light Armor build. There are different pros and cons for each and each build is recommended based on what type of game play you plan to be doing.

Pure Mage Build
This build is probably the "squishiest" build of all the 3 common builds for a wizard, especially at lower levels. You'll notice here you are not adding any points whatsoever in to your Vitality so your Hit Point pool (HP) will be only as high as your base HP plus armor bonuses and buffs. Strength is only added to equip arcane armor and wield magic weapons. Now although these types of wizards will go down extremely fast from a physical attacker, when something gets up in their face they are a nuking powerhouse. Because of the 9 points that you're adding into your magic you will have a very large mana pool and should be able to nuke most mobs before they even get a chance to do more than one hit at you (ideally you'll be nuking them before they even touch you though). This build is very Player vs. Environment (PvE) based since it lacks the HP to withstand much of the assault that one would be faced with in a large Player vs. Player (PvP) setting such as Territory Wars or when faced with large amounts of mobs and physical AoE bosses. However some players argue that with a proper strategy this build can successfully be used in PvP because of its extremely high magic defense and attack. But be wary of a low HP pool as it will continue to be one of your greatest weaknesses.

You can help your HP by adding in special gems, by refining your armors, and by using armor with innate HP bonuses. You can help your Physical Defense (PDef) by adding in special gems, by using armor with innate PDef bonuses, by wearing necklaces and belts which add to your PDef, and by refining your PDef ornaments. But these methods wind up being very expensive if you want really good survivability and most people do not bother with the cost and effort until they reach a very high level. Low level wizards usually level so fast that they would outgrow their equipment before they had gathered enough coins to pay for upgraded equipment. Also note that some bonuses which are very useful for wizards (like bonuses which make you cast your spells faster) do not appear on PDef jewelry.

Hybrid Build
This is usually the recommended build for players looking for mainly PvE gameplay. Here you will be sacrificing one of your magic points to go into your Vitality to up the HP. Each Vitality point will add 10 HP, which is tied with clerics for the lowest benefit per point of all the classes (for comparison purposes: barbarians get 17 HP from each Vitality point which is the highest benefit per point of all the classes; see Class Statistics for more info). This trade-off doesn't nerf your nuking abilities by too much (although you will be pulling in less damage when compared to a Pure Mage) and gives you a little bit better survivability. This will be especially noticeable in higher level instance dungeons such as Twilight Temple and Rebirth where there are physical damage Area of Effect (AoE) bosses and large groups of melee damage mobs. This build fares a little better in PvP in terms of survivability than the Pure Mage but is still pretty squishy and again outcomes will depend on your skill, level, equipment, and knowledge of how to control your character.

Vitality also increases your Physical and Magical Defense very slightly (you get maybe a 1% bonus on your equipment defenses for every 12 vitality points), and increases your health recovery rate (you get maybe 1 hp/second when not in combat, for every 20 vitality points).

Light Armor Build
This is usually the recommended build for players looking for mainly PvP gameplay. This build, unlike the previous two, allows the wizard to equip light armor instead of arcane armor. This armor has less magic resistance however its benefit is the larger physical defense that it gives over the arcane gear. Light armor wizards overall have a bit more survivability due to their increased Physical Defense, however their nuking power and mana pool and mana recovery rate is cut significantly due to the points that are being sacrificed in order wear the armor. These wizards are still missing HP like the Pure Mage build but don't usually go down as easily from physical attackers because of the extra resistance from their armor. These wizards also have a decent chance of hitting with their normal attack and a decent chance of dodging, and wizards have spells which can improve these abilities -- wizards will never be excellent melee fighters, but if you can avoid using a spell to deliver that last bit of damage necessary to kill a monster your smaller mana pool will not hurt quite so much. Also, a significant part of a wizard's damage comes from their spell level, which reduces somewhat their loss of raw magical power from their lower magical ability. Also, Dexterity will increase your critical hit chance which can be extremely useful in PvP where the timing of when you deliver your damage can be a huge issue.

Light armor wizards should probably use HP gems because they already have a lot of Physical Defense (and wizards have a Stone Barrier spell which will eventually be able to double their Physical Defense). But low level wizards should use cheap gems, because they will not be using them for very long. Light armor wizards should probably wear necklaces and belts which increase their magical defense, to compensate for the lightness of their armor. Magical defense ornaments also sometimes come with bonuses which can speed spell casting, which can be very useful if you can get a lot of this bonus (from multiple pieces of gear). Light armor wizards can also refine their gear for increased health, and light armor refinements give higher health bonuses than arcane armor refinements, but refining can be expensive and works better on high level gear, so most people do not refine their gear until later in the game. Light armor wizards can also wear arcane armor, if they wish, and can mix their gear and can carry multiple sets and wear gear appropriate to their current situation -- sleeves, in particular, can come with bonuses which speed your spell casting.