Interview with : 

Dra'kar

Name, level, server, message board name :
Dra'ar, 76, Leafcull, Dra'kar
Nayin, 76, Leafcull, Dra'kar

Favorite message board :
CoD

How long have you been playing AC?
Since the first month after retail, but I just recently came back after a 6
or 7 month stint with DAOC.  AC has always been my true love. :)

How much do/did you play every week?
20 hours a week probably.

What template of mage do you currently Play?
You'll probably laugh but I decided to stick with the template I was working
on before I left instead of my BM.  The template is:
Aluvian
10 10 100 10 100 100
Spec: Dagger
Train: Life, Creature, Mana C, Healing, Lockpick, Bow

Item @9
War @60
Arcane @75
Fletching @95

Appraisals afterwards.

He's level 76 now and coming along well.  Pretty fun character to play and
will start to shine around level 90.  (ugh)

Is AC your first MMORPG? in not what others have you played and did you play
a mage?

AC was my first MMORPG but I did play MUDS's for about 4 years prior to
this.  I quit AC for about 7 months and have just recently returned.  For
the last 7 months I've played DAOC and took a mentalist to level 50.  (a
mage)

What was your first mage character? Do you still play it?
My first mage character was created about 1 month after retail.  He was a 4
school trained mage that I took to level 56.  I was tired of all the resists
I was facing so I rerolled a war/life specialized mage about 2 months before
the BZ fight.  War/Life wasn't popular at the time because the Creature/Life
template was the current template.

How do you play AC? Are you in it to power-level, Dungeon Dwelling,
adventuring, friends, etc.

I do just about everything in AC actually.  I'm not much of a big time
explorer, but I do get around alot.  I like dungeons and it was the biggest
thing I missed about AC while playing DAOC.  I also like grouping with
friends for xp, and now fellowships are advantageous in AC. 

And yes, I like to powerlevel.  I can't even begin to count how many
different characters I've taken to 50+ only to delete and try something new.
I even have an Og Spear named Tri'dent.

What gear do you normally hunt in?

Before I left I hunted in either my matty robe or my PreGSA.  Since I've
come back, I hunt in the new NeoGSA or a hooded faran.  (till I get the new
matty). 

What do you feel was the best thing to happen to mages in the game?

Level VII's.  They alone made war magic worth 28 credits and made
specializing important.  I would say the second most important thing in my
opinion was peas.  It cut our burden down and allowed for lower strength
templates to be possible.  It also added the convience of carrying hours
upon hours of components.

What do you think is the worst thing that affects mages?

Before I left, the most annoying thing about playing a mage was that
creatures would become immune to magic.  At the time, I had an incredibly
high war skill, and one resist would practically make bane grievers
unkillable for me.  Executors and Inquistors were the same way.

I've heard they've corrected this bug though and since I've just come back,
I don't know anything that could possibly be bad about playing a caster.

Are mages overpowered?

Tough question.  I know my old character was able to mow through anything he
wanted too, which some melee's couldn't say.  But I don't think it was his
ability to use war magic that made him too powerful.  I think it was the
life magic debuffs that made him that way.  Any character with high life
magic skills can kill anything they want.  But, there are creatures that can
counter buff debuffs.  So, if mages are really too powerful, they can easily
correct that if they (Turbine) wanted too.

I hear Crystal Golems are pretty nice for loot and that casters can't kill
them really with magic.  Personally, I think that's a good thing.  Reminds
me of the Diamond Lords that melee's couldn't kill without whacking on it
for 15 minutes.

What are your thoughts on Drain Health I?

Too strong and I hope I don't see it in AC2.  I also hope that LoS (line of
sight) plays an important part in determining if someone can cast an
offensive spell or not.  The ability to drain through walls was probably one
of the biggest design flaws of AC in my opinion.

What template do you advocate for a starting mages?

4 school trained mage, or possibly a war specialized.  I would recommend
that anyone new to the game who wants to start a mage try one out to learn
how to play one.  After 20-30 levels, they should understand the mechanics
of playing a mage.  Additionally, they'll know how "their" playstyle is.

What do you feel turbine needs to do with mages, if anything?

Good question.  I would venture to say more drain resistant creatures to put
the reliance back on war magic instead of life magic.  Possibly even more
counter-buffing creatures, but with lower hit points.

Additionally, if it hasn't been fixed yet, the misfires which happened if
you fired off a war spell on a charging enemy. 

Once again, I've been gone for 7 months, so I really can't comment too much
on this.  Mages were fine in my opinion before I left.

After the primary skills have been obtained what skill do you think a mage
should take?  Arcane, Healing, Lockpicking, or MeleeD?

I took arcane lore on my BM and at the time it was frowned upon.  But, the
ability to throw on all the life protects with the exception of one, buff
with a creature wand, focus/self jewelry was wonderful.  I would still do it
again in a heartbeat, although healing has it's place.  My new mage creation
that I took to level 76 (and continue to play now) has just about
everything.

Lockpick is nice, but I hardly think it's more useful then healing or arcane
for a mage.  Melee Defense in my opinion isn't really worth it since you
lose that + defense mod by equipping a wand instead of a weapon. 

Also, with the new arcane items that can buff your stats on top of spells, I
think arcane is the best option for any mage in the game.

Care to reminisce?  What has been the best patch or moment or epiphany that
you have had in AC.

I would say the best moment I ever had was being one of the 3 remaining
mages on the LC server to kill BZ.  I remember standing on top of that
statue and blasting him with firebolt VI's over and over again.  There were
about 12 that were up there from the start, and only 3 that fell.  I didn't
get the killing blow, but I sure did put a hurting on him.   I think at the
time I was a level 65 BM.

Oh, one other great moment was being the first to solve the War Mage Armor
quest on the leafcull server.  I admit I was just plain lucky, but it was
still nice to do. :)

Comments? Shout outs?

Don't be afraid to try new types of mages.  There are plenty of templates to
choose from and don't be afraid to be different. Go with what you feel is
your playstyle, not what someone else tells you is theirs. 

Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Dizzarian