Are wizards decent and desirable in teams @ end game?

[Dennac]

I don't play MMO's to play by myself and I come to DDO as someone who has played a lot of MMO's but unfortunately is mostly new to the rules of DDO. I've been rolling various characters getting a feel for some of the basics and the low level characters and am entertaining the idea of playing a wizard (the one i have now is lvl 4) but in all honesty am not sure how much frustration I want to submit myself to.

I'm playing a free account so that will have to factor in how I approach this for now. So some questions:

Is the CC of a wizard strong enough to ensure desirability in teams?
What exactly will I bring to the table that is desirable?
Is using the in game template for a necromancer viable?
Would I be better off working out a career path instead? (difficult because of my lack of knowledge of the game systems and content)
Is the summoned pet a help or a mana & time draining nuisance?
How come charms don't follow me?
Is there a better & faster way to release charms so my team mates can slay them when ready? (instead of right clicking on them and hitting the release button)

If it looks like I'm going about this all wrong, please offer suggestions.

Thanks

[TheBlueFox]

I dont know about the deep of endgame, but I have never seen a wizard turned down in a group, unless theres already an arcane class in it and they need a healer.

CC does diminish a bit, but with heightened webs, glitterdusts and nice tasty firewalls, you should be fine and welcome.

youll probably be buffing alot, Hastes, elemental resistances, stoneskin and various things like that, maybe even repairing warforged, but the major thing I hear (again, have not experienced for myself) is that arcane damage takes a backseat either due to its mana cost or efficiency.

Summoned pets are good at level 1 and 2 for adding a little extra damage and a distraction. but beyond that, their effectiveness is negligible. They are just too weak to be a deciding factor in battles and only serve as fodder or a distraction to sneak by things.

Charmed enemies are no longer SUPPOSED to follow you, I believe its only suggested enemies...or something else, but not charmed.

Releasing charms can only be done by selecting them and hitting the remove charm feat that you are provided with and probably dragged to your hotbar.

As for necromancer, using ANY of the preset templates can often lead to less than desirable ends. If you wish to make a necromancer, you should research on your own how it can be created here.

[linaewen]

As you can see from my sig, I play a wizard (high level one too), I dont have much to add to BlueFox comments but I will say that:

- up to Vale (lvl 13-16) stuff (orthons and devils ), a wizard RULES with firewall and a few buffs.
Then it becomes a bit more complicated however I still feel like a decent addition to any group I join. There are some nice strategies to figure out.
Pets are just as dumb and useless as hirelings, so they are useless.

You want a decent wizard build? Easy enough, max INT, rest in CON, and all the other stats at 8. And don't follow any path, customize your toon.

So overall, I think you should be fine playing a wizard in free content, just one thing, DO NOT spec your wizard as a necromancer, the main ability of a wizard is to switch spells when needed, so be a generalist and do what you have to to ensure success.

[TheBlueFox]

As you can see from my sig, I play a wizard (high level one too), I dont have much to add to BlueFox comments but I will say that:

I see no sig >.>

[Montrose]

Wizards are still viable in end-game content, though their usefullness has diminshed not insignificantly in reaver's refuge and beyond due to massive amounts of inflated HP and immunities.

Crowd Control is still viable (symbol of stunning is always a crowd pleaser, mass hold monster makes short work of mobs that fail their save), but the rise in spell resistance and ridiculous saves makes them harder to land. You'll probably wind up needing to energy drain a mob before they'll reliably fail a save.

I highly recommend a wizard before you roll a sorc so that you can try out all the spells. However, once you're comfortable and know what spells you like, I'd suggest rolling a sorc. You get more SP and faster casting time, plus natural attribute synergy with the UMD skill.

I've got both a high-level sorc and a high-level wiz, and of the two the sorc is hands-down more viable in most quests. (Though the wizard is better experimenting and running one-off quests because of the ability to switch spells).

[RTN]

Otto's Irresistible Dance and Mind Fog+Disco Ball are all very effective at end game. A pure Wiz will also get the capstone, which will boost this as well.

[dv8maker123]

Hmm, as a level 17 wizard I find that my level 9 spell summon demon is quite handy (but yes most of the lower level ones stink). As for dumping all other stats to an 8...not a fan of this. Thats a big hit to reflex and will saves, and when you're out of mana its handy to have a bow to add at least some dps. I also have a level 10 wizzie who has a pretty good STR, so with the right buffs and some Divine favor clickies I can go to town in melee. While I expect that to decline when he starts seeing some higher levels it will still be somewhat available to me (the point being there are many ways to be a wizard, you just need to find one that suits your play style). I'm also a proponent of going warforged because the self healing is just irreplaceable (as long as you don't mind looking like a robot).