Sorcerer vs Wizard, April 2014 Edition

[Endarire]

Greetings, all!

If I'm making a new, first life arcane caster able to solo well (and otherwise be self-sufficient), but mesh well with a party, which class - Wizard or Sorcerer - is better?

I've been a big Wizard fan since before 3.x came out, and I've already contemplated going Pale Trapper (with the Sun Elf iconic, once I figure out how to retrain the Cleric level to Wizard). The notion of starting with 30 INT before gear (at least as the level 15 iconic, assuming all stat boosts into INT and 5ish enhancement points into INT) appeals to me.

Sorcerer seems to be much more about damage with utility/buffs/crowd control secondary, while Wizard seems to be the opposite.

What say you?

[Zoda]

For a first life caster I'd go for wf shiradi wizard, you need tomes/past lives/gear to be efficient on a DC based caster (be it evo, ench or necro) in the endgame. Also for any caster character the best past life is wizard, grab one.

[stoerm]

A wizard is fun, but expect not to have 100% success rates with your spells at end game. There is some new gear to boost your DCs but it will be hard., so what Zoda said.

You can retrain the first sun elf level but you need a +1 or higher lesser heart. Make a 1 cleric 14 wizard then LR to switch the first level. I have a 20 fvs sun elf and he's fun.

[Failedlegend]

For a first life caster I'd go for wf shiradi wizard, you need tomes/past lives/gear to be efficient on a DC based caster (be it evo, ench or necro) in the endgame. Also for any caster character the best past life is wizard, grab one.

This is untrue you don't NEED to do every or even any quest on elite a first life ok gear caster should be just fine on normal and possibly hard during elite levels.

[Cardtrick]

This is untrue you don't NEED to do every or even any quest on elite a first life ok gear caster should be just fine on normal and possibly hard during elite levels.

He specifically said in the comment you quoted that a DC caster needs a lot of investment to be efficient in the "endgame."

Endgame doesn't mean normal. It means running high level content at high difficulties.

A first life DC wizard can definitely be effective in normal and hard content, even at high levels. But in the "endgame" of epic elite, it's at best frustrating and at worst useless.

If the OP's goals include running this character in the most difficult content without first TRing, then going DPS-focused (either with a Shiradi evocation wizard or a Shiradi or Draconic sorcerer) will be a lot more pleasant.