Celtic Heroes

it sounds like you've built yourself solely for the purpose of soloing and not benefitting a group in any way.

If you're just casting Fireballs and Iceshards and slapping mobs with your wand and trying to get the kill yourself each time, rather than helping the overall benefits of a group, I have to say it seems like you're missing out on some key aspects of how to best utilize a mage. I wish you good luck, but I also see an lonely and unfulfilling road ahead for you.

Valid point, but sometimes we Mages would enjoy a drop or two. In a support role I've never gotten a drop, and I haven't the time nor inclination to beg for one. The game quickly becomes unenjoyable when it seems your sole purpose is to make sure someone else enjoys the spoils of war. We are just asking for a bit of parity. Nothing more, nothing less.

All of my points on tanks are to help the group. All. Taunt and Warcry are the only crowd control skills in the game and pure support. While soloing those, and to a lesser extent are useless. Bash has to be maxed. Taunt and Cry need a goodly amount of points if you dont want chaos. Tanks are a support class if thought about from the very common single dps toon as the only 'non support' class. My (neglected) rogue has max smoke and is h2h for interrupts.

From a grouping point of view all dps is just support as well. They cannot survive and kill bosses. They cannot survive multiple mobs. They can kill one mob at a time within a couple of levels of their own, maybe up to 3 stars. Woo hoo... My tank and Druid can survive many bosses, but not kill them in any reasonable amount of time. Add a Mage and they can. Add rogue/ranger and the mobs die quick ish. The whole 'support' conversation, as it is, is a red herring, IMO.

Q F T !

All valid points. In MMOs, all classes are technically "support," designed to complement the strengths/weaknesses of other group members. At the same time, we can all wish to be stonger at something that another class is better at (Mages want more dps, Rangers want spear skills, Rogues want throwing daggers, etc.). Yet we still we are left to evaluate the skills available to us and learn to play within the parameters provided.

The part I got hung up on is the a fact that a Mage can acknowlege that they are lacking offensive skills, yet still refuse to consider casting cloak on a warrior, or casting a pierce lure that multiplies the damage dealt when grouped with a couple rangers or rogues.

Mages in fact are quite versatile. The dilemma is that a single Mage cannot possibly provide all the benefits available to them. Thus the value of grouping. It benefits a group/clan to have a Mage that specializes in say Fire and Pierce lures, where another may specialize in Ice and Slash lures. Just like it benefits a group/clan to have different Rogues with different maxed skills like Smoke, Rend, and Poison... otherwise they all just overlay and cancel each others' spells.

Any more brain busters?

Explain to me how you're going to tank and fireball and firestorm the Lavalord to death?

I think part of the problem in the original post is a little misguided...(though some valid points are definitely made) The issue may be that you want mages and druids to be able to lead the offensive side of fights, like warriors, rogues, and rangers. Despite the fact that they have some damage-dealing skills, Druids/Mages have a plethora of support skills that really suggest they are not meant to be damage-dealing classes, but more role-players in groups. They are indeed very valuable classes for their support skills:

Druids - Group/Individual Heals & Regen, Abundance, Wards, etc.
Mages - Cloak, Lures, Sacrifice, etc. (as a rogue, I particularly appreciate being the beneficiary of all of these skills!)

Rather than wanting these classes to be the offensive equivalent of other classes, it might be better to look at what is available and set more reasonable expectations as to how they are expected be used. You just have to make the best of the apples you're dealt.

Everything this person said about a Mage was introduced after update 3 and as for druids of coarse they are support.
But what this person doesn't understand is that they have built up the other classes, the last thing I want my lvl 147 Mage to be doing is buffing the warrior that already has a full radiant set. He already has enough power.
Books of alt are in game to switch to a support Mage when needed.
the point of the post is to show that all items in the game that have some stat besides a mp tick are for other classes, you even see a Mage with heroic gloves on, what about a bloodlust helm, better yet a bodkin?
If you have, then that Mage obviously doesn't understand how this game works magic damage/auto damage.
And if you think I'm gunna use any of my precious skill points on sacrafice to help you gain magic, you're absolutely insane.
WE'VE BEEN LOOKED OVER AND IT'S TIME FOR US TO FINALLY GET ITEMS THAT BENIFIT US AS CASTERS.
We got the tick items already but every other class does too, we need that 1 or 2 items that are separated for mage and Druid classes.

it sounds like you've built yourself solely for the purpose of soloing and not benefitting a group in any way.

If you're just casting Fireballs and Iceshards and slapping mobs with your wand and trying to get the kill yourself each time, rather than helping the overall benefits of a group, I have to say it seems like you're missing out on some key aspects of how to best utilize a mage. I wish you good luck, but I also see an lonely and unfulfilling road ahead for you.

Valid point, but sometimes we Mages would enjoy a drop or two. In a support role I've never gotten a drop, and I haven't the time nor inclination to beg for one. The game quickly becomes unenjoyable when it seems your sole purpose is to make sure someone else enjoys the spoils of war. We are just asking for a bit of parity. Nothing more, nothing less.

OMG class we have a genius with us!!!!