Siev's Special Guide to Spells and Wizardry

[ozan59593]

For every wizard round that ends in greentext, hundred more end in failure.
-Some unrobust guy

Hi there! I am the player of the grey called "Siev" in server and I have seen some nerds rapidly typing in OOC that wizard rounds should be raging mages only and that wizard shifts are too short! My hopes with this guide is that wizard shifts will atleast reach the 30 minute mark (about same as a nukie shift) and people wont decrease the chances of ever getting wizard by half by removing one of the two gamemodes where a wizard is actually present. (In theory you can use antag tokens but that is neither here nor there.)

Glossary of Spells

Defensive Spells

No Clothes Cost: 2 Cooldown: N/A Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

This is a pretty decent spell if you are running mindswap and are planning to use some robed spells so you can discretely sow chaos as the station goes mad trying to find out the person you currently are mindswapped to. You shouldnt pick this if you are afraid you will get stripped of your robe or something, if you are afraid that can happen keep a spare in your backpack stash some in maintenance and pick up some other spells with those 2 wizardry points you just saved up.

Magic Missle Cost: 2 Cooldown: 20-6 Rating: 4/5  (R)

Spoiler

This is the first line of defense for a battlemage, use this spell when you see someone running at you with a stunning melee weapon, DONT use it when they have a ranged weapon out. Maxing this spell is a pretty big dip and you cant even spam it after 8 darn points? Dont put in a single point more than 2.

Disable Tech Cost: 1 Cooldown: 60-40 Rating: 3/5  (R)

Spoiler

It's surprising how many times wizards arent even killed by the crew but by something puny like beepsky or a random engineering borg. Cast this spell when you see beepsky approaching you, A non security borg is sticking to you like glue, a security borg is coming at you angrily or if you wanna go in for a sick reversal cast it while behind a corner with a security holding a taser running at you, this spell drains hybrid tasers dry if they've been shot atleast once before. (5/5 if you are an IPC wizard and can cast it before the 1st minute mark)

Repulse Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-20(?) Rating: 2/5  (R)

Spoiler

This could be a great spell if it wasnt gimped so hard by it's cost  and it's cooldown time. Dont pick unless you want to test something outside of a private server enviroment.

Stop Time Cost: 2 Cooldown: 50-? Rating: 1/5  (R)

Spoiler

2 cost, 50 second cooldown AND requires robes? Dont pick this pile of crap.

Smoke Cost: 1 Cooldown: 12-5 Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

Would you rather do something useful with a whole goddamn spell point or buy an useless firecracker? Me neither.

Forcewall Cost: 1 Cooldown: 10-5(?) Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

The younger but still kickass brother of greater forcewall. Pick up in place of greater forcewall if you want greater forcewall but are going for a robeless build without No Clothes.

Greater Forcewall Cost: 1 Cooldown: 10-5(?) Rating: 5/5  (R)

Spoiler

Such a great spell. When cast, this absolute unit of a spell creates a 3 tile wide wall that blocks greytide, security, lasers, bullets, tasers while letting you move freely through it. Really fun for playing marco polo with an L6.

Bind Soul Cost: 1 Cooldown: N/A Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

Being able to revive is a crutch, not worth it.

Offensive Spells

Fireball Cost: 2 Cooldown: 6 Rating: 2-5/5

Spoiler

The rating 2/5 isnt representative isnt really doing this spell justice but hear me out. Most nerds using this spell will be first time wizards that dont even know what they are doing and it is more than likely going to explode in their faces and kill them. If you have like 100 hours of experience in security and can shoot that taser properly you shouldnt run into too many problems nor your fireball.

Rod Form Cost: 2 Cooldown: ?-? Rating: 5/5

Spoiler

Works if you are stunned, tears apart anything and everything on station. ALMOST a must have but you might want to deal damage using other methods and that's fine. A nice way of using this is looking at someone before they stunbaton you, and before they stun you use the spell quickly and you will most likely kill them.

Disintigrate Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-40(?) Rating: 2/5 (R)

Spoiler

When facing off against a solitary greytide this spell works well but against a group of greytiders or a single person with a stunbaton this spell ceases to be useful. Oh AND they can use ranged weapons.

Blind Cost: 1 Cooldown: 30-(?) Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

1 cost, 30 cooldown. Pretty decent for blinding a whole screen of people. Oh? It blinds only a single person and you have to stop and fucking select them? GARBAGE.

Mutate Cost: 2 Cooldown: 40-30 Rating: 5/5 (R)

Spoiler

Picture me this. You are stunned and on the floor about to be made into mush by a nearby security officer and their trusty beepsky. Pop this spell and walk back as you deal 30-20 brute damage per shot immune to stuns and able to break down walls. Great bargain all around, dont bother with lowering it's cooldown, 10 seconds is nothing if you have some way to defend yourself (God bless forcewall)

Flesh to Stone Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-20(?) Rating: 2-4/5 (R)

Spoiler

Just by itself it's the pacifist man's version of disintigrate BUT if you DO have a staff of animation you will be able to create a invulnerable statue that can tear apart greytide and security alike.

Lightning Bolt Cost: 2 Cooldown: 30-(?) Rating: 1/5 (R)

Spoiler

30 seconds cooldown with the ability to gimp you for 10 seconds paid at the premium price of 2 points. Pick anything else.

Lesser Summon Guns Cost: 4 Cooldown: 75 Rating: 2/5 (R)

Spoiler

Ability to summon 30 individual guns to shoot with and tossing them out all around you looks great but in practice the guns deal PITIFUL damage for the 4 point investment that you make.

Curse of the Horseman Cost: 2 Cooldown: 15 Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

The lesser cooldown wasnt what made the disintigrate spell weak, and making people unable to speak properly instead of just killing them outright for the same price is not worth it.

Curse of the Cluwne Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-40(?) Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

This spell is extremely fun, cast it on someone that is actually liked by the station and you will take off atleast 2 people off the wizard hunt for uncluwning the unlucky nerd. Oh, also poor man's disintigrate but for the same cost. Why is there so many copies of Disintigrate?

Mobility Spells

Mind Transfer Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-20(?) Rating: 5/5

Spoiler

I personally hate this spell, hate it's guts. But I have to admit that it's extremely robust for it's price and what it does. Mindswap when you are in danger, mindswap with people in command, go nuts.

Blink Cost: 2 Cooldown: 2-0.5 Rating: 6/5 (R)

Spoiler

This fucking spell is SO very GOOD but it seldom sees use because people think that ethereal jaunt will save them. This spell can be cast while stunned and at max cooldown locking down a wizard going around like a interdimensional grasshopper on meth is near impossible. I would recommend that any wizard puts atleast 2 points here, well worth the insane price of 8 points to max it out also.

Teleport Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-30(?) Rating: 3/5 (R)

Spoiler

If you have a quick trigger finger for using your teleport scroll to get out of tough situations this will be a godsend. I would also highly recommend wizards that bought a slaughter or tickle demon use this spell as well. The demons just LOVE fucking with the wizard that summoned them so whenever they appear out of a blood trail just cast real quick and RUN AWAY.

Ethereal Jaunt Cost: 2 Cooldown: 60-30(?) Rating: 4/5 (R)

Spoiler

This is the most classic and widely employed mobility spell. I would suggest taking the mutate spell along with this because if you cast this spell while stunned you still cannot move. There are too many uses for this spell to list but a classic one is the wizard teleporting into the AI upload and uploading  one crew, that never gets old.

Knock Cost: 1 Cooldown: 10-5(?) Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

Decent utility spell with the added ability to loot command lockers, pretty tight for a single point. You wont see ME using this spell often but if the AI is looking mighty robust and you wont be subverting or destroying the AI this is a worthwhile investment.

Greater Knock Cost: 2 Cooldown: 20-10(?) Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

This spell feels like it gimps you more than it helps, I'd rather stick with knock. Ignore this spell.

Assistance Spells

Instant Summons Cost: 1 Cooldown: 10-(?) Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

This is a great, near mandatory spell if you are going to buy a staff or an item of that nature that you would rather not lose. An alternative way of using this spell is to find a robust throwing weapon and throwing that at people althought it would be ineffective it could be fun to bind a clown PDA and use it to slip people for a clownmage.

Charge Cost: 1 Cooldown: 60-(?) Rating: 4/5

Spoiler

This is a great spell, especially when combined with a belt of wands the power output of this spell of this spell can rival any other other offensive spell. There is also a possibility of being able to recharge spellbooks if you summoned magic for the crew and ALL for the price of a single point? That's a steal.

Magical Items

Staff of Healing Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

This is a decent item to buy if you are going to make use of the skeleton gang, otherwise skip. There might be angry spessmen out there saying that you couldnt give this to your apprentince DONT EVER DO THAT, they can be counted on to take down a few mooks but they will almost NEVER revive you if you do go down mostly due to severe incompetence. Ignore the last sentence utterly if you have a robust apprentince, give them bluespace manipulation and never die again.

Scrying Orb Rating: 4/5

Spoiler

This item is worth it just for the x-ray. It is also the only way you can get X-ray without the perhaps annoying fullbright along with it. Worth the points if you dont know the map like the back of your hands and or you are afraid of being ambushed. If you use this item to ghost out you can do the ambushing to the people on station as well! Check out the station and if you see the captain taking a shower or doing something dumb like that, go into their room and redecorate their room with their gibs.

Wand Assortment Rating: 5/5

Spoiler

The 5/5 comes from the fact that if you have this item, you most likely are running charge as well. Great fun for the experience wizard, I'd hold off until you get familiar with the wizard's fireball though because if you take this rest of your points should go somewhere that'll increase your surviveability.

Mastercrafted Armor Set Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

Probably would've been 2/5 gimmick item if not for the noslowdown magboots. Pretty decent but I would'nt recommend it. Nobody likes a wizard who hangs out in space and does nothing.

Cursed Heart Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

BLAM THIS PIECE OF CRAP.

Staff of Change Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

Most of the things that the staff of change will change people to has a pension for murdering you and some of them will be more effective at it than the crew will be. Lets not, ok?

Staff of Chaos Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

Not much to say here, it's a nice replacement to the firebolt spell just be prepared to shoot the person you have been trying to kill for the last minute be hit by a bolt of resurrection at the last moment.

Staff of Slipping Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

Decent item for the gimmick clown wizard. I was going to put it at a solid 4/5 but sadly the projectile it shoots out doesnt slip people after the first person it hits. The stun from the staff is pretty strong though, maybe if you cant land your fireball effectively you can choose this.

Mjolnir Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

A decent melee weapon if you're into that sort of stuff but the damage is not great, doesnt knock people over in the first swing and is likely to be used against you even if you have instant summon because melee combat is finnicky and you dont always win.

Singularity Hammer Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

Oh god, like the Mjolnir but drags even more people to melee range so they can whack your face in. Oh, also it deals less damage than Mjolnir.

Staff of Door Creation Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

Feels a tad bit useless, you can get the knock spell for the same price. I cant think of any good use of it outside of greytiding. Would be great if you are trying to blend in after summoning magic for the crew though.

Staff of Animation Rating: 4/5

Spoiler

The robustest staff if used correctly. The battleplan when you pick this up is that you get the "Flesh to Stone" spell as well and you can animate the statues. Statues are robust and cant be easily destroyed. Ofcourse there is always the risk of the statue in a fit of rage killing you without reading the chat and prematurely ending a wizard round (speaking from personal experience)

Six Soul Stone Shards and the Spell Artificer Rating: 2/5

Spoiler

From my point of view those cult constructs suck most of the time anyways. Although you can make 6 of them I'd recommend the necromantic stone over this as the skeletons can actually use  items and you may be able to pass them a staff or two while the constructs wil try and fail majestically to kill any crewmembers whatsoever.

Necromantic Stone Rating: 3/5

Spoiler

Wildcard. The people you  turn into skeletons may be robust enough to outdo an apprentince or suck and die immediately. Supply these guys with a staff atleast. Dont leave them without any magic at all, that'd be cruel.

Contract of Apprenticeship Rating: 5/5

Spoiler

I have yet to see a wizard get an apprentince so bald that they are a hinderance rather than a helper. Smack 2 of your points into this if possible. The 5/5 of this spell comes from the fact that this spell is essentially giving you more points to work with. By buying the healer apprentince you get access to the charge spell and a staff of healing. That's  essentially a purchase of the charge spell and a staff of healing. ALWAYS get this.

Bottle of Blood Rating: 5/5

Spoiler

Nothing much to see here. 1.Smack it on the floor 2.Go hide 3.??? 4. Greentext.

Bottle of Tickles Rating: 4/5

Spoiler

Same as bottle of blood if the demon is robust. If the demon isnt robust it'll keep medbay busy reviving all those stacks of corpses it collected over it's long career.

Tarot Deck Rating: 1/5

Spoiler

Wizard shifts are WAY too slow to actually benefit from the use of a holopara. If you're stealth wizard though... you might have a deal. (PS: Dont mindswap, power of the standu will not be with you.)

Robust Practices

Hacking the AI roundstart Requirements: Mutate/Disable Technology+Knock Difficulty: Easy

Spoiler

Use your teleport scroll to teleport into the AI upload chamber when going into the station use your mutate and break open the boards contained within the right side case. Pick up the onecrew board and write yourself as the only crew member. Then you can either use rod form, breaking both computers while leaving the AI upload chamber use your mutate lasers to destroy the computers fireball ETC and safely leave the AI upload one step ahead of the crew with the borgs on your side.

I will try to add more robust practices if people message me some! I'd appreciate feedback.

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by ozan59593

[ID404NotFound]

here's a robust tactic 

Replaced mime. I would also rate scrying orb 5 out of 5, as being a ghost allows you to scout the station before you even arrive, and keep scouting things while you hide yourself in a locker.

[improvedname]

I have one word for you. Singularity hammer + fireball

Drag people to your tile then fireball it all.

Or

 

Drag people to your tile. Wait them to get up. Stop time. Rod form.

[McRamon]

SpecOps wizard infiltrator tactics:

Take no cloth, desintegrate  and minswap, any other spells are up to you, though knock/charge/jaunt/teleport are good choice. Get to the station unnoticed and wait in maint for a first victim. Mindswap - wake up - desintigrate fool in your old body - pick up head and brain. Now you are part of the crew. Release engine as an engineer, arrest an desintegrate poor bastards as sec, blow up all borgs and make some max caps as scientist, sabotage medbay from inside, declare basically anything as captain, possibilities are endless, for fun and grief not even hijack traitors are capable of. Though you better make it fun and not just grief, remember the rule 0. 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by McRamon