I can only speak from personal experience and I'm sure most of you are just gonna be like shut up and deal with it, but as a human being I can only assume there are others who think and feel the same way as me.
I try and try and try to come back to this game and the #1 thing that makes me delete or just lose motivation is leveling casters/communers solo. Melee has it easy, they absolutely fly through the sewers or forest south of val, they scale much much better early on.
I suggest increasing the newbie quests exp. No one does them anymore so it would actually benefit real newbs and give an alternative to casters/communers. And before you start griping about doing guild quests for exp...I keep getting sent to kill Brambus and guess what? He has a pretty hefty guard lol
I started doing the quests at lvl 6 and got all the way up to Tamara before I even got a single level. Why not give them the same exp at medium guild quests?
No it's not impossible to solo level a caster/communer. Obviously. Is it an extremely harder thing that leveling a melee? Yes, it is. Would like to see this gap evened out a bit to not turn off newer and older players alike.
I think this is a fantastic idea. I tried leveling a mage and took a stupid death south of val which was quite discouraging. Seems the only way to level a caster is to get a merc from way off the beaten path. Seems unnecessary but you don't seem to get a decent defense or attack spell until about level 20.
I do think mages/communers struggle in this department. I'd like to see the MUD school issue you a level 15-20 golem or a way to get a free pet to make it easier for those classes. Its harder now that the PBase is smaller, for sure.
All LOW level casters 'should' have a level 1 damage spell that can dish out as much damage as a moderately dressed LOW level melee class, the exp gain is fine.
What I would do is revamp for example (cause light) to check for caster level AND spell proficiency while adding a damage cap before dishing out its HARM damage. By doing that it changes (cause light) from a level one spell to a true functioning low level damage spell, it will increase in power as the mage ranks making it still viable at 50 based on its damtype.
Mages are indeed quite inferior when it comes to ranking.
I think this can be solved without affecting melees though.
Just make proper mobs that can be summon through scrolls (or wands) and can be used only when you are a single PC in the group and make them leave at level 40, and make them like the Blood Guard (won't assist against PCs).
Why not let them keep the pet forever @f0xx? Create a level 1 find familiar spell. Mages are granted a familiar "pet" that only assists when the mage is not in a group and not fighting a pc. Would be fun to see the different familiars each mage type, religion, alignment, and ethos delivered.
I tried to alleviate this a bit with the new golem scroll (it is changed from the previous, and not just by stone golem changes) but i did consider adding an item to summon a charmie for mages early on. Ultimately, though, with an alsation AND stone golem, though, I thought better of it. There are a lot of tools for mages early on to help rank. There's even a wand that has a mid level spell available pretty early on. Plus starting adventurer to get bonus items of level 30.
I think adding a viable pet in mud school at level one until getting the alsatian at level 8 would solve the issue.
Although, I do like F0xx's idea and what Fool_Hardy added. Anything that enhances role play and aids at lower levels isn't a bad thing. How many people actually spend the rp points on pets anyhow?
Why not let them keep the pet forever @f0xx? Create a level 1 find familiar spell. Mages are granted a familiar "pet" that only assists when the mage is not in a group and not fighting a pc.
This makes me wonder if there have been any long term characters that were red? Or blue?
Nugget (Neggimthrug) was rather long term blue... but he came out of the closet and turned OLD red. Lisko was also rather long term (there been longer ones, Thulgan etc) OLD red. New red's have been out... how long? A year max? :D