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The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. They are primarily based on wizards from assorted fantasy literature. Other terms used to describe the classification include Conjurer, Magician, Magic User, Mage, Necromancer, Sorcerer, and Warlock.

[edit] Dungeons & Dragons

The Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper franchise has two base character classes that could be considered wizards:

[edit] Wizard

The wizard is a student of arcane magic, who has studied the subject for years. He practices until he is able to command magic with ease. The wizard must prepare spells daily.

[edit] Sorcerer

The sorcerer is a natural arcanist, who usually claims dragon ancestry as the source of his magical power. The sorcerer knows a limited number of spells, but does not need to prepare the spells daily. The sorcerer is able to cast more spells per day than a wizard of a comparable level.

[edit] Other

There are many other prestige classes related to the wizard concept, such as the Archmage and Mystic Theurge.

[edit] Fire Emblem

In the turn-based Fire Emblem game series, Mages are units who cast spells in order to damage an enemy. Players can transform the Mages into Sages. Mages and Sages have higher magic-resistance growths and caps, as well as above average speed. However, they almost always have poor growth in defense which makes them vulnerable to magic-resistant melee units.

[edit] Final Fantasy series

The wizards of the Final Fantasy series are usually known as simply mages, often with an associated color. There are multiple types of mages:

• Black Mages, mages who practice offensive magic.
• Blue Mages, mages who copy enemy abilities.
• Red Mages, mages who are jack-of-all-trades.
• Summoners, mages who conjure up sacred beasts and deities.
• Time Mages, mages who manipulate time and space.
• White Mages, mages who practice healing magic.

In the original Final Fantasy, the Black, Red and White Mages would be converted to more powerful Black, Red, and White Wizards, respectively. Additionally, in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, "wizard" is synonymous for Black Mage. Also, in Final Fantasy Tactics, Black Mages were known as Wizards in the Playstation 1 version of the game.

[edit] World of Warcraft

Wizards in World of Warcraft, called mages, are spell-casting characters designed to deal damage, while also preventing monsters from dealing damage and providing utility for the rest of their party. The three types of magic mages can use are fire, frost and arcane. Fire has a high damage output with little defense power. Frost spells typically slow down a target and are capable of high burst damage and offer more defense than fire. Arcane magic offers more utility and increases damage to all three types of magic. In return for their ability to deal larger amounts of damage, mages are very poor at physical combat. They wear the weakest armor (cloth), and they have no ability to heal themselves without the use of their potions or bandages.

Another form of wizard in WoW is the Warlock, an evil spell-caster who uses fire and shadow magic against their enemies. Warlocks are known for their ability to command demonic minions. Warlocks, depending on the player's style, specialize in damage-over-time spells (affliction), burst damage (destruction), and the use of their minions (demonology). Warlocks are able to regain manna at the cost of their own health, as well as drain health from their enemies.

[edit] Ragnarok Online

In the Ragnarok Online MMORPG, "Magicians" who acquire enough experience are given the choice of becoming a "Wizard". Wizards are powerful spell-casters and have access to a wide array of area of effect spells, including "Jupitel Thunder", "Storm Gust", "Meteor Storm" and "Lord of Vermilion". However, they have very few hit points, poor evasion capabilities and wear very weak armour. As such, most of the wizards require the support of a "Priest" and/or other party members.

[edit] Other games

• In The Bard's Tale, the wizard was only available as a class change from another magic-user class. The wizard class was the most advanced class level, with the character needing to master the third level of spells from at least two other magic-user classes.
• In The Elder Scrolls series, there are many character class templates related to the concept of wizards, such as "mage," "sorcerer," "battlemage," "necromancer" and "nightblade."
• In Lineage II, Mage is one of the character choices available to each race but dwarf, and Wizard is a class choice for the Human Mage's first class transfer.
• In MapleStory, Magician is one of the 1st jobs available for players, on their 2nd job advancement they are called Wizards, on the 3rd - Mages and on the 4th - Arch Mages, or can choose to gain religious powers in which case their 2nd job advancement is Cleric, the 3rd - Priest, and 4th - Bishop.
• In RuneScape, a Mage or Wizard is a character class that a person with a high magic level may wish to pick. Mage clothes, consisting of a wizard hat, tunic, cape, staff and legs are available for purchase. Wizards also appear as NPCs on this game, usually following an element or a deity.
• In the parody game Kingdom of Loathing, wizards are available as "Pastamancers" (a play on Necromancers) and "Saucerors" (a play on Sorcerers). They are jointly known as the "Chef Magi."
• In Guild Wars, Elementalists fill the role as wizards, focusing on fire, air, water and earth spells.
• Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction´and Diablo III all contain a form of wizard: in the first game, the sorcerer, in the second game and expansion, the sorceress and in the third game, the wizard.
• Warhammer Online presents the Bright Wizard, the master of the arcane fire known as Aqshy.
• Last Chaos features mage as a class that deals heavy damage from a distance and sorcerer as a kind of a magic-user class that can use elemental magic skills and summon elemental spirits to aid in battle. ArchLord makes a similar distinction, with mages wielding ranged direct-damage attacks often targeting an area, and elementalists capable of single target attacks and the summoning of pets that buff, heal, debuff or tank.
• In Nox, there are Wizard and Conjurer classes. The Wizard has a variety of attack and utility spells including teleportation effects, invisibility and invulnerability. The Conjurer specializes in summoning creatures to fight. It has more effective healing and protection spells, and uses bows and crossbows in combination with offensive spell-casting.
• In the video game The Lord of the Rings: Conquest players have a chance to play as a mage. The mage wields a staff and shoots lightning, fires a shockwave, fires a ball of fire and perform melee attacks. There are three mage heroes in the game, who are Gandalf, Saruman, and the Mouth of Sauron.

[edit] See also

• Wizard