Ragnarok Online 2 Wizard Detailed Guide

Ragnarok Online 2 Wizard Detailed Guide by frostsense

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Is this the class for me (Pros/Cons)?
III. Stats and Builds
IV. Skills
V. Utilizing the Wizard (Play Style)
VI. Excerpts and Closing Comments

I. Introduction

I would first off, like to say thanks for taking the time to read this guide (or not reading it)!

This guide is mainly focused on PvE. PvP, I will only touch briefly upon in the skills section, I will not go in great detail about this.

In terms of “the best Wizard build or guide,” I’m sorry to say that you will not find anything of the sort here. This is a guide based on my own experiences playing a Wizard. If you want to comment about how “my Wizard build is better than yours,” or vice versa, feel free to make a topic about that elsewhere. This topic is not the place for that. However, constructive criticism is always welcome.

II. Is this the class for me (Pros/Cons)?

I will be very blunt about this; if you do NOT enjoy rotating a small amount of skills (3-4) and spamming them repeatedly, then this is not the class for you. Continuing on otherwise, please feel free to read about what I feel the Pros and the Cons are of the Wizard Class.

Pros
+ Great sustainable DPS (one of the highest).
+ Good escape and defense mechanisms, along with mobility (Ice Wall + Teleport with Levitate).
+ Great damaging AoE spells and mob control (Meteor Storm + Inferno).
+ Some good support capabilities (Frost Nova + Frost Diver).
+ Being a complete lazyass (spamming Fire Bolt endlessly).
+ Dragonology buff (a must for classes that utilize INT including yourself, 10% increase at max level is a huge boost).

Cons
– Not the most versatile class in terms of builds (the worst out of all classes).
– Very boring skill rotations (spamming Fire Bolt).
– Loses to most classes in PvP (let’s face it, if you have to pop Ice Wall, you’re just delaying death, or letting Fire Flower kill the opponent. Most likely the former.)
– Cast time (clearing mobs with Meteor Storm and spamming Fire Bolt).

III. Stats and Stat/Skill Builds

Stats

I’ll just go over these stats briefly, since there’s not much variation from what other guides have discussed.

STR – Increases physical attack power (2 Attack Power, 2 Parry for every 1 point in STR). [This stat is useless, as the benefits are deactivated for Wizards.]
AGI – Increase critical rate (4 Critical, 2 Dodge for every 1 point in AGI). [Great for increasing critical rate.]
INT – Increase magic attack power (2 Magic Power, 2 Parry for every 1 point in INT). [Need I say more? This stat directly affects your MATK.]
WIS – Increase maximum SP (10 SP increase for every 1 point in WIS). [Another useless stat. You might as well spam Blue Potions at this point.]
VIT – Increase maximum HP (6 Max HP for every 1 point in VIT). [This is debatable. I personally would say useless as well, due to the amount of HP it gives per one point.]

Another thing to note with VIT: It also increase the amount of HP your potion heals by. To calculate this, take your total VIT, divide it by 10 and convert it into a percentage (eg: 220 VIT / 10 -> 22 -> 22%). In the example, this would mean that having 220 VIT would increase potion effectiveness by 22%.

Builds:

Default Cookie-Cutter Build:
40 AGI
40 INT
8 VIT

Crit-Centralized Build:
51 AGI
27 INT
3 VIT

Raw Power Input Build:
27 AGI
51 INT
3 VIT

* WTF? Build:
41 STR
41 WIS

* This is a joke build. Please don’t actually try and utilize this, this will only screw you over, lol.

Skill Builds

PvE Offensive by frostsense
* More builds to be provided.

IV. Skills

Magician Skills

Cold Bolt (Cast Time: 0.5 seconds || Cooldown: Instant || Range: 20 meters)
Fire an Ice bolt at the enemy to inflict x% Magic damage while decreasing their Movement Speed 40% for 6 sec.
[Level 1] 26% damage.
[Level 2] 29% damage.
[Level 3] 32% damage.
[Level 4] 35% damage.
[Level 5] 38% damage.

This should not be used, except in circumstances where you need to inflict movement speed slows. Leave this at level 1.

Fire Bolt (Cast Time: 1 second || Cooldown: Instant || Range: 20 meters)
Shoot Flame Arrows at an enemy to inflict x% damage.
This skill earns Pyromaniac points.
[Level 1] 33% damage.
[Level 2] 37% damage.
[Level 3] 41% damage.
[Level 4] 45% damage.
[Level 5] 49% damage.

Your most spammed skill as a Wizard. This should be maxed, without question.

Lightning Bolt (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: Instant || Range: 20 meters)
Electrocute the enemy to inflict x% Thunder damage.
This skill inflicts twice the damage to enemies who are in a Frozen state.
[Level 1] 15% damage.
[Level 2] 17% damage.
[Level 3] 18% damage.
[Level 4] 20% damage.
[Level 5] 22% damage.

This should not be used, at all. You have Fire Ball you should be spamming; this is a waste of time, and points. Leave at level 1.

Fire Ball (Cast Time: 2 second || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: 20 meters)
Shoot a huge Fireball at the enemy to inflict Flame damage equivalent to x% Magic damage.
30% of that initial damage is then inflicted for another 5 sec.
[Level 1] 41% damage.
[Level 2] 49% damage.
[Level 3] 56% damage.

This skill you should at least have 1 point in it. Maxing it is debatable, as you could easily get off 2 high damaging Fire Bolts equivalent to the time it takes to cast 1 Fire Ball with DoT damage. Unless of course, you are completely lucky with getting Fire Ball Mastery procs, then maxing it is more beneficial. Maxing this skill is completely up to you.

Frost Diver (Cast Time: 1.5 seconds || Cooldown: 5 seconds || Range: 20 meters)
Emit a radiating coldness over the enemy, locking them in a block of ice for x sec.
Enemies in this Frozen state cannot move and receive twice the damage when attacked with Thunder skills.
[Level 1] 2 seconds.
[Level 2] 4 seconds.
[Level 3] 6 seconds.

This skill is situational. It is definitely worth maxing in PvP, but for PvE purposes there are hardly any situations that call for freezing an enemy in place. PvP wise, a definite max, as you can freeze your opponent in place, buying yourself some hits in (unless they are ranged). If you feel that you need to buy yourself more time to freeze enemies in place with this skill, max it. Otherwise, leave at level 1.

Thunderstorm (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: 20 meters)
Summon lightning to a targeted area to inflict x% Thunder damage to a max. 4 enemies.
[Level 1] 14% damage.
[Level 2] 17% damage.
[Level 3] 19% damage.

Quite possibly the worst AoE skill I have ever seen. The damage is laughable by standards, hits only once and has a 3 second cooldown. Put one point into this to advance to Teleport and forget about it.

Fire Ball Mastery (Cast Time: Passive || Cooldown: Passive || Range: Passive)
Instantly cast the next Fire Ball with a x% probability when using the Fire Ball skill.
[Level 1] 7% probability.
[Level 2] 13% probability.
[Level 3] 20% probability.

This is where you pick up free instant cast Fire Balls from. Maxing this skill makes your Fire Ball Mastery proc reach insane levels, as the 20% feels like it’s almost 40-50%. A definite max level.

Seal of Water (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: Buff)
Activate the Seal of Water, decreasing damage received by x% while recovering x% HP and SP for 10 sec.
Only one Seal may be activated at a time.
[Level 1] 2% damage decrease, 1% HP/SP Recovery per 10 seconds.
[Level 2] 4% damage decrease, 2% HP/SP Recovery per 10 seconds.
[Level 3] 6% damage decrease, 3% HP/SP Recovery per 10 seconds.
[Level 4] 8% damage decrease, 4% HP/SP Recovery per 10 seconds.
[Level 5] 10% damage decrease, 5% HP/SP Recovery per 10 seconds.

I haven’t tested this skill in-depth in terms of damage reduction, but it sounds like it is viable in terms of survivability. However, you require 5 points for the maximum benefits, so it’s not something that is recommended should be invested in, as well as kept on, as you can only have one Seal on at a time. It is useful for a quick regen when using Seal Explosion, however. Leave this at 1 point.

Seal of Fire (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: Buff)
Activate the Seal of Fire, increasing Magic Power by x%.
When using Fire Bolt there is a x% probability of inflicting x% additional damage for 5 sec.
Only one Seal may be activated at a time.
[Level 1] 2% damage increase, 6% probability of inflicting 8% additional damage.
[Level 2] 4% damage increase, 12% probability of inflicting 16% additional damage.
[Level 3] 6% damage increase, 18% probability of inflicting 24% additional damage.
[Level 4] 8% damage increase, 24% probability of inflicting 32% additional damage.
[Level 5] 10% damage increase, 30% probability of inflicting 40% additional damage.

This will be the Seal you will have on almost 100% of the time. The extra damage increase along with the probability of additional damage makes this Seal a formidable buff. Not to mention if you decide to use Seal Explosion with this Seal on, you’ll get additional magic power. This Seal should be maxed.

Seal of Wind (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: Buff)
Activate the Seal of Wind, increasing your Haste Rate by x%.
When using Cold Bolt, there is a x% probability of inflicting twice the damage with the 2nd Thunder skill on an enemy while they are in a Frozen state.
Only one Seal may be activated at a time.
[Level 1] 4% haste rate increase, 6% probability for 2x Thunder skill damage (2 charges).
[Level 2] 8% haste rate increase, 12% probability for 2x Thunder skill damage (2 charges).
[Level 3] 12% haste rate increase, 18% probability for 2x Thunder skill damage (2 charges).
[Level 4] 16% haste rate increase, 24% probability for 2x Thunder skill damage (2 charges).
[Level 5] 20% haste rate increase, 30% probability for 2x Thunder skill damage (2 charges).

In all honesty, this skill is meant more for Sorcerors than Wizards, because Sorcerors have an actual Lightning tree as opposed to Wizards. The only useful part of this Seal to Wizards is the Haste Rate, and even then, 20% haste rate in exchange for 10% damage increase, and a chance of causing additional damage is not worth it. Pyromaniac should more than be a suffice replacement for this skill. Leave 1 point in this Seal.

Wizard Skills

Frost Nova (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: Level Dependent || Range: 20 meters)
Put all surrounding enemies into a Frozen state for 6 sec.
Enemies in a Frozen state cannot move and receive twice the damage when attacked with Thunder skills.
[Level 1] Recast after 70 seconds.
[Level 2] Recast after 60 seconds.
[Level 3] Recast after 50 seconds.
[Level 4] Recast after 40 seconds.
[Level 5] Recast after 30 seconds.

As I mentioned with Frost Diver, this skill is completely situational. This can be treated as Frost Nova, except it is an instant cast AoE that is centered on yourself. Personally, I have not found a reason to max out Frost Nova, as there are hardly any mobs that need to be frozen. Leave at level 1.

Ice Wall (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: Level Dependent || Range: Self)
Form an Ice Wall that blocks all enemy attacks for 10 sec. Cannot move or use other skills while behind the Ice Wall.
[Level 1] Recast after 380 seconds.
[Level 2] Recast after 330 seconds.
[Level 3] Recast after 280 seconds.
[Level 4] Recast after 230 seconds.
[Level 5] Recast after 180 seconds.

This is your other defensive skill you will be utilizing. This skill is more of the panic button, should things start going extremely wrong. If you find that Teleport will not be able to save you in such circumstances, immediately activate this skill to buy yourself 10 precious seconds of survivability. As with most skills, it can be cancelled midway, so you do not have to be in the block for the full 10 seconds. Personally, either a level 1 or 5 should be invested into this skill.

Seal Explosion (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 120 seconds || Range: Buff)
Explode the currently applied seal effect to obtain a new effect.
Seal of Water: Recover x% of your total HP and SP for 10 sec.
Seal of Fire: Increase Magic Power by x% for 20 sec.
Seal of Wind: Increase Haste Rate by x% for 20 sec
[Level 1] Seal of Water: 10% of total HP/SP, Seal of Fire: 4% Magic Power increase, Seal of Wind: 3% Haste increase.
[Level 2] Seal of Water: 20% of total HP/SP, Seal of Fire: 8% Magic Power increase, Seal of Wind: 6% Haste increase.
[Level 3] Seal of Water: 30% of total HP/SP, Seal of Fire: 12% Magic Power increase, Seal of Wind: 9% Haste increase.
[Level 4] Seal of Water: 40% of total HP/SP, Seal of Fire: 16% Magic Power increase, Seal of Wind: 12% Haste increase.
[Level 5] Seal of Water: 50% of total HP/SP, Seal of Fire: 20% Magic Power increase, Seal of Wind: 15% Haste increase.

This skill makes your useful Seal of Fire even more useful and your useless Seals of Water and Wind useful! At max level, you can regen 50% of your HP/SP by exploding your Seal of Water over 10 seconds, give yourself a 20% magic power boost by exploding your Seal of Fire and a 15% Haste by exploding your Seal of Wind! You most likely won’t explode the Seal of Wind, but the Seals of Fire and Water you will most likely utilize. Definitely max out this skill.

Teleport (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: Level Dependent || Range: 20 meters)
Incinerate your own body to teleport 20 meters in the direction you are facing.
[Level 1] Recast after 60 seconds.
[Level 2] Recast after 40 seconds.
[Level 3] Recast after 20 seconds.

This skill is your escape skill; it is used to avoid major AoE’s and to re-position yourself if you are in a terrible spot. Having a low cooldown on this skill is beneficial, as it allows you to deliberately put yourself out of position to make a boss focus AoE on you. You can then use the skill to avoid the AoE and save your group from potential damages that could have incurred. PvP wise, it’s almost critical to use in order to screw up the positioning of your opponent. In my opinion, this skill should be maxed, though if you feel like you can survive without it, level 1 should be the minimum.

Levitation (Cast Time: Passive || Cooldown: Passive || Range: Passive)
Movement speed increases x% for 4 seconds after using Teleport.
[Level 1] 10% movement speed increase.
[Level 2] 20% movement speed increase.
[Level 3] 30% movement speed increase.

This is questionable for PvE purposes. As much as a movement speed increase is beneficial, there’s practically nowhere far you should be running after casting Teleport (except when running to places). PvP purposes, it is great if you need to run from your opponent or screw around with their targeting. Either max it or do not put points into it if you feel you need it, it makes no sense to leave at levels 1 or 2.

Fire Flower (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: Instant || Range: 20 meters)
Set the enemy on fire inflicting x% Magic damage every 2 seconds for 30 seconds.
[Level 1] 10% damage.
[Level 2] 11% damage.
[Level 3] 13% damage.
[Level 4] 14% damage.
[Level 5] 15% damage.

This skill is one of the skills you will also be needing to use quite frequently in order to sustain your DPS. Either put 1 point into this skill or max it out, though it is recommended to max out the skill, as the damage bonus builds up over time.

Dragonology (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 3 seconds || Range: 20 meters)
Increases INT for all Party and Attack Squad members by x% for 30 minutes.
[Level 1] 2% increase.
[Level 2] 4% increase.
[Level 3] 6% increase.
[Level 4] 8% increase.
[Level 5] 10% increase.

An absolutely vital skill that has to be maxed out. This buff increase your own INT as well as Party/Raid members. Your Priests, Sorcerors, Monks will hug you for this buff (because frankly to them, that’s the only thing you are useful for).

Pyromaniac (Cast Time: Passive || Cooldown: Passive || Range: Passive)
Obtain 5 to 15 Pyromaniac stacks every time Fire Bolt or Fireball is used.
Haste Rate increases 0.xx% with each stack. This effect can stack up to 100 times.
Effect lasts for 30 seconds regardless of the amount of stacks.
[Level 1] 0.02% Haste rate increase per stack.
[Level 2] 0.04% Haste rate increase per stack.
[Level 3] 0.06% Haste rate increase per stack.
[Level 4] 0.08% Haste rate increase per stack.
[Level 5] 0.10% Haste rate increase per stack.

Also another vital skill for pumping out damage. Spamming Fire Bolt and Fire Ball will easily get your max stacks of Pyromaniac to the maximum of 100 stacks quickly and will increase your Haste Rate to boot, cutting your cast time of Fire Ball and Fire Bolt down greatly. Max this skill out.

Inferno (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 30 seconds || Range: 7 meters)
Create a blazing inferno to inflict x% Magic damage to a maximum of 10 enemies within a 7 meter radius, setting the area on fire with the Fire Flower effect. (Damage is split amongst all enemies affected.)
[Level 1] 18% damage.
[Level 2] 21% damage.
[Level 3] 23% damage.
[Level 4] 25% damage.
[Level 5] 27% damage.

A very useful skill to ignite a group of mobs with, tagging them with Fire Flower. The level of Fire Flower the mobs gets tagged with is directly affected by the current level of Fire Flower that you have. There is no reason to max this skill out, as it will only increase the initial damage. Leave at level 1.

Flame Explosion (Cast Time: Instant || Cooldown: 10 seconds || Range: 20 meters)
100 Pyromaniac required.
Leap into the air and shoot fireballs at the enemy to inflict x% Fire damage and Stun for 3 sec.
[Emblem Explosion : Fire] during effect duration, this skill will become a critical hit.
[Level 1] 75% damage.
[Level 2] 84% damage.
[Level 3] 92% damage.
[Level 4] 101% damage.
[Level 5] 110% damage.

This skill is very debatable. The reason I say that is because Flame Explosion is actually divided into 10 smaller hits for a total damage % listed on the skill. You can also miss your hits with this skill, so you lose out on potential damage. Although you can critically hit with this skill by exploding the Seal of Flame and giving yourself a 20% magic power boost on top of that, you also lose your full stacks of Pyromaniac in the process. Not to mention that even though there is a 3 second stun, it’s overshadowed by the fact that your entire animation is almost 3 seconds, leaving you with roughly .5 seconds of free stun time to cast your next skill. You could potentially be better of just having maximum Pyromaniac stacks and spamming Fire Bolts to make use of the Haste Rate, as well as having those 2-3 seconds of wasted time going through the Flame Explosion animation to deal more damage. Personally, up to you to decide whether to pick up this skill or not. Max it out if you do, no point leaving it any lower than level 5. Oh and PvP wise, probably would not consider picking this skill up, you would probably end up dying or defeating your opponent before you even get to full stacks.

Meteor Storm (Cast Time: 1 seconds || Cooldown: Instant || Range: 10 meters)
Summon a meteor from the sky to inflict 31% damage to a max. 10 enemies within the targeted area.
This skill is most effective when used on more than 3 enemies, however, the damage is reduced when used on more than 6 enemies.
[Level 1] 31% damage.
[Level 2] 36% damage.
[Level 3] 42% damage.

As a Wizard, you have the 2nd highest damaging AoE skill out of all the classes (behind Ranger’s Arrow Shower) and the highest DPS AoE skill, which is Meteor Storm. Arrow Shower’s DPS is extremely low due to the long cast time and animation, so it is not considered to be an effective AoE by any means. What this means is that you are highly depended on to clear mobs efficiently using Meteor Storm and Inferno (in fact, it should be your priority to be clearing packs of mobs first). By doing so, you alleviate the stress from your Party/Raid so they can focus on the boss. Definite max on this skill.

V. Utilizing the Wizard (Play Style)

Skill Rotation

As a Wizard, you have very high sustainable DPS (one of the highest). To be able to utilize this efficiently, however, you should know your skills like the back of your hand. Literally. Even though this class spams only a few skills, not knowing when to rotate your skills can be costly to your own DPS. Below are some standard rotations of Wizard players, including my own.

Fire Flower (once every 30 sec) -> Fire Bolt (non-stop spam following Fire Flower) -> Fire Ball (only when procced from Fire Ball Mastery) [I use this one personally]
Fire Flower -> Fire Ball -> Fire Bolt -> Fire Bolt -> Fire Ball -> Flame Explosion (at max stacks immediately)
Fire Flower -> Fire Ball -> Fire Bolt -> Fire Bolt -> Fire Ball -> Flame Explosion (when stacks is about to expire)

Obviously Fire Flower should be started off with first and refreshed every 30 seconds, DO NOT LET IT DROP! You lose DPS by letting it expire and not re-buffering it. Fire Ball should immediately come right after, or Fire Bolt if you think you are lucky and can proc off Fire Ball. Do keep in mind that Fire Ball cooldown does not reset if the proc from Fire Ball Mastery goes off, so should you immediately proc after casting Fire Bolt, check cooldown before spamming Fire Bolt.

Flame Explosion can be done immediately after gaining 100 stacks or just before the stacks expire. Best to do it just before the stacks expire, to utilize the haste rate obtained from Pyromaniac.

Positioning

Ideally, you will want to be standing with the rest of the ranged group so you can keep check on the incoming mobs and benefit from skills such as Sorceror’s Land of Recovery (unless there is a boss which requires you to be standing away from each other). If you are facing a boss with a random target AoE and feel you can survive being out in the open, it is most ideal to do so. This way, you can mitigate the AoE in a different direction/spot while being able to escape from the damage yourself using Teleport. If you find yourself completely out of position from panic or there’s an AoE directed at you/your group, use Teleport to reposition yourself (or just Ice Wall yourself, if you’re that lazy). In a dire position where you find you cannot use Teleport to escape, immediately pop Ice Wall. And obviously, if there is no hope for your group, better to die than waste your Ice Wall, it has a long ass cooldown.

Leveling as a Wizard

Generally the same as other classes while leveling: Complete Kharas, finish all the story quests and dungeons quests, and you should be set. If you have a Tank and Priest in your party, spec Meteor Storm and Inferno as quick as possible so you can mob and wipe with ease.

VI. Excerpts and Closing Comments

In the builds section, I had mentioned a couple of standard builds you could use. However, stats start playing a role once you get better equipped.

INT vs AGI

Summarizing what verxified had said:
MATK < 2183, INT > AGI
MATK > 2183, AGI > INT

So, with that in mind, it is completely up to you what build you want to choose in terms of stats and skills. Go figure.

One last thing to note: skills that Immobilize your enemy by freezing them (Frost Nova and Frost Diver) will grant your enemy a buff that cuts the duration of the Freeze the next time it is cast on them. Therefore it is advisable to use it sparingly.