give them greater control over there minions! not talking rts but and seriously pets just seem to be mild dots... I say lesser there masters abilities in favor of the pets, am I alone in thinking this?

I agree with you and then some.

I probably won't buy the game just because:

1) I hated "combos" and all that extra Mortal Kombat style key-mashing you need to do (to do any REAL damage) and,

2) because the demo pet was a complete waste of space, and the necro class needed more pet control as well (and both mages were horribly squishy even with our buffs)

I can speak for the demonologist (the most) as I got to level 58 with him in the beta.  Had a guardian to 20, a necro to 15, and barb to 20 as well.

Unlike almost all other games with pet classes,

1) the demon pet didn't draw aggro or hold aggro in any way

2) the demon pet didn't take damage (u could force it with Storm Chains and backing away)

3) the damage done by the demon pet was a *complete joke*

4) you had very little control over the him (assist/follow/etc only)

This was a mistake IMHO because the mages are squishy as hell.  Our armor sucks, as expected, and we have to depend on high damage and lame spell buffs (which were so annoying to have to recast each time you died, and every 5 mins for the only real defensive buff we couldn't live without).  I would rather the pets be EQ style, draw aggro, an ability we have to heal them, abilities to control them better, and would basically tank for us.  But, that's not how AoC mage classes were designed.

I thought *every* class I tried was easier to play than a mage.  They could solo better, and AoC for the most part is a soloers game.  I was in very few groups in the beta, and the main quest line is purely solo as it is (instance based, cannot group!).

So, that's my 2cents.

how did you get to lvl 58? I thought there was there a level cap...

Originally posted by Drukstylz

how did you get to lvl 58? I thought there was there a level cap...

Sadly, I found the demo to be to squishy to get to level 80 alone, but I know there were other demos at 80, so they found a way...

This is very distressing, I had not realized how bad it was for mages.  I was going around noon to get a copy of the game, and now I find myself rethinking the whole thing.  I always play mages, the 'blaster' or 'caster' archtypes- I like the flash, and I could be a priest, soldier or theif in real life haha, and so mage represents the most fun for me, generally.  I'm coming from EQ2, though I haven't bothered logging in hardly in the last 2 months.  I have one of every caster there and though I've grown bored if Age of Conan makes mages even less soloable the other games tend to do, I don't see myself playing very long, or at all really

Originally posted by TheKraken

This is very distressing, I had not realized how bad it was for mages.  I was going around noon to get a copy of the game, and now I find myself rethinking the whole thing.  I always play mages, the 'blaster' or 'caster' archtypes- I like the flash, and I could be a priest, soldier or theif in real life haha, and so mage represents the most fun for me, generally.  I'm coming from EQ2, though I haven't bothered logging in hardly in the last 2 months.  I have one of every caster there and though I've grown bored if Age of Conan makes mages even less soloable the other games tend to do, I don't see myself playing very long, or at all really

Well, don't distress just yet, as what I posted was just my opinion.  Even though I do believe my comments to be fairly accurate, you may find some other people from the closed beta to have a different opinion about their experience as a mage overall.

Since I'm not playing anything else ATM, and I have time to kill, I went out and bought the game anyway.  Still wondering how wise that was...  I may try the necro class again as I was only level 15-16 with that one, and you really need to hit 30 to get a more valuable opinion about the class.  Most classes seem to shine a good amount brighter at 20, too.

Also, if enough people complain about mages, maybe Funcom will make some improvements to the classes.  Who knows.

All that being said, again, I was really let down with the Demonologist and wish they emulated the EQ 1 caster/pet model (tanking, high hps, ability to heal it, etc).  The necro follows this model a bit better.

Also, I did die quite a bit more with the demo and the necro, than I did as a barb or guardian (best tank).  The barb does more damage, but can only wear medium armor.  The guardian can wear full plate (at high er levels).