I play mages often. I know 194 (I just counted) spots. About 170 are confirmed. This is counting guildmasters and guildguards of the various areas as 1 spot.

ABS is fucked.

If you log on, you must wait some time before you go searching for wands, else they wont be there.

If you get a transmuter mob as your spot, especially a guildmaster who can be immune to almost everything, you're fucked, so I will ignore those. Necromancer is nearly as bad, but fixable with tons of coin.

One spot is only obtainable once every few RL hours. Several spots take multiple tries to get alone, if you can even manage that. One spot is 100% impossible to get alone, or possibly even with 2. Several spots are underwater. There are spots in area explores that unless you get super lucky with mob pathing, you cant ever get alone. There is a spot that not only is impossible to reach alone, but is also on a hidden mob in a hidden area.

APs have it 9x harder than everyone else, and also need them much more to compete before 100 charges.

I am far from a good, or even decent, player, but as an invoker, no way in hell are you fighting anyone without either barrier or aura to go along with your weave of elements. You dont parry.

I know Daevryn is a social dominant, but it is unreasonable to say that mages dont need protections, unless you want to follow people in duo and 1 shot them as they fight mobs to convulsing. (possibly for their wands!)