New to being a Mage
 

i just made a mage character about 15 minutes ago. is there any advice you can give me???? like for build, or anything really ^_^

Pure INT or x INT:25 SPR.

Some empower Magic Missile cooldown with 5 points. There are enough spells later on to get by without empowering. Same goes for Fire Bolt.

Magic Blast + Fire Ball: 5 points for power.
Fear: Duration, optional cooldown.
Inferno: Cooldown.

Optional:

Chain Casting cooldown.
Stifle duration, optional cooldown.

Oh, and use level 1 spells. The damage bonus from higher level spells isn't really worth the SP consumption. If you want to use higher level spells, then feel free to. Magic Missile and Fire Bolt should remain at level 1 regardless, due to increased cooldown at higher levels.

Most of your empowerments may not occur until your 50s. My suggestion is to save your points, for there are unreleased skills right now. All empowerments should be empowered with 5 points for maximum effect.

when you get your mage to lvl 5 do the kingdom quest tog et youir lvls higher faster. if u do quests it might take longer then KQ's.

Please do learn your class. Zooming through levels with only KQs tends to make poor players. Its good you're asking for advice, though. I don't really play a mage, so, yeah. Listen to Triumph.

Everything Triumph said except use lvl 1 spells except the ones that are higher lvl yet have the same cooldown that way you can continually cast without having to wait for a cooldown (well at least lightning bolt for me) being the only high lvled spell I used and everything else was lvl 1. Don't always do kqs. Get used to your class and know its specialties and limitations. Kqing may seem like a quick way to lvl and it is in the beginning but knowing your class is more important in the later lvls. Buildwise I would recommend the 25 spr rest in int but that is just me. I like big flashy numbers :D

thanks everyone! i like to level up (who doesn't), but i also want to get to know how to use the mage character and be good at it :)

Best way to learn how to use your class is to party and go through quests. Being able to solo as well as party will help you play in different situations. As mentioned above using KQs as your only leveling device will make it harder at later levels in terms of playing the class to it's best capabilities.

so do SPR +25 first, then throw all the rest into INT..............

........right?

If you have to, then INT before SPR.
 

I will elaborate on Triumph's first line.

+INT from freestat gives you, in PvM situations, 1 extra damage per point placed. The initial 25 of +SPR from freestat gives you, in total, 5% additional critical rate.

As you can infer from it, which build you pick depends on the trade off between higher consistent damage, and unpredictable but probable critical damages (criticals do double the damage).

Calculations based on average damage shows that if your damage is significantly less than 600 on average, then you should stick to pure INT build for higher damage output. If your damage is between 600 ~1200 (approximate~), then the difference between the two builds is small, and the hybrid is advantageous for its critical rate bonus (which is useful in PvP). Last but not least, if your average damage exceeds 1300, then the pure SPR build will have greater damage output.

Now, from my experience with combat situations with monsters of the same level as my mage, damage seems to flatten out in the lv 7x. Now it seems I'm hitting monsters for less than before. 600 is rather far away.

I recommend full INT. (The M. Def. from 25 SPR won't help you by a lot in PvP either)

If you have to, then INT before SPR.

Also, 1 point into cooldown for Magic Missle gets rid of the delay when you sandwich it.

I recommend 25 spr, rest into int. You get 125 more into sp, and the damage isn't much of a difference in the long run. And the crits a plus.

You really can't go wrong with this class unless you incorporate STR or forget INT. You will definitely need END in your gear the further away from the level of mock your tank has(aggroing more). As long as you have a cleric... you're unstoppable.

Don't life tap during a fight. I personally don't use life tap at all.

BoT is your friend.

If you die a lot with a party, obviously, don't bother scrolling.

A build I'd recommend is the 25 SPR, rest into INT. Despite what others say, getting those criticals at any time are a HUGE help. I managed to purchase the black swimsuit set with some spare spark cash I had and each piece gives a 4% bonus to critical. Now I get one or two criticals per monster with that build. Heck, sometimes I can two/three hit a Giant Pixy, which, when leveling a license, is incredibly helpful.

As for what to empower, this is what I'm doing/have done:

5 points into cool down on Magic Missile.
5 points into cool down on Frost Nova.
5 points into cool down on Inferno.
10 points into cool down/damage on Fire Ball.
10 points into cool down/damage on Magic Blast.
5 points into duration on Mind Drain (aka Fear).
5 points into duration on Stifle.

You won't be able to empower all those until roughly level 91 but they'll help you in both PvE and PvP situations. Word of advice, make sure your mage has Potion/Scroll production or at least one character that can make them. You'll be downing potions and using scrolls quite often even with END/DEX gear. Of course, that's only if you're trying to go as fast as possible and would much rather not shroom up after every other monster.

Also, never use Magic Missile above [01] or Fire Bolt above [01]. The cool down makes them ineffective and the damage they deal at the higher levels is so minuscule that it's pointless. Other than that, feel free to use the highest level possible of all the other spells. Oh and avoid using Life Tap as the HP to SP ratio is too high/low to make a difference.

And Lightning Blast is a spell you should avoid unless you actually enjoy wasting valuable time whilst killing a monster. It's only useful if you plan on kiting every monster you fight but that's far more dangerous than just standing there and taking a few hits. Good luck with your mage.

On the contrary to most people I do use my max Fire Bolt (so not lvl 1). The cd is still considerably lower than Ice Bolt/Lightning Bolt and I found a way to blend it in my attacking pattern nicely. In fact there are times I just used Magic Missile, Fire Bolt, Fire Blast and Magic Blast. I still have the same pattern when I'm just killing 1 mob (or inbetween Nova/Inferno cooldowns).

I did make the mistake to max sp on Fire Blast, thus kinda wasting those 5 points lol

I personally think that you shouldn't use MM1 and FB1 because even though they have a much lower cooldown, it would fit perfectly at lvl 57 :D You can use all the skills and by the time you finish all the skills you need to kill the monster are finished cool ^_^ In my opinion I think the dmg between MM1 and my current MM is a huge difference -.~ If you don't wanna waste sp then get sp stones >.> If you are too cheap to buy stones or broke... stop being the fat guy still living in your moms house and start opening up vendor :P

wow, thanks. that's a lot to take in.

I highly reccomend not empowering magic blast.

Remember at lvl 47 Firebolt will out damage Magic Blast (815-941 FB8, 427-533 MB1), so that's when most players crank up the damage output at lvl 8. You a long ways off, but keep that in mind.

Only increase Mind Drain's duration if you PvP. Other than that, leave it as it is.

Frost Nova is great on max cooldown. It charges a lot faster than I thought, and usually it's ready again after I run through all my spells in an attack. Monsters will love you.

Ice Bolt and Lightning Bolt can stay at level 1. They are garbage at most, but good to flick at enemies when your good spells are in cooldown. By the time you get Ice Blast and Lightning Blast (in the 50's), you'll forget about these spells almost completely.

Do not empower damage on Magic Burst (gained at 20), unless you have money to reset the points after 60 (when you get Frost Nova). I had damage and cooldown empowered on it for AOE purposes before 60, but that was my preference. If you don't have the money (SparkCash) then I don't recommend it.

Learn to cast Ice Bolt or Ice Blast first for their slow down effects. It can buy you some time while you spit spells at enemies.

And learn to cast Lightning Bolt or Lightning Blast while running. It creates a bit of a gap between you and your enemies, and it keeps you out of harm's way. Combined with Ice Bolt/Ice Blast, it can save you some stones and a fair amount of damage when monsters/players try to rush you.

Personally I think the max cooldown on Magic Missile is only good until you get Magic Blast at lvl 49. Magic Missile lvl 1 and Magic Blast have excellent cooldowns already, and after you obtain both, you can alternate between the two and Magic Burst as well, and throw in Fire Bolt lvl 8 and Fire Ball (gained at lvl 53) for kicks, plus Ice Bolt/Blast, Lightning Bolt/Blast, and Nova and Inferno. That way you'll always have a spell to use when something else is in cooldown. That's just how I play, and I haven't died....much. :uhoh:

I also think that enhancing staves/wands doesn't really become a huge factor until 50+, and personally I'm not enhancing armor until 70+, because the leveling is fairly quick up to that point if you are a dedicated player. Save your loot for those T3/T4 stones!

As far as empowerments, I currently have max damage on Fire Bolt, Fire Ball, and Magic Blast. Frost Nova is the only spell with max cooldown on it. Magic Missile is still lvl 1 (buying higher spells is a waste), And Lightning Bolt is at lvl 1 too (higher damage is not really significant for this spell, and it saves SP). Ice Blast and Lightning Blast are not empowered, but I buy the next level of the spells when they become available. Magic Burst has been reset, so no empowerments.

Chain Casting takes forever regardless, so I didn't dump points into the cooldown. Drain Mind I increased the duration for PvP.

Just a small note... usually we close threads that's been necro'd, but since there's some more useful new posts posted, I'll leave it open.

Continue :cutielove:

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Well darn I empowered the power of magic burst... not gonna get a skill reset either. oh well >:

Lightening bolt is ALOT more useful when skill spamming then lightening blast.
Lightening blast is the most worthless combat skill there is. Long cast time + high sp use + low dmg? .. fail..

And lightening bolts damage matched my firebolts, and is also useful when kiting ( if you kite )

Cant even remember the last time I used those.. imo ice blast isnt
worth getting either if you do not have the money. And the skill
itself is only good in your low lvls or if your a shitty mage in your high
lvls and only solo one mob at a time.

I realise these are your ideas/opinions, but I suggest not reccomending the wrong thing to people.


Gunna suggest using these skill empowers,
If you dont pvp substitute the points on fear
and put them on magic burst.

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/908...taskbarlg9.jpg

unno wat to say

Point taken. Lightning Bolt IS a lot more useful than Lightning Blast, so if you pulling a monster or running from a boss you tanking it's nice to have two spells to run with. I will admit that I rarely use either spell, because with max damage on Fire Bolt, Fire Ball, and Magic Blast (+ Nova Frost), most monsters are already dead or dying. I throw Magic Missile and maybe Lightning in for kicks. Ice Bolt/Blast is only good as a starter spell when you soloing or screwing with a boss (due to the slowdown). I do admit the next tier spells (outside of Fire Ball) are garbage at most. If it wasn't for Nova, Inferno, Drain Mind and Chain Casting I'd stop playing my Enchanter completely.

Magic Burst max damage is good, I had that empowerment up until 60. Not bad after wards either it seems, if like having a monster fan club at all times like myself.