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Tytalus New Kid Posts: 11 |
Mage Love
#15779 - 02/21/07 07:30 PM |
My first character (before I knew what I was doing) was a mage and I quickly switched. Everyone told me mages were "broken". Well I created several accounts and am trying all three classes - even though they are going away I'll still have a feel for the different play styles - and am greatly enjoying my mage now. The low endurance is a problem of course but basically I took some advice from another player and dump all my attribute points into Intellect and also look for equipment with +int primarily. If I can get +int/end that is great but I'll take +int over anything else. Basically, I'm working on the "kill it before it kills you" plan and it works 99% of the time. The only time I had difficulties was on Agrok's Field but that was due to the overwhelming numbers. So I ran around picking off the other monsters until only Agrok remained and I took him out. This was at level 15, think that was pretty good to solo him at that level but I don't have a point of comparison! Anyway, I like Mage for the range, power of spells, the fact that I can use a shield... the low endurance is the only drawback I am seeing but wondering what other people think... My skills: Fire Bolt (main attack) Righteous Stomp (fighter AOE skill for emergencies) Gaseous Blast (ranger AOE skill for mobs) Ring of Fire of Shadow Lightning (AOE for mobs) Pyromania (fire damage buff) Retribution (fighter skill, damage reflect buff) -------------------- Tytalus - Ranger Octavian - Mage Vorenus - Fighter Edited by Tytalus (02/21/07 07:45 PM) |
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Penjo New Kid Posts: 2 |
Re: Mage Love
#15798 - 02/22/07 09:44 AM |
I haven't had any issues. I probably stack more end than most (I have around 3100hp at level 25), but my damage seems overpowered enough. Only rough spot I hit so far was Vergrim...I had to dress up like a warrior and melee him down >< |
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Tytalus New Kid Posts: 11 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #15798]
#15827 - 02/22/07 04:30 PM |
Yeah I just fought Agrok and am feeling the hurtin'! I may need to start upping my endurance, I died so many times... Of course, there isn't a penalty and I just kept whittling down the other mobs until 'grok was the only one and I took him down pretty quick.  -------------------- Tytalus - Ranger Octavian - Mage Vorenus - Fighter |
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Trixi Rabbit Puncher Posts: 68 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #15827]
#15880 - 02/23/07 06:25 AM |
Of all the characters those first levels are the "safest" as a mage. My mage was my first character and the only one who stayed alive in the Dew Valley caves. The Ranger is up a creek cus those first mobs have poison resist, and the Fighter with no equipment yet to back him up is easy meat for the ganking mobs. The mage continues to be good until some time into her 20s then it is all downhill for a time. I think INT should give more to spell dmg and less to the mana pool - in 54 levels I can count on one hand the number of mana pots I have had to drink and yet the poxy amount of INT:spell power ration makes me want to weep sometimes. The fighter continues to grow and grow in power. The friend I play with has been out damaging my mage for over 30 levels now and can easily stand toe to toe with the group mobs despite refusing to wear anything that doesnt add 100% to STR. No sissy 50/50 STR/END items for him - nor has he added a point to AGI as some fighters recommend. I think STR is overpowered and the amount of defence it provides needs to be reduced drastically so AC and END become more important. Its been quite disheartening to play alongside a character with more in every department. More health, more defence, more damage. At 54 I am starting to see some light. Though not doing the dmg of the Fighter class I dont feel Im being carried quite as much as I have for the last 30 levels, but it would be nice if we could get some mage love. Hopefully when the new classless system comes in, things wont be as one-sided as they are now. |
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Vladimir New Kid Posts: 8 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #15880]
#16013 - 02/24/07 12:29 PM |
I've been going for the "kill them before they kill you" int build too and it works fine up until you hit a boss. I'm level 20 and it still takes me like 15 minutes to kill Agrock because even though I'm stacked up with INT, it just doesnt add enough damage, while at the same time it takes him about 3 hits to kill me since I have a low endurance and no defense. So basically my strategy is the same, clear all the guys around the main group and then run around in circles shooting and slowly wearing him down. It kinda sucks. |
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Captain_Carnage Armchair Warrior Posts: 25 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #15880]
#16332 - 02/27/07 11:26 PM |
Quote: I'm only lvl 44 but when my fighter groups with a mage I feel like they hold up their end, and that together we move a lot faster than I could alone. Maybe they die more than I do, but they seem to kill more because they dont have to chase stuff. I feel like they do more damage over all because of the lack of chasing and better AOE. What seems to work best is fireballs in the open areas from a considerable distance behind me, run in after I get agro and ring of fire/gas blast and everything is dead. I can't move nearly so fast by myself. I think maybe the shadow bolts or whatever they are called are better in the more confined spaces. |
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PollutionZero New Kid Posts: 2 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16332]
#16434 - 02/28/07 11:40 PM |
Mages should be, and traditionally have been nuclear bombs contained within a cracked glass casing. BIG damage, TINY hp. I can think of at least 10 DnD characters I had that could throw a fireball and destroy an entire army, but was just 2 hits shy of dead. Heck, I had a lvl 1 mage with exactly 1 hp, and I ended up dying thanks to a botched stealth roll from the theif, he triped and caused me to fall, I also botched and fell on my dagger doing yup, 4 points of damage. Dead mage. The funny thing is that I could kill most things instantly that we ran across (kobolds mostly). Mages should have VAST stores of mana, and yeah, I think Int should add something to spelldamage, but HP wise, we're toast. No armor, no HP, HELLA-HIGH damage. The standard definition of a mage is Glass Cannon. So far, the game SEEMS to follow that, though I've not hit 20 yet (little time to play). I'm digging the mage thusfar though. |
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Wykkanja Chicken Hawk Posts: 178 |
Re: Mage Love
#16444 - 03/01/07 02:49 AM |
I like being a Battle Mage using a combination of spells and weapons. My skills/buffs: Shadow Lightning (L) Fire Bolt (R) Stomp (HK 1) Ring of Fire (HK 2) Retribution (HK 3) Dark Wizardry (HK 4) Buff increasing Fire Damage (can't remember the name) (HK 5) My favorite weapon is a shotgun or BFG, although if I find a nice melee weapon, I'll use that, too. Right now, I can pretty much roast anything from a distance with my fire bolts, but if they want to get in my face, they can eat Shadow Lightning! mmmmmuuuhahahahahahahaha!!! |
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Trixi Rabbit Puncher Posts: 68 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16444]
#16449 - 03/01/07 03:35 AM |
The fire buff is called Pyromania. As I stated in a previous post the Warrior I play with wears STR-based items which pumps up his damage and defence rating. His min/max damage has out performed mine since we got into our 20s..and ofcourse his survivabilty is legendary compared to mine. He has put into END as last session we compared base skills (INT/STR) and mine was 100 higher..still he outdamages me. Look at the fighter damage buff (off the top of my head last time I asked his was something like 70%) and then work out the measly percentage our damage buffs give us..again off the top of my head its around 30% to the lower end and roughly 6% to the top end. I have no problem fighting solo in "normal" dungeons and thats in party too! (I assume dungeons scale to party size as well as levels but could be wrong)..if one or the other of us gets a little behind with xp we pop down to Ember or Shadow to get a little back while the other is busy in town. Its a breeze for any class including the mage. But try going into HDoL where a lot of our magic will be resisted..the difference between the classes is gapingly obvious in there and you will soon find those damage buffs are useless and swapping them out for resistence buffs instead. Now think ahead to PvP  I just pray the imbalance is sorted before that day comes or I will definately be oicking up the speed buff so I can run away  |
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Wykkanja Chicken Hawk Posts: 178 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16449]
#16519 - 03/01/07 10:16 PM |
Quote: Thanks for the heads-up, Trixi I haven't tried HDoL yet, but I'll work on my resistance buffs before I do!  |
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Ghioti New Kid Posts: 1 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16519]
#16745 - 03/06/07 03:24 AM |
I'm feeling the hurt with a lot of you out there too - I'm only 28 so far, but I don't think a mage should have to pretend to be something else to beat a boss. Even with lvl 6 fire/divine resists up, I can't take vergrim as a mage. I'm basically pure int - with a max upwards of 1700 for my firebolt |
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Ibalaki Actual Hawk Posts: 239 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16519]
#16756 - 03/06/07 11:32 AM |
I think I have some experience with mage (My mage is lv99). You can go pure int and use some +end gear and solo the whole game. You XP a lot faster than a warrior because of Area Spell and you can beat Hdol easly once Ice Bolt is good enough. The only thing is you kill boss slower than other class (but not too much) -------------------- Sorry for my English, I am French |
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Wykkanja Chicken Hawk Posts: 178 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16745]
#16841 - 03/07/07 10:49 PM |
I don't think being a battle mage is pretending to be something else. I use a combination of melee and magic and it's working quite well, thank you. |
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unmatched Rabbit Puncher Posts: 92 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16841]
#17397 - 03/20/07 07:53 PM |
One thing that is totally frustrating is watchiong warroirs calmly tanking bosses and full minion mobs at the same level and then killing them faster than I can. I relize that being a nonmember slows me down. but to the point where warriors have better EVERYTHING than I do? Its a little unfair. -------------------- The patch is coming, soon, veryy soon, no really. it is. |
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Valdis New Kid Posts: 3 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #17397]
#17426 - 03/21/07 12:02 AM |
Since there are no healing classes, mages should definantly get some of the buffs/healing abilities that a cleric would normally get, also they need LONG range aoe, fire circle and shadow bolt are real close range, some sort of physical shield/mana shield and healing spells that, in mana amounts, are just too much for a pure warrior or ranger (paladin could do it!) And mobs seem to run really fast, the advantage of range doesnt last long for the mage. |
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Darksol New Kid Posts: 3 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #16745]
#17453 - 03/21/07 04:19 AM |
Quote: I'm a fighter and have very good gear. To be honest I couldn't solo Vergrim at level 28 with low hp either. His knockback is devastating, which will be fixed in the patch. We'll be able to use potions while on the floor. |
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DOminuz New Kid Posts: 2 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #17453]
#17835 - 03/22/07 03:42 PM |
Pretty much put all stats in int have 300 with items on lvl 23, vergrim and widower are impossible, a couply of hundred pots and I gave up. There is no problem with mob packs at all but vergrim and widower are impossible since both stun and snare you, while widower even cause you to not being able to cast spells. Since the Ice shards spell is so nerfed and you hit like 3-4 mobs with it out of 20+ mobs.. It was better with low dmg and atleat hitting everything infront of you. I just dont see anything else to do then either lvling and puting all to endurance and simply not even try bosses without my fighter friend killing bosses for me I mean if I die in 2 hits from a boss and still I dont even deal high dmg.. |
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Sinister New Kid Posts: 20 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #17835]
#18245 - 03/25/07 08:35 PM |
The point that a lot of people are making through out many of these mage topics is the fact that ..in most games mages do a CRAP load of damage but die very easily. I think that is the main problem with mages so far. Warriors are tanks and do massive damage toe to toe...while mages stay farther away and try to kill the mob before it reaches them. The problem is...is mobs are too fast..and you can't deal enough damage before they reach you. With so little life you are toast...basically keeping your finger as close as you can to spacebar so you can pound back your healing pots. The only major dealing spells for the mage are AOE and the mob has to pretty much be surrounding you. So with all this into account how the heck are mages spose to survive if their spells arn't doing the damage it should and you die too fast? Especially when half the mobs are resisting your spells? I've seen some of the warrior buffs/skills and I can't remember the name of that one...but it was rediculous. I think the point of a lot of this whole discussion is not that mages are totally weak and what not...but that when compaired to warriors there is no question as to who would win a battle between the two. So in my opinion they either need to raise the damage of the mages...or lower some stats on the fighters to make it more even. I like battlemages ... but to be perfectly honest you shouldn't have to wear warrior gear and weapons to win a fight. Edited by Sinister (03/26/07 01:38 AM) |
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unmatched Rabbit Puncher Posts: 92 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #18245]
#18256 - 03/25/07 11:39 PM |
mages used to ba able to kill mobs before the mobs reached them. now thye have to pump end wade in and wear the mob down with AoE from ther classes. -------------------- The patch is coming, soon, veryy soon, no really. it is. |
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echolocation Armchair Warrior Posts: 46 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #18256]
#19030 - 04/01/07 05:55 PM |
mages feel more like a ae class now than a ranged spell casting class at this point |
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Wykkanja Chicken Hawk Posts: 178 |
Re: Mage Love [Re: #18256]
#19329 - 04/05/07 09:38 PM |
I can still kill mobs before they reach me. "How about a couple of firebolts, Dread Generals??" |
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