I recently respecced to try out being a mage and quite frankly I could not do it. I started out being a warrior where you run into the thick of battle and start hitting things and drinking potions.

But as a mage this is a quick way to die. So do mages use melee weapons at all? And what spell do you have attached to your left mouse button?

It seems that the best tactic is that you first run in circles round the mobs and use AOE spells to slowly kill the little mobs.

Then change to a more direct spell to kill the bosses that remain. Using a knockback spell every so often to keep them at a safe distance.

Have I got this about right? Or is there a better way?

Any help in this matter would be gratefully received.

The world of mages is very much about intellect, intellect and.. intellect.
Most people use 4 int 1 end on lower levels, and full int on level 35-40+, then the gear makes them just enough end.

I find it usefull to get bolts on my left mouse button, if not my right. Ice bolt/shadow bolt, ice shard ect.

Mages are good for normal mobs, hero's and champions also good, but not really wanted, and bosses are hard to do good for a low level mage. At the other hand, being a higher level like 50+, mage would do good also for bosses IMO.

Well here's my stats for a mage at 87.

I have all my points in intellect.
All of my armor is in intellect and shadow + bonus.

And I get my endurance from the 2 blue rings in my inventory.

So all in all I get 8500+ Hp with 30000+ Mp. And the blue screen of life is a must without it you'll have a hard time surviving.

And I don't use melee at all. Only magic. No knock back. Cause they are dead by the time my AoE attacks are done with them.



Edited by UC_BANDIT009 (09/19/07 11:28 AM)

my mage is lvl 31 now, ive been doing mostly Int with 1 or 2 end per lvl.

at some point i bought a passive boost for hunters that takes some manna but boosts your health (think its called gym freak) and it was prob the best thing i did, I also equip items based on endurance. at lvl 31 now my health is 7600 ish MP: 7600 ish. and i was a better "meat shield" for mobs then the hunter i play with.

And i must be doing ok because im able to solo a lvl 30+ dungeon on extreme / insane with out much problems.

I prefer that set up for my lvl over having the higher MP and blue screen of life. I imagine at a higher lvl it will be different, not sure

I am enjoying being a mage and feel it is far more capable at this level than my ranger was (aside from bosses). For now, I'm at about 2 int to 1 end. I have near 10K MP and around 3K health but find that I use significantly fewer healing potions per run than as a ranger.

UC no offense but you are describing the crypt.. that aoe isnt too good in the higher lvl dungeons like hdol or rasputin.. (well maybe rasp).. In hdol the aoe basically just negates the health regen the champions/heroes have although the little guys the aoe does do a good amt of damage.. Well i guess what i am getting at is you cant aoe HDoL like the crypt however ya can run in circles and do shadow bolts but with a shaman you will be doing circles for an hour.. I like most mages before lvl 100 have all shadow dmg with bonuses but i go all endurance and dont use blue shield for the most part.. (however i do respec for certain things and go all int and switch gear accordingly ).. i find that the dmg with more int isnt all that much better then being all endurance with all endurance gear with int on it with all shadow bonus.. as shadow bolt and lightning are main weapons with gas and ring.. ice bolt is great but its slow and a quick stomp of unnerving does everything i need ice bolt to do and hits alot more mobs.. to sum it up i just found going all int with endurance gear i was still using a ton of both potions but going all endurance with endurance + int gear i stay alive longer, use less potions, and have a skill key not being used by blue screen.. currently i am at 22k hps and 21 mana at lvl 92.. however when i do bosses solo i need the extra punch int gives me..

Edited by clamm (09/19/07 04:06 PM)

Yeah I didn't base my setup on HDoL. But it works perfectly fine in Rasputine.

Being a mage was the best and fun class to play in DR.
The secret is 1. always join or be in a party (100% of the time when i first started I was in a group) there you'll be a back line gunner. Its the best way to test out your favorite build without being attack since those brave tanks will be soaking up the damage for ya, not to mention freebie loots =]
2. The best build are easy writing on paper, but for best experience its up to you on what profession you enjoy playing (fire, lighting build)
3. Equipments pay a huge roll in making effective build. I always find Int + end + magic % dmg.

Lastly to test if your ultimate build are working. Go ahead and solo chief tan at lvl 21 on your mage xD
If you successfully defeat him at that lvl, you'll be unstoppable on every group you join. That was my adventure, you can make your possible too. Just remember to have fun, not work your azz off to get there =]

From lvl 1-15 invest Int 3 End 2 for survival.
After lvl 15 pump all Int for long lasting nuking, and therest find gears that boost your stats. Learning to survive + crow control is mage best defensive and offensive tactic.
Take your time to study the skills you wanted to acquire and upgrade it to the max.
Use turkey key (yum yum) as decoy when things get rough or use as a gathering nuke mwhaha.

HF : )

yeah i completely agree with condor about being in groups however once you get past lvl 55-60 you will find it pretty hard to find a group.. not impossible but not as easy as it was earlier on.. hence, why most mages goto the crypt for the easy exp and a bit of loot..

When you start playing a mage you need to consider a few things like with all classes which is your spell priority. I have chosen shadow, the the gear I use has Int, End, +shadow damage mixed with other random stats, but all my gear has shadow on it. Some people like going full Int, but I feel this can make you rather fragile, I have gone endurance heavy (note: there is no right or wrong way) at level 31 I have 7.5k health and 6.8k mana. I have +205 shadow spell damage with +6% added on. Not the best mind you but I do what I can with the gear.

So step 1: Choose a spell type Fire/Ice/Shadow
Next choose the spells within that type, collecting the right gear to go along with your spell type will enhance these spells greatly (far more than the intellect spell damage bonus)
Step 2: Figure out a few passives you want, especially ones that stack with your style, I am a shadow/endurance heavy mage, so I have chosen both the starting mage passives, Average BMI and Gym freak for my health, with improved shadow lightening (since I am shadow). Although if you participate in both PvE and PvP you'll find you'll swicth some spells around, I do this with shadow lightening as it isn't useful in PvP.

Step 3: Self buffs! mages have very powerful self buffs for each spell, I keep the shadow one on my bar for most of the time (and always in PvP due to resistance nerf) but I have all three in case I find myself against a shadow resistant boss/area. There are also some lovely hidden gems for mages that work well, for example the fear resistance passive, you'll also find you can run quite fast, a heal self, not other would help here.

Spell notes:
There are certain things I have noticed about each spell group and the spells within them (correct me if I am wrong please) that you might find useful in spec'ing your mage.

Shadow: Shadow has the lowest range, but the damage is very consistant, byt this I mean the difference between the maximum and minimum damage that a spell can cause (especially with shadow bolts) is lower compared to the other spell types. The shadow spells cost the most mana, but the AoE (Shadow Lightening) has the smallest cooldown for an AoE spell. The consistancy of the shadow damage is also increased by the fact the shadow bolts and Shadlow lightening will seek out the target, requiring less aiming.

Fire: I find that fire has the highest potential damage, but the damage brought out of fire spells has the lowest consistancy, i.e one time you could do 1000 damage, the next 100 (just a rough point of scale) the fire AoE has a hgiher cooldown, but does high damage with a lasting DoT (damage over time) effect which is effected by spell damage. The fire spells have a high range meaning you can attack the target for a longer period of time before it reaches you.

Ice: The ice spells have a decent consistancy as well as range, with the added bonus of a slowing effect, this can allow you to kite your opponent to death, basically keeping him at distance all the time while doing damage, but if Im not mistaken the ice spell tree doesn't have an AoE as effective as the fire or shadow, the ice bolt could work very nicely as a secondry spell spec, the slowing effect and the good damage it produces is not to be trifled with. The ice spells are also very cheap, perhaps as cheap as the fire? the bolt costs around 50 mana which isn't much.

The information I have provided you here is mine and what I have learnt, my mage is tough with a good DPS, but I think the point to look at here is all the mages (no matter what style) that have specialised their mage and stuck to their plan have a well rounded character, trying to go with every spell type, having a 2 handed sword and thick armour probably won't get you far. To try enhance the power of a couple of spell types and build your stats around it. Make good decisions on the gear that you choose to swap. Sometimes it's better to keep one stat over another and good decisions here will keep your mage going on strong. If you do this you'll find your enemies die nice and quickly and you will be left standing to go pick up all the loot and gold you just earnt!

Good luck with the choices you make and I hope you have alot of fun playing a mage!

added fire does have a bolt like shadow (which tracks) or ice .. fire is a single bolt