[X] My Assistant

Contrary to what dap said, Cyclone is frequently my clean-up spell and is very useful, and needed for Manthra and the annoying Peacock.

Huh. That's different. I tend to use Ball/Chain Lightning on Peacocks in mobs, and follow it up with Meteor for explosive damage, but then my Fire Rating is higher than anything else. For the more stubborn minibosses, I Weaken and Poison before doing anything else. That way even if they resist several times, they're still taking some damage, and not as much of a threat to my HP.

Those of you who are high-level and use Haste: how's it treating you? Do you find it useful at all? And how much does it cost per turn? I'm thinking of spec-ing it in for autocasting.

Those of you who are high-level and use Haste: how's it treating you? Do you find it useful at all? And how much does it cost per turn? I'm thinking of spec-ing it in for autocasting.

54MP for 47 turns. He pretty much doubled its length for like 5% more mp cost. If you're not exactly speedy and you have a lot of burden, it can do wonders. As it is for me I'm not sure how useful it is anymore - I have like 25burden and can double attack pretty often even with haste.

54MP for 47 turns. He pretty much doubled its length for like 5% more mp cost. If you're not exactly speedy and you have a lot of burden, it can do wonders. As it is for me I'm not sure how useful it is anymore - I have like 25burden and can double attack pretty often even with haste.

So it'll cost me in between Shield and SV and give me another 40 or so AS....I dunno how useful that would be, really.

I found dual-wielding and a bleeding Longsword combined with magic to be ineffective.I am the prototypical Power Mage with full points in all Tier One and Tier Two Magic, high Elemental, Cloth, and Staff proficiencies. Before the Dark Days at the end of 0.3, I had switched to Tank with full plate, and got high profs in DW and 2-handed so, even ditching the plate and using Power Mage cloth/abilities with Rapier/Dagger or the Longsword, I find myself getting overwhelmed once I get to 5+ mobs per round and forced to use magic (w/o the staff) to survive. It's better to just use a high quality Ebony Staff to blast everything after a few rounds of whack-a-mole with the Staff, building Staff prof and conserving MP.

With what you have, you'll need a good Ebony Staff with a high Elemental bonus, and a cheap staff with high curative. With Abilities, your priorities are max points in Purge, Meteor, Blizzard, Chain Lightning, and Cyclone plus Cure, and Regen. If you have bought a lot of AP in the past, fill out the Tier One spells, as they'll get you through a lot of rounds for half the MP price.

(The full Holy set lets you boost your Holy rating, which you need for Cure/Regen. Condemn/Purge are pretty useless as attack spells as they are only good on Ghost and Whale, and Meteor hurts both of those more anyways.)

If you haven't already reset your abilities, take the cheap curative bonus Staff with full plate and whack-a-mole your way through Cakefest to build up your Staff prof for a few days. It's as boring as hell but, you need to hit as hard as possible with your Staff to save MP as much as possible. Once your staff prof is up, then reset and start out with Cakefest, and Crude Bronze Item Worlds to build up your Elemental prof.

The Shield and Barrier spells are overrated for mages. The idea is to get in and get out quickly, not standing around and getting whacked out for 20-30 turns while you kill them one at time.

You will need to memorize each mob's and mid-bosses' magical strengths and weaknesses. Chaining magic attacks and exploiting Coalesced Magic for the half-price magic is usually better than going for Ether Theft. The chain is Fire, then Cold, then Wind, then Electric. Each one will usually leave effects on some mobs that the next one will exploit for extra damage.

Contrary to what dap said, Cyclone is frequently my clean-up spell and is very useful, and needed for Manthra and the annoying Peacock.

Thanks for the huge amount of advice! I feel a lot more confident that I could effectively switch to mage now.

Two questions though... I am gathering data to improve the wiki, and I just finished using one of every scroll and infusion to record their effects. While I had the Infusion of Divinity going, Cure healed me for a lot more, but Regen did not. I just now realized that I didn't check to see if it lasted longer with the infusion, but it definitely didn't heal me any more than usual per turn. Should increased Holy Rating have improved my regen heal per turn, or just it's duration?

EDIT: I found and used another Infusion of Divinity. It had no effect whatsoever on Regen. Is that a bug?

Second question: What offensive effects does Holy/Fire/Cold/etc Rating have? I know that they increase your mitigation to that element by half of the rating, but that's all I could find about it. Do they increase your damage with spells of that element by rating%?

Third question: Does the total level of an item affect the difficulty of it in item world, or just the item quality? You mentioned "Crude Bronze Item Worlds," and I wonder if it makes any difference in monster power than just going into my lvl 148 Flimsy axe.

So it'll cost me in between Shield and SV and give me another 40 or so AS....I dunno how useful that would be, really.

I just finished putting my 5th point into Haste, and I love it. With my Supportive prof at 56, it gives me 42.4 AS for 31 turns at 22 mana per cast (.7 mana per turn). It costs the same amount of mana per cast as SV. Assuming your supportive prof is at least 75% of your level, you'd get at least 61 AS from it.

The main reason I like haste so much is that it indirectly reduces my damage taken by 20%. My base time units per turn is about 200, so dropping that by 40 means I'm attacking the monsters 20% faster, and they get to make 20% less attacks before they die. 20% dmg reduction for .7 mana per turn rocks, imo. I wonder if Slow is worth it on Legendaries? Hmmm...

This post has been edited by coredumperror: Dec 8 2009, 02:46

Thanks for the huge amount of advice! I feel a lot more confident that I could effectively switch to mage now.

Two questions though... I am gathering data to improve the wiki, and I just finished using one of every scroll and infusion to record their effects. While I had the Infusion of Divinity going, Cure healed me for a lot more, but Regen did not. I just now realized that I didn't check to see if it lasted longer with the infusion, but it definitely didn't heal me any more than usual per turn. Should increased Holy Rating have improved my regen heal per turn, or just it's duration?

holy rating used increase the initial burst heal from regen, but since the change it has no affect on regen not even duration.

Second question: What offensive effects does Holy/Fire/Cold/etc Rating have? I know that they increase your mitigation to that element by half of the rating, but that's all I could find about it. Do they increase your damage with spells of that element by rating%?

It does increase dmg dealt by that element of spell, by how much I'm not entirely sure though, don't think its a flat % increase to dmg per rating though, I don't think Tenboro ever gave us the formula to calculate dmg.

Third question: Does the total level of an item affect the difficulty of it in item world, or just the item quality? You mentioned "Crude Bronze Item Worlds," and I wonder if it makes any difference in monster power than just going into my lvl 148 Flimsy axe.

Just like how monster dmg increases 1% per round in grindfest, it increases each level in itemworld, so ya I guess it is harder to clear, but the dmg in round 1 of the flimsy weapon would be about the same regardless of if its a lvl 20 or lvl 100 weapon.

I just finished putting my 5th point into Haste, and I love it. With my Supportive prof at 56, it gives me 42.4 AS for 31 turns at 22 mana per cast (.7 mana per turn). It costs the same amount of mana per cast as SV. Assuming your supportive prof is at least 75% of your level, you'd get at least 61 AS from it.

The main reason I like haste so much is that it indirectly reduces my damage taken by 20%. My base time units per turn is about 200, so dropping that by 40 means I'm attacking the monsters 20% faster, and they get to make 20% less attacks before they die. 20% dmg reduction for .7 mana per turn rocks, imo. I wonder if Slow is worth it on Legendaries? Hmmm...

slowing legendaries effectively makes depreciating magic last longer since they have less turns so it can be worth it

I've tried the Infusion of Divinity to see whether it was worth it or not to drop AP into the Holy trees. It adds a little bit to the heal amount, but it has a bigger effect on duration. uth has a better answer since I did this before the Regen nerf.

Its supposed to increase your attack damage, but I never paid much attention to that since I'm no mage so I can't really answer.

I don't know what emphasis on low-level equips for IW is. The only benefit I can see is that you're not going to face the increased damage from scaling mob power before you clear the IW. I don't get why this makes any difference, since there's no bonus for clearing an IW. You're also not going to fight an extended number of rounds with a full mob, so I guess that might be a good thing if you're still a fledgling? I always just jump into my highest level gear and go until I can't go any longer, just like a Grindfest, or I clear the item. And also because the more rounds I stay past the round 50 round marker, the longer I'll be in the zone of decent item drops and I can get more stuff to use or sell for credits. What I would suggest is Flimsy or Crude and do them on Hard or Heroic. You get a lot of XP and the mobs are more than strong enough to withstand 3 hits (I can usually clear a Normal mob in 2 hits once my OC goes over 100% if I don't Bleed, crit, or counter).

This post has been edited by cmal: Dec 8 2009, 02:49

Ther IS a bonus for clearing IW. Item stats increase, y'know. Just, as people tend to not wear crudes they use for IW Caketoadsfesting, it is not useful. And, low-to-mid level players can clear only lower-level items without spending too much of their pots.

It does increase dmg dealt by that element of spell, by how much I'm not entirely sure though, don't think its a flat % increase to dmg per rating though, I don't think Tenboro ever gave us the formula to calculate dmg.

I believe I red elemental ratings increase you spell damage of corresponding element by 1% per point and mitigation to corresponding element by 0.5% per point.

This post has been edited by hen_Z: Dec 8 2009, 10:19

Condemn/Purge are pretty useless as attack spells as they are only good on Ghost and Whale, and Meteor hurts both of those more anyways.

There are plenty of monsters that are weak against Holy spells, including Hamster and Mind Raper. The appropriate Tier 2 elementals may do more damage, but not everyone has all of those. Conversely, once you get Smite and Banish, you'll find them very useful.

I've tried the Infusion of Divinity to see whether it was worth it or not to drop AP into the Holy trees. It adds a little bit to the heal amount, but it has a bigger effect on duration. uth has a better answer since I did this before the Regen nerf.

Its supposed to increase your attack damage, but I never paid much attention to that since I'm no mage so I can't really answer.

I don't know what emphasis on low-level equips for IW is. The only benefit I can see is that you're not going to face the increased damage from scaling mob power before you clear the IW. I don't get why this makes any difference, since there's no bonus for clearing an IW. You're also not going to fight an extended number of rounds with a full mob, so I guess that might be a good thing if you're still a fledgling? I always just jump into my highest level gear and go until I can't go any longer, just like a Grindfest, or I clear the item. And also because the more rounds I stay past the round 50 round marker, the longer I'll be in the zone of decent item drops and I can get more stuff to use or sell for credits. What I would suggest is Flimsy or Crude and do them on Hard or Heroic. You get a lot of XP and the mobs are more than strong enough to withstand 3 hits (I can usually clear a Normal mob in 2 hits once my OC goes over 100% if I don't Bleed, crit, or counter).

The other two questions have been well enough.

Remember, cmal, you are doing long and hard for the EXP and Item drop quality, which is fine, if you're well established in your fighting style. As a style rookie, prof gain is key, especially when switching from plate to cloth, you don't need increasingly stronger packs of 9 mobs pounding on you every round. In this case, Bronze = less than 20 rounds = less than 9 mobs per round = less HP damage taken per round = more time (and MP) for Elemental spells (not Cure).

Oh, and, Montage your magic every day. Personally, I stopped Montaging long ago, as the gain is minor for me on the ones that are not capped, and I just don't remember to do it either. However, in your case, with such low levels in Elemental prof, you'll see much better gains overnight then I would. You could do a Cloth/Staff Montage but, you'll gain more in battle, and boosting your Magic Attack is more important.

This Staff certainly helps, too. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

There are plenty of monsters that are weak against Holy spells, including Hamster and Mind Raper. The appropriate Tier 2 elementals may do more damage, but not everyone has all of those. Conversely, once you get Smite and Banish, you'll find them very useful.

I do have my Tier Twos maxed out. (I bought 22 AP in my Tank days for 150% Overcharge and Health tanks.) And I am sitting on 7 AP waiting to grab Hurricane on my next level-up (80). Mind Raper = 2 Meteors, Hamster = 1 Electric or even 1 Wind, if it took enough damage from my Fire and Ice attacks.

Are they worth (the presumed) extra MP expense to cast them? I was considering wasting 6 AP to get them, just so I could get another +10% Holy Rating for Cure.


This post has been edited by Alpha 7: Dec 8 2009, 18:27

Are they worth (the presumed) extra MP expense to cast them? I was considering wasting 6 AP to get them, just so I could get another +10% Holy Rating for Cure.

Well... they do cost rather more than the elemental equivalents (Smite is 10MP for me, while Flare is 7), but it's not like I use them all the time. I treat Holy as just another element, to be used when it's likely to be most effective against a specific combination of enemies. Having seen that Staff, though... it seems like your elemental spells might be a shade more powerful than your Holy ones, so I couldn't really say.

Oh, and, Montage your magic every day. Personally, I stopped Montaging long ago, as the gain is minor for me on the ones that are not capped, and I just don't remember to do it either. However, in your case, with such low levels in Elemental prof, you'll see much better gains overnight then I would. You could do a Cloth/Staff Montage but, you'll gain more in battle, and boosting your Magic Attack is more important.

Speaking of which, I'm wondering if I should even bother anymore. I have two non-capped magic profs. The one that is 13 levels below the cap (28 below my level) gained 0.08 last night, and the one that is 12 levels below the cap (27 below my level) gained 0.09. This is pathetic.

Speaking of which, I'm wondering if I should even bother anymore. I have two non-capped magic profs. The one that is 13 levels below the cap (28 below my level) gained 0.08 last night, and the one that is 12 levels below the cap (27 below my level) gained 0.09. This is pathetic.

I'm getting 0.06 on my Dep per Montage, but I'm gonna keep doing it until I cap it because its still free proficiency. Not like it hurts or anything and its not like I'll be doing Equipment Montages.

Yeah, but I think I'll try an equipment one next time and see how it flies.

I'm not sure if this is the place to ask this, but thinking maybe the problem is just with me I'd rather not start a new thread.

I play mostly on cake and easy, and on those difficulty level I can notice Shield working, reducing/absorbing damage whenever I have it on. However, when I play on Normal, Shield's effect is so unnoticeable that I'm about to believe that it's broken for me.

7 3 You are Victorious!
7 2 Blue Slime has been defeated.
7 1 You hit Blue Slime for 259 piercing damage.
6 4 Blue Slime misses the attack against you.
6 3 Blue Slime hits you for 62 crushing damage.
6 2 Blue Slime gains the effect Penetrated Armor.
6 1 You crit Blue Slime for 347 piercing damage.
5 3 Blue Slime hits you for 51 crushing damage.
5 2 Blue Slime gains the effect Penetrated Armor.
5 1 You hit Blue Slime for 107 piercing damage.
4 2 You gain the effect Shadow Veil.
4 1 You cast Shadow Veil.
3 3 You evade the attack from Blue Slime.
3 2 You gain the effect Barrier.
3 1 You cast Barrier.
2 3 Blue Slime hits you for 70 crushing damage.
2 2 You gain the effect Shield.
2 1 You cast Shield.
1 2 Blue Slime hits you for 50 crushing damage.
1 1 You hit Blue Slime for 111 piercing damage.
0 2 Spawned Monster A: MID=10 (Blue Slime) LV=54 HP=566 MP=29 SP=16 NA=92 Type=hostile
0 1 Initializing arena challenge #1 (Round 1 / 1) ...
0 0 Battle Start!

All damage taken:
50 damage (without shield)
70 damage (shield)
51 damage (shield)
60 damage (shield)

So yeah wtf I've actually taken more damage with shield on?

Is this normal? Or does it happen to you guys as well?

BTW my shield only absorbs 7.8 points of damage at the moment.

Is this normal? Or does it happen to you guys as well?

BTW my shield only absorbs 7.8 points of damage at the moment.

The damage range for a hit is too large for this to mean anything, especially since you only get reduced by 8 dmg.

Ah ok that explains it, thanks.

I certainly didn't expect such an increased damage output from mobs going from Easy to Normal.
It's almost like the extra 25% of exp is not really worth it.

How worthwhile do people consider absorb? All I ever hear is Bob and Hito complaining about how it fails to proc and that it results in being hit by a disproportionately large percentage of crits due to the fact that it cannot absorb crits. Do people only use it when fighting legendaries?

How worthwhile do people consider absorb? All I ever hear is Bob and Hito complaining about how it fails to proc and that it results in being hit by a disproportionately large percentage of crits due to the fact that it cannot absorb crits. Do people only use it when fighting legendaries?

Its pretty shit how it usually fails to proc when you really need it. I put it up as a precaution whenever I'm fighting minibosses that have really painful magic attacks, if there's a Tentacle Monster and I don't think I can kill it before it can Rape me, or for a Boss fight in an arena. Half the time I don't need it because a) nothing gets their spell off, b) they miss, c) I block, or d) its a crit and I can't do anything about it anyway. Its good to have, but don't beat yourself up over not having it.

Edit:
DIE EMOTICONS!

This post has been edited by cmal: Dec 9 2009, 06:32

The fact that it can't stop crits makes it feel a little broken to me, but overall, its still worth using in the later arenas, to soak up some of the spells cast on you when there are 4-5 minibosses, it can be useful verses legendaries, but I usually just silence them.