The true test of any character is its ability to cope with any situation. Whether it's a tamer that switches pets versus different enemies or a warrior with different weapons for weapon skills, slayers, and damage types, each type of character has to have some ability to change for each situation's demands.
Mages are no different. Our weapons are the spells we use, enhanced by our spellbooks. Slayer books apply against different creatures, but even more than that mages must know their spells.
Of the five damage types, Mages can most easily hit four of them through the three spell skills. Knowing when to use which spell is key to keeping fights as short as possible; even with a Slayer book, throwing Fireballs and Flame Strikes against a Balron is a longer fight than using Energy Bolts and Lightning.
Energy: Lightning, Energy Bolt, Chain Lighting from Magery, Thunderstorm from Spellweaving. Each of these spells have their moments, but Energy Bolt and Lightning are the most useful. Lightning's damage is nearly as good as Energy Bolt's, it hits instantly, and it's faster to cast. It's your go-to energy spam spell, and works as a great end spell to a combo. Energy Bolt is likely the most iconic spell in the game; high damage, decent cast speed, and it nestles right into the middle of many combos.
Fire: Fireball, Flame Strike, Meteor Swarm from Magery. Fireball is one of the best spells in your arsenal. It's ridiculously fast, solid damage, and very low mana. Even without a massive mana pool, you'll be able to throw these puppies near endlessly. Flame Strike, on the other hand, is probably the most damaging spell in the game, pre-resist. It's slow to cast, but it makes a great opening shot or if you just need a big hit. All the better that Fire is one of the resists lowered by Necro's Corpse Skin curse.
Poison: Poison from Magery, Poison Strike and Strangle from Necromancy. Poison should be applied liberally against anything that might try to sneak in a few heals before you take it down or things that you'll have to whittle down such as Ancient Dragons; you'll learn when these times are. If you run low karma, Poison should always be applied right after an Evil Omen. Poison Strike is least appealing of all options, as it's damage is low and it has no secondary effects aside from area; at 120 SS, I see it hit in the single digits on creatures with under 50 resist. Strangle follows the same general rules as Poison. Poison is also one of the resists lowered by Corpse Skin.
Cold: Harm and Mind Blast from Magery, Wither from Necromancy, and Essence of Wind from Spellweaving. One of the hardest types to hit as a mage. Against a single target, Harm and Mind Blast are your only realistic options; you only have so much mana and there's little sense in blowing it all on one target. You don't want to be caught off-guard by adds either. Harm's best use comes from being adjacent to your target; thankfully, the damage there is solid and spamable. Mind Blast is less impressive; it's based off your Magery skill and intelligence, and even at 120/300 it's never going to be that great. Even still, it has a slight delay to it and can be used equally at range, so it can be combo'd nicely. Wither is likely the most powerful of the bunch, but it's mana intensive. Save it for times when there are a lot of targets, such as fighting the Black Liche. Essence of Wind is a poor man's Wither, but if you're running high karma you don't have much else. Cold is one of the resists *raised* by Corpse Skin, so don't waste your time with cold after a CS.
Physical: Earthquake from Magery, Pain Spike from Necromancy. Earthquake is another AoE spell. It's okay, but not great; 1/3 of a target's hp capped between 10 and 100 damage before resist. Pain Spike isn't much better. It behaves like spells used to, checking against the target's resist, and versus targets with resist equal to or better than your Spirit Speak, you'll see poor damage come out of it. What's worse, part of the damage is temporary unless the target dies within ten seconds. Physical is one of the resists *raised* by Corpse Skin, so don't try to mix the two. In fact, leave Physical to pets.
Your own defenses are something else to keep in mind. Magery gives you three important spells to this end in Reactive Armor, Protection, and Magic Reflection. You'll likely not need two of these spells thanks to the generous resists on player crafted armor and most artifacts, but knowing what you *can* do is an important part of being a mage.
Reactive Armor: Your Physical resistance buff. It gives a base 15% Physical resistance at a cost of -5% each Elemental resistance. Inscription provides a bonus to the Physical resist bonus, up to a max of 20% Physical resistance.
Magic Reflection: Your Elemental resistance buff. It gives a base 10% resistance to all Elemental resistances at a cost of -25% Physical resistance. Inscription reduces the penalty to Physical resistance, up to a max of -20% Physical resistance.
Protection: A core buff to keep in mind. It reduces Physical resistance by 15% and your casting spell cap by 2 (meaning you cannot make this penalty up through items), and drops your Resisting Spells by 35.0; large penalties to be sure, but worth the cost. In exchange you cannot be interupted when casting spells. This means no matter how mobbed you get or how many bleed/poison ticks you try to heal/cure through, you'll always have your shot at casting a spell. These penalties can be lowered by Inscription, to -30.0 Resisting Spells and -10% Physical resistance at GM Inscription.
Generally, you want to keep Protection on when solo. Creatures cast at respectable speeds and multiple creatures can keep you from getting a spell off at all if you're not careful. When using pets in situations where you're doing lots of healing and curing, drop the Protection so that you regain full casting speed; that penalty does make a noticable difference.
Later I'll go over a few basic combos, some of which can/should be hotkeyed.
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