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Asheron's Call: 4-School Mage Guide my
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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Buff
Advanced Techniques
Chapter 3 - The Attack
Strategy 1 - Art of
the Single Pull
Strategy 2 - Two for one
casting
Strategy 3 - Vampire
Chapter 1 -Introduction
This guide is not designed to assist you in creation of a good mage character
or in the location of where to fight at what level. My guide is designed
to teach basic strategies on how to effectively fight and kill creatures
many times your level as a four-school mage. A great site that discusses
Mage templates (among others) is Alle's
AC Tips. He is a bit bias towards Archers but the template is sound
=)
When I tell folks that I started fighting Umbris shadows at level 29,
I get many chuckles. It's pretty unbelievable by most mages. In fact,
a certain level 81 mage monarch said that he couldn't fight Umbris until
level 50 and flat out didn't believe me!
Well, it's true. In fact, I am not the only one to fight and defeat
them at low level in our allegiance. One Bad Mage also has taken down
many Umbris at level 30ish. It is definitely possible. (Note: with the
latest round of patches, the Umbris are MUCH more difficult. I have adjusted
my suggestion of fighting them when your skills can be buffed to the 220
range and you are fully buffed with level 5's)
The techniques I will show you work from level 1 to unlimited. If you
created a 4-School mage you will be able to cast all the same spells to
buff and attack as I mention but adjust for your level, utilizing the
strategies on creatures you can effect. Back
to Top
Chapter 2 - The Buff
Depending on your level, up to 50% of your time hunting will be buffing.
If you don't want to buff, create a Melee char, magic is all about buffing.
Higher level spells last much longer and thus require less buffing percentage
of your time. If you are not buffing before battle you are severely handicapped
as a 4-school mage. Utilizing those other 3 schools of magic is why you
didn't specialize War magic! Cast them, its worth it, trust me.
Another important thing to remember is to cast the absolute highest
level buffs you can, 5 points may not seem like much, but it can make
all the difference on difficult monsters. Plus you get experience for
just casting. This added experience can be a very significant amount at
higher levels.
Pre-Buff - Before buffing, jewelry and wands are very effective to eliminate
the fizzle. Focus, Self, Mana Conversion, Endurance and Rejuvenation are
the absolute best pre-buff combination of jewelry to use. Focus and self
will help raise your magic stats to get your first few buff spells off
without fizzle. Mana Conversion will help you cast more buffs before resting,
and Endurance and Rejuvenation is to assist that all important Stamina
to Mana spell (Puish Zharil) I leave this combo of jewelry on all the
time. Endurance gives more stamina AND health, never have enough of those,
and the others will be good back up when the spells start to fade, so
you are not completely helpless.
Buff - First thing to know about buffing is that casting a spell is
always better then the equal level spell effect of items. A Focus 3 ring
gives 20 points of focus but the spell Focus 3 can give 23 points, depending
on the time of day (benefits of spell economy). All spells are that way,
so casting is much better then items that give the benefit.
1. Mana Conversion - This will help you cast more buffs between
resting for your entire buffing cycle AND allow you to cast more battle
spells as well. It's a buff that is hard to measure effectiveness but
is very valuable.
2. Creature Mastery - This will help you cast the remaining
buff spells and if you are fighting creatures significantly higher level
then you and are having trouble effecting, i.e. they are resisting a
lot, it will help you cast the all important debuff spell called Magic
Yield Other. The best offensive spell of Creature Magic bar none. It
lowers the magic defense of whatever you cast on. Very nice for a mage.
(See Chapter 3 - Attack for greater explanation)
3. Life Mastery - This will assist you in casting all the protection
spells in your buff cycle and is a great offensive assistant as well.
In the Attack section I will discuss the incredible versatility and
power of life magic. It is the only magic skill I would consider specializing
if that says anything.
4. War Mastery - Pretty self explanatory, it is your dominant
form of killing.
5. Rejuvenation - Stamina is the primary source of replenishing
mana. So boosting it to replenish faster is a must. You will fight longer
and more often if you do.
6. Armor Self - It raises your armor level over your entire
body. All sections covered. I don't move without it.
7. Life Protection Spells - Life Magic Protection Spells reduce
damage taken by a percentage based on the level of spell cast. It reduces
damage from ALL attacks including physical and magic attacks. In fact,
protection spells are the only way to reduce damage of offensive damage
spells other then Magic Defense. Armor has no effect on magic damage
and with magic defense you either resist or take the full damage of
the attack. With this in mind you might be inclined to cast all the
protection spells available to you. Though possible, I would recommend
against it until you are much higher level. Mana is to valuable and
they last not nearly long enough to justify.
I suggest casting protection spells based on what you will be hunting.
For example, if you where hunting Freshwater Armadillos, their only
attack would be Slashing. So for protection I would cast Blade Protection
Self. Another example would be Drudge Lurker. They are spell casters
as well as melee weapon users. Drudges tend to use Spears and Swords
as weapons, so for protection I would cast Blade and Piercing protection.
They tend to cast Fire Bolt and Force Bolt a lot more then the other
war spells (though I have been hit with all war spells from them) so
I only cast Fire Protection and I have already cast piercing protection
for their spear usage. Now they will do reduced damage to me if I am
hit with sword or spear and Whirling Blade, Forcebolt, and Fire Bolt
spells. Very nice, that will be more then enough time to kill them easy.
;-)
Note: while wandering the direlands it's a good idea to keep Lighting
and Acid protection spell up via spell or item. Silver Rats and Ash
Gromnies will make short work of you without it, and their superior
speed will ensure they will get several whacks at you.
8. Bane Spells - As soon as you can cast level 4 item spells
you should put all your armor away and get the ugly, but versatile Feran
Robe. (If you are lucky, a Hoary Mattie Robe is incredible with these
spells on it) Not only does it weight considerably less then armor,
but also it covers all but your hands and allows you to cast bane spell
to protect virtually all of your body. The strongest benefit of bane
spells is they can not be dispelled. So it is your last level of protection
after you have been debuffed. Use them generously. Always cast Impenetrability
and add whatever bane spell fits the physical attack of what you are
fighting, keeping in mind they will have no effect on the damage caused
by war spells cast at you. An example of this would be fighting Tusker
Guards. There only attack is bludgeoning, so I cast Bludgeon Bane on
all armor pieces, for me that includes gloves, mattie robe and helmet.
Helps considerably.
9. Magic Defense - Some creatures do not cast magic so it is
of little use and not needed. But for magic casting foes it is highly
recommended. Nothing sounds better then the sound of you resisting spells.
I could hear that all day. =)
10. Focus/Self - I always buff focus and self. It adds points
to all 4 schools, arcane lore, maximum mana, and loyalty/leadership.
I am sure there are more I am leaving out. It only lasts half as long
as your other buffs and will have to be recast twice as often. I use
it as a good judge to how long I got until buffs disappear. Back
to Top
Advanced Techniques
Creature, Life and Item magic got a boost early on after the public
release of AC by giving experience each time you cast a spell of that
type. Turbine did this so the pure life/creature/item mage could get experience
helping a party without relying on a fellowship. Since then, the mages
of our allegiance have refined that idea to give the maximum experience
possible. Many a mage will go off to a secluded (or not so secluded) spot
to cast spells in place to gain experience. At higher levels it can be
a significant amount! Here is the basic technique.
To maximize the experience you must cast spells in sequential order.
Casting level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of any spell in one school of magic
would give you near 1500 experience, directly benefiting only that school
of magic. Multiply that times 3 schools magic, you can see how the experience
can add up. After doing this, you may ask why bother with the first level
spell, it gives so little experience. Well, it's probably the most important
spell of the set. Turbine, to help combat the experience you get just
standing there, made it so there is a significant reduction in experience
if you recast within 12 min. Hardly worth the effort with a max of 4500
experience each cycle. That is where the first level spell comes in, it
absorbs the reduction of experience and allows the rest of the spells
you cast to get full experience. Thus allowing you to cast a cycle every
3 minutes for max experience. That's 20 cycles an hour. You can see now
why mages do this. Until Turbine realizes this (it is not widely known)
I encourage you to take advantage of it.
How does this relate to Buffing? You can incorporate this into your buff
cycle to give extra experience as well. I must qualify this by saying
it probably isn't worth it at pre-level 20. You just don't have the mana
to waste on a lower level spell.
First, you set up your spell bar with your normal buffs for whatever
creature you will be fighting per the buff instructions listed previously.
Then, incorporate a one step lower spell in front of each spell school
set and if possible a higher level spell after. Example: My Creature buff
cycle is like this, Creature Mastery 4, Mana Conversion Mastery 5, Life
Mastery 5, Creature Mastery Self 5, Magic Defense 5, Focus Self 5, Willpower
Self 5, War Mastery Self 6.
Casting the Creature Mastery 4 spell first will do two things, first
it absorbs the experience penalty for not waiting 12 min to cast, second
it will assist me casting the remainder of creature buffs. Thus ensuring
that the first level 5 spell and the level 6 spell will give maximum exp.
I continue the process with Life and Item magic. For Life Magic, casting
a level 4 protection spell first and a level 6 rejuvenation last seems
to work well for me. I cast 2 bane spells for level 4 and 5 and then Impenetrability
6 as my final item magic spell. I encourage you to experiment with this.
Figure out what is the best order for you and what you are fighting. The
experience can be significant and is worth the effort.
A thanks goes out to One Bad Mage who first alerted me of this very
important omission. Back to Top
Chapter 3 - The Attack
There are only 3 types of pure mages in the land of Dereth. The first
type is the more traditional War Mage. Simply, you see something you want
to kill, and you attack it with spells that deliver physical or elemental
damage from the school of war. You can kill from range or up close. You
can incorporate life, creature, and item debuffing strategies to augment
your War Spells. But essentially you are a War Mage.
The second type and I must say the most despised type of mage in Dereth
is the Life Mage. Many melee characters have labeled the pure Life Mage
as a kill stealing wall licker and I must say for good reason. They are
incredibly efficient at killing, and due to the nature of Life Magic,
don't have to be in harms way to do so (sometimes referred to as Line
Of Sight). If the pure life mage took war magic, it is probably severely
lacking in experience. To the point of almost being unusable. Turbine
has even addressed the Pure Life Mage issue by nerfing the experience
gained from draining when the creature has no chance of attacking you.
In my opinion, it is also the most boring character to play in the game.
Drain Health Other I is your primary attack spell, and you finish them
off with Harm Other, or let your melee friends do it, which is a big reason
for the controversy.
The last type of mage is a combination of the previous two. Deadly efficient
at killing. Utilizing the inherent strengths of all four magic skills
to kill as quickly as possible. Nobody would dare say a combo mage is
exploiting the game in any way. You are the most powerful foe in all the
land of Dereth. If monsters fought like you, we would be in serious trouble.
(after the last update, a few are getting close). This is the type of
mage I consider myself and will explain the strategies I apply in battle.
Strategy 1 - Art of the Single Pull
A mages biggest fear is multiple enemies wailing away on you as you
slowly cast high level spells to dispatch them one at a time. I would
rather attack a level 276 diamond golem then three banderling guards.
The guards will likely do more damage and cost more componates then
the diamond golem. So, to combat this, I utilize a strategy to pull
on foe at a time from a large group. This has worked for every creature
I have encountered in Dereth.
First I evaluate the creature I am fighting. Can my spells effect
him more then 75% of the time? If the answer is no, the first spell
I cast is Magic Yield. Oh how I love this spell. It lowers the magic
defense of the creature. This will allow my following spells to hit
and effect more often. Essentially bringing a much stronger creature
more to my level. If my spells CAN effect the creature more then 75%
of the time, then I ready a Life Magic Vulnerability spell. Which Vulnerability
spells you may ask? Well, I consult my trusty AC Monsters guide and
look up what the creature's weakness is. I will lower that defense even
further with my Vulnerability spell and follow it up with a war spell
of that type. Want to one hit an Ice Golem? Cast Fire Vulnerability
on him before hitting him with Fire Bolt. You will not believe the damage.
Now, I am fully buffed, have a group of creatures that are my targets
in site, what do I do? I cast my first spell (Magic Yield or Vulnerability
spell) and run. Didn't expect that now did you. The monsters will chase
you for a bit, but if you cast it at the extreme range of your spell,
they will have little chance of catching you (unless they are Silver
Rats *shudder*). When they break off attack, run back to the spawn.
If your Yield/Vulnerability spell was effective, all you need to do
is start casting your war spells on that creature, otherwise cast your
Yield/Vulnerability again until effected and start you killing. He will
now come all by his lonesome. His friends will have little interest
until you give the deathblow. Then you better get your running shoes
again. ;-)
When returning to a spawn after you have Yielded/Vulned a creature,
it can be difficult to re-select the same creature you have debuffed.
On your keyboard is a Select Previous function. Default key is P. This
will select the creature that is ready for your full attack. Very Sweet
;-)
For the remainder of the spawn, continue the pattern. Ensuring one
creature attacks is a big step toward limiting your arrival at the lifestone.
Mastering this process is highly recommended else you will be like that
level 65 mage who can barely kill Umbris because of all the other shadows.
Note: for creatures that always come one at a time, you don't have
to run. Just skip to Strategy 2 and consider yourself lucky. All types
of armadillos and wasps are like this. Back
to Top
Strategy 2 - Two for one casting
Spell casting is a terribly time consuming thing. If you think that
the Big Red Axe with speed 120 is slow, try casting a level 6 War Spell
on something. It can take forever. There is a way to combat this time
issue, at least at the begging of your battle. First, follow the first
strategy of pulling only one creature. When I implore this technique
I almost always cast Magic Yield Other first, so when I get back, I
still have to cast a Vulnerability spell. Now I am ready for the assault.
Cast the highest level war spell you can. Even if it fizzles a lot,
keep casting until it works. Once cast, while the War spell is on its
way to the target, immediately cast a Vulnerability spell to that form
of attack. If done at maximum range, lag willing, your vulnerability
spell will hit just prior to the war spell hitting. Thus getting two
spells to hit the creature before they begin their attack. Very nice.
After the Vulnerability spell continue to cast War magic until the creature
is dead or you are near out of mana or health. In which case move to
Strategy 3.
Back to Top
Strategy 3 - Vampire
Many high level creatures are blessed with a huge amount of Stamina,
Mana Or Health or even a combination of all three. You can use this
to your advantage with the extremely powerful Life Mage spell Drain
Other.
Drain Other spells will drain 25% of the recipients Health, Mana or
Stamina and give a percentage, based on what level of spell used, to
the caster. In effect directly harming what you cast it on and benefiting
you at the same time. Because of its power, you will rarely cast over
the level one of this spell because it is fast and deadly. In 5 successful
castings of a level 1 drain spell you will drain a creature to 23.7%
of its starting health, stamina, or mana. Incredibly deadly. The only
limitation to this spell is range. The creature has to almost within
melee range for you to successfully cast. So, if I am fighting a creature
that is a good candidate for the drain spell it would go something like
this: Vulnerability spell, wait for creature to be in range of Drain,
Drain Health, Drain Health, Drain Health, Drain Health, War spell same
as your vulnerability, repeat until victorious.
Due to the natural diminishing return on a percentage based attack,
after about 5 times it is generally better to switch to your war attack
to finish them off. But before you deal that deathblow, consider draining
stamina and mana first. If done properly, and the creature doesn't hurt
you to bad, you can leave the battle in better shape then when you began,
with full health, stamina, and mana. How sweet is that! But don't get
over confidant. I have found the drain spells seem to be resisted a
lot more then other spells (maybe a silent nurf to life mages), don't
count on it saving you when you are loosing health and/or mana to fast.
It will be resisted if your life counts on it. ;-)
Note: This is a high level strategy not recommended for low level
creatures. Low level creatures do not generally have the health, mana
or stamina to be of much assistance using a percentage based attack.
Understanding what creatures to use this technique on is critical to
its effectiveness. Consult your AC Monsters guide for the accurate information.
If the guide says the creature has a large deposit of any of the three
stats Drain effects, use it, otherwise, just stick to Strategy 2 to
kill. Back to Top
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