Magi

Started by riain, December 29, 2013, 09:37:06 PM

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riain

I spoke with Cy before bringing this to the community.  It was something I started working on a while back, and went through... 5 incarnations before finding working versions.  I read a while back about "pure" magi not being quite so viable any more.  Now that post was old... very old.  So I worked on seeing if it was viable now.  The main complaint was that Magi had to have Druid builds for mana purposes, and then there was a complaint of damage being too low.  With Cy's permission and wayyyy to many tries, here's a few working "pure" Magi builds.  If you'd like to contribute thoughts, I will gladly accept them as I "am" still tweaking more.

First - Skills w/explanation:

"Generation 1" (Uses a tank friend more)
Magery 120
Eval Int 120
Inscription 120
Necromancy 120
Focus 120
Meditation 120
Spirit Speak 60
Healing 120
Anatomy 120
Chivalry 60
Animal Lore 120

With Skill Cap increase of 1500
Poisoning 120
Chivalry + Spirit Speak 120
60 left over points


Explanation - Magery is for your spell success rate (naturally), and Inscription and Eval Int are for your damage.  Necromancy, Spirit Speak, Focus, and Meditation are for Mana Regeneration.  Focus and Meditation need to be 120 for full MR (don't wear non-medable items), Necromancy gives Lich Form which is +13 MR (out of 18 MR cap from items), and Spirit Speak of at least 50 for Wisp familiar (restores mana based on -karma).  Healing and Anatomy are for auto-bandage so you can focus on damage spells instead of healing spells.  Animal Lore 120 is so that you can see what the weakest element is for spell casting on a target.  I don't remember if Chivalry's Divine Fury worked with -Karma (been a while)... IF it doesn't, this is not a problem.  Summon Familiar with 60 spirit speak option for the Dark Wolf to regain stamina every 2 seconds.  It's not as fast as Divine Fury, but magi don't "need" as much stamina to run away.  Invis yourself....

Poisoning is not always that "useful" against some mobs in the game, but it comes in VERY handy against the mobs poisons does work on.  Up it to have your Nox Mage's poison do a good DoT.

"Generation 2" (More solo, more damage, less ease of regen)

Magery 120
Eval Int 120
Inscription 120
Focus 120
Meditation 120
Healing 120
Anatomy 120
Musicianship 120
Peacemaking/Discord 120
Provocation 120

Skill Cap increase
Discord/Peacemaking 120
Chivalry 60
120 Free points

Explanation - This is more for players who are willing to learn what spells to use by trial+error.  It also requires a bit harder items to find (more on that later).  Swapping out Necromancy/Spirit speak lowers our regen from Lich Form and from losing Dark Wisp summoning.  On the other hand, it gives us +karma for Divine Fury.  Instead of keeping a focus into non-stop damage, we use our barding ability to peace mobs to keep from getting over-run and provoking them onto one another (until the last one... peace...).  It is optional for those who have a friend to help to take Discord instead and get Peace later.  Discord + Curse = nice damage increase.  Slower due to lower MR at first though.

Now into Equipment:

This is where it gets "messy".  You can take the "Generation 1" template and skip the hard part, or take the "Generation 2" template and need an extra stat on EVERY piece of armor.  The nice thing, very little of it has to be "hunted".

Helm, Gorget, Armor, Arms, Hands, Legs: All craftable.  There are 2 requirements to look for, 3 if you take "Generation 2".
1) Lower Regent Cost (total of 100%, 16-17% per item to split evenly)
2) Lower Mana Cost (total of 40%, 6-7% per item to split evenly)
3) (as if that wasn't tough enough to find) MR 2.  Not MR 1, MR 2 (grants 12 MR total out of 18 cap)
Feet: Shoes of the Elements (MR3 total to 15/18)
Cloak: Golden Squirrel Cloak (there are others, but this will make jewelry/sockets easier on you)
Earring, Bracelet, Ring: Int, Dex, FCR, FC, then SDI leftovers.  Dex needs to get between 15 and 20 total.
Weapons: SpellBook (see note) and Shield (crafted/dropped with Spell Channeling and no -FC, or Shield of Invulnerability from Paragon drop)

Explanation - you want AS MUCH MR as possible without using the Spellbook.  MR 15 is almost an extra Mana point every second (considering Focus, Meditation, and 150 Int only give ya 2/second... it's a 50% increase).  As in OSI, Int grants more MR... and it increases damage for spells (OSI is some spells, Cy has posted here it gives a boost to almost all spells).  Stack Dex in your armor to 180 (You have 150 base max, 10 from cloak leaving 20 needed.  The more from your jewelry, the less you socket here).  Once you have 180 Dex for bandages, stack Int.  In your jewelry and Shield, stack SDI.  All-In-All you should reach at least 300 Int using ancient sapphires, this will boost your Mana and your SDI.  You need 2 FC to counter the -2 FC from the spell "protection" (extra FC does not raise it back up).  6 FCR will reduce time between casting to 0.  You don't "have" to have it at 6, but that's a very nice thing to have.  You may use "Helm of Insight" if you are willing to spend either a Mage Armor deed (recommended) or a Mage Armor gem.

SpellBook note - Int 7-8, SDI, and an ultimate slayer.  You can replace SDI with MR if you really, REALLY need to... but I do NOT recommend or condone it at all.  Tome of Lost Knowledge (Major Tokuno arti) is better than crafted as it gets an extra 2 or 3% SDI than max crafted and it has 8 Int, you will just need to ultimate slayer them using Human Souls.

Understand these have been tested and known to work.  It took a lot of trial and error to find these combinations.  There are skill points available for personalization, and they are templates.  Pick and choose which parts you want, but know that these combinations are tested and work.  They just take practice.

- Tempest/Onweer/Ramorea

Dolos

Dolos, approves thei message :) I would love to see more mages

Cypress

Well done - and btw, divine fury does still insta-regen your stamina even with negative karma so far as I know :) However, the other benefits of it (hit chance increase and damage increase) don't do so well, but as a mage you're probably not worried about those hehe.

Nice touch with animal lore on generation 1  and good use of necromancy 8)

Your generation 2 build is similar to what I might suggest except mine is less "pure" hehe. I throw in tank abilities for extra survival  :D

120 magery
120 eval int
120 inscription
120 meditation
120 healing
120 anatomy
120 musicianship
120 discord
120 parry
120 bushido

Explanation
This build doesn't use books. This one uses 2-hand weapons for parry and for stamina regen via parry (bushido confidence spell). If you have swords of prosperity or other -0 mage weapons then you can also do damage that way. You can also socket these weapons with extra SDI!   

A variation of this would be to replace bushido with focus and then use a spell book and shield and have parry via the shield and the shield as an extra item for sockets  :)

If you *really* miss chiv's divine fury stamina regen (like I do lol) then you might lower some of the skills (take your pick) by a little each to make room for enough chiv for a good quick divine fury cast in a pinch hehe :)

riain

Love the replies guys.  Glad people are showing an interest.  I like the build with parry/bushido, I may have to try it out with my Swords of Prosperity that are hanging around.  I'd consider maybe changing discord for peacemaking though...  Since you use this build, how do you keep from getting swarmed without it?  I'm curious.

Also, if anyone else has builds, let us know.  Let's bring the Magi back!  Show the world we haven't retreated to our towers and horde away our knowledge of the arcane arts!  We have lives!  We are adventurers!

Cypress

Swarms are ok if they arn't too strong - because in Trammel there's evasion and in Felucca there's confidence to regen HP and stamina when you parry :) Counter is also nice for a little extra damage if you are brave and fighting one to few creatures hehe. If the swarms get to be too much... well run! LOL and /or invisi - gotta love invisi   ;D

Yes, more mages! Come on outta your dusty old towers hehe  :D

riain

"Gen 3" build is finally done.  Revamped, revamped, and revamped.  It is a hybrid of Gen 1 and Gen 2.  In fact, it is identical to Gen 2 in the first 1200.  It hybrids during the extra 300 for when you decide to upgrade the skill cap via VS, Vet Rewards (2 yr), or Donation.

Magery 120
Eval Int 120
Inscription 120
Focus 120
Meditation 120
Healing 120
Anatomy 120
Musicianship 120
Peacemaking/Discord 120
Provocation 120

After the +300 Skill Points:

Focus -55 (bring it down to 65 from 120)
Necromancy 110
Spirit Speak 50
Discord/Peacemaking 120
Chivalry 75

Reasoning - Necromancy 110 allows you 100% Lich Form (failure is always an option, but an annoying one).  Spirit Speak 50 grants you Dark Wisp for mana restoration.  This gives you +13/18 MR making gear considerably easier (Shoes of the elements grants you +3 for 16/18 there, or opens up Ruby Slippers if you've the patience for finding a pair of those [warning, don't ask about them.  That's all I can say]).  The -40 focus gives you room to get Chivalry to 75 (100% divine fury chance) for stamina issues in dire emergencies.  65 instead of 120 focus will only lower you 0.3072 mana/second.  That is noticeable in my books, but only in really, REALLY long fights like the Dark Father.

Last Note (Gen 4):  If you plan not to go out on your own at all, you can drop peacemaking and/or provocation.  Trade those for Focus and Poisoning to get more damage out of your spells and max back out the Mana Regen.