Dear Diary,
Hey everybody, this is Ivorysong, and I wanted to share some thoughts with you about my first day as a water mage.
After I learned my school of magic, my stats and armor zeroed out my magic power and mana. Lucky thing for me, Mother could reset my stats, and I could refocus into a pure caster build, which means giving up a ton of strength and agility, along with only wearing light armor. Yeah, I was a glass cannon all right.
So we get knocked out in a few hits, and we can’t carry much of anything beyond a few tissues, but whoa, pure casters are powerful. I could solo a cave dungeon by myself, you know that one on the way up to the pyramid? Yeah, that one. Fighting hyenas was very risky up close, but easy from afar, so don’t get ambushed. I had to kite a few ambushes, and it was too close a fight for my liking against low-level monsters. I was weak and vulnerable, but I was killing things with two ice bolts.
And I constantly ran low on mana! In a long fight, I would run out and need to kite or run; there is no way I am taking them alone or especially in close quarters. Put me in a group where I can deal damage from a back rank, but please don’t step in front of my spells! While you probably won’t die (PvP is off), that will never land a hit, and it will be precious mana wasted. People will need to learn to keep a fire lane clear for a mage, and mages can’t spam attacks unless they have a clear shot.
Hitting your target is life. Do not miss. If they are running around, do not fire unless you have a good closing shot. You will outrange most anything, but don’t spam magic attacks!
I am still sticking with light armor, but I will add some strength back sooner or later, even though my magic will take a small hit. I need to be able to carry stuff! I am not going for a lot, just enough to be able to carry more than food and water, plus a handful of tools. If I get two stacks of 50, I'll be nearly maxed out on carrying capacity. If you go scavenging with a mage, do not expect them to haul anything for the group. Let the tanks play cargo caravan; we mages in the back will be reading a book, since that is all we can carry.
Water spells are cool and powerful, and my AOE spells take a lot of mana and have a big cooldown. Miss with one of those, or shoot it at a wall, and you have made a huge mistake. The rest of the fight will not go well. Unlike Mom, who can rain down the primal heat from a sun, when I miss it, it really sucks.
There is a balance to my build I need to master. I need mere health and expertise, even though those stats don’t do anything for my magic, and health comes first, or I am useless. My armor stays light; I can’t carry medium armor, and it would weaken my powers anyway. Keep me alive!
Selecting spells is easy, and you have to remember your mouse assignments for each wheel of three you set up. Put your combat ones on your first wheel and utility on wheels past that. You are only casting one of three before you need to switch the art, so carefully plan those slots and remember what they are.
While we combat casters have it easy, I can’t imagine how hard it will be for mentalists who do not have direct damage spells. If all you are doing is charming and sleeping, I do not envy your job as a glorified crowd control caster with no armor or stats. Silver, if Mom makes you a mind mage build, get ready to not suck and find a way to make super difficult school work.
Well, I like my magic, and my hot body tattoo, and if you are heading out into the wastes, look me up! I would love to come along and show you how a mage in your party works.
Just don’t ask me to carry anything more than my witty humor and silly remarks.
Oh, and I will bring the drinks!
-Ivory, Water Mage
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