Very long mage guide

Mages aren’t easy, like valks, and u can’t just sit back, while some barrier slowly hurts monster til they die, like buffers do. With a mage, it’s a difficult road, but it eventually pays off, when mages can solo effectively in the higher lvls, and mages have multiple party applications.
Stats

In terms of stats, u should either go 3:1 or pure int.
3:1 helps defensively and reduces the cost… unfortunately, with it, ur losing quite a bit of posible damage, every bit of which helps mages in the latter stages.
Pure int is a bit more expensive because of lower def and more hp pots needed, plus u’ll probably end up dying more frequently when u solo, but realistically, past 70, solo lvling isn’t worth the time and effort, and the extra damage helps a ton. the extra mana also helps if u wanna get a high magic shield.
Skills

Basic
MAX Staff Mastery
MAX Shield Mastery
1/10 MP Regen*
1 HP Regen
1 Weight increase
- Don’t bother with other basic skills as they’re close to useless -
Class

0/20 Explosion**
1/20 Ice Prison**
0/20 Astral Storm**
0/20 Lightning Shock**
1 Mana Compress
1 Teleport
1/20 Magic Shield*
0/5 Summon Sasta**
- Other class skills are close to useless -

* Based on ur own preference – skill points available should be onsidered when making these decisions.
** Offensive skills… outta these, u gotta make some choices for combos and ur mages path.

I’ll go through the offensive skills…
Explosion
This is an inexpensive skill with a decent radius and deals decent fire damage, fairly quickly. It also has a strong lvl 90 version, which is incredible in PvP… unfortunately, it’s not of much use in PvE, as it has a long recharge time. This is decent pvp and pve, but Absolute Fire (its lvl 90 version) is the best pvp skill in the game… before being able to use the master skills.
Ice Prison
Although slightly weaker and a bit slower than explosion, this skill slows its target, which is a very powerful ability in both PvP and PvE. It has a lvl 90 version which totally freezes the target in place for a few seconds. Unfortunately, the lvl 90 version has a long recharge time.
lightning Shock
This is far stronger than u may think. Lightning shock is the strongest skill, striking a single target very quickly. It has a lvl 90 version which uses an AoE attack to hit the target(s) about 8 times in 24 seconds, allowing the player more chances to deal damage, and u pay the mana only for the first hit. Lightning shock is the best class skill under level 90 for pvp. Thunder Crash (its lvl 90 version) is the best pve skill for mages.
Astral Storm
Although this skill doesn’t have a lvl 90 version, it is also very strong. It has a large radius, and even though the recharge time is long and takes a lot of mana to use, when used past a certain level, it can hit the target fairly quickly. the damage it deals is quite high, which makes it a very powerful skill in PvE. Not so in PvP though.
Air Pressure
This skill is very interesting. U need to be very close to your target as it activates around you, like crushing fall. It deals moderate non-elemental damage, and even though it has no recharge time, it casts about as quickly as lightning shock does. it’s not a good choice as u need to be able to tank VERY WELL to use it, and mages aren’t built for tanking all the time, so it’s pretty much a lose, lose situation with this… the damage isn’t high enough to compensate for the flaws so it’s just not worth it.
Summon Sasta
This rly skill is an odd skill… Summons sasta – some wierd ranged mage – to deal damage based on the skill lvl. Ur int in no way affects the damage. Unfortunately, the skill activates around u, and this skill takes both a very long time to activate and uses a ton of mana.
It’s suggested that mages choose 2 of these skills (not air pressure) as they work very well in combos. These r some of the best…
Fire and Ice
Lightning and Astral
ice and astral
Lightning and Fire



Magic Shield
Magic shield converts damage into mana consumption. It isn’t affected by mana compress, and when ur mana hits 0, the shields affects disappear til u recast it. It’s very expensive… but it’s also very important. Maqges have very high mana, and are the only class able to maintain this. This increases a mages lifeforce, to include both their mana pool and their hp pool. If u add 1 to this, ur equipment will eventually boost it to 50% damage conversion. If u add 20 points to this, ur mana pool pretty much becomes ur life support. Either way, ur ensuring that u can’t be killed easily when mobbed or fightning strong monsters.
Mana Compress
Reduces mana consumption when a spell is activated (doesn’t work really work on magic shield… although it does make the cost of casting it less) For example, if mana compress is at -20% mana consumption, and a skill generally costs 20 mp to cast, the skill will cost 16 mp to cast. it’s not reccomended more than 1, 2, or 3 skill points be put into this as it doesn’t really affect ur combat unless u overload it with skill points… which is kinda dumb seeing as mages need every skill point.
Summon Pruravras
This is one of the worst skills in the game. While the damage seems high, it’s actually no higher than the mage is at 45-55, and once the mage gets into an area like unos, it becomes an impediment, and its damage becomes MUCH lower than that of the mage. It’s powered by skill lvl, not intelligence, and it cannot cast a spell u do not possess.
Teleport
this skill is quite useful, and although it’s not as fast as the valk skill burst, it doesn’t require a target to cast. It can help u move quickly through an area without getting mobbed, and take as few hits as posible, or help u get out of a potentially dangerous situation (ex. 5 hp and 2 mana pots left and in the middle of a mob) I’ve been told that the higher the lvl here, the greater its range is. While I’m not sure about that, I don’t think anyone should put more that 1 skill point here. If that’s true, then ur equipment will be able to push this up quite a bit. Mana consumption isn’t an issue here, as when ur mana passes 1.5k, u recharge faster than u spend it.

Basic Skills listed shouldn’t need to be explained, but here r the reasons for which some basic skills aren’t in the list. The skills which AREN’T reccomended because they have little or no affect on mages are:
Increase Accuracy
Don’t need it EVER. It’s a waste of 1 skill point for mages.
Increase Dodge
Mages don’t have a high defence rate. This skill is of little use from 30-70 and NO use from 70-125.
Two Hand Mastery
This increases power dealt in melee attacks, not magic.
One Hand Mastery
Again, melee attacks only. Useless for mages.
Ranged Mastery
This only works with bows, crossbows, and bias throwing knives (best pvp weapon ever ) so mages have no use for this.

Again: These r skills u SHOULDN’T get!

Now, here r the best locations for lvling…

1-5 Castle Cronous field
5-15 Underwater Sewer
15-20 sitis terra
20-25 Purica Pathway
25-30 temple road
30-40 Different levels of mountainous temple (u’ll know when u need to progress)
40-45 tarra
45-47/50 Chakras
47/50-55 Kaineus Town
55-57 AoB (unless u wanna grind in K-town til 57, u should go find a lvl 70+ player who’ll help u lvl here… u might have to pay em tho.)
57-65 Unos (It’ll definitely be hard before u get shades and vepress)

At 65+, pranal opens up, so if offered for free training there, go for it. Just be careful with evil eyes.

65-70+ Malus Ora (May need to stay a bit)

At 70+, Holid opens up… It’s a difficult place to even survive in, so u gotta be cautious when attacking. Training is very fast tho.

70-80 Forgotten Passage / Madravas (If u can train in mad and make a profit, it might actually be easier than finding a fp party)
80+…
There r various places u could go to train now…

80-97 River of Ordeal – very fast, but difficult to get to and survive in
80-85 Amara
80-85 Pranal
80-85 Lava Stone Antaras
80-90 Holid
85-90+ Entice
97+ castle Pan
Hero… this one’s one of the most advanced training grounds so I’m gonna have to say… whenever u can survive without potting for every hit. I don’t mean when ur in a party. When ur in a party, u should be able to survive with ease.
Equipment

lvl 15-59…
Full nomos set. Get em as high as posible.
pro staff is nice, in terms of damage, but when u use this, u can’t equip a shield, so it’s best to use a wand/spirit stone.
Armour should give as much of a defence boost as posible. Ur character may look like trash in comparison to others because of this, but the defence boost is very important and shouldn’t be compromised at this stage.
lvl 60-74…
Vepress necklace and Shade rings are necessary.
Nomos pendants must be +4 or higher.
U can now replace nomos with Fire/water/lightning/venom pends or/and anti fire/water/lightning/venom pends. They don’t give +def, and are fairly expensive at this stage, but give decent magic damage, which may be worth it.
lvl 60-80…
Bone, larosh, and antique are the 3 types of armour available now. I’ll list the benefits and problems with each
Bone
Pros – High elemental resistance, damage neutralisation, some skill and bonuses (basic) – great for pvp Desent offensive and defensive qualities.
Cons – Astral goes right through it in pvp. Antique has higher def. Larosh has greater offensive abilities. It’s expensive at this point. Astral goes through this, almost completely.
Larosh
Pros – Set bonus raises offensive ability. Can be upgraded to +5 easily, and without spending much. When upgraded to +10, defensive and offensive power become enough to compensate for bryzan/bone at 80. It’s alright for pvp.
Cons – Defensively, this isn’t strong, and unlike bone, it doesn’t have resistance or damage neutralisation to compensate. It’s also quite expensive at +10.
Antique
Pros – High def. Because it’s basic, there are many posible additional bonuses. It’s very cheap and can be found in k-town and any zone with a higher lvl requirement.
Cons – There’s the potential for no def bonus, no stat bonuses, no skill bonuses, etc. It has no additional offensive/defensive qualities, which make bryzan armour necessary after this. With this armour, pvp is difficult to say the least.
75-80
Vepress and Shades are still necessary, but pendants can be upgraded further. Imago pendants are now available, and can be used as an upgrade for lvl 60 elemental pends.
+5 or better nomos pends can still be used at this stage.
80-85
This is a very simple choice. If u have someone willing to help u lvl in river of ordeal til 85, keep/get bone armour. It’ll help u survive. If u don’t, bryzan is important, as the improvement in def is massive. (Unsure the person can take u to ordeal and help u lvl there, otherwise u may not be able to sell the armour.)
80+
This stage is more advanced. For accessories…
Petunias and imagos are the only pendants which should be used, with 2 exceptions.
If one has the oppurtunity to make or buy mata pends/rings/necklace, the individual must grab it. FAST. Mata (matariel, boss in evil canubula) and Jackiel accessories are the most powerful in the game. Jackiel accessories are very hard to obtain because they require the scale of the boss in monster mill (check world map in the game for monster mill on hover island). As such, mata accessories are in great demand.
Vepress and shades are important til the mage can find mata/jackiel (read above for the problem with jackiel) accessories to fill their positions.
85-99
Basically, get sacred and upgrade when needed. Sacred armour at lvl 85, sacred storm at 90, and sacred thunder at 95. Upgrading sacred storm to thunder sacred isn’t as important as upgrading vepress to mata, but the upgrades are still necessary.
100+ If u don’t already have full mata, get it. If u don’t already have full jackiel, get it (If the problem can be resolved, Jackiel FTW). For armour, VOODOO! It’s very expensive, but ,keep in mind that u have 99 lvls to save up for it (might have to sell previous armours to get it) and there are no upgrades beyond it ’til u get reborn (unless u have a ton of $ and wanna make – colour it – dragon/wyvern/metal or something)