Mage woes

Lamar

Member
Joined
29/06/2021
Messages
66
On normal mode I can't make it past level 5 or 6 without dying. And the way I want to play a new character is if I die it's over (can't begin to count the deaths on my warrior).

Typically I start with 2 int, 1 agi with one of the elemental spells. Do goblin hunt, blue orchid, talk to brother Janus, and kill a goblin or 2 to reach level 2. Put a point in pers then take lost explorer and get Gris and do a bunch of easy quests hit level 3 and then try to get past level 5.

I can make it to level 3 quick enough, but it takes days in game to get close to level 6 (have to sleep often to get health and mama). I just got ganked by the stickup bandits on the road 3/4th the way to level 6. I figured with mage armor and Gris with me if be ok, but ... boom, dead. Sigh. At the time I had agi 2, int 3, aware 1 and pers 1. 1 in mage armor, lightning bolt, ice storm, and staff mystery. With 2 in mana surge. I'd completed 12 quests and 1 town hall quests and was on day 16.

Oh well. Maybe I need to try lower difficulty. Thanks for letting me rant and any help you may give.
 

Molokot

Active Member
Joined
12/09/2020
Messages
205
If you like permadeath, then just blame yourself :D , hard dificulity isnt any diffrent. And aside of that , i think its fastest to progress mage with wands and sumoned monsters, simply dont bother with any spells , maybe except mage armor 1 to protect yourself from traps. It takes a while to make couple of levels on wolves and goblins, but then you can get fire elemental , and things drasticly changes to your favor.
 

Apocalypse

Loreseeker
Joined
05/05/2021
Messages
835
On normal mode I can't make it past level 5 or 6 without dying. And the way I want to play a new character is if I die it's over (can't begin to count the deaths on my warrior).

Typically I start with 2 int, 1 agi with one of the elemental spells. Do goblin hunt, blue orchid, talk to brother Janus, and kill a goblin or 2 to reach level 2. Put a point in pers then take lost explorer and get Gris and do a bunch of easy quests hit level 3 and then try to get past level 5.

I can make it to level 3 quick enough, but it takes days in game to get close to level 6 (have to sleep often to get health and mama). I just got ganked by the stickup bandits on the road 3/4th the way to level 6. I figured with mage armor and Gris with me if be ok, but ... boom, dead. Sigh. At the time I had agi 2, int 3, aware 1 and pers 1. 1 in mage armor, lightning bolt, ice storm, and staff mystery. With 2 in mana surge. I'd completed 12 quests and 1 town hall quests and was on day 16.

Oh well. Maybe I need to try lower difficulty. Thanks for letting me rant and any help you may give.

Bandits on the road are too tough for a mage at low level. Just get around them, there's always room to go by unnoticed.

I mostly play mages, and I always die too loll
Wizards love to die often, it's like some trend in Thuram I guess lol.

To stay safe, use mage armor, and hide behind a companion and a summon. The wizard guild's enclave near Freetown has Fire Elemental scrolls, if you need extra muscle. Ice Elemental scrolls are at the enclave near Nivarian, they are more durable, but do less damage. Both summon spells can be learned too, and there's a 3rd one you can learn in Icemist that summons a super tough Earth Elemental and the legendary uber powerful indestructible Iron Golem, my personnal favorite :)

Having a tough summon is the key to survive!
 

Vitas

Member
Joined
01/03/2020
Messages
58
Couple of tips for mage in early game:

- After getting Grissenda, the dungeon in Lannegar valley is good place to farm. It's easiest dungeon in the game.
- Have always a summoning Scroll (at low lvl Wolf scrolls are ok), only use them if someone is chasing you and you are close to death.
- Conjurer armor set is very cheap and has good stats. Buy 2 pieces from Whitetower city.
- Save often. Even better, save after each kill 😀
-Make Grissenda tanky. Blessed Necklace, and later Ring of health (Kingsbridge quests), Oasis ring (Sydarun quest), Lionskin cuirass (Rhoneis quest).
Cloak of Survival (from Jabal) is amazing early on, but you lose Varannari reputation so it's up to you.
Max Shield expert skill, then 1 skill point in Cleave, after that max Resilience for Grissenda.
- If bandits are too tough, run to the nearest town, the guards will help you kill them. Whenever things are rough, just run away 😀. If enemy keeps chasing you, run away out of dungeon/out of current area.
- Lesser Summoning is actually quite good in early levels.
- The only elemental Skill I use is Lightning. Almost no enemy immune to lightning, also best late game elemental skill.
- I noticed you have no points in Endurance, why? In this game, especially on harder difficulties, survivability comes first, Dps is second priority.
Post automatically merged:    

Also never forget, mage + hirge + iron golem is holy Trinity, so aquiring this Trinity is the highest game priority, after that it doesn't matter what you do 😉
 
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Lamar

Member
Joined
29/06/2021
Messages
66
Thanks everyone.

Summoning 1 takes 2 skill points. Is it really viable before level 4? How do people get through the first few levels in iron man mode? Hitting level 2 goblins with a dagger is deadly in normal mode even with mage armor. And for some reason I have trouble activating mage armor at times. I can't imagine how I'd survive in iron man mode.

I have one point in endurance. I figured 2 in agility, which provides additional armor and boosting ranged damage, was better than 2 in endurance.

Again, thanks everyone.
 

VDX_360

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If you get really good at a game, a no-death Iron Man Playthrough could be interesting. But it's not realistic for a first playthrough based on the design of the game.

An average player on an average first playthrough should expect to die a few times, especially if they are playing the game without using out-of-game knowledge. That's part of the game design. The alternative, is the game is so easy, there's no chance of dying, which is a common problem with a lot of current games.

What I would suggest is find a character you like and stick with it. That's how you get better at a game. It might help avoid early game quit-rage. How many times can you do the same first quest before it drives you mad?

As for mages, the class is weak for the first part of the game but quickly become powerful. Depends on player choices, class build etc, but a lot of mages start to be overpowered around level 5 to 8.

Staff Mastery + Summon = walking path of destruction. That low level shock imp is useful against early game enemies, even if you don't go full summoner. At low levels there's not too much benefit of investing in Staff Mastery, but by mid-levels it helps to max it (damage bonus based on INT). Once you get a Companion, you become almost unstoppable unless you get yourself cornered.
 

Lamar

Member
Joined
29/06/2021
Messages
66
If you get really good at a game, a no-death Iron Man Playthrough could be interesting. But it's not realistic for a first playthrough based on the design of the game.
Gotcha
An average player on an average first playthrough should expect to die a few times, especially if they are playing the game without using out-of-game knowledge. That's part of the game design. The alternative, is the game is so easy, there's no chance of dying, which is a common problem with a lot of current games.
Have a level 9 rogue and level 23 warrior. Have died hundreds and hundreds of times. Didn't use the wiki or forums for a while then found that using them made the game more fun. Started a mage for something different and to see if I could go slowly and not die.

What I would suggest is find a character you like and stick with it. That's how you get better at a game. It might help avoid early game quit-rage. How many times can you do the same first quest before it drives you mad?
For sure.
As for mages, the class is weak for the first part of the game but quickly become powerful. Depends on player choices, class build etc, but a lot of mages start to be overpowered around level 5 to 8.
Will try summoner around level 4.
Staff Mastery + Summon = walking path of destruction.
I need to learn how to use the staff in dungeons. I tend to miss near doors or shoot in the wrong direction.
That low level shock imp is useful against early game enemies, even if you don't go full summoner.
Fair enough. Just need to figure out how to have enough mana in first few levels. Once I get to sangar I buy cognac to help with that.
IAt low levels there's not too much benefit of investing in Staff Mastery, but by mid-levels it helps to max it (damage bonus based on INT). Once you get a Companion, you become almost unstoppable unless you get yourself cornered.
 

VDX_360

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Lessor Summoner is pretty mana intensive for low levels. It's a good to use before a tough fight, or when looking for secrets.

Once you get Gris, there's less of a need for a Lessor Summon, but you'll still need the skill for later so not a waste if you get it early. That little shock imp does really good against undead (weak against bolt) so it can shine against wraiths etc.

Using a lot of Cognac is helpful for mana management but if you find yourself relaying too much on potions, it can really hurt your early game wallet.

FYI, I just started a new mage on Hard Mode.
Just reached Level 3 with Griss, and a few quests knocked out.
 

Vitas

Member
Joined
01/03/2020
Messages
58
Thanks everyone.

Summoning 1 takes 2 skill points. Is it really viable before level 4? How do people get through the first few levels in iron man mode? Hitting level 2 goblins with a dagger is deadly in normal mode even with mage armor. And for some reason I have trouble activating mage armor at times. I can't imagine how I'd survive in iron man mode.

I have one point in endurance. I figured 2 in agility, which provides additional armor and boosting ranged damage, was better than 2 in endurance.

Again, thanks everyone.

I would strongly advise against playing iron man mode with anyone else except cleric. If you complete the game with iron man cleric (good luck on that 😁), then you can try with mage.

Early levels just use lightning. The first item you should buy is a shield.

I agree with VDX, early lvl staff/wand mastery is not that useful.

The way I play is 1 point in lightning, 1 point in shield, max lesser summoning.
I tend to max extra recovery early both on mages and clerics to solve the mana problem.

Instead of agi 2 I would rather have pers 2 for extra mana.
I see you tend to play the mage like an archer with a lot of right clicking which is not optimal imho 🙂 . Instead you should focus on positioning yourself , so that you can hit more enemies with lightning. This way you can progress faster. A lvl 3 lightning will destroy those bandits you are struggling with.

Also not choosing for staff/wand mastery early allows you to equip the best weapon you have at the moment.
 

VDX_360

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@Vitas brings up a valid point that is more about types of mage builds.

Spell builds, Staff builds, Summon builds, etc can all be very destructive when played effectively. But HOW they're played effectively is quite different. Spell builds tend to rely on setting up good shots, staff builds can play a lot like an archer, Summon builds use the summon as a moving wall.

Pick the build you want to use, than learn the tactics that work well for that build.
 

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