Guliarme’s Basic Mage Build
If you’re interested in becoming a Mage, then look no further! This guide will show you how to build the stats and skills of a Mage, and what equipment to look for to better play this powerful damage dealing class.
First Job Class
To become a Mage, you will want to start out as a Muse, and focus on the Offensive skill tree of that class. You want to make sure to increase your INT (Intelligence) the most, since it increases your MP, your Mystic Defense and the attack power of a Staff, which is your weapon of choice!
Stats
Here is a brief explanation of the stats you can increase, and their relevance to Muses, in particular.
STR – Increases HP, Physical Defense, and Attack Power
DEX – Increases Dodge Rate and Melee Attack Power
INT – Increases MP, Mystic Defense, and Mystic Weapon Attack Power
CON – Increases Accuracy, and Attack Power of Guns
CHA – Improves Loot Drops, Decreases chance of Equipment breaking when Injured
SEN – Improves Critical Hit Rate of Auto-Attacks
Your main stat is INT, since it is a required stat to wield a Staff, which is the main weapon of the Mage class. This means that most skills will require you to have a one equipped, or you won’t be able to use them. Intelligence also increases your attack power by the highest amount when you are wielding a staff, so it allows you to deal the most damage, the earliest in your build.
You want your base Intelligence to be 200 around level 100, and 300 around level 150.
Secondary stats for a Mage are CON, DEX, or STR. CON allows you to connect your attacks, which is very important for a damage focused class such as Mage. DEX is a stat to increase your melee attack power, once your Intelligence has become difficult to increase, the improved Dodge Rate is not the main reason for increasing your Dexterity, but it can save you in a pinch! STR also increases your Attack Power and it does increase your HP and your Physical Defense. Like dexterity, the HP and Defense that strength gives you is not the main reason for increasing this stat, but it can make the difference in a close fight.
A good stat spread for an aspiring Mage, at least in my opinion, can be a 2:1 ratio between INT and CON. For example, 150 INT and 75 CON or 200 INT and 100 CON.
Which Skills to Learn
When you are developing as a Muse, you want to plan ahead which element you want to focus on, since the Mage skill tree will continue down those same branches. There are Fire elemental skills such as Fire Ring and Meteorite Strike which focus on higher range attacks with Defense debuffs. There are Ice elemental skills such as Frostbiter and Icy Hailstorm which focus on shorter range attacks which decrease movement speed. There are also Area-of-Effect attacks which are Wind Elemental skills such as Wind Storm and Tornado, which give different types of debuffs depending on which one you choose to use.
Your main damage passive, Muse Combat Mastery, is a top priority to learn and max out (it caps at skill level 18) since not only will it increase your damage but also allow you to learn the higher level versions of your other attacks.
Offensive Muses do not do much in terms of buffs, but they do have the powerful Eucar Boost buff which gives them a short amount of time where their damage is massively increased.
Mage Skills
Once you’ve hit level 100 and become a Mage, you now have access to stronger versions of all of your previous skills. Remember that you can only learn the stronger versions of skills you already know from the Offensive tree, so this is where planning ahead will have paid off! There is Mage Combat Mastery which is a new passive that will further increase your damage (and increase your accuracy!). There are the more powerful Fire Elemental skills such as Magfire which deals splash damage, Elemental Spike which is a strong single-target attack, Energy Burn which decreases the Defense of its target and Meteorite Flow which attacks various targets from afar and stuns them. There are the more powerful Ice elemental skills such as Glaciating Chill which deals increased damage and a larger movement speed debuff and Permafrost Chill, a devastating single target attack which also massively lowers movement speed and attack speed. The Ice Tree also contains the Lightning branch of Elemental Spells which include Arumic Shock and Lemming’s Bolt, single target attacks which stun their opponents.
Equipment
You concentrate on dealing as much damage as possible, so you want to concentrate on equipment that increases Attack Power, INT and Accuracy. Staffs that are Hardened, Balanced or Legendary are great for these purposes, and Armors that are Chivalrous, Luminous or Brave all help as well. Your damage is high enough where sometimes you may not need to go overboard with damage on all your armor pieces, so Reinforced armor can help you outlast enemies trying to finish you off before you finish them.
Gems that help you deal out damage are the best for a Muse, those like Diamond and Topaz are great additions to your weapon and jewelry. On the topic of jewels, the Lava Set, which increases Attack Power and Accuracy, is perfect for a Mage; and its lower level version, the Flame Set, is great to pick up as you level up.