Advanced Mage Guide
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Advanced Mage Guide
Lord Mist {DC} Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:48 am
Advanced Mage Guide
If the cleric is the backbone of any successful guild then the Mage is the brain. Mostly a support class, the Mage excels at tripping up troublesome enemies and unlocking the devastating potential of Rogues and Warriors regardless of level. A 10%-25% Mage presence is absolutely essential for active guilds wanting to take on stronger, higher leveled opponents. Also until the enemy Clerics can be felled, the Mage will be launching spells aimed at keeping them occupied. Overall a very fun and somewhat evil class to play, requiring a great deal of tactics and coordination with teammates to really maximize its potential.
Special Ability
Level 1: +10 damage to entire enemy tower on offensive victory
Level 2: +10 damage (same as lv1)
Level 3: +10 damage to entire enemy tower on offensive or defensive victory
Level 4: +10 damage (same as lv3), can equip 2 skills
Level 5: +10 damage (same as lv3), can equip 3 skills
Skill: Polymorph (lv1- 1250 coins, lv2- 5000 coins, lv3- 10000 coins)
Using this skill on an enemy attempts to inflict the Polymorph status. At level 1, its success is determined by your total attack plus 25% versus the enemy’s total defense. At level 2 your attack gets a 27.5% boost. At level 3 your attack gets a 30% boost. Whether you succeed or fail, neither you nor your target will recieve any damage. The Polymorph status prevents the enemy from using his next token. If he tries to use a token by attacking or using a skill, he will automatically lose and recieve only 50 guild points. If you or one of your allies attacks a polymorphed target, the attacker will automatically win regardless of level, applying normal damage and recieving no retaliation damage. The Polymorph status will be removed once the afflicted enemy uses a token or is attacked.
Skill: Magic Barrier (5000 coins)
You can only use this on yourself, but using it creates a shield that absorbs the next 100 damage that you take. If the user isn’t attacked, it only lasts for one hour. Once 100 damage is reached, the effect will be removed and the caster will take any leftover spill damage from the previous attack.
Skill: Confuse (5000 coins)
Using this skill on an enemy attempts to inflict the Confuse status. Its success is determined by matching up your total attack +50% versus the enemy’s total defense. Whether or not you are successful, neither you nor your target will recieve any damage. The Confuse status grants a 20% chance that the target will attack himself for 40-60 damage when trying to use a token. Whatever action they were trying to perform will not take place. The duration of the status is 5 turns. If the target is Confused while already Confused (haha), the duration will reset to 5 turns.
Skill: Mirror Image (7500 coins)
Using this skill on an ally will cause you to assume that ally’s level and class. Allies can see through the illusion, but will notice a Mirror Image symbol next to your name. Mirror Image could last the rest of the battle, but there is an 80% chance that it will be cancelled if you lose an offensive or defensive fight. Mirror Image will also be cancelled if any enemies attempt to cast a status effect on you or if any of your allies attempt to heal or protect you.
Strategy with the Mage
Oh boy. The Mages are by far the most strategic class. They are also pretty unique in that every single one of their skills has a pretty good use in battle. First of all- a note about their special ability. This ability makes mages the best class for anyone without a 1250 coin class skill and can completely devastate gates when used en masse. However, it should mostly be viewed as a foil to the Cleric’s ability or a nasty defensive bonus (defensive victories also damage the entire enemy tower once you get Mage lv3). It shouldn’t really be viewed as a great attacking tool because much of your ability’s bonus damage will be inflicted on inactive enemies. So while they have a good ability, Mages are deadliest when they use their skills to maximum effect.
First there’s Polymorph. Like all Mage skills, this can range from extremely useful to borderline worthless depending on how and when you use it. You should try to use it on very powerful enemies with dangerous skills to trip them up. Token for token, Polymorph effectively nullifies whatever your opponent wants to do. This is of course assuming that your opponent even use a token while polymorphed. An even more effective use of the skill is to use it on a high level enemy active for a 300 health attack by one of your own low level Rogues or a Warrior using Whirlwind... and neither you nor they recieve any damage in the process!... now that is what I call an effective use of two tokens! Keep in mind that while it’s an insta-win against a polymorphed enemy, casting Polymorph sucessfully is limited by your attack. The 25% bonus to your attacking power is indeed substantial but with low BSI, don’t expect it to work on many enemies above your level. You can attack Polymorphed targets yourself, but its not nearly as good as letting an ally who couldn’t normally beat the target use their token instead. It’s also ok to use it on a moderate-level active. It’s a waste though to use Polymorph on a low level active or any inactive who can be easily beaten by you or your allies without it.
Confuse is entirely different from Polymorph but it should be used in the same general way - to trip up dangerous high level enemies. The +50% attack bonus is stronger than Polymorph’s and really allows you to reach high. For one token you get roughly one trip up of the enemy, sometimes getting luckier and sometimes not. Unlike Polymorph though, not only do you trip him up you inflict a little damage in the process. Just like with Polymorph it’s extremely effective against dangeous enemies and borderline useless (compared to a normal attack) against weak ones.
I will call Polymorph and Confuse the two essential Mage skills because when used well, they’ll allow a weaker guild to overpower a strong one. However, Magic Barrier and Mirror Image are not without their uses. Magic Barrier protects 100 health, which doesn’t seem great for one token, but what about when all of the enemy actives are stunned and your have Resistance lv4 equipped? Suddenly your one token protecting 100 health will cost your enemies 3 tokens to overcome! Magic Barrier helps when you know you are going to be suicided for the very same reason. Mirror Image might not seem like a big deal, but in the right hands it can be downright sadistic. The first use is for a high level, very strong Mage to masquerade as a weak, low level ally. Low to mid-level enemies will likely be excited when they see such an easy target and attack... only to be defeated. The disguise will stay up as long as you keep winning. It could be many attacks before the enemy finally catches on, and remember how your special ability damages the enemy tower on defensive wins once you hit level 3? You could with one token cause massive devastation to an unsuspecting enemy! The second use of Mirror Image is similar to the first but requires a lot of Mages (I’d say at least 10). If all of you imitate the same low-level person, you will really confuse the enemy, forcing them to stop and carefully coordinate their attacks so that their heavy hitters aren’t wasting tokens on your peons and their peons aren’t hopelessly throwing themselves at your heavy hitters. Meanwhile when they’re trying to sort it all out, you and your allies can hammer them hard.
Best Mage Generals
While other classes’ generals can be easily ranked based on the usefulness of the skill they boost or the net damage increase they provide, all the Mage skills are useful depending on the situation and thus it’s more difficult to pick one general over another. There’s also quite a lot of them, but I’ll do my best. Just remember this is well-reasoned but ultimately subjective.
#1 Syren - (Oracle @ lv260-269)
23 attack/19 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the chance Confuse will trigger by +10%. This means for five turns, instead of a 20% chance that Confuse will work, there’s now a 30% chance. While 10% is kindof a small bonus, it takes what is one of the best two Mage skills and makes it undisputably the best. Imagine your opponents’ frustration when roughly 1/3 of their attacks fail, especially when their misery was inflicted by a Mage -30 levels weaker.
#2 Zurran - (Annihilator Chest @ lv150, 1.25% chance)
28 attack/28 defense at level 4, with a special ability that deals an additional +8 damage to each enemy through the mage special ability. Earlier in this guide, I ventured to say that the Mage ability when used offensively isn’t as good as using the class skills effectively. If you are lucky enough to get this general, completely disregard that statement. With Zurran, the Mage instantly becomes an offensive powerhouse. Against a full tower, your successful attacks will do 150 damage to your main target plus 18 damage to everyone else for an eye-popping total of 600 damage per token. As far as I know that’s the highest damage per token in the entire game, surpassing even the mighty Warriors. Don’t get too carried away though, as this damage is usually spread out across many inactives and it’s ultimate usefulness is therefore questionable. Furthermore when the tower has about 15 enemies left, Warriors and Rogues will be outdamaging you again and it will only get worse from there. Also their more precise targeting will still make them (slightly) more useful in winning the battle. Now if a guild were to ever recruit 30 active mages with Zurran... dear god. Why #2 behind Syren? Zurran reinvents the Mage class instead of playing to its strengths. While he’s insanely strong, good guilds need mages so that they have a better chance against stronger enemies and so their weaker Rogues and Warriors (or a weak Mage with Zurran!) can be more effective.
***Sidenote: Zurran looks evil enough. If you really want to BE evil with him, use the Mirror Image trick to imitate a weak, low-level ally and give your enemies a nasty suprise when they try to attack you and find their own tower being decimated with each defeat. If you are really strong with high health and the enemy is too dumb to realize what's going on, you could singlehandedly wipe out a quarter of their guild without lifting a finger.
#3 Felizia - (Wrath chest @ lv250, 2.5% chance)
27 attack/27 defense at level 4, with a special ability that “increases the Polymorph chance by 12%.” This is just a poorly worded way of saying Polymorph lv1’s success rate is now your attack +37% versus your target’s defense and polymorph lv3 gives a 42% bonus. While this may not seem like a huge boost, it is. Remember that the Polymorph boost applies to your total attacking power. This is your attack stat plus the total attack of all of your equipment plus 70% of your defense stat plus 70% of the total defense of all of your equipment. It adds up quick and a 12% bonus will probably help you Polymorph enemies 10 to 20 levels higher than normal, which can make all the difference in a close battle.
#4 Anya - (Oracle @ lv290-299)
21 attack/22 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the Polymorph chance by 10%. Felizia isn’t an Epic general, she’s merely a rare one. That means you’re twice as likely to get her than any specific epic general. Anya is her weaker Oracle equivalent, but their stats and ability are actually pretty close. Anya is great for all the same reasons.
#5 Alexandria - (Oracle @ lv300-310)
21 attack/23 defense at level 4, with a special ability that deals an additional +4 damage to each enemy via the mage special ability. Basically a weaker version of Zurran you can get from the Oracle. Against a full tower, Alexandria will be doing about 400 damage per token which puts her on par with a fully decked Warrior. Read Zurran’s description to see why this isn’t as great as it seems. Definitely get her (if you don’t have Zurran) for those times when you’re going to attack instead of using Polymorph/Confuse.
Optimal Mage General Use:
Equip Zurran/Alexandria when you want to attack. Use Syren when you want to Confuse. Equip Felizia/Anya when you want to Polymorph. While your skill usage and coordination with allies will be pretty complex, thankfully your general equipping is very straightforward.
Don’t Bother With...
Jaelle (Wrath chest @ lv250, 1.25% chance)
34 attack/34 defense at level 4, with a special ability that makes Mirror Image 20% less likely to be dispelled when defeated. Now when you’re defeated, there’s only a 50% chance that the trickery will go away. But wait a minute... if you were just defeated won’t that same enemy probably attack and defeat you again with his very next token? Excellent stats but a useless ability. Zurran/Alexandria are definitely more strategic choices to use when casting Mirror Image.
Xelia (Oracle @ lv360-369)
I won’t even bother looking up her stats. She’s basically a weaker version of Jaelle. Ridiculously high level before being available for purchase. Possibly the least attractive female general in the game. Need I say more?
Ephraline (Oracle @ lv320-329)
23 attack/21 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the chance Confuse will trigger by +5% and deals an additional +2 damage to each enemy through the mage special ability. She is basically a weaker combination of Zurran/Alexandria and Syren. While this sounds awesome, it isn’t. The bonuses are weak and you will never be doing both at the same time. Syren and Alexandria are both available from the Oracle sooner and once you get them, Ephraline is completely redundant. Just switch between the two of them.
If the cleric is the backbone of any successful guild then the Mage is the brain. Mostly a support class, the Mage excels at tripping up troublesome enemies and unlocking the devastating potential of Rogues and Warriors regardless of level. A 10%-25% Mage presence is absolutely essential for active guilds wanting to take on stronger, higher leveled opponents. Also until the enemy Clerics can be felled, the Mage will be launching spells aimed at keeping them occupied. Overall a very fun and somewhat evil class to play, requiring a great deal of tactics and coordination with teammates to really maximize its potential.
Special Ability
Level 1: +10 damage to entire enemy tower on offensive victory
Level 2: +10 damage (same as lv1)
Level 3: +10 damage to entire enemy tower on offensive or defensive victory
Level 4: +10 damage (same as lv3), can equip 2 skills
Level 5: +10 damage (same as lv3), can equip 3 skills
Skill: Polymorph (lv1- 1250 coins, lv2- 5000 coins, lv3- 10000 coins)
Using this skill on an enemy attempts to inflict the Polymorph status. At level 1, its success is determined by your total attack plus 25% versus the enemy’s total defense. At level 2 your attack gets a 27.5% boost. At level 3 your attack gets a 30% boost. Whether you succeed or fail, neither you nor your target will recieve any damage. The Polymorph status prevents the enemy from using his next token. If he tries to use a token by attacking or using a skill, he will automatically lose and recieve only 50 guild points. If you or one of your allies attacks a polymorphed target, the attacker will automatically win regardless of level, applying normal damage and recieving no retaliation damage. The Polymorph status will be removed once the afflicted enemy uses a token or is attacked.
Skill: Magic Barrier (5000 coins)
You can only use this on yourself, but using it creates a shield that absorbs the next 100 damage that you take. If the user isn’t attacked, it only lasts for one hour. Once 100 damage is reached, the effect will be removed and the caster will take any leftover spill damage from the previous attack.
Skill: Confuse (5000 coins)
Using this skill on an enemy attempts to inflict the Confuse status. Its success is determined by matching up your total attack +50% versus the enemy’s total defense. Whether or not you are successful, neither you nor your target will recieve any damage. The Confuse status grants a 20% chance that the target will attack himself for 40-60 damage when trying to use a token. Whatever action they were trying to perform will not take place. The duration of the status is 5 turns. If the target is Confused while already Confused (haha), the duration will reset to 5 turns.
Skill: Mirror Image (7500 coins)
Using this skill on an ally will cause you to assume that ally’s level and class. Allies can see through the illusion, but will notice a Mirror Image symbol next to your name. Mirror Image could last the rest of the battle, but there is an 80% chance that it will be cancelled if you lose an offensive or defensive fight. Mirror Image will also be cancelled if any enemies attempt to cast a status effect on you or if any of your allies attempt to heal or protect you.
Strategy with the Mage
Oh boy. The Mages are by far the most strategic class. They are also pretty unique in that every single one of their skills has a pretty good use in battle. First of all- a note about their special ability. This ability makes mages the best class for anyone without a 1250 coin class skill and can completely devastate gates when used en masse. However, it should mostly be viewed as a foil to the Cleric’s ability or a nasty defensive bonus (defensive victories also damage the entire enemy tower once you get Mage lv3). It shouldn’t really be viewed as a great attacking tool because much of your ability’s bonus damage will be inflicted on inactive enemies. So while they have a good ability, Mages are deadliest when they use their skills to maximum effect.
First there’s Polymorph. Like all Mage skills, this can range from extremely useful to borderline worthless depending on how and when you use it. You should try to use it on very powerful enemies with dangerous skills to trip them up. Token for token, Polymorph effectively nullifies whatever your opponent wants to do. This is of course assuming that your opponent even use a token while polymorphed. An even more effective use of the skill is to use it on a high level enemy active for a 300 health attack by one of your own low level Rogues or a Warrior using Whirlwind... and neither you nor they recieve any damage in the process!... now that is what I call an effective use of two tokens! Keep in mind that while it’s an insta-win against a polymorphed enemy, casting Polymorph sucessfully is limited by your attack. The 25% bonus to your attacking power is indeed substantial but with low BSI, don’t expect it to work on many enemies above your level. You can attack Polymorphed targets yourself, but its not nearly as good as letting an ally who couldn’t normally beat the target use their token instead. It’s also ok to use it on a moderate-level active. It’s a waste though to use Polymorph on a low level active or any inactive who can be easily beaten by you or your allies without it.
Confuse is entirely different from Polymorph but it should be used in the same general way - to trip up dangerous high level enemies. The +50% attack bonus is stronger than Polymorph’s and really allows you to reach high. For one token you get roughly one trip up of the enemy, sometimes getting luckier and sometimes not. Unlike Polymorph though, not only do you trip him up you inflict a little damage in the process. Just like with Polymorph it’s extremely effective against dangeous enemies and borderline useless (compared to a normal attack) against weak ones.
I will call Polymorph and Confuse the two essential Mage skills because when used well, they’ll allow a weaker guild to overpower a strong one. However, Magic Barrier and Mirror Image are not without their uses. Magic Barrier protects 100 health, which doesn’t seem great for one token, but what about when all of the enemy actives are stunned and your have Resistance lv4 equipped? Suddenly your one token protecting 100 health will cost your enemies 3 tokens to overcome! Magic Barrier helps when you know you are going to be suicided for the very same reason. Mirror Image might not seem like a big deal, but in the right hands it can be downright sadistic. The first use is for a high level, very strong Mage to masquerade as a weak, low level ally. Low to mid-level enemies will likely be excited when they see such an easy target and attack... only to be defeated. The disguise will stay up as long as you keep winning. It could be many attacks before the enemy finally catches on, and remember how your special ability damages the enemy tower on defensive wins once you hit level 3? You could with one token cause massive devastation to an unsuspecting enemy! The second use of Mirror Image is similar to the first but requires a lot of Mages (I’d say at least 10). If all of you imitate the same low-level person, you will really confuse the enemy, forcing them to stop and carefully coordinate their attacks so that their heavy hitters aren’t wasting tokens on your peons and their peons aren’t hopelessly throwing themselves at your heavy hitters. Meanwhile when they’re trying to sort it all out, you and your allies can hammer them hard.
Best Mage Generals
While other classes’ generals can be easily ranked based on the usefulness of the skill they boost or the net damage increase they provide, all the Mage skills are useful depending on the situation and thus it’s more difficult to pick one general over another. There’s also quite a lot of them, but I’ll do my best. Just remember this is well-reasoned but ultimately subjective.
#1 Syren - (Oracle @ lv260-269)
23 attack/19 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the chance Confuse will trigger by +10%. This means for five turns, instead of a 20% chance that Confuse will work, there’s now a 30% chance. While 10% is kindof a small bonus, it takes what is one of the best two Mage skills and makes it undisputably the best. Imagine your opponents’ frustration when roughly 1/3 of their attacks fail, especially when their misery was inflicted by a Mage -30 levels weaker.
#2 Zurran - (Annihilator Chest @ lv150, 1.25% chance)
28 attack/28 defense at level 4, with a special ability that deals an additional +8 damage to each enemy through the mage special ability. Earlier in this guide, I ventured to say that the Mage ability when used offensively isn’t as good as using the class skills effectively. If you are lucky enough to get this general, completely disregard that statement. With Zurran, the Mage instantly becomes an offensive powerhouse. Against a full tower, your successful attacks will do 150 damage to your main target plus 18 damage to everyone else for an eye-popping total of 600 damage per token. As far as I know that’s the highest damage per token in the entire game, surpassing even the mighty Warriors. Don’t get too carried away though, as this damage is usually spread out across many inactives and it’s ultimate usefulness is therefore questionable. Furthermore when the tower has about 15 enemies left, Warriors and Rogues will be outdamaging you again and it will only get worse from there. Also their more precise targeting will still make them (slightly) more useful in winning the battle. Now if a guild were to ever recruit 30 active mages with Zurran... dear god. Why #2 behind Syren? Zurran reinvents the Mage class instead of playing to its strengths. While he’s insanely strong, good guilds need mages so that they have a better chance against stronger enemies and so their weaker Rogues and Warriors (or a weak Mage with Zurran!) can be more effective.
***Sidenote: Zurran looks evil enough. If you really want to BE evil with him, use the Mirror Image trick to imitate a weak, low-level ally and give your enemies a nasty suprise when they try to attack you and find their own tower being decimated with each defeat. If you are really strong with high health and the enemy is too dumb to realize what's going on, you could singlehandedly wipe out a quarter of their guild without lifting a finger.
#3 Felizia - (Wrath chest @ lv250, 2.5% chance)
27 attack/27 defense at level 4, with a special ability that “increases the Polymorph chance by 12%.” This is just a poorly worded way of saying Polymorph lv1’s success rate is now your attack +37% versus your target’s defense and polymorph lv3 gives a 42% bonus. While this may not seem like a huge boost, it is. Remember that the Polymorph boost applies to your total attacking power. This is your attack stat plus the total attack of all of your equipment plus 70% of your defense stat plus 70% of the total defense of all of your equipment. It adds up quick and a 12% bonus will probably help you Polymorph enemies 10 to 20 levels higher than normal, which can make all the difference in a close battle.
#4 Anya - (Oracle @ lv290-299)
21 attack/22 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the Polymorph chance by 10%. Felizia isn’t an Epic general, she’s merely a rare one. That means you’re twice as likely to get her than any specific epic general. Anya is her weaker Oracle equivalent, but their stats and ability are actually pretty close. Anya is great for all the same reasons.
#5 Alexandria - (Oracle @ lv300-310)
21 attack/23 defense at level 4, with a special ability that deals an additional +4 damage to each enemy via the mage special ability. Basically a weaker version of Zurran you can get from the Oracle. Against a full tower, Alexandria will be doing about 400 damage per token which puts her on par with a fully decked Warrior. Read Zurran’s description to see why this isn’t as great as it seems. Definitely get her (if you don’t have Zurran) for those times when you’re going to attack instead of using Polymorph/Confuse.
Optimal Mage General Use:
Equip Zurran/Alexandria when you want to attack. Use Syren when you want to Confuse. Equip Felizia/Anya when you want to Polymorph. While your skill usage and coordination with allies will be pretty complex, thankfully your general equipping is very straightforward.
Don’t Bother With...
Jaelle (Wrath chest @ lv250, 1.25% chance)
34 attack/34 defense at level 4, with a special ability that makes Mirror Image 20% less likely to be dispelled when defeated. Now when you’re defeated, there’s only a 50% chance that the trickery will go away. But wait a minute... if you were just defeated won’t that same enemy probably attack and defeat you again with his very next token? Excellent stats but a useless ability. Zurran/Alexandria are definitely more strategic choices to use when casting Mirror Image.
Xelia (Oracle @ lv360-369)
I won’t even bother looking up her stats. She’s basically a weaker version of Jaelle. Ridiculously high level before being available for purchase. Possibly the least attractive female general in the game. Need I say more?
Ephraline (Oracle @ lv320-329)
23 attack/21 defense at level 4, with a special ability that increases the chance Confuse will trigger by +5% and deals an additional +2 damage to each enemy through the mage special ability. She is basically a weaker combination of Zurran/Alexandria and Syren. While this sounds awesome, it isn’t. The bonuses are weak and you will never be doing both at the same time. Syren and Alexandria are both available from the Oracle sooner and once you get them, Ephraline is completely redundant. Just switch between the two of them.
Lord Mist {DC}- Admin
- Posts : 30
Join date : 2012-12-05
Age : 38
Location : Sydney -
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