Hello your local friendly Mage here. Since I often get asked about my gear and what the best setup for a mage is I decided to write this guide. I will also include a small guide to skills to get. I have not completed my Giant portion of this guide as of yet.
Ok when your a mage you actually need more than 1 set. This changes based on the situation.
1. Tank Mage set (Human), Tank mage set (elf)
2. Mana Set
I will update with g13 enchants when its released.
Tank Mage Set (Human)
This is your hardcore dungeon set. For dungeons that stress you to your max and make you earn every kill. It is the ultimate in survival. I even wrote my whole build guide about this in The Mana Master
Norman Helm (1 def, 1 prot) - Prefix - Curing - Suffix - Waterfall
Since norman is often made by blacksmiths ranking their skills you should be able to find one of these for cheap(be ready to buy 4-6 of these). Since getting the enchants for Waterfall is harder we will start with that.
First go rafting for healer ES. This can be gotten from 4/2-4/4 stars(healer counter gauntlets). Get 4 of them. Find your local friendly enchanter (make friends with this person) and burn the item and slap them on the helms. Discard any that failed, purchase a new helm.
Next we must spam the castle dungeons on tuesday (increase in drop rate) to get serious, dangerous, scary items. These are a PAIN to get. I recommend buying them for 100k each if possible. Find your enchanter and burn these and enchant onto your helms. Discard any fails., startover and make a minimum of 3 full dura ones.
Now we hunt down the Waterfall ES. It drops in Alby Adv HM and Siren Hardmode dungeons. It seems to drop about 35-50% of the time in Siren HM. Enchant onto a helm. If your luck it only takes 1 try. You want this to be full dura if at all possible. Save any leftover helms for later (well have to burn for other items). If you got a low roll of Waterfall think about burning and remaking. I always go for 15/16 MP roll.
Ok the suffix is done now we must do Curing. First get a blessed ES/item. These are very common and you can find them often for cheap in shops (less than 10k). Burn and enchant onto your helm.
Now we go fishing on the boat in Iria for the norman enchant. I usually get 1-2 of these if I afk overnight. They are located in the chests. Optionally buy them as they should not be too expensive.
Enchant onto your helm and hope for no fails. If at anytime your helm starts to get below 10 Dura consider using NX enchant pots or you will have to start over.
Curing drops from endchest reward of Alby intermediate for 2 or Rundal basic Hardmode. Take your pick the drop rate is about 25%.
Enchant this onto your helm and your finished.
Stats :
1 Def
1 Prot
24-28 Mana
16 int
Signature Valencia Gloves - Prefix - Burgundy Bear- Suffix - Will'o wisp
Getting a pair of sig valencia gloves can be a challenge. But they have the best stats for gloves.
Ok first find a Color/fearless item (color drops often fro shadow missions) I recommend just buyng them if you don't have them. Shouldn't cost more than 50k.
Now for burgundy bear. This drops from many shadow missions as well as from the bears themselves. Average drop from missions seems about 1/50. From the bears my friend averages 1 enchant every 3-4 hours killing them (1 hit kill spamming). I recommend you buy one for 300-600k and save yourself the trouble, (to each thier own though). Burn and enchant onto your gaunts.
Willo Wisp is a very very very common item. You can kill wisps or just buy this for 10-15k in a shop. I realize you can also put mana Wizard on but the effort involved is simple NOT worth the chance of 2 more MP.
Stats:
3 Def
2 Prot (3 prot in g14 when windblast is uncapped)
10 MP
3 Int
Spika boots - Prefix - Burgundy Bear - Suffix - Mana
Spika boots have the best stats for boots in the game and decent dura. You should be able to buy some of these for under 200k. I recommend buying 3 pairs.
First go rafting for healer ES. This can be gotten from 4/2-4/4 stars(healer counter gauntlets). Get 4 of them. Find your local friendly enchanter and burn the item and enchant them on the boots. Discard any that failed, purchase new boots.
Next we need those leftover scary, dangerous, serious helms from when we made our helm. Burn/buy 3 of those and enchant them onto your boots. Discard the fails and start those over until you have 3 full dura.
Now its time to go ballooning! 7/1-8 stars will give you a chance for the Mana witch ES. Enchant those onto your boots. Hopefully you get at least 1 pair with full dura.
The mana enchant drops on a cylinder in almost every single shadow mission. Shouldnt be expensive to buy or get one. Find your enchanter and burn and enchant. Hopefully you didn't lose much dura or have a full dura pair.
Ok find a Color/fearless item (color drops often fro shadow missions) I recommend just buyng them if you don't have them. Shouldn't cost more than 50k.
Now for burgundy bear. This drops from many shadow missions as well as from the bears themselves. Average drop from missions seems about 1/50. From the bears my friend averages 1 enchant every 3-4 hours killing them (1 hit kill spamming). I recommend you buy one for 300-600k and save yourself the trouble, (to each thier own though). Burn and enchant onto your boots.
Now the boots are done!
Stats:
3 Def
1 Prot (2 prot in g14 when windblast is uncapped)
20 MP
10 int
5/2 Dragon Shield melee Passive 15%
The reason you want a dragon shield is that it has a hidden +20 passive def on melee hits. You can substitute a composite shield or beholder for a slight lesser def. I recommend waiting for a auction to get one. Usually cheaper there than making one.
Once you have your dragon shield its time to get it setup. Since the dragon shield is one of the most expensive items in game I recommend always using NX enchant pots. Hopefully you wont fail much.
First go rafting for healer ES. This can be gotten from 4/2-4/4 stars(healer counter gauntlets). Burn and enchant onto shield (have I mentioned how important it is to have a good enchanter yet?)
Next we need a golem/mashal ES. Marshal enchants can be gotten by giving hot springs monkeys shrimp fried rice (r9 cooking). Golem drops in quite a few locations. Enchant onto shield.
Colonel es drops from the sulphur golems in the suilphur pits. Here is a helpful video guide I found.
[video=youtube;7nJ0MZVqcU8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nJ0MZVqcU8[/video]
The enchant is very rare. I think I killed 500 golems last time to get 1. Happy hunting.
Enchant onto your shield and hope for a perfect roll.
Now for rigid ES. You can get this enchant by feeding the monkeys shrimp friend Rice. You may have already gotten it while looking for marshal.
Stats
8 Def (+20 hidden melee defense)
4 Prot
15% Passive Melee Defense
12 MP (perfect roll 8 is min)
8 Int (perfect roll 6 is min)
16/11 (7/5 base) Dustin Silverknight Armor - Prefix - Refined - Suffix - Stone
Getting a 7/5 dustin requires you to collect all the gems in 10 cm size + a 7+ cm diamond. The gems only come from rare events. So collect as many as you can during those events. I have heard of blacksmiths making these but have never seen a smithed one personally.
Getting refined and Stone ES onto this armor is going to cost a lot of NX enchant pots. Putting Defensive Imp onto your armor will give you only a few less stats and shouldn't cost more than 1 enchant pot. But if you want the best....
First go rafting for healer ES. This can be gotten from 4/2-4/4 stars(healer counter gauntlets). Burn and enchant onto armor. NX enchant pots strongly recommended for all enchants onto this rare armor.
Now for handicapping ES. On the 3rd floor of Karu normal there are stone bisons with titles. They drop bison pieces. Drop any of those pieces onto the alter for a glowing bison dungeon. The endchest will have this enchant about 1/3 of the time. Enchant onto your armor.
Now its time to go ballooning again! 7/1-8 stars will give you a chance for the Mana witch ES. Enchant that onto your armor.
Next is stone ES. This drops in thier method hardmode and is often just tossed on the ground. If your melee is weak just find out who grinds that mission for levels and buy it off them. Shouldn't be more than 100-200k.
Now that the suffix is done we can do refined.
First well need a Basic ES. This Es is rank 6 and enabled regardless of rank. Its a great bridge if you have NX pots. This drops from stone gargolye peice dungeons from Maiz. You should get a basic ES about every 6 runs of a part dungeon in the endchest. Enchant onto armor (this may take 4-6 enchant pots so be prepared).
Refined ES drops in the endchest of alby basic HM dungeon about 1/5 runs. Enchant onto armor and marvel at its beauty.
Prof armor to the 16/11 sequence.
Stats:
21 Def (3 more when a golem is out)
15 Prot
Crown Ice Wand +28% Damage - Prefix - Lizard - Suffix - Wizard
Cyrstal Lightening Wand +12% Speed -20% Magic Usage - Prefix - Lizard - Suffix - Wizard
Phoenix Fire Wand +36% Speed - Prefix - Lizard - Suffix - Wizard
Making a good mage wand is expensive but worth it.
First we will need stamp Items. They drop from ciar adv golem boss about 1/10. Alternatively you can buy them for around 100k each.
Wizard can be found in a few places. You can find the black wizard field boss. Find a gacha mandolin. Look for wizard cylinders from shadow wizard drops. I just look for these cheap and buy them in shops. Get your enchanter and burn and enchant onto your wands.
Lizard can be found in iria by exploring for chests. It may take a couple hours to get one. I normally just buy these as well. Its nice to have a extra 10% crit on your wand. Helps get to the 30% easier.
Stats:
40 Mana
20 Int
10 Critical
Recommended Title: Master of Barrier Spikes + 12% protection
End results of human tank set (adding in r1 def for +15 def + Title):
51 Def (20 hidden melee Def)
35 Prot (2 more prot in g14 when windblast is uncapped)
110 Mana
57 int
30% passive melee Ping
20% passive range Ping
THIS GUIDE IS STILL WORK IN PROGRESS: I'm working on the elf mage tank set and the Max mana +reduction set.
Elf Mage Tank Set: For all you elf's out there!
ELF set and mana set should be done tomorrow.