How to... elf mage?

• Citrusjuice wrote on 2015-01-02 03:23
  so, im going back to playing my elf and it's quite depressing. Im poor as dirt and half my fl is dead, obviously.
  I just hit rank 1 blaze yesterday and i felt like i can actually be useful for once but it's apparently not the case.
  
  I die in like 2 hits and i run out of mana way too quickly but that's not a real problem. I can only make so many mana pots so if i were to use mana shield i'd run out too quickly.
  
  how would you make this character more... "playable" if it were yours? Or would you straight up just abandon it. lets do some ama? :c
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-02 04:20
  What's your total level? Everything in Mabinogi is viable. The usefulness of certain tactics will shift as your character develops. Your best bet is to simply become stronger and ignore things like racial differences.
  
  It's more important to be able to hit hard than to reduce incoming damage. If you're poor, CC Firebolt might be a pain. Standard magic use with a hermit staff will carry you through most content at a decent pace.
  
  Fleet Feet and Alchemy/Ninja skills will help you avoid damage while Royal Knight Armor, associated masteries, and life drain will hep you tank hits.
• mesis wrote on 2015-01-02 04:29
  wear heavy armor while maging.
  spam firebolt.
  
  at least thats how i mage back on my noob elf that I quit due to poor defense.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-02 04:38

  Quote from mesis;1259471:

  wear heavy armor while maging.
  spam firebolt.
  
  at least thats how i mage back on my noob elf that I quit due to poor defense.

  
  
  Do remember that the softest characters now are tankier than the hardest tanks before the stat overhaul. We excelled back then, so it should be easy now.
• Citrusjuice wrote on 2015-01-02 04:58
  [Image: http://puu.sh/dXms5.png]

  
  
  well i do spam firebolts but in the end i end up on the floor somehow :fail3:
  
  im around 2k with no master title and i got hydra to rank 3 so far just so i can do solo contents such as saga 2.
  
  this wand is all i have but it's so expensive to repair...
  
  i basically sold everything so i can grab a winter angel title but 2m isn't enough on Mari apparently?
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-02 09:31

  Quote from Citrusjuice;1259473:

  [Image: http://puu.sh/dXms5.png]

  
  
  well i do spam firebolts but in the end i end up on the floor somehow :fail3:
  
  im around 2k with no master title and i got hydra to rank 3 so far just so i can do solo contents such as saga 2.
  
  this wand is all i have but it's so expensive to repair...
  
  i basically sold everything so i can grab a winter angel title but 2m isn't enough on Mari apparently?

  
  
  This next bit should be useful to you.
  
  1. Throw the Engineer's enchant on all of your magic weapons (-50% repair cost)
  2. Repair at Berched while using "The Shadow Hero" title for a secret discount (-20% repair cost)
• Darkboy132 wrote on 2015-01-02 16:10

  Quote from Kaeporo;1259467:

  Everything in Mabinogi is viable.

  
  
  Can't really see how Icebolt, Lightning Bolt, and Magic Shields are "viable"...
• Citrusjuice wrote on 2015-01-02 19:02

  Quote from Kaeporo;1259494:

  This next bit should be useful to you.
  
  1. Throw the Engineer's enchant on all of your magic weapons (-50% repair cost)
  2. Repair at Berched while using "The Shadow Hero" title for a secret discount (-20% repair cost)

  
  
  ah, those are helpful tips. thanks. im gonna be in hilwen mine for a long time then.
  
  

  Quote from Darkboy132;1259507:

  Can't really see how Icebolt, Lightning Bolt, and Magic Shields are "viable"...

  
  
  lightning bolt has been very useful to me actually, since it charges fast i get to stun mobs when i get multi aggroed but i can only last so long as a poor squishy elf :fail3:
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-02 23:15

  Quote from Darkboy132;1259507:

  Can't really see how Icebolt, Lightning Bolt, and Magic Shields are "viable"...

  
  
  Icebolt is useful when fused into Fire/Ice. That's an easy 70k damage if you have a bit of time to charge it.
  
  Lightning Bolt is still useful as a quick stun tool. CC Lightning Bolt is the fastest garbage disposal I can think of.
  
  Fire Shield blocks plant Fireballs, which is ok if you don't want to move out of your position.
  Lightning Shield block Rain of Thunder and Thunder but it's often too slow to stop the latter.
  Natural Shield is mostly outclassed by Evasion. I typically dodge Light Sword with personas, but it could help there.
  Ice Shield is going to help you in roughly 0% of situations.
  
  Gold Strike, Mana Crystallization, Smokescreen, and most life skills are better candidates for being useless.
• Citrusjuice wrote on 2015-01-03 01:14
  after like hours of killing bisons i finally got engineer's (yay). Now spamming GoP for a hamster es.
  
  Someone was telling me about how great their lvl 20 mana shield glove is. Is it even worth it? Should i rank mana shield?
  Also what are some of the magic skills that is a waste of ap?
  
  
  

  Quote from Kaeporo;1259561:

  
  Gold Strike, Mana Crystallization, Smokescreen, and most life skills are better candidates for being useless.

  
  
  can't you dodge fireballs or meteor with smokescreen? o.o
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-03 01:29

  Quote from Citrusjuice;1259579:

  after like hours of killing bisons i finally got engineer's (yay). Now spamming GoP for a hamster es.
  
  Someone was telling me about how great their lvl 20 mana shield glove is. Is it even worth it? Should i rank mana shield?
  Also what are some of the magic skills that is a waste of ap?
  
  can't you dodge fireballs or meteor with smokescreen? o.o

  
  
  Why are you looking for a hamster enchant?
  The Mana Shield reforge no longer stacks with the Mana Shield int bonus. It's a pretty decent reforge, except for mages.
  Fusion Bolt should be one of the last skills that you pick up. Meteor Strike is semi-useful but it's not a priority.
  
  ---
  
  You can hypothetically dodge stuff with smokescreen but it's not reliable. Giants can tank with vales defense; all others should dodge, shunt with Fire Shield, or negate with personas/transformation/demigod or blaze invulnerability instead. Ideally you should be preventing attacks from occurring in the first place.
• Citrusjuice wrote on 2015-01-03 01:36
  omg im blind LOL i didn't see engineer's doesnt' need step up.
  
  should i aim for island es next?
• Osayidan wrote on 2015-01-03 01:38
  Mana shield was raped some time ago, it's still good as a sort of extension to your HP bar when needed, and when your mana regen is high enough you can have it on constantly without it lowering your mana. So you should certainly rank it but not as a priority.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2015-01-03 01:54

  Quote from Citrusjuice;1259585:

  omg im blind LOL i didn't see engineer's doesnt' need step up.
  
  should i aim for island es next?

  
  
  No.
  
  There is only one magic-related weapon enchant that makes any sort of noticeable difference (Used) and it comes with a 5x repair cost modifier.
  
  If you don't already have the mana reduction set effect, that's a decent option. I wouldn't risk enchanting a staff but a Firebolt wand might benefit from it. Note that the set effect activation might induce some lag when switching, so check to see if that's an issue for you.
• Darkboy132 wrote on 2015-01-03 03:03

  Quote from Citrusjuice;1259463:

  I die in like 2 hits and i run out of mana way too quickly but that's not a real problem. I can only make so many mana pots so if i were to use mana shield i'd run out too quickly.

  
  
  If mana loss does become a problem, rank Fantastic Chorus, Enduring Melody, and Meditation. That will immensely help your mana get back up.
  
  

  Also what are some of the magic skills that is a waste of ap?

  
  
  Enchant. The rest are pretty good but some have more uses than others.
  
  

  can't you dodge fireballs or meteor with smokescreen? o.o

  
  
  There's no reason you should switch to a shuriken just to get invincibility frames, then switch back to your staff/wand.
  
  

  Quote from Kaeporo;1259583:

  The Mana Shield reforge no longer stacks with the Mana Shield int bonus. It's a pretty decent reforge, except for mages

  
  
  If that's the case, how the hell does the reforge calculate then?
  
  

  Note that the set effect activation might induce some lag when switching, so check to see if that's an issue for you.

  
  
  Turn mini effects on, maybe...?