Fire or Ice or even both, what kind of mage should I make?

I read the one and only Mage related build but it said it was a overall a PvP guide.
So I was wondering would it work all around, as in PvE/PvP/RvR and various other activities such as Item/Gold hunting, ect?\
I've been told that the AoE's Mages get at the current cap, are pretty weak and useless, is this true?
Is it best to stick to either Fire or Ice or is there a method to hybridizing both tree's into one?
Just want to make sure how to talent/stat one correctly so I don't have to reroll or anything later on...

Thanks and if you could list what seems to be the pro's/con's of either or the mage class itself that would be swell!

You should use the skill tree build like the guide says..

The AOEs aren't useless.. but they are.. why? because the mage canNOT tank monsters more than 2. Can't even tank 2 most of the time.
Stats: you just have to put INT and VIT .. don't ever put Wisdom .. trust me..

The Hybrid is the best build so far, I don't know about farming and everything.. since those stuff comes when you're at cap.

It is true... Mages AOE is crap.

It is also true... Mages cant tank crap.

It is still true that neither fire tree nor the ice tree gives you good dps.

Now for what is real...

If you do not want to spend tons of gold for hp pots, go ice. It enables you to kite without taking any dmg. The hp pots in the game is rubbish. The mp pot is worth buying, but only for level 1 pots (10 gold each).

Next, is your play style...

PvP or PvE? As you should have known by now, the mages in the game is SQUISHY! Even with a merc healer in expert dungeons, you CANNOT tank a boss without spending lots of hp pots.

I recommend a hybrid for good PvE, fire/poison. Fireball, ignite, explosion then storm. This rotation will kill almost any mob, minus elite and boss. Against bosses and elite, the above rotation will give the best dmg (with dot).

However, you WILL take hits, at least 1-2 from a melee mob. And best of all (worst actually), you have minimum PvP capability. Only bitter cold and sleeping flower are your weapon in PvP.

For this build, you need wisdom. Dont listen to those that tells you wisdom is crap. What is fireball without the beauty of it critting?

I recommend a 1 Vit, 2 Int, 2 Wis in your stats allocation. The 43/53/59 hero/legend sets should give you a good stats to balance up everything.

That is all for fire/poison build... Using a HP to type is not easy...

As for ice/poison, which is what i am using now, it does not have a very good burst dmg. But, the combi of Arrow, explosion + storm (arrow if storm on cd) then kite, will kill most mobs. Throw in some normal atk while kiting and most mobs die.

Explosion is only good if you allow the dot to run its full course. Hence, the slow from arrow is here for that.

Also, it gives a very good PvP capability with slow, sleep and slient. It is missing out on the electric shock, but it is worth it. Your main job is to sleep, slience and slow all those running jokers. Bitter cold when someone comes near you and accelarate to get out of it.

All in all, this is just an idea of what a mage is catered for.

Your active and passive MS play a very big part of your game and I should probably touch on it the next post.

Gear-wise, always update it esp for your weapon. A +4/5 is recommended and if you can afford it, +10. As for armour, +2 is enough. Unless you are going late end game with lots of gold or cash to spare.

Hope this helps.

Rule number 1 in killing mob...

Use the element that the mob is weakest at!!

Poison>Thunder>Ice>Fire>Poison

There is a build that has all 4 elements in it... But a jack of all trade.... Is a master at none...

Fine, put wisdom. Trust this guy.

Peace Chigi!

Not trying to offend you, it's just my 2 cent worth from playing mages.

Peace accepted, its good that he gets 2 sides of advice than one ;D.. Besides there are lots of strategies available. Its good to have more than just one.

Ok i will explain this one last time.. i dont care for the people that think they are the best mage, have the best skill build or what ever... these are facts from testing for weeks as a gm with a level 100 mage.


Int is the ONLY stat you should points in as a mage because it is the only stat that will amp your damage. Wisdom does indeed increase your crit chance by a little but mages get a buff for this. Also critting might be nice but a mage, unlike melee classes cannot increase their crit damage % so it will never be more than 150% going full int will increase your damage more than getting a crit every now and than does. Vit is nice for hp but putting stats in this is reducing your damage and thus making your mage worse.. Get both vit and wis on gear, not from stats.

As for stat build, hybrid looks good atm because alot of skills have yet to be released, but if you want to make a good mage stick with 1 main element. ( poison or fire, ice and lightning get very few attacks)
For each element there will be a debuff skill that amps that elemental damage by 50% when maxed, these skills are at the end of the skill tree and require you to chose 1 and not make a hybryd. You wont be using every element anyway since 1 will do 50% more damage.

Than what should you pick?

Fire, although it may seem different at the moment is indeed a heavy damage output tree, you will get a skill that does 300% weapon damage +5k or so fire damage. Also fire mages get an aura skill that increases magic damage.
Poison does not do less damage but takes longer to inflict it. This tree is based on fast casttimes and cc. Instead of another nuke poison gets an aoe fear skills. (yes its intended you hit some mobs with your poison skill to apply the dot and then fear them)