Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

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Cimmaron
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Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Cimmaron »

Ok, here's a little guide on what I've done to make Fluffy and me a decent team:

*** Get the best pet focus you can for your level *** Yes, they are available at low levels

http://www.eqmagetower.com/forums/viewt ... =24&t=2789 - Pet Focus Guide

A. I'll start with my spell lineups:

Solo - also used in groups when my pet is the main tank, or when the main tank dies

1. Gather Capacity (lvl 95) - recovers mana, used every time it's available
2. Bolt of Molten Steel (lvl 91) - lower nuke, less mana cost, used when fickle does not go off
3. Ruthless Servant (lvl 95) - very powerful and damaging pet, high mana cost
4. Promised Amendment (lvl 93) - large promised heal, very efficient way of healing pet when merc needs a hand
5. Aegis of Kildrukaun (lvl 79) - a rune for your pet, used mostly for named high damage output critters, alternating with AA of same name
6. Spear of Molten Steel (lvl 95) - big nuke, higher mana cost, used when I have twincast running, fickle goes off, or when I want a big nuke
7. Fickle Flames (lvl 95) - my main nuke because it triggers frequently my next fire nuke to be more powerful
8. Twincast (lvl 85) - about 20 seconds of twincasting every spell, used almost every time it's up
9. Thaumatize Pet (lvl 83) - mana regen and a small nuke, used every time it's up
10. Surge of Arcanum (lvl 95) - massive DS, high mana cost but awesome DPS, cast on main tank, always cast throughout fight vs named
11. Molten Veil (lvl 94) - damage proc, always up on main tank
12. Renewal of Sirqo (lvl 93) - smaller pet heal, rarely used unless I'm without my merc
12a. Famished Flames (lvl 95) - higher DS, cast on main tank, used when it is up or saved for named

Group w/ Tank - I swap out my pet heal spells, because they simply aren't needed til the main tank dies

4. Strike of Many (lvl 92) - useful when plenty of pets are out, used when AA Host of Elements is cast, or a similar AA from another class

Fighting Summoned Critters - more mana efficient nuking vs. summoned, much higher chance of drawing aggro from main tank/pet

2. Abolish the Divergent (lvl 93) - efficient nuke, can lower resists, can proc massive damage
4. Ruinous Servant (lvl 90) - high damage pet, cast when the lower level abolish procs Gift of Mana AA line
11. Annihilate the Divergent (lvl 88) - used alternatively with higher level Abolish nuke

Pet Buffing - spells I always keep on my pet

1. Burnout X (lvl 91) - increases attacks, haste, ac, and pet strength
2. Velocity (lvl 58) - increases movement rate, so fluffy is always by my side
3. Aegis of Kildrakaun (lvl 79) - as above
4. Iceflame Armor (lvl 94) - a pet DS, a damage proc, and a 2 hit rune
5. Arcane Distillect (lvl 85) - third in our line of auras, does not help fluffy, but will improve pet damage for every other pet around, including Host of Elements and Rampaging Servants

All these spells will typically have lower level counterparts every 5 levels, to a point.

Some mages will advocate using macro's to one button cast all your nukes in a fight as soon as they are available, saying it maximizes DPS. I don't like doing that. I like deciding what spell to use on the fly - more of a hands on approach to things, and gives me a sense of situational awareness.

I start a fight with Malo. I always use the AA, because it lands almost every time. Then I start the nuking with Fickle. If I get a proc, I follow up with Spear. If not, I follow up with Bolt. If I get a Gift of Mana, I cast Surge on my pet/tank. If surge is still up, I cast my Rampaging Servant. If I get a gift of mana proc and a fickle proc, then I cast my Spear (it happens more than you would think).

If I get an add that my pet can't handle without help, then I chain cast rampaging servants at the add, and keep my pet focused on the other one. If the mob can kill my rampaging servant quickly, I also throw in my Host of Elements. This trick will generally only work on 1 add. If there is more than 1 add, my pet better be able to handle the extras or I gate.

I use a ton of tricks fighting named, so I'll talk about that after AAs.


B. AA's

I figured Fluffy was the only thing between me and those heavy hitting mobs, so my primary focus was beefing him up. In doing that, I always go for improvements that are always on first.

1. Pet Discipline - Allows you to tell your pet to hold, essential for pet control; opens up the even more critical:
2. Advanced Pet Discipline Rk 1 - Enables pet focus, allowing your pet to focus on your target. Essential for having fluffy keep aggro whilst you nuke.
3. Pet Affinity - Allows group spells and MGB's to land on Fluffy. Very useful for AFKing in the guild lobby.

Now we get into making Fluffy a serious tank:

4. Elemental Alacrity / Elemental Agility / Companion's Agility / Sturdy Companion - All passive mitigation / avoidance
5. Elemental Durability / Companion's Durability - Increase Fluffy's HP
6. Mend Companion - Insta-cast big heal for Fluffy
7. Replenish Companion

9. Fortify Companion - Helps w/ mitigation/avoidance more than the description implies (confirmed by how fast my merc burns through mana)

Now that Fluffy can take a beating, time to focus getting out of bad situations.

10. Gate - It's fast casting and always at the ready on your hot bar.
11. Companion of Necessity Rk 1 - Don't increase the Rk until you can go to Rk 3; Used to clear aggro. I use this to break camps too. Send Fluffy in, focused on one mob. Send the Companion at an add. back Fluffy off. The mob he was on will follow him back to camp, the one or two adds will not and will lose aggro. This only works to clear aggro on 1 or 2 mobs.
12. Host of Elements - This buys you time on an add. If Fluffy has one more add than he can handle well, I cast a Rumbling Servant at the add, then roll the host out on it. I will then chain Servants at the add between nukes on Fluffy's primary target. Often having these out has given me just enough time to gate as the mob kills them one at a time.

Now to work on mana efficiency / DPS.

12. Malosinete - Rarely gets resisted, and enhances the damage of your nukes.
13. Spell Casting Fury - Gives you crits
14. Spell Casting Mastery - Lowers mana cost
15. Spell Casting Subtlety - Only as necessary, when you start getting aggro all the time, and only enough to no longer draw aggro off Fluffy. I went without this for a long time, but admittedly getting it allows you to start nuking harder sooner on fights.
16. Fury of Magic / Destructive Fury - More boom for your mana buck
17. Gift of Mana - Procs quite often for a free mana next spell.
18. Improved Twincast - Twinprocs the next 8 or so casts; careful aggro management required here.
19. Elemental Form: Fire - leads up to:
20. Heart of Flames - Harder nukes; leads up to:
21. Fire Core - Harder nukes.
Last edited by Cimmaron on Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Cimmaron
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Cimmaron »

A couple notes: Once I get to 100 and see What new AAs and tricks I can do, I'll update this.

Under AAs, 8. Divine Companion Aura should be avoided until the devs do something to make it useful again.
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Felinya
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Felinya »

Thanks for this! I'm so new to the mage class and this will really help me be effective.
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Arterian
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Arterian »

Great guide!
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Mintalee
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Mintalee »

Very nice! You can save yourself a spell slot by getting the Aegis of Kildrukuan AA as well.
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Arterian
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Arterian »

Question for you folks...

How would you gauge your mana experience?

I play a necro as my main but also have a lvl 90 mage. I realize I'm probably incredibly spoiled with the necros regeneration, death bloom, etc.

That being said, I do really enjoy playing the mage, the biggest turnoff however is mana. Would you attribute my terrible mana and regen to my low AA count? or is sitting to med quite frequently just the harsh reality of playing a mage?

I would like to play my mage more, but only if I can dramatically improve my mana situation through AA.
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Potawatomi
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Potawatomi »

It is a few different factors. You're missing the intelligence cap AAs and Mental Stamina AA. You also don't have the Large Mod Rod aa, which would help you with mana in conjuction with the Gather potential spell. Those two alone would give you 40% of your mana back every 5-7 mins. AA alone won't get you all the way there. You will need to work on getting better non visible/visisble gear. With the new expansion and the loot pinata that RoF trash mobs are, you could really improve your mana situation rather rapidly.
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Potawatomi
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Potawatomi »

Also to add to the OP's list, I would get the AA's Silent Casting and Arcane whisper for burning down mobs safely while soloing.
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Danille
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Danille »

awesome post. it is stickied! :)
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Sillaen
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Re: Developing a Solo/Molo Mage - My Take

Post by Sillaen »

Mintalee wrote:Very nice! You can save yourself a spell slot by getting the Aegis of Kildrukuan AA as well.
I still keep Aegis in a spell slot even with the AA. They are on different timers.
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