Create a Mage

Fiesta: A Beginner’s Guide to Mages

Magic, gotta love it, gotta respect it. The ability to cast giant elemental balls of pain on singular targets or to unleash a torrent of destruction over a specified area of effect is something that many video game fans have always attributed to one class: magic casters. In Fiesta online, this archetype is played true to the role once again as you create a mage, with powerful single hit spells, excellent crowd control powers and of course, the expected limitations of having a limited mana pool and an extremely weak physical defense stat.

Why Be a Mage?

If you are new to the gaming world, choosing to become a mage is never an easy choice –technically. Mages tend to be heavily reliant on skills; this means that players are required to be good with hand eye coordination in order to use them efficiently. Also, they tend to gobble up resources fast (particularly mana potions), and you can expect that their equipment tends to be quite costly as well.

If you are a new player with a soft spot in your heart for magic, do not let your clumsy newbie fingers discourage you. Fiesta’s control scheme is not impossible to master, and you will have plenty of time to get into the hang of things before you reach the more complex parts of the game (basically, it will be a while before you have to deal with the tougher enemy spawns). Focus on learning where the hot keys are and always set your shortcuts into a combination that feels most natural to you.

Now that we have pretty much underlined the fact that mages need excellent control, we can now address what all that effort earns you in return. As stated at the start: mages cause damage, and when you deal with powerful elemental magic, you certainly expect nothing less than that.

Respecting the Magic Missile

The first attack that a mage learns is the magic missile. You learn this skill the moment you start out with a mage and it is automatically added to your spell list. This ability allows you to shoot a magical arrow at an enemy and it will deal a modest amount of magic damage. While it will not be your main boss-killing tool, it certainly works well for dealing with regular enemies.

Learning to cast and use this spell effectively will teach novice mages how to properly cast more specialized spells. Speaking of which, the fire, lightning, and ice bolt spells will be learned shortly after earning a few levels. By the time you get these spells, you will be so used to the application of the magic missile that the new abilities will be easy to adapt to.

Playing Solo

Online games grant you the choice of teaming up with friends or complete strangers in order to venture into dangerous lands or to defeat powerful foes. But there will be times that you might want to try going out on your own. And while mages are not really known to be able to take much damage, they can still hold out against waves of enemies.

The key is having plenty of potions to supplement your style. If you can deal plenty of damage fast, mana recovery items will help see you through the day. If you have longer cast times and a tendency to let enemies get near you, then a few health potions will serve you much better.

But the most important thing that players must learn is the ability to kite. Kiting is when you run backwards while facing an enemy. This is most effective when your opponent is a melee based foe and you are using a projectile attack. Moving backwards means that you move away from your opponent –keeping you safe from the attack; at the same time, your ranged attack means that you will slowly be draining away your enemy’s HP bar.

Working with a Team

Of course, a mage is able to shine brightest when they are working with a team that complements their battle strategies. Basically, having a team with tanks (fighters or clerics with high defensive builds) to hold off foes and archers to take down small enemies will give a mage that much needed breathing room to set up attacks and powerful spells. Playing with tanks is a safer and more conventional approach while teaming up with an archer or another mage means being able to dish out damage fast enough to stop any enemy from getting near you.

The important thing about mages is  knowing what role you will be playing in a team. “Damage dealer” is a pretty broad term and your teammates will certainly have some expectations. The key is in knowing how to play with any given group; if your team lacks crowd control capabilities, the Magic Burst becomes an important skill in its area of effect. If you are the one tasked with pulling aggro, Magic Blast is quick firing, hard hitting, and most importantly, allows you to move while casting. Providing dispel against status ailments is a welcome feat, but most players will prefer to turn to the cleric for any health related issues.

Deciding a Build

Only a veteran player would be in their right mind to decide on a final build when they are still in the stages of actually creating a new character. First time players on the other hand, should focus on having fun –simply deciding to have the highest MDEF or MATK stats is hardly a reason to make a final decision on what build you will be doing.

A mage will turn into a Wiz Mage by level 20, and Enchanter at 60 and by level 100, you will be allowed to choose a specialization (you can become a warlock or a wizard). Those things are not for you to consider right now, the important thing is to know what you would want to specialize in before you hit level 20. And here are the things you need to observe while you are in the game:

Preferring combat or cooperation – this is actually going to help you determine what kinds of skills you should focus on. Abilities like life tap, dispel, mana burn, and purge are utilized in PVP (player versus player) combat (though life tap and dispel can also be useful in the field). If you are the type who prefers to engage other players in matches, then this should be the skills you invest in. On the other hand, you may prefer to hunt monsters and other enemies with your friends. In this case, you should focus on a build that is more PVE (player versus enemy) than PVP.

Prioritizing certain stats – your stat points should be distributed according to your priorities. But with that being said, you should at least know what the stats do for your character. STR (strength) and END (endurance) are completely worthless for a mage. This is because the strength stat adds to your base melee damage and the mage has none of that (stave and wands have a magical attack property). Endurance increases your weapon’s blocking rate –which is completely inapplicable for casters too. DEX (dexterity) is something that many Fiesta players still argue about. Some believe that it helps; thanks to the increase it provides in the accuracy and evasion stats. Others believe that the dexterity boosts are too low to provide a significant return for the use of a stat point. Of course, INT (intelligence) and SPR (spirit) are very important for casters. Intelligence determines the base magic damage that you do for your attacks and spells. Spirit raises your mana pool and also increases a character’s chance to deal critical hits.

Or find out more on Mages in Fiesta at Outspark.