A few mage questions

[lsteve333]

So I recently bought a level 35 mage, and, as I am new to the class, I have a few of questions.

1) I've been having some trouble double casting flame shock, I can double cast any other attack (fb, heal, icelance, freeze, etc) but when I try to double cast flame shock it only works about 30% of the time. Is this just something I need to practice, or are there some tricks that would help?

2) I have noticed that the level of attacks greatly changes the damage (e.g. hf 1 which has a base damage of 33, is stronger than fb 3 which has a base damage of 42). Because of this, I was wondering if its worth it to use flare after doom instead of fb.

3) I would also like to know what quick slots are recommended, as well as where to put my skill points. I have found a combination that works fairly well for me, but I would still like to see some other suggestions.

Thanks for your help~

[hsm175]

From what I have seen, doom-flare only does more damage than doom-fb if you have flare 2/3. Otherwise, it's more effective (mana/cast time to damage ratio) to do a quick doom-fbfb, at least in pk.

[Ellbellz]

1) Double casting just takes practice :p For fs, I double cast most when I doom, flare then fs. Depends on your internet connection & game speed, but it also helped me to move while casting and opening and closing the chat box :3

2) I have both fb 3 and flare 3 on firexbird and I normally use fb after doom while training (doom, fb, flare, fs) because it's easy for me to spam fb & fs. I've never actually checked to see if flare did more damage than fb.

3)
Slot 1: stun 2, fb 3, flare 3, doom 2, freeze 3 (pking slot)
Slot 2: tele 1, carni 3, shield 3, prayer 2, heal 3 (healing a war pt/getting pked slot)
Slot 3: flame of kat 3, fs 3, fb 3, flare 3, doom 2 (farming slot)
Slot 4: mana feed, fear, pet, mana pot, poisoning

I don't use ice lance because it doesn't do a lot of damage and doesn't keep the target frozen as long as freezing trap does, don't use ice prison because I rarely pk outside of beach, I got mana feed for Tan & Dia (who rarely train =.='<3), don't use firestorm because it takes too much mp, don't use silence because it only works on mages and it has a ridiculous cool time for how long it keeps the target from casting spells, I don't use healing wave because warriors and rangers complain that it bumps their boost and I got poisoning because noobs keep recalling from me.

Tan knows best though :) He should post<3

[lsteve333]

Thanks guys, there a are a couple of things I forgot to add; I have all skills exept shield iv (so fb 3 would be compared to flare 3), and I would also like to have the slots include fear if possible.

There is also another question I had: what is the order of mana efficiency of the following attack: flame shock, flare, doom, flame of kataru, icelance, and firestorm (assume all skills are maxed). I am planning to experiment with this, but I figured I would ask anyway.

[sakurairis]

1. I agree with Ellbellz

2. I have fl and fb...but more for multicasting reasons..
example) doom fb fb fl fb fb fs fs

3. My slots are as below:
-1-carni-tele-heal-shield-prayer
-2-heal wave-tele-ice prison-flame-pots(i change this slot from time to time)
-3-fb-fl-doom-fear-stun
-4-fb-fl-domo-fs-freezing trap
^ i don't pk much so my slots consist of skills that would be used for luring/healing/solo training

I don't recommend ice lance or firestorm...ice lance does low damage in my opinion and so i find it useless...firestorm uses lots of mana and flame is more convenient in terms of cooldown and usage

I'd imagine the mana efficiency rate(estimated) from highest to lowest is as follow:
firestorm(50), flame(30), flare(35), flame shock(22), ice lance(20?), doom(15)

I'm not very clear on how much mana is required for ice lance..(i don't use it)

[lsteve333]

1. I agree with Ellbellz

2. I have fl and fb...but more for multicasting reasons..
example) doom fb fb fl fb fb fs fs

3. My slots are as below:
-1-carni-tele-heal-shield-prayer
-2-heal wave-tele-ice prison-flame-pots(i change this slot from time to time)
-3-fb-fl-doom-fear-stun
-4-fb-fl-domo-fs-freezing trap
^ i don't pk much so my slots consist of skills that would be used for luring/healing/solo training

I don't recommend ice lance or firestorm...ice lance does low damage in my opinion and so i find it useless...firestorm uses lots of mana and flame is more convenient in terms of cooldown and usage

I'd imagine the mana efficiency rate(estimated) from highest to lowest is as follow:
firestorm(50), flame(30), flare(35), flame shock(22), ice lance(20?), doom(15)

I'm not very clear on how much mana is required for ice lance..(i don't use it)

Thanks for your advice.

What I meant by efficiency, however, was the damage to mana ratio. For an example, if an attack did 100 damage and used 10 mana its damage to mana ratio would be 10/1

[SimplyRuphy]

I'd post something insightful, but, are you wanting to know for pk purposes or for training ones?

[Red_Herring]

Ice Lance, when I used it Level ~24, cost about 3 MP more than Flameshock. (that is, if I remember correctly)

1. *shrugs shoulders* I kinda had that problem, which is why I used Ice Lance. Isn't an issue for me now, so not sure what is up :o

2. Personally, I use Doom + FbFb, simply because it guarentees shield removal and you can use Flare to double cast Stun or Flameshock. When you Doom + Flare, then you can only double cast 1 skill immediately after, which would be stun. That, and Flare can be a little inaccurate vs a higher level.
However, I do use Doom + Flare + StunStun vs a ranger 33+ since they will most likely have shields and can do significant damage unless you stun them quickly.

3. My slots look like this (top to bot)
Slot 1: Doom, FB, FS, Flare, Stun
Slot 2: Healing Wave, PoP, Shield, Heal, Tele
Slot 3: Carni, Teleport, remaining 3 is up to you (I put pet, recall and sometimes shield)
Slot 4: Stun, Ice Prision, Fear, Freeze, Tele.

Slot 1 is PvP (and PvE) slot. Usual combo is Doom, FBFB, Flare, StunStun and then throwing skills when they cooldown. You can flick back to use fear if your target is stronger/higher levelled. Slot 2, Heal and escape. Slot 3 is misc. Slot 4 is the disruption slot. IP + Fear means you can shortcut cast fear. Freezing trap to freeze them (if IP gets resisted or the target is out of IPs range). Tele to chase (or escape) and stun again so you don't have to flick to Slot 1.

As for Mana efficiency - I never really kept track of the damages, but I know Firestorm is pretty much a waste of a skill point. Low PvP damage and way too high MP consumption.
MP for IL and FS is more or less the same and the damage is similar.

[lsteve333]

I'd post something insightful, but, are you wanting to know for pk purposes or for training ones?

I would be looking mostly for training purposes, but preferably the slots would be able to be used for both, although I have been considering changing them for training/pking.

[SimplyRuphy]

Well I'm one of the few who don't have a *pk slot*. I just use my general slots for everything. All my attacks on one, buffs on the other, etc. It works pretty well for me anyways.

Also I just have to add about Ice Lance: Use caution. It has a longer animation before actually hitting the target and that can cost you. FSIV (In my opinion) is way better. The fact it took so long to hit people is why I quit using Lance.

[Ellbellz]

Tan says best combo is doom, fb, fb, fs, flare, fb, fb, fs. :3

[lsteve333]

Tan says best combo is doom, fb, fb, fs, flare, fb, fb, fs. :3

haha apparently tan cant double cast fs either ;)

[Diversion]

I can't double cast fs :confused:

[Diversion]

Forget about double casting now, it's gone for now. :)