My Fire Mage is an awesome swordsman?

So for R23 I decided I wanted to play as a fire mage, my intent was to focus all of my experience into that one skill tree. I found that it was impossible from the very start, when I was force fed a sword. With that said I listed some of my issues with the current state of magic.


Issue #1: Why do I have to use a sword/polearm/bow? It seems that there is no pure mage build available, because ranged magic attacks are so weak compared to auto attack and magic fists abilities. I feel like I am forced into being a Battle Mage… I do not want to use a sword, I want to cast a fireball at a distance and do actual damage to my target, if I am going to be squishy then I should be able to deal out a lot of damage in return.


Issue#2: It is impossible to specialize in just one branch, in order to be effective and survive a skirmish, I have to specialize in all magic skill trees for their additional defensive and healing benefits.

*Is it the intent of the developers to force players into using multiple skill trees? As I said above I started R23 wanting to be a fire mage, now I feel like I am everything.


Issue#3: This kind of leads back to issue#1, but it is frustrating. I am a mage; I should be able to kill monsters before they even get to me. Why am I forced to stand there and go blow for blow with all of my enemies like a tank? As of right now my auto attack with a sword and magic fists account for way too much of my DPS and my survivability is awful because I am in cloth armor.


Bottom Line: As of R23, it is impossible to have a pure magic build in any skill tree, survivability is just down right awful due to being forced into melee combat while wearing cloth armor, further there should be no reason why a mage should be using a sword, unless the player wants to be a hybrid class. I know this is pre-alpha, and I know that all of the skills have not been balanced yet. I just hope there are plans to make each skill tree viable on their own, so players who want to specialize in just one skill tree can, and still be just as viable as a hybrid player.

 

I share your frustration. I don't mind not being able to specialize in only one school of magic, but I do mind not being able to survive relying on magic alone. In the good old days (before the power of magic was greatly reduced) I carried a wand or a staff. Since a few releases I am totally reliant on my polearm.

 

And there's no sexy robes

 

I, too share your frustration. It seems as though every mage has to either carry a box, battleaxe, sword, or halberd and only casts spells between swinging a sword.

The unfortunate part is I actually want to be a warrior without magic and since even mages are GM swordsman, what's the point of specializing in swords without magery?

Could we at least have NOT carrying a weapon be a major bonus for mages and carrying a weapon be a hindrance?

 

Are staves and wands not useful I'm guessing?

I haven't tried one yet

 

But this also counts for pure non magic builds.
I cant create a sword fighter with shield and sword and survive, relying only on heal potions. I get forced to pick magic.
This counts also for a ranged type character.

This comes down again to damage avoidance and the game design purpose of heal potions and healing mechanic.

I still believe design wise it would way batter to have a life magic and focus bar instead of only life and focus.

If you have life, magic, focus you can use focus for different things.
Like dodging attacks blocking damage power stance and power up your special attacks for melee based characters.

While a melee non magic user would have a ton of focus cous of the skill treas he choose, a magic user would had a way smaller pool. He still could run dodge block, but he would have lesser than a melee character.
There fore a magic based character would had a big pool of magic.

I think this way the combat system would be at least for me more suite able.

I still think that a combat system that gives you active dodging and blocking could be something that would work for sota.

 

In the old Ultimas, your Avatar basically mastered everything as well... Maybe they're thinking along those lines?

 

This is the main reason I started a thread on innates. I feel like we should be able to survive and specialize without having to use both weapon skills and magic. I would love to be a pure mage or a pure warrior. https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...n-skill-innates-vs-magic-skill-innates.40453/

 

Ah. This topic. Again.
It comes all down to balance.
If you are able to kill an npc before he reaches you you are likely to kill a player as well before he gets a chance to reach you.
I could even understand if you would want that. But for balance sake: Not everybody can be Gandalf.
Non the less the mage trees got overnerfed, I will give you that.

 

I feel I must point out, even Gandalf used a sword. So maybe everyone DOES have to be Gandalf

 

True. I should have used Dumbledore but Gandalf is way more awesome.

 

Before he found that amazing magic sword he didn't use any... common guys

Staff fighting is a skill...

 

The classical pure mage is not even supposed to fight. They are always weak in battle. Yet their performance is so powerful and can decide the battle, but not by fighting. They change the course of the story in powerful yet subtle.
This is where the frustration lies, in my opinion, as we are all players that face enemies directly. The classical pure mage is quite difficult to implement in a game like this.
In my vision, a mage in SOTA would have powerful spells related to opening doors, provide light in the dark, find secret places, healing, invisibility... you get the point. Only useful with friends in battle, I know, but hey, I haven't built the classical mage picture.
In SOTA, I see a mage stealthing his way through the dungeon/field to get to a resource. Quietly getting it and possibly killing one or two single targets. He would make the profit from that resource, more than a warrior can, due to his knowledge. If he is discovered, he will most likely die to the gang. That's only my vision.

 

Mages need some actual development care to it, or this thread will keep coming up, every release, new players everytime.. We do desire a pure mage.. I know this isn't D&D, but it's sort of a staple class - the mage - that we should be able to appear something close to what we describe.. a soft but deadly mage.

I'm pretty awesome with my bludgeons as a necessity. And I'm forced to know healing. There are no good mage weapons. We piece together armour from cloth.. magic robes is the norm for us, but do not yet exist in any form.

If we are supposed to be skilled in all areas, why don't we feel like we should, or why don't they say?

#prealphablues

 

Sounds like your Mage is more of a rogue or a thief lol.

Not sure where this "classical" Mage comes from. But DND mages could definitely fight, as it was already stated Gandalf could kick some ass.

Yours just sounds too... Sneaky rather than powerful.

 

Gandalf was not D&D... But the sword is cool, and with my 2 handed axe, its kind of a cool battle-mage or cleric thing going on...

 

Raistlin comes to mind. The one created by Tracy Hickman, co-author of the Dragonlance and writer of a SOTA prequel afaik, so her vision of a mage should somehow have something to do here.
Raistlin has a huge impact in the story, but never handles a sword.

 

What makes that one example the definitive "classical" mage?

Not to bring him up again, but I suppose Gandalf would have to be the original mage. As Lord of the Rings is is largely what inspired the entire genre of High Fantasy. (yes I know LOTR was inspired by earlier mythology etc)

I won't disagree that some mages could/would be non-combative. Some probably would be thieves and rogues, sneaking around with invisibility spells and what not. Some would probably be scholars, never leaving the library. In the same way that some players/characters might just be a chef, or a blacksmith, or a seamstress, a bard, a poet, a farmer etc. Plenty of non-combat jobs in fantasy worlds. This probably falls under the scope of the game though and how much effort they can put into individual "visions" of what type of character someone might want to be.

I will admit, I am extremely shocked we don't have more non-combat related spells though. For a game with such a big emphasis on roleplaying, it does seem strange that the only cool thing mages can do outside of combat is the light spell which everyone and the mother starts with and uses anyway. (I actually think the light spell should be unlocked later in the tree, make people use a damn torch if they don't wanna work on their Sun skill!)

 

I think stories of Merlin the druid from King Arthur legends created the modern fantasy ideas of what it is to be a mage/wizard.

Merlin's magic was very powerful - he could turn into different animals and talk to them, he was a master of time and space, and all the elements. Alchemy and herbalism were important to concoct powerful potions that caused people to be poisoned or healed, or disguise themselves as someone else. Magic was feared, and respected, as Merlin taught and advised Arthur as he grew and became king. But Merlin didn't teach Arthur magic, he taught him wisdom and virtue. These make up the foundation from which magic stems.

I think it's important to relate the mastery of magic to having a deep respect for nature, as the druids did. That respect and understanding allowed them to channel magic, much like a Jedi's relationship with the force. These are what Mages in SOTA should be forced to think about as they're wielding magic. And right now, I'm getting none of that. It's just a tool and a weapon. And I hate it.

Let's go back to the drawing board on this one. I think perhaps magic may not be an ideal stand alone path, unless you want to become a scholar or advisor. I think instead, magic should come naturally as we learn virtue, or chaos, and learn to wield their powers, to enhance our own martial skills and abilities.. Magic should be a natural fantastic extension of the normal skills we are learning to wield in the game. Both in adventuring and in crafting..

 

Gave up completely on being a mage and went with swords which is much less interesting of a build. I'd prefer a hybrid character (tank mage). Magic seems so nerfed now that just in order to earn a little gold I have to go with swords. Very much needs a rebalancing.

More and more I'm finding the changes since around R21 to have hurt playability in terms of PvE. And forget PvP - the required grinding to be competitive is prohibitive.