Sandstorm/Glacial Snare

Sutra can't be leveled so don't worry about that, unless you mean wellspring to 5 to get sutra, and in that case, get it

I would go with the water shield first. The fire mobs will not hit you hard when it is up even at lvl 5, I find the mana regen to be a huge time saver and was able to kill more mobs per session. I didn't even use fire shield agaist the foxwings cause you usually kill them before they even hit you, and if they do, once max. Maybe its just preference as you won't have to max your PvP skills later so you can spend a little more SP and coin on those things

Also outside of foxwings, i only use fire shield in fb39, and one set of mobs in the late 60's. Again though i don't think its that big a deal which goes first, just saves some regen time to me

As for Glacial / Sandstorm, i would go Sandstorm. It is the spell you use against most mobs and has a quick cooldown so can be used multple times. It will still rock Foxwings. Glacial is a good opening spell but has a long cooldown you won't be recasting it often. Mine is at level 2 now and i don't plan on it going higher anytime soon. If i did a glacial, sandstorm, gush the foxwing was usually dead though late 50's i needed a fourth spell which could be any fast one, maybe glacial gush sandstorm gush

FoW will come in very useful against a lot of the quest mobs in the late 50s 60s as there are a few phys mobs, archers, metal casters. I find it to be a life saver often if i get attacked by 2 mobs, or if thrown in the right combo it keeps me from getting hit by a lot of mobs. That being said mine is only at level 2 and for mob killing i have never really needed it to be longer, if you do some Pvp though you will want it higher, i know i sure do

The range on Glacial Snare isn't that great to start with, so if you use it as an opening spell you'll have to get a lot closer to the mob to start with. The main benefit of Glacial is the 80% slow effect but the duration and would only make it slightly better than a Sandstorm/gush combo. (just guessing though as its been a while since i've had a lvl 1 glacial)

Also depending on what level you're Sandstorm is you'll probably do the same or more damage on fire mobs with Sandstorm than you would with Glacial Snare. Glacial also costs 484k SP for lvl 9 and 704k SP lvl 10 plus a huge amount of coin, and it only really passes Sandstorm in damage at level 10 but costs at least a million more SP to max.

If I were to start again I'd probably level Force of Will over Glacial, FoW is pretty good at interupting casting mobs, just pop one when they start the glowing disc under them and they'll run away from you.

And as far as the Ultimates go, dont bother levelling them unless you plan on TW/PvP/PK. Sutra/Advanced spark is a much better way to use 2 sparks as both regen 10% of total MP.

CeliaZ - Sanctuary wrote: »

Do you need Wellspring to level 5 atleast to get sutra? I have wellspring level 3 now.

Yes, Sutra requires level 5 wellspring.

Force of will is good at level 5. Get it there ASAP. It gives you time to gush and pyrogram.

Being a mage is all about timing

FoW is part of that.

At slightly higher levels SP won't be your problem, money will be.

Skyannie - Lost City wrote: »

At slightly higher levels SP won't be your problem, money will be.

So tell me, why tell a Lv49 to get FoW to 5? I sure as hell know I don't have any SP left at 62 for something like FoW.

i dont really tend to upgrad fow since the benefit from one lvl is so small but costs a lot.
i prefered to up snare a bit and its now lvl 4(?) and its great in pve.
i really like to start with it so i can throw a sandstorm in before the mob starts casting...if the mob got a strong attack i use fow after ss otherwise i use gush and/or pyro.
i dont know if i will up it further though

Just for the record, Stone barrier helps for more than PvP. Archer-like mobs hurt like a ***** without it, along with melee mobs. It's saved my **** a few times in FBs when I pulled agro from the tank. (Stupid BMs zzzz)


And both Stone Rain and Stone barrier are pretty cheap, so you should really get at least lv5 of them. Stone Rain is still good for water mobs, which you'll be fighting pretty often during 5x. Barrier is just handy in general.

I meant a lot of quests at 5x. That and killing water mobs in 3 hits is quite fast, most likely better than flying mobs since there's a lack of them at that level. (Foxwings still suck at that point)

And honestly, even in robes, you're going to have about 800 defense at 5x. So yeah, 1200 instead of 800 is nice, you should check how much of a difference that makes. It's pretty damn big.

on ecatomb it says "Demon version has reduces channeling time by 2.1 seconds." for snare...

is this really correct?? i mean it would be damn fast then and very strong

Calibix - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Yes this is correct. So (imo, I use glacial as an opener always, max it whenever possible) an already great spells becomes even more awesome. As it stands right now, Glacial>Sandstorm>Gush>Pyrogram kills 95% of mobs I've run into at my lvl. I say lvl it. At 74 I have maxed pyro, divine, gush, stone rain, glacial embrace, stone barrier, distance shrink. Glacial, Sandstorm, Blade tempest maxed as I gain the lvls. 5 in wellspring and morning dew. 5ish in FoW. 1 in everything else except DB (lvl3)

I'm impressed... I don't have the spirit to keep up with Glacial and FoW atm :<

Well if you're into PvE a lot here's my suggestions.

Through your 50s I would concentrate solely on Sandstorm (always keep sandstorm maxed, always), getting wellspring to L5, and leveling Divine Pyrogram (for use in sutra @ 59). Any extra SP/Coin you can dump into shields or something else of your choice. At L59 SKIP the ultimates (I know I know shocking!) because at low levels they're not good in PvE, require 2 sparks, and cost a ton of SP/coins. Do pick up Sutra, it is nice to have and regens 10% of your mana on cast. For pure PvE concerns Sutra or Adv Spark Erupt is more mana and damage efficient then your ultimates.

Through your 60s continue to ignore ultimates, pickup several levels of FoW (at level 1 its pretty sucky 2.3 sec seal for 2 sec cast time is a net of maybe .8-1.2 seconds depending how far they run and if you catch them midcast) but at level 3-4 it really works well). Also start dropping some SP/Coin into element masteries, particularly earth mastery as from L66 - L70 you'll be grinding on Minions of Alucard (water flying mob near Altar of Dispair in swamp). For the minions you will want stone rain maxed and levels in earth mastery, sandstorm->stone rain->sandstorm makes for a 3-shot if you're pure. At about L69 Glacial Snare has enough range/high enough proc chance to make it your new opening skill. So at L69 or L73 be sure to catch up with Glacial Snare.

Now I've taken you as far as I have experience so everything from here on is untested. By this point stop putting points into masteries as they start to become expensive for +2% dmg on one element (somewhere like L8 earth L4 water L2 fire). Sandstorm will max at L75 coupled with the fact that SP rates shoot up past 70 means that now is a good time to catch up with an ultimate. Pick the water or fire ultimate, for PvE water is probably better. Keep glacial snare and FoW maxed at all times, always leadoff with glacial snare and time your FoW such that the target is not slowed when you hit them with it. They'll run away fast, then gush them so they run back to you slow.