Advice RE: Mages

[LochnarITB]

I assume you saw this link in the other thread but I'll link to mage builds just in case you didn't. I read that through and found there was little I could argue with. Of course, I don't have the high level experience that others do. It may be that I am following advice I will not be happy with but, if so, I will unlearn talents and rebuild.

Of the builds listed, I decided to go with 33 frost/18 arcane. I had thought to modify at least a couple points. However, as I played further, I realized I would not use the modification I had intended and, since I had not yet committed points to it, I switched back to the original.

My current battles generally go as follows. Move in to max range for a fireball. Launch that. As soon as it fires, start the casting of a frostbolt. If the baddie* is slow enough, I can often get off two frostbolts before they get to me (improved frostbolt has brought the casting time down). As they get to me I cast a frost nova (instant) which usually pins them down. I then back off a couple steps (little squishy guy steps, not big hoomaun steps) and hit them with arcane missiles. In most cases they are now done. If not, I am able to take a couple blows as I finish them off. If I get them down to a small sliver, the finishing blow is often the instant cast fire (fireblast?).

If my initial pull brings more than one, I concentrate on the initial pull. The frost nova is held until the group is all to me. If there are just two, I finish the first and start on the second with arcane missile until frost nova has cooled down. I then pin and back off and finish. If more than two pull, I attempt to finish the first and then head back out the way I came until they drop off.

As I build the frost talent, frostbolt will replace the initial fireball when its range has been increased to that of the fireball. This will slow them enough to possibly allow another strike at distance.

Also, as a note about solo play, I think you will find that you will be pushed to group. I also think you will find it to be enjoyable, especially in good groups such as those made up of the Lurkers that I have played with. I have always been a soloist as well and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had in groups. When you do start to do groups, you will find that one of your biggest benefits to the group is the ability to sheep (polymorph) a baddie. As two or more head for the party, I tab through the bad guys looking for one that isn't being hit (a hit will instantly "pop" the sheep) and then sheep them. I have a macro that announces to the party that I am doing so and hope that they notice so the spell isn't wasted. It is also a good idea to hold off for the initial 10% or so of the baddies damage bar before casting damage on them. This helps to keep their focus from shifting off the tank to your squishy guy.

Also, don't be afraid to abandon a character, or unlearn and reassign the talent points, if you don't like how they are going. If you end up as addicted to this as I am, you will find that you will end spending a lot more time using the character at higher levels than the initial build time. There is no sense on continuing to build something that is already beyond hope. That is one case where you can take advantage of hindsight being 20/20. :)


*I use baddie in referring to individual monsters. I often see people using mob as the singular for a bad guy. This confuses me. How did mob come to represent this and not a group of bad guys as would be the normal usage when saying something such as "The store was mobbed at 12:01 am when they opened the doors to sell WoW" or "mob mentality"?