How exactly am I supposed to play as a mage...

[GloriousZote]

.. when enemies just keep dodge-spamming my spells? I'm already weaker in defense than other builds, but now I also can't get a single spell in at some enemies, because they have infinite stamina, and can keep dodging my spells over and over and over.

[The Spirit of Jazz]

Night sorceries, which are "invisible" to enemies or delayed cast spells like Rock Sling are your best bet. I suck as a mage though, so this is most definitely just my own experience, it's not gospel.

[Lenox]

Originally posted by GloriousZote:

Originally posted by Sabaithal:

Learn to melee. That's really your only option unless you want to resort to spamming gimmick spells (which usually have terrible damage).

You're not supposed to be 100% melee or ranged in this game. Certain enemies and situations will, evidently, punish you if you try.

The best players know how to combine both melee and ranged options as the situation demands, so I would practice mixing things up a bit.

Nah, as a melee you dont need anything else.

I'm not saying this of you, but often I see people say this and then use ranged damage ash of war skills. Do you use any on your melee characters?

[Yal]

Some ideas:
- Glintstone Pebble ash of war (not the spell), use the follow-up attack to hit enemies while they're dodging
- Nuke them with Cannon of Haima before they notice you
- Supplant your weak defense with a shield with Shield Bash / Shield Crash on it, using the academy whetstone upgrade to put Frost damage on the shield for good measure
- One of the ashes-of-war sold by Bernahl lets you fire off a blast of wind, it's so fast most enemies can't dodge it - put it on the biggest sword you can equip, and again, turn your weapon frost-elemental if you can for the most mileage

[Sgt. Flaw]

I'm doing my first mage run too....I find that the staff you get in weeping peninsula's key...Although it has worse int scaling it also has str scaling and will give you better scaling.overall, in the beginning of the game.

For enemies that dodge, don't use glintstone pebble...simple...buff your shortsword and double fist it. Carian Slicer works well too. Though I Prefer to buff.

If your really hung up...one of the transport traps takes you to a Caelid tunnel. There's a spell deep in there that can do some serious damage to some of the enemies that dodge. I forget the name of it but you literally spike your weapon slowly into the ground and then it explodes....Killed a lot of enemies that dodge with this spell.

As hard as it is...mages benifit most from scaling most...make sure your at a good enough level....I hit Margit at 28 min maxing Vig and Int and killed him my first try with GS Pebble alone. Easy peasy if you level correctly.

Also use Glintstone arc for mobs....works insanely well.

[Sabaithal]

Carian sorceries are also an entire school dedicated to "melee sorceries". Worth checking out.

[GloriousZote]

Originally posted by Lenox:

Originally posted by GloriousZote:

Nah, as a melee you dont need anything else.

I'm not saying this of you, but often I see people say this and then use ranged damage ash of war skills. Do you use any on your melee characters?

Nope, I had a bleed build back when the game came out, and I had another build i got til' somewhere in altus with with holy damage scimitars, one of them had sacred blade but that was just to enchant the weapon with a small bonus. The projectile didn't go all that far, anyway, and generally a waste of mana to use for the purpose of the attack itself

[Lenox]

Originally posted by GloriousZote:

Originally posted by Lenox:

I'm not saying this of you, but often I see people say this and then use ranged damage ash of war skills. Do you use any on your melee characters?

Nope, I had a bleed build back when the game came out, and I had another build i got til' somewhere in altus with with holy damage scimitars, one of them had sacred blade but that was just to enchant the weapon with a small bonus. The projectile didn't go all that far, anyway, and generally a waste of mana to use for the purpose of the attack itself

Fair enough. I'm more of a melee guy too, but I try to branch out and do some ranged stuff. Skills like Wave of Destruction are less interesting to me than using Ruins Greatsword to bash some heads.

[imryll]

Not sure why, but increasing my casting distance from the dodger often seems to help.

[Dr. Sinclair]

I should add, i noticed something altho it could be a coincidence - it felt like they dodged less often when free aiming without target lock

[ZTL-Altima]

Pure mage as a build does not exist. Always have a main weapon on hand.

[Lenox]

Originally posted by Parsify:

Pure mage as a build does not exist. Always have a main weapon on hand.

Sure it does. Double-staffing is a thing. And it's great.

[Clail]

Same as melee, bait them into an animation recovery and then hit them with a spell.

[Medisinful]

Pack the Gavel of Haima and the Cannon of Haima. Seriously.
People are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ at dodging the gavel for some reason, and the cannon has a huge blast radius which punishes people who don't know how to iframe it.

-Sincerely, a fellow pure magic build. Don't let the others fool you, you don't need a melee weapon. <3

[Lenox]

Originally posted by Veni the Vaporeon:

Pack the Gavel of Haima and the Cannon of Haima. Seriously.
People are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ at dodging the gavel for some reason, and the cannon has a huge blast radius which punishes people who don't know how to iframe it.

-Sincerely, a fellow pure magic build. Don't let the others fool you, you don't need a melee weapon. <3

I can second this. Gavel of Haima is a very fun sorcery. And since it's the only melee sorcery that doesn't get a boost from a specialty staff, you have a little more gearing flexibility. No need to double-staff.

[GloriousZote]

For those curious, I am trying to go for a lunar battlemage in the future, Dark Moon Greatsword and some lunar themed spells, probably some basic glintstone stuff mixed in.