I finished the game as a mage

[C WIN]

I’ve never played souls as a mage (except for pvp builds), but I heard that magic in ER is better than in souls and started my first race as a mage. Finished it in about 35 hours. I also knew in advance about where the meteorite staff was and about farming souls from crows. Also, since I already decided to play as a magician, I decided to be a pig to the end and used the ashes.

To sum it up right away, most of the game is just a shooting gallery, only a couple of bosses are interesting to play as a magician. But it was nice to see that the ashes are relatively balanced, and the bosses have ways to deal with them. Of the spells, using most of them will simply be less effective than the basic spell Glintstone Pebble.

Bosses:
Margit is too strong a boss for me to start the game. I constantly fell for an upward attack with almost no animation. One of the main difficulties was that I definitely needed 3 flasks for manna. I liked the fight, but this boss would have been better after Godrick.

Godrick and Rennala for the magician are too simple. Morgott for a mage is easier than Margit because of its arena, and, in my opinion, a more readable moveset. Fire Giant and duo are just a joke, I played it with phantoms and don’t regret it.

Maliketh does nothing to the magician in the first phase, but the second battle was interesting. Godfrey, in my opinion, is easier to kill with a sword, so I used the Carian Slicer. I also killed Radagon with the Carian Slicer, I really liked the boss. I would have liked it even more if Elden’s Worm hadn’t been waiting for me after his victory. This is the worst final boss.

The last one I killed was Malenia. The first phase felt like I was fighting a default mob with healing and water dance. Probably if I fought with a sword, I wouldn’t have such a feeling, but in the first phase Malenia gets a stun from each projectile, so under Star Shower she doesn’t do anything. Luckily this is not the case in phase 2, but even so she can’t do anything if you attack her from a distance. The feeling after the fight that I didn’t deserve this victory

[Gubernator]

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

[zmanbuilder]

Meanwhile, i feel like i'm getting punished for wanting to use fists.....

[Ronin Gamer]

Originally posted by Mnichu:

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

Then set rules for yourself. You're the only one that can ruin your fun.
You don't like a certain spell, don't use it. You want to focus mostly on int weapons and less on spells, do it.
Nothing is stopping you from doing things how you want to maintain whatever experience you want.

[Gubernator]

Originally posted by Ronin Gamer:

Originally posted by Mnichu:

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

Then set rules for yourself. You're the only one that can ruin your fun.
You don't like a certain spell, don't use it. You want to focus mostly on int weapons and less on spells, do it.
Nothing is stopping you from doing things how you want to maintain whatever experience you want.

Of course, no one owes anyone a playstyle, most important thing is that the one playing the certain build is having fun. I just finished my first playthrough with bleed/dex build which is also considered "easy mode" and I can 100% say it didn't feel this way for someone playing souls for the first time :D But I gotta admit, I dont feel satisfied with my malienia fight and using mimic tear, in my next playthrough I ain't using it and will choose different build anyways, martial arts seems cool, will try it for sure.

[Ronin Gamer]

Originally posted by Mnichu:

Originally posted by Ronin Gamer:

Then set rules for yourself. You're the only one that can ruin your fun.
You don't like a certain spell, don't use it. You want to focus mostly on int weapons and less on spells, do it.
Nothing is stopping you from doing things how you want to maintain whatever experience you want.

Of course, no one owes anyone a playstyle, most important thing is that the one playing the certain build is having fun. I just finished my first playthrough with bleed/dex build which is also considered "easy mode" and I can 100% say it didn't feel this way for someone playing souls for the first time :D But I gotta agree, I dont feel satisfied with my malienia fight and using mimic tear, in my next playthrough I ain't using it and will choose different build anyways, martial arts seems cool, will try it for sure.

See that's another one of my rules. I NEVER used any spirit tears. I consider them too much of a crutch personally and not how older souls games where done. If you wanted help you summoned a player in which could lead to higher chance of invasion. I hate invasion personally but that's beside the point.
Spirits were a feature that I felt were introduced for more casual people, and that's fine. I'm not going to sit here and tell people how to play the game they paid for. I just won't use them and never did.

[Donte]

Well my first run was with melee mostly,but I was so tempted to respec when I saw all of these awesome spells I was unlocking. Maybe I will do second char when I complete the dlc for the first time :D

[brokenpinky]

Originally posted by Ronin Gamer:

Originally posted by Mnichu:

Of course, no one owes anyone a playstyle, most important thing is that the one playing the certain build is having fun. I just finished my first playthrough with bleed/dex build which is also considered "easy mode" and I can 100% say it didn't feel this way for someone playing souls for the first time :D But I gotta agree, I dont feel satisfied with my malienia fight and using mimic tear, in my next playthrough I ain't using it and will choose different build anyways, martial arts seems cool, will try it for sure.

See that's another one of my rules. I NEVER used any spirit tears. I consider them too much of a crutch personally and not how older souls games where done. If you wanted help you summoned a player in which could lead to higher chance of invasion. I hate invasion personally but that's beside the point.
Spirits were a feature that I felt were introduced for more casual people, and that's fine. I'm not going to sit here and tell people how to play the game they paid for. I just won't use them and never did.

Tons of people go through games not using all the tools the game developer gives them. IE people who use Golden Foul Foots or Golden Scarab are being "cheap" in the same way, using in game items to make things easier, bypassing the level up system etc.

[Ronin Gamer]

Originally posted by Donte:

Well my first run was with melee mostly,but I was so tempted to respec when I saw all of these awesome spells I was unlocking. Maybe I will do second char when I complete the dlc for the first time :D

There's all kinds of silly spells yeah. Some pure int, some pure faith, some mixing the two stats at the same time.
If you enjoy spells, elden ring gave you the most selection of any souls game for sure. DLC will likely up that.

[Ronin Gamer]

Originally posted by brokenpinky:

Originally posted by Ronin Gamer:

See that's another one of my rules. I NEVER used any spirit tears. I consider them too much of a crutch personally and not how older souls games where done. If you wanted help you summoned a player in which could lead to higher chance of invasion. I hate invasion personally but that's beside the point.
Spirits were a feature that I felt were introduced for more casual people, and that's fine. I'm not going to sit here and tell people how to play the game they paid for. I just won't use them and never did.

Tons of people go through games not using all the tools the game developer gives them. IE people who use Golden Foul Foots or Golden Scarab are being "cheap" in the same way, using in game items to make things easier, bypassing the level up system etc.

K. And? What was the point of that post? You basically said what I said but just extended it to more people other than myself.

[Last Jackdaw]

Originally posted by Mnichu:

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

Greatshield Endurance Tanks are easier, no?

[靐]

Magic in ER is when you say "who is now annoying?" against some bosses.

Rock sling anything before getting dark moon gs. dark moon gs anything after. Malekith 2nd phase gets stunned right after the transition and then it is dead. As of the rock sling consider taking arrows talisman to increase it range ...

Anything dragon-sized gets deleted by spiral magic. Anything annoying (yes, I am talking about you swordsman woman) gets deleted by ancient death rancor. With mimic ashes and FP negation flask you can minigun anything even with Mind 10.

And my fav giga chad mohg walking into comet Azur just to phase 1 die.

And still, if you wanna melee you can always melee. Wanna fast dex weapon? Sure, moonveil. Wanna bonk stuf? Dark moon gs. Wanna press X to win? Magic. Honestly, magic here feels super fun to play with.

[Armando Broncas]

Originally posted by Mnichu:

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

Typical fake narrative.

[Agravain]

Originally posted by C WIN:

I’ve never played souls as a mage (except for pvp builds), but I heard that magic in ER is better than in souls and started my first race as a mage. Finished it in about 35 hours. I also knew in advance about where the meteorite staff was and about farming souls from crows. Also, since I already decided to play as a magician, I decided to be a pig to the end and used the ashes.

To sum it up right away, most of the game is just a shooting gallery, only a couple of bosses are interesting to play as a magician. But it was nice to see that the ashes are relatively balanced, and the bosses have ways to deal with them. Of the spells, using most of them will simply be less effective than the basic spell Glintstone Pebble.

Bosses:
Margit is too strong a boss for me to start the game. I constantly fell for an upward attack with almost no animation. One of the main difficulties was that I definitely needed 3 flasks for manna. I liked the fight, but this boss would have been better after Godrick.

Godrick and Rennala for the magician are too simple. Morgott for a mage is easier than Margit because of its arena, and, in my opinion, a more readable moveset. Fire Giant and duo are just a joke, I played it with phantoms and don’t regret it.

Maliketh does nothing to the magician in the first phase, but the second battle was interesting. Godfrey, in my opinion, is easier to kill with a sword, so I used the Carian Slicer. I also killed Radagon with the Carian Slicer, I really liked the boss. I would have liked it even more if Elden’s Worm hadn’t been waiting for me after his victory. This is the worst final boss.

The last one I killed was Malenia. The first phase felt like I was fighting a default mob with healing and water dance. Probably if I fought with a sword, I wouldn’t have such a feeling, but in the first phase Malenia gets a stun from each projectile, so under Star Shower she doesn’t do anything. Luckily this is not the case in phase 2, but even so she can’t do anything if you attack her from a distance. The feeling after the fight that I didn’t deserve this victory

Mage builds are definitely different good on you for sticking to it, because I sure can't

[Gubernator]

Originally posted by Mnichu:

yeah, mage builds make the game piece of cake, thats the sole reason I will never make a mage character - I feel like I would be very unsatisfied with killing bosses like flies.

Just to clarify OP and anyone reading cuz my first comment may have sounded judgmental or diminishing, I ain't hating on mage players, it's just personally not for me.

[Mad Engineer Kikoumaru]

My first build was a mage build with ashes, and it was relatively easy... my latest build is just a greatshield and a broadsword and it's probably the easiest I've tried (Except Malenia, the heal on hit even if you block just makes the shield borderline useless).