Best Mage Spec?

[VixelPlix]

I've been playing around with mostly Engineers and Berzerkers. But I've gotten so much Embermage junk clogging up my stash, I wanted to start a mage. I've heard that Ice mage is the way to go, but a lot of people are also into Prismatic Bolt. Which one has a better survivability rate?

[Wulfenthrad]

You can find some mage specs by going to the top rated guides and pick from the choices there.

[VixelPlix]

I did read through them, but they both appear to be glass cannons. Literally, that's the phrase I read in the guides over and over again. Do mages just innately have a poor survivability rate?

[Wulfenthrad]

Originally posted by Misaio the Demoness:

I did read through them, but they both appear to be glass cannons. Literally, that's the phrase I read in the guides over and over again. Do mages just innately have a poor survivability rate?

pretty much :P.

Though in return you get an insane amount of damage so you can hopefully defeat them before they get to you. Though if you find yourself needing survivability pick up a shield and wand combo.

[VixelPlix]

Shield wand? This is heresy! This is...actually kinda interesting. Lemme try that on my baby mageling. Thanks, Bara!

[Tiomasta]

Speaking from endgame elite, there isn't actually much of a difference in survivability in classes other than:
a)Whether or not you're an Engineer with Forcefield (class-based)
b)Whether or not you use a shield (build-based)
c)Whether you stand still or inch away from enemies that try to autoattack you. Standing is bad. (build-based)

You said either ice mage or PrismBolt mage. Funny thing is, the killer skill from the ice tree is Frost Wave, which is specced for in the exact same way you spec for PrismBolt: stack as much +CastSpeed you can find (these skills have no cooldown whatsoever), put mainly Focus (since Focus boosts all skills that aren't weapon-based), and use wand + shield ("not weapon-based" means "one-hander plus free shield"). Having PrismBolt and Frost Wave at the same time as your main skills is very much valid and functional. PrismBolt as your fullscreen go-to single-target skill, and Frost Wave spreads will kill packs easily, sweetspot in tight hallways for massive damage, and bring you to full charge easily unlike Bolt. Two OP skills for the price of one!

[VixelPlix]

So for a Prism Mage, I wanna go wand+shield rather than double fisting wands? Hm...'Double-fisting Wands'...that's either a potential Harry Potter porn title or the name of a punk band at Hogwarts.

[Tiomasta]

Yes, for flat damage skills, you always want the stick in one hand and something to cover yourself up in the other.
Flat damage skills (as opposed to the "X% of weapon DPS" skills) ignore weapon power and all "apply this on hit/kill" effects you have on equipment, improving only with the Focus stat, so there's no point in using big fancy weapons or dual-wielding for them; so always get something with a shield.

[Endalrin]

I generally like staffs. Personal tastes I guess. I can deal with less damage, as since all my magic is ranged I prefer my weapon (as a last resort) to be melee. of course it does no damage compared to my magic, it would be good for building charge. but since my mana regen is SU{PER FAST i again don't need it.

from what i've seen suggest, ICE PRISON IS A MUST. but i still don't use it as it's not my style to try and trap one or a few enemies. Easier just to blast everything to bits.
BRANDS BRANDS BRANDS. Apperently it's better to max brands and put only a single point into prismatic bolt. who would have thought.

[Endalrin]

Also.
I LOVE blazing Pillars.
partly because amazing damage partly because you can launch them then flip back to prism bolts or frost wave. they seek out enemies while you blast away with other spells.
(of course maybe i should have frostwave and prism bolt as my two skills and just use flame pillars, due to it's 7 second cool down, have that in the hotkey bar. hmmm, never thought of that lol.)

[Endalrin]

would anyone suggest shocking orb? it seems alright to me. plus no cool down so, lots of orbs!

[Tiomasta]

Shocking Orb does have a cooldown, of 0.8sec, meaning it pretty much doesn't but it can't benefit from having +CastSpeed.
Shocking Orb is more of a build-focused primary attack skill in of itself, I say, because if you specialize in it (with slow two-handed weapons, and socket +Knockback and -Armor, and stack +%Electric), then it already does high-tier damage and you can use it for everything, it's actually great. But if you don't specialize in it like that, then they won't be good enough to justify casting these over simply using whatever else you have for much more damage.
Also, they look pretty.
Since you love staves for some inane reason, you could try a Shocking Orb build, since it wants two-handed weapons and the best weapon for it is the LV105 staff called "Ophidian's Endgame". (requires 484Focus, get that Borris)

ICE PRISON. but i still don't use it as it's not my style to try and trap one or a few enemies. Easier just to blast everything to bits.

You don't even need to trap anything inside it, you could just put a single point in it and cast it just to clog a path, then stay put and cast stuff from the other side while they can't get to you. Enhances your spamming.

[Endalrin]

I just have an interest in staffs and pole-arm weapons (a-la real life)
and I usually just prefer the staffs in general.
I am considering the wand and shield build i've seen you mention a few times though. I'll probably do one of each.

I'm tempted to us prism bolt a lot less and mostly do frostwave and blazing pillars.

[Nodoka]

I play a fire mage works fine on ng5 hc elite

[Johnny]

I think this should be individual... Depends on how you want to play i went for Focus, strenght and vitality