How do I make an effective combat mage?

[e11]

It's been a long time since I played these games, and I only ever played either rifle monsters or melee monsters. Since there's never a mage party member, I'm not quite sure how to make a good one.

[Grimm Carrolls]

I ran a mage on Very Hard with Blitz, Glory and Eiger, and you can break the game in half if you know what you're doing. You are capped only by Kruezsbar's unlocks.

You want 5 body for 50hp. Then you want to stack wisdom and spellcasting. I also recommend having at least 2 in conjuring at the start to get Haste, which I consider essential. Gameplan is simple - use the first turn of battle to give yourself haste, then go into cover.

Early game:

You will spend the early game being highly accurate, but ultimately low damage until the second round of unlocks. Try to sell all your items to afford flamethrower and manaball at least.

Mid-game:

The second round of unlocks transforms mage into a BEAST.

You want to get Armour 3 asap. By far one of the best spells in the game. Second round of combat, I put it on Glory, who uses her 3ap to get close and slash people. Unless someone flanks (or you leave her out in the open) and crits her, they will have zero chance to do any real damage to her.

Next is strip armour. Useful mid-game, indispensable late game.

After that, you want Flamethrower 3. This is your main single-target damage dealer. Deals up to 25 damage, and the higher your spellcasting, the higher your crit chance. It has 1CD, so you can use it once every round.

Next is my favourite spell - Manaball. Manaball 1 is good. Manaball 2 is insane. With haste, you should be able to shoot these off with no problem.

Then you have the final spell slot. You will be using so many of your spells that the final slot is kinda up to you. I never found a mainstay. Aim is a safe bet. Stunball 2 is a great spell that halves enemy AP for two rounds. You will be rolling in cash, especially if you sell all of your loot, so have some spells on standby to swap in/out depending on the mission.

Endgame:

I am not at the endgame yet. But I am having literally zero issues with my gameplay.

[Tenz]

Originally posted by e11:

It's been a long time since I played these games, and I only ever played either rifle monsters or melee monsters. Since there's never a mage party member, I'm not quite sure how to make a good one.

Mage is a support character. You can do damage as a mage but it will never be as crazy as just using an assault rifle.

[plushnuts]

Yeah, mages aren't defenseless, but their strengths for the party reside in ranged heals, buffs, and AP and AoE damage. Stand on ley lines if you have good armor or armor spell buff for bonuses to accuracy, damage, AP damage, and spell cooldown reduction. Still not as effective as most guns in the game can be though.