Has anyone here ever soloed a mage type character?

[MikeSol99]

I am debating if I should install the mod that cuts mana costs for all spells by half. Does anyone here think this is necessary or not for a solo mage run?

[VampHell]

not

[MikeSol99]

Thank you Vamphell, I think I will take your one word advice. :)

[Gythric]

I think someone mentioned that as a combat mage, don't disregard some nature mage skills. I think they can help out a lot when it comes to mana costs. I would be interested in trying this, but I think having lothar as a dedicated tank would make things much much easier.

[astrosha]

Have not used mods. Have played through as a solo mage. Played retail version (not Steam version) and the expansion (have the discs somewhere).

Its fun trying to specialize in one magic type, only to run into enemies resistant to that magic type. Learning how to kill an enemy without the rest of the pack overrunning you is a must for any solo character, whether mage, melee, or archer/throwing type character.

[CRCGamer]

If you are talking true solo with just the one character and no pets you pretty much are locked into a combat mage. Specifically a lightning mage with a secondary focus on the Drown curse. Though you do a dip level of Nature Mage early so you can get five ranks of mana cost reduction and a tier two gravity stone for that occasional "peel" moment where the the several seconds of stun dealt by gravity stone is more important than damage.

If you are allowing pets it tilts extremely hard in favor of a nature mage with a party of a Scorpion Queen, Mithralhorn, and a DPS pet of choice. Nature mage is the party healer full stop since pet healers are pretty lousy from a mana efficiency standpoint.

[MikeSol99]

I mean a true solo game. One character. No other party members. No pets. Will I be drinking so many potions that I might as well just use the reduced mana cost mod?

[RNG_Wizard]

Solo mages are not only viable but probably the best choice for true solo. They're squishy which takes some working around, but they have the best damage by far, some of the strongest abilities and plenty of utility through their buffs and skill trees. I've done a handful of true solos and mages are generally the most enjoyable of the bunch.

Nature mages are a bit easier to play with their focus on stunning, healing and other defensive abilities. However, they've got lower damage so combat takes longer, especially without teammates to compliment their more supportive playstyle.

Combat mages are probably ideal for solo play. Higher damage, more build variety with the different damage types and better health/mana steal as a result of their high damage. Total glass cannons though, they don't have the reliable stuns, heals, shields and buffs that nature mages have to make their life easier.

Either way, you shouldn't have any problems with mana except very early on. Mana cost reduction talents are available early to both types of mages, though being a combat mage and spending points in the nature tree might not be your thing. Around the time you get access to your first enchantable staves you should probably aim for getting one with some mana steal which will cover most of your mana usage early on, maybe with a potion here and there. Around the 20s-30s you'll start finding unique items somewhat more often, plus this is around when you can start enchanting some decent magic find items to make them even more common. Mages have very powerful uniques with plenty of mana & health steal, so focus on getting those, it'll be worth it. And worst case scenario if you have terrible luck, mages get a good handful of guaranteed items that are powerful in the first playthrough starting about halfway through act 2 and continuing all the way through act 3 as long as you do side quests.

And if nothing else, if you really hate using mana, go with a power spam build. Drown & chain lightning is the most popular one, but a nature mage can also run one focusing on keeping enemies clumped up and frozen while barraging them with area damage. You can't have mana issues if most of your damage comes from abilities that cost no mana.

[^6[P|P] ^0DAT ^1BOI ^3族]

of course, it's super fun. I used a combat mage (around lvl90 now) first specializing in necromancy. because gravebeam is manaefficient but deadly and once you have the vampire thing that adds alot of lifedrain to your attacks, your glasscannon mage starts to heal itself jut by attacking - the more damage he deals the more health is restored. It's a nice little "hack".

I added a pet to the party later on, because usually I get bored using only one character who needs to carry every item by himself at some point. But it's definetly possible, without mods.

[Custom King]

The answer is yes, I made the best dps mage build https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmmhR8pX3w0