considering trying a (mostly) pure mage

[jcatlin]

I really enjoy the visuals of magic in Ryzom, in particular the Zorai spells So I'm thinking of making a 2nd Zorai character to be a mage (the first will have to just be my jack of all trades guy.)

After looking around the forums here I'm not finding very much info on going the mage route and what I do find is months old so I don't know what still applies.

So here are some initial questions:

1. Am I insane for wanting to play a (mostly) pure mage even though I'm brand new to the game?
2. Should I go for 3 mage packs or 2 mage packs and 1 harvest?
3. Any advice for me to follow as a new player starting a Zorai mage?

With my first character I feel very directionless so I'm hoping this might give me a bit more focus.

Thanks again in advance here. Sorry I seem to be flooding this forum with threads


Edit: I should have also asked if it's reasonable to want to heal as well as nuke early on. I know that's gonna slow my progress though so maybe I should focus on one flavor for the time being.

[oldmess]

1. Am I insane for wanting to play a (mostly) pure mage even though I'm brand new to the game?
2. Should I go for 3 mage packs or 2 mage packs and 1 harvest?
3. Any advice for me to follow as a new player starting a Zorai mage?

Edit: I should have also asked if it's reasonable to want to heal as well as nuke early on. I know that's gonna slow my progress though so maybe I should focus on one flavor for the time being.

Insane? Not at all. Whatever path is the most fun for you is the right path for you. The one advantage to working melee in addition to magic is being able to keep your hp high. But it's not a requirement. You'll get hp increases even without melee, just not as often.

Starting packs - it's still probably the best choice to get the harvest/craft/magic pack. It's really the initial skill that is the most expensive, so get it there instead of buying it later when you need a break from magic.

I'd suggest splitting between healing and nuking. That allows you to grow in 2 paths, which allows you to better fit into any given team. They don't have to be exactly the same, but they are different roles in the team and if you limit yourself to just one role, you'll find fewer teams to fit into.

Originally, I started out on the island as a pure fighter (a small dabbling of magic, but not much). When I arrived on the mainland, a friend of mine invited me into his guild. But when I went to team with him, his levels were too high for me to melee with him. So, instead, he picked a mob he could solo and I healed him. My healing just helped a little, but it allowed us to play together.

Later, after I hit level 100 in fight and heal, then I started trying the elemental magic route. I got to go back and revisit mobs that were way too small for me as a fighter, but just right as a mage.

Moral of the story: Start whatever path you want. You can't take a wrong path because you can always start one of the other paths at any time.

[jcatlin]

Insane? Not at all. Whatever path is the most fun for you is the right path for you. The one advantage to working melee in addition to magic is being able to keep your hp high. But it's not a requirement. You'll get hp increases even without melee, just not as often.

Hmm so maybe instead of rolling a new character I should just take my existing guy and work on magic for a while. He's got some melee skills (lvl 10 or 12 fighter?) and I picked metabolism 1+2, constitution 1+2, heal self, etc. Would that make a better base for working some magic? I'm sure the faster regen and 200hp health vs. 100hp must help.

I'd suggest splitting between healing and nuking. That allows you to grow in 2 paths, which allows you to better fit into any given team. They don't have to be exactly the same, but they are different roles in the team and if you limit yourself to just one role, you'll find fewer teams to fit into.

Good point. I hadn't thought about making myself more desirable to a larger variety of teams!

Moral of the story: Start whatever path you want. You can't take a wrong path because you can always start one of the other paths at any time.

So there is truly no skill point cap at any point? I think past skill based games have corrupted me (*cough*SWG*cough*) and I need to change may way of thinking here.

Thanks for the advice, oldmess

[mmatto]

You can train everything with same character. He won't be losing any skills and it is (near?) impossible to build a character that could not start pursuing new skills easily.

Game mechanics wise there is no benefit to have 2 different characters unless you have 2 accounts you are playing at same time. Actually, you will get small benefits having a separate skills with one charecter:

- you have already bought hp/hp regen skills with one branch, this leaves more skill points to actual skills
- you are more versatile in combat and after combat. You won't get uber because your gear will limit your effectiviness in other roles.
- you can be mage with warrior hp
- you have your dodge, magic resistance and stats based on your highest level even if you are using a lower skill

People have other characters because of roleplaying reasons, wanting to be low lvl again or trying out different starting locations. I have all character slots full but only one of them pursues for very high levels.

[jcatlin]

Ok I'm sold on sticking with one character I'll see how that develops tonight!

I'm beginning to think that this game is an even bigger time sink than most MMORPGs lol. No one ever wants to be mediocre at something so it seems easy to fall victim to wanting every skill as high as possible... which also seems like a never ending quest hehe.

I'm anxious to get outta work so I can experiment

[rushin]

tales from the front line

when i started playing i had every intention of being a pure mage. managed to come to the mainland with lv1 fight on my final (re-rolled about 6 times lol) incarnation of rushin. The sad truth of the matter is that in theory you could be a pure mage. The issue with this is that you miss out on a lot of hp upgrades, an awful lot over the whole journey to lv250. High level spells require very large credits (hp/sap/range/time) it's possible to compensate for your lack of hp with jewels and light armor, but you will end up with a much easier time if you melee a bit. (and now i find my melee higher than magic!)

The nice thing is because you can train anything u like with no penalties when u join or form a guild you can use lower level skills, such as lv19 melee, to help out lower level guildies without the xp drain ur high level magic would be.

but if u wanna do it, then go for it and best of luck

[kgrieve]

I am playing a Tryker mage and chose 3 levels of mage. Having got to the mainland I am regretting the decision since I have difficulty generating income. Starting a second character, I would add one level of crafter or possibly forager so that I can generate an income.

Secondly: If you are only a magician then you have to spend experience points on HP and focus when you would rather be buying spells. With a second profession you can spend their points on HP and focus instead, leaving you to gain better skill trees early on.

[mmatto]

I am playing a Tryker mage and chose 3 levels of mage. Having got to the mainland I am regretting the decision since I have difficulty generating income. Starting a second character, I would add one level of crafter or possibly forager so that I can generate an income.

Foraging is amongs best ways generating income, but I would like to give a hint to warriors and mages out there: carnivores and kitins drop much more mats than herbivores and plants. There is a good spot of low level goaris just bit north of Fairhaven. Carnivores can drop upto 10 mats per kill.

[oldmess]

I am playing a Tryker mage and chose 3 levels of mage. Having got to the mainland I am regretting the decision since I have difficulty generating income. Starting a second character, I would add one level of crafter or possibly forager so that I can generate an income.

Secondly: If you are only a magician then you have to spend experience points on HP and focus when you would rather be buying spells. With a second profession you can spend their points on HP and focus instead, leaving you to gain better skill trees early on.

Even though you didn't get the foraging starter pack, you can still forage. You need to save up a few sp's (50?) and you can buy the foraging start from the magic trainer.

Starting melee is even easier. Find a suckling yubo and attack it. Bare hands. 1 handed sword. Whatever you can afford.

The goari's mentioned in another post will make a good loot group. You're near a kami tp, so run to it if things get out of control and the kami sentinals will assist with the agro. You won't always make it in time, but it helps.

Just remember not to get too far into the grouping as you kill them. When they respawn you could find yourself in a mess of crabs.

[holina]

Started as a 3/3 mage, and even today my magic skills are much higher then my others - well, except lake forage, which slowly climbs to 150 due to the ammount of harvesting and crafting I do lately

But I started as a pure mage, only meleed a bit on starter island when I wanted to do something different than throwing acid and ice at all the critterts. Even today my magic skills greatly surpass my melee skills.

145 elemental mage, 155 healer and only 85 in melee.

You can infact generate nice income even with elemental, just go and find some things that you can easily kill in one-two (but preferably one) hit - carnivores are preferred since they drop much more stuff then herbivores.

Sure, foraging - and crafting - is the big money maker, but you can make nice summs even with just hunting. You just need something that give you nice ammounts of stuff - the higher level the more it's worth - and as fast as possible.

Early on being a melee fighter is easier than being a mage, but this will change soon (don't remember the level when they get equal atm) and at lvl100 when double-missle plans become available to you, you will greatly outdamage any melee fighter at the same level.

However as others said, you will need hp on higher levels firstly due to the increased sap and hp requirements for double-missiles and generally to be able to take more than 2 hits from a mob

Jewels help with hp ofc, but leveling melee helps aswell.

Edit: One downside of magic vs melee is that mages aren't built for damage absorption but damage output so wandering around in light armor can be more risky that in heavy. Mages are more prone to surprise attacks than melee warriors since when a mob hits you there is a chance that your spell incantation will be broken.

Hope this helps