Solo Player?

[bilaggin]

Hello all,

Just wondering which would make a better solo player, 3x magic start (magic user), or a forage craft magic start (melee player).

Which will do more damage, the mage or melee? I'm not sure of which way to start my char, but i'd like to be a damage dealer, and able to solo well, so which will do it better, the mage, or the melee?

[Eshin]

Well, fighting for sure is more straightforward, but as far as I can tell things are pretty balanced between fighter and mage paths, regarding solo. It's just that mage needs a bit more studying beforehand, to learn the ropes about how to effectively solo.

So, I'd pass my vote for fighter, simply because it has more gentle learning curve. But in the end, it doesn't really matter I think. Only thing is that mages need to stay out of melee range at all costs and fighters don't have similiar or equivalent situation to avoid.

You go which way you ever want, you won't be suffering because of your choices here

[philu]

Until your mage is powerful enough to knock things down at range without having to get 'hands on', you will probably HAVE to do some melee as well anyway.

Once your target gets close you will either have to knock him down quick, or stand and take damage while you cast, or melee with it. Bear in mind that while you cast, you are wide open to attack.

[ayne31]

I would recommend fighter as its easier to skill up on fighting than on magic at low levels - but you'll realize that your first character will develop somehow on its own

[shrike]

...
Once your target gets close you will either have to knock him down quick, or stand and take damage while you cast, or melee with it. Bear in mind that while you cast, you are wide open to attack.

Or you can simply cast fear, see the mob run away, cast 2 damage spells, cast fear again, etc. Can kill as mage mobs 20 lvls above me without any difficulty alone that way. Look at my mage soloing guide in the guide forum.

I have lvled melee, too, but simply because my mage SP were too precious to me to waste on HP upgrades. Started with 3 mage packages and lvled fighting first to get the crafting and foraging start as well as some HP, then started to lvl magic.

Generally I would say that the mage is capable of killing stronger mobs than a melee of equal lvl but dies a lot easier. Also, as mage you have to pay a lot more attention to combat as melee. He's the classic glass cannon - does more damage (slightly - he could use a little boost in this aspect considering his weaknesses), but has to be handled with care. He is also more versatile than melee with his healing and affliction spells.

Overall I would also say the melee is the more easier class to play, but I prefer the mage since he is more flexible and has a less boring combat.

[bilaggin]

An thanks alot shrike, I read through your mage guide, its helped me a TON! I have a lvl 26 mage, but i think i may have screwed him up, so I rerolled, not like it takes very long to get there anyway.

Let me ask you a question about crafting/harvesting. Now the way to get mat's to craft with is either spend the cash you make of quartering to buy them from the vendors, or use the quartered materials. The only thing i'm worried about is that mage's damage is fully reliant on the staff theyre using.. Where do I find the higher QL materials to be able to craft these staves?

[shrike]

An thanks alot shrike, I read through your mage guide, its helped me a TON! I have a lvl 26 mage, but i think i may have screwed him up, so I rerolled, not like it takes very long to get there anyway.

Let me ask you a question about crafting/harvesting. Now the way to get mat's to craft with is either spend the cash you make of quartering to buy them from the vendors, or use the quartered materials. The only thing i'm worried about is that mage's damage is fully reliant on the staff theyre using.. Where do I find the higher QL materials to be able to craft these staves?

I generally sold the quartered mats and bought mats from the vendors. Note that it's more effective money/exp wise to use the q10 mats than the q20 or q25 - be it at lvl 20 or 50. Of cource, it takes twice as long. At lvl 50 I really couldn't take the grind anymore and switched to q20 mats.

Best mats for offensive staffs are yubo eyes till lvl 40. If you are in an area which has lvl 50-100 capryinies you can kill those for the staffs in this area, they have the same boni as yobo eyes. Sadly, in Witherings (zorai) there are no good mob-dropped magic foci.
If you use foraged ones you need at least excellent amber to get a bonus compareable to the yubo eyes. I am currently using supreme amber out of prime roots (where harvesting currently is very very easy). This one gives 85/85 (with some tinkering with different mat combinations I was able to achieve a 97/97 bonus, though ).

[bilaggin]

I generally sold the quartered mats and bought mats from the vendors. Note that it's more effective money/exp wise to use the q10 mats than the q20 or q25 - be it at lvl 20 or 50. Of cource, it takes twice as long. At lvl 50 I really couldn't take the grind anymore and switched to q20 mats.

Best mats for offensive staffs are yubo eyes till lvl 40. If you are in an area which has lvl 50-100 capryinies you can kill those for the staffs in this area, they have the same boni as yobo eyes. Sadly, in Witherings (zorai) there are no good mob-dropped magic foci.
If you use foraged ones you need at least excellent amber to get a bonus compareable to the yubo eyes. I am currently using supreme amber out of prime roots (where harvesting currently is very very easy). This one gives 85/85 (with some tinkering with different mat combinations I was able to achieve a 97/97 bonus, though ).

Ah, now does the quality lvl matter, im sure it does but im just making sure.. Like for a ql 40 staff do i need the ql 40 eyes?

[lazarus]

Ah, now does the quality lvl matter, im sure it does but im just making sure.. Like for a ql 40 staff do i need the ql 40 eyes?

Yes, the quality of the finished item depends wholly on the quality of the mats you use. The lowest quality mat determines the highest possible outcome, eg if you use all q50 and one q30, the best result will be q30.

[shrike]

While we're at it, NEVER make a staff with the max qual the items allow, only with the max qual a skill allows.
For example, if you have q22 roaming yubo eyes don't use the q30 crafting skill to make a q22 staff out of them, but the q20 skill to make a q20 staff. This is because the q22 will be handled as degraded q30 staff - with lower spell boni.