Celtic Heroes

Guide to the world of Mages on Celtic Heroes – Ver 1
This is a work in progress and I will add to it when time permits.

Extra special thanks to fellow Crom friends, Danu, Lili, and Debo.

Let me start off by introducing myself. I am Tragos, mage extraordinaire, on the world of Crom. I have been playing since right before the first patch. My experiences have allowed me to grow and adapt to the various changes made to the game and develop knowledge which fledgling and masters alike can benefit from.

Being a mage is not for the squeamish or impatient of heart. It takes commitment, perseverance, and a desire to be the best you can be. You have an important part to play and those that manage to understand that role will be invaluable to their team and the world in which they preside.

About the Guide: (work in progress)

This guide is only possible though long hours of playing and most importantly continually study and reading of the many excellent contributions within the forum. A few that have been on the forefront of mage development at the time of the writing are: Yesteryear, Magica, Wolf, xLegion, and Vapor. I am sure there are others and more will follow as the game grows.

The intention of this guide is not to be the definitive build, as this will continually develop as the game changes and grows. Therefore, the information I hope to impart is meant only to help guide you to having a fun playing experience and being a contributor to a team. There will certainly be disagreements on what I propose or how I rate. These are very much welcomed and I only ask one thing. PLEASE if you disagree, explain why you disagree and give examples. I too hope to learn more and your reasoning may swing my opinion or at least deserve inclusion as an option to the guide.

Why be a mage!
Well if you are asking this, you are dangerously close to being kicked out of the club already.

Pros:
- Good solo ability at higher levels
- High damage output
- Variety of builds
- Look great in Kilts

Cons:
- Difficult to play at lower levels
- Little armor
- Warriors and Rogues out damage at high lvls (hopefully this well be addressed)
- Reliant on Energy in long battles which does not replenish fast enough if using Ice skills. This requires breaks from battle

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Ratings Definition:
Now that we got your attention and you understand what you are getting into, let us begin by going through the various in-game options which require a decision. I will rate each of the Stats and Skills using a simple system. The scale will be on a 1 to 5 rating with the following meanings

1 out of 5: This is useless.
2 out of 5: There are only unique situations for this. Get at your own risk
3 out of 5: A fair amount of utility and worth considering
4 out of 5: This is useful and needs to be given attention to when leveling
5 out of 5: You should consider this a high priority and class defining

The STATS:
The mage stats are going to be the first area where there will be some flexibility and opinions about what is best. I will try to give you my thoughts and suggestions, but remember these can be adjusted during leveling to meet your needs. For example, if you are finding you always run out of Energy, add more energy. If you find you die to quickly, add more Vitality. If you find that all your spells are interrupted, add more Dex.

When you level, you will be given 5 attribute points to distribute per level.

Strength: 1 out of 5
Strength affects damage done by melee weapons. Strength for a mage is of little concern. If you find yourself relying on your wand, you should switch to a melee class. You are meant to use your spells and there are much more important stats to spend your attribute points on.

Suggestion: Range 5. You just do not need it.

Dexterity: 3 out of 5 - Could rise with PVP
Dexterity affects your Accuracy of melee and dodge. This does NOT affect your skill accuracy. Skill accuracy is currently 100% accurate. This stat will cause much debate between mages. It is not needed for our weapon, but the dodge characteristic can be valuable. The challenge is you have other stats which are much more important, but this needs some consideration. By putting points into Dexterity, you can occasionally dodge attacks. This might be the difference between casting that lighting/shield or even lure and could save you a death during a solo battle.

Suggestion: Range 5 – 40. 5 if you don’t find you get interrupted or always play in groups. Up to 40 if you solo and dislike interruptions.

Focus: 5 out of 5
Focus determines the amount of energy you have. As a mage you are only as good as long as you have energy to cast spells. The important thing here is you have enough energy to always complete a fight. As you get higher level and boss fighting takes a larger precedence, you can not have to high a focus ability. If it is low, you will find yourself sitting watching why you energy regen to much. That is not helpful to your team.

Suggestion: Range high as you can get it and then a little more

Vitality: 4 out of 5 (arguably 5 out of 5)
Vitality determines the amount of health. Without a realistic amount of health you will die. Contrary to the melee fighters belief, it is IMPOSSIBLE to avoid being in solo melee battles. You WILL be hit and you must be prepared. In boss fights you may occasional pull the agro and being able to survive a single hit can mean the difference between winning and long runs back.

Suggestion: Range as high as needed to survive melee fights solo. Remember in boss fights it is not as important. Just remember the more points here, the less in focus. This means fewer spells for those long boss fights before having to regen.

Additional thoughts on Focus and Vitality. These stats can be flipped if you are intending to exclusively solo. To beat some of the more powerful creatures solo late game requires a substantial investment into Vitality. However with a moderate amount you will be able to beat 99% of monsters in the game.

Abilities:
The mage is currently able to have 4 ability scores. Ability scores affect the power of the spells. The higher the ability score the stronger the skill power. It is HIGHLY recommend to max these each level. It is 10 points per level. If you get far behind, it can be difficult and time consuming to catch them up. If you think that it is no big deal, then you are not playing the best mage you can be. I urge you to start at an early level.

As of this writing, it is not clear what the probability or sequences required to raises an ability. The admin’s say it is a random chance per
cast of the correlating skills

Fire Magic – Affects Fire Skills (Firebolt, Cloak of Fire, Lure of Fire)
Ice Magic – Affects Ice Skills (Ice Shards, Energy Well, Energy Boost, Energy Shield)
First Aid – Affects First Aid Skills ( Recuperate, Mediate, Bandage Wounds)
Wand: - Affects melee damage

Skills:

This is the bread and butter of the mage and what defines you and makes you a powerful entity. You will receive 1 skill point per level to use. I have divided them by Ability and the definitions are in the game. In a future update these will be more transparent as to what each does.
These rating are subject to change as the game changes and depending on your build can modify them slightly. As of this writing, skills can be maxed at 15 points.

Recuperate: 1 out of 5 – This skill is not practical for any non melee based character in CH currently

Bandage Wounds: 4 out of 5 – You will need to heal and this allows a quick large heal that can be cast during battle

Meditate: 5 out of 5 – You WILL need more energy between fights or during long boss battles.

Fire Bolt: 5 out of 5 – This is your quickest spell. It is not interuptable. You will cast this alot

Cloak of Fire: 5 out of 5 – This spell can outright kill monsters and everytime you are hit deals damage. You will be hit and if your dex is low, you will need this to be high to counteract interrupted spells. This is also one of the more useful team spells. By casting on your designated tank, it will help them to keep agro, which allows you to cast in peace

Lure of Fire: 4 out of 5 – Improves the damage of firebolt.

Ice Shards: 4 out of 5 – Highest skill damage spell but casts very slowly. Usually you will only get 1 or 2 uses tops per battle with the exception of bosses.

Lure of Ice: 3 out of 5 - Improves the damage of Ice Shards. While great with ice shards, you can only cast 1 or 2 per battle. Noticeable exception is boss battles

Energy Well: 3 out of 5 – Increases targets maximum energy level for a period of time. This skill has some very important uses. However, it does not add energy, only increases the level. In long boss battles, other than the opening, it is not as useful

Energy Boost: 3 out of 5 – Allows target to have energy regeneration during combat. This skill can improve damage output and more importantly reduce down time. It could use an addition to the amount it recovers, at low levels it is questionable. But as Ice ability improves and points are added it gets better.

Energy Shield: 2 out of 5 – Allows you to use your energy as a shield. This spell is the opposite of what most mages would ever want to do. I give it a 2 because there was/is a very viable Tank mage build that took advantage of this.

It is highly recommended to obtain all 6 skill slots. If you can not obtain all skill slots and can only use three, then I recommend for battles, Bandage wounds, Firebolt and cloak of fire. Adjust points to focus on these. Out of battle you will need mediate.

Sigils:
A word on sigils. If you come across platinum and have purchased your hot slots, it is recommended you next purchase sigils. These allow you to more quickly recover between fights. This in turn reduces your down time.

Energy Sigil: Improves energy regeneration by 1. Buy as many as you can comfortably afford. Range: 10 and up. If you purchase many of these, you can remove points from mediate skill to other skills
Health Sigil: Improves health regeneration by 1. Decreases your down time

Example Builds:
Ideally we could get a few submissions that help to guide the new on builds at approximate 10 level intervals. When submitting please try to explain typical play style and thoughts on choices. For Fun, give your mage build a name to refer too. While suggestions and thoughts are valuable from other, refrain from troll responses. Remember, if you disagree, provide reasoning and thought. If possible examples. Submit a build

The Extraordinary Adapatable Mage {TEAM} – Level 75
Str: 5 Dex: 40 Foc: 250 Vit: 100
Skills:
Firebolt: 15/15 – Your bread and butter
Cloak of Fire: 15/15 – You will be hit and this can kill by itself. It is also great for your tanks or friends in team battles
Lure of Fire: 15/15 – Firebolt is not extremely powerful by itself, this ups the power and since you will be casting a lot of firebolts, this is useful.
Ice Shards: 15/15 – Ice your most powerful single spell. It will do a lot of damage and for certain bosses will be your best option. By having a 15 you are much more versatile.
Lure of Ice: 0/15 – I included even though Zero because there is a reason below. You can opt to put points into this over Energy boost.
Energy Boost: 6/15 – This extends your spell casting or in boss fights allow you to recharge a tank. Both result in higher damage
Mediate: 10/15 – I have found this to be sufficient. However, if you need more recovery, take points from Boost to include here. Also needed to be higher if you do not buy energy sig.
Bandage Wounds: 5/15 – You will need to heal, makes soloing faster and you can heal friends. IMPORTANT to keep first aid skill up

This mage combines the power of the fire mage with the addition of the high damage ice. This mage will allow you to solo all but the most powerful non-bosses in the game (Oakfist, Masters, etc). The skills and stat mix allow for minimum down time and maximum fighting. Others will be inspired by your power and immediately build a mage to replicate you. You WILL get invites to Boss battles

Choices: The lack of lure of Ice and inclusion of Energy boost. I have run the lure for awhile and ultimately settled back on the Energy boost. The reason is this: While the Ice lure increased my Ice damage and was impressive to see a big number, Ice is a slow and energy costly spell. I found that the energy boost allowed me to cast a noticibly more amount of spells which added up to more damage than the Lure provided on ice. Also when I used on those high damage melee guys, it improved group damage significantly. Or more importantly let them re-cast their shields making them more survivable. If you are feeling selfish or just like blowing stuff away, then by all means put those energy boost points into the Lure of ice and you can probably pull a few off of lure of fire. Recommend 10 Fire lure, 10 Ice lure potentially.

Starting Attack Sequence:
Pre-Fight – Cast Cloak of Fire and Energy Boost
Start Fight – Cast Lure of Fire, immediately cast Firebolt and have ice ready to go
During fight – Firebolts until ice is ready or dead.
After Fight – Bandage wounds to heal.
I am usually able to kill quickly enough to not need more than 1 bandage wounds before the next fight.

Bada** Extreme Alpha Tactics {BEAT}– Focus is on bringing the BEAT downLevel 75
Str: 5 Dex: 5 Foc: 300 Vit: 85
Skills:
Firebolt: 15/15 – Your bread and butter and will be cast the most, so should be high
Cloak of Fire: 10/15 – Still useful for the tank to help him keep agro off of you. Potentially could be lowered, but not recommended.
Lure of Fire: 12/15 – Firebolt is not extremely powerful by itself, this ups the power and since you will be casting a lot of firebolts, this is useful.
Ice Shards: 15/15 – Ice your most powerful single spell. It will do a lot of damage and for certain bosses will be your best option.
Lure of Ice: 10/15 – Allows maximum damage
Mediate: 15/15 – You need to recover energy fast
Bandage Wounds: 4/15
This build is certainly up for some suggestions, but I think it gives you maximal damage while still being a strong solo build. You can certainly see how to make it even more damage at the cost of some soloability.

Starting Attack Sequence:
Pre-Fight – Cast Cloak of Fire
Start Fight – Cast Lure of Ice, immediately cast Ice shard and have fire ready to go. Then cast Lure of fire while both spells recharge
During fight – Firebolts until ice is ready or dead.
After Fight – Bandage wounds to heal.

Mega Epic Alpha Tactics - This is the MEAT shield.
Level 75
Str: 5 Dex: 5 Foc: 140 Vit: 250
Skills:
Firebolt: 15/15 – Your bread and butter and will be cast the most, so should be high
Cloak of Fire: 15/15 – Still useful for the tank to help him keep agro off of you. Potentially could be lowered, but not recommended.
Lure of Fire: 15/15 – Firebolt is not extremely powerful by itself, this ups the power and since you will be casting a lot of firebolts, this is useful.
Ice Shards: 15/15 – Ice your most powerful single spell. It will do a lot of damage and for certain bosses will be your best option.
Mediate: 10/15 – You need to recover energy fast
Bandage Wounds: 11/15

I am sure there are better builds for the Meat shield. I hope that some mages out there share their builds

Energy Shield Build:Level 75
Str: 5 Dex: 5 Foc: 140 Vit: 250
Skills:
Firebolt: 15/15 –
Cloak of Fire: 15/15 –
Lure of Fire: 15/15 –
Ice Shards: 0/15 –
Lure of Ice: 0/15 –
Energy Shield: 15/15
Energy Well: 15/15
Energy Boost: ?/15 –
Mediate: ?/15 –
Bandage Wounds: ?/15

I hope that someone will submit a good viable build

Suggestions to improve Mages

Assisted Targeting – Be able to target an alley and attack the same target they are attacking. Sometimes it is difficult to select the enemy in battles, particularly when there is large groups.

Focus damage - other classes get a bonus to damage based on their strength. Mages have a damage cap. It should be considered to have focus factor into spell damage for both the Druid and Mage.

Spell fixes:

Energy Boost - Could use a boost in the amount of energy recovery. Something similiar to Nature's Embrace. As a mage in a boss fight, you will often find you run out of energy and have to essentially exit the battle while you recover. This could help

Energy Shield - Probably needs to be changed to be relevent

Ice Shards: Reduce cooldown time if they are not going to up the damage. This would allows us to at least put out more damage if we can not be the largest skill damage.


Future Spells:

Dispel Magic – Removes any buffs or debuffs target currently has active.

Haste – Improves the speed of movement and skill recovery

Freeze/Stun – Freezes/Stun the target for a duration of time (probably over powered here)

Important Quests: - See Tips for Beginners by xLegion

Honostly, you should do all quests. Designers put a lot of time into them and they also improve your levelling time. By doing them you will also learn what works for you. Here are some important ones

1. Xeon? Bracers – Ranger behind castle
2. Helmet of Wanderer- Chess Pieces quest given at Castle
3. Book of alterations – catacomb quest given by druid at Death
4. Book of Rebirth - Evil in Stonevale quest given upon completion of beating the Stonevale Bosses

Important Items
These can be luxury items or items that are dropped from Creatures

Pre-Update Items - Items that are non-class restricted
1. Plate hammered/Embossed Armor - This is non-class restricted armor from the pre-update. In the early stages, this armor can make life very easy. Once you move to Shalemont, it becomes less valuable.
2. Tower Shield - Great offhand armor that improves defenses

Lirs Reach Castle - Best you can buy in Lirs Reach
1. Sorcerer Hat - 2,550
2. Sorcerer Gloves - 1,200
3. Sorcerer Skirt 4,200
4. Sorcerer Gown 5,250
5. Sorcerer Shoes - 1,800

Lirs Reach - Catacomb
1. Woven Sorcerer Hat - ? I think it was Malurna
2. Woven Sorcerer Gloves - Disciple of Malurna -
3. Wovern Sorcerer Skirt - ? I think it was Ducarius -
4. Woven Sorcerer Gown - Incarnation of Donn
5. Wovern Sorcerer Boots - Disciple of Syria

Shalemont
1. Flaming Fury - Issian Firecry
2. Not sure - Severn

Stonevale Wardens Items
1. Loremantle Helm - 2 sun, 1 elm
2. Loremantle Gloves - 1 moon
3. Loremantle Shoes - 1 moon, 1 oak
4. Loremantle Skirt - 2 oak, 2 crown
5. Loremantle Gown - 2 elm, 2 dragon
6. Loremante Wand - 2 crown , 2 dragon

StoneVale Item Shop - Accessed by doing the Tam Lin Story line quests
1. Ancient Scepter - 21,312
2. Ancient Silk Hat - 9,520
3. Ancient Silk Breeches - 15,680
4. Ancient Silk Shirt - 19,600
5 Ancient Silk Shoes - 6,720
6. Ancient Silk Gloves - 4,480

Luxery Store Items
Golden Eagle Helm - 50,000
Golden Orb of Energy - 40,000
Golden Shield of Valour - 70,000
Golden Amulet of Regeneration - 150,000
Golden Sceptre of Blizzards - 65,000

Reserved for Future

Reserved for Future

Reserved for future

Reserved for Future

Hey, good to see some focused efforts on helping mages work out what are good options for the development of their skills. I have a level 56 mage in Gwydion and I'm thoroughly enjoying the play at the moment. I'll keep a close eye on this guide as it develops. Keep up the fantastic work!

Hi Kyller!

Can you tell me the exact figures of your energy boost skill?

Your lvl:
Skill lvl:
Skill cost:
Mana restored in 30 sec:

I wonder if it restores more than it costs?