Celtic Heroes

That is all I am suggesting is the basic build for a class.
Was just pointing out the primary and 2nd stats for this class

My mage build in Sulis is almost unique. I have oldschool pre-update armor, so I don't care if i get hit. So my build is a 60% focus and 40% vitality one, using no energy shield. And being a fire mage with sigils, I rarely run out of energy. I only use ice shards if I don't have agro during a boss kill.

However, with the fixing of shards for the next update, I will be trying out a slightly higher dex, lower vitality, high energy build using energy shield and sorcerer light gear. I hope this will work well for the higher lvl mobs.

Power to the Mages!

Agree that the general accepted build for mages are 4 focus 1 vit for mages. This pretty much what I, and most mages I have seen do on my server, unless they have full plate which is another topic. Putting a ton of dex negates your biggest dmg spell as a fire Mage, cloak of fire with lure of fire applied. My melee classes have a 100 dex and they avoid quite a few hits from mobs.

If Kosher wants a dex Mage that's fine but I wouldn't say the norm build.

Just so I know what spell is effected by high dex?
By having high dex what spell is more likely to fail or do less damage from high dex?

Just so I know what spell is effected by high dex?
By having high dex what spell is more likely to fail or do less damage from high dex?

The answer is no spell is actually affected by Dex. Fumble rate would remain the same regardless of dex. Only Interrupts would be altered, which most mages (fire build at least) don't really have to worry about. I could potentially see a difference in Ice Build mages, but there are likely very few of them-due to issues with ice shards and lure of ice. For now, Fire Bolt is the bread and butter so to speak of a mage. I hope to see at least one other alternative in the future, but time will tell.

Edit: I didn't answer the part of your question about damage. Spell damage is affected by 3 things: 1) the level of the skill. 2) The ability score associated with that skill. 3) the elemental resistance of the enemy you are facing (lures play into this).

Ok so I gave dex a shot on my vitality build and I have to say it's actually pretty cool.

Huge difference! I can tank entire rooms no problem, solo every mob, solo Kiara (no one helping, no pots), and get avatar down to around 1/2 to 1/3 hp solo. I'm not saying it's the best setup, but I prefer to have all my offensive skills maxed and available in the hotbar slots. Also, wearing Helm of the Wanderer raises defense (not armor) so thats a nice addition to dex as well.

Also, I have fire and ice maxed (570/570, getting close to lvl 58) and can frequently use lure of ice followed by shards while tanking multiple mobs. Its great to be able to pull off lure of ice followed by shards on enemies weak to ice (kiara, fireknight, etc.) Dex seems to be very useful if you take the time to get the ratios right. Sure its nice to have 1200+ hp but when bosses hit you for around 200 damage it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Dodging those hits make a big difference.

On a side note, I have yet to try out a focus build with maxed shield and boost and I'm very curious to see the difference. If it hasn't been done already, we should perform a test between mages with equal levels and abilities to see what build takes the least amount of damage.

Good luck killing enemies in catacombs with fire bolt or fire magic only -_-, you need ice shards as well

As stater, higher dex will reduce the amount of interrupts on your spells, because you are getting hit by enemies less often.

Dex does have an additional impact on ONE other mage spell, namely Cloak of Fire, although its effect is indirect. If a mage has a very high dex then enemies will not strike them as frequently - ergo, the enemy will not be damaged by the mages cloak of fire. At a certain point, a mages dex could get so high that they would be able to avoid most or all attacks, which would nullify the effects of this spell altogether.

Instead of berating an alternative to the common builds, why don't we test it. It's very easy to do:

1) Pick a common mob (e.g. one star level 40 Black Guard).
2) Cast maxed energy shield/well.
3) Let the mob hit you.
4) Open the stat menu.
5) Record how many energy points you lose with each hit.

Vitality mages can skip steps 2, 4, and 5. Instead just record the damage inflicted on you.

Dex does have an additional impact on ONE other mage spell, namely Cloak of Fire, although its effect is indirect. If a mage has a very high dex then enemies will not strike them as frequently - ergo, the enemy will not be damaged by the mages cloak of fire. At a certain point, a mages dex could get so high that they would be able to avoid most or all attacks, which would nullify the effects of this spell altogether.

I haven't seen any change to the cloak's ability to damage mobs when I dodge/evade. I tested this many times and the cloak still does damage when I dodge/evade or the enemy misses. In fact, the only things I've seen avoid damage from the cloak are fire type mobs (firesword, etc.).