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So this is a guide to a pretty easy run thru the game as a Yeek Archmage. I'm not sure that yeek is the strongest, but it seemed pretty strong. I used mine in nightmare, to beat it with zero deaths, but i had an issue at the end. I did not realize that i could not clear extra stuff after the 2 Mage fight at the summit. SO big FYI, do everything before you go there, u die after that. Because of that, i got pissed and turn my computer off. Came back a few days later and saw that it hadn't saved the progress. I thought i could teleport out at that point, but nope haha. So i killed my guy off in frustration. So if you are going YEEK, know that u will die at the end, and there is no going back after you push yes in the slime cave headed to the summit.
I would also like to say that i use the Item Vault. Its in the game, so i use it. I have had quite the arguments about it, but i don't considering it cheating like some. I'm no purist i guess. I have taken many long breaks since i started playing this game, and have had my characters go invalid with game version 2 times now. Starting over isn't that big a deal, nor that big a disadvantage. That being said, when i find a crazy piece of gear to use with a possible other char, it drives me insane to just leave it on that char and not try it out. The variety of gear and number of random properties lends itself to use the Item Vault if u want to reach your full potential in my mind.
Yeek: So these little guys are pretty awesum. The biggest reason they are awesum is the exp bonus. I hit 40 before i even left Maj'eyal. The early prodigy and category points from leveing so fast are great. Beyond the exp bonus their talent tree is nothing to scoff at either.
Dominant Will: This lets you mindcontrol, as it says. Its limited to non-rare/boss/undeads, but its pretty killer in some tight spots or against highly resistant mobs. It also costs 0% of your turn. No more than 1 point is needed though.
Unity: Besides the exp bonus, this is why being a Yeek is amazing. 60% Confusion and Silence Immunity! Makes getting 100% easy as breathing. As a mage, there really aren't 2 worse debuffs to get, and to be immune without trying is so amazing.
Quickened: This isn't bad. More global speed is never bad. This not a huge amount, but not really many other place to put points with a better bonus.
Wayist: This one is pretty useless. The play style of wildfire does not lend itself to helpers such as these. They come out, fire is everywhere, they die.
The play style as a mage with so few Hp, lends itself to a Disruption Shield build. This means that until ~level 16 this might be a bit sketchy, and so you will need to use Damage Shields and Teleport to max effect. The good news is that 16 comes right quick as a Yeek. After that you should be off to the races with few obstacles. Lets get down to the talent choices, and then we'll talk more strategy / play style.
Arcane:
Arcane Power: (5/5) This is a decent buff. I don't invest more than 1 point until i'm done with my Wildfire talents though.
Manathrust: (5/5) Early this should hit 3 asap. After that add points as available.
Arcane Vortex: (1/5) This is really bad. I do still use it at times though, but mainly as a "last resort everything else is on cooldown!" spell to ditch mana.
Disruption Shield: (5/5) Keystone of the build. Its needed as early as possible. The more points the better.
Fire:
Flame: (5/5) This should be 5 asap. This and Manathrust will get you through the early game.
Flameshock: (5/5) This is a great spell. Decent damage and stun effect. Because of all the points needed in other spells though, its usually not maxed till after 30.
Fireflash: (5/5) The best spell for killing EVER! If you add more than 3 early, it might be the best skill for killing yourself. Best very very careful when using this before "Wildfire" is maxed out.
Inferno: (5/5) This is a 11 turn decent damage huge range spell. Its also the best mana sink you have. I used this to test the far reaches of site, or around corners.
Wildfire:
Blastwave: (5/5) I love this spell. Knockback, decent damage, 7 range aoe, and puts fire everywhere, including under yourself. That is important.
Burning Wake: (5/5) This is another one of those late game maxing skills. Its the last of the fire skills i max out. You can stack multiples of this fire from abilities.
Cleansing Flame: (5/5) A must have. This will keep almost all debuffs off of you the entire game, along with dispelling foes.
Wildfire: (5/5) This is a must. After this talent is on sustain, you can go nuts.
This is all that is needed. Beyond this, you will obtain 14 more class talent points. There are quite a few options.
-- One option is the Lightning tree. If you get 5 points in Thunderstorm, it helps deal with the overflow of mana you will have. It will hit like 5 minions at once if possible, draining a considerable amount of mana, which is great. It also hits invisibles which is nice. This helps handle one of the worst things about playing a Disrruption Shield build. The mana overflow can get insane, and there just aren't too many great dumps. It also gives you 2 more non-fire spells on top of Thunderstorms damage. It will also give you a buff that lets you carry more than 40 pounds lol.
-- Another good option is Temporal. With this you can get yet ANOTHER damage shield, removal (which can be used on yourself if Disruption Shield pops or on friendlies while you blow the room up), and 56% global speed buff. This has the draw back or reserving 250 mana, which is your life points in this build. I didn't find the speed all that helpful. I never had enough spells to cast to make full use of this. Its not quite the buff that it is for melee IMO.
-- Lastly you could go Meta. This tree has some great options. The first talent, Disperse Magic, is sorta like a super powered Wild Infusion, once u hit lvl 3 on it. Quicken Spells is also a 30% cooldown reduction which is SICK. Make sure not NEVER EVER use spellcraft.
-- I don't really see the rest being very beneficial, but maybe its just cause i haven't tried them with it yet. Earth or Stone might not be too bad. The stone wall skill might be a lifesaver in the right hands.
Category Points:
1. Rune/Infusion Slot
2. Wildfire Unlock
3. Add .2 to the Arcane Category (This increases the effectiveness of Disruption Shield 20%)
4. Unlock Extra Class Tree if plan to. If you plan to use Lightning, Unlock Stone Alchemy or add 20% to Fire.
I haven't tested it, but if you add a category point to Wildfire it increases the reduced self damage of the Wildfire talent to 100%. I don't know if that will stop Cleansing Flame from dispelling you, but if it does, that would be a really bad choice. Haha
Also alot of people seem to look down on using Category points to boost already learned Categories. I find it quite useful on most classes to boosta tree that i use for 90% of the game rather than picking up another tree to get some weaker abilities that i won't use as often. Its normally a 20% buff to any stats the provide. Quite good in alot of cases.
Generics:
Besides the 11 points put into the Yeek tree, there are a few quite good talents here.
-- Firstly, Phase Door and Teleport need 1 point. I don't use Phase Door much, but Teleport is so amazing. The key is using it BEFORE you are fighting for your life. If you wait, it could cost you.
-- Next Arcane Reconstruction needs a point (maybe 2), you won't need to actually heal much at all, but at times it will be invaluable (like when you are burning to death because Cauterize proc'd) When you do use it, it will more than likely save your life. That being said, i think i had 700 hp, and lvl 2 was a like 650 heal.
-- Shielding needs maxed out. This should be doable very early. It is by far and away the best talent on the Generic side. Shielding buffs every aspect that helps you stay alive. It increases the efficiency of Disruption Shield by lowering the mana gained per point of damage, and straight up boosts the shields you will be rocking by a high % (82% for me). These will be your life blood, and it makes all of them better.
-- Aegis is another great one. For me it boosts all shields by 118%. If i used up all my normal Damage Shields, i would pop Displacement Shield and then this. If the hit was not displaced, it would be very minimal because Disruption Shield is being buffed as well, increasing your max mana. Also if Disruption Shield is ever in danger of popping, this can turn it around.
-- Displacement Shield is not all that great. Can't get its % up to 100%, and its used only after all other shield effects are gone (other than disruption). That being said, its still not a BAD place for any left over points or even the full 5 five points.
-- Buying Combat Tactics from any weapon vendor in Light's Hope is well worth it. This will allow you to put points into Thick Skin, AND Armor Training. The armor training can be quite nice. Getting armor that has a high fatigue and lots of armor and resists can be quite beneficial. It helps increase the cost of spells which increases your mana output and keeps shield mana low.
-- Stone Alchemy obtained from helping an alchemist escort is not a bad choice. Getting 5 points into the gems, it lets you put a nice gem in ur chest. (60% stun resist, 10% all damage 5% crit, +5 all stats, +5% res all) On top of that, you can then pick the Crafty Hands prodigy and get 2 more gems. I'm not sure i'd say this is amazing but you should have quite a few generics to spend, and this is an option.
Stats:
Str: Increases carry load, i added a few points to carry more. Not particularly necessary. At all.
Dex: Not much use
Con: Worth putting a few points in here and there. Mostly when you can't add anymore to Wil. After magic and Willpower are maxed drop the rest here.
Mag: Increases damage. 2nd to max. When willpower can't go higher, add most of those points here.
Wil: Max first. Each point adds 5 mana. Mana is life. You will keep hitting a cap as you level and try to add points. Put those left overs in magic or con as needed.
Cun: Adds spell crit. Not really needed unless you don't have enough on your gear.
Runes and Infusions: I unlocked 1 slot, but only because i used the item vault to give my guy another Rune of Reflection. If you don't plan to do that, you might still want another slot for a Wild Infusion or some such. I used 2 Rune of Reflections, and 2 Damage Shields. The damage shields i used had low cooldowns and were used often, the Rune of Reflections were only brought out for the big fights which honestly didn't really happen much until the Summit climb. I can say that getting at least 1 Reflection Rune is a must. It is found in Trollmire off a rare spawn Troll HedgeWizard. It can also be found with some frequency in rune shops. With only 2 Damage Shield runes, it would make the game a bit more challenging. It is well worth restarting to get that rune.
Prodigies: There is only one that is a must.
Cauterize is a literal life saver. It only proc if would normally have died. In which case you don't die and instead start taking burning damage. This is great for surprise deaths, after which you can teleport out, or start popping shields and cooldowns. If you play perfect you will never need this, but there are always those worst case senerios and dangerous places that just can't be helped.
I prefer 2 for the final prodigy, but you can literally go anywhere. I like Eye of the Tiger for one. Getting 100% crit is pretty easy, or close to. So every time you cast a spell reducing anothers cooldown is pretty nice. Garkul's Revenge is also pretty good. Gives a damage boost against constructs and humanoids. You will be near max level or at it by the time you can get Garkul's Revenge. So it will take some point saving.
Unbreakable Will, Meteoric Crash, Crafty Hands, and even Lucky Day aren't bad either. Its hard to go wrong here as long as you have Cauterize at 30.
Playing the game:
So now that talents are done, lets talk about how to play using them. At the start of the game, you rush to get lvl 3 Manathrust and lvl 5 Flame. Those will carry the early game damage. Do the starting island, all of it, then move to the exit of the island. Pop a shield and kill Subject Z. If the shield goes down and he's not dead, pop your 2nd shield. If you don't have one, cast teleport and come back later for him. Clear out of the dungeon and proceed to clear all of the Noobie Zones. Norogs Lair, Kor'Pul, Scintilating Caves, Trollmire, Heart of Gloom, and Rhaloren Camp. Because of the exp bonus, its kinda beneficial to kill everything, but if you don't have the patience just go in and kill the bosses. At this point you should be about 16. You should have Disruption Shield maxed. Now begins the road to awesum. Head to the Old Forest, and the fortress. After that do some main storyline, and dungeon crawling to try and hit 30. The Ruined Dungeon can be used to gain a level or 2 from clicking the wrong orbs. Try to get Cauterize before going into Dreadfell. After 30 and Cauterize, its up to you. Sky is the limit. Rest of the game shouldn't be too hard.
Play Style:
Having Disruption Shield up at all times is key. When it is up, if you take damage, it instead adds mana to your mana pool. The ratio of mana to points of damage is best the lower it is. It is highly effected by the Shielding generic talent, spell power, .2 from an added category point, and of coarse Disruption Shields level. What does this mean? This means that at all times you need to pay attention to your mana pool, and know that you will almost never have 0 mana. If its above 200, you should cast some spells to bring it down to about 200 before moving on. If at any time you take damage that would take you over 100% mana, the Disruption Shield will fail. This is very dangerous for you. Thus, we want to keep our mana low. Using Auto-Explore will kill you.
So all spells that use alot of mana become our friend. Inferno is the best by far. Level 5 Thunderstorm is pretty good too. Heavy armor with fatigue can help out as well. When going into a fight you know you will be hit, its generally advised to pop a Damage Shield. This prevents damage from converting into mana. Once you exhaust all your current mana, and the shield falls off, you will gain some back and pop another Damage Shield. The gear you wear should be adding to mana. Its the same as adding to your life, and also your main resource so + Mana on gear becomes very important. Mana per turn, should be as low as possible. Below 1 is best, but hard at times. Most of the gear with + Mana seems to come with + Mana regen as well.
Once you have the Disruption Shield mastered, you can start focusing on other things. Always try to be standing in fire while fighting. That being said, don't try to stand in inferno, as it does more damage than normal fire and you will gain more mana. Start most engagements with a FireFlash. That should put fire almost everywhere. Use Flameshock and Blastwave to cover any area back up with fire as it fades. Remember that blastwave and flameshock put fire at your feet. This is good. We want to stand in fire at all times to remove debuffs.
It is very important to keep an eye on your buffs. The only time you will be in danger is when those buffs deactivate.
Its good to get into the habit of casting Fireflash and Inferno as you move around to keep mana low. They are also great for testing areas for enemies.
For a mage, sight is very important. I'd shoot for a light radius of 9.
Dangers:
This build is largely dependent on Disruption Shield and Damage Shields. Disruption Shield is life, Damage Shields stop Disruption Shield from over flowing, but you also don't want to run out of mana. Once you have this delicate dance mastered, you will be near invincible. That being said, there are some very dangerous mobs out there because they remove your buffs, namely Disruption Shield and Shielding, and to a less extent Wildfire. A removal of Disruption Shield and Wildfire while a Flashfire is in flight....its good to get in the habit of not getting hit by your own flashfire and teleporting if the worst happens.
-- Dreadmaster -- These guys eat your buffs, have stealth, summon little minions to aid them, AND can hide in/go through walls. These will be encountered in Dreadfell, the Summit, and Telo's Tower that Tannin sends you for sure. They can be in other dungeons as well. Must keep an eye out for these. If you see them, watch your buffs and get ready to Fireflash and run with your tail between your legs.
-- Champion of Urh'Rok -- These guys embody all that sucks to oppose as a mage. They charge, pull, knockback, REMOVE BUFFS, debuff you with 30% spell failure rate, and stun among 30 other debuffs. They SUCK. The good news is that unlike Dreadmasters, these guys can be Mindcontroled with Dominate Will. If you see one, Dominate Will, if it fails, use teleport and repeat. You will encounter these guys for sure in the Summit, any Demon portal you take, some activated map items can summon them, and if you refuse to let Tannin see the Orb of Many ways. Pray you don't get one as a boss in the Summit. Thats one painful fight. Make sure you clear the level and use teleport often.
Those 2 above are by far the worst. There are many many enemies with fire resist that can be hard, or at the very least annoying. Dominate will can help deal with alot of these, but know that just because the self inflicted damage you take from fire is reduced by Wildfire, their fire damage to you is not! So sometimes those fights are an endurance test of Shields and alt damage sources.
There is a really good ring you can put on to deal with mobs with high Fire Resist as well. Its called Elemental Fury. Do not leave this ring on all the time though.
Hope this helps some, and know that there is no one best way to play this class or game.
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