1.3 Paradox Mage

[cttw]

Hi all,

I've been trying out the new Paradox Mage in the beta and I am liking quite a lot, I think it became a much more interesting class to play, and looks like it has more workable options than before.

I would like to know what builds are others trying, as there are quite a few trees to choose from, and how they are combining the spells.

As for me, the spin tree still seems too weak to use. The new Redux can be quite a beast, and if you get cooldown lowering stuff you can bring larger spells into the 10 turn limit. I think the cooldown lowering items are more common now as I have found 3 in the first half of my current run, including 2 that can be used together (boots/tool).

I haven't used gravity stuff this time but it should be interesting as well, particularly with the new redux.

Thanks!

[Isotope-X]

I agree that the Spin Tree is pretty underwhelming. Most of my PMage attempts have focused on the Folding tree. You can cause so much pain and suffering with Tether and the mines. Temporal Bolt lets you pull off some crazy moves once you get used to it, and it very often hits twice due to its finite movement speed. I do really enjoy the new Gravity tree, now that it's not all dependent on Gravity Well to be effective. Matter...well, I find it kind of meh, effective but boring.

The new PMage seems to be a class where Cornac is actually a viable choice because it has so many neat unlockable trees, and you completely lack defenses until you get either Stasis or Energy (which both have other great options, with Stop and Entropy). Of course, their main defensive measure is "not being there", but still you're going to get hit, and it's going to hurt a lot, without Time Shield or that 30% reduction talent whose name I can't remember right now.

Right now I'm waiting for 1.3 to go live before resuming with PMages, but I figure I'll end up largely settling on Folding/Time Travel/Stasis/Flux or something along those lines.

[donkatsu]

The Spin tree is an unlocked generic though, so it's not like it has a lot of competition. You can invest all you want into Energy and still have enough points left over to get Seal Fate and Webs of Fate, both of which are useful. I agree that the other two talents are not really worth it though.

Repulsion Blast + Spatial Tether worked wonders for me. With Gravity Locus, Spatial Tether can do 6 hits every time it trips, which is great for Seal Fate which in turn means I can keep either stun or Cease to Exist going permanently.

I thought that Temporal Fugue would be more useful, but my clones made absolutely terrible decisions that sabotaged me instead of helping. The worst part was that they ignored my 5/5 Repulsion Blast in favor of 1/5 Time Skip, making Fugue pointless until I used Time Skip a few times myself first in order to build up continuum destabilization.

[edge2054]

Temporal Fugue had a bug up until last beta release which was causing to much damage propagation. Additionally the clones no longer damage you or each other and you can set the tactical weights which will get saved.

But yeah, mine liked to spam Time Skip mostly which was sometimes helpful and sometimes not.

[lorddakaris]

Hi All,

I have a weird soft spot for the Chronomancers, so it's pretty awesome they got remade into what seems like great fun classes.

I'm playing a Paradox Mage at the moment, and just over lvl 30, I can't work out what prodigy to take.

I'm not really sure how Revisionist history works in practice, never had a Chronomancer live to prodigy lvl before. Is it something that actually is useful for PM? kind of seems like repeating abilities I already have.

I have maxed Mag and Con at moment.

at the moment I'm using Dust to Dust, Stop and Attenuate as primary damage sources.

thanks

[jaumito]

Revisionist History is indeed less useful to Paradox Mages than to any other class.

Temporal Form is a very solid choice, as are defensive prodigies like Unbreakable Will or Draconic Will (because being silenced is the worst thing that can happen to you as a PM.)

If you're going Matter but no Gravity (and are building Willpower, as you should anyway), a fun combo to try might be Mental Tyranny + Endless Woes, for mass debuffs (untested, but I'm going to try that on my next PM.) Use a torque of mindblast for a while to qualify for Mental Tyranny.