darkgod wrote:Why would you say they are easiest? Beucase of invis & prob travel ?
I don't recall ever using invisible or probability travel, but from what a few people have said they are probably #1 and #2 talents in the game.
Fela wrote:
The thing is, that due to PD effectively resetting encounters mana management isn't an issue and since nothing needs reaching you (unless enforced by stupid escorts) the danger to life is minimal so far. (I suppose the restrictions FM wanted to impose on resting may also have been motivated by playing an archmage (?) )
With unresistable arcane damage there is always a completely reliable weapon (beam no less) for any thread the game might throw at you.
Ya, phase door pretty much completely allows you to determine the pace of any fight you are in. I'd say phase door is the #3 talent in the game, or maybe even #2 (over probability travel). Every time I get a good character with access to a controllable phase door, the instantly becomes about 50% easier (which is level 4 usually).
Things phase door will do to make your ass not be black, blue and bloody:
A. Extremely few npcs can open doors. If there's a room where the door isn't open, you can phase in and rest for free. This is really how an archmage is suppose to survive the prides if they haven't been focuing on major blasting spells (like inferno/huge manathrust/chain lightning).
B. Big nasty melee hitter tanking for little blasty mage where you're all lined up in a hallway? Phase the melee to where ever the hell you want and smoke that bastard mage down (in cases where the melee would kill/kill you, or you have no beam spells)
C. It's really the ultimate field control spell, outside of probability travel (they really interchange between 1/2 in use here). You can make yourself go anywhere you want (within the range [once that bug is fixed]), most any npc anywhere you want as well. You have a long duration huge corrosive vapor/inferno overlap and the boss is almost done walking out of it completely? Phase him back in that!
D. It is the
ONE spell that will save your character more than any other. Even though it is a very short distance, every single dungeon except the underwater cave, and the slime pits have corridors/rooms/open areas. If you know/have an idea what is in there (because of sense/previously visited) and you've ran into trouble, PHASE there. 100% safe, guaranteed.
E. It never fails when used on you. Never. And it shouldn't. But it will NEVER fail. And the point of being EXACTLY where you want to be is what makes Teleport
almost complete garbage next to it. While the only saving grace for teleport is the fact that it will travel at phase door+100 range; but the minimum range really needs to be upped. That's for a different time however.
F. If you have Sense, even at level 1, Vision 1, and Phase Door 5, you are pretty much god when it comes to what you want to do with yourself to maintain absolute safety. Towards the end of the game (the last pride usually) that I get an archmage that far, I start to impose superficial challenges on myself because it's almost gotten boring having so much knowledge. I'll do such things as 'no rest', 'no beams', 'thunderstrom only', ect.
just to make it more interesting.
G. Level 4 phase door even makes
almost every escort question have a 100% completion rate, and thus, makes whoever it is have much greater power and usability than they otherwise would have if they didn't have a controllable phase door. The same goes for the merchant quest as well.
H. Automatic (almost completely free/reliable) 'save my ass' spell such called Teleport: Angwolen. Here's where phase door will save your ass and you don't even know it. In trouble? Phase away back to somewhere safe, then use the T : A spell and you're out of there, and in a town no less! The best/second best town in the game for you as well!
I. Gaining a random ring because you are an archmage from the apprentice is cool beans flavor wise, HOWEVER I have gotten the Ring of Ulmo 5 times, Ring of the Warmaster 2 times, Ring of Elemental Fury 7(!) times, and level 4 rings almost entirely the rest of the time when completing the quest with archmages. That is QUITE a ratio with really a truly major reward at the end, very early in the game as well. I don't know if it's my luck (I have gotten quite a few nature resist 20 rings as well...) but it seems excessive.
J. Manathrust is completely a cool spell, and I'm very very glad it was bumped to talent tree level 2, because it was simply too powerful at level 1. But again, with it being able to be pumped to the point of 700/800 damage just because it is unresistable is rather skewered I think, when something like Strike (a level 3 spell) isn't capable of half that usually. And ofcourse the whole beam thing with that kind of power makes lightning/bone spear look like harry potter play magic.
K. They have a terrific amount of options. And the resources to use them when needed.
Example 1: You can go my personal route of always having on these talents : (level 5's here)
Arcane Focus, Blur, Stone Skin, Feather Wind, with a Phase Door, Regeneration, Mana Flow at the ready. Once enemies are encountered and I can't dispatch them with a simple chain lightning-lightning combo, then I turn on Thunderstorm and Corrosive Vapors. If anything gets within range and I can't melee it to death then I turn on regeneration/mana flow and blast it with flame/freeze.
Example 2: The two regeneration talents can regenerate 20+ a turn for 10 turns. That's 200 free, and in mana, that's Essence of Speed, Invisibility, Probability Travel, Telepathy, Thunderstorm kind of mana. You're running one of those then you turn on the one/two regeneration abilities and you are set from the damage you cause yourself. (Note: Aren't these again, like the best sustained talents in the game/most useful for this type of character?)
Example 3: Vision, Sense, Phase Door, Inferno. Need I say more?
Example 4: See Example 3 -Phase Door +Probability Travel.
Example 5: Invisibility + Regeneration + (after regen) Kings Gift
Example 6: Don't like using sense twice per dungeon? Use Telepathy + Mana Flow! They ALMOST cancel each other out in costs (though the flow will only give you about 11 free turns).
L. Because of all of this, they are by far easy mode. They can have better defenses than a sun paladin or a fighter if they try, they can cause more ranged damage than archers and slingers (at beam, ball and clouds no less), for 50 gold they can wear whatever they want, and get 200 health. All consumable items are boosted in power greatly due to the mages' dependence on the magic stat (like 300 health difference when it comes to greater healing potions). There health REALLY isn't a concern when they can phase away in case of danger, blast multiple targets on the cheap and easy for huge damage, or go invisible for five or so turns to walk away from the danger.
M. MAGES >
N. NON-MAGES =
O. Openly Over-powered
when compared to Other
actors
P. Please don't change them much because they are by far the most completed and bug free class in the game. Most anyone knows how I would change them, but they really are the easiest class to play, the strongest class in options, damage, mobility, crowd control, and 1 vs X style battles.
And, I think that's about all I can come up with when it comes to why archmages are by far the easy mode of T4.
Or make directed phase door have much steeper requirements (e.g. level 30+). Perhaps you could have semi-directed at level 2 or 3, where you target with a cone and land randomly within it.
)