Archmage noob, advice please

[Ghaleon]

Hey there, I play ToMe on and off every year or so, I'm no super expert who beats the game on insane or anything, just got several normal clears under my belt using various classes. I never did it with Archmage however despite hearing time and time again they are the most op class or whatever from various sources. I realize I CAN play super slow, arcane eye around every corner, and blind-shoot aoe around ftw, but I do like to save time with auto explore. I feel like playing on simply normal difficulty, and by not playing as a squishy race like yeek or shalore or something, I should be somewhat safe to do so, and for the most part I am. But I still feel like there are rare monsters that just seem to 1shot me out of the blue, even when my displacement shield is up at full and I have another one up as well (maybe temporal).

For example, one example I can think of was the assasin lord boss at the end of that randomly appearing thief dungeon thing. I started the fight well enough, teleported to the back of the room and took care of all the trash until he alone was left next to me, then I teleported away again with lots of shields left and full health, only to end up dead that turn to my surprise. I'm guessing it's every single rogue/marauder/thief/shadowblade type enemy. If I'm far away, they can do that charging whirlwind thing and backstab me and do something all in one turn and take me from full to dead in no time flat from shockingly long ranges.

I have been thinking maybe I should wear heavy armor instead to deal with this issue? I've seen guides that say so, and say the fatigue is a bonus because they want to sp end more mana for displacement shield. maybe I'm on drugs, but I assume it was a change/update/nerf, but my displacement shield does NOT expire when my mana is full, and in fact I have regular issues running out of mana despite having low fatigue, so I'm reluctant to wear heavy armor. I've run out of mana on long fights fairly often. Will armor even help that much anyway? I find heavy armor rarely has the stats I want for a caster anyway like my robes +spellpower, resist all, and change damage % fire, etc. I'm even opting to NOT use a couple good sustains because of their high mana useage. I do want the global speed one, but 120mana is steep and am waiting for it to hit rank 3 or so first (working on it, at rank 1 atm, it will get my next 2 levels)

Another thing is what do archmages spend t heir generic points on? Seems like there is very little worth spending points on other than racials, and shields. Is there a particular escort they like to get? I personally haven't found any giving me anything that seems like I could make great use of (almost took conditioning but I imagine it wouldn't work well with me due to low constitution, so I opted for straight vitality instead since that seems like a strong 1 point wonder talent).

sorry if these questions seem old or answered. All the guides I've looked at seem out of date because they have inverted mechanic displacement shields, and they all seem to call temporal shield time shield, and various other things that just don't seem like they apply for me.

[Just a dood]

disruption shield was reworked in 1.6, so now you want to keep your mana as close to full as possible. as soon as your mana goes below half, you don't have that layer of protection.
Also, the assassin lord is pretty tough, so you can delay it until you get stronger by not going through the north part of the map once you hit level 18.

[Zizzo]

For example, one example I can think of was the assasin lord boss at the end of that randomly appearing thief dungeon thing.

Oh, that's not your fault; the Assassin Lord and a few other bosses became absurdly over-deadly with 1.6's AI changes (followed in short order by the Master and Rak'shor thanks to 1.7's Necromancer changes ). I've gotten into the habit of putting off that zone until after returning from the East, frankly.

Also, the assassin lord is pretty tough, so you can delay it until you get stronger by not going through the north part of the map once you hit level 18.

Actually, nowadays I don't think that event even spawns until you're level 18. At any rate, my Merchant on the Map addon is good for avoiding that zone until you're ready for it.

[mckwack]

Could you post a link to your AM please, so we could provide better advice on what could be improved?

Also, assuming that you haven't been following ToME recently (since you mentioned playing on and off over the years), and as Zizzo has mentioned, with 1.7 there are heaps of changes to the gameplay, including 2 class evolutions for Archmage: Technomancer and Thaumaturgist. Maybe one of these would be suitable for your playing style, and provides you with the tankiness that you need to survive.

[Delmuir]

Regarding Escorts: I strongly encourage picking up Misdirection from a thief, if you can get it. It's not much but anything that gives you a chance to avoid a physical status effect (which is most of them) is helpful.

Regarding extremely tough enemies... like others noted, avoid the assassin lord until later. He's murderous. As a general rule, if you're getting picked off like that, I encourage picking up Mirror Image in the Phantasm category. It increases your overall damage output but it's also a helpful defensive ability. More so, on the way, you can pick up the Phantasmal Shield, which with only 1 point will let you completely evade 10% (or more, though it doesn't scale well) of attacks. It's random but it might save you. Beyond that, really go for Cauterize as a prodigy at 25.

Regarding heavy armor... DON'T. That strategy relied on obsolete mechanics. Go all robes.

Regarding the OP Archmage... the Fire mage build using the Celestial/Light category used to be capable of winning on Madness. That's gone. Today's Archmage is very strong but no longer viable on Madness (maybe). However, the lightning build got a lot stronger and I encourage using it. Rely on Chain-lightning until you get the Storm category fully operational at 22-24. From them, just blast away with anything... at least on Nightmare, it's basically an easy clear. It might actually be harder on normal as you run into some tough bosses at slightly lower level but... it's still pretty easy to play.

[Delmuir]

Regarding Escorts: I strongly encourage picking up Misdirection from a thief, if you can get it. It's not much but anything that gives you a chance to avoid a physical status effect (which is most of them) is helpful.

Regarding extremely tough enemies... like others noted, avoid the assassin lord until later. He's murderous. As a general rule, if you're getting picked off like that, I encourage picking up Mirror Image in the Phantasm category. It increases your overall damage output but it's also a helpful defensive ability. More so, on the way, you can pick up the Phantasmal Shield, which with only 1 point will let you completely evade 10% (or more, though it doesn't scale well) of attacks. It's random but it might save you. Beyond that, really go for Cauterize as a prodigy at 25.

Regarding heavy armor... DON'T. That strategy relied on obsolete mechanics. Go all robes.

Regarding the OP Archmage... the Fire mage build using the Celestial/Light category used to be capable of winning on Madness. That's gone. Today's Archmage is very strong but no longer viable on Madness (maybe). However, the lightning build got a lot stronger and I encourage using it. Rely on Chain-lightning until you get the Storm category fully operational at 22-24. From them, just blast away with anything... at least on Nightmare, it's basically an easy clear. It might actually be harder on normal as you run into some tough bosses at slightly lower level but... it's still pretty easy to play.

[Velorien]

Regarding escorts: if you're lucky enough to get a thief, I would definitely go for Track instead. With decent Cun, it becomes godly, especially when combined with Vision. Knowing where and what all the rares are well in advance of encountering them will do more for your survivability than than any probability-based defence. (In theory, you can get by with Arcane Eye, but it'll take a lot longer and you risk missing enemies because there happens to be a wall or pillar between them and the eye.)