1.7.4 Lightning Archmage (ez mode)

[knifebutton]

Playthrough with timestamps https://youtu.be/fqCnxqS4Nqc
Quick Leveling Guide https://imgur.com/a/Y0gA4Xw
Final Char:https://te4.org/characters/212909/tome/ ... af5504abcb

Races: Skeleton, yeek, dwarf, cornac, ghoul are my favs for this class, ogre would be great too, shalore

Progression: (undead/dwarf starter) T1: Trollmire(see tip 1)>Kor Pul>Scint caves> Rhaloren Camp> Norgos lair> Heart of the Gloom.

You want manathrust at 3 asap so its a beam, your damage up to level 20 will be Manathrust, Chain lightning and lightning. This REALLY takes off around level 30 once you max Tempest .Get Hurricane to 3/5 asap. Once you have Tempest 5/5 and Hurricane and Lightning Storm 3/5 its an easy game.

Some quick pro tips in general
(if you do not get mirror image rune as a drop or in a rune shop by level 10-20 you should get at least 1 point into mirror image the skill, its so very very good)
1:after doing undead or dwarf starting zone(if you are a race that just starts in Trollmire just leave) go into Trollmire and LEAVE right away and go to kor pul and check for escorts they can be on floors 1 and 2, after saving any go back to trollmire(do not finish korpul, you want to stay under lvl 10 so killing Bill in trollmire 4 is easy) and check floor 2+3 for escorts, i will sometimes kill myself if i get less than 2 escorts and go back to character creation menu to RE REOLL escort spawns( they stay per character so if you have 2 on kor pul and die if you do the zones in the same order they will always be on the same floors) You can get 0-4 escorts in the t1s.
2: If you use spells at all(any class) you need a way to clear silence(mental) minimum. I used wintertide Phial until i became silence immune. Torque of clear mind, Mental+phys wild, Healing infusion on living races will purge the silence from Sawbutchers(its a wound) You can use voidcloak or blink boots or the gust torque to break grapple silences(or ghoul leap is what i used)
3: CHECK THE SHOPS! They update at player level 10,20,30,40! Always look for better infusions/weapons/armor. I found a t4 mind clear torque at a shop in the Thalore city at level 20 before. Clear mind torques will cleanse confuse and save your life. These also clears Sleep and Inner Demons. You can buy voidcloaks(mvp on almost all classes), Undeterred boots, nice runes or inscriptions. Check Derth at 20 for Quartz to craft 30% stun immunity rings in Angowlen, they also sell bloodstones starting at 40 which is amazing
4: SANDWORM LAIR take a belt of unlife into here in case you get stuck in the sand. this prevents you from dying to suffocation. You can get a belt of unlife from almost any shop that sells belts. Check them all. You can also use a teleport rune to get out, or sometimes lites will have undead on them (sold in derth)
5: Do not do the world events other than Hidden Tunnels. Dark Crypt and Godfeaster are way too dangerous. Do not do Graveyard or Mark of the spellblaze for the same reasons(especially if you are new) and in that vein do not interact with the tentacle trees either. (they can give AMAZING blighted drops but it isnt worth doing in general if you want to win)

A Pro tip SPECIFICALLY for Lightning archmage, first thing you can check for is ALT Maze since the Horror boss drops(i think 100% drop rate) the Best in Slot(BiS) gloves possible for this build(Stormbringers Gauntlets) If you do not get alt maze you can go kill yourself and restart the same char and check for it again since ALT zones are not tied to player saves like escorts are.
T2: Sandworm Lair (free stats when you eat the heart)>Maze>Old Forest>Daikara> Urkis Quest>Very Old Halfing Ruins>If you get Director Hompalan you can do Old Conclave Vault now> (optional Ruined Dungeon)>Dredfell >Reknor> Vor Armory and then Briaghs Lair and go back West and do back up Guardians
Back up Guardians order
SWL(you get cat point here with worm bile(the only one you NEED to do)>scint>old forest>maze(scary)>kor pul>trollmire(scary)>deadfell(scary)(>daikara(scary)>reknor



Cat Points
10:Take Inscription (i had mana regen, mirror image rune, shatter, Shielding as ghoul, if living id have phys/mental wild if possible maybe a heal to purge sawbutcher silence)
20: Storm
34: Meta for dispersion to use on master
Bile: I took another inscription(Rune of Reflection) Since i had a nice stormshield rune pretty early you could take an escort category if you know what you want and what you are doing

Prodigy:
25: Ethereal From gives you some defense, all res, and even more nice, damage pen
42: I took Aether Permeation and it was amazing for me. Not being dispelled is a WIN.

as for escorts id just take +5 magic or a generic skill like track. I dont think you need to take an escort category on archmage but if you did it would likely be chants or Stone so you can imbue a gem into your robe i guess.

This is quite a straight forward playstyle and dont think i need to give much more insight to help you win. You can check my youtube video with time stamps if you want to know how to play a certain area. I should have recorded Reknor 1+2 since i actually came very close to dying in Reknor 1. If you have any questions ask away and ill update them below here

[Funkfurt]

Hi,

Been following your guide as a new player and it has been really helpful.

I just hit 25 and based on your guide, to get Ethereal Form at 25 i need 40 effective defense.

I only have 10, and am stumped as to how to raise the stat.

Can i trouble you to look at my gear, and provide some advice?

https://te4.org/characters/299673/tome/ ... a5ffc16dd1

[Powderhound522]

I just hit 25 and based on your guide, to get Ethereal Form at 25 i need 40 effective defense.

This is a very old post now, but for those who are newer I also ran into this problem. I used all the gear I could find that had def +, then fired phase door to get the last few points from Out of Phase.

Also, you can save your prodigy! No need to take it right at 25 if you don’t have the pre-reqs done for the one you want.