How do I manage the switch from melee to magery?

[Shaidyn]

Hi there, folks. I've managed to beat the game on a few occassions now by sticking very close to my comfort zone; tanky melee characters with a ton of heals. But there's a lot more to the game than standing still and bashing things until they die. I'd like to make the switch to casters, but my first attempts have been.... well let's just say they've lived up to a noob's tome experience.

I'm looking for some pointers on switching to your average caster. How can I not go oom while still killing things. How can I keep my distance when 80% of enemies are using everything in their power to get in my face. Seriously, no answer is too low level. XD

[ster]

casters tend to be more durable than melees, it's just about keeping your defenses up and not dying of tedium while doing it

e: like AM has disruption shield as well as 15k shields from bathe in light (though not after the nerf ), that solidly outclasses everything else

[HousePet]

Well without knowing where you are going wrong its hard to say, but you did give one clue.

Nuke things when you first see them. Then they don't have time to get close.

Also consider disabling talents for use before enemies get close, or even after they are close.

As mentioned above: Magery does not imply weakness in melee. Check you aren't building a glass cannon subconsciously.

[darkgod]

Also many casters deal far less damage per turn than melee, but they make up for it in AOE, range, tools, ..
Use those

[Tyren]

I'm looking for some pointers on switching to your average caster.

Play a class that uses shielding or that summons multiple meatshields. Build to win in the end. Don't die to status effects.

How can I not go oom while still killing things

Good caster classes have ways to restore main resource. Achmage has Disruption Shield and burning wake to damage it and gain mana.

How can I keep my distance when 80% of enemies are using everything in their power to get in my face

Teach yourself to beat Rush using a movement infusion. Do they have Implode or Spydric Poison? These talents override pinning immunity. Better not waste movement infusion if an enemy has any of them.
If effective range of rush is too high then bait with the speed buff up. Then you can keep running after they use rush. Otherwise, stay out of their range. You don't have to succeed with the baiting trick except for overpowered enemies. The idea is to reliably deal with daze, to not get hit by debuffs and to save your best escape option.


Surviving Shadow Ambush (pull, silence and daze).

Prebuff with mental shielding if you can. If you have wild infusion (mental, physical), use movement infusion for daze immunity. With only movement infusion baiting trick you can run and wait until silence ends. But first make tunnels to escape into.

[dadito]

You could try oozemancer, it's kind of a "caster" (actually antimagic), but it's a very forgiving class and also very strong

[Shaidyn]

You could try oozemancer, it's kind of a "caster" (actually antimagic), but it's a very forgiving class and also very strong

Still locked. QQ

[dadito]

http://te4.org/games/addons/tome/ignore-raceclass-locks

[Shaidyn]

http://te4.org/games/addons/tome/ignore-raceclass-locks

HERESY!

[Coldbringer]

I did some experiments with Archmage and had a lot of fun. One specialized in Lightning (RIP Beth the Higher) and one specialized in Cold (still going in the east, no lives left).

What I wish I knew from the beginning is A) get Disruption Shield immediately and max it, 5/5 and B) other shields you use take precedence over Disruption Shield.

So if you are getting hit hard or your mana is near full, it won't pop the DS until the other shields are destroyed. Time shield, shielding rune, rune of reflection, an artifact belt, a cloak, an amulet ect all are good options to keep shielding yourself, then buff those shields with your skills. And have a backup one in case DS pops. Sometimes you want to cast a high mana spell just to dump some mana off, keep it about 50% or lower. In between battles after you lose DS, you can activate some useless high mana sustains such as Premonition or Probability Travel, then deactivate them and cast a few other spells to get your mana down to 25% so you can reactivate DS

Since it's based on your mana pool, you want to invest heavily in Willpower to increase your mana each level. I go 50/50 in that stat and Magic until both are 60. Also look out for items that boost your mana.

Before you've unlocked the specialty Archmage Talent Categories, it can be a good idea to get multiple skills from multiple different categories. I think it's called Tri-Beam because it uses maxed out Manathrust, Flame, and Lightning Bolt to mow down many enemies in a row. Once you get the special categories unlocked I'd advocate trying specializing in one element heavily, Water & Ice, Arcane & Aether, Fire & Wildfire, Earth & Stone.

Shalore seems to be the best caster class, but Higher and Halfling also are solid choices.

[Fael]

Have you considered a wyrmic? They have most of the advantages of casters -- devastating ranged and area attacks, terrain modification, healing, etc. -- but they have good hit points, heavy armor, and melee skills. You get the fun of blowing massive groups of enemies away at range like other casters, but you can also wade in and hack at things when you're bored.

[Shaidyn]

Have you considered a wyrmic? They have most of the advantages of casters -- devastating ranged and area attacks, terrain modification, healing, etc. -- but they have good hit points, heavy armor, and melee skills. You get the fun of blowing massive groups of enemies away at range like other casters, but you can also wade in and hack at things when you're bored.

My most recent winner was an Ogre Wyrmic, using a two hander and a shield. Best melee character I've played yet; I did almost all of my breath attacks at melee range. XD

[ster]

Have you considered a wyrmic? They have most of the advantages of casters -- devastating ranged and area attacks, terrain modification, healing, etc. -- but they have good hit points, heavy armor, and melee skills. You get the fun of blowing massive groups of enemies away at range like other casters, but you can also wade in and hack at things when you're bored.

casters also have much better defenses than wyrmics and you probably won't be bump attacking trash on anything anyway

[Coldbringer]

Have you considered a wyrmic? They have most of the advantages of casters -- devastating ranged and area attacks, terrain modification, healing, etc. -- but they have good hit points, heavy armor, and melee skills. You get the fun of blowing massive groups of enemies away at range like other casters, but you can also wade in and hack at things when you're bored.

That also perfectly describes Doombringers and Arcane Blades!

[Effigy]

Paradox Mage has good defenses for a caster. One of the big things with casters is learning to reposition to avoid melee attackers, although PM has several tools for surviving at close range. Attenuate will both heal you and damage enemies, and you can wear heavy/massive armor effectively.