Spellcasting 101 for Mage Noobs

[Wyld Stallyns_ns3]

I've thought about trying a mage but first I thought I'd ask for some pearls of wisdom (oh wait wis is cleric). Anyways, ANYTHING people can share about playing a mage on NS would be appreciated. From build tips, spell choices and why or gear ideas.

I'm also thinking making a wiz to try stuff would be an idea before committing to sorc.

I do have a few specific questions.

1) Are bigby spells useful? If so, which one(s).

2) Are death magic spells useful? If so, which one(s). I'm expecting once you get out of newb zones don't expect much to keel over.

3) Spells are compensated dmg wise to make up for uber weapon dmg, right ? Otherwise why make a caster, LoL. Beat 'em down with a triton stick or something.

4) Summons have limited usefullness and not as good for wiz ?

5) Time stop requires a crystal component right? which is also fairly rare?? what do they sell for ?

6) There still a min # of wiz/sorc levels in order to buy scrolls at the NS wiz guild/tower

7) Is it going to kill me beating DC checks if I don't start out with 18 int or cha ? I usually go for 16 and have like 14 con and 12 or 14 str and dex. Also assuming I take Spell penetration / Greater and Epic.

Certain high level wiz/sorc items I've laid eyes on (Example staff of g1 ) -6 to str, con and dex. Well if u have good gear its just going to negate some bonuses. There's not this kind of heavy penalty on caster clothes is it ? Just the staves ?

[Zarach'_ns3]

Try an NS belt....immunity to level/ability drain makes any item negatives like that staff meaningless

[DM Sun Tzu_ns3]

Time stop crystals aren't that rare. The still ocasionally pop up in your inventory and there is at least one area where they can be farmed.

[DM Xero_ns3]

1) Yes, most of them
2) Power word: kill is handy for leveling, other death spells are good in a few situations if you get the DC reasonably high.
3) Don't worry, you won't be staff-beating stuff to death
4) Summons are pretty useless for any class
5) Yes, but not that rare if you know where to farm them.
6) Not sure
7) Spell penetration is more of an issue than spell DC... you should be fine starting at 16 int or cha

[icywind1980_ns3]

If you plan on hitting things with a weapon as opposed to spells (which is entirely feasable for a mage in this realm), you may wanna get a red triton. It dispels magic on hit, and I found it to be quite useful:)

[Wyld Stallyns_ns3]

Thanks all for wonderful replies. Please continue to share tips.

[DM PHANTASM_ns3]

Xero answered most of the questions except #6 it is level 5

[DM ex Machina_ns3]

casting stat does 3 main things. it qualifies for spell levels, jacks DC on spells with saves, and adds bonus spell slots. it has nothihng to do with beating SR (caster level and the penetration feats do that). you need a high enough stat to cast 9th level spells. as for DCs, much of the time you're using no-save spells like IGMS. the various immunities (death magic and mind spells being the main ones) often make the spells with saves useless anyway, though there -are- specific mobs they work on. having the bonus spell slots from a high casting stat is nice, but not super necessary, since you get a lot of bonus slots from a maxed gear set. for the pally/sorc builds, boosting your CHA also ads to your saving throws, but since your gear will generally eithe rprovide immunity to spells with saves or jack your saves, that's not a huge issue.

that's for arcane users. cleric DCs do matter, at least for one specific spell.

[Shredotron_ns3]

1) Are bigby spells useful? If so, which one(s).

2) Are death magic spells useful? If so, which one(s). I'm expecting once you get out of newb zones don't expect much to keel over.

3) Spells are compensated dmg wise to make up for uber weapon dmg, right ? Otherwise why make a caster, LoL. Beat 'em down with a triton stick or something.

4) Summons have limited usefullness and not as good for wiz ?

5) Time stop requires a crystal component right? which is also fairly rare?? what do they sell for ?

6) There still a min # of wiz/sorc levels in order to buy scrolls at the NS wiz guild/tower

7) Is it going to kill me beating DC checks if I don't start out with 18 int or cha ? I usually go for 16 and have like 14 con and 12 or 14 str and dex. Also assuming I take Spell penetration / Greater and Epic.

Certain high level wiz/sorc items I've laid eyes on (Example staff of g1 ) -6 to str, con and dex. Well if u have good gear its just going to negate some bonuses. There's not this kind of heavy penalty on caster clothes is it ? Just the staves ?

1) The level 9 one is godlike, combined with the one that knocks them down (Level 6 I think?). The one that gives -10 to ab is probably useful, but I rarely use that one.

2) Wotb is good for killing the DM chair.

3) Some of them are tweaked, I don't have a list though. My main spell is neg. energy burst, which does 420 maximized and almost 800 empowered with a lucky roll. Now that may not seem to impressive, but when you gather up 8-10 monsters at a time it's god damn sweet.

4) Summons are useless for the most part, they suck up XP while you're leveling and they don't last long vs. anything at 40. However they can provide a distraction allowing you to get off a heal or escape a situation gone bad. I suggest carring a few minion skulls for immediate mummy reinforcements.

5) Yeah it requires a crystal, can't help you with this one though as I didn't take the spell.

6) Dunno, never bought any.

7) No, 16 is fine. I started with 16 and now I have 30+12 from gear. I didn't take any spell penetration, but it might be on my gear. However I did take epic spell focus: necro for the extra help on neg. energy burst.

8 ) I wouldn't worry about that stuff, usually your other items will more than compensate for any negative bonuses.

[dbosity_ns3]

icywind1980 wrote:

If you plan on hitting things with a weapon as opposed to spells (which is entirely feasable for a mage in this realm), you may wanna get a red triton. It dispels magic on hit, and I found it to be quite useful:)

I think you were thinking of the white triton. It does positive damge instead of magic and some versions of it will dispel because it is a Holy Avenger. Red tritons just do more negative damage instead of the magic damage of the blue tritons.

[icywind1980_ns3]

icywind1980 wrote:

If you plan on hitting things with a weapon as opposed to spells (which is entirely feasable for a mage in this realm), you may wanna get a red triton. It dispels magic on hit, and I found it to be quite useful:)

I think you were thinking of the white triton. It does positive damge instead of magic and some versions of it will dispel because it is a Holy Avenger. Red tritons just do more negative damage instead of the magic damage of the blue tritons.

While it's true that the white triton does holy damage and dispells some magic., my red triton morningstar dispells magic. It may be that other red tritons don't do this, but the morningstar does.

[cryodog2_ns3]

with a mages there are other things to consider. sorc gets less feats than a wiz and wizards can mem scrolls. with that being said you have to be selective on what you want to take as a sorc. if you are a wizard then check out what scrolls are available to buy so that you dont waste time getting them when lvling up. the other thing is are you going to use a shield? if not then you just gave yourself 4 more feats that you can use. deaths spells are great in certain areas but honestly i hardly ever use them when running around in ec. another thing, you dont need to max out your cha or intel. it is perfectly fine to start with 16 and usually with my builds i dont go over 28 cha/intel. your spells will work for you one you start getting into the higher lvls of your mage class. where you run into a problem is not taking enough lvls of the mage class. usually i go 38 lvls mage. you really should take the spell pen, greater, and epic feats. as far as spell focus goes.... you dont need them. i personally like to take improved expertise since when you cast you are standing still anyways and it gives you that extra 10ac. i have never been in a fight with my mage that i couldnt handle unless lag was involved.