Mages and (technically) more....

[littlebluefae]

So, any Mages (or other peeps) want to tell me why being a Mage/Alchemist is AWESOME?!

Or explain it to me a bit better? I'm switching up stuff with L.O.R.E. as Janna is no longer built for combat, really. ^_^;;; And as far as I know, we don't have any active Alchemists in Greyhook...?

[Wolfman2006]

The Mage header is in my opinion the most powerful standard header Lost Eidolons offers. It gives a very high damage output for a low attribute cost, has 5 types of "extra" attribute skills for bonus spells, gives access to the only two-hander a starting character can use, and Alchemy has diverse selection of nasty effects that can't be found elsewhere.

The downside to this is it is expensive as hell CP wise. You need to have high attributes in order to have the sufficient stats to get a decent bang for your buck spell wise. You want to have alot of void as a primary caster, you are going to want to buy all those extra spell attribute spells, Alchemy is 9 build in order to max out your ranks, and overall most of the skills have a high CP cost individually (in addition to needing alot of them). I would reason this is probably the most compelling reason we we have not seen that many thus far.

[Miss Peri West]

I'm not so much for the number crunching, myself. Before I picked up the Mage header, I barely cared about CP because I mostly just roleplayed with everything. I do agree that if you're going to pick up Mage, you should be prepared to throw a lot of CP at it. I would also recommend casting practice between events, as it's a lot more fun when you can actually hit things and make them fall down. I don't remember where you live -- if it's at all near me, I'd be happy to meet up and we can practice chucking packets at each other.

Since it looks like you're thinking of Mage partly because you're not up for lots of combat, I would definitely recommend getting the Staff skill. I don't have it (they simply don't go with my outfits), but without one, that means you're going to do a lot of running around. I mean a lot. As in, your only form of defense is scampering out of the way, ideally behind some friendly fighters. With a staff, you can hold it while you cast, which means you can block more easily and don't need to resort to the time-honored "where the hell did I drop my sword this time?" technique.

As for Alchemy, I don't have it at all. That's not because I don't think it's useful, but because I have a personal aversion to any production skills. I'm just not good at scrounging for tagged items in game. I do think that having someone in Greyhook with Alchemy would utterly rock, and if you decided to go for it, I would happily throw any alchemical components at you that I managed to stumble across. There are lots of great things you can make with Alchemy (and it gets even cooler if you become a Battlemage )

Despite the CP-intensive nature of the header and the unpredictable vagaries of packet-throwing, I really like playing a Mage. If you decide to jump on that particular Resonant grenade, I promise to drag you into all sorts of Magey goodness with me if you're up for it.

[Dr.Elden]

And dont forget, the new accepted term for "Mages" is "Scientists".

[littlebluefae]

Thank you all for the suggestions!

Matt DeG helped me out on Friday: had to re-assign all old stuff and new stuff (goodbye Bodyguard, Fanatical Guardian), but now I have Mage/Alchemist (Rank 3).

I was able to create Nerothumas on Saturday for that... displacement gate? (hope that is the right term), but I was also handed items at one point to see if I could 'make it into a weapon'.

I also saw that only one other Alchemist had used the book before me. Yikes.

*Can* Alchemists make things outside of what the Book gives? Does it require Research, or I heard of a skill called Tinkering (do I need that)? Another thought it: now that I'm an Alchemist, I can probably (with help from others) make a lot of stuff for the town in a hurry, and you guys can have your own stockpiles of some such in October that you can use in March (stuff expires in April) for Spring 1 game (or whenever Spring 1 game is).

- To Miss West/Treska: I appreciate the offer but I am passing over all packets and staff for now if I can (looking to pick it up next September for the last two events). Are there other skills a Mage can do without throwing or being in the thick of combat, like a 'By my Voice' or a 'By my Gaze'?

- Thank you all for your comments and help!

[Leander Warrick]

Unless you have access to other recipes for Alchemy, then you can only make what is in the book. However, I'm sure there is a skill that would allow you to create new alchemy, out there somewhere, since I know Devices have Tinkering, and that there are skills for creating new Chemicals and Medicines. So it stands to reason that there is a skill that would allow you to design new Alchemy recipes. Skills like Research can also be used to create new things as well.

[Deadbolt]

One good reason to look at mage: Phineas. Why? Excluding uncalled damage and the unlimited 2 shock troopers can swing or unlimited situational damage due to slayers, he has the highest damage cap in the game. Between resets he can dish out almost 200 damage.