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Mage

"The world burns at exactly the temperature you tell it to."

Role: Arcane caster. Raw magical force, gated by mana. Glass cannon by default - you'll one-shot enemies, but they'll one-shot you if they reach melee.

At a glance
Stat bonuses Intelligence +5, Spirit +3, Willpower +2
Allowed weapons Staff, Dagger
Starting skills Arcane Magic (4), Arcane Bolt (4), Mana Channeling (3), Staves (3)
Starting kit Oak Staff, Apprentice Robes, 2× Mana Potion, Spellbook, Bandages
Best faction Arcane Collegium - gates your spell unlocks
Best merc team Old Guard - front-line healer + extra magic. Mage + Mage = burst.

First 30 minutes

Mana is a clock; learn to read it.

  1. Cast Arcane Bolt at something. Practice on the training dummy at the Collegium - no rep cost, full mana refunds.

    walk to academy
cast arcane_bolt training_dummy

    Use the abbreviation

    ab is shorter than cast arcane_bolt. See /skills for the per-spell verb hints.

  2. Find Cyran at the Collegium. Your spell trainer. He won't talk until you're at neutral Collegium rep - talk to scribes and apprentices around the building to nudge rep.

  3. Buy mana potions before you buy anything else. You'll run out of mana mid-fight at least once before you remember. Mid tier.

  4. Do NOT cast in front of Town Guards. Some spells have legal consequences. Wards and shields are fine. Bolt is not, in a safe area. Same gate as steal: see Town Guard rep.

Skills to focus first

  1. Arcane Bolt (4 → 6) - your damage. Cheap enough to spam.
  2. Mana Channeling (3 → 5) - regen between fights. Without this you spend half your gold on potions.
  3. Arcane Shield - unlocks at Arcane rank 2. Buff yourself before the first hit lands.

After Arcane rank 5, branch into a specialty: Evocation (raw damage), Abjuration (protection), or Divination (utility/perception). See /skill arcane_magic for the unlock card.

Suggested merc team

Old Guard - Maelis brings a second source of magic burst, Hendrik keeps you alive when the wolves close the distance. The married couple banter is a content-warning all on its own.

Skip Wrecking Crew - they're tanks and dps; you need space to cast, and they take it.

Quest or grind?

Quests for spells, grinding for mana. The Collegium's quest chain gates new spell unlocks - every tier earns a new school.

Between quests, fight low-rank enemies repeatedly to push your parent-school skill. The cleric trick of running the rat cellar five times applies to Mage too: cheap Arcane Bolt practice on rats gives Arcane Magic SP without burning real consumables.

Mid-game arc

  • Reach Collegium friendly rep. Unlocks the spellbook library and the reagent vendor.
  • Pick a specialty school (Evocation/Abjuration/Divination) at Arcane rank 5. Each gates different mid-tier spells.
  • Get a real focus. The oak staff is fine; a rune-etched staff or focus crystal adds spell damage and mana regen.

Training & Practice

Where the work happens between adventures.

Head to the Academy Practice Hall (academy_practice_hall, inside the Arcane Collegium). Talk to Instructor Cyran - he runs the hall, signs the ledger, and decides which tier of working you're ready for.

How it works:

  1. /shift start at the hall (or /practice_shift start) to take a 4-hour session. Cyran posts a queue of exercises scaled to your rank - bolt-at-the-dummy at the bottom, layered evocations and abjurations at the top.
  2. Resolve exercises with the hall's verbs: practice <form> for guided rote work, cast <spell> <target> against the practice dummies (no mana cost - the hall is warded to refund), or drill <form> for repetition under timed pressure. Each resolution credits SP to Arcane Magic and the matching sub-spell, plus a small stipend per exercise.
  3. /shift end to close early (or let the timer expire).

Tier ladder (Cyran decides): easy → standard → challenging → esoteric. Higher tiers pay more and unlock harder forms; apprentices start at easy and earn the harder slates by keeping the easy ones clean.

Why bother:

  • Steady SP without burning real mana or potions in the field.
  • Modest purse per resolved exercise (Collegium stipend, not adventuring pay).
  • Twenty clean shifts typically earn a referral letter the other Collegium branches honor - opens doors at sibling halls in other cities.
  • Cyran teaches up to rank 70 in the arcane tree.

Capstone - Arcane Surge

Unlocked at rank 30 in arcane arts. Your next spell costs 0 mana and deals double damage.

The weave parts. For one breath, the casting is free and the magic burns twice as bright.

Once per day. Pair it with your most expensive top-tier spell. A free double-damage Arcane Blast at the right moment is fight-ending.

See also