Because of all of the griping I thought I would go ahead and take the time to write up something to help all of the people who are having problems figuring the whole thing out. I have been the highest level (ranking too) mage in the game pretty much since I started. I feel it is revealing that my Mage character is above ALL other Thiefs and Priests (and mages).

There are only 10 people ranked higher. That says quite a bit.

A few basic facts:
1) Everyone and their brother can kill you. This will always be the case, accept it and move on.
2) You can noly be killed twice a day, while you can kill other 4 times per day. You MUST take advantage of this.
3) Mages receive 4/5 of their power the LAST 4 LEVELS. That means your power goes WAY UP the last few levels.
4) a mage is a VERY hard character. At the highest levels it is by FAR the most powerful. Although it is VERY hard to get up there.

Facts about magic points:
1) It fully regenerates if you win a fight
2) some spells are very powerful, but aren't "cost effective" - IE; unless forced, you are better off casting a lower level spell more times.
3) The best spells are worthless to people not level 20 and beyond.

Here goes:

Armor/Weapons.
It used to be 10,000 armor was the best for mages, CJB and Profit were nice enough to put it up to 40k. Get the 40,000 armor as fast as you can. Mages are weaker and have to be able to survive many rounds with their opponents (players & forest critters). I have had some fights with harder monsters (and the PLAYERS) go into the hundreds of rounds. Get the 1,000 staff as fast as possible. Daggers are god awful (no pun intended). When you are able, get the 100,000 staff. I am level 24 now, and I'm STILL able to use it. Fights go much more slowly, but they ARE still easily winnable. Then save up to purchase spells and the best weapons.

Technique:
For a mage, technique is EVERYTHING. Knowing where and when to cast a certain spell is literally life and death in this game.
Here are the basic spells you'll want at a lower levels:
Cure 100
Cure 500
Shield I
Shield II

When in a tough fight, if you can, do NOT HEAL FIRST - cast SHIELD SPELLS! Shield spells BUILD: if you cast shield II (+50 DP) twice, then you get +50 x 2 (or +100 to DP). Heal only when you must. You want to save as much MP as you can. Remember, you may have to go many rounds with your opponent. At lower levels it is hard, no doubt about it. Just remember, as long as you win the fight, you get all of your magic back. Also, don't be afraid to log off and just wait until you heal rather than spend gold. As a mage it is important to take advantage of interest. The spells you'll eventually want are very expensive.

Mid levels (15-20):

Cure 500 & 1000 are VERY useful. Shield III also becomes useful. These spells take a lot more MP, but when in a fight, not having to cast Shield II many many times can save you lots of HP if your enemy is attacking for quite a bit. Because of MP cost, casting shield 1000 is better if you need to cure > 1000HP. Cure 500 takes 60MP, and cure 1000 takes 100 MP. Do the math and its "cheaper" to cast Cure 1000 if you need more than, say, 600 HP restores. Also remember, you do NOT need to be fully healed in a fight. If you have 5000HP, you do not need to always heal up to 5000. Sitting around 4300-4400 is fine. Shield spells also should be used.

High levels:

Cure 3000 is a MUST, as is Cure 1000. Shield III is also a must. When in a battle, always cast shield III 3-4 times. If you are trying to attack another player (which are ALWAYS harder than mobs) you may need to cast it 16 times or more. I took out a level 24 fighter when I was level 23 by casting shield III 38 times, then healing and using steal during the fight. Steal is the BEST death spell. Surprised? Don't be. It gets you 300HP and does 300 damage for every 100MP used. That's the best ratio in the death spells. True, it takes forever, but what do you really want? To spend some time and win? Or just lose really fast?

If you are going to attack another player, cast shield III 16 times, to start with. Shield IV is nice, except it costs 4000MP, which could be used better casting Shield III and heal spells. It is CHEAPER (normally) to cure 3000 twice, and cast shield III 16 times than it is to cast shield IV once. It is a fact. I cast Shield III until I'm down to about 5k MP, or I've gone a BUNCH of rounds and the opponent is rarely able to land an attack.

If you follow that strategy (shield III - minimum of 16 casts, level 23+ over 30 casts) and you shouldn't have any problems winning battles. Just skimp with your MP, and try not to waste them. You may go a few hundred rounds, but you'll win. And in the end, that's all that matters.

Written by God