Hey all,
I've been enjoying FE for the past few days very much. Although I do have a problem when starting sandbox games with a mage souvereign. For example if I pick Fire and Life as starting Apprentice level skills, the only combat spell I start out with is Burning Hands.
How do you people fight against a pack of wolves, for example, like that? Without armor the mage dies very quickly, with armor the initiative gets low. The only solution would be to first build a few spearmen/militia to take along, but that delays exploration and city building for too long, in my opinion.
How do you guys start mage based games?
Wolves are a tough battle early on. Take very easy fights, look for equipment, etc. Treat your mage as a melee character in the early levels, but level up for useful combat buffs like burning blade, evade and stoneskin early. It is more likely that you will need accompanying troops early, unless you get lucky enough with a sand golem.
If your first champion is melee based, focus on him/her at first, with buffs from your sovereign. Once you have acquired some good loot or a bit of an army it will be easy enough to level up your sovereign and become the main focus.
Without question though, mages aren't as powerful in the beginning as melee types, as you don't have the mana or the shards.
hmm take summoner profession will help you alot at the begining
How will it help if my Familiar is just able to cast the same spells (Burning Hands) and I cannot summon any other creatures, because I don't have the spells?
I'm thinking that at level 4 or 5 a mage hero should at least be able to do more than run away, no matter what aspects of magic he persues. Or do I simply do something wrong so I don't get the spells?
...nevermind, I just checked out the Spellbook manual and it shows clearly that I should start a mage character with more focus on Disciple. I just didn't figure out yet when I can pick new magical traits, or if it is completely random.
Thanks for your advice, I'll try again with all of that in mind.
There is a huge amount of randomness when it comes to which traits you're offered at level up, a point of contention for alot of us. For a melee type there is usually something that will pop up thats useful. But as a mage type you are pretty well at the mercy of the randomness.
I start my mage builds the base traits of life disciple(II), Brilliant, Discipline with Pariden.
I team them up with a melee champion who does the fighting while the mage stands back and heals with the occasional attack from a position limiting return attacks. ie next to only one enemy while the rest are in combat with somebody else. Usually I find some sand golems, dogs or other such units to build up their army but some times I have to build a couple of spear-men units.
By the time I have Path of the Mage I am normally close to finishing Spellbooks so that I can buy the other 4 spellbooks.
Yes the traits can be very random I sometimes with path of the mage keep getting the swordman trait every level up but not spell level traits even when I can get one from five schools.
Nakisisa
I bolded a part of your problem: most schools of magic are worthless in combat at the Apprentice level. You need at least a disciple level in one school to be able to use magic in combat with any degree of success. Your casting ability is also limited by your mana. If your faction has access to the Decalon AND your starting champ has access to a couple of schools of magic you might want to take a gamble and develop BOTH of them as mages. The Decalon ability to expand your spell school selection is so powerful, that imho it is worth the risk. If you do NOT have access to the Decalon, and your starting champ has access to a school of magic absent on your sovereign, consider eating your champ's spirit to gain that school of magic. This is especially relevant for Imperial factions who are unlikely to have good relations with the Kingdom of Pariden (For the Decalon access).
Okay, on your first levelup, if you get offered Strength, TAKE IT. Strength+later a Horse will allow you to run around in plate armor without gimping your initiative too much. And you do want armor, it's what keeps your puny little mage alive and healthy. Once you take the Path of the Mage, prioritize any skill that either lowers your tactical mana consumption or increases your spell damage.
Combat. You'll need 3-4 cheap, weak meat shields with staves. They're only there to take hits for you. Once you get access to elemental summons, go ahead and summon the elementals and eat the maintenance cost. They are worth it.
A special mention for the school of Air: it gives you access to Cloudwalk which changes the strategic game. The mobility that your stack gains from that spell is absolutely amazing. Even though the skill is not cheap, I always seek out getting access to Air by any means necessary.
Finally, a thing to remember: some of the best combat spells are the 2-school crossovers, such as Sunder for instance. It absolutely trashes elementals and demons and requires Fire and Air. Which is why a wizard with access to less than 3 schools of magic is generally crap.
The summoner trait gives you the shadow warg spell, which you can cast at level 1 and is very powerful at that time. It really helps casters get through the early levels. That being said, if I were making a custom caster sovereign, I'd go with warlock (+50% spell damage, better long run) and just play like a melee through the early levels, supporting him with some trained units if needed.
A level 5 mage hero can definitely do more than run away - he can equip every piece of gear you can find and melee things, until he has the levels/shards to actually use magic in combat. And/or he can summon a shadow warg and hide behind it
No matter what you do, path of the mage is definitely more of a long term choice, it's not going to do much for you at level 5. It can still melee things almost as well as the other paths at level 5, though - the path may not help you much in melee combat, but it doesn't hurt you either. There's no rule stopping your mage from equipping full plate and a longsword in this game, and that's basically what you're forced to do until you have enough shards and levels to make magic really shine.
Get your mage a nice champ. If possible, get the Quest that gives you igny's shortbow. Equip your mage with it and kep him/her out of the fight until about lvl 5
Then start using Flame Dart.
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