Elanthipedia - User contributions [en]

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2015-04-03T14:28:54Z

ORBITAL303: /* Targeted Spells */

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'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

This page will focus '''entirely''' on reviewing the various [[Warrior Mage]] spells. It is my personal experience practicing and using each spell that shapes how I look at them and my reviews are based off of my '''own''' experience. If you disagree, that's fine! Everyone's going to feel differently about stuff. This page exists primarily as a baseline for mages who aren't sure what spells to take, and want someone else's opinion on whether a spell is awesome or a dud.

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

These spells should be on the "MUST LEARN" list for new mages in my opinion. They increase your effectiveness in combat to a huge degree, and they will cover letting you train all of the magic skills.

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: *** - A decent backup spell to have on yourself to give you additional damage capability without the need to prepare or target. It's lacking as a primary source of damage, but augments other spells decently well when used in conjunction with them.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-03T14:23:04Z

ORBITAL303: /* Elemental Weapons */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

In addition, [[Warrior Mages]] can summon a weapon of their highest melee weapon skill type starting as soon as they join the guild using the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] ability.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

There are numerous [[Magical feats]] available to spellcasters. [[Warrior Mages]] learn a few for free as a guild perk - Faster Targeting and Targeted Mastery. Both of these feats will be automatically learned upon reaching Circle 2, and will not cost you spell slots.

For more information on what these abilities do and when you can learn them, you can view the detailed page [[Magical feats|here]].

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge. The base ability will summon weapons of Tier 2 quality - this means they will begin being roughly equivalent to store-bought gear. With metaspells, and investment in the [[Forging]] skill, it is possible to create weapons at a Tier 5 level - they will be roughly equivalent to player-forged rare metal weapons.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapons]], and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-03T14:20:28Z

ORBITAL303: /* Races */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

In addition, [[Warrior Mages]] can summon a weapon of their highest melee weapon skill type starting as soon as they join the guild using the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] ability.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

There are numerous [[Magical feats]] available to spellcasters. [[Warrior Mages]] learn a few for free as a guild perk - Faster Targeting and Targeted Mastery. Both of these feats will be automatically learned upon reaching Circle 2, and will not cost you spell slots.

For more information on what these abilities do and when you can learn them, you can view the detailed page [[Magical feats|here]].

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapons]], and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:39:20Z

ORBITAL303: /* Equipment */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

In addition, [[Warrior Mages]] can summon a weapon of their highest melee weapon skill type starting as soon as they join the guild using the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] ability.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

There are numerous [[Magical feats]] available to spellcasters. [[Warrior Mages]] learn a few for free as a guild perk - Faster Targeting and Targeted Mastery. Both of these feats will be automatically learned upon reaching Circle 2, and will not cost you spell slots.

For more information on what these abilities do and when you can learn them, you can view the detailed page [[Magical feats|here]].

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapons]], and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:36:01Z

ORBITAL303: /* Feats */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

There are numerous [[Magical feats]] available to spellcasters. [[Warrior Mages]] learn a few for free as a guild perk - Faster Targeting and Targeted Mastery. Both of these feats will be automatically learned upon reaching Circle 2, and will not cost you spell slots.

For more information on what these abilities do and when you can learn them, you can view the detailed page [[Magical feats|here]].

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapons]], and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:32:59Z

ORBITAL303: /* Training Summoning */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapons]], and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:32:23Z

ORBITAL303: /* Elemental Weapons */

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn new metaspells, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with Elemental Weapons, and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:25:27Z

ORBITAL303: Added info about Elemental Weapons - Starlear

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental weapon|Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn, [[Elemental weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with Elemental Weapons, and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domains]]. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an [[Elemental domain|Elemental Domain]] currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:20:40Z

ORBITAL303: Added info about Elemental Weapons - Starlear

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Elemental Weapons==

[[Warrior Mages]] can use their affinity with [[Summoning]] to summon [[Elemental Weapon|elemental weapons]]. You learn this ability automatically upon joining the guild, and it will at a base level summon a weapon type of your highest skill melee weapon. The ability is considered Earth aligned for purposes of elemental charge.

There are metaspells available that modify the ability - each metaspell requires [[Elementalism]] to learn. They have various effects on your ability to summon. As listed on the [[Elemental Weapon]] page, the spells are as follows:

*Knowledge of any metaspell raises the base weapon to tier 3.

:*The Air metaspell ([[Quick Infusions]]) reduces the RT of {{com|SUMMON}}, {{com|SHAPE}}, and {{com|TURN}} by 4 seconds.
:*The Aether metaspell ([[Expansive Infusions]]) allows you to create weapons for any melee or thrown weapon skill.
:*The Earth metaspell ([[Reinforced Infusions]]) allows the user to get additional tier bumps from [[weaponsmithing techniques]] and holding a [[:Category:Crafting materials#Forging materials|very rare metal ingot]].
:*The Electricity metaspell ([[Shocking Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do electric damage.
:*The Fire metaspell ([[Fiery Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do fire damage.
:*The Water metaspell ([[Icy Infusions]]) allows the user to create weapons that do cold damage.
* Shaping to an elemental type will transfer the highest damage type of the weapon into that element.

In addition to giving you access to a weapon right out of the gate, which will improve with you as you continue to train and learn, [[Elemental Weapon|elemental weapons]] are a great way for new mages to train [[Summoning]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out or working with Elemental Weapons, and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-04-02T18:09:57Z

ORBITAL303: Removed the info about this being a duplicate of my old WM Guide because I removed the old WM Guide and made it a "Spell Review" page - Starlear.

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2015-03-15T16:00:41Z

ORBITAL303: /* The Essentials */

{{RTOC}}
'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

This page will focus '''entirely''' on reviewing the various [[Warrior Mage]] spells. It is my personal experience practicing and using each spell that shapes how I look at them and my reviews are based off of my '''own''' experience. If you disagree, that's fine! Everyone's going to feel differently about stuff. This page exists primarily as a baseline for mages who aren't sure what spells to take, and want someone else's opinion on whether a spell is awesome or a dud.

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

These spells should be on the "MUST LEARN" list for new mages in my opinion. They increase your effectiveness in combat to a huge degree, and they will cover letting you train all of the magic skills.

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: ***** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T15:59:06Z

ORBITAL303: /* Spell Choices */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]. Keep in mind when browsing there that it's just the opinion of one mage on the various spells, but it is a good overview.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage

2015-03-15T15:56:46Z

ORBITAL303: /* Miscellaneous Information */

::''Returning players may want to read the page for [[Returning Players]] before continuing.''
{{guild infobox|guild=Warrior Mage|image=Small_warmie_300.jpg
|skill1=Magic|skill2a=Weapon|skill2b=Lore|skill3a=Armor|skill3b=Survival
|abilities=[[Familiars]], [[Aethereal Pathways]]
|mana=Elemental}}

Wielding both blade and arcane evocation, '''Warrior Mages''' are masters of combat wizardry whose origins are shrouded in the mists of an ancient past. The "Guild of Elemental Mages" traces its roots to the Age of Myths.

Despite the severe temperament often attributed to practitioners of elemental magic, down through the ages Warrior Mages have stood guard over [[Elanthia]], protecting her towns and cities from the scourge of invaders and the forces of darkness. From this noble tradition rose perhaps the greatest hero of these realms: [[Lanival|Lanival the Redeemer]], whose roguish youth was marked by apparent impertinence that ultimately gave way to a grave and selfless sense of duty.

==Official Information==
[[Image:WarriorMageCrest.jpg|thumb|'''Guild crest:''' A wolf's head shrouded by an aura of flame over twin crossed swords]]Information courtesy of [http://www.play.net/dr/info/guilds/wm.asp Dragonrealms Website].
===Guild Hall Locations===
; [[Crossing|The Crossing]]
: The largest of the Warrior Mage Guild halls is presided by the stern [[Gauthus|Guildleader Gauthus]], who oversees the training of young mages as they take the first steps along the Path of Duty. (You can type DIR WARRIOR MAGE for directions.)
; [[Riverhaven]]
: In this historic trading town stands another of the Guild's halls, where [[Karazhil|Guildmistress Karazhil]] keeps constant vigil.
; [[Shard]]
: From atop the battlements of Stormwill Tower, [[Melear|Guildmistress Melear]] holds at bay the unceasing tempest conjured long ago by the nefarious Mage of Storms.
; [[Chyolvea Tayeu'a]]
: This long-abandoned fortress in the Dragon Spine Mountains, the seat of an early predecessor of the Guild, has been recently reoccupied and its secrets mined by [[Augrym|Guildmaster Augrym.]]
; [[Ratha]]
: [[Tyrsan|Guildmaster Tyrsan]] leads the Reshalia Guild contingent with an iron grip, overseeing its contributions to defense of the island.
; [[Hibarnhvidar]]
: [[Jorent|Guildmaster Jorent]] handles [[Hibarnhvidar Warrior Mage Guildhall|Guild]] affairs in Forfedhdar.
; [[Mer'Kresh]]
: [[Margathe|Guildmistress Margathe]] provides her progressive views from her small island [[Mer'kresh Warrior Mage Guildhall|Guild hall]].
;[[Muspar'i]]
:[[Jharlan|Guildmaster Jharlan]] leads the wonderous Guild Hall of Musrap'i.

=== Skillsets and Common Races===
A Warrior Mage's primary [[Guilds#Skill_Sets|skillset]] is {{catskill|Magic}}. {{catskill|Lore}} and {{catskill|Weapon}} are secondary skillsets. Finally, the {{catskill|Survival}} and {{catskill|Armor}} skillsets are tertiary.

According to the DragonRealms website, Warrior Mages tend to be:
{|
| [[:Category:Human|Human]]
|align="right"| 31%
|-
| [[:Category:Elf|Elf]]
|align="right"| 25%
|-
| [[:Category:S'Kra Mur|S'Kra Mur]]
|align="right"| 10%
|-
| [[:Category:Elothean|Elothean]]
|align="right"| 8%
|-
| [[:Category:Prydaen|Prydaen]]
|align="right"| 7%
|-
| [[:Category:Kaldar|Kaldar]]
|align="right"| 5%
|-
| [[:Category:Dwarf|Dwarven]]
|align="right"| 3%
|-
| [[:Category:Rakash|Rakash]]
|align="right"| 2%
|-
| [[:Category:Halfling|Halfling]]
|align="right"| 2%
|-
| [[:Category:Gor'Tog|Gor'Tog]]
|align="right"| <1%
|-
| [[:Category:Gnome|Gnomish]]
|align="right"| <1%
|}

===Crafting Affiliation===
Guilded warrior mages receive one free technique slot in the Artificing discipline of the [[Enchanting skill]], one free technique slot in the Binding discipline of the Enchanting skill and one free technique slot in the Invoking discipline of the Enchanting skill.

See: [[Crafting]]

==[[:Category:Warrior Mage Abilities|Guild Abilities]]==
===[[Summoning skill|Summoning]]===
Warrior Mages can {{com|align}} themselves to an element. When spells of that element are cast, Elemental Charge is gained, and if opposing elemental spells are cast, charge is lost.

{{com|summon}} {{tt|admittance}} can be used to add Elemental Charge, and {{tt|summon impedance}} can be used to reduce it.

Prior to roughly 500 ranks of Summoning, users will be tied to the typical element oppositions such as fire/water, air/earth. Afterward, warrior mages can freely pair.
===[[Aethereal Pathways]]===
Warrior Mages can utilize mystical pathways of aether to aid their [[Targeted Magic skill|Targeted Magic]]. Aethereal Pathways consume Elemental Charge. Each pathway is aligned with an element, and those that match the current charge have their costs halved, and opposing ones have cost doubled.

===[[Familiars]]===
As Warrior Mages grow in skill and prowess, they learn to create [[talisman]]s which are employed to summon aether spirits. These summoned spirits are called familiars, and they take the forms of animals. By commanding the familiar with its talisman, a Warrior Mage can see through the familiar's eyes, send a familiar to find someone, speak through the familiar, move the familiar around the area it is in, pick up items, and do other things. Each familiar has its own talisman.

There are four levels of familiar: Small familiars, Large familiars, Dark familiars, and Fir familiars. Each level contains a different set of animals, and the type of talisman created determines the level of familiar created.

Summoning familiars costs Elemental Charge and is considered to be aligned with Aether element. More powerful familiars cost more charge.

===[[:Category:Elemental Magic|Elemental Magic]]===
Warrior Mages channel Elemental mana streams to fuel their [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|spells]]. They have access to spells from the [[:Category:Aether Manipulation Spellbook|Aether]], [[:Category:Air Manipulation Spellbook|Air]], [[:Category:Earth Manipulation Spellbook|Earth]], [[:Category:Electricity Manipulation Spellbook|Electricity]], [[:Category:Fire Manipulation Spellbook|Fire]], and [[:Category:Water Manipulation Spellbook|Water]] spellbooks.
: Planned spells: MAB, frost scythe, rimefang, and maybe FOS.
: Planned [[Hylomorphic Sorcery Spellbook]]: Sun Lance, [[Incinerate]], and Dark Heart of Disintigration.
<imagemap>
Image:Warrior_Mage_Spells.png|frameless|upright=5
rect 102 268 290 306 [[Air Lash]]
rect 102 530 288 570 [[Geyser]]
rect 102 678 290 722 [[Stone Strike]]
rect 104 830 290 868 [[Gar Zeng]]
rect 106 1130 290 1164 [[Fire Shards]]
rect 346 944 536 980 [[Ethereal Shield]]
rect 346 1062 534 1102 [[Elementalism]]
rect 608 118 796 158 [[Zephyr]]
rect 608 188 798 234 [[Tailwind]]
rect 608 338 798 380 [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]
rect 608 490 800 530 [[Frostbite]]
rect 608 568 798 608 [[Ice Patch]]
rect 610 642 798 680 [[Sure Footing]]
rect 610 716 796 756 [[Anther's Call]]
rect 610 788 800 830 [[Arc Light]]
rect 610 864 798 906 [[Tingle]]
rect 612 940 802 982 [[Substratum]]
rect 606 1014 798 1056 [[Ward Break]]
rect 608 1088 798 1132 [[Ignite]]
rect 608 1166 794 1204 [[Fire Ball]]
rect 886 80 1082 120 [[Air Bubble]]
rect 888 154 1080 194 [[Swirling Winds]]
rect 892 230 1078 268 [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]
rect 890 304 1078 342 [[Vertigo]]
rect 892 380 1080 418 [[Thunderclap]]
rect 892 450 1084 492 [[Rising Mists]]
rect 890 530 1080 568 [[Veil of Ice]]
rect 886 604 1078 644 [[Rimefang]]
rect 890 680 1080 720 [[Tremor]]
rect 890 826 1080 868 [[Lightning Bolt]]
rect 892 980 1080 1020 [[Ethereal Fissure]]
rect 888 1128 1078 1168 [[Mark of Arhat]]
rect 1134 268 1326 308 [[Blufmor Garaen]]
rect 1136 380 1324 422 [[Shockwave]]
rect 1136 494 1324 532 [[Fortress of Ice]]
rect 1134 718 1322 756 [[Magnetic Ballista]]
rect 1130 828 1324 872 [[Chain Lightning]]
rect 1134 902 1324 944 [[Grounding Field]]
rect 1132 980 1326 1020 [[Aether Cloak]]
rect 1132 1166 1320 1206 [[Dragon's Breath]]
rect 1378 380 1572 422 [[Flame Shockwave]]
rect 1396 680 1588 720 [[Ring of Spears]]
rect 1396 752 1588 794 [[Aegis of Granite]]
rect 1394 1088 1584 1130 [[Mantle of Flame]]
rect 1638 1130 1832 1170 [[Fire Rain]]
</imagemap>
Sortable table: [[Warrior Mage Spells 3.0]] 

====Spell Slots====
[[Spell slot progressions]]

The Warrior Mage spell tree requires 89 spell slots to master. Warrior Mages earn 91 spell slots at 150. [[Magic Technique]]s or [[Analogous Patterns]] spells also have their own spell slot costs. '''All magic guilds get a free magical feat at circle 2, and Warrior Mages get Faster Targeting and Targeted Mastery as theirs.'''

==Circle Requirements==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

==Miscellaneous Information==
*[[Warrior Mage Newbie Guide]]
*[[Warrior Mage Titles]]
*[[Warrior Mage Guild Shop]]
*[[Warrior Mage Cantrips]]
*[[Warrior Mages of Renown]]
{{RefAl}}
{{cat|Guilds}}

Talk:Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide

2015-03-15T15:55:26Z

ORBITAL303: ORBITAL303 moved page Talk:Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide to Talk:Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations: Took out the stuff redundant with the Newbie guide and turned it straight up into a review of WM spells so that folks can get an ide...

#REDIRECT [[Talk:Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]

Talk:Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2015-03-15T15:55:26Z

==Pathway/Spell Question==
Should the breakdown of each pathway be on this page, instead of just directing people to the pathway page?

Same goes for spells. The pros/cons are useful (not sure how I feel about rating since it's opinion-based), but should they go on the individual pages?

--[[User:TEVESHSZAT|TEVESHSZAT]] ([[User talk:TEVESHSZAT|talk]]) 11:09, 16 May 2014 (CDT)

Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide

2015-03-15T15:55:25Z

ORBITAL303: ORBITAL303 moved page Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide to Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations: Took out the stuff redundant with the Newbie guide and turned it straight up into a review of WM spells so that folks can get an idea of what ...

#REDIRECT [[Starlear's Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations]]

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2015-03-15T15:55:25Z

{{RTOC}}
'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

This page will focus '''entirely''' on reviewing the various [[Warrior Mage]] spells. It is my personal experience practicing and using each spell that shapes how I look at them and my reviews are based off of my '''own''' experience. If you disagree, that's fine! Everyone's going to feel differently about stuff. This page exists primarily as a baseline for mages who aren't sure what spells to take, and want someone else's opinion on whether a spell is awesome or a dud.

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: ***** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2015-03-15T15:53:39Z

ORBITAL303: Converted out the parts redundant with the Warrior Mage Beginner's Guide, and turned this page into a "Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations" page.

{{RTOC}}
'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

This page will focus '''entirely''' on reviewing the various [[Warrior Mage]] spells. It is my personal experience practicing and using each spell that shapes how I look at them and my reviews are based off of my '''own''' experience. If you disagree, that's fine! Everyone's going to feel differently about stuff. This page exists primarily as a baseline for mages who aren't sure what spells to take, and want someone else's opinion on whether a spell is awesome or a dud.

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: ***** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T15:34:13Z

ORBITAL303: /* Spell Slots */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T15:33:24Z

ORBITAL303: /* Spell Slots */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

Spell slots are used to learn spells and feats. You will gain a new spell slot every circle up to 50th, then every other circle from 51-100, then every third circle from 101-150. A [[Warrior Mage]] will have gained 91 spell slots by Circle 150 - learning the every [[Warrior Mage]] spell will cost you 89 spell slots. This means that it isn't possible to learn every spell the guild has to offer without severely limiting your effectiveness by not choosing feats.

Spells can cost more than one slot to learn. You can forget spells (and get your slots refunded) in [[Throne City]] during the day (the area with the NPC that does this is closed at night).

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:58:39Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */ - Fixed some stuff because my wikicode-fu is weak

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [[Targeted Magic]] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:57:45Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this means, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:55:10Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:54:45Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:54:28Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:54:13Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [[[Warrior Mage]] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild:

==Circle Requirements==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2015-03-15T14:53:24Z

ORBITAL303: /* Circle Requirements */ - Added table and explained how to interpret it.

{{merge|Beginner's Warrior Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has an impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, and your spirit health which determines how long your corpse will stick around, and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, so don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and the heaviest leather is more hindering than the lightest chain. Since Stealth is a survival skill, and Warrior Mages are survival tertiary, stealth will not be a strong point if you choose to use it, though the spell [[Rising Mists]] will improve your ability to hide. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

These are the [Warrior Mage] circle requirements (Taken from the main article on the guild:

==Circle Requirements==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Circle !! 1st magic!! 2nd magic !! 3rd magic !! 4th magic !! 5th magic !! TM !! Summon !! 1st weapon !! 2nd weapon !! 3rd weapon !! Parry !! 1st lore !! 2nd lore || 3rd lore || Scholarship || armor || defend || 1st, 2nd surviv || 3rd, 4th surviv
|-
| 1-10 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 11-30 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
| 31-70 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 1
|-
| 71-100 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2
|-
| 101-150|| 6 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 5 || 6 || 5 || 5 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 3 || 2
|-
| 151-200|| 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 8 || 10 || 8 || 8 || 5
|}

[[Summoning]] is a hard requirement (does not count toward Nth magic requirements). 
[[Targeted Magic]] and [[Scholarship]] are soft requirement (can be used toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>
[[Sorcery_skill|Sorcery]] and [[Thievery_skill|Thievery]] are restricted skills (do not count toward Nth skill requirements).<br\>

To understand what all of this, remember: The numbers listed are per-circle - so if you fall into the circle 1-10 bracket, and you are wanting to level up, you will need 4 ranks in your 1st (highest skill amount, numerically) per level, 4 in your 2nd, 3 in your third, etc... A skill listed as "1st Lore, 2nd Lore" etc, means you can pick any skill to work on that falls into the Lore skillset and train it at your leisure, and it will count towards leveling up if it is one of your highest 3 lores. If a skill is mentioned by name specifically, most of the time that means you must train that skill no matter what (whether it is a hard or soft requirement is mentioned in the chart - soft requirements like [Targeted Magic] can also be used as one of your Magic skill requirements to circle.

Circle requirements start off relatively easy and scale up in what they require of you as your circle increases.

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==
[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

Of the Debilitation spells available to Warrior Mages, the breakdown is as follows;

Mind - [[Ward Break]] and [[Vertigo]] 
Magic - [[Frostbite]], [[Thunderclap]], [[Tremor]], [[Anther's Call]], [[Arc Light]], [[Ice Patch]], and [[Tingle]] 
Spirit - [[Mark of Arhat]] 

More information on [[Contested Abilities|stat contests]] can be found here.

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 



==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Augmentation spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Utility spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find a list of Warrior Mage Warding spells [[Warrior Mage Spells|here]].



{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

General new player guide

2014-10-29T05:39:15Z

ORBITAL303: /* Magic */ - Added info about selective casting (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURE, and their TARGET equivalents).

This is a page for the non-guild specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

==Introduction==

Hello! Thank you for stopping by the Dragonrealms General Newbie Help Guide! This guide will try and help you get started with the game and teach you the ABSOLUTE basics.

==What is Dragonrealms?==

Dragonrealms is a MUD, which means it's a text-based multiplayer RPG. You connect to the game and the game's world is described to you in text, as if you were reading a book. You complete actions by entering text commands that you wish your character to accomplish. As long as the command is one recognized by the game, and you used it correctly, it will result in the main window of the game (typically called the Story window) listing the results of what happened. The interface and game world are almost entirely text-based, though there are some limited graphical features, such as certain things like health being able to be depicted in bar form.

Dragonrealms takes place in Elanthia, which is a fantasy setting. There is magic, swords, bows and arrows and the like. There are minor elements indicative of slightly more technology than a strictly medieval setting would have (such as some steampunk style things like mechanical constructs and airships) but you won't find cars, guns, lasers or spaceships to be in-genre in any way.


==How to Use This Guide==

This guide will attempt to explain the basics of the game to you and get you on your way to adventuring! However, as in any tutorial, you will be required to input things yourself from time to time. When this guide references a command that you should type in, it will list it in the following fashion:

>'''COMMAND'''

In this example, you would be expected to type the word COMMAND in your text-entry field in the game and then press your ENTER key. For the purposes of this guide, commands will be listed in all caps, but they can be entered however you wish.

Some commands require targets or modifiers. Usually these will be dependent on the context in which the command is used. As an example:

>'''COMMAND <OBJECT>'''

In this example, you would be expected to type the word COMMAND in your text-entry field in the game, followed by the name of the person you wanted to interact with before pressing ENTER. So if you were in a room with a picture and you wanted to look at it, you would type the following:

>'''LOOK PICTURE'''

In addition, modifiers may be used. For example, if there were both a blue picture and a red picture in the room and you wanted to look at the red one, you would type:

>'''LOOK RED PICTURE'''

Or, if there were two pictures but no identifying modifier (or as an alternative to a specific modifier like "red"), you may use numeric modifiers, like:

>'''LOOK SECOND PICTURE'''

Finally, modifiers may be combined, such as:

>'''LOOK MY SECOND RED PICTURE'''

which will look at the second red picture you have in your inventory.

Each section will have different information on the basics of the game and how to play, but understanding how to enter commands will be an essential part of following instructions in this (and other) guides.

Note that commands may be abbreviated. For example, '''WAV BOB''' will wave at Bob. However, take care that when abbreviating commands, you do not abbreviate too much. For example, simply entering '''W BOB''' will attempt to move the character one room to the west and the "BOB" portion will be ignored.

==Game Concepts==

===[[Races]]===

In addition to various other NPC races, there are 11 playable races: [[Human]], [[Elf]], [[Dwarf]], [[Elothean]], [[Gor'Tog]], [[Halfling]], [[S'Kra Mur]], [[Rakash]], [[Prydaen]], [[Gnome]], and [[Kaldar]].

A character's race affects the character's [[attributes]] (number of [[Time Development Points]] needed to raise an attribute by one point) and mostly RP-elements (e.g. tail verbs for races with tails).

There are no "racial traits" (e.g. infravision) or "racial abilities" (e.g. faerie fire) as may be found in other games.

===[[Guilds]]===

All characters start as Commoners. Then, there are 11 guilds that a player may choose to join: [[Barbarian]], [[Bard]], [[Cleric]], [[Empath]], [[Moon Mage]], [[Necromancer]], [[Paladin]], [[Ranger]], [[Thief]], [[Trader]], [[Warrior Mage]].

You can type DIR <GUILD> while in the city for directions to that guild. However, the location of two of the guilds, Thieves and Necromancers, are considered puzzles.

Also, due to unique mechanics that apply only to necromancers, it is not recommended that a new player join the Necromancer guild.

===[[Attributes]]===
Each character has eight [[attributes]]. They are: [[Strength]], [[Reflex]], [[Agility]], [[Charisma]], [[Discipline]], [[Wisdom]], [[Intelligence]], and [[Stamina]]. You can check your character's [[attributes]], among other information, by using the >'''INFO''' command.

[[Time Development Points]], known as TDPs, and a negligible amount of coins are used to increase attributes. The number of TDPs needed to increase each attribute increases as that attribute increases. It is not affected by the number of points in other attributes. It is affected by the character's [[Races|race]].

TDPs are granted each time a character circles, as well as gradually by training skills. At first, the number of TDPs received from circling will provide the majority of the TDPs a character has. However, at higher circles, the number of TDPs received from training skills will outpace the TDPs received from circling. This is especially true if the player elects to train more skills than the minimum required to circle.

===[[Skills]]===

In Dragonrealms, the success of actions (e.g. attacking) is determined by a character's experience with the respective skill. Want to climb that mountain? That requires Athletics. Want to swing that broadsword? Heavy Edged. Every challenge will require a certain number of ranks in the appropriate skill, and in order to train a given skill, you must attempt an appropriate challenge to your current skill ranks. If you're a champion of skinning the rarest beasts in the land, skinning a ships rat won't provide a challenge, and as such, won't teach you further skinning ranks.

All skills in the game are broken into five categories: [[Armor Skillset|Armor]], [[Lore Skillset|Lore]], [[:Category:Supernatural Skillset|Magic]], [[Survival Skillset|Survival]], and [[:Category:Weapon Skillset|Weapons]].

===[[Experience]]===

The way skills gain in ranks in Dragonrealms may also be somewhat confusing at first. As you gain experience, you'll see that skills mindstate increase progressively from Clear (0/34) to Mind Lock (34/34). This is your 'Field Experience', and represents you learning things that you haven't yet converted to actual skill. Think of it as studying for a test, but needing to sleep on it to fully process and integrate all you've learned. Over time, Field Experience will drain, and in doing so, will convert into actual ranks in the skill. The rate at which skills drain is determined by your guild. Each guild has one primary skill group, two secondary skill groups, and two tertiary skill groups. Skills in a character's primary skill group are easiest to train, secondary skill groups the next, and tertiary take the longest to train.

Typing >'''EXPERIENCE''' will display skills with field experience. To see your total experience in all ranks, type >'''EXPERIENCE ALL'''. To check your experience in a given skillset, type >'''EXPERIENCE WEAPON''', >'''EXPERIENCE LORE''', >'''EXPERIENCE MAGIC''', >'''EXPERIENCE ARMOR''', or >'''EXPERIENCE SURVIVAL'''. Adding '''ALL''' will also include skills without any field experience. You may also check an individual skills progress by typing >'''EXPERIENCE LOCKSMITHING''', for example, to check Locksmithing.

===[[Circle|Character Advancement]]===

In Dragonrealms, a character's level is called their 'circle'. If someone says they are 20th circle, they have reached the minimum requirements to advance with the guild leader 19 times, as all characters start at 1st circle. 'Circling' is also used as a verb to describe the act of leveling up. Each guild requires a certain number of ranks in various skills to circle. The skills required are often flexible. For example, the requirements are often X ranks in each of the highest Y skills in a skill group. The exact skill (e.g. small edge or large edge) can be freely chosen by the player, although some skills cannot be used. There are also sometimes requirements for specific skills. To circle, a player must fulfill all the requirements. It is possible for a character's skills to be significantly higher than the minimum required for their circle, either by not meeting the minimum skill requirement to circle in a different skill or by choosing not to circle, as it is done manually. To circle, find your guild leader and >'''ASK <LEADER> ABOUT CIRCLE'''.

===[[Inventory (concept)|Inventory]]===

For you to carry anything other than coins, they must be carried in your hands, worn on the body, or placed in a container. Naturally, you may carry only two items at a time. In addition, how many items you may wear depends on where the item is worn.


Each item you have, including coins, has a weight. Items that are worn on the body have their weight reduced, while items that are in containers, such as a [[:Item:Sturdy backpack|sturdy backpack]], will count towards your [[encumbrance]]. Being encumbered has various penalties to your character, perhaps the most important of which is a penalty to [[evasion]]. You may increase the amount of weight you can carry without becoming encumbered by increasing [[strength]] and/or [[stamina]].

===[[Damage|Health]]===

Dragonrealms doesn't employ the "hit point" system, per se, though [[vitality]] and [[spirit]] are similar. Instead, each body part (head, each eye, neck, chest, abdomen, back, each arm, each hand, each leg, and the nervous system) takes [[damage]], which can be either external or internal, and fresh or scars. Injuries a player receives are almost always fresh, which become scars after they are healed. The scars then, in turn, need to be healed. As you are injured more in an area, the damage becomes more severe. For example, they may start as minor abrasions and end up as a stump if you are not careful. When a critical body part (head, neck, chest, abdomen, or back) is destroyed, the character will die. Players may also die if their vitality reaches zero, or if their spirit health reaches zero. Spirit health is not as commonly used when compared to vitality. When the severity of fresh injuries reach a certain threshold, they begin to bleed. External wounds may be >'''TEND'''ed, utilizing the [[First Aid]] skill to stop the bleeding, but there is no similar option for internal wounds.

Vitality and spirit health will regenerate naturally. Wounds and scars need to be healed by [[Empath|empaths]], some NPCs (such as [[Mirinn]]), [[healing herbs]], and [[Remedies Products|remedies products]].

In addition, there are also poisons, diseases, and parasites that can affect the character's health.

===[[Currency|Money]]===

Money comes in the form of coins, with denominations of copper, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum, each worth 10 of the previous denomination. In addition, there are three currencies: Kronars, Lirums, and Dokoras. They may be exchanged for each other at a bank for a small fee. Dokoras are worth the most, followed by Lirums, and Kronars the least. Shops in different areas will demand payment in their "home" currency. When discussing price for items between players, it is usually discussed using Kronars.

Coins do have physical properties but are not quite the same as normal items. See [[currency]] for details.

===[[Death]] and [[Favors]]===

At some point, [[death]] comes to everyone in Elanthia. Death isn't permanent, but in DragonRealms it does works differently than in many other MMOORPGs and MUDs. Your character can die from a loss of [[vitality]], a loss of [[spirit]] health, or having a critical body part sufficiently [[Damage|damaged]] or removed. Any field experience not yet converted to ranks is lost, and your character will drop anything you were holding in your hands. Once you die, your options for communicating with other players are limited. You will be able to speak to other players that come by, but you are unable to move on your own, but other players can DRAG you.

Your character can come back to life a few different ways. The two most common are for a cleric to [[Resurrection|resurrect]] you, or for your character to >'''DEPART'''. In order for a [[cleric]] to resurrect you, an [[empath]] will first need to heal any major wounds that your character might posses. Being resurrected by a cleric is the best way to come back from the dead, but isn't always available. The other way for your character to come back to life is to use the >'''DEPART''' command. New characters have a free depart option that last until second circle (level), or it has been used 5 times. These initial 5 departs allow you to return to life at the nearest resurrection location with all your items and coins still in your possession.

For characters who have expended their free departs, or advanced past first circle, the >'''DEPART''' command will, by default, cause all of the coins your character was carrying to be lost, and all of your items to go into a grave in the room where you died. Any items you were carrying may also have been dropped at your characters feet, and not in the grave. Items in a grave have some small measure of protection, but it is possible for another player to take items from the grave and not return them. Some protections are in place to keep the would-be thief from logging out with your hard-won items or running to a 'safe' room, but these protections don't last forever.

To minimize the penalties to the >'''DEPART''' command, players should have multiple [[favors]] at all times. To the character, a favor represents your character making some sort of sacrifice to the [[Immortals]], the gods of Elanthia. In exchange for that sacrifice, the gods will let your character return from the dead. What this means to us, the players, is that your character will have to complete a puzzle to get a favor orb, fill the orb with field experience, and place the orb on an altar devoted to one of the gods. Orbs are filled using the >'''RUB''' or >'''HUG''' command, with rub transferring a little field experience, and hug filling the orb completely.

The amount of field experience needed to fill each favor orb increases with increasing circle and increasing number of favors. As a rule of thumb, you should try to have 10 or more favors at any time. You can see the number of favors when you use the >'''INFO''' or >'''EXP''' command.

'''Other concept ideas'''

Creation systems.

Day/night effects (shop closures, etc.)

Justice

==Helpful Terminology==

In any game, you'll come across terms that are used by long-time players that can sometimes be confusing to new players. Some of the more common terms will be listed here to help you better understand what other players are talking about.

'''Verb''' - Typically when players refer to verbs, they are referring to an item that you can use a command on, though for some people verb holds the same meaning as command does. As an example, if someone says they have a 'verbed cloak', this might mean they have a cloak, but when you >'''SHAKE MY CLOAK''' while the cloak is worn on your character, you might see your character shaking dust out of the hem. Verbs, whether on items or not, give you additional ways to express things that your character is doing.

'''Gweth''' - Short for gwethdesuan. Gwethdesuans are items that can be used for communication at a distance via a thought network. If you are wearing one, you can >'''THINK <MESSAGE>''' to broadcast a message to anyone else with the same type of gwethdesuan within range. So for example, to send out "Hello world!" on the thought network, you would input >'''THINK Hello world!''' into your text-entry field and press your ENTER key.

'''Making Money''' - The primary means most players earn money in Dragonrealms is by hunting the various NPC critters that inhabit the lands. Critters will drop coins, small gems, junk gear, and lockboxes. You may also SKIN some creatures for valuable pelts, skins, hides, horns, paws, teeth, etc. Generally speaking, gems can be sold in gemshops, while skins/pelts/etc may be sold at tanneries. Lockboxes must be opened by a locksmith with sufficient LOCKSMITHING, and will often contain gems and coins. Not surprisingly, more difficult creatures tend to have more valuable loot.

'''Equipment''' - Starting towns with have places to purchase weapons and armor, and this store bought gear will be sufficient to get you started adventuring. APPRAISE the gear you have to determine what skills it will train, for example, a Scimitar trains the Small Edge skill, while a Broadsword trains the Heavy Edge skill. There are no irreversibly wrong decisions to be made when starting to train your character, though it's a good idea to speak with some people for advice on what skills to focus on, and therefor what gear you should seek out. Sooner or later, you'll want to upgrade to player crafted gear, which is superior to store bought, and can range in price dramatically depending on the materials. Many players will donate player crafted gear to new players, so ask around.

As a very general rule of thumb that is by no means a hard and fast rule, Weapon or Armor Tertiary guilds will be better served using lighter and faster weapons, and less hindering and less protecting armors, though there are frequent exceptions to this rule. For example, for a Moon Mage, a good starting set of weapons would be a Scimitar (Small Edge), a Mace (Small Blunt), a Throwing Club (Light Thrown) and a Shortbow (Bows), while a good set of armor may be all cloth or leather (Light Armor), and rotating Chain Greaves (chain). Comparitively, a Paladin will probably want to train a larger number of armors, focusing on heavier pieces, and use heavier weapons. That said, there are advantages and disadvantages to each weapon and armor type, so do some research and figure out how you want to craft your character.

* [Another important term that may confuse people is "circle." -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 18:52, 28 October 2014 (CDT)]

I recommend putting any information that doesn't apply to just one guild here. For example, how to cast spells, how to make money, how to find equipment, etc. --[[User:ISHARON|ISHARON]] ([[User talk:ISHARON|talk]]) 23:03, 27 October 2014 (CDT)

==Major Game Systems==
===[[Magic]]===
While [[Magic]] in Dragonrealms is used to some extent by every guild, Thieves and Barbarians train it in their own way. This section covers the prepare/cast mechanics that magic-using guilds utilize to train magic. Each spell has a 'Minimum Prep' or minimum amount of mana that it can be cast at. Anything above that is at the mage's discretion. The more mana funneled into a spell, the more difficult it is to cast, and that amount is determined by their skill in their primary magic skill (e.g., Lunar Magic for Moon Mages, Elemental Magic for Warrior Mages) and their skill in the type of spell being cast. For a more in-depth explanation of magic in Dragonrealms, you can read the lore behind [[Magical_theory|Magical Theory]].

For the sake of this Newbie Guide, all spells should follow the same pattern: (with exceptions to be discussed later)
#[[Prepare_command|PREPare]] <spell>
#Wait until you see: '''''You feel fully prepared to cast your spell.'''''
#Add Mana
##via [[Harness_command|HARNESS]] <amount>
##via [[Cambrinth]]
###[[Charge_command|CHARGE]] <item> <amount>
###[[Invoke_command|INVOKE]] <item>
#[[Cast_command|CAST]]
The <item> in this example is the scrap/sliver/shaving you will buy from the Artificer (if following the Walkthrough). As you're just starting out, the <amount> will only be 1 or 2 as you won't yet have the skill to put much extra mana in your spells. You can split it up however you like, in increments as small as 1. You can HARNESS 1 '''and''' CHARGE 1/INVOKE with cambrinth for a total of 2 extra mana. Eventually you will also be able to cast before the spell is fully prepared, though at low skill levels you risk backfiring and damaging your nerves.

This method will cover training the [[Magic]] skills of Augmentation, Warding, Utility, and Sorcery. In the process of casting it will also train your general Realm Magic (Arcane, Elemental, Holy, Lunar)

Debilitation is trained in the same way, though requires you be in combat and casting on an enemy in the proper skill range.

Targeted Magic is trained the same way, but with one extra step: TARGETing the spell at a critter.
#[[Target_command|TARGET]] <spell abbreviation> (this will default to the enemy you are currently facing)
#Wait until you see: '''''Your formation of a targeting pattern around a <target> has completed.'''''
#Proceed as above with adding mana and CASTing.

The spellcaster may also 'fine target' the spell by PREParing it before TARGETing. Here is an example of the difference:

>target ff

You begin chanting a prayer to invoke the Fists of Faenella spell.

You begin to weave mana lines into a target pattern around a pigeon-toed snow goblin.

>prep ff

You begin chanting a prayer to invoke the Fists of Faenella spell.

>targ head

You begin to weave mana lines into a target pattern around a pigeon-toed snow goblin, '''focusing on its head.'''

This can be useful for damaging an already damaged body part of an opponent, but it also makes it much more difficult to aim so you might find yourself missing a critter you can hit easily with general TARGETing. It is important to mention that either method teaches just as well. Once you TARGET a spell, it is considered fully prepared, but CASTing before the targeting matrix fully forms will reduce it's accuracy.

Some spells can additionally be targeted at the area around the caster, or specifically only at hostile creatures.

To target all other targets in the area,

>targ area - *NOTE* This will strike all targets in the area except the caster. This can include other players, and can get you in trouble with the local authorities (or with game staff).

To target only hostile creatures in the area,

>target creatures - This will strike all hostile creatures in the area, whether they are engaged to you in combat or not. This is like targeting or casting at the area, only it will never hit players.

It should be noted that other spells, which are not targeted may sometimes be selectively cast as well. Many spells with area effects can be told to target everything in an area or only hostile creatures by using either

>CAST AREA or >CAST CREATURES

Attunement is another magic skill used only by the 'magic using' guilds. Attunement is perhaps the easiest of all Magic Skills to train. It will tell you how much mana is available in any given room by use of the [[Perceive_command|PERCEIVE]] command. Also POWER or CONCENTRATE. It is trained as simply as walking into a new room, and checking the POWer there. Each room has a timer of 540 seconds on teaching via PERCeiving, so to train you end up doing a 'Power Walk'. Move, CONCentrate, Move, CONCentrate, Move, CONCentrate...you get the picture.

<-- Taken from [[War Mage Newbie Guide]], primarily written by ORBITAL303 -->

====Targeted Spells====

Targeted Magic spells are all spells allow a TARGETing matrix to be formed. They deal damage, typically some combination of elemental types (fire, cold, electrical) and/or physical types (slice, puncture, impact), and can in some ways be thought of as a weapon. Instead of swinging a sword, you fling fire bolts at your opponent. In order to train Targeted Magic, you need to be able to deal damage to a target of appropriate difficulty.

====Debilitation Spells====

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. Debilitation abilities are all subject to a stat contest, and more information can be found at [[Contested Abilities]]. In order to train Debilitation, you need to be able to cast on a target of appropriate difficulty.

====Augmentation Spells====

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something. In order to train Augmentation, you need to cast a spell of sufficient difficulty, either by adding more mana to a spell, or casting a more difficult spell.

====Utility Spells====

Utility Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

Utility spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like Augmentation spells. In order to train Utility, you need to cast a spell of sufficient difficulty, either by adding more mana to a spell, or casting a more difficult spell.

====Warding Spells====

Warding spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, reduce incoming physical damage, etc. In order to train Warding, you need to cast a spell of sufficient difficulty, either by adding more mana to a spell, or casting a more difficult spell.

====Arcana====

Arcana is the skill of magical item use. The two most common items are Runestones, which are consumable holders of spells, and Cambrinth items, which act as a mana battery. When you start, you'll want to FOCUS on runestones to begin your training, though you'll quickly advance to being able to CHARGE Cambrinth rings. Once you've charged a bit of mana into a Cambrinth item, you can INVOKE the item to prepare it to discharge the stored mana into your next spell. Focusing runes and Charging cambrinth items will train Arcana.

====Attunement====

Attunement is your ability to detect mana for your use. With enough skill, you'll be able to tell if there is more or less mana in adjacent rooms, and at the higher range of skill, you'll be able to perceive what those mana levels are. This is trained by PERCEIVE'ing in a room, each room on a roughly 8 minute timer. To train, people will often do what is referred to as 'power walking', wherein they run circuits around a town, PERCEIVE'ing the mana in each room.

====Barbarian 'Magic'====
Placed here because the skills used are the same. I'm sure Caraamon will have choice words on whether or not Barbarians actually use magic. See the [[Barbarian_Newbie_Help_Guide|Barbarian Newbie Guide]] for more detail.
====Thief 'Magic'====
Placed here because the skills used are the same. See the [[Thief_Newbie_Help_Guide|Thief Newbie Guide]] for more detail.
====Combat Overview====
Placeholder.

==General Walkthrough after Character Creation==

===Gear===
While the character creation process will provide you with basic armor and a weapon, there a few other things you will need to begin adventuring (mostly) safely. To begin with, spend some time wandering around your starting town, trying to find the [[Grizzled_old_war_veteran|grizzled old war Veteran]] (Crossing) or [[Sir_Robyn|Sir Robyn]] (Riverhaven). Visit their pages to see the syntax for exchanging your starting gear with those NPCs for a weapon and armor that fit your play style and character concept. In Dragonrealms you can make just about any armor/weapon combination work. If you are planning on joining a heavy stealth guild (Necromancer, Ranger, Thief) or planning on seriously training stealth for any other character, I would recommend light armor. Paladins, plate armor, and all others chain armor. Feel free to speak to other members of your guild for more detailed advice. When it comes to weapons, a scimitar or broadsword will suit anyone well, through let your character concept be your guide here.

Now that you've wandered around and probably gotten thoroughly lost, it's time to learn a great command for getting around town, the [[Dir_command|DIRECTION]] command (abbreviated DIR). This will allow you to easily navigate to where you need to go.

Next order of business; obtain a shield. To accomplish this you can use DIRection ARMOR and follow the cues. Once you make it to the shop, you can READ CATALOG to see what is for sale. You can also use the [[Wealth_command|WEALTH]] command to see how much money you have. In Crossing, you can get a target shield from [[Tembeg%27s_Armory|Tembeg's Armory]]. In Riverhaven, there is unfortunately no small shield option, though you can probably ask another player to get you one from Goblins or if you must, purchase an oval shield from [[Bantheld%27s_Ironworks|Bantheld's Ironworks]]. A shield is your first priority, and then if you have extra money you will want to purchase a helm, greaves, and gloves. The shop you purchased a shield from will have these items, although if you started in Crossing, the storebought helm is terrible and doesn't protect eyes - consider a trip to Riverhaven in the not too distant future to purchase a helm there.

Now that your armor is taken care of, ''if you are a magic user'' you should also purchase a piece of cambrinth. [[Cambrinth]] is a magical metal that stores mana, and the primary means of training the Arcana skill. DIRection ARTIFICER will either take you to [[Herilo%27s_Artifacts|Herilo's Artifacts]] (Crossing) shop or [[Zanthron%27s_Artificer_Shop|Zanthron's Artificer Shop]] (Riverhaven). Once in Herilo's, you can use the SHOP command to see what is available. Any of the 'scrap' type cambrinth pieces in the metal bucket will do. If you started in Riverhaven, Zanthron's has no good options for new players, so consider a trip to Crossing in the not too distant future. Exploration is fun!

===Preparation===
We'll begin with the shield, and if you were able to obtain a small-sized target shield, we will go over how to wear it on your arm. If you were unable to obtain a target shield and are using an oval shield, skip to the next paragraph because you have to hold an oval shield for it to work. With a target shield, hold your shield in your hand and ADJUST SHIELD. This will switch the shield between two methods of wearing it: over your shoulder, or attached to your forearm. The message you will be looking for is this: '''''You adjust the straps of your shield, tightening them so that it will fit securely upon your left arm.''''' After you have adjusted it properly, WEAR SHIELD.

Now that you have a shield, held or worn, let's cover the [[Stance_command|STANCE]] command to make sure you're using the shield. STANCE SHIELD will allow you to use your Shield (100%) and Evasion (80%) skills. This is the safest stance for young adventurers, as your new armor will greatly hinder evasion until you have more ranks in its use. Once you enter combat and have a weapon in your right hand, you can STANCE PARRY to train the Parry skill. However, it is always best and safest to return to STANCE SHIELD as your default. Once you have an arm-worn small shield and are in shield stance, you can be at full defensive power all the time no matter what you are doing. Again, if you have an oval (or any medium sized) shield, you must be holding it in your left hand to use it. Eventually Paladins will be able to arm-wear a large-sized shield in this manner, while Barbarians, Rangers, and Traders will be able to arm-wear medium shields. Speak with other members of your guild to learn the pros and cons of these larger shields, but know that an arm-worn small shield is still the choice of most players and will serve any young adventurer well.

===Joining a Guild===
Now that you are fully equipped and ready to adventure, it is time to join the guild of your choice! Use the trusty DIRection command to get to the guild of your choosing, and find the Guildleader. Once there, you can type JOIN and listen to what they have to say.

==How to Search Elanthipedia==

===Basic and Advanced Search===

Elanthipedia has a lot of useful content, but finding what you want is not always intuitive. Here are some tricks. 
 
'''[https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=&fulltext=Search&profile=all&redirs=0 Basic Search]''': to perform a basic search, click the link, or scroll to the upper-right corner of the screen, and type your search term in the box. Click "Search." 
 
'''[https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=&fulltext=Search&profile=advanced&redirs=0 Advanced Search]''': Sometimes, the basic search gives you too many results, and you want to narrow your search. You can reach the advanced search option by clicking the link by performing a basic search and then clicking the "''Advanced''" link.
:Under ''Search in namespaces'', you can choose which types of pages to include in your search. The most useful options are:
*'''(Main)''' any wiki page that is not in a special category (most articles and shops)
*'''Category''': any wiki page whose title begins with ''Category:''. This includes the main guild, race, and spell pages, for example, which link to more detailed information.
*'''Armor''': armor item pages (with looks, stats, shop locations, etc.)
*'''Shield''': shield item pages (with looks, stats, shop locations, etc.)
*'''Weapon''': weapon item pages (with looks, stats, shop locations, etc.)
*'''Item''': all other item pages (with looks, stats, shop locations, etc.)
*'''Post''': archived posts from the official Play.net forum
*'''Title''': titles (the kind your character wears around his name)
*Checking the "List redirects" option will include pages that just redirect you to another page.

===Special Queries===

In addition to the normal search options, Elanthipedia has some special query pages that let you search for particular content. To use them, simply select the options you want and click "run query" at the bottom. 
 
*'''[[Special:RunQuery/ShopQuery|ShopQuery]]''': in the type field, include any of the merchandise types listed [[:Category:Shops_by_Type|here]]
*'''[[Special:RunQuery/WeaponQuery|WeaponQuery]]'''
*'''[[Special:RunQuery/ArmorQuery|ArmorQuery]]'''
*'''[[Special:RunQuery/ShieldQuery|ShieldQuery]]'''
*'''[[Special:RunQuery/ItemQuery|ItemQuery]]''': all other items
When using the four item query pages, "rare" means items that aren't normally available, such as quest prizes, festival merchandise, etc. 
 
[[Special:RunQuery/BestiaryQuery|BestiaryQuery]]: Here you can search for huntable creatures by location, difficulty, types of loot dropped, etc. 
 
[[Special:RunQuery/Post_Query|PostQuery]]: Search for archived posts from the official Play.net forum (separate topics with a comma)


{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-29T05:27:12Z

ORBITAL303: Undo revision 378768 - This was worded in such a manner as to be specific to the WM guild's spells, and did not include all the spell contests and contest types. The spell skill types were there to be expanded on into further WM specific sections.

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desire and still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage warding spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:52:36Z

ORBITAL303: /* Races */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desireand still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants or your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells can harm. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage warding spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:28:20Z

ORBITAL303: /* What is a Warrior Mage? */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water.

Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they desireand still be reasonably effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation. This gives them a deeper toolbox to use to handle varied situations.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage warding spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:14:15Z

ORBITAL303: /* Common Misconceptions */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned'''). The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage warding spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:13:12Z

ORBITAL303: /* Warding Spells */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

[[Warding]] spells in the Warrior Mage spellbook are spells that have the specific effect of protecting their target from magic in some way. They may provide you with a protective barrier to elemental damage, make you completely immune to a single elemental damage type, or reflect an enemy's targeted spell back at them.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage warding spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:11:23Z

ORBITAL303: /* Utility Spells */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

[[Utility]] Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

[[Utility]] spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:11:05Z

ORBITAL303: /* Utility Spells */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Utility Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

Utility spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:10:48Z

ORBITAL303: /* Utility Spells */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Utility Spells are spells that are used to provide a variety of differing types of effects that don't easily fall into one of the other categories.

Utility spells can have a variety of effects, all of which are useful, but they are not necessarily related to directly improving the capabilities of someone like [[Augmentation]] spells. Additionally, [[Utility]] spells are generally cast on an item or in the area, instead of on a person.

Some of the [[Utility]] spells in the Warrior Mage arsenal are hybrid spells, which also teach another skill (Like [[Magnetic Ballista]] also teaching the [[Targeted Magic]] skill).

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage utility spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:04:06Z

ORBITAL303: /* Targeted Spells */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not.

When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T22:00:18Z

ORBITAL303: /* Training Suggestions for Summoning */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''

You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].


==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not. When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T21:59:40Z

ORBITAL303: /* Equipment */

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, you will eventually be required to train three weapon skills to continue to Circle - though not until higher levels.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''
You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not. When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T21:56:56Z

ORBITAL303:

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==What is a Warrior Mage?==

Warrior Mages are masters of sword and spell, fighters who use their knowledge of the arcane to assist them in direct combat (usually by setting their enemies on fire, striking them with lightning, or giving them other similarly spectacular deaths). Warrior Mages wield Elemental Magic, and there is a strong emphasis on [[Targeted Magic]] in the guild's spellbook. The guild spellbook is divided up by the six Elements - Aether, Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, and Water. Each of these spellbooks have a complete arsenal of types of spells (with the exception of Aether, which has no damaging magic), making it possible for a mage to focus on a single element if they choose and still be effective. However, most mages spread their knowledge of the elements around, and learn with practice what spells they want in a given situation.

The focus on the elements is a strong theme for the guild's lore and backstory, and is often central to the roleplay of characters who join.

==Races==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important (but not useless). Physical stats such as [[Strength]], [[Agility]], [[Reflex]] and [[Stamina]] will support the mage's ability to survive in combat and be more effective with a weapon. Mental stats such as [[Discipline]], [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will determine the power of your offensive spells (specifically those using your [[Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] skills. [[Charisma]] has a minor impact on a single spell in our arsenal but it's useful for more subtle things like haggling with merchants, your spirit health which some undead creatures and certain spells. Additionally, once you gain the ability to call a Fir [[Familiar]], your [[Charisma]] can influence its willingness to drag you away from sticky situations in combat from time to time.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of [[strength]] and [[stamina]] to swing those big weapons without tiring out. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]] to be accurate with those quick blades and evading hits. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

You can contact a [[Tailor]] or an [[Armorsmith]] to inquire about player-made armor, but be advised that as a new character, you will be unlikely to afford it right away. However, it's good to have goals and you will know how much to save up to get it.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work so just pick something you like stylistically. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up a [[Weaponsmith]] and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring. You may not be able to afford a weapon from a crafter right away, but you should talk to one anyhow to learn the prices and to ask questions about what would be good for you, so you know what to save up for.

It is recommended that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice. Some creatures may be magic-immune, or there may be other reasons you wish to not use a spell (Some creatures can steal a spell you prepare and use it against you, for example). Additionally, a creature may fly and thus be out of range of a melee weapon. This makes a ranged weapon a good secondary weapon choice. As a Warrior Mage, as you reach high level, you will be eventually expected to train three weapon skills.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''
You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not. When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Warrior Mage new player guide

2014-10-28T21:32:20Z

ORBITAL303: Initial porting over of my WM Beginner's Guide. Added some new sections to fill out, and made some of the wording more newbie friendly and included more minor details. Plan on being able to assume that the reader has read the General Newbie guide.

This is a page for the Warrior Mage specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, there should be as little overlap with the general guide.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see [[:Category:Newbie Guide Contest]].

{{RTOC}}

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Circle Requirements==

==Spell Slots==

==Feats==

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

'''Out of Combat'''
You can easily train [[Summoning]] out of combat by practicing magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance once to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly as you train your other magic skills. You can bypass the need for Summon Admittance by ensuring that the spells you are casting are of the element you're aligned to, and it will be even easier to keep your charge up if you summon the proper elemental domain.


'''In Combat'''

[[Summoning]] can be trained fairly easily in combat as well. Remember that casting spells of your aligned element will restore a bit of Elemental Charge with each cast.

While in combat, repeated casting of [[Targeted Magic]] spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your Elemental Charge will remain high enough to continually power a pathway of your chosen Alignment. Since keeping a Pathway up is the preferred method to train [[Summoning]], this will move the skill for you in combat without you needing to input additional commands, provided you remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing some Elemental Charge from the cast. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power Pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be a fun roleplaying opportunity, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will eventually take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spell Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. Each spell will train one of the five magic skills ([[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], or [[Warding]]) in addition to [[Elemental Magic]] and [[Attunement]]. You should keep in mind when choosing your spells that you want to eventually have a spell that will train each skill, so that you can practice it, as eventually you will need all your magic skills to Circle.

Detailed descriptions, a rough guide to the pros and cons, and a rating of effectiveness of the spells in our arsenal can be found at the Warrior Mage Spell Recommendation page.


==The Essentials==

Being a new adventurer means that you'll be starting from scratch, with very little skill in weapons or magic. The following spells will be helpful to new Warrior Mages as choices after they learn their first spell (which will be a [[Targeted Magic]] spell). All of these spells will help you survive better in combat by either improving your defensive skills or by helping you disable an enemy. 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 

'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==
[[Targeted Magic]] is one of the most defining aspects of the Warrior Mage guild. In short, [[Targeted Magic]] is your skill at aiming magic at things to make them die. Warrior Mages being wielders of the forces of the elements, typically this takes the form of raining down balls of fire or lightning bolts on our enemies. Your [[Targeted Magic]] skill works like any other magic skill as far as determining how much mana you can stick into a spell, but it also acts like a weapon skill in combat, where your ranks go up against the target's defenses to determine if you hit them or not. When deciding which [[Targeted Magic]] spell to use, consider the damage types you wish to deal - what damage types are your opponents weak against or immune to entirely? There's the capability across all the books for Warrior Mages to deal every type of damage in the game, so keep this in mind when deciding what spells you want to learn.


==Debilitation Spells==

[[Debilitation]] spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them negatively in a non-damaging way while using the [[Debilitation]] skill. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage debilitation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Utility Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.


==Warding Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself. They are essentially "buff" spells, helping you to survive or otherwise be better at something.

You can find some reviews of Warrior Mage augmentation spells, along with suggestions for their use here.



{{Cat|Newbie Guide Contest}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T20:59:44Z

ORBITAL303:

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|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
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''Updated 10/28/14 - Gradually beginning to move all of this info over to the Newbie Guide contest page for WM's for the community to edit. Consider this page to be my scratchpad as it gets moved over there.''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast targeted spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

User talk:CARAAMON

2014-10-28T20:54:47Z

ORBITAL303: /* Converting my guide */ new section

{{RTOC}}
Click here for the [[User talk:Caraamon/Archive|Archive]].

== Crafting material pages ==

So I thought I was making up the BONE item pages the same as how you'd made up the METAL item pages, but now I see you're starting to do re-directs on them to other page names. First off, sorry! Guess I should have just done one and gotten you to look it over first. So, with that in mind, do you want to go ahead and do the first leather item up (right now, looks like Antelope skin), so I have a template to do the other leather items that way too so that you won't have to go back and fiddle them later? Not trying to make more work for you...:) --[[User:Kythryn|Kythryn]] 14:51, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
: Actually, I'm still testing it, trying to find the way that makes the most sense. Metals and stones are fairly simple, as they always are obvious what they are. Skin and bones isn't always quite so straightforward. I list them in stack form for a couple reasons:
::# So people can easily match what's in their pack to crafting stats.
::# Because some skin/bones we can't actually attribute to a specific creature yet or come from multiple creatures.
::# Because some skin/bones is very oddly named.
::# Because some similarly named items might end up being very different (Snow Goblin bones might end up different than Elven Pixie Forest and Plains Goblin bones) and so having a Goblin Bone page could cause issues.
: That being said, this is a wiki and not my personal little fiefdom, so if you think you have a better way to do it, PLEASE give it a shot. I watch all the changes on the site (or at least try), so even if I disagree and change it, some part of your idea may end up being far better. -Moderator [[User:Caraamon|Caraamon Makdasi]]([[User talk:Caraamon|talk]]) 19:01, 15 November 2013 (UTC)
::You may not claim the title, but we all know: You're king of the Elanthipedia Kingdom...:).
:::So, on the stack vs. no-stack thing, I see where you're coming from. But, on the flip side of that, if you're looking to match what is in a pack, why not lumium shard or silk cloth or onyx rock? I mean, the only thing you can (currently) pick up from it's name is a prepared healing herb (ie. crushed belradi moss becomes crushed belradi), everything else you see as a "cloth" or an "ingot" or whatever. (not trying to be difficult here, but seems like the other materials already have their "qualifier" stripped off, so why not with Bone & Leather too).
:::And, we do already have Goblin Bone and Pale Goblin Bone (thanks to [[Antendren]] checking a snow goblin question I had) so I do suspect that if the GM's release something from 2 similar creatures, they will give it a separate name. Hopefully. Probably. Maybe.
:::At the end of the day, I don't really care how we proceed with this, I'm happy to help populate everything. --[[User:Kythryn|Kythryn]] 00:55, 16 November 2013 (UTC)
::::And because I'm just itching to do something with this tonight it seems, I have been playing around with [[Caracal-pelt Leather]], including the base pelt and made a test table under the COMMON LEATHER section on the Crafting Materials page. Let me know what you think, make changes, etc. Thanks! --[[User:Kythryn|Kythryn]] 03:32, 16 November 2013 (UTC)
::::: Perfect! -Moderator [[User:Caraamon|Caraamon Makdasi]]([[User talk:Caraamon|talk]]) 06:07, 16 November 2013 (UTC)
::ugh, sorry I didn't get all those leather crafting supplies finished up yet but I did guilt Anuind into getting me samples of all the remaining common leather skins and have them tanned. So, I am (hoping!) to finish that up this coming weekend. That being said, I'd posted on the forums, and will add this to the "crafting feedback" page too, but since there are currently 2 common skins that turn into "some azure-scale leather", each with different stats, should I go ahead and make "some azure-scale leather (1)" and "some azure-scale leather (2)", and a master "disambig" page like this link for both?
:::http://www.elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Weapon:Black-bladed_bastard_sword_with_a_silver_gryphon_atop_the_cross-guard
::--[[User:Kythryn|Kythryn]] 06:50, 11 December 2013 (UTC)
:::Works for me. -Moderator [[User:Caraamon|Caraamon Makdasi]]([[User talk:Caraamon|talk]]) 12:57, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

==I broke it==
I did something weird to the ranger spell page. I think I must have had one of the lines out of order. I tried reversing my changes but it still looks weird. Halp. --[[User:GAMERGIRL151|GAMERGIRL151]] ([[User talk:GAMERGIRL151|talk]]) 21:14, 22 June 2014 (CDT)

== Order Gifts ==

So, I was thinking about all those gifts from different events over the years. Many of them are already in the database, just floating around here and there, and I was wondering if there was any way to list them on the pages for the groups they came from. Could this be done at the bottom of the pages, or would this be something that would be better on its own page with a link placed on the group's page? --[[User:Hexedbythenet|hexedbythenet]] 16:53, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
: You can either set them up on the page for the organization they came from, the event they came from, or a generic page for gifts from that organization, depending on what data you have and how you'd like to set it up. Use the {{tlink|sloot}} template to ensure they autosource. -Moderator [[User:Caraamon|Caraamon Makdasi]]([[User talk:Caraamon|talk]]) 07:51, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I'm not familiar with exactly how to do that. :D So, any chance you can show me what you mean using this page as an example [[Thick_leather_liquor_sack_stitched_with_a_pink_war_mammoth]] --[[User:Hexedbythenet|hexedbythenet]] 14:57, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
: See [http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tavern_Troupe_Performing_Order&action=historysubmit&diff=273139&oldid=272671 Change] -Moderator [[User:Caraamon|Caraamon Makdasi]]([[User talk:Caraamon|talk]]) 11:47, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

== Error when uploading image ==

I'm trying to upload a .png file of the new 3.1 Moon Mage spell tree and it is returning these errors: 
*Could not open lock file for "mwstore://local-backend/local-public/4/41". 
*Could not open lock file for "mwstore://local-backend/local-public/4/41/3.1_Moon_Mage_Spells.png". 
I've tried various sizes of files thinking it might be a file size issue, but no luck. I've tried both creating a new upload as well as a new version of an existing upload. Not sure what else to try. --[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 10:05, 14 May 2014 (CDT)
: Yeah, there's a technical issue with uploading images right now. So hold off till we nail it down. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 17:04, 14 May 2014 (CDT)

== GMs and Approval ==

More a housekeeping thing, but I'm guessing that GM accounts shouldn't need to have their edits reviewed? I noticed that all of [[User:DR-MELETE]]'s edits are on the patrol list, for example. --[[User:TEVESHSZAT|TEVESHSZAT]] ([[User talk:TEVESHSZAT|talk]]) 10:54, 16 May 2014 (CDT)
: I prefer it for 2 reasons. 1) I like to see what the GMs add, and 2) not all of them are extensively wiki fluent (not that I'd expect them to be), so I prefer to do a quick check over. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 22:18, 16 May 2014 (CDT)
:: Makes sense! --[[User:TEVESHSZAT|TEVESHSZAT]] ([[User talk:TEVESHSZAT|talk]]) 23:08, 16 May 2014 (CDT)

== Possible category or category restructuring for spell scrolls ==

Over in [http://forums.play.net/forums/DragonRealms/Abilities,%20Skills%20and%20Magic/Magic%20-%20Suggestions,%20Discussions%20and%20Thoughts/thread/1638465 this thread] on the forums, there is a discussion about what to do with a list of spells that are possible to be found on scrolls that is in an [[Category_talk:Non-Signature_Spells|odd spot]]. Short version: One suggestion is to either create a category for it or repurpose the current [[:Category:Scroll_Spells]] with a sub-category for Scroll Only Spells. I was hoping to get your feedback on whether this is a good idea or not. I will make any necessary changes whichever direction is decided upon.--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 10:08, 1 June 2014 (CDT)
:Started poking around and realized that spell templates would have to be adjusted to factor this stuff in, so while the page is set up I'm leaving the rest to Caraamon himself. --[[User:TEVESHSZAT|TEVESHSZAT]] ([[User talk:TEVESHSZAT|talk]]) 11:40, 1 June 2014 (CDT)
::I have made adjustments to the spell template before, specifically the adjustment to make it track spells via intro, basic, advanced, and esoteric rather than first, second, third, and fourth tier, so if you're willing I could go ahead and do that myself. The grunt work will be updating each individual spell's page once the template is in place.--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 11:59, 1 June 2014 (CDT)
::I've gone ahead and done a quick edit of the template to add the new Scroll Only Spells category as an option for source= and making sure the scroll graphic displays for the new category instead of the old repurposed one. I also edited [[Tangled Fate]] to test it. I'm holding off on doing more until I get the go ahead to continue just in case I didn't do it quite right or it should be done in a slightly different way. One thing I'm noticing is that Tangled Fate is showing correctly on the new [[:Category:Scroll Only Spells]] page, but it isn't populating on the [[:Category:Scroll Spells]] page despite it being a parent category. What is the best way to handle this?--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 12:42, 1 June 2014 (CDT)
:::After doing some testing I've come to the conclusion that Tangled Fate is just not populating correctly, since I just updated [[Tezirah's Veil]] and it is displaying as expected. It probably has to do with the order I made the edits to the template and category pages and it will likely correct itself eventually. Since Tezirah's Veil is working properly I will go ahead and start updating every spell's page to properly reflect the new source categorization.--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 00:19, 2 June 2014 (CDT)
::::Project completed, aside from filling out missing information and confirming existing information is correct.--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 03:03, 2 June 2014 (CDT)
::::: I am seriously sick (not the dying kind, just the kind where you kinda wish you were), so I won't be responding too quickly. Let me know if you run into any issues. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 03:56, 2 June 2014 (CDT)

== Database error ==

I think this is something the office will have to resolve, but there is a sql database error on the [[Item Hider]] page: 
<code>A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was: 
::(SQL query hidden) 
from within function "SMW::getQueryResult". Database returned error "126: Incorrect key file for table '/tmp/#sql_586f_0.MYI'; try to repair it (wikisql2.simutronics.com)". </code>--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 11:40, 21 June 2014 (CDT)
: Yeah, I've made them aware of it, but it's out of my hands. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 13:17, 21 June 2014 (CDT)
:: Looking into it... Caraamon, are you on Skype? --[[User:SIMU-NOVA|SIMU-NOVA]] ([[User talk:SIMU-NOVA|talk]]) 15:06, 16 July 2014 (CDT)
::: I'd be totally willing to be, but I have no webcam, so I don't know how much use that'd be. Usually I handle stuff like this on AIM, but I don't know if that's suitable for you. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 16:40, 16 July 2014 (CDT)
::: Actually, I just remembered I have one buried somewhere, so that could work too. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 16:45, 16 July 2014 (CDT)

== Categories ==

I have noticed a strange problem I can't seem to figure out. The spell categories pages seem to be collecting spells in a strange way. For example, [[Gar Zeng]] is listed in [[Multistrike Spells]] rather than [[:Category:Multistrike Abilities|Multistrike Abilities]]. [[Fire Shard]] is listed in [[:Category:Multistrike Abilities|Multistrike Abilities]] rather than [[Multistrike Spells]]. As near as I can tell there is no difference in the wikicode. I have noticed some other spells that inexplicably don't show up in the proper categories like [[Dazzle]] not showing up in [[:Category:Debilitation_Abilities]] -or- [[Debilitation Spells]] but likewise can't see any difference compared to [[Compel]] that is. I would be happy to chase these down and fix them if you have any idea how to do it.[[User:GNIKOLEYCHUK|Ithrios]] ([[User talk:GNIKOLEYCHUK|talk]]) 10:44, 7 August 2014 (CDT)
:There's two things happening here. First, the entries on a category page only update when each individual entry is updated thereby resetting it's cache. This does happen automatically over time, but can be quite unpredictable as to when it will happen. You can force it to update on the category list by editing the individual page and saving it without changing anything.
:The second is related, but works in the reverse. The spell tables on the spell category pages don't automatically repopulate when you update a spell, but rather only repopulate when the table itself is updated. Editing the category page and saving it without an edit should force this.
:On occasion you might need to do both in order to get a spell/ability to show up in a table, so do a no-change edit/save of the page followed by the same for the category. Don't worry about spamming the recent changes either, since no-change edits don't register a history at all.
:P.S. You don't want to know how many times I've had to do this to every single spell page when converting everything over to 3.0 standards. ^^;;--[[User:ABSOLON|ABSOLON]] ([[User talk:ABSOLON|talk]]) 11:22, 7 August 2014 (CDT)
:: Pretty much what Absolon said. Sometimes there's a lag time between when something is changed in a template, and when that change registers on pages that use that template. If something is every acting odd, the first thing to do is edit, make no changes, then save. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 14:15, 7 August 2014 (CDT)
:::So, yeah, I fixed it. I have even *more* respect for Absolon and the work he has done with spells if he has done that more than once. As a follow up question (now that I seem to be ripping my way through the magic pages and updating them), is it feasible (and desirable, I suppose) to add additional categories to some of the spell types like singe-shot targeted spells, integrity/potency/ablative/non-ablative wards and so forth? The latter, especially, is useful information if you want to stack wards (you are better off stacking two integrity wards that one of each, for example).[[User:GNIKOLEYCHUK|Ithrios]] ([[User talk:GNIKOLEYCHUK|talk]]) 15:52, 7 August 2014 (CDT)
:::: Is it possible? Sure. But more categories means going back over every spell or ability, and either manually adding links/categories or rewriting the template to automatically do it, then rewrite the individual entries to update the infobox. And the question is whether a sufficient number of people would find it useful to be worth the effort. It is entirely possible to excessively categorize and label things. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 16:21, 7 August 2014 (CDT)

== Titles 3.0 ==

Is there a specific way we should update titles for 3.0? I'm just not really seeing how we are differentiating what reqs on a page are from 2.0 or are verified as being 3.0. Take [[title:Far_Seer|Far Seer]] for example. I found in 3.0 that it still requires 500 Astro exactly like the 2.0 title, though it no longer requires 350 Perception skill, and if it does require perception it is 300 or less ranks. The spell req is still unknown if it is the same or not. Would it be best to make a note in the title's discussion page, or perhaps in the title's page add 3.0 req fields and still keep the old 2.0 reqs for reference, or create a new 3.0 title page for said title or somehow put a checkmark or the word 3.0 VERIFIED or something next to verified 3.0 reqs, or a question mark after old 2.0 unverified reqs? I rambled on there a bit, but I figure that there should be some way to make it known if a req is 3.0 verified or not, just not sure how to do it. -[[User:SYDNEE|SYDNEE]] ([[User talk:SYDNEE|talk]]) 17:34, 9 August 2014 (CDT)
: Hmmmm, let me dig up the old code and see if I can't do something simple. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 21:20, 9 August 2014 (CDT)
: Okay, added something. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 02:08, 10 August 2014 (CDT)

== Bestiary - Missing Creature? ==

I noticed that [[Faenrae Assassin]]s aren't on the bestiary page. It this because the skill caps have ? at the end? If so, is there a way to display all creatures, even if the exact skill isn't known? Alternately, should we just remove the '?'? -DRSCOTT
: Yes, the ? make the page throw up an error which means as far as the system is concerned, those properties are blank. This causes some issues with the dynamic table. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 13:06, 11 August 2014 (CDT)

== Player Organizations Page ==

I noticed a few missing links on the Player Organizations Page. Therengia Cavalry is among the missing organizations needing to be listed on that page, and Therengia Cavalry has had a page to link to on Elanthipedia for many years. I also wanted to suggest a Player Militias link on the main page, so the page listing all Provincial Militias can be accessed easily, instead of having to search for each one individually, and listing Official Order Militias along with them. I see the Inactive official Positions is actually the front page to which all active pages are linked, which should be changed to Official Positions, with the Inactive page link found on the bottom of that page. Thanks! Gwenddolyn
: Okay, go ahead and fix them. -[[User:CARAAMON|CARAAMON]] ([[User talk:CARAAMON|talk]]) 15:57, 31 August 2014 (CDT)

== Converting my guide ==

I'm going to gradually be moving the bulk of my guide for WM's over to the newbie contest thinger, but I plan to keep the spell reviews on the current page to prevent information bloat. When the time comes, would it be possible to rename that page to something like "Warrior Mage Spell Recommendations" or something? I am not strong in wiki-fu.

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T20:50:12Z

ORBITAL303: /* The Essentials */

<center>
{| border="1"
|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
|}</center>

{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast targeted spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success, but be aware that it doesn't work on four-legged creatures. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T20:48:53Z

ORBITAL303: /* Training Summoning */

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|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
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{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Suggestions for Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast targeted spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T20:47:56Z

ORBITAL303: Removed redundant section, as it had already been stated in the previous section.

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|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
|}</center>

{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast targeted spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T04:58:17Z

ORBITAL303:

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|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
|}</center>

{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Elemental Charge==

[[Summoning]] abilities use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Another Summoning Training Perspective==
[[Summoning]] can be trained any time that you are practicing magic. Summon Admittance is a good way to build up that initial charge to get the pathway going, but isn't the most efficient method of keeping your charge built. By simply casting a spell of your aligned type with some frequency, it will recharge your pool and keep the pathway active without the need to sit and meditate constantly.
If you are training utility, augmentation and warding, just make sure to include at least one spell from your aligned book into your spell rotation.

This is easiest while in combat, since repeated casting of Targeted Magic spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your [[Summoning]] will move without any extra effort. Just remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T04:44:58Z

ORBITAL303: Added section on familiars.

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|<big>''The Newbie Contest Help Guide for Warrior Mages can be found [[Warrior Mage Newbie Help Guide|here]]. Only work done there will be counted toward the contest.''</big>
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{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of [[agility]] and [[reflex]]. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and [[stamina]] is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It represents the mage's skill at sensing and manipulating the elemental planes, and being able to summon that energy for personal use in the form of a [[Familiar]] or through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Familiars==

A [[familiar]] is a minor aether elemental spirit that is summoned from the plane of Aether and bound to the mage's will. Typically these spirits are bound in the form of various animals through the use of a talisman. A [[familiar]] can perform a variety of tasks for the mage, including picking up small items, transferring items over a distance, and acting as messengers (a mage can see and speak through their familiar, and familiars can be told to locate other adventurers).

To summon a [[familiar]], you must have a talisman and enough elemental charge to do so. To gather charge, follow the instructions below in the Elemental Charge section.

Once you have enough elemental charge, hold your talisman in hand and >'''SUMMON FAMILIAR''' to call your familiar.

To dismiss your [[familiar]], >'''TELL FAMILIAR TO LEAVE'''.

A detailed guide about the various types of familiars, the level requirements to attain them, the classes of talismans, and animals associated with them is available [[familiar|here]].

==Training Summoning==

[[Summoning]] is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Charge==

Pathways use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Another Summoning Training Perspective==
[[Summoning]] can be trained any time that you are practicing magic. Summon Admittance is a good way to build up that initial charge to get the pathway going, but isn't the most efficient method of keeping your charge built. By simply casting a spell of your aligned type with some frequency, it will recharge your pool and keep the pathway active without the need to sit and meditate constantly.
If you are training utility, augmentation and warding, just make sure to include at least one spell from your aligned book into your spell rotation.

This is easiest while in combat, since repeated casting of Targeted Magic spells is common. Align with the element of your favorite TM spell, and your [[Summoning]] will move without any extra effort. Just remember to start tapping into the [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

Starlear's Warrior Mage spell recommendations

2014-10-28T04:09:40Z

ORBITAL303: Changed wording of the beginning paragraph in anticipation of this being linked to from the Newbie Guide. Added the Augmentation section, to be completed at a later date.

{{RTOC}}
''Updated for 10.14.2014 by Starlear. Now with DEBILITATION''

So you've gone and joined the guild, huh? Awesome. Welcome! It's a pretty diverse and rewarding guild to play, and there's lots of viable ways to do it. Additionally, I personally feel that the flavor added by committing your character to an element and having a familiar both add roleplay opportunities that are hard to match in other guilds. There's a lot to like here and I hope you enjoy it.

'''This is a guide for new mages, as well as those returning from a long absence. A lot has changed and a lot of the things you remember may be different. Don't be ashamed if you don't know something.'''

Let's start with some basic things.

==Race==

Warrior mage abilities make use of all the [[Attributes]]. In DR 3.0, ALL of the stats are important to us to some degree, with Charisma being the LEAST important. The reasoning for this is that Charisma as a stat, while useful in that it gives you additional spirit health, better prices from haggleable vendors, and influences how often your [[familiar]] will drag you out of danger in combat, is only an influential stat in one of our [[contested spells]] - [[Mark of Arhat]], which as of 3.0 is a spirit vs will [[contested spells|contested spell]]. Keep this in mind when choosing a [[:Category:Races|race]] if you're trying to min-max, and choose a race where the stats you want to favor are easier to train.

Keep this in mind when picturing what kind of mage you want to be - do you want to be a two-handed weapon swinging mage? You will be using a lot of strength and stamina. Slash and dash fencer? Lots of agility and reflex. ALL mages will make heavy use of all three mental stats, and Stamina is going to be important to you no matter what in combat. Ultimately, the most important choice is picking a race you feel comfortable roleplaying. 

At the end of the day, any of the races can be viable Warrior Mages. Since just about all of the stats are important for us, don't let the numbers necessarily be the sole influence for you.

==Equipment==

Most Warrior Mages tend to favor [[Chain Armor skill|Chain]] Armor. It offers good protection and absorption without the huge maneuvering penalties associated with heavier armors. As stealth is not something our guild focuses on regularly, it is uncommon to see Warrior Mages wearing [[Light Armor skill|Light Armor]] but for those that wish to try and pursue stealth, it can be an option - however, you can hide nearly as well in a well-made set of chain as you can in leather and contrary to popular belief, a full set of leather can indeed be more hindering than a full set of chain. [[Brigandine Armor skill|Brigandine]] and [[Plate Armor skill|Plate]] are both much heavier and more protective but as a guild with armor as its Tertiary skillset, it is generally more trouble than it's worth to pick these heavier armors - you will have a hard time avoiding blows in them and the extra protection and absorption is not enough to offset this. You *will* take more damage overall.

Weapons generally come down to personal preference, and you can make pretty much anything work. For a new character, swing roundtime and [[Fatigue]] will be at a premium, so you should look up your local forger and see about getting a nice lightened weapon made. Regardless of the weapon's type (that is, the skill it trains when you use it), a lightened weapon will be easier to swing more quickly, be more balanced and therefore more accurate, and be less tiring.

I recommend that you train at least one ranged weapon in addition to any melee weapons you pick. While a lot of your damage will be done with spells, it's always good to have options for when spells are not a viable choice.

To get a full list of all the weapon skills, you can type >EXP WEAPON 0 in-game.

==Summoning and Aethereal Pathways==

[[Summoning]] is the [[Warrior Mage]] guild-only skill. It is trained at low-skill by having a familiar out and at high level through the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]]. [[Aethereal Pathways]] are abilities exclusive to the Warrior Mage guild that reflect their mastery of Targeted Magic. Essentially the mage can modify the way Targeting works in different ways that are useful in a variety of situations.

==Elemental Charge==

Pathways use Elemental Charge as a resource to power them. To gather Charge, you must first ALIGN yourself to an element. For example, to align myself to fire, I would ALIGN FIRE. You can change your aligned element at will, but it requires you to have no remaining Charge to do so.

To gather Charge, cast spells from the spellbook of your Aligned element. You will gain a small amount of charge for each cast. You will lose the same amount of charge for casts of your opposed element. You can choose your opposed element with enough Summoning skill (Example: Fire is traditionally Opposed to Water. With enough skill, I could Align fire and decide that I wanted to be Opposed to Aether).

Charge can also be gathered by doing SUMMON ADMITTANCE. This will sit you down on the ground and you will meditate with a Roundtime (Generally in the realm of 10-15s). When you finish the meditation you will have gained Charge. You can continue SUMMON ADMITTANCE until you are told you are at maximum charge.

Each of the [[Aethereal Pathways]] has an element associated with it. Using a pathway of your aligned element will make it cost less charge to use. Using one from your opposed element will make it cost more.

==Elemental Domains==

A recent new addition to the Warrior Mage toolbox are '''Elemental Domains'''. Creating a domain is the process of aligning an area (basically any room) in-game with a particular element. This has a few effects:

- It doubles your charge gain from casting spells when you are aligned to this element. 
- It doubles your charge cost from casting spells if you are opposed to this element. 
- It negates environmental penalties for a spell (Ex: If I cast Rising Mists in the middle of Summer, in a Desert, with a Water Domain present, it will lose the seasonal and locational penalty associated with it).

To summon a domain, the syntax is >SUMMON <ELEMENT> DOMAIN, where <ELEMENT> is the name of one of the elements. There is at least one easter-egg element available that is not one of the traditional six.

The primary use of an Elemental Domain currently is to have an easier time maintaining your Charge level through casting alone, enabling more freedom with the use of [[Aethereal Pathways]].

==Pathways==

'''Focus Damage (Fire)'''
Increases damage from targeted magic.

'''Focus Quick (Air)'''
Decreases targeting time for spells.

'''Focus Ease (Water)'''
Reduces the difficulty to cast targeted spells.

'''Focus Power (Earth)'''
Increases the Potency of spells.

'''Focus Accuracy (Electricity)'''
Increases the accuracy of targeted magic.

'''Focus Secrecy (Water)'''
Reduces the chance that your targeting matirx will be spotted.

'''Focus Precise (Air)'''
Makes it easier to target specific body parts with spells.

'''Focus Defend (Earth)'''
Makes it harder to direct targeted magic at you.

'''Focus Conserve (Fire)'''
Decreases minimum mana cost of targeted spells.

'''Elemental Barrage (Electricity)'''
Simultaneously attack with a melee weapon and a targeted spell.

'''Perceive Pathway (Aether)'''
Detects aethereal pathways in use nearby.

==Training Summoning==

I have found a good way to train [[Summoning]] out of combat is to simply practice magic with Cambrinth. Cast as high as you can without backfiring, until you run out of mana. When you are out, Summon Admittance two times and then turn on a Pathway that is for your Aligned element. Pathways by element can be seen at the page for [[Aethereal Pathways]]. Continue magic training and when you are out of mana, simply Summon Admittance to gather charge. This will keep your Pathway running almost indefinitely and you will mind lock your [[Summoning]] skill fairly effortlessly.

You can also in combat, repeatedly cast spells of a particular element to gain Charge and continually fuel a Pathway.

==Common Misconceptions==

Your alignment does '''not''' negatively impact your ability to cast spells '''in any way''' (ex: You are aligned to Fire, and go to cast a Water spell. '''That spell will not be "weaker", it will not cost any more mana, or any other differences in any way from if you were Water aligned).''' The ONLY difference is that if you're casting a Water spell while Fire Aligned, by default, you will lose a small amount of Elemental Charge. You will not be weaker in any way, despite the messaging that the spell diminishes you. That's just the messaging for losing charge. Charge doesn't make your spells better or worse, it is used to power pathways and to initially summon your familiar.

Because of this, there is absolutely no mechanical benefit to only learning one type of spell and never the opposite element. It can be fun RP, and sometimes you might get something like a Title out of knowing say, all the fire spells and zero water spells, but it will take away from your effectiveness to neglect spellbooks completely. Whether the sacrifice in effectiveness is worth the gain in Roleplay to you is a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.

==Spells Choices==

See [[:Category:Warrior Mage Spells|Warrior Mage Spells]] for full listing of spells.

Warrior Mages have a variety of spells available to them, and all of them have their niches that they are useful in. I'll give a brief summary of a spell, and give it a rating (which you should remember is my personal opinion and you may disagree with, so don't write something off just because I don't like it) of * to ***** and explain why I feel that way.

==The Essentials==

*Note: I consider a lot more spells than this crucial to our arsenal - however, this is a Beginner's Guide, and as such I am only including the spells that are MOST USEFUL to a brand new Warrior Mage here. I consider the following spells essential both for the boost in survival they provide to someone who may not have a solid grasp on how to train effectively, and the ease with which they can be cast. Additionally, for this guide, I am only including spells in our guild's repertoire (That is, no [[Analogous Patterns]]). 

'''[[Swirling Winds]] (SW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Zephyr]] or [[Tailwind]]. - Increases your Reflex and Evasion skill. This will help keep you alive in combat. 

'''[[Tailwind]] (TW)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisites: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases your chance to hit with ranged attacks. Fantastic for when you're training a ranged weapon (You ARE training a ranged weapon, right?). Follows the caster room to room. 
'''[[Sure Footing]] (SUF)''' - Augmentation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Increases balance and parry skill. This will help keep you alive in combat if you are using a weapon capable of parrying or a parry stick. 

'''[[Ethereal Shield]] (ES)''' - Warding Spell 
Prerequisite: Any Intro TM spell. - Reduces elemental damage taken, easy to train Warding with. Use when fighting other mages or creatures that use spells, and it will help significantly. 

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)''' - Debilitation Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. - Basic disabler spell. Will knock down and stun the target when successful. Very good for getting hits in on things you have a hard time hitting, due to the knockdown inherent in its success. 

'''[[Ignite]] (IGNITE)''' - Utility Spell 
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. - This spell ignites your weapon, causing it to deal additional fire damage. The amount may seem insignificant, but it is a lot of extra damage due to the way the spell works - this damage is applied to every attack. 

==Targeted Spells==

'''[[Air Lash]] (ALA)'''
Prerequisite: None. A whip of air that damages the target. 

Pro: Cool messaging. Easy to cast. Fairly accurate. 
Con: Damage is purely physical (Puncture and Slice). Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Basic single-strike spell for physical damage. Decent accuracy and damage. 

'''[[Gar Zeng]] (GZ)'''
Prerequisite: None. Blasts of electricity that damage the target. Think taser-hands. 

Pro: Deals Electric, Fire, and Puncture damage. Easy to cast. Hard to miss with. Multi-strike. 
Con: Damage and messaging are not particularly impressive, making the spell "feel" less cool. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The multiple strikes make this a solid TM trainer, even though each individual strike will be less damaging than a comparable single-strike spell.

'''[[Geyser]] (GEYSER)'''
Prerequisite: None. A jet of scalding water erupts from the ground, and you direct it with your will at a target. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Fire damage. Fairly Accurate. Cool Messaging. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Single-strike. 

Rating: *** - Single-strike spell with pretty solid damage and supercool messaging. Stylish and functional.

'''[[Stone Strike]] (STS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot a boulder at your target, which explodes into rock-shrapnel and showers into them. Think stone-shotgun. 

Pro: Deals Impact and Puncture damage. Lodges lots of little stone shards in the target, which pulse additional damage periodically and increase wound severity until they are tended out using [[First Aid]]. Multi-strike. 
Con: Purely physical damage. Messaging unimpressive. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - The lodged shards really make this a good choice for damage-per-mana, and the multi-strikes make it a solid TM trainer.

'''[[Fire Shards]] (FS)'''
Prerequisite: None. Shoot multiple shards of flame at your target. 

Pro: Deals Fire, Impact, and Puncture damage. Multi-strike. Solid damage. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Harder than other spells to get the multiple-strike effect. 

Rating: **** - Excellent damage with some cool messaging.

'''[[Fire Ball]] (FB)'''
Prerequisite: [[Fire Shards]] or [[Elementalism]]. Launches a large ball of flame at the target. It can explode, causing collateral damage (Which essentially amounts to launching Fire Shards at everything else at the same engagement range from you). 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Hits many targets multiple times. 
Con: Shield-blockable. The area effect of the spell is entirely uncontrollable. 

Rating: ***** - A must-have in my opinion. The number of targets this spell hits makes it fantastic for training TM (I would argue that it's better than Chain Lightning or Shockwave for the job).

'''[[Paeldryth's Wrath]] (PW)'''
Prerequisite: [[Air Lash]] or [[Elementalism]]. A blast of air launches [[naphtha]] in your hands (either one or both) towards your target. Additionally it modifies the engagement range of your target - normal casting will push the target away from you to missile range, while CAST PULL will yank someone from missile range into melee with you. Deals no damage. 

Pro: Awesome way to get some distance between you and a foe without having to retreat and penalize your offense. Launch [[naphtha]] with TM instead of thrown. Trains Debilitation. 
Con: Deals no damage itself. Naphtha applied this way still needs to be ignited. Since you need to target this spell, lots of times, you're better off just casting something that will do damage. 

Rating: ** - The decent utility of applying naphtha and changing engagement range are negated by the need to target this spell. It can be handy in a pinch, and it is pretty good if you can find good (IE: Not Storebought) [[naphtha]], but it is a lot of work for relatively minor benefits ([[Naphtha]] that's not that strong, a foe that can instantly retreat if pulled to you or readvance if you pushed them away). If the engagement overhaul goes through and instant retreating is removed from the game, this spell will be a lot more useful.

'''[[Lightning Bolt]] (LB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Arc Light]] or [[Tingle]]. A lightning bolt shoots out of the sky and into your target. That might....come as a shock....given the name of the spell. 

Pro: Ignores shield as a defense. Deals electric and fire damage. 
Con: Less accurate than other spells due to the shield ignoring bit (Making it easier to dodge). Can not be cast indoors. 

Rating: *** - Middle of the road. The spell ignores shield, but the accuracy penalty means it's not really any easier to hit a target with than a normal spell (and depending on the target's skills, you may have an easier time just casting right through their shield). The damage is good when it connects.

'''[[Dragon's Breath]] (DB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. Stores a blast of fire that can be fired at a target via SPIT or EXHALE. Single shot only, works similar to thrown weapons. 

Pro: On-demand damage that you can unleash at an opportune moment (like when you stun something). Hits hard. Deals Fire and Puncture damage. 
Con: Single shot, then you need to recast. Relatively short duration - easy to run the buff out before you get a chance to use it. Unable to target. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Solid extra damage that is best used to supplement a disabler or a stun from another spell. However, the one-shot nature of it makes learning it questionable. It's not a BAD spell, but you'll get more damage per mana spent elsewhere. 

'''[[Magnetic Ballista]] (MaB}'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] and [[Lightning Bolt]]. Will the earth into a ballista of dirt and stone which will launch boulders at a target it is POINTed at. The first shot will be more accurate and can launch two boulders with enough potency. The mage can LOAD the ballista to reload it. Each shot will cause the ballista to emit a strong magnetic pulse which will unbalance or knock over targets, having a greater effect on targets with a lot of metal armor or items. The mage can RUB the ballista to cause it to only affect the target it is firing at with enough skill. 

Pro: Does a lot of stuff (Damage, Disabling). Persists, so you can fire other spells while periodically reloading for supplemental damage. You can rub it to make it only yank/knock over its target. Probably the best thing about this spell is that you can use it to hit things with TM while you have Aether Cloak on yourself. It still won't hit another mage who has Aether Cloak on, but as the ballista casts the spell rather than the mage, it gives you an outgoing magical damage source. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It's awesome. 
Con: Needs constant maintenance to keep firing. Can knock yourself over with it if say, you wear plate and don't rub it, making it easy for critters to hit you. Purely physical damage. You can point it at yourself. Go on. Try it. It hurts. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good amount of damage and utility in this spell. You do need to maintain it with reloading for it to deal consistant damage, but it's slot-expensive to learn, requiring you commit to the Electricity and Earth trees to a pretty deep level.

'''[[Ring of Spears]] (RoS)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 30, [[Tremor]] or [[Magnetic Ballista]]. Summons a Ring of Spears around the caster, which periodically deals damage to targets in their range. Can be CAST or CAST POLE. CAST POLE places the ring at Pole Weapon range which will damage targets passing through that distance. The spears do not follow you when you move, and they take a bit to reform if you advance or retreat. You can't be grouped with others while this spell is active. 

Pro: Hits really hard. Large number of hits per pulse. The variable range is situationally useful but nice. Usable indoors. 
Con: Physical damage only. Finicky about movement. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: **** - Good damage, but if you advance/retreat a lot you might find it underwhelming while it reforms. Works best when you let things come to you. Of note is that the old version of this spell used to prevent engagement to you through the spears, but the spell no longer does this - it ONLY does damage, there is no knockback/advance stopping as in the past.

'''[[Blufmor Garaen]] (BG)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40 and [[Y'ntrel Sechra]]. Stores swirling winds around your forearms that you can unleash at a target very rapidly. POINT deals puncture + cold, WAVE deals slice + cold, SLAP deals impact + cold. Multiple charges, with a small RT to fire each. 

Pro: A lot of damage that is unleashed in a very short period of time. It's like re-usable [[Dragon's Breath]]. Variable damage type. High damage. No need to target. You look like [http://cdn.gifbay.com/2012/11/cosplay_wacky_waving_inflatable_arm_flailing_tube_man-12517.gif this] in my head when using it. 
Con: Short buff duration, meaning you need to use the spell up before it wears off. Need to recast to use it again. Shield-blockable. Forgetting you have it on and then waving hello at someone. 

Rating: **** - One of our most lethal spells. When you stun someone, dump ALL your charges of it into them and they probably won't be standing afterwards. This spell is slated to be changed by the GM's due to it being a bit overpowered in PvP situations.

'''[[Shockwave]] (SHOCKWAVE)'''
Prerequisites: [[Thunderclap]]. Explodes a shockwave of air and razorlike shards of ice out from you, dealing damage and potentially knocking back targets. Can learn the [[Flame Shockwave]] metaspell to change the damage types. 

Pro: Deals Slice, and Cold damage. Flame Shockwave deals Fire and Impact damage. Can knock a target off its feet or out of the room. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast (CAST AREA, CAST CREATURES, etc). 
Con: Can knock a target out of the room. Only hits each struck target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: *** - Decent damage, and a nice assortment of damage types, but hitting everything ONLY one time is a bit underwhelming, and knocking targets out of the room sucks if you're hunting.

'''[[Chain Lightning]] (CL)'''
Prerequisites: Circle 40, [[Lightning Bolt]]. Lightning strikes every target in the area one time. 

Pro: Usable indoors. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Deals Fire, Electric, and Impact damage. 
Con: Only hits each target one time. Shield-blockable. 

Rating: ** - Feels underwhelming. Shockwave is basically the same, with variable damage types and the added utility of knockback. It's by no means terrible if you are looking for something to deal damage to the entire room and don't want to go into the Air book, but if you are already investing in the Air book (and you likely will be due to the significance of the buff and debuff spells there), [[Shockwave]] is the better choice IMO.

'''[[Rimefang]] (RIM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ice Patch]], Circle 30. Summons an icy mist around the caster which forms blades of frost which quickly strike targets at melee range. 

Pro: Pulses quickly. Deals Cold, Puncture, and Slice damage. Follows you room to room. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Lower damage than some other spells to offset the low maintenance level of keeping it up. Melee range only. Blades take a few moments to form, giving the spell a bit of a ramp-up time. 

Rating: **** - Solid source of extra damage at close range, but has a ramp up time while blades form. Recent bugfixes to the spell mean the blades reform much more regularly (the game was getting tricked into a negative blade count at times, making blades take twice as long to reform). Solid cyclic damage at melee range.

'''[[Fire Rain]] (FR)'''
Prerequisites: [[Mantle of Flame]] or [[Dragon's Breath]], Circle 40. Summons an ash cloud which rains fire on the entire area. 

Pro: Deals Fire and Impact damage. Area Effect spell, which can be selectively cast. Consistently will damage targets at any range. Will hit targets in stealth regardless of if you can see them. 
Con: Shield-blockable. Cannot be cast indoors. Ramp-up time before it begins damaging, and long duration between pulses. 

Rating: *** - Good damage at any range, provided you are stationary.

==Debilitation==

I was going to call this section "Disablers", but decided [[Debilitation]] Spells was a better title. These spells are all spells that you cast on another target to affect them in a non-damaging way. It can be a stun, a reduction in balance, immobilization, a hit to fatigue, taking extra damage from everything else, or removal of defenses. I will be including the various stat contests for each spell as well. When picking a disabler, you should keep in mind the stats it contests. It is ideal for you to use spells that favor the stats your race can train cheaply (and thus has higher values for) and to also consider spells that contest stats you know your opponent is weak against. The different contests involved mean that even though two spells do the same thing, one of them may be better for you personally in the situation you're in. That's one of the greatest strengths of Warrior Mages - our toolbox has the right tool for just about any job, you just need to know them and use them properly.

'''Debilitation Contests''' 

Succeeding at disabling a target is determined by a stat contest. Different spells use different types of contests to determine success, and this has an effect on what stats the caster (Attacker) and target (Defender) use to determine the spell's success level. There are numerous types of contests.

'''Offensive Contest Types Relevant to Warrior Mages''' 

Mind - Uses caster's Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom (in that order of weighting) to determine success 
Magic - Uses caster's Wisdom, Intelligence, Discipline (in that order) to determine success - Most Warrior Mage Spells are in this category. 
Spirit - Uses caster's Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence (in that order) to determine success 

- ''You always use all 3 stats in any contest.'' 

'''Defensive Contest Types''' 

Reflexes - Uses defender's Reflex, Agility, and Intelligence (in that order of weighting) to determine success. Additional factors in the contest include whether or not target is prone, webbed, or otherwise incapacitated. 
Fortitude - Uses defender's Stamina, Discipline, and Strength (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include vitality level, spirit level, and fatigue. It's easier to succeed on injured or tired targets, basically. 
Willpower - Uses defender's Discipline, Wisdom, and Intelligence (in that order) to determine success. Additional factors include nerve damage, stuns/unconsciousness. 

So when a spell is said to be Magic vs. Fortitude, for example - The caster uses Wisdom, Int, Discipline, and the defender uses Stamina, Discipline, Strength. 

''What you should take away from this'': IF YOU WANT TO LAND DEBILITATION SPELLS MORE RELIABLY, TRAIN YOUR MENTALS. IF YOU WANT TO STOP GETTING DEBILITATED BY A SPECIFIC SPELL OR ABILITY, TRAIN THE APPROPRIATE STATS TO DEFEND AGAINST IT. 

==Debilitation Spells==

'''[[Frostbite]] (FROSTBITE)'''
Prerequsites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Rapidly drops the area's temperature, causing a cold shock to the system which damages the target's fatigue (causing knockdown if they are made exhausted enough), and debuffs their Stamina stat for a short time. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be variably cast (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). Makes other fortitude spells easier to land as a followup. Hits all enemies in the room. Tired enemies have a much harder time hitting you, so it's good when you're fighting things a bit hard for you. Knocks targets over with enough success. 
Con: Expensive (4 spell slots). Area nature makes it hard to snap cast successfully. Some creatures are immune to the effect entirely (typically undead, but also sometimes cold-themed creatures or things that otherwise wouldn't care about being cold). 

Rating: ***** - There are a lot of types of debilitating, but this one does numerous things. The fatigue hit makes combat easier for you, the knockdown makes combat easier for you, and the Stamina hit makes followup spells easier for you. It is a lot of bang for the buck, and in my opinion is an essential spell to have.

'''[[Ice Patch]] (IP)'''
Prerequisites: [[Geyser]] or [[Elementalism]]. Creates a slippery sheet of ice under a target, which can cause them to slip and fall, landing them prone and stunned. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflexes

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively easily. Success is always a knockdown AND a stun, meaning that it's even easier to hit something you used Ice Patch on than it is a stun alone. 
Con: Finicky about working on some creatures, particularly things with more than two legs (it will outright fail and no mana increase or skill increase will allow you to overcome it). 

Rating: **** While a stun is a stun, this is a stun with added knockdown and makes it better than average for followup attacks.

'''[[Anther's Call]] (ANC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Stone Strike]] or [[Elementalism]]. Hands of earth and stone form from the ground and grasp a single target, holding it in place. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Can be snap cast relatively quickly. Things that are immune to stuns can still be immobilized most of the time. 
Con: Finicky about where it's cast. Anywhere but natural areas and it will fail. It's not always apparent from a room description whether this spell will work, and it sucks when you cast it and then spent the mana on it but it does nothing because of the room. This can not be overcome with mana or skill. 

Rating: ** - It's a good spell when it works, but we have other spells that give you a similar return on investment that don't require you to jump through environmental hoops to cast.

'''[[Arc Light]] (AL)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A bright flash of light bursts from the caster's hands, causing minor damage and stunning the target. This spell will ignite naphtha on the head 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. The head damage may seem like an afterthought, but in 3.0/3.1, the almost guaranteed chance to stun when you even lightly touch a location that has minor wounds makes it pretty sweet for setting up follow up hits that pack a wallop. The wounds from this spell tend to show up without regard for the wound prevention/damage reduction of having full vitality. Lights Naphtha. 
Con: It takes a bit to fully wear off before you can re-cast it (There is seemingly a separate re-cast timer from the stun-duration timer, but I haven't had it be a problem except in very rare instances where you're just chain-casting it). Anything immune to being stunned will not be bothered by it.

Rating: ***** - Arc Light went from being just about the worst spell ever in 2.0 to being one of our strongest. It's extremely underrated - a lot of people don't bother with it because they prefer Ice Patch for single-target stuns due to the knockback, but Arc Light will work on things Ice Patch doesn't, and the very minor head wound should not be discounted.

'''[[Tingle]] (TI)'''
Prerequisites: [[Gar Zeng]] or [[Elementalism]]. A subtle jolt of electricity to the muscles of the hands disrupts fine motor control, causing the target to drop what it's holding, and additionally damaging their Reflexes and Agility for a time.

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Relatively fast to snap cast. Makes things drop their weapons and held shields (Not arm-worn shields). Gives a moderate roundtime to the target. The reflex and agility penalties make your target have a harder time hitting you and make it easier for you to hit them. Additionally, it sets them up nicely for a debilitation spell that is Magic vs. Reflexes, since their relevant save stats will be negatively impacted. 
Con: Target can still fight, and aside from the stat decrease, they have no penalty to defending themselves (No raw skill penalty like there is for being stunned/etc). 

Rating: *** - Decent utility, especially when you're using it just to disarm a creature to stop parrying. It should be noted that players will pick up their items again automatically once the roundtime has completed, and that doing anything to prevent players from picking up their items again is considered mechanics abuse.

'''[[Ward Break]] (WB)'''
Prerequisites: [[Ethereal Shield]] and [[Elementalism]]. Attempts to dispel all barrier-type spells on a target. It can have partial success and simply weaken them. It will not remove non-barrier spells. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower (Intelligence, Discipline, Wisdom vs. Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence)

Pro: Removes a bunch of stuff all at once if successful, which will often do a great job softening up a target. 
Con: No other effects if successful, and no effect at all if not fully successful (it reduces the duration of any spells it messages as having weakened, but they remain intact). Won't strip off non-magic barriers.

Rating: ** - This is a very good, powerful spell in PvP situations but it's extremely situational, hence the low rating for general use (There is literally no reason ever to cast it while hunting for example). If you PvP regularly and want to strip off a bunch of useful buffs from your opponent with one cast, though, I recommend it heartily.

'''[[Vertigo]] (VERTIGO)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Finely manipulates the air currents around a target's head to mess with their inner ear functions, severely impacting their balance. With enough success the target can fall over prone, or even go unconscious. 

Save Type: Mind vs. Willpower

Pro: Vertigo has a durational effect, which means you cast it and it continues to effect your target over time. This can very handily swing a fight in your favor due to destroying the target's balance - it makes them easier to hit, makes it harder for them to hit you, and they may pass out from it or fall over. Because of the durational nature, it's possible to use another type of disabler in conjunction with Vertigo to further negatively impact the target. 
Con: No stun/guaranteed disable. Target can still fight back, even though they'll be less effective due to the effects. Vertigo doesn't work on undead or anything else that doesn't need to breathe air. 

Rating: **** - Vertigo's effects are extremely powerful and are great at weakening an opponent just on the edge of your skills enough that you gain the upper hand.

'''[[Thunderclap]] (TC)'''
Prerequisites: [[Paeldryth's Wrath]]. Creates a booming clap of thunder which stuns targets in an area. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Fortitude

Pro: Stuns all targets in an area, and selectively castable (CAST CREATURE, CAST AREA, etc). 
Con: Does nothing else, just a stun. Slot-expensive. Does nothing on creatures immune to stuns. Hard to snap cast because it's an area spell. 

Rating: *** - Thunderclap may "just" be a stun, but stuns are pretty good, and this lets you stun multiple things at once. It's a great followup to a spell like Frostbite, which will weaken the Stamina of an entire area's creatures and let you get better success on the Magic vs. Fortitude contest, thus giving you longer stuns on your targets.

'''[[Tremor]] (TREM)'''
Prerequisites: [[Anther's Call]] or [[Sure Footing]]. Causes the earth to shake violently, knocking over, knocking back, or unbalancing targets. 

Save Type: Magic vs. Reflex

Pro: The effect of this spell pulses over a duration, so targets are periodically unbalanced, knocked over, whatever, every few seconds for a reasonably long time. You can cast it on a single target as well as selectively casting it on an entire area. The single-target effect works indoors. 
Con: You cannot cast the area versions (CAST CREATURES, CAST AREA) indoors. There is no stun or other guaranteed disabling effect. You cannot control what the effects are, so you may have a target knocked back away from you at an inopportune moment (it's never happened to me, but hey, it's possible). 

Rating: **** - Tremor's durational effects and flexibility with casting rules (and thus flexibility with environmental restrictions) make it a fantastic spell in my opinion. The duration is long enough that it's almost like having a mini-cyclic running.

'''[[Mark of Arhat]] (MOA)'''
Prerequisites: [[Substratum]] and any one of [[Fire Shards]] [[Fire Ball]] or [[Ignite]]. A spectral creature appears and slashes the target, branding them with burning claw marks if successful. The claw marks react to any elemental damage done to the target (ANY ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE) and then flare and deal some extra fire damage to the target. It's a reactive extra pulse of damage. 

Save Type: Spirit vs. Willpower (Caster's Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence vs Defender's Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence).

Pro: Gives you a passive source of bonus damage whenever you deal elemental damage. Great for whittling through barriers due to the fact that you get a second hit of elemental damage whenever you deal elemental damage. ACTIVATES ON ALL TYPES OF ELEMENTAL DAMAGE, NOT JUST FIRE DAMAGE (I tested this with the base version of Shockwave, which deals Cold damage - It caused the marks to flare and do some fire damage after the cold damage hit). Activates on weapon strikes if you cast Ignite on your weapon, adding even more damage. 
Con: No disabling effect whatsoever, just extra damage. The offensive Stat contest uses Charisma, and this is literally the only spell we have that this is the case for, so it will tend to be harder for people to succeed with since not a lot of Warrior Mages spend lots of points on Charisma. Will NOT activate on non-elemental spells (IE, Warrior Mage spells that deal only physical damage types such as all spells in the Earth Book will not activate it). 

Rating: ** - Mark of Arhat is a good spell for extra damage on a very durable target. The extra damage adds up more the longer the target is alive. It works best in my opinion when coupled with Ignite, as you can then prepare and target other spells, and swing your weapon, basically giving every source of damage you do a little bonus. It's great for "boss" type creatures in invasions and the like, but in PvP situations, generally mana and prep times are better spent on more traditional disabling spells. It's situational, but it's very good in the appropriate situations.

==Augmentation Spells==

Augmentation Spells are spells that are used to improve your capabilities in some way. They might make you more capable of dodging blows, stronger, faster, more skilled with magic, etc. Warrior Mages have a very diverse set of Augmentation Spells, many of which can be cast to assist others as well as used on yourself.
{{cat|New Player Help}}

General new player guide

2014-10-28T04:03:31Z

ORBITAL303: /* Start */ - Every journey begins with a single step. - Starlear