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Nowadays, Avrenka spends his time conducting magical research experiments, and maintains his adolescent practice of rescuing fallen adventurers.
Nowadays, Avrenka spends his time conducting magical research experiments, and maintains his adolescent practice of rescuing fallen adventurers.


== Moonmage Spell Recommendations ==
== Avrenka's Crappy Guide to Starting a Moonmage ==


'''Beginner Spells to get:'''
''"Hey, you. You're finally awake." -Ralof''


# Piercing Gaze (PG) as soon as possible, training Astro is very difficult without it.
1 - Forage sticks/branches and sell 'em to Mags for a few gold
# Calm, it's much easier to train Debil with it than Burden
# Telekinetic Throw (TKT) for training TM, it's super fast
# Manifest Force (MAF), you'll need it as it'll be awhile until you can cast TKSH
# Shadow Web (SHW) (need 80 Debil), it'll make training Debil insanely easy
# Seer's Sense (SEER) (need 80 Aug & Util), it gives evasion buff
# Cage of Light (COL) (need 80 Ward), it makes hunting safer
# Shift Moonbeam, Locate, Moongate, and Ripplegate Theory (need 80 Util) -- otherwise why did you even make a Moonmage?!
# Aura Sight (AUS) & Shadowling, more mana is always nice


'''Beginner Feats to get:'''
2 - Go to Tembeg's, buy 1 of each armor type covering every body part (recommended: leather hauberk, plate gauntlets, chain helm, scale mask), and buy target shield (toggle shield A, wear shield)


# Sorcerous Patterns to reduce backlash rates
3 - Type STANCE. Always max out Evasion Stance, then split the rest between Shield and Parry.
# Injured Casting & Cautious Casting so you don't fail every spell when you're hurt
# Deep Attunement & Efficient Harnessing for more mana
# Raw Channeling & Efficient Channeling to use cylics


'''Advanced Spells to get:'''
4 - Go to the Tanner, ask falken for rope, toggle bundle W


# Read the Ripples (RTR), this makes training Astro so much easier
5 - Go to shipyard rats, skin every rat you kill and bundle it with the rope, wear the bundle, adjust it and tie it. Train offhand (feint left), TM (target stra, wait, cast), Debil (prep burden, cast). Prioritize balance gaining attacks like feint, jab, gouge, bob.
# Destiny Cypher (DC), this helps maxxing out your Divination Tool a lot faster and easier. Tools are useful for reliable targeted predicts, which can fail even at 1,000 Astro ranks (with min Cha). Buy the 700 plat tool you see in fests, the 7k plat tool is overkill and not needed. Tools cheaper than 700 plat will not max out. You can forget this spell after you've maxed out your tool.
# Telekinetic Storm (TKS), makes training TM even easier and farms fast
# Telekinetic Shield (TKSH), our best ward
# Riftal Summons (RS) -- Shift Moonbeam has a range limit of 2 zones. RS has no limitation at all.
# Lay Ward (LW) (use a runestone to save spell slot) -- really good at blocking spells that critters cast at you
# Advanced Feats: Faster Targeting, Faster Matrices, Faster Battle Prep are nice for casting spells a little faster, meaning faster training '''(Optional) PvP Spells to get:'''


'''(Optional) PvP Spells to get:'''
6 - Study divine charm. Learn how to use it to heal yourself and teleport yourself around. It stops working after several circles. You lose the starting spells EASE, MAF, BURDEN, and STRA after Circle 10. Familiarize yourself with the Empath guild and find out how to get healing before the charm stops working.


# Whole Displacement (WD), without this, you will die in 15 sec vs Barb, Thief, Ranger, and Paladin.
7 - Go back to the tanner, sell your bundle. Do this until you have 5 gold. Or go scavenging in the Empath Courtyard, sometimes people drop nuggets or other sellables on the ground or in the statue that you can sell at either the Gemshop or Pawnshop.
# Mindshout (MS), arguably our best PvP spell
# Shear, this spell combined with Lay Ward allows you to block 2 enemy spells
# Sorrow, our bread and butter TM pvp spell
# Unleash, allows us to buff ourselves with every non-signature spell in the game
# Psychic Shield (PSY), protects you from Mind debil spells, which tend to be the nastiest around
# PvP Feats: Magical Theorist + Improved Memory to use spell scrolls; Debil Mastery to reduce Mindshout cooldown; Silent Prep to hide your casting and Advanced Spell Knowledge to see what others are going to cast
# Refractive Field (RF), invis is always good. Allows you to move without Roundtime, and you can snap cast it to disrupt enemy targeting in the fight. Causes you to miss Group whispers though.
# Moonblade + Shape Moonblade, being able to store and instantly cast 3 debil spells is a large advantage in the first minute of the fight. Takes 5 seconds to switch between debil spell. Can cast 3 moonblades, even with only 1 moon.
# Invocation of the Spheres (IOTS) so we can buff our mentals and land Mindshout better, but not necessary since Unleash can cover this. But the less you Unleash, the better.
# Rend, it's an okay spell. Ward Break is far more efficient and doesn't carry the risk of dispelling debuffs on the enemy, which Rend seems to do 50% of the time.
# Partial Displacement (PD), armor piercing damage is always good, even if the accuracy on this spell is slightly lower. Useful against heavily armored foes like Paladins. Otherwise Sorrow is better. Can be combo'd with Sorrow to explode heads.
# Burn + Fire Lens (IFL), man I think this spell sucks. It's highly accurate, but low damage. Main use is to punch up in a big rank disparity fight. Otherwise, I never use it.
# SLS, very rarely used. Does pretty good damage in combo with SCO, but it takes a valuable cyclic slot. '''Spells to avoid:'''


'''Spells to avoid:'''
8 - Go to Milgrym's, buy 1 of each weapon type (recommended: scimitar, bola, broadsword, greathammer, greataxe, flail, shortbow + arrows, crossbow + bolts, sling + rocks), and buy parry stick and wear it.


* Steps of Vuan (SoV), mostly cuz it's a cyclic. The most useful part of Refractive Field is that it can be snapcast -- but there's a roughly 1 minute cooldown for casting new cyclics. Cylic slots are way too valuable for just another pulsing invis.
9 - Go to the backroom of Berolt's, buy two weapon straps, then go back to Milgrym's and buy a spear and quarterstaff. Tie the straps to the spear and quarterstaff, and wear them over your shoulder as those 2 weapons won't fit in backpacks.
* Empower Moonblade, moonblade attack stats suck, don't bother using it as a weapon
* Artificer's Eye, Tenebrous Sense, and Machinist's Touch buffs can all be replaced with prediction buffs, it's a waste of spell slots.
* Sleep, just a really sucky version of Mental Blast
* Thoughtcast, just buy a gweth
* Hypnotize, unusable on players
* Be careful with acquiring quest related spells, as they are unforgettable no matter what
* Teleologic spells (Sever Thread, Tangled Fate, Sovereign Destiny, and Tezirah's Veil) are extremely hard to land. Saesordian Compass (SCO) provides like a +25-30% to Partial Displacement and SLS's DPS, but it's pretty expensive to spend 6 slots to get this one spell. It provides an overwhelming boost to Bonegrinder DPS, but this combo is way overpowered and needs to be nerfed.
'''Choosing a Sect:'''


* Heritage House -- gives you a cantrip that reverses predict curses, very useful when you fail a predict. Reduces Unleash scroll destruction rate from 4% down to 1%.
10 - Now you're fully kitted out. Look up Zoluren Hunting Ladder in elanthipedia, follow the progression.
* Tezirite -- can predict curse easier. Reduced Bonegrinder backlash.
* Monk -- has a balance raising cantrip, balance is always good. Gains an extra Sorrow cast charge (+9% dmg on avg).
* All the other sects are PvP neutral.
* WARNING: once you choose a Sect, it is irreversible -- exception being that you can always change Sects to Heritage House.


== Beginner Moonmage PvP ==
11 - Train every skill. Type "EXP 0" and look up each skill in elanthipedia.org. It'll tell you how to train each skill.
'''Armor:'''


* Leather -- my recommendation. Stealth is important for us, as it allows us to disengage and engage on our terms. And we should reset often to recast MAF and Shear, or regain any lost balance.
12 - For training magic, cast at the most mana you can before failing. Use DISCERN <SPELL> to figure it out. Later on, you'll need to add in PREP SYMBIOSIS to make spells more difficult, in order to keep your training up. For sorcery, get a Bless runestone from Sierack's, focus it until it stops teaching, then start casting it. Get Sorcerous Patterns feat to reduce backlash rate. Type SPELL STANCE 130 100 70 to get a little extra juice in your spells.
** Start with onyx-hide leathers, then save for punka leathers. If you've got cash, buy the shadowleaf MT end-loot.
* Shield -- small, we're armor tertiary after all.
** Start with onyx-hide small shield, then upgrade to either damite target shield or agonite triangular sipar. Best is diamond-hide or shadowleaf small shield, or MT octagonal cobwood shield.


'''Weapons:'''


* TM focus -- accuracy is considered best, since damage is heavily influenced by to-hit %. Players can craft one via enchanting. MT end-loot TM focus are best, but expensive.
* Physical weapons -- you must be ready to use them. 5 out of 11 of our matchups require weapons, and they can be a surprising source of extra damage in the other matchups.
** For a beginner, I recommend getting the best Spiked Knuckles and best Heavy Thrown (HT) you can get. Get to melee range and MANE PALM and then PUNCH. If you can't, take out the HT and starting HURLing!


'''Spell Scrolls:'''
''"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him... better, stronger, faster." -Oscar Goldman''


* Easiest and most powerful to use: Ice Patch (IP) and Curse of the Wild (COTW). IP to stun, COTW to moderately debuff their offense and defense.
Stats -- raise what you need. Priority is getting your Encumbrance down to (None), so raise Str and Stam until it's gone. If you're getting hurt too much in combat, raise Ref. Raise Str and Agi to reduce swingtime on attacks. Raise Wis, Int and Disc when possible to increase learning rate (there are whispers that only Wis impacts learning rate, but this is not conventional wisdom). No need to raise Cha. Stats have diminished returns after 30, further diminshed returns after 60, and even more so after 100.


'''Pre-fight Prep:'''
-- It is possible to train physicals to only 30, and then raise mentals to 100 to min/max learning rate -- but you need good armor, shield and parry stick, and a solid understanding of combat mechanics. Many people simply raise all stats evenly, except Cha of course.


* Repair all armor & weapons. Lower than 90%, you start to see penalties.
* No clownsuits (i.e. make sure you're wearing only 1 armor type)
* Make sure all your prediction pools are filled. Use your predictions to buff your TM, Tactics, Shield, and your two favorite weapons (Brawling and HT probably). If allowed, you can use RTR to buff more, like Defending and Light Armor.
* If allowed, cast IOTS intelligence/discipline
* Cast all your buffs: AUS, Shadowling, SEER, TKSH, MAF, PSY, CV, SHAD, and RF. Cast Glythtide's Gift (GG) via runestone. Save WD and LW Shear right before the fight starts, as those only last 10min. And save Shear for last, since you don't want to weaken it with your own spellcasting.
* Save time when buffing -- you don't have to wait for full prep to successfully cast spells.
* Check your stance, 100% evasion + 99% shield. If you buffed your defending, then it's 100% evasion + 99% shield + 9% parry.
* Check your AOE, make sure it's set to Nongroup
* Always cast every spell at max mana.
* Invoke your TM focus.
* In a 1v1, SHW is our best native cyclic ... in a group fight, go with SLS so you don't accidentally web your teammates.


'''Fight!'''
Crucial Spells to get:


* Start with Mindshout, it's our best spell. Just make sure you grouped, so you don't hit your teammates.
1 - get PG as soon as possible, training Astro is very difficult without it.
* Alternate casting Debil (IP or COTW) and Sorrow/Punching
* Bob in between casts -- it helps your balance and also gives a small debuff to the enemy's defense.


'''After Fight:'''
2 - get CALM, it's easier to train Debil with it than Burden


* Say "good fight" whether you won or lost
3 - get TKT for training TM, it's super fast
* Save the fight log
* Get ready for the next fight!


== Intermediate Moonmage PvP ==
4 - get MAF, you'll need it as it'll be awhile until you can cast TKSH
'''Review your logs'''


* #1 way to improve
5 - beeline toward SHW (need 80 Debil), it'll make training Debil insanely easy
* Ask lots of questions from more experienced players


6 - beeline toward SEER (need 80 Aug & Util), it gives evasion buff


'''#1 problem of all moonmages: "Why am I dying so fast?!"'''
7 - beeline toward COL (need 80 Ward), it makes hunting safer


* Problem: You died in once Ice Patch or Stun.
8 - get Shift Moonbeam, Locate, Moongate, and Ripplegate Theory (need 80 Util) -- otherwise why did you even make a Moonmage?!
** Solution: get Awaken and Aesandry Darleath (AD).
* Problem: You died in 10 physical attacks.
** Solution: highlight the message of your MAF going down. Leave the room and recast it.
* Problem: You always die first.
** Solution 1: stay hidden when the fight starts. Your teammates get first strike while the enemy wastes time searching for you.
** Solution 2: alternate between casting Shear and casting stuns. Shear will block their spells, and stunning them also reduces their offensive capabilities. Don't bother with casting TM, go full defense.


9 - get AUS/Shadowling, more mana is always nice


'''#2 problem: "Why are none of my attacks hitting, and all of theirs are?!"'''


''"Balance is life." -Rakkor''
Now feats:


''"Balance rules." -Warbrolus''
1 - Sorcerous Patterns to reduce backlash rates


'''Understanding Balance Advantage'''
2 - Injured Casting & Cautious Casting so you don't fail every spell when you're hurt


Balance advantage provides tremendous buffs to your offense and defense, and huge penalties to theirs.
3 - Deep Attunement & Efficient Harnessing for more mana


How do you gain a balance advantage? Usually with stuns, which instantly tank the target's balance to "very badly balanced".
4 - Raw Channeling & Efficient Channeling to use cylics


For example:<blockquote>* Warbrolus hurls a polished silversteel throwing axe sculpted with the lines of an anguished visage at you.  You evade.  
5 - Magic Theorist & Improved Memory to use spell scrolls


The throwing axe lands nearby!


[You're invigorated (100%), energetic (100%), mighty (100%), incredibly balanced and overwhelming your opponent.]</blockquote>I had stunned Warbrolus right before this hurl. Note the message "overwhelming your opponent", which signifies maximum balance advantage. He missed every hurl, while most of my Sorrows landed and did damage. And then he stunned me back, resulting in this:<blockquote>* Warbrolus hurls a polished silversteel throwing axe sculpted with the lines of an anguished visage at you.  You fail to block with an octagonal shield of cobwood reinforced with a chitinous boss.  The axe flashes midnight-blue, lacerating with countless denticulated blade projections and lands a very heavy hit that scratches the right bicep (But another battle scar for your collection!).
Advanced Spells to get:


The throwing axe lodges itself shallowly into you!
1 - RTR, this makes training Astro so much easier


[You're hurt (70%), energetic (100%), mighty (100%), very badly balanced with opponent overwhelming you.]</blockquote>His stun tanked my balance to "very badly balanced", giving me the message "opponent overwhelming you" which is maximum balance disadvantage. This hurl did 30% damage to me, and the next few Sorrow bolts missed.
2 - DC, this helps maxxing out your Divination Tool a lot faster and easier. Tools are useful for reliable targeted predicts, which can fail even at 1,000 Astro ranks (with min Cha). Buy the 700 plat tool you see in fests, the 7k plat tool is overkill and not needed. Tools cheaper than 700 plat will not max out. You can forget this spell after you've maxed out your tool.


'''''Do not stay in balance disadvantage.'''''
3 - TKS, makes training TM even easier and farms fast


Ways to stay in balance advantage:
4 - TKSH, our best ward


* Keep Shear up to block their stuns
5 - Riftal Summons -- Shift Moonbeam has a range limit of 2 zones. RS has no limitation at all.
* Stun them back
* If you don't have a stun spell ready, leave the room, hide, prep it, then re-engage
* Use TRIP or SHOVE (but only in melee range)
* Ask a Warrior Mage to cast Sure Footing (SUF) on you. Unleash Centering on yourself if you can. You should already have AD up.


6 - Lay Ward -- really good at blocking spells that critters cast at you


'''#3 problem: "Why are all of their stuns hitting me, and none of mine hitting them?"'''
7 - Feats: Faster Targeting, Faster Matrices, Faster Battle Prep are nice for casting spells a little faster, meaning faster training


'''Understanding Stats'''


Landing a Debilitation spell is very different from landing a TM spell or a weapon attack.


* TM & Weapon attacks depend on ranks and balance advantage
* Landing Debilitation attacks depend on stat advantage
** Each spell has its specific stat vs stat matchup (See: [[:Category:Contested abilities]] for details)
*** For example, Mindshout puts our Int + Disc + Wis against their Disc + Wis + Int (in that order of importance!)
*** '''''Therefore, it's recommend our highest stat be Int, second highest stat be Disc, and third highest stat be Wis'''''


''"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road..." -Greenday''


No one can defend against every stat matchup
Now comes the great question -- will you PvP, or will you remain in PvE? If the latter, then your build is completely flexible from here on out. Choose whatever spells you like, it has little bearing on your ability to hunt. You will have spell slots in abundance, you won't even know what to do with it all.


* If they pump their mentals to defend against Mindshout and Rend, then they will be vulnerable to Dazzle and SHW
If, however, you decide to undertake the road less traveled, you must plan your spell & feat selection carefully. You cannot get everything you want.
* Most players will prioritize mental stats
** This provides defense against nasty debils like Mindshout, Ward Break, and Huldah's Pall
** It also enables MANY offensive debils like Mindshout, Ward Break, Ice Patch, Tremor, Lethargy, Frostbite, to name just a few...
* Raising stamina or reflex is nice for defending against Ice Patch, Lethargy, Tremor etc., but then you won't be able to stun your opponent, and you'll still be vulnerable to the other mental attacks like Mindshout and Ward Break -- which is why you won't see many people going this route (exception being Barbarians, who must avoid Ice Patch at all costs)


Crucial PvP spells: WD, PD, Burn, IFL, Sorrow, Mindshout, Unleash, IOTS, Rend, Shear, RF, Shape Moonblade.


'''Upgrade your weapons:'''
Crucial PvP feats: Debil Mastery, TM Mastery


* You need 9 weapons to cycle thru all the ACMs. Polearm, Brawling knuckles, 2HE, 2HB, LE, LB, Staff, Crossbow and SE.
Helpful PvP feats: Silent Prep, Advanced Spell Knowledge
* Start with high carbon steel (with 33% gold or plat, ideally), then upgrade to haralun or kertig. You want 7.5 density in your weapons and armor, higher density is always better (but there's no benefit to going above 7.5). And then the best as usual is MT end-loot.
* For Staff, bo staff is the best template. Start with Ebony, then upgrade to Rockwood.
* For LE and LB, go for the heaviest template to maximize damage. For 2HE and 2HB, go for the lightest template to maximize balance.
* For knuckles, go for spiked knuckles template for max damage.


'''Learn how to use Advanced Combat Maneuvers (ACMs)'''
Spells to avoid: SoV, Empower Moonblade, ART/TS/MT, Sleep, Thoughtcast, Hypnotize. I also did not have the slots for Shadewatch Mirror or Contingency, tho both very good open world spells.


* Create scripts that automate the ACM for you
** For example, to get to melee range I will have my script: (1) wear left, stow left, stow right; (2) remove shield; (3) MANE RUSH %target
* Practice cycling thru all the ACMs to do maximum damage in the shortest amount of time
* All ACMs have a 90 sec cooldown, except Palmstrike which is 45 sec. Play around this.


Gear you need to PvP:
== Advanced Moonmage PvP ==
'''Unleash'''


The spell that allows us to buff everything. The most important spells, in order:
Armor -- full Leather suit. Start with onyx-hide, work your way up to Punka, then Shadowleaf/MT end-loot. For shield, start with onyx-hide, then work your way up to agonite triangular sipar, then diamond-hide/octagonal. Evasion is our primary defense, so we need to minimize armor hindrance.


* AD and Awaken, otherwise you just die to one stun
Weaponry -- In open world, TM focus is our best weapon, since offensively TM should be our highest skill. In WT Heroic, you'll want haralun weapons. Get the heaviest LE/LB you can, and the lightest 2HE/2HB you can -- you want max dmg but at least 3-4 balance so you don't miss. Get haralun spiked knuckles and the best piercing polearm you can find -- MANE PALM and MANE IMPALE are often your two hardest hitting ACMs. Also haralun HT that you can weapon bond, HURLing is another option that you want available to you in the fight.
* Centering and SUF for balance, cuz balance is life
* Rage of the Clans and Righteous Wrath to enable weapon usage
* Tailwind if you didn't predict buff Heavy Thrown
* Sentinel's Resolve for extra defense, if you can't predict buff Shield & Defending


Secondary spells to Unleash:
Misc -- most important scrolls for Unleashing: AD, RAGE, and Awaken. Important scrolls to invoke: IP, HoT, Tremor, Lethargy, WB, maybe Frostbite or Vertigo. Secondary scrolls for Unleashing to land debils and resist enemy debils: Centering, Courage, EY, HES (or GOL), NON, REPR, SUF, SW, Tranquility, SOS. Other important scrolls for Unleashing to enable weapons: RW, RUE, RESO, TW, Ignite.


* Depending on who you're fighting, you might want Courage, Soul Shield (SOS), Nonchalance and Redeemer's Pride (REPR) to fend off Spirit, Fear, Charm and Mind debils. Tranquility to bolster your Fortitude defense.
-- if you have a gyre, you don't need the following scrolls: Awaken, SOS, EY, WOTP, NON, LGV, SUF, SW, SUB.
* Essence of Yew (EY) gives a small but not insigifnicant bonus to all debil defense
* Buff all your stats. Vigor, Heroic Strength, Gift of Life, Turmar Illuination, Will of Winter. This will help you win your Debil stat matchups.


Tertiary spells to Unleash:
-- you can use predicts to buff your TM, Sorc, Debil, Util, Aug, Shield, Defending, Light Armor, Tactics, and HT, so you won't need SUB, SAP, SR, WOTP, or Tailwind scrolls.


* Only if you have time: Ignite, Resonance, and Rutilor's Edge, to give a little bit of extra damage to your favorite weapon.
-- herbs. If you're on a budget, just get the ones for your chest, abdomen, and limbs. And nerves. But having the all heal herbs are really nice, but quite pricey. Herbs are crucial for winning any fight that goes longer than 3min.


Mid-fight Unleashing:
See my crappy guide to PvP for more info.


* If you can manage it, landing a Curse of the Wild (COTW), Lethargy, and Tremor mid-fight can be devastating, but it can be difficult to do.


Gyre -- if possible, use it to reduce the amount of Unleashing you do. It's very time consuming to Unleash this many spells, try to keep it to a minimum.


Learn how to cast Unleash at minimum mana -- saves you a lot of time, and conserves a lot of mana. Requires understanding how Sorcery penalty multipliers work (See: [[Sorcery#Mana Inefficiency]])
''"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before." -CS Lewis''


Choose a sect! Or don't, it's not obligatory. Btw it's permanent, non-reversible.


'''Empowered Moonblade'''
1 - Heritage House -- gives you a cantrip that reverses predict curses, very useful when you fail a predict. Reduces Unleash scroll destruction rate by a lot.


You can store 3 spells in each moonblade, and you can summon up to 3 moonblades -- hypothetically, you can have 9 insta-cast debils at your disposal, but practically speaking you'll likely only ever use 1, as it is extremely difficult to manage more than 1 moonblade at a time.
2 - Tezirite -- can predict curse easier. Reduced Bonegrinder backlash.


* STUDY the moonblade to figure out how this works
3 - Monk -- has a balance raising cantrip, balance is always good. Gains an extra Sorrow cast charge (~+9% dmg on avg).
* There's a 5 sec switch time between stored spells, which means you need to alternate between non-stored spells and stored spells.
** For example, I might start a fight casting Sorrow, then immediately casting a stored Ice Patch to stun, then prepping Mind Shout and switching to the second Moonblade node. After the 5 sec RT switch is complete, I cast Mind Shout (with buffed Debil, I only need 6 sec prep time to cast Mind Shout), then immediately cast a stored Ward Break to capitalize on the stunned status. I prep Sorrow while switching to the third Moonblade node. After the 5 sec RT switch is done, I cast Sorrow (with buffed TM I only need 4 sec prep time to cast Sorrow) and then immediately cast a stored Rend.
*** In 21 secs, I will have casted 7 spells: 2 Sorrows and 5 Debils.


Casting this many spells in such short time requires many scripts to handle -- similar to cycling thru ACMs, but harder since you need to customize which spells you want to store, depending on the fight.
All the other sects are PvP neutral


* At minimum, you want 7 scripts. Three to switch between the 3 nodes. Another three to set the spell variable for each stored spell. And the last one to insta-cast the stored spell at %target.
== Avrenka's Crappy Guide to Moonmage PvP ==
* If you plan on using 3 moonblades at a time, this can blow up to 19 scripts, or more if you want to insta-cast at more than one target.
''"You have Unleash to put up other buffs to Batman your way to victory. You can get away with anything." -Rakkor''
** Don't talk to me about how hard Warrior Mage micro is, Tirost! Look at all this crap I have to do, all in 21 seconds!


MM Strengths:


'''Herbs and MT goodies'''
1 - versatile kit means you can have an answer for almost any situation, given the right prep


* '''Herbs:''' Buy them crafted, or make your own. If you plan on fighting for more than 3 min, you need 'em. If you're gonna get nerve damage, you need 'em. Check the Remedies product page to see which ones you need (See [[Remedies products]]). I usually just use chest, abdomen, limbs and nerves, since the other body parts are rarely hit. Unless you're against another Moon Mage, then you want the head herbs (Sorrow!).
2 - extremely f2p friendly, Unleash obviates any need for wands or tattoos or gyre
* '''Regen items:''' I don't have any, but vit regen is probably best.
* '''Hand of Glory:''' +10 to your stats. Who doesn't want more stats?
* '''Wands & Tattoos:''' Ice Patch is of course the best wand. I would probably get a Tremor tattoo. WB and HULP wands are okay, if you can land 'em.
* '''HE gifts:''' tend to not be allowed, cuz they're too strong, like the automaton, totem or mask pigments (bees!).
* '''Flared weapon/armor:''' Flares don't really move the needle much. Nice bonus when it happens, but don't plan around it.
* '''Ice cube, poisons:''' Don't seem to be working properly in the Arena


3 - has the strongest Mind vs Will attack in the game: Mindshout, which unlocks other powerful Mind attack spells like WB, Vertigo, HULP


'''Know the Matchup'''
4 - Shear grants powerful anti-magic defense and usually allows you to have first cast. And moonblade makes it possible to cast double the offensive spells in the first minute.


* If you're up against stealthers, use Mindshout and Sorrow.
* If you're up against weapons, keep your WD up, keep them stunned, and refresh MAF often.
* If you're up against anti-magic, use your Mindshout/Ward Break combo, switch to weapons, or use Magic-based Debils. Refresh Shear often to win the Debil contest.




'''Learn the Mechanics'''
MM Weaknesses:


* There's a million hidden mechanics in the game. Knowledge is power. Learn them, investigate them, ask around about them.
1 - requires the most prep time


2 - lowest defense


'''MOST IMPORTANT: Know the Game'''
3 - requires a lot of micro to realize full potential


* Know when to go all out, and know when to keep it casual

** The PvP community is a small one, much akin to playing pickup basketball at a local court. There's a huge range of skill, and the teams or matchups usually aren't balanced.
'''Stage 1 - Mental Prep: Strategize'''
** '''<u>Play in a way so that everyone has fun!</u>'''

''"What I learned at Tournament Camp this fall ... Have a plan. Have a backup plan. Have a backup plan to the backup plan." -Valynn''


1 - Group fight - two ways to fight: aggressive and defensive

* default defensive, since MM is so paper thin
* stay hidden & invis, be last to act, keep your eye on enemy primary damage dealer
* let them come to you: setup Tremor, as these pulses do not reveal you
* if you're being focused, consider moving and hiding while putting up Shear. Then prep Sorrow or a debil, so you can immediately cast when you jump back in (don't forget to rejoin group leader)
* if you can afford to go full offense, do so. I.e. you're not primary target or you have a paladin/empath covering you
* MS is your most powerful spell by far. It'll blow away your opponents' Will defense wards, or give them full nerve damage if they don't have any. Nerve damage is crippling for 3 reasons: it lowers enemy defense significantly (-20%), lowers their Will defense significantly (-7%), and lowers their Stealth significantly. Once they have no Will wards and full nerve damage, they're wide open to getting WB, Rend, HULP, or Vertigo, all crippling Mind attack spells.


2 - 1v1s

* vs Stealthers (Ranger, Thief) -- hit them with MS, nerve damage is their worst enemy. Spam Sorrow, the bolts pull them out of hiding. If you REALLY need to, cast AVA or Tremor, but probably not necessary.
* vs Weapons (Paladin, Barb, Thief) -- be very conscious of your MAF going down, MAF is literally your lifeline. WD and Shove are also essential, unless you like eating 30% impales. Be ready to curse HT or LT if you know they will spam hurl.
* vs Magic -- LW + Shear is essential. Re-up Shear as much as possible.
* vs Anti-Magic (Necro, Trader, WM, Cleric, MM) -- you need to use weapons. Put up RW, TW, RESO, RUE, and Ignite along with LW + Shear. Hit them with IP, then use all your ACMs as quickly as possible.
** Note: vs Necro you will need to MANE RUSH first before casting IP, due to how WORM works. Then as you're ACM'ing, try to get a MS in too. Once Necro has nerve damage, they can't snipe you anymore.
** Note: vs Trader you will need significant Will defense, or you won't be able to penetrate Elision. If you can't get thru Elision, then play keep away with lots of Shear, IP and Sorrow. It's an uphill battle, since you basically have to pray IP will get thru their MOM before they get thru your Shear.

Basically, you figure out how to use IP and MS intelligently, then blow 'em away with ACMs or Sorrow depending if they have anti-magic or if they have superior weapon firepower.
'''Stage 2 - Buffing'''

''"ABB: Always Be Buffing" -Illiya''

1 - Prediction pools - predict buff your sorcery, TM and tactics at the minimum. You'll also want the option available to curse enemy HT, shield and evasion. RTR is critical.

2 - Native spells - BC for predicts, if needed. AUS + Shadowling for mana. IOTS (Int/Disc), SEER, TKSH, MAF, PSY, CV, Shadows, RF, WD.

3 - Runestones - Axinite (GG) for wisdom and Lay Ward.

4 - Scrolled - Best spells are IP (best hard stun), and Tremor (best soft debil). WB, HOT, Lethargy, Frostbite and Vertigo are also good.

5 - Unleash - SAP (Augmentation), RAGE, AS/Awaken, AD, SUF/Centering, SR, EY are critical. (You can replace SAP and SR with predict buffs). Note: SAP, AS, SUF and EY are castable on others. (AS is only 5 min if casted on other). For stats: SW/SoTT, GoL, and Finesse are important. For debils: REPR, Courage, NON, Tranquility.

6 - Teammate buffs - For stats: Ask for MEF/TURI, Vigor, SoTT/SW, DIG/WotP, and HES. For skills: ask for Instinct/SW, and EM. For misc: VOI. In Heroic, none of these are necessary since you can't go above +20%.

7 - Moonblade - load with your 3 best debils. IP is always in there for me. I like to load MS last, since the 4 sorrow charges get used up fast, and MS replenishes them.


As you can see, this is a lot of buffs. It takes me around 10min to buff. It's rough. Gyre helps save a lot of time.

Be aware that certain spells only last 10min, like WD, AS, Awaken, and LW. Save these spells for right before the fight starts.

Yes, always use AD for your cyclic. Unless you like being Ice Patched for 25 seconds. Everyone and their mom has IP, IP wands, IP tattoos. It's literally the best CC spell in the game. Which makes AD obligatory.



'''Stage 3 - Defense'''

''"Oops I forgot to put on my armor" -everyone''

1 - Armor - I personally believe stealth is too important for moonmages, so I always recommend going Leather. Shadowleaf, Punka and Corrugated are best. Do not clownsuit. Make sure armor is repaired. Make sure you're wearing it. There is an argument to be made to use chain in WT heroic mode.

2 - Stance - if you have SR up, you can stance 100% evasion, 9% parry, 100% shield in WT Heroic. Don't forget to adjust your stance!

3 - Shield - tertiary armor means we have to wear small shields. Diamondhide/shadowleaf, octagonal shield are best. Triangular agonite sipar, demonscale blasted plains are good too. I recommend wearing the shield, since many spells like Mindshout or Tingle can make you drop your held items. If you get MS'd and drop your shield, you'll die in like 2-3 hits.

4 - Balance - if you're wondering why you can't hit anybody and everyone's hitting you, it's probably cuz of your balance. When you're stunned/proned, your balance gets tanked to very badly, and likely you'll see "Opponent is overwhelming you". This is why landing debils is crucial, and why balance healing spells like AD, SUF and Centering are also crucial. This is why winning the debil contest usually means winning the match.

5 - Wounds - head and eye wounds prevent searching. Head wounds also prevent using wands. Leg, arm and nerve damage penalize stealth. Nerve damage also penalizes defense, Will, and magic skill, and prevents wand usage. Use herbs, they help.


'''Stage 4 - Offense'''

''"I think you got 50% vitality on a Sorrow cast that first fight" -Malkien''

1 - TM Focus - get an Accuracy one. Make sure you invoke it in your right hand, it's a 16-20 sec RT. The TM focus bonus goes away if you swap hands, stow it, drop it, or lower it. If you do any physical attack like punch, maneuver rush, it also goes away. But Tactics are okay to use, like grapple, sweep or shove.

2 - RAGE - have it up, or Sorrow won't hit.

3 - Mana - always put max mana into all your spells, or you'll hit like a wet noodle. (i.e. prep Sorrow 100)

4 - TM skill - make sure you buffed it by predict or SUB (or both!)

5 - Prep times - Sorrow gets no benefit from full prep, so cast it at the half-way point. Debils also get no benefit from full prep, but how quickly you can cast it depends on the spell difficulty. Burn is so accurate that you can also cast it at the half-way point, it doesn't need the full prep accuracy bonus. But don't use Burn, it sucks.

6 - Toggle AOE - set it to nongroup, or engaged if you want to be extra careful for your teammates sake. If you go AOE Engaged, be aware that WD auto disengages you, and make sure you have an "advance all enemies" script ready.

7 - Be mentally ready to abandon TM and use weapons against anti-magic matchups. Nothing worse than freezing in the middle of a fight cuz you can't mentally switch gears. Have ACM scripts ready (see: https://elanthipedia.play.net/Combat_maneuvers#Advanced_Combat_Maneuvers)



'''Stage 5 - MM Battle Spells & Tactics'''

''"I always get thrown off by Shear" -Warbrolus''

1 - Sorrow - since it's a non-target TM, you can full prep it before the fight starts and immediately cast it on sight. It is an extremely low accuracy spell, so make sure you have TM accuracy, RAGE, and TM skill buffs up. Also make sure you have balance advantage. Read the wiki on the spell, learn how it works, it's got a lot of weird things about it. This is our bread and butter spell, use it by default.

2 - PD - this underappreciated spell has 2 things going for it: it's body-part targetable, and it's armor piercing. Always target the head (i.e. prep pd 50, then target warbrolus head). Use it on your favorite paladin. Combo it with Sorrow and watch heads explode since they both do Internal Wound damage, and you're targeting the head with both these spells. You will likely need to full prep PD or it won't hit.

3 - Bonegrinder - I do not like this spell, and do not condone its use. It is too powerful.

4 - Shear - always use with LW. Most effective when used in the middle of the fight. I guarantee you if you leave a room and the opponent chases you, they will be tunnel visioning on casting Deadfall/Ice Patch on you, and the last thing they're expecting is a Shear waiting for them. Surprise! Note: do NOT use against Barbarians, as it stacks AGAINST you with their Swan & Serenity. It's also a double-edged sword vs Paladins, since their SP becomes more powerful when you have Shear up.

5 - Moonblade - Allows you to cast 3 extra spells in the first minute. Having the ability to cast Sorrow and then immediately follow up with an instant Mindshout or Ice Patch is huge. It also allows you to perform a Dazzle Rend combo, stripping their wards. Do not neglect this spell, make sure all 3 nodes are locked and loaded before the fight. Warning: this spell will require scripts or macros to work effectively.



'''Stage 6 - Stats'''

''"Who would intentionally tank their stats for an edge in the arena? I'm shocked, just shocked!" -Avrenka''

A moonmage's greatest weapon is Mindshout -- therefore, it behooves you to prioritize Intelligence first, then Discipline second, then Wisdom third, in order to maximize MS successfully landing. This will also help you land other Mind spells like Rend, WB, Vertigo, HULP.

Coincidentally, prioritizing those stats in that order will also give you great Will defense, which helps against the nastiest Debil spells out there, and also gives you pretty good stats for casting other strong secondary Debils like Ice Patch, Tremor, Lethargy, and Frostbite.


That's all folks. Thanks for reading my crappy guide.

Disclaimer: this is how I pvp right now. I'm constantly experimenting and learning new things every week. This is just what I learned. Feel free to ignore and do your own thing!


== Avrenka's Crappy Experiments ==
== Avrenka's Crappy Experiments ==
First, go check out Tambellis' experiments: https://elanthipedia.play.net/Tambellis
First, go check out Tambellis' experiments: https://elanthipedia.play.net/Tambellis

* A lot of my work was built upon his. We stand on the shoulders of giants.


Yes parry stick balance makes a notable difference.
Yes parry stick balance makes a notable difference.
Line 372: Line 372:
Retreating seems to apply a -10 OF to each retreat, stacking. 1 retreat lasts 13 sec, 2 retreats lasts 18 sec.
Retreating seems to apply a -10 OF to each retreat, stacking. 1 retreat lasts 13 sec, 2 retreats lasts 18 sec.


Webbed status seems to apply a -20 DF. Stunned status seems to apply about -15 DF. Prone status seems to apply another -20 DF.
Webbed status seems to apply a -20 DF, as well as +20% dmg taken. Stunned status seems to apply about -15 DF, and +20% dmg taken. Prone status seems to apply another -20 DF and +20% dmg taken.

Grapple and Analyze do not seem to impart any DF penalties.


Weave, Circle and Bob seem to each contribute around -7 DF to target, as well as increasing dmg taken by 7-10% depending on the manuever. These tactics can be stacked up to 3 times for 18 seconds for a total -20 DF to target, as well as an increase in dmg taken by 20-30%. Practically speaking, Bob x3 and Circle/Weave/Bob are the only stacked tactics worth doing, as spamming Circle will tank your balance and spamming Weave will tank your fatigue.
Grapple and Analyze do not seem to impart any DF penalties. Weave seems to apply about -10 DF? Increase damage like it's -20 DF though. Unclear what's exactly going on with Weeave.


RAGE seems to provide +20 OF
RAGE seems to provide +20 OF

Latest revision as of 14:10, 16 September 2026

Mathematician Avrenka
Avrenka 3.jpg
Status
Race Human
Gender Male
Guild Moon Mage
Instance Prime


A Human who values knowledge above all else, Avrenka seeks the truth and its meaning behind everything. Skeptical to a fault, he takes no one at their word -- but equally, he will not dismiss anyone's words without careful consideration. To him, social constructs hold no value -- only truth and knowledge have merit.

Background

Avrenka, whose name means "Moon Tree" in Gamgweth, was born under an oak tree at a night when all three moons shone brightly.

Raised on the outskirts of Dirge by his father, an apothecarist, Avrenka was no stranger to delivering medicines to miners injured from accidents, trolls, volcanic eruptions, to name a few. And while his two older brothers demonstrated talent and skill in the healing arts, Avrenka found he had none.

Instead, he excelled at school, particularly in Mathematics and Astrology. So when he became of age, with his father's reluctant approval, Avrenka moved to Crossing to become a Moon Mage to pursue greater knowledge on how the universe works.

Nowadays, Avrenka spends his time conducting magical research experiments, and maintains his adolescent practice of rescuing fallen adventurers.

Moonmage Spell Recommendations

Beginner Spells to get:

  1. Piercing Gaze (PG) as soon as possible, training Astro is very difficult without it.
  2. Calm, it's much easier to train Debil with it than Burden
  3. Telekinetic Throw (TKT) for training TM, it's super fast
  4. Manifest Force (MAF), you'll need it as it'll be awhile until you can cast TKSH
  5. Shadow Web (SHW) (need 80 Debil), it'll make training Debil insanely easy
  6. Seer's Sense (SEER) (need 80 Aug & Util), it gives evasion buff
  7. Cage of Light (COL) (need 80 Ward), it makes hunting safer
  8. Shift Moonbeam, Locate, Moongate, and Ripplegate Theory (need 80 Util) -- otherwise why did you even make a Moonmage?!
  9. Aura Sight (AUS) & Shadowling, more mana is always nice

Beginner Feats to get:

  1. Sorcerous Patterns to reduce backlash rates
  2. Injured Casting & Cautious Casting so you don't fail every spell when you're hurt
  3. Deep Attunement & Efficient Harnessing for more mana
  4. Raw Channeling & Efficient Channeling to use cylics

Advanced Spells to get:

  1. Read the Ripples (RTR), this makes training Astro so much easier
  2. Destiny Cypher (DC), this helps maxxing out your Divination Tool a lot faster and easier. Tools are useful for reliable targeted predicts, which can fail even at 1,000 Astro ranks (with min Cha). Buy the 700 plat tool you see in fests, the 7k plat tool is overkill and not needed. Tools cheaper than 700 plat will not max out. You can forget this spell after you've maxed out your tool.
  3. Telekinetic Storm (TKS), makes training TM even easier and farms fast
  4. Telekinetic Shield (TKSH), our best ward
  5. Riftal Summons (RS) -- Shift Moonbeam has a range limit of 2 zones. RS has no limitation at all.
  6. Lay Ward (LW) (use a runestone to save spell slot) -- really good at blocking spells that critters cast at you
  7. Advanced Feats: Faster Targeting, Faster Matrices, Faster Battle Prep are nice for casting spells a little faster, meaning faster training (Optional) PvP Spells to get:

(Optional) PvP Spells to get:

  1. Whole Displacement (WD), without this, you will die in 15 sec vs Barb, Thief, Ranger, and Paladin.
  2. Mindshout (MS), arguably our best PvP spell
  3. Shear, this spell combined with Lay Ward allows you to block 2 enemy spells
  4. Sorrow, our bread and butter TM pvp spell
  5. Unleash, allows us to buff ourselves with every non-signature spell in the game
  6. Psychic Shield (PSY), protects you from Mind debil spells, which tend to be the nastiest around
  7. PvP Feats: Magical Theorist + Improved Memory to use spell scrolls; Debil Mastery to reduce Mindshout cooldown; Silent Prep to hide your casting and Advanced Spell Knowledge to see what others are going to cast
  8. Refractive Field (RF), invis is always good. Allows you to move without Roundtime, and you can snap cast it to disrupt enemy targeting in the fight. Causes you to miss Group whispers though.
  9. Moonblade + Shape Moonblade, being able to store and instantly cast 3 debil spells is a large advantage in the first minute of the fight. Takes 5 seconds to switch between debil spell. Can cast 3 moonblades, even with only 1 moon.
  10. Invocation of the Spheres (IOTS) so we can buff our mentals and land Mindshout better, but not necessary since Unleash can cover this. But the less you Unleash, the better.
  11. Rend, it's an okay spell. Ward Break is far more efficient and doesn't carry the risk of dispelling debuffs on the enemy, which Rend seems to do 50% of the time.
  12. Partial Displacement (PD), armor piercing damage is always good, even if the accuracy on this spell is slightly lower. Useful against heavily armored foes like Paladins. Otherwise Sorrow is better. Can be combo'd with Sorrow to explode heads.
  13. Burn + Fire Lens (IFL), man I think this spell sucks. It's highly accurate, but low damage. Main use is to punch up in a big rank disparity fight. Otherwise, I never use it.
  14. SLS, very rarely used. Does pretty good damage in combo with SCO, but it takes a valuable cyclic slot. Spells to avoid:

Spells to avoid:

  • Steps of Vuan (SoV), mostly cuz it's a cyclic. The most useful part of Refractive Field is that it can be snapcast -- but there's a roughly 1 minute cooldown for casting new cyclics. Cylic slots are way too valuable for just another pulsing invis.
  • Empower Moonblade, moonblade attack stats suck, don't bother using it as a weapon
  • Artificer's Eye, Tenebrous Sense, and Machinist's Touch buffs can all be replaced with prediction buffs, it's a waste of spell slots.
  • Sleep, just a really sucky version of Mental Blast
  • Thoughtcast, just buy a gweth
  • Hypnotize, unusable on players
  • Be careful with acquiring quest related spells, as they are unforgettable no matter what
  • Teleologic spells (Sever Thread, Tangled Fate, Sovereign Destiny, and Tezirah's Veil) are extremely hard to land. Saesordian Compass (SCO) provides like a +25-30% to Partial Displacement and SLS's DPS, but it's pretty expensive to spend 6 slots to get this one spell. It provides an overwhelming boost to Bonegrinder DPS, but this combo is way overpowered and needs to be nerfed.

Choosing a Sect:

  • Heritage House -- gives you a cantrip that reverses predict curses, very useful when you fail a predict. Reduces Unleash scroll destruction rate from 4% down to 1%.
  • Tezirite -- can predict curse easier. Reduced Bonegrinder backlash.
  • Monk -- has a balance raising cantrip, balance is always good. Gains an extra Sorrow cast charge (+9% dmg on avg).
  • All the other sects are PvP neutral.
  • WARNING: once you choose a Sect, it is irreversible -- exception being that you can always change Sects to Heritage House.

Beginner Moonmage PvP

Armor:

  • Leather -- my recommendation. Stealth is important for us, as it allows us to disengage and engage on our terms. And we should reset often to recast MAF and Shear, or regain any lost balance.
    • Start with onyx-hide leathers, then save for punka leathers. If you've got cash, buy the shadowleaf MT end-loot.
  • Shield -- small, we're armor tertiary after all.
    • Start with onyx-hide small shield, then upgrade to either damite target shield or agonite triangular sipar. Best is diamond-hide or shadowleaf small shield, or MT octagonal cobwood shield.

Weapons:

  • TM focus -- accuracy is considered best, since damage is heavily influenced by to-hit %. Players can craft one via enchanting. MT end-loot TM focus are best, but expensive.
  • Physical weapons -- you must be ready to use them. 5 out of 11 of our matchups require weapons, and they can be a surprising source of extra damage in the other matchups.
    • For a beginner, I recommend getting the best Spiked Knuckles and best Heavy Thrown (HT) you can get. Get to melee range and MANE PALM and then PUNCH. If you can't, take out the HT and starting HURLing!

Spell Scrolls:

  • Easiest and most powerful to use: Ice Patch (IP) and Curse of the Wild (COTW). IP to stun, COTW to moderately debuff their offense and defense.

Pre-fight Prep:

  • Repair all armor & weapons. Lower than 90%, you start to see penalties.
  • No clownsuits (i.e. make sure you're wearing only 1 armor type)
  • Make sure all your prediction pools are filled. Use your predictions to buff your TM, Tactics, Shield, and your two favorite weapons (Brawling and HT probably). If allowed, you can use RTR to buff more, like Defending and Light Armor.
  • If allowed, cast IOTS intelligence/discipline
  • Cast all your buffs: AUS, Shadowling, SEER, TKSH, MAF, PSY, CV, SHAD, and RF. Cast Glythtide's Gift (GG) via runestone. Save WD and LW Shear right before the fight starts, as those only last 10min. And save Shear for last, since you don't want to weaken it with your own spellcasting.
  • Save time when buffing -- you don't have to wait for full prep to successfully cast spells.
  • Check your stance, 100% evasion + 99% shield. If you buffed your defending, then it's 100% evasion + 99% shield + 9% parry.
  • Check your AOE, make sure it's set to Nongroup
  • Always cast every spell at max mana.
  • Invoke your TM focus.
  • In a 1v1, SHW is our best native cyclic ... in a group fight, go with SLS so you don't accidentally web your teammates.

Fight!

  • Start with Mindshout, it's our best spell. Just make sure you grouped, so you don't hit your teammates.
  • Alternate casting Debil (IP or COTW) and Sorrow/Punching
  • Bob in between casts -- it helps your balance and also gives a small debuff to the enemy's defense.

After Fight:

  • Say "good fight" whether you won or lost
  • Save the fight log
  • Get ready for the next fight!

Intermediate Moonmage PvP

Review your logs

  • #1 way to improve
  • Ask lots of questions from more experienced players


#1 problem of all moonmages: "Why am I dying so fast?!"

  • Problem: You died in once Ice Patch or Stun.
    • Solution: get Awaken and Aesandry Darleath (AD).
  • Problem: You died in 10 physical attacks.
    • Solution: highlight the message of your MAF going down. Leave the room and recast it.
  • Problem: You always die first.
    • Solution 1: stay hidden when the fight starts. Your teammates get first strike while the enemy wastes time searching for you.
    • Solution 2: alternate between casting Shear and casting stuns. Shear will block their spells, and stunning them also reduces their offensive capabilities. Don't bother with casting TM, go full defense.


#2 problem: "Why are none of my attacks hitting, and all of theirs are?!"

"Balance is life." -Rakkor

"Balance rules." -Warbrolus

Understanding Balance Advantage

Balance advantage provides tremendous buffs to your offense and defense, and huge penalties to theirs.

How do you gain a balance advantage? Usually with stuns, which instantly tank the target's balance to "very badly balanced".

For example:

* Warbrolus hurls a polished silversteel throwing axe sculpted with the lines of an anguished visage at you.  You evade.  

The throwing axe lands nearby!

[You're invigorated (100%), energetic (100%), mighty (100%), incredibly balanced and overwhelming your opponent.]

I had stunned Warbrolus right before this hurl. Note the message "overwhelming your opponent", which signifies maximum balance advantage. He missed every hurl, while most of my Sorrows landed and did damage. And then he stunned me back, resulting in this:

* Warbrolus hurls a polished silversteel throwing axe sculpted with the lines of an anguished visage at you.  You fail to block with an octagonal shield of cobwood reinforced with a chitinous boss.  The axe flashes midnight-blue, lacerating with countless denticulated blade projections and lands a very heavy hit that scratches the right bicep (But another battle scar for your collection!).

The throwing axe lodges itself shallowly into you!

[You're hurt (70%), energetic (100%), mighty (100%), very badly balanced with opponent overwhelming you.]

His stun tanked my balance to "very badly balanced", giving me the message "opponent overwhelming you" which is maximum balance disadvantage. This hurl did 30% damage to me, and the next few Sorrow bolts missed.

Do not stay in balance disadvantage.

Ways to stay in balance advantage:

  • Keep Shear up to block their stuns
  • Stun them back
  • If you don't have a stun spell ready, leave the room, hide, prep it, then re-engage
  • Use TRIP or SHOVE (but only in melee range)
  • Ask a Warrior Mage to cast Sure Footing (SUF) on you. Unleash Centering on yourself if you can. You should already have AD up.


#3 problem: "Why are all of their stuns hitting me, and none of mine hitting them?"

Understanding Stats

Landing a Debilitation spell is very different from landing a TM spell or a weapon attack.

  • TM & Weapon attacks depend on ranks and balance advantage
  • Landing Debilitation attacks depend on stat advantage
    • Each spell has its specific stat vs stat matchup (See: Category:Contested abilities for details)
      • For example, Mindshout puts our Int + Disc + Wis against their Disc + Wis + Int (in that order of importance!)
      • Therefore, it's recommend our highest stat be Int, second highest stat be Disc, and third highest stat be Wis


No one can defend against every stat matchup

  • If they pump their mentals to defend against Mindshout and Rend, then they will be vulnerable to Dazzle and SHW
  • Most players will prioritize mental stats
    • This provides defense against nasty debils like Mindshout, Ward Break, and Huldah's Pall
    • It also enables MANY offensive debils like Mindshout, Ward Break, Ice Patch, Tremor, Lethargy, Frostbite, to name just a few...
  • Raising stamina or reflex is nice for defending against Ice Patch, Lethargy, Tremor etc., but then you won't be able to stun your opponent, and you'll still be vulnerable to the other mental attacks like Mindshout and Ward Break -- which is why you won't see many people going this route (exception being Barbarians, who must avoid Ice Patch at all costs)


Upgrade your weapons:

  • You need 9 weapons to cycle thru all the ACMs. Polearm, Brawling knuckles, 2HE, 2HB, LE, LB, Staff, Crossbow and SE.
  • Start with high carbon steel (with 33% gold or plat, ideally), then upgrade to haralun or kertig. You want 7.5 density in your weapons and armor, higher density is always better (but there's no benefit to going above 7.5). And then the best as usual is MT end-loot.
  • For Staff, bo staff is the best template. Start with Ebony, then upgrade to Rockwood.
  • For LE and LB, go for the heaviest template to maximize damage. For 2HE and 2HB, go for the lightest template to maximize balance.
  • For knuckles, go for spiked knuckles template for max damage.

Learn how to use Advanced Combat Maneuvers (ACMs)

  • Create scripts that automate the ACM for you
    • For example, to get to melee range I will have my script: (1) wear left, stow left, stow right; (2) remove shield; (3) MANE RUSH %target
  • Practice cycling thru all the ACMs to do maximum damage in the shortest amount of time
  • All ACMs have a 90 sec cooldown, except Palmstrike which is 45 sec. Play around this.

Advanced Moonmage PvP

Unleash

The spell that allows us to buff everything. The most important spells, in order:

  • AD and Awaken, otherwise you just die to one stun
  • Centering and SUF for balance, cuz balance is life
  • Rage of the Clans and Righteous Wrath to enable weapon usage
  • Tailwind if you didn't predict buff Heavy Thrown
  • Sentinel's Resolve for extra defense, if you can't predict buff Shield & Defending

Secondary spells to Unleash:

  • Depending on who you're fighting, you might want Courage, Soul Shield (SOS), Nonchalance and Redeemer's Pride (REPR) to fend off Spirit, Fear, Charm and Mind debils. Tranquility to bolster your Fortitude defense.
  • Essence of Yew (EY) gives a small but not insigifnicant bonus to all debil defense
  • Buff all your stats. Vigor, Heroic Strength, Gift of Life, Turmar Illuination, Will of Winter. This will help you win your Debil stat matchups.

Tertiary spells to Unleash:

  • Only if you have time: Ignite, Resonance, and Rutilor's Edge, to give a little bit of extra damage to your favorite weapon.

Mid-fight Unleashing:

  • If you can manage it, landing a Curse of the Wild (COTW), Lethargy, and Tremor mid-fight can be devastating, but it can be difficult to do.

Gyre -- if possible, use it to reduce the amount of Unleashing you do. It's very time consuming to Unleash this many spells, try to keep it to a minimum.

Learn how to cast Unleash at minimum mana -- saves you a lot of time, and conserves a lot of mana. Requires understanding how Sorcery penalty multipliers work (See: Sorcery#Mana Inefficiency)


Empowered Moonblade

You can store 3 spells in each moonblade, and you can summon up to 3 moonblades -- hypothetically, you can have 9 insta-cast debils at your disposal, but practically speaking you'll likely only ever use 1, as it is extremely difficult to manage more than 1 moonblade at a time.

  • STUDY the moonblade to figure out how this works
  • There's a 5 sec switch time between stored spells, which means you need to alternate between non-stored spells and stored spells.
    • For example, I might start a fight casting Sorrow, then immediately casting a stored Ice Patch to stun, then prepping Mind Shout and switching to the second Moonblade node. After the 5 sec RT switch is complete, I cast Mind Shout (with buffed Debil, I only need 6 sec prep time to cast Mind Shout), then immediately cast a stored Ward Break to capitalize on the stunned status. I prep Sorrow while switching to the third Moonblade node. After the 5 sec RT switch is done, I cast Sorrow (with buffed TM I only need 4 sec prep time to cast Sorrow) and then immediately cast a stored Rend.
      • In 21 secs, I will have casted 7 spells: 2 Sorrows and 5 Debils.

Casting this many spells in such short time requires many scripts to handle -- similar to cycling thru ACMs, but harder since you need to customize which spells you want to store, depending on the fight.

  • At minimum, you want 7 scripts. Three to switch between the 3 nodes. Another three to set the spell variable for each stored spell. And the last one to insta-cast the stored spell at %target.
  • If you plan on using 3 moonblades at a time, this can blow up to 19 scripts, or more if you want to insta-cast at more than one target.
    • Don't talk to me about how hard Warrior Mage micro is, Tirost! Look at all this crap I have to do, all in 21 seconds!


Herbs and MT goodies

  • Herbs: Buy them crafted, or make your own. If you plan on fighting for more than 3 min, you need 'em. If you're gonna get nerve damage, you need 'em. Check the Remedies product page to see which ones you need (See Remedies products). I usually just use chest, abdomen, limbs and nerves, since the other body parts are rarely hit. Unless you're against another Moon Mage, then you want the head herbs (Sorrow!).
  • Regen items: I don't have any, but vit regen is probably best.
  • Hand of Glory: +10 to your stats. Who doesn't want more stats?
  • Wands & Tattoos: Ice Patch is of course the best wand. I would probably get a Tremor tattoo. WB and HULP wands are okay, if you can land 'em.
  • HE gifts: tend to not be allowed, cuz they're too strong, like the automaton, totem or mask pigments (bees!).
  • Flared weapon/armor: Flares don't really move the needle much. Nice bonus when it happens, but don't plan around it.
  • Ice cube, poisons: Don't seem to be working properly in the Arena


Know the Matchup

  • If you're up against stealthers, use Mindshout and Sorrow.
  • If you're up against weapons, keep your WD up, keep them stunned, and refresh MAF often.
  • If you're up against anti-magic, use your Mindshout/Ward Break combo, switch to weapons, or use Magic-based Debils. Refresh Shear often to win the Debil contest.


Learn the Mechanics

  • There's a million hidden mechanics in the game. Knowledge is power. Learn them, investigate them, ask around about them.


MOST IMPORTANT: Know the Game

  • Know when to go all out, and know when to keep it casual
    • The PvP community is a small one, much akin to playing pickup basketball at a local court. There's a huge range of skill, and the teams or matchups usually aren't balanced.
    • Play in a way so that everyone has fun!

Avrenka's Crappy Experiments

First, go check out Tambellis' experiments: https://elanthipedia.play.net/Tambellis

  • A lot of my work was built upon his. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Yes parry stick balance makes a notable difference.

Shield hindrance seems to be a bit more important than shield protection. Fortuitous chance to block is even less impactful than shield protection. (If I had to guess, 1pt hindrance = 1.5 pts of protection = 3 pts of fortuitous) This test may be skewed by the fact that I am a moonmage, and my Evasion is always higher than my Parry/Shield and my stance is 100% evasion, so hindrance probably is more impactful for me.

Bonegrinder + SCO: 75% instalock rate (86/115), 16% backlash rate (15/93)


TM body part targeting accuracy: vs t1 Xala: No target 94%, Legs 79%, Chest 94%, Abdomen 94%, Eyes 9%, Neck 34%, Head 69%

vs t2 Xala: No target 49%, Chest 21%


TM accuracy focus vs no focus, vs t2 Xala 85% hit rate vs 55% hit rate

  • This should be equivalent to around a +10% to OF?


Moonmage TM spells vs t1 Xala

  • PD appears to have a decent accuracy penalty (67.4%) vs DO/TKT/unempowered Burn (84-87%). This is likely to offset the extra dmg that PD gets from being armor piercing.
  • Sorrow is even less accurate than PD (54.0%). Keep in mind, fully targeted spells get a +20% accuracy bonus, which Sorrow does not get.
  • each IFL source appears to slightly increase Burn accuracy. Conventional wisdom holds that each source increases accuracy & damage by 10% (I'm not sure about this)
  • TM accuracy focus appears to give about a 25-30% accuracy boost to hit


Punching no-target body part distribution: head 1.9%, eyes 1.6%, neck 3.2%, chest 18.4%, abdomen 8.9%, back 6.0%, arms 30.5%, hands 5.7%, legs 23.8%

TM no-target body part distribution: head 6.6%, eyes 8.5%, neck 7.5%, chest 9.4%, abdomen 17.9%, back 17.9%, arms 10.4%, hands 2.8%, legs 18.9%

Punching damage: plate gauntlets seemed about as effective as handwraps. Spiked knuckle dmg +7.4%, regular knuckle dmg +17.7% as compared to plate gauntlets/handwraps. Buffing brawling skill did not affect dmg when accuracy was capped (~95%). COMPARE verb is effective for comparing knuckles, but not accurate measure of difference in damage. Difference between storebought knuckles and haralun spiked knuckles about 20%. Difference between haralun spiked knuckles and leather gloves is almost double. Regular knuckles do about 6% more damage w/ PUNCH vs spiked knuckles, but spiked knuckles do about 15% more damage w/ MANE PALMSTRIKE vs regular knuckles (darkstone 85 hardness).

  • SvS: primary stat counts for 1.5, secondary stat 1.0, tertiary stat 0.5
  • Attacker vs Defender no advantage, success rate 15%
  • Attacker vs Defender +5 advantage, success rate 100%
  • Max mana provides +14 boost
  • Minimum success stun = 6 seconds (SHW)
  • +30 advantage stun = 17 seconds (SHW)
  • Stun appears to lower Will defense by 20-25, full Nerve damage appears to lower Will defense by 7
  • Maximal success appears to be +50 advantage
  • PSY appears to give 20-30 points of Will defense

Empath vit healing, pulses every 3 seconds, unlimited links possible: Charisma 14: 5%/link, Charisma 30: 6.3%/link, Charisma 60: 7.3%/link; max appears to be 8%/link


Gyres do not work with signature spells unless it's your guild

  • invoking Gyre requires Arcana check, which depends on the difficulty of the spells being invoked
  • i.e. max mana Intermediate spell difficulty (800 rank difficulty) had a 0% success rate with 800 ranks of Arcana, and somewhere around 30-40% advantage provided 100% success rate.


Armor testing on Moonmage w/ 859 evasion, 632 parry/armor/defend vs 2 Xala thralls + magus, solidly balanced

  • Leather armor yielded the best results, at 0.29 dmg/atk
  • Cloth and Bone were next best, at 0.36-0.37 dmg/atk
  • Chain, Brig and Plate were noticeably worse, at 0.51, 0.61, and 0.80 dmg/atk respectively
  • higher armor density appears to always be beneficial
  • reinforcing armor is almost always bad
  • Clownsuiting is even worse than Plate. Clownsuiting with mostly Leather was better than mostly Chain, 0.39 vs 0.54 dmg/atk (I had TKSH up to help)
  • results indicate hindrance is extremely important, which may be due to my defensives being skewed towards Evasion. Whatever benefits the extra protection gave was more than outweighed by the % to-hit penalty. And, accuracy appears to increase damage all the way up to around 80-85% accuracy.


Light armor skill testing: it appears armor skill does make a difference. To-hit % seems to remain the same, but damage received from hits is slightly reduced with higher skill.

  • Light armor skill 511 vs 756: lost vit/hit 2.83 vs 2.10, and 0.54 vs 0.41, sample size ~400-650 per test
  • DR-Kodius has said that Armor skill affects Absorb slightly, but Protection heavily -- meaning, Armor skill impacts small hits a lot more than big hits (i.e. PvE more than PvP)


Fatigue 0% seems to apply a -20% DF and OF, prevents getting items, adds a lot of RT to athletics and makes it harder, and -20% to spellcasting.

  • Lethargy drops target Fatigue to 50-60% (if below, no effect), and reduces Fatigue regen to stabilize at that level. If Fatigue ever hits 40% or below, it immediately tanks to 0% and stays there.


Retreating seems to apply a -10 OF to each retreat, stacking. 1 retreat lasts 13 sec, 2 retreats lasts 18 sec.

Webbed status seems to apply a -20 DF, as well as +20% dmg taken. Stunned status seems to apply about -15 DF, and +20% dmg taken. Prone status seems to apply another -20 DF and +20% dmg taken.

Grapple and Analyze do not seem to impart any DF penalties.

Weave, Circle and Bob seem to each contribute around -7 DF to target, as well as increasing dmg taken by 7-10% depending on the manuever. These tactics can be stacked up to 3 times for 18 seconds for a total -20 DF to target, as well as an increase in dmg taken by 20-30%. Practically speaking, Bob x3 and Circle/Weave/Bob are the only stacked tactics worth doing, as spamming Circle will tank your balance and spamming Weave will tank your fatigue.

RAGE seems to provide +20 OF

Avrenka's Crappy Notes on Random Mechanics

  • Accuracy affects dmg by as much as -80% penalty to 2x bonus (KODIUS)
  • Damage bonus from rank disparity is capped at 2x (KODIUS)
  • Sliding % of damage is given as wound damage. At > 80%, is very little. (KODIUS)
  • It is possible to be dragged away from your own rogue moongate, and avoid death
  • Many TM spells do not work in water
  • Moongate in water no longer applies an AOE stun
  • Conventional wisdom holds that grapple and analyze apply a Defensive Factor penalty. From my own experience, nerve damage applies a DF penalty as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Stun status also applies a DF penalty too. It's been said that Immobilize applies an Evasion penalty.
  • From my own experience, armor protection starts to deteriorate under 90% durability
  • Many cyclics pulse every 18 seconds. RAGE, NAME, and REPR seem to pulse quite randomly (8-30 seconds).
  • Herbs pulse every 30 seconds, 9 times, split between # of affected areas (i.e. limb remedy to multiple limb damage will heal multiples slower than chest remedy to chest damage)
  • Gyres cannot be invoked while hidden/invis, so don't put an invis spell first into the gyre, then all the other spells won't invoke
  • Certain spells can't be cast on others by non-native guild, like PSY and Uncurse
  • Integrity barriers stack. So always combine LW with whatever, like AC, Shear, SP, WORM, etc. This makes it so your spells can go out (since LW doesn't affect it), but their spells can't go in. Shear and SP do not play nice with each other, I've tried stacking them, doesn't work.
  • Casting Blend breaks you out of group. Whole Displacement pulses break you out of group. Soul Bonding breaks you out of group, and prevents you from joining any groups at all while it's on you.
  • Shift Moonbeam has a 2 zone limit.
  • WT Arena HIGH multiplies your stats to equalize them to 800 points in total, but only for SvS purposes. So if you're wondering why you get hit harder than others, it might be cuz your Reflex and Stamina aren't 100 and theirs is. And if you're wondering why small players seem to always succeed their debils on you, it's probably cuz their mentals are way above their other stats.
    • HEROIC equalizes to 958 stat points. Health, spirit, fatigue pools are flexed with stats, but almost all other stat aspects are not (i.e. encumbrance, weapon RT).
  • Tremor pulses 9 times (10 if you count the initial cast, which does hit) every 4-5 seconds. Spell ends in 42-44 seconds. Ending message does not hit. Vertigo is 8 pulses, same timing, but 1st pulse is missed.
  • Bardic screams mechanics: https://discord.com/channels/619301383451181075/823599885693354064/953128015129366538
  • I believe "stun" condition gives a sizeable penalty to DF, from my many armor tests. Tambellis theorized immobilize gives a large evasion penalty. Golameth believes immobilize gives the highest penalty.
  • Glyph of Dueling mechanic: https://discord.com/channels/619301383451181075/619330202614497290/857613082099580959
  • Damage calculation mechanics: https://discord.com/channels/619301383451181075/819303984719200297/1019333944212201513
  • OF vs DEF mechanics: https://discord.com/channels/619301383451181075/819303984719200297/1431285731632091308
  • Javac — 8/18/2026: Looking at the code, there is no autostance penalty.
  • Javac — 8/20/2026: Armor is applied before reactors.
  • CoZ mechanics: if target is wearing no armor and holding no weapons, CoZ does not take effect. CoZ only curses worn armor -- any armor put on after cast will not be cursed. CoZ takes 1-3 seconds to affect a weapon grabbed from a container, and will remain for the duration of the curse. CoZ does not affect parry sticks or brawling gear.
  • Kodius -- 3/26/2021: templates have no hard caps, weapon stats increase +1 per stone of weight up to 7.5 density, swappables and throwables slightly penalized on base stats
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