Celtic Heroes

So... I don't like cookie cutter type builds.

The mage set-up I've been running, and will continue to run while leveling is as follows:

Level 114 Mage

Cloak of Fire
Fire Bolt
Firestorm
Fire Attune
E-Shield

Gear:
Haste Gloves
Fire Damage Helm
Fire Damage Off-hand axe
Bare hands
Krons/Cronach Bladeleaf Set
Fire Attune Ring
Fire Bolt Ring
Firestorm Ring
Meteoric Armor
Two Wyrm Stat bracer

At 120:
Substitute two Wyrm bracers for 2 Aggy Cloak of Fire bracers (or e-shield)

At 140:
Substitute Krons/Cronach set for Comrak Bladeleaf, Jalans at 150
Firebolt gloves then the Firestorm Boots
Substitute Hero gloves for Haste ring

At 150:
Level 150 Fire axe

Now, you may be thinking what the heck is this guy doing?

Having fun.

Sure I could go full focus with a focus Aggy book and Focus of Seer or shield... but that isn't as fun to me. I like variety in my build and loved playing a battle-mage in Lineage II.

The whole idea behind this build is high auto damage with damage boosting gear, with the ability to take shots and hit hard with Firestorm/bolt with supplemental auto damage in between. So far, it has worked really well for me as I don't feel like I'm wasting precious DPS between spells casting.

Between Fire Bolts, I'm usually able to get off 3-4 auto his for 150-250 a piece along with my cloak dealing anywhere from 90-180ish damage or so per.

Again, this build is FUN for me... and still does great damage.

Might substitute your meteoric armour for frozen or (preferable) obsidian armour at 130-132 . I really loved my obsi armour on mage. Better armour and hp and the fire magic added from the gear is amazing.

Read my guide on the auto-mage, it might help you.

Eventually all mages gravitate to the cookie cutter ice or fire or ice/fire hybrid in the end game because...well, that's just how the game is designed. It's fun to play with builds while in the mid and low levels, but high auto attack/melee mages just don't have any place in a raid setting.

^.

You don't want to get up close and personal with a lot of bosses, especially since mages have a tendency to take aggro really easily. Once you start killing DL bosses, this will become very apparent.

Low armour and generally lower health pools mean you'll spend a lot of time on the ground.

No lure of fire? And wouldnt a heat dmg shop ammy be better then kron and with the free misc slot u cpuld put in a heat dmg misc and an aggy heat dmg ring

Meant to put lure in there, I have it around 10-15 depending on gear.

I admit this isn't a build for end game bossing, rather, having fun getting there not being like the rest of the mages out there.

My ideal build for fun near 185 would be:
Hrung firestorm helm
DL top/bottoms/gloves
Alchemical boots
Lvl 180 damage helm or 150
Lvl 150 Stargem ammy of the Frostgiant
Royal charm of cloaking
Haste ring
And a variety of skill/Jalan rings
Aggy Cloak of Fire or Eshield bracer
Hrung armor/damage bracer

I'm just thinking outside the box for something that would still dish out good DPS, be fun and different. A necro wand that has the Fireball skill or the Proc ice damage could also be fun, but also hit slower.

In no way am I saying this would be suitable for killing end games bosses with nasty AoE's, but something to try and have fun with what's the point of playing if it's boring and mundane?

A few years ago I use to see a lot more of these builds. It really helps with energy management. Since sigils can be traded now it's less of an issue.

I think it's a fun build and I say go for it.

Nothing wrong with having fun with the build. I was a h2h mage until around 150, and it was great.

But the benefit of attacking from a range, and higher skill hits, ability to sigil between skills, and other factors made me change back.

If you are using a melee build, you should consider that the game has changed since the first builds were posted. Then the warden wand was 3600 milliseconds, and far to slow for melee work. However, since then a number of one handed novelty items have come out with speeds of 3000, the meteoric wand is 3200, the frozen 3100, and Dragon Lord is 3000.

Also, heroic hastes have come out since then (even heroic combos if you are lucky). A 3000 speed weapon with a 60% speed up from heroic haste hits at 1200 milliseconds, very close to the 1100 max you get from bare hands. Even at a super haste, you hit at 1500 which is not bad. The main hand can add proc, and additional damage. Try to match the dmg type to the lure you use (fire) and your DPS will increase even more. Unfortunately, OTM only made great weapons for ice, and those candy canes only lasted for the first week of the event. But even the white firestorm rod would not be bad. It adds only 20 heat damage, but it procs 20%. So one out of every 5 hits average will be 200 heat dmg! And on a heroic haste you are hitting every 1.2 seconds

The other thing that makes these builds even easier now is the gear switching from this update. If you have fire magic, focus, or skill points from mainhand a and offhands, use them while casting, then switch to your melee weapons, then back for more casting! Best of both worlds!!

Don't forget to save some slots for all those skill rings you might want to switch

Funky builds are great! Just turn off your auto attack when you get to a boss.

Edited to correct autocorrect....