Build summary | (Gimmick) A high-intelligence mage that takes advantage of the Insanity Catalyst in order to hit as hard as possible (mainly PVE and co-op) |
Recommended starting class(es) | Magician, Royalty, Theif |
Recommended Soul Level | ** |
Recommended stats (Leave at default (**) if not raised) |
|
Vitality | 30 |
Will/Intelligence | 60 |
Endurance | 13 |
Strength | 11 |
Dexterity | 13 |
Magic | 50-60 |
Faith | 10-18 |
Luck | ** |
Recommended equipment |
Head: Monk's Head Collar RH1: Insanity Catalyst Rings |
Recommended spells/miracles |
Spells: Miracles: If using Second Chance, swap out Warding for whatever other spells you like. |
Gameplay tips and progression |
The Insanity Mage, as its name implies, revolves around the Insanity Catalyst. Every spell is cast at the greatest damage it can do for what its Magic stat is at the time. Pulling this build off requires two things: Good accuracy and a talent for NOT GETTING HIT. However, when done properly, the results are absolutely devastating. Tips The 1/2-size MP bar is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, you have to eat spices more often to keep casting spells, but on the other hand Fresh Spice can reasonably restore your MP bar - 3, 4 doses at most. You can also take 1 Old Spice to restore half of it or more. It's still a good idea to have plenty of each on hand at any given time, of course. Playing the Build Co-op is where this build truly shines. With someone else to keep the enemy occupied, you can spend less time dodging and more time tearing your foes apart. Unless your allies are casters as well, odds are you will be the main damaging force in the group. BP's also have a much harder time dodging your spells when they're focusing on the melee guy in front of them. In PVP, the Insanity Mage is at a disadvantage due to the smaller MP bar. Every spell counts here, and that means you either have to get lucky or be very good at outsmarting the enemy. The best way for this build to fight other players is to let them think you've run out of MP when you actually have enough left to cast a spell that will knock them flat. Act like you're out (they'll believe it readily enough when they see the Insanity Catalyst in your hand), and when they close in for the strike hit them hard (unless they're pros, they will probably have an "OH @#$%" moment when they see you casting; make sure to take advantage of it if you see it). You can usually get them with a Soul Ray while they're standing up afterward, or you can use that time to eat a spice or two before combat resumes. Of course, waiting around a corner to hit them with HSA or Firestorm when they come for you is fun too. This is obviously not the best PVP build, but it can hold its own. |
Insanity Mage
this is just a pure mage… such high INT is a bit of a waste as well because even though you have a massive mana store, your magic will be outclassed by a pushed ToB of the same level. Mage builds require greater efficiency of stats to be effective in PvP. Also, if you are a pure mage and you use AMF on another mage, chances are they have a backup crescent weapon and/or the kris blade (which has great 2H stunlock if they catch you). In addition, Faith builds only need to wait until your mana runs out to catch you and kill you. A good mage does not require a shield unless they are oriented for melee as well (spellsword).
Sorry, I forgot to add that this class was mainly for PVE and co-op. Fixed now. It does fall down in the pvp area, and I'm trying to find ways to improve this so that it doesn't quite so much. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please point them out.
Like I said before, this class revolves around the Insanity Catalyst. Without that high Int, the build ends up having a very small MP bar. At 70Int, the Insanity Catalyst puts its wielder at 192MP, although with the dramatic increase in spell power it allows you to kill most NPC enemies in 1, 2 spells at most.
Also, the shield/wand combo actually does work out pretty well, at least in my experience. Yes, a mage is dodging most of the time, but it's still nice to have the shield on hand if someone's chasing you - come out of a dodge with shield up and it's harder to take serious damage. Thanks for pointing that out though, I'll adjust the equipment a little.
A couple other updates have been made as well
i give it a thumbs up, looks fun and effective :)
Looks kewl but I don't get the 70 INT. Don't most stats max out at 40?
Not exactly. After 40, you start to see diminished returns on the amount of hp, mp, stamina, etc. that you get per point invested. In the case of MP, you reach a point where you only get 2 per point invested in Intelligence (not at 40, but somewhere beyond it). That's why it needs to be as high as it is on this build; otherwise the MP bar would be ridiculously small while the Insanity Catalyst is equipped.
I just looked back and saw your post about it being for PvE and NOT for PvP. To me, I would have to agree somewhat with Astrichthyes, 70 INT just sounds a little too high. Maxing INT at 40 still gives you 140mp and with your mag at 40-50 or higher, that still gives you ample power for your spells. Also, most people when they create a build for PvE always forget 1 thing, "Black Phantoms always invade", meaning, any build should be both PvE and PvP as an invading bp turns it into PvP automatically. If you were to make it PvP, then your Vit is half of what a normal 120 build is at. Most PvPers max out Vit to 40 unless it's a hyper build. I do like your build, I would have just put more into vit and less into Int., because when you get to your 3rd play through, less than 1000hp is gonna hurt, ALOT.
hmm…alright, how about lowering Int to 60 and then up the Vitality to 30? 40 Int doesn't really work with this build, especially if you plan on using a 100mp spell. You still need to be able to cast multiple spells afterward, especially if the fight is too hectic to stop and take a spice.
Also, I added Banish to the miracle options. Most BPs are melee-oriented, so they have to get within banishing range anyway.
As for the "Black Phantoms always invade", there are a lot of people who prefer to wander around in soul form. BPs can't invade, then. I'm not recommending that people using this build stay in soul form more than body, just pointing it out.
Replace ToG with ToB and up FTH to 18 :) Overall, the point of the iCat is raw power at a cost. You will do a lot of damage with 60 MAG, but it really shouldnt exceed 50 for PvP. One last thing: if you take INT to 40 and make FTH and MAG equal, you will be doing roughly the same damage with a better mana store and a free weapon slot. This, of course, is the idea behind the Pushed ToB build. So you see, your build is good, but not at all optimal in that it wastes a lot of points in compensating for your mana deficit. The only upside to having MAG as high as you do is that you will add a lot of damage to any weapon with light weapon, but you don't have the stats required for a decent weapon to buff… PvP is the main idea behind the game, but if PvE is all you are going for, that should be in the title of the build: "(SL??? PvE)" or something like that.
uhh…PVE is there. Look at the summary.
"(Gimmick) A high-intelligence mage that takes advantage of the Insanity Catalyst in order to hit as hard as possible (mainly PVE and co-op)"
And yes, the ToB can deliver similar/greater power, but this build uses support miracles only (Second Chance, Evacuate, etc), so aside from the ToB power boost (and extra miracle slots) there's really no point in building faith. I repeat, this is a GIMMICK build. Thanks for pointing out that the ToB wasn't in the equipment though, I forgot to add it in.
As for the Light Weapon comment, you can always go beyond the base stats in this build to allow it to wield better weapons. The only real limit to what you can do is how long you want to spend gathering souls.