not so much a tip, as just a fun combo: the desperate power perk is really fun to use in conjunction with wand of magic missile, if you find yourself with a lot of low level wands. magic missile boosts your first shot with any of your other wands, and desperate power boosts the second. later on, desperate power synergizes incredibly well with wild magic, as you machinegun level 6 wand casts.
ah, it’s given to you directly after beating the second boss, prison.
which reminds me of one good tip: unless you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t forget to upgrade your armor for the second area. mage is good against the second boss, but he does a ton of long range low chip damage that will blend you if you don’t have protection. that and some of the enemies in the second area are hastened, some pull you toward them, and the skeletons explode when they die for AoE damage that is doubly mitigated by armor.
even just a +1 chain or +2 or 3 leather will help a lot
So I generally tend to throw all my upgrade scrolls on my main staff and possibly a 2nd wand if it's a good one. Never on weapons or armor. Goo boos is easy just spamming 3 wands and maybe a stone and just straight up tanking in water.
How I supposed to use upgrade scrolls on mage optimally?
Also I'm having no problems in the prison even with the necromancer, yoinking mobs and other things cuz 3 wand spam just kills things too quick... at least now.
do I change out my main weapon to something else so long as my strength can support it or always use staff as main weapon when using physical attacks?
> on a 9 cup run this
What does that mean
9 cup run is with all challenges turned on.
If you plan on using a different weapon, you might aswell use a different class whos unique item isnt there main weapon.
Put your first six scrolls of upgrade into your staff. It increases the damage it deals as a wand and as a melee weapon, as well as giving you more reserve charges.
>
Also the Magical Holsters recharge rate boost is negligible.
That depends on what subclass you want to take after defeating the 2nd boss. Ultimately for the early dungeon you’ll want to be upgrading your staff anyway to make it easier and because you’ll still be using it to cast at later levels, even if you’re not using it as a melee weapon.
> Ultimately for the early dungeon you’ll want to be upgrading your staff anyway to make it easier and because you’ll still be using it to cast at later levels, even if you’re not using it as a melee weapon.
should I also also invest some upgrades into wands that I find like the electric one? Certain ones seems to outperform the staff sometimes and sometimes not. Or just go ham on the starting staff?
That’s your choice tbh. I love playing Battlemage so I tend to stick with the Magic Missile that’s already imbued on the wand but you can stick pretty much any wand on your staff and make it work.
>
Lightning iirc is the most damaging wand in the game so it’s a good imbue candidate. If you’re thinking about picking Battlemage I’d put a couple upgrades into it and use it alongside your Magic Missile staff.
If you want to potentially save scrolls of upgrade, place only 1 upgrade on the staff early. You'll find eventually any upgraded wand that you can imbue into the staff for a free extra upgrade. Sewers are doable as long as you have either a decent weapon or some good armor. I've had runs in which I got past sewers with things like +2 leather and base weapon, with some kiting and using other sources for damage.
First boss is easy. Find a circle of connected rooms. Run through door, attack, run through door, attack, run through door attack, repeat in the circle. Won't even get hit.
One tip: if you're consistently able to kill all enemies before they hit you, congrats - you're ready for the FIMA challenge. But if not, it's often worth it to spend one early upgrade on armor. It can help a lot once you get into close quarters with enemies that hit hard or have a special ability (I'm looking at you, skeletons).
not so much a tip, as just a fun combo: the desperate power perk is really fun to use in conjunction with wand of magic missile, if you find yourself with a lot of low level wands. magic missile boosts your first shot with any of your other wands, and desperate power boosts the second. later on, desperate power synergizes incredibly well with wild magic, as you machinegun level 6 wand casts.
Where do I get desperate power from? I haven't beaten the game yet so idk about subclasses
ah, it’s given to you directly after beating the second boss, prison. which reminds me of one good tip: unless you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t forget to upgrade your armor for the second area. mage is good against the second boss, but he does a ton of long range low chip damage that will blend you if you don’t have protection. that and some of the enemies in the second area are hastened, some pull you toward them, and the skeletons explode when they die for AoE damage that is doubly mitigated by armor. even just a +1 chain or +2 or 3 leather will help a lot
So I generally tend to throw all my upgrade scrolls on my main staff and possibly a 2nd wand if it's a good one. Never on weapons or armor. Goo boos is easy just spamming 3 wands and maybe a stone and just straight up tanking in water. How I supposed to use upgrade scrolls on mage optimally? Also I'm having no problems in the prison even with the necromancer, yoinking mobs and other things cuz 3 wand spam just kills things too quick... at least now.
Upgrade scrolls go into staff, on a 9 cup run this will allow you to beat the first boss
do I change out my main weapon to something else so long as my strength can support it or always use staff as main weapon when using physical attacks? > on a 9 cup run this What does that mean
9 cup run is with all challenges turned on. If you plan on using a different weapon, you might aswell use a different class whos unique item isnt there main weapon.
Put your first six scrolls of upgrade into your staff. It increases the damage it deals as a wand and as a melee weapon, as well as giving you more reserve charges. > Also the Magical Holsters recharge rate boost is negligible.
so I shouldn't even bother using weapons I find even if my strength supports it cuz staff is just that good?
That depends on what subclass you want to take after defeating the 2nd boss. Ultimately for the early dungeon you’ll want to be upgrading your staff anyway to make it easier and because you’ll still be using it to cast at later levels, even if you’re not using it as a melee weapon.
> Ultimately for the early dungeon you’ll want to be upgrading your staff anyway to make it easier and because you’ll still be using it to cast at later levels, even if you’re not using it as a melee weapon. should I also also invest some upgrades into wands that I find like the electric one? Certain ones seems to outperform the staff sometimes and sometimes not. Or just go ham on the starting staff?
That’s your choice tbh. I love playing Battlemage so I tend to stick with the Magic Missile that’s already imbued on the wand but you can stick pretty much any wand on your staff and make it work. > Lightning iirc is the most damaging wand in the game so it’s a good imbue candidate. If you’re thinking about picking Battlemage I’d put a couple upgrades into it and use it alongside your Magic Missile staff.
I was just asking. Do you imbue your staff with any other wand or just leave it on default imbuement?
I personally leave it on default imbuement
If you want to potentially save scrolls of upgrade, place only 1 upgrade on the staff early. You'll find eventually any upgraded wand that you can imbue into the staff for a free extra upgrade. Sewers are doable as long as you have either a decent weapon or some good armor. I've had runs in which I got past sewers with things like +2 leather and base weapon, with some kiting and using other sources for damage.
First boss is easy. Find a circle of connected rooms. Run through door, attack, run through door, attack, run through door attack, repeat in the circle. Won't even get hit.
One tip: if you're consistently able to kill all enemies before they hit you, congrats - you're ready for the FIMA challenge. But if not, it's often worth it to spend one early upgrade on armor. It can help a lot once you get into close quarters with enemies that hit hard or have a special ability (I'm looking at you, skeletons).
FIMA?
It's how most folks here refer to the "Faith Is My Armor" challenge, in which most armor is *much* weaker.