How do you play a Mage?

[Poop Loops]

After mowing everything down with a Dunadan Warrior (until I got killed by a scroll mimic ) I decided to try some mages. I knew they would be harder in the beginning, but Not this hard!

Playing with a High-Elf Mage was going well, but leveling was going real slowly, so I tried a human mage. Now I am so pathetically weak I will just retire this guy.

[ChodTheWacko]

Playing with a High-Elf Mage was going well, but leveling was going real slowly, so I tried a human mage. Now I am so pathetically weak I will just retire this guy.

Go back to the high elf mage. Leveling is overrated. (kinda)

In Angband, it's equipment that makes or breaks you.
Once you get proper gear, the levels will come automatically.

What you want to do is use detect magic to pick and choose what you fight.
This allows you to go deeper and acquire better gear faster.

- Frank

[Poop Loops]

You mean like detect evil and stuff to know what to avoid? Or what?

[ChodTheWacko]

You mean like detect evil and stuff to know what to avoid? Or what?

detect monster.

You should make it a macro so it's easy to cast, and then cast it every now and then.

I have F9 = detect monster, f12 to R*& (to regain mana/hp)
F10 = detect doors/stairs

etc.

Use magic missle a lot, and use sleep a lot so you can run away.
Also carry lots of scrolls of phase door and use that rather than waste mana.

[Poop Loops]

I come from the land of Dungeon Crawl, so I'm still very weary of spending money, becuase in that game you can't sell anything. I guess I have to get over that and get used to buying scrolls.

[Atriel]

http://angband.oook.cz/fun/mages.php

Fun, but true.

[Djabanete]

Spend *all* your money, whenever you can, on whatever looks useful. Buy scrolls of Phase Door. In the beginning you may need to rely on the Town a lot, but as you get more experienced you won't need to make so many back-and-forth trips. (Then again if you're coming from Crawl you may have the opposite problem. )

Get mileage out of Wands of Sleep/Confuse/Slow monster by using them on the closest monster in a corridor, then running. Run from things that are tough to kill. Run if you're low on mana. Remember, every staircase is a fail-proof escape (unless there are worse things on the other side, but that's unusual). Unlike in Crawl, going up/down stairs is instantaneous. So are teleport scrolls. Save those as you find them. Wands of Light are good against the lower-level Orcs, and against Dark Elves of every sort. When you can, get yourself an enchanted bow.

Don't go *anywhere* without casting Detect Monsters and Detect Traps. Definitely stick with High-Elf or Gnome unless you're looking for a challenge, and boost your Int first and Str next when you create your character. Never carry so much stuff that you're slowed down.

Sorry that's so disorganized. The truth is, I tend to play warriors and not mages --- most of this is just general advice. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't link you to this.

EDIT: Damn you, Atriel! May the RNG frown on your next character.

[Poop Loops]

So is DEX important for a mage? The Help file says it is. I guess if I don't want to get hit. Although just running away is even better for that.

I mean, the Help file also says that Paladins need high CHA and it does absolutely nothing besides getting better prices, right?

[Nick]

So is DEX important for a mage? The Help file says it is. I guess if I don't want to get hit. Although just running away is even better for that.

I mean, the Help file also says that Paladins need high CHA and it does absolutely nothing besides getting better prices, right?

Yeah, those entries in the help files are just designed to confuse n00bs, as far as I can tell. DEX is probably less useful to a mage than to any other character class; like Djabenete, I would go for INT (to 18/50 if possible), then STR, then CON.

[Poop Loops]

Cool beans. Right now I am playing a Paladin which is going very nicely. (at least compared to all my other runs so far ) But my next char I will go back to a mage.

[Atriel]

EDIT: Damn you, Atriel! May the RNG frown on your next character.[/FONT]

lol
btw great advice!

[Garrie]

Cool beans. Right now I am playing a Paladin which is going very nicely. (at least compared to all my other runs so far ) But my next char I will go back to a mage.

There is an important INT breakpoint which gives a CL1 mage, 3 Mana. Dunno what it is but I'm sure someone will tell us

Get your INT to this point.
Take Magic Missile.

Buy !CLW, scroll of phase door, and either !CSW / !CCW before you go down.

Dive / stairscum until you see jellies near the stairs, you can hit CL3 without leaving sight of stairs. Don't mellee jellies and everything except yellow jellies is instant xp for a mage... until you hit CL5 they will level you up pretty quick.

Once you have CL3 you will have the following spells:

Magic Missile
Detect Monsters
Phase Door
Light
Detect Doors and Stairs (whatever it's called for real)

Getting to CL11 (where you can learn ID) is another lesson... but you said how do you start...

[Garrie]

Yeah, those entries in the help files are just designed to confuse n00bs, as far as I can tell. DEX is probably less useful to a mage than to any other character class; like Djabenete, I would go for INT (to 18/50 if possible), then STR, then CON.

INT: In the beginning you need at least the breakpoint to give a CL1 @ 3 mana. Then every extra bit helps lower fail rates.
STR: need enough to carry all your spellbooks. Ditch any loot that slows you down, you can always find more loot. A Gnome with STR 9 is playable if you don't load yourself up with too much stuff, carrying 1 each of the town books.
CON: The more con the more HP. so keep going till you hit 18/220!

[Garrie]

I come from the land of Dungeon Crawl, so I'm still very weary of spending money, becuase in that game you can't sell anything. I guess I have to get over that and get used to buying scrolls.

For a starting @, buy/sell back is a great way to ID the cheap items (as is massacring all the "t" that drop things). It cuts down how many things you find >> that you don't know what they are. For a mage this only matters till CL11, but it helps to buy one each of the cure potions so you know them the first time you see them >>.

[ChodTheWacko]

There is an important INT breakpoint which gives a CL1 mage, 3 Mana. Dunno what it is but I'm sure someone will tell us

Buy !CLW, scroll of phase door, and either !CSW / !CCW before you go down.

Don't mellee jellies and everything except yellow jellies is instant xp for a mage... until you hit CL5 they will level you up pretty quick.

Getting to CL11 (where you can learn ID) is another lesson... but you said how do you start...

One of the breakpoints is 18/50.
For a starting mage, definitely go 18/50 int.
Then I for starters, I would max Strength so you don't get slowed.
Although when you play for real, you'll want to max CON, because CON
is more important in the long run.

I wouldn't waste your time with CLW (aka cure light wounds).
You should ALWAYS have a cure serious wounds potion, because it cures confusion/blindness that spells instant death.

Never, ever, ever melee as a starting mage. There's no need to put yourself in such danger. The exception is for packs of jackals which are almost zero risk.

I play dungeon level = character level. As long as you have phase door scrolls, and 18/50 int, and full mana (rest a LOT), you should have no problem killing anything that isn't a unique. Just avoid packs of monsters.