Beginner's Guide to Shield Mage (Lvl 150)

Preface

Spoiler: Preface

Hi guys, as I was browsing the forums etc on Toram, I noticed that while there are a lot of players new to the game looking for advice/guides but there was a distinct lack of such guides to be found. Most guides I find are either outdated or feature a close to, if not level cap build. While I do believe that one of the appeals of Toram is the freedom and flexibility of builds, sometimes, a new player just doesn't have the luxury to invest points into a character, only to change them when they don't like it. So, I decided to make this guide, based on my own knowledge and preferences, on a Shield Mage build at level 150 (When level 4 skills are first unlocked). Do note that this guide id by no means the best or perfect in any way, and is simply meant to be a guideline for new players who are lost on what to do at this first milestone of the game.

Intro to Mage

Spoiler: Leveling

For new players, the first obstacle you will face is leveling up to 150. With regards to leveling via farming mobs, I believe there are sufficient guides out there so I won't further elaborate but generally, farm mobs close to your level, maybe slightly higher. If the mobs are too high or too low compared to your level, there is a penalty and the exp gain is minimal.
For those of you who are too lazy to farm mobs, the fastest way to hit level 150 is to complete the main quest. After completing main quest, you should end up at around 140-145. Use a leveling guide to farm up to 145 and then just farm Venena Normal till 150. If you find yourself stuck at a main quest, flee from battle and then change difficulty to easy.

Spoiler: More about Mages

As a mage, do not expect to always top damage charts(Although it does happen a lot). While you do have a great amount of damage, many other classes can out-damage you at their peak. While saying that, being a mage has its perks. Basically, while you may not have the largest damage numbers, you provide consistent damage as spells are not affected by accuracy and won't miss. Furthermore, in my opinion at least, you do not require very expensive gears to perform well. Yes, better gears do help, but they are not a deal breaker unlike for some other classes. Finally, as a mage, you have more flexibility; you can be a DPS character, support when needed, and even farm with AOE skills. And while this guide is about Shield Mage in particular, there are many other options for what you want to equip as your weapons as a mage.

Shield Mage
Basically, if you choose to be a shield mage, you are trading off some of your damage for increased survivability. Here are some pros and cons of my shield mage.

Spoiler: Pros

- Higher survivability.
- More forgiving
- Easier to learn

Spoiler: Cons

- Less damage than other variants
- Unable to use Resonance
- Only 1 DPS Skill

Spoiler: Play style

Basically, your play style with this build is straightforward. Your main, in fact only, DPS skill is finale. However, you have a rather good amount of defensive and supportive skills to protect you and your teammates. And to be honest, finale as your damage skill is enough. In a fight, cast finale with sneak attack when your teammates have taken aggro and just repeat. Depending on what defense type is needed, cast protection/aegis. When needed, use your support skills to help out your team (Heal, Recovery etc.)

Spoiler: Stats

INT - 255
VIT/DEX - As you prefer. DEX for faster cast time on your support skills (Does not affect finale. It will, however, reduce its casting aggro). VIT for more HP/DEF.

Spoiler: Skill Tree

Legend:
Required Skills
Recommended Skills
Optional Skills (Last Priority, By own discretion)

For skills preceding required skills, all are assumed to be level 5

• Magic Skills (Level 4)
  • Impact Level 7
    • Required to half MP cost of next ability
    • Level 7 makes cast time instant
  • Finale Level 10
    • Main DPS
  • Magic Mastery Level 10
    • Increases ATK and MATK slightly
  • MP Charge Level 10
    • A must have for MP recovery
  • Maximizer Level 10
    • A must have for MP recovery
    • Use after MP Charge only, if not cast time is 10 seconds and that is detrimental in a fight

• Shot Skills (Level 2)
  • Sneak Attack Level 7-10
    • Essential to prevent aggro from finale
    • Take note that it does not prevent aggro from the cast time of finale, only when the finale hits.
    • Also does not prevent aggro from support skills

• Survival Skills (Level 2)
  • HP Boost Level 10
    • More Survivability
  • MP Boost Level 10
    • To help you reach 2000 MP
  • Play Dead Level 10
    • Reduces revive time greatly if you were to die

• Support Skills (Level 4)
  • Heal Level 10
    • Massive heals (Full HP for DPS Characters in 1 heal, 2-3 heals for tanks)
    • Can also be used to revive teammate from distance
    • Will heal your own character if cast without a target
  • Brave Aura Level 10
    • Very good damage buff
    • Accuracy down does not affect mages at all
    • Take note that the buff ends if you are hit
  • Recovery Level 5
    • Remove ailments/prevent for a duration after cast if not ailment
    • Useful against many bosses
    • Take note it doesn't remove/prevent Flinches, Tumble, Knockback, Stuns
    • Same as Heal if want to cast on self
  • First-aid Level 10
    • Greatly reduces revive time of teammate when using aid ability

• Shield Skills Level 3/4
  • Protection Level 10
    • Good Physical Resistance Buff for whole party
  • Aegis Level 10
    • Good Magic Resistance Buff for whole party
  • Force Shield Level 10
    • Increase DEF and Physical Resist
  • Magical Shield Level 10
    • Increase MDEF and Magic Resist
  • Shield Bash Level 1
    • Combo Ender
  • Guard Strike Level 10
    • Deals damage to the boss whenever you guard

• Battle Skills Level 4
  • Magic Up Level 10
    • Increases MATK slightly
    • Not important at all. Only when have excess skill points
  • Increased Energy Level 10
    • Increases MATK slightly
    • Not important at all. Only when have excess skill points

• Assassin Skills Level 2
  • Backstep Level 1
    • Good for dodging AOE when you have no time to walk out
    • Not as essential as compared to other mage builds since you can guard with shield.

• Mononofu Level 2
  • Shukuichi Level 1
    • Good for closing distance when going up against mobile bosses

Spoiler: Combo

Main DPS Combo: Impact - Finale (Smite) - Shield Bash (Consecutive)

Spoiler: Equipment

I don't really have an equipment list to recommend, but Heaven's Feather Garb is a good budget Armor choice.

Well that's about it for what I can currently think of. I don't consider myself to be even close to extremely knowledgeable about the game, so if there are any suggestions or feedback, please do comment down below. The guide will constantly evolve with suggestions from the community and will hopefully come to be a very useful tool for newer players. Thank you for reading and I hope this was of help to you.

 

DEF and MDEF aren't that useful tho (minimum at 250 is enough), so I'd rather get Play Dead than have Defense Up if I had the sp to spare.

 

Hmm, actually I do agree with you that defense up is not really useful. I think I'll remove that. I don't think play dead is that good either though since with this build, the plan is not to die. I was thinking maybe Shukuichi might be a good investment of extra skill points

 

It is, with event bosses, that have very special aoe atks, instant donut atk mostly..
Its still faster than running..
Only downside is when we stop few meters away upon using power wave x3

 

No one plans to die, really, but getting killed isn't 100% avoidable. As a shield mage I have spent most of the time reviving dead dps (and tanks occasionally) instead of casting finale =_=, and there were those who keep shouting "healer!" this or "pls help!" that too. If ppl actually had play dead to revive themselves fast I wouldn't have to waste time and could also avoid competing aggro with the tank! And yes, my mage has play dead (but stargem bc I can share it with my other dps, which saves sp). Shukuchi is useful too, I guess.

 

Heal is a terrible skill. The upgraded version is significantly better but why even carry heal when HP Pots exist. There's no reason to use a Heal in this game legitimately
Recovery can be left at level 1. Level 10 can heal 2 but level 1 does the same thing with a lower HP refund. Big whoop, you have maximizer
Play Dead and First Aid are standard if you have the SP. No one plans on dying but youre a mage, get used to it.
Also did you know burst dps dp semiviable rn? Guess you didn't.

All in all, you have a lot of learning to do before you try teaching people. Stop it

 

this entirely depends on the skill choice. sub weapons have no effect on magic skills for staff users.

cast speed reduces the casting aggro of Finale, which is not covered by Sneak Attack and negative aggro on equipment

Guard Strike does not prorate since the latest skill adjustment

you have a shield, use it.

how about Shield Bash instead?

 

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I do also believe that I have a lot of learning to do. That's why I mentioned that this guide is not perfect in any way and why I call it a beginner's guide. It is simply what I wish was available to me had there not been free resets when I hit 150. The idea is to put this out there for new players to refer to and for the more competent players such as yourself to give suggestions on how this can be improved so that I can optimise the build and edit it to give make it better and better over time. I didn't have any intention of acting as if this build had no mistakes and will be making adjustments according to different suggestions so that eventually, a really good guide will be out for new players to see. Sorry for making you feel like that but thank you for the feedback, I'll definitely put thought into it.

Yup, I do know that. I do not mean that shield mages can only use finale, but rather that my version is like that. I did it like that since I find finale more friendly to new players.

Ah I did not know that. Thanks for the heads up.

I do know that it is, however, this will be targeted at newer players and at least in my opinion, burst builds are significantly more expensive and is harder to execute, which is why I went with a finale only path. Thanks for pointing it out though.

Made the change already, thank you!

 

I use a similar build to this one and I can say that it's good. Can survive meteor attacks from venena ulti. I would say that heal is really useful because you can only use eb or revitas once in 10 secs cooldown. So if you get hit many times within that cooldown, you're dead. Also, the ability to revive people from afar. Not really recommended to use for reviving, but just in rare cases. Just to keep the party safe.

Honestly nowadays, mages are expected to revive people because of maximizer, so you have to survive especially sub shield. If you die first, there's no one to revive people in the party if they die. Unless you're an all-out dps mage that doesnt use shield and all, these things are not really needed.

I'd recommend the vit stat to be somewhere at 65+ then rest dex. Depends on your build, equips, and food buffs that you use. Vit at that point is usually enough.

 

I use heal on my full dps mage and I think it is a nice thing to have. There will be few times when your tank is dying and this spell might save your party. Also good for reviving when first aid mp cost comes out of hand. Also i have lots of sp to spare so i guess its a pretty good idea.

 

Thank you for the insights!

 

Please Eq recommend too

 

is this proven??

 

yes