Best Magician aggro spell(s)?

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by TheBlob [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I do have one ready on me, but really keep it for when we are racing for Magi P'Tasa (I know it's a camp now, shhh) and he's at 1% and we are this close to wiping and if we wipe someone else will get it, or some similar situation. I never thought it was so cheap to recharge. I would need a second one to be confident I can recharge it and then I might use it a little bit more!

This gives me an idea: a row of Wands of swords on the ground, kind of like mod rods, for mages to pick up and burst damage during a tough fight.

Nah it’s expensive to recharge but people sell them (I guess). I recall all click wand recharges are like 500pp to buy back. The Guide to Recharging on the Wiki has the prices.

[TheBlob]

Originally Posted by Snaggles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Nah it’s expensive to recharge but people sell them (I guess). I recall all click wand recharges are like 500pp to buy back. The Guide to Recharging on the Wiki has the prices.

It's still good to know recharging them is an option and I should get a second one on another toon so I can use them a bit more often than "once in a lifetime".

[PatChapp]

Enchanter wand is 250pp buyback so 500 total, I imagine mage is the same

[ClaraBao]

Nice attempt Ice burrowers are no joke at 60, especially non-epic.

On aggro: Magicians don’t really have “true” high-threat snap aggro tools like some other classes. Most of your aggro control comes indirectly through damage and pet management. That said:

1) Aggro spells

Your best bet early fight is Shock of Blades / Shock line - fast cast, decent hate per second.
Malosi line (if you’re using Malo/Malosini) also generates a solid chunk of aggro upfront and helps your pet stick better long-term.
Fire nukes tend to generate more aggro than cold, but they’re less efficient, so it’s a tradeoff.
Don’t underestimate pet attack timing: sending pet slightly after you land initial hate can smooth things out.

But honestly, mage aggro tools are limited you’re not going to “lock” aggro cleanly like a tank class.

2) Soloing Ice burrowers
People have done it, but your experience is pretty much spot on:

The leash mechanic is brutal if you overkite
Their hitbox + no snare makes tick-sitting inconsistent
Early fight mana spike is the real problem, not the end

A few practical tweaks:

Try pre-casting damage shield + burnout + full buffs and let pet build initial hate before you commit mana
Use terrain to create safer sit windows instead of pure straight-line kiting
Consider mod rods + reclaim energy timing to smooth mana curve

Between the two options you mentioned improving tick-sitting will probably give you more consistent results than trying to brute-force aggro with spells.

Also, slightly off-topic, but if you're into optimizing performance and resource management (whether in games or IRL), I recently came across some pretty useful insights on Welltrix expert resources - different field, but surprisingly relevant mindset-wise when it comes to efficiency and planning.

Curious if anyone here managed this cleanly without an epic feels like that’s the real breakpoint for this fight.

[Balimon]

Originally Posted by ClaraBao [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Nice attempt Ice burrowers are no joke at 60, especially non-epic.

On aggro: Magicians don’t really have “true” high-threat snap aggro tools like some other classes. Most of your aggro control comes indirectly through damage and pet management. That said:

1) Aggro spells

Your best bet early fight is Shock of Blades / Shock line - fast cast, decent hate per second.
Malosi line (if you’re using Malo/Malosini) also generates a solid chunk of aggro upfront and helps your pet stick better long-term.
Fire nukes tend to generate more aggro than cold, but they’re less efficient, so it’s a tradeoff.
Don’t underestimate pet attack timing: sending pet slightly after you land initial hate can smooth things out.

But honestly, mage aggro tools are limited you’re not going to “lock” aggro cleanly like a tank class.

2) Soloing Ice burrowers
People have done it, but your experience is pretty much spot on:

The leash mechanic is brutal if you overkite
Their hitbox + no snare makes tick-sitting inconsistent
Early fight mana spike is the real problem, not the end

A few practical tweaks:

Try pre-casting damage shield + burnout + full buffs and let pet build initial hate before you commit mana
Use terrain to create safer sit windows instead of pure straight-line kiting
Consider mod rods + reclaim energy timing to smooth mana curve

Between the two options you mentioned improving tick-sitting will probably give you more consistent results than trying to brute-force aggro with spells.

Also, slightly off-topic, but if you're into optimizing performance and resource management (whether in games or IRL), I recently came across some pretty useful insights on Welltrix expert resources - different field, but surprisingly relevant mindset-wise when it comes to efficiency and planning.

Curious if anyone here managed this cleanly without an epic feels like that’s the real breakpoint for this fight.

AI bot?

[Baugi]

Originally Posted by Balimon [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

AI bot?

Does this mean we're officially the old people being targeted with LLM-powered healthcare scams? Shit's gonna be such a mess.

[Balimon]

Originally Posted by Baugi [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Does this mean we're officially the old people being targeted with LLM-powered healthcare scams? Shit's gonna be such a mess.

Oh, how the turn has tabled

[Jimjam]

This answers all about the earth staff… it has been locked down by a bot the whole time!

[TheBlob]

I just soloed my first Ice Burrower unbuffed (except Jboots) with 3102 mana and Flowing Thought I.

I cast 10x Malaise on it to build some aggro before sending first water pet (focused, unbuffed). At first I didn't sit on server ticks to see what it would look like without medding. When I was too LoM to cast a new water pet, the Ice Burrower was at 50% hp. From there, I needed to sit on server ticks for three or four (can't remember) additional pets.

At first I was afraid (I was petrified) that sitting on each server tick without looking back to see where the Ice Burrower was behind me would mean it would catch up to me so I sat down only every 2 ticks. But after a while I tried every tick without looking back and even then I was building some distance.

Next test will be to try without any aggro spell to see at what % hp this leads me before being OOM, and then with 20x Malaise to see if there's any difference.

Science!

[Snaggles]

Congrats!!

Did you try to burn a forlorn totem (or a few)? I expect that and a sow pot would make life easier.