by Wilkinson3424 Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:26 pm(Gamer's Definition of "Meta Gaming" - Using previously obtained knowledge to put yourself at what might be an advantage)
Back before the DLC, and alot of other patches, I used to be a wiz (lol) at mages. And I decided to do science in Lordran and tried different combos with different builds, and messed with some things.
The Meta for mages seems to be Crystal Spells and Pursuers/dark bead. And it's really too bad, there are many spells that are never used, but are really good.
I went around talking to people who made mages, and looking at their builds to see how they played, and 99.9% of them were all Crystal spells and Pursuers/dark bead.
It's sad really, In my opinion those are good spells if you know how to use them, and utilize them in certain scenarios but most people who use them don't (Not talking about the forum bros, most of you guys are educated enough to know not to spam these things). I know this because i've dueled most of these people, and many other random mages. Most use the same old techniques.
Is this not effective? Of course it can be effective, it's raw power though. You can shape that raw power into a true, sharp, effective, solid Mage.
I'm not saying i'm an expert, but I can say I know what i'm doing. that .1% of people that fight like I do with magic, helped me sharpen my skills as I did them. Most of all to SirArchmage, I've studied his techniques and had some talks with him.
If he knows anything it's how to make a mage, So Props to you.
Now this is the part where I stop boring you, I have made a handful of preset mages, and I'll explain how I fight with them. You can submit your mage builds here as well if you want.
Note: I won't add the build if it's only using the boring old spells I mentioned earlier, that defeats the purposes of this thread.
Those are my builds now let's see yours!
Back before the DLC, and alot of other patches, I used to be a wiz (lol) at mages. And I decided to do science in Lordran and tried different combos with different builds, and messed with some things.
The Meta for mages seems to be Crystal Spells and Pursuers/dark bead. And it's really too bad, there are many spells that are never used, but are really good.
I went around talking to people who made mages, and looking at their builds to see how they played, and 99.9% of them were all Crystal spells and Pursuers/dark bead.
It's sad really, In my opinion those are good spells if you know how to use them, and utilize them in certain scenarios but most people who use them don't (Not talking about the forum bros, most of you guys are educated enough to know not to spam these things). I know this because i've dueled most of these people, and many other random mages. Most use the same old techniques.
Is this not effective? Of course it can be effective, it's raw power though. You can shape that raw power into a true, sharp, effective, solid Mage.
I'm not saying i'm an expert, but I can say I know what i'm doing. that .1% of people that fight like I do with magic, helped me sharpen my skills as I did them. Most of all to SirArchmage, I've studied his techniques and had some talks with him.
If he knows anything it's how to make a mage, So Props to you.
Now this is the part where I stop boring you, I have made a handful of preset mages, and I'll explain how I fight with them. You can submit your mage builds here as well if you want.
Note: I won't add the build if it's only using the boring old spells I mentioned earlier, that defeats the purposes of this thread.
- Wilkinson3424's Mage Builds:
http://mmdks.com/3moo - This build is pretty basic, and is good for invasions and dueling. Basically the idea is this, pop a pursuers in the beginning of the fight, and when it starts to follow your target, you back off, and shoot a Crystal Soul Spear/MLGS R2 at them, if it misses then pull out your rapier and poke them a few times. Repeat this until you have one cast remaining. (Pursuers is used to make them pre-occupied, you'll need that last one to distract them so you can safely heal/repair MLGS etc.) Make sure you keep at least 1 Crystal Soul spear on you at all times, Now switch to your Rapier and poke them until they get to low health, if they run, let them. Pull out your catalyst and hit them for around 1000 damage with your remaining crystal soul spears while they run, this should kill them and finish them off.
http://mmdks.com/3mpf - This build is extremely easy to use, and it's ironic that I say this is against the meta, because this build basically portraits the meta, UNLESS you use it correctly. This is a forest hunting build.
Most people mash R1 and spam whatever they have with a build like this, but here is the real trick to using it. First get some get your homing crystal mass up, and buff your sword, now two hand the weapon and run up to them from an angle, and unlock right before you reach them and where ever they roll to dodge the CHSM you run R1 them and start your spamming to get a few hits in depending on their poise, either way you'll be doing a good 500 damage if they are heavily armed. Now if they know how to counter this, or your buff runs out and you're not confident in your abilities with a falchion switch to your spear and turtle them for a few pokes, and then they should be on considerably low health or at least half way down. You can use those soul arrows how you see fit, they have good tracking and can punish runners/healers. This build basically is self explanatory despite my paragraph.
http://mmdks.com/3mpi - This build is best for invasions, since most people lack the knowledge that the whip cannot be parried.
Here is your basic routine with this build. Put on pursuers and wear them out of stamina and chase them down, then immediately smack them with your whip, It has a bleed aspect so they can't keep a shield up forever. If you're facing a poiseless target who is dodging all of your moves, wait to parry him, then switch to two handed and immediately start mashing the R1 button so you DONT riposte. The dagger will stun-lock him and if it's buffed, the weapon will most likely kill your target.
Hidden weapon is good for hiding your dagger if you want to surprise them. Dark Orb is GREAT at close range, as they think you'll be casting Dark Bead and will dodge to early and get hit for around 800 damage and lose ALOT of their stamina. Over all you are a tank with a weapon that can't be parried, and a weapon that will devastate anyone with no poise. And you have very powerful spells, this build is very good should you use it correctly.
http://mmdks.com/3mpp - High Health, High Poise, High Damage, Alot of Spells, Alot of Stamina. This build is overall pretty badass, pop your pursuers and hit them with your MLGS R2 or CSS, the Dark Bead will keep them away and Great Soul arrow is a good quick attack when they are using an item/spell etc.
Not much to tell about this build, just remember how to use your spells, DO NOT SPAM ANYTHING WITH THIS BUILD!
The MLGS is super predictable and easy to parry, never use your MLGS R2 up close unless you know how to dead angle with the explosion, then you can wake up attack with dark bead.
Those are my builds now let's see yours!
- Sir Archmage's Builds:
- http://mmdks.com/3n5h
http://mmdks.com/3n6t
- Xenon Nobelium's builds:
http://mmdks.com/3dgq since i seem to be promoting this one atm i might as well post it in here. outfit is obviously for roleplaying purposes while still maintaining a relevant poise breakpoint, black skin and he's one undead abyss mage. playstyle is hyperagression: start the match usually with dark orb (i really love this spell with 45dex) which puts the on their toes -> 45dex lets you cast pursuers midfight if you're at the right distance, so that's next -> a bit of unlocked shennanigans until the pursuers fire -> pressure with orb/bead/swordattacks, mix it up and they will get guardbroken or hit in roll recovery -> switch to defensive casting variating between orb and bead, it messes up the roll/reaction timing -> if they get close unlocked balder sword and thorn roll will make you nigh unbackstabbable
http://mmdks.com/3mw0 here's a loadout for when you really had a bad day and just want to make other peoples lives miserable
Last edited by Wilkinson3424 on Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:42 pm; edited 3 times in total
