Albion Online Mage Weapons Guide

Albion Online Mage Weapons Guide by Elenol

Mage Weapons

  • Fire Staff
  • Holy Staff
  • Arcane Staff
  • Ice Staff
  • Cursed Staff

Pyromancer

Fire Staves have some of the highest damage potential in the game… at the cost of long cast times, no cc and no mobility.

Q

  • Fire Bolt – good damage; light DoT; cast time
  • Fire Bomb – decent AoE damage; cast time

W

  • Ignite – good damage; good DoT; instant
  • Wall of Flames – flame wall; force enemies to flee; instant
  • Fire Wave – cone attack; decent DoT; knockback; instant
  • Fire Ball – good AoE damage; decent DoT; long range; cast time

Passives:

  • Burn – proc DoT each auto attack
  • Energetic – proc energy restore each auto attack
  • Aggressive Caster – proc cast speed boost every 4 spells
  • Furious – proc damage boost every 5 spells

E

  • Fire Staff (1h) – heavy damage; decent DoT; cast time
  • Great Fire Staff (2h) – good AoE damage; good range; delay; instant; ironic
  • Infernal Staff (2h) – good AoE DoT; cast time
  • Wildfire Staff* (1h) – skill shot; line attack; heavy damage; good DoT; cast time
  • Brimstone Staff* (2h) – massive AoE damage; knockback; big delay; cast time; good range

Armor

For solo pvp, go Bloodlust (mercenary). All the DoTs make it easy to proc the healing 15x. For group play, any cloth armor can be used. Speed Caster (scholar) is probably the easiest to use well. Ambush (assassin) could have niche use in small groups to set up a potent E attack out of stealth.

Boots

For solo pvp, Fire Staves have no chance of kiting or chasing anyway. I recommend Giant and just hope to win a brawl outright. For group pvp, I strongly advise mobility to escape or set up good positioning.

Helmet

For solo pvp, I advise Retaliate (hunter) or Poison (mage). Force Field (all cloth) and Ice Block (cleric) are good options for all situations.

Summary

Fire staves have some of the highest damage potential in the game, at the expense of extremely limited options for cc, mobility and survival in general.

The more you are able to get away with wearing lighter armors, take it. For solo and small group play, you may need to take some leather gear for some survivability. But in organized group play, you can rely on solid positioning and teamwork to allow you really bring the pain with cloth armors.

You have only a small selection of instant cast spells. Use these while on the move to set up good positioning for your more powerful spells that require a bit of cast time. Very few weapon groups can match the damage output of a fire staff that is able to sit in place and cast spells freely for several seconds.

The downside of all this is that fire staves are especially susceptible to tank pressure, as stuns, microstuns, knockbacks, interrupts and silences can all really put a damper on the damage. While many weapons can do a fair amount of damage on the move while under pressure, fire staves are not often in that group. A team bringing a fire mage needs to have plans to peel for the fire staff and allow them to cast unimpeded as long and often as possible.

When fighting against a fire mage, the plan is usually quite simple: have at least 1 tank on the fire mage to at least disrupt the damage output. If possible, fire mages are usually among the highest priority focus targets. If hard defenses are used (Ice Block or Living Armor, for example), be prepared to switch targets briefly to keep overall pressure efficient, but always try to stay positioned to switch back to the fire mage as soon as those defenses are up, because there usually won’t be many more good defenses after that.

Priest

Holy Staves emphasize single target burst healing.

Q

  • Flash Heal – light, efficient heal; increase target healing received; cast time
  • Generous Heal – stronger heal; longer cooldown

W

  • Smite – moderate damage; cast time
  • Holy Blessing – moderate HoT; increase healing received
  • Holy Beam – potent channeling heal
  • Enlightenment – self boost to cast speed, heal power and movespeed; instant
  • Sacred Pulse – good AoE pulse heal on target; cast time
  • Resurrection – only rez in the game

Passives:

  • Adrenaline Driven Charity – proc heal boost every 4 spells
  • Energetic – proc energy restore every auto attack
  • Magic Force – proc knockback (for auto attack) every 5 spells
  • Aggressive Caster – cast speed boost every 4 spells

E

  • Holy Staff (1h) – ok heal; good heal when target under 40% hp: instant
  • Great Holy Staff (2h) – knockback all nearby enemies; light AoE heal; channeling
  • Divine Staff (2h) – massive shield on target; good AoE heal; instant
  • Lifetouch Staff* (1h) – good channeling heal; removes all negative effects
  • Fallen Staff* (2h) – delayed potent AoE heal; removes movement debuffs; cast time

Armor

I would not solo with holy staves. For group play, Speed Caster (scholar) and Everlasting Spirit (cleric) are solid options. I could see Inferno Shield (leather armors) for a niche small group ploy.

Boots

I would not solo with holy staves. For group play, I could see Shield Charge (knight), Giant (guardian), Dodge (assassin), Delayed Teleport (mage) and Blink (cleric) as viable options for a variety of reasons.

Helmet

I would not solo with holy staves. For group play, Emergency Heal (plate), Retaliate (hunter), Meditation (assassin), Cleanse (mercenary), Force Field (cloth), Poison (mage), Ice Block (cleric) and Energy Shield (scholar) could potentially all be useful.

Summary

Holy staves offer potent burst healing. Of the support weapons, holy staves probably have the greatest ability to adapt to changes in focus fire and emergency situations. Holy staves have the only rez in the game.

While holy staves probably have the most cast times and channeling abilities of the support weapons, it’s not actually so bad. Most spells cast very quickly and the more stationary channeling abilities are often extremely potent. That said, barring strong peel from your teammates, you’re not likely going to be able to run away and avoid damage altogether when pressured. You’re largely going to try to just heal through it and utilize strong positioning to avoid catastrophic cc and ff. In my opinion, holy staves still feel a lot more mobile than some ranged offensive weapon groups such as fire staves.

A quick note about healing in general: Healing tends to be more energy efficient and power efficient than even strong damage weapons like fire staves when they are both targeting a tank. If both are targeting a soft target in cloth armor, dps weapons start to overpower healing weapons both in energy efficiency and raw power. This is why it’s so important to find ways to be the team targeting soft targets more than the opposing team.

Arcanist

Arcane staves emphasize shields and nonhealing support.

Q

  • Arcane Protection – potent shield; instant
  • Energy Bolt – energy restore; instant

W

  • Frazzle – moderate damage; cast time
  • Empowering Beam – boost ally’s damage; channeling
  • Motivating Cleanse – increase ally’s movespeed; removes movement debuffs AoE; instant
  • Arcane Purge – remove all buffs from enemy; cast time
  • Energy Beam – leech energy from enemy; channeling

Passives:

  • Hush – proc auto attack silence every 5 spells
  • Energetic – proc energy restore every auto attack
  • Magic Force – proc auto attack knockback every 5 spells
  • Calmness – proc resistance buff every 5 spells

E

  • Arcane Staff (1h) – AoE knockback; silence; long range; light damage; instant
  • Great Arcane Staff (2h) – AoE raises ally defenses; drain enemy energy; reveal invis; instant
  • Enigmatic Staff (2h) – AoE shield; channeling
  • Witchwork Staff* (1h) – moderate damage AoE; pull enemies to center; good slow
  • Occult Staff* (2h) – create corridor; buff ally movespeed; slow enemies; instant

Armor

Arcane is weird. Shield effectiveness is influenced by heal effectiveness so cloth armors can be useful for arcane builds designed around heavy shielding. However, it’s possible to take plate armor and focus on other utility skills that don’t scale off any stat.

Boots

I… I don’t even know. Arcane is weird, man.

Helmet

If you went with a plate armor, Howl (leather), Cleanse (mercenary) or Meditation (assassin) can be useful. If you went with a cloth armor, Emergency Heal (plate), Retaliate (hunter), Force Field (cloth), Poison (mage), Ice Block (cleric) or Energy Shield (scholar) can be helpful for a variety of reasons.

Summary

Arcane staves are support weapons with no heals. You primarily support via shields, buffs and cleanses. You will also have access to some forms of debuffs.

Arcane staves are one of the most flexible weapon groups in the game as for as your role on the team. Shields count as heals for the purpose of game mechanics, so a build centered around shielding certainly can benefit greatly from lighter armors like cloth. However, if you slot skills that increase allied damage, or you slot cleanses and purges, etc, then you could effectively go plate and still help the team just as well or better than if you were wearing cloth.

You also have the option to slot more mobile skills with instant cast times, or potentially stronger skills that require cast times or channeling.

Because you have so many options that drastically alter your role, it is difficult to succinctly summarize this weapon group. It is probably the quirkiest and most difficult-to-define weapon group in the game.

If you enjoy supporting the team in unusual, convoluted ways, then arcane staves are definitely for you. The potential for all the weapons is enormous, but most of these weapons require very sharp, precise teamwork and planning to maximize their potential.

For what its worth, arcane staves are generally one of the more energy efficient weapons in the game, and if you’re able to design a group around repeated disengage and reset, then arcane staff might fit extremely well.

Frost Mage

Frost staves utilize a variety of slows and roots to hinder their enemies from afar.

Q

  • Frostbolt – solid damage; slow; cast time
  • Hoarfrost – solid AoE damage; cast time

W

  • Frost Bomb – good AoE damage; good slow; slight delay; instant cast
  • Frost Nova – small AoE damage; good root; instant
  • Frost Beam – small damage; reduces attackspeed & movespeed; channeling

Passives:

  • Frost – proc short root every 3 auto attacks
  • Energetic – proc energy restore every auto attack
  • Aggressive Caster – proc cast speed buff every 4 spells
  • Furious – proc damage boost every 5 spells

E

  • Frost Staff (1h) – cone attack; good damage; short root; instant
  • Great Frost Staff (2h) – good AoE damage; instant
  • Glacial Staff (2h) – decent AoE damage; decent slow; cast time
  • Hoarfrost Staff* (1h) – good damage; decent stun; good range; cast time
  • Icicle Staff* (2h) – large zone; decent damage; good slow

Armor

People discuss going anywhere from cloth to plate, depending on whether the focus is cc or damage. I’m a fan of cloth and leather myself, as frost staves tend to have more soft cc than hard cc and in my mind, you can keep the soft cc up on targets just fine with leather armor and even cloth oftentimes.

Boots

Frost staves should almost never be able to win a fight going toe to toe with an enemy. You’re looking for mobility and kiting here.

Helmet

Force Field (cloth) for group play can force enemy melee to trudge through your hellish AoE slows a 2nd time to engage. For solo play, you may need Poison (mage) or Retaliate (hunter) to compensate for your middling damage.

Summary

Ice staves I believe are designed to function as a hybrid cc/dps role. Their total damage potential will generally lag behind more pure damage options like daggers and fire staves. Their cc is a bit softer than a hammer or mace (more slows, fewer stuns). But their ability to unleash a torrent of AoE slows and damage from afar can make it difficult for enemy melee to engage or position efficiently.

Ice staves are perhaps the premier weapon in the game for AoE slows and roots. This makes these weapons especially well suited for zone control, and they tend to set up teammates quite well. Ice staves are also a bane of many melee builds, as the repeated application of slows and roots (often as part of an AoE) often makes a melee character easier to kite.

When fighting against ice mages, it’s good to remember that their raw power is usually not as high as many other weapon groups. If you are able to trade hits, that is to your advantage. Ice staves generally rely on their cc and positioning to help set up kiting. However, many spells have a cast time and ice staves don’t get a lot of mobility from their weapon. This allows even a melee to close the gap frequently in a 1v1. Lastly, remember that almost all the cc from ice staves are slows and roots. This means you can still auto attack and use abilities (which is why I call it soft cc). This makes a matchup against other ranged characters with more raw power especially troubling. A fire staff, cursed staff or crossbow all should often be able to sit back and win a fight just trading hits.

Warlock

Cursed staves emphasize potent DoTs end debuffs.

Q

  • Vile Curse – DoT; instant
  • Cursed Sickle – line attack DoT; instant

W

  • Armor Piercer – line attack; debuff defenses; ok damage; long range; instant
  • Cursed Beam – decent damage; channeling
  • Desecrate – PBAoE; DoT; root

Passives:

  • Bane – proc AoE damage every 4 auto attacks
  • Energetic – proc energy restore every attack
  • Furious – proc damage boost every 5 spells
  • Hit & Run – proc movespeed buff every 4 spells

E

  • Cursed Staff (1h) – massive delayed damage; scales with DoT stacks; cast time
  • Great Cursed Staff (2h) – zone; removes HoT; applies DoTs; channeling
  • Demonic Staff (2h) – zone; small damage; massive heal reduction; instant
  • Lifecurse Staff* (1h) – buffs target; aura deals damage, reduces enemy attack power; instant
  • Cursed Skull* (2h) – channeling attack; heavy damage; AoE; can’t be interrupted?

Armor

Cursed staves allow for a fairly mobile playstyle. For solo play, I’d suggest Bloodlust (mercenary) or Ambush (assassin) to take advantage of the potent DoT options. For group play, moving to cloth armors can boost your damage even further.

Boots

Mobility in general or Giant (guardian) specifically to bolster your raw power are good options. Invisibility (mercenary) can be amazing if you make it work.

Helmet

Ice Block (cleric) is especially nifty for emergency defense while taking advantage of your DoTs. Poison (mage) or Force Field (cloth) are always solid options for ranged cloth users.

Summary

Cursed staves offer good sustained dps via potent DoTs, but generally lack burst. They also have access to some useful debuff abilities. They do not have access to much cc or mobility.

Cursed staves want to prolong a fight as long as possible while keeping their DoT stacks up. Stalling tricks like ice block, block, invis or mobility while making sure the DoT gets reapplied occasionally allows a cursed staff user to play to the strengths of the DoT build. Stalling and kiting is made easier by the fact that most skills are instant cast, which is huge for pvp.

The only real burst cursed staff option is the 1h Cursed Staff. The E ability has a cast time and can potentially deal more single target damage than anything else in the game. It is confusing for new players, because it doesn’t deal damage until a few seconds after the spell is done casting. Once you learn the timing, it is easily countered with block, ice block or a good dodge roll, to name a few options. This is why the 1h Cursed Staff is difficult to use well against better players.

The rest of the cursed staff options offer potent healing debuffs, attack debuffs, or potent aoe damage.

When fighting against a cursed staff wearing a mercenary jacket, then you know they’re planning to use bloodlust with their DoTs. For solo play, this is a difficult combination for most players to deal with as the overall mobility, damage and resilience is pretty potent. Many builds should be able to use cc and mobility to just avoid the fight entirely. A few weapon groups may be able to simply overpower the cursed staff before it gets rolling, if they go all in on their raw power, but this will backfire if the cursed staff finds a way to stall the fight.

In group play, removing the DoT stacks is one way to counter a cursed staff (whether through prolonged disengage or hard cc or certain skills). Good cc and ff can end a cursed staff before it can even get rolling.

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