Hello, I'm Thomas, Moloch from S6 Duskin Arena. I'm a level 64 mage who want to share some knowledge for new players on how to effectively play a mage with a PvE set in Battlegrounds.
I know most experienced players will take a look at the title and laugh, probably thinking something like "well, how can you fail at that?" This is because a PvE mage is probably the most powerful character to play in a battleground, and this is an excellent reason for every player to actually get the gear! Most of the stuff I'll be writing about will seem obvious enough; other tricks are perhaps less so.
This guide is written in the assumption that you are a level 48 mage with knights and a full 40 gear, legendary or otherwise. It does not assume that you own any clothes whatsoever (although most people will have some.) Higher level battlegrounds is a subject that is too complex to go into detail about in this guide.
Step 1: Entering the battleground
The first step is to check the enemy team and your own. Click on the names and check their level. If you see a level 50+, leave, wait 5 minutes and rejoin. You've been entered into the high (for you, wrong) bracket.
The second thing is to identify the major players on the enemy team. Easy enough. Go through the roster and make note of the high BR players and especially the high BR archers. These are your worst enemy since they can target your backline and possess better physical AoE than the knights.
(Side note 1: It is normally not possible for you to identify the honor level of your foe. Most people don't wear their actual honor title in BG. However, there are SOME conclusions you can draw and some dead giveaways.
First, if a player has a Crit ratio of exactly 10 we are dealing with a knight or mage using Enhanced Will Destroyer who has refined away all the critical attributes on their gear. These are strong players. Much of their damage comes from EWD which does not show in Battle Rating.
A player with exactly 610 Crit is an Imperial Commander of the aforementioned type. 710 Crit means Lord Divine. Those are even worse.)
If, and only if, there are NO strong knights in the opposing field but a slew of strong archers, put yourself in front of your troops. This will make their nasty backline skills hit your knights instead of yourself. This trick has saved me a number of times.
Step 2: Starting the fight
The bell sounds. Immediately race out and head for the first enemy NPC (the foot soldier.) You should have enough strength to take out all the NPCs but you really only need one or two. You use the NPC as a safe way to build rage. Make sure you are fully healed after the NPC fights (Suntoria does the trick.) This will also net you 200 or 400 star points to restore health if this should be needed. Be careful about that, though, and only use it when it's necessary.
After that, it's time to kill people. I'm assuming you've entered the playground to fight, gain honor and win, but even if your goal is to cart, you'll end up fighting people anyway. The rotation for fighting foes with your skill set is nearly automatic considering you do not have to worry about getting stunned but it can always change - for example, if an Archer opens with a Delphic and cuts you down to 30% health with the first shot. Otherwise:
Suntoria - Rage rune - [ Rain of Fire - Meteor - Lightning Bolt ] * x
The good thing about the mage AoE spells is that using a PvE set you actually do not lose rage by simply rotating them with one LB between each cycle. As needed you refill your Suntoria and use your Restoration. Make sure you do not use Restoration on any of your troops. Misfired Restoration spells are one of things that easily kill you in BG.
The above rotation is the safest way to play it. Suntoria at the start can obviously be shifted to Restoration if you do not start your battle at full health. It may also not be needed; a simple look at your opponent's troops should tell you if this is the case. There is no reason to waste time on weak opponents unless you are low on rage and need to refill with LB; kill them as quickly as possible and you're doing both of you a favor.
One of the golden things about the mage class in PvE set is that it can leave any fight with a subpar opponent at full health and good rage. No other class has this advantage.
Now, this is your skill tree, or at least it was mine at 48.
Now, I know some people will take exception to this. Meteor 2 -> 3 is a huge upgrade. As the tree stands, the Meteor will do less damage than your Rain of Fire. However, these two AoEs combined will in most cases be more than enough to take care of the enemy. It is possible, of course, to modify this.
Some people like to go with Thunderer and only one AoE; I'm not saying they are wrong.
With this build the rotation is slightly less intuitive: Rain of Fire - Suntoria - Lightning Bolt - Rage rune - Rain of Fire - Thunderer (assuming the two RoF actually did clear the troops.) I've tried it for myself and wasn't too happy about it but others swear by it.
You can also choose to gimp your Suntoria severely by putting it at 1 and add points in Castinador and Meteor to get Meteor upgraded to 3. In my opinion, though, the first build presented is the most resilient BG build for the level. It is worth noting though that when it comes to Rain of Fire, 3 -> 4 is the huge upgrade. LB and RoF does not need to be maximized, the additional damage is insignificant. Some people will take exception to the fact that Castinador has only 1 point (and it isn't even present in the second skill tree!) but these are builds for PvE mages in Battlegrounds. Castinador isn't exactly vital for a mage when you gain 10 rage per action.
Well, that's it. I hope I have presented information that can be useful for someone. Good luck!
I know most experienced players will take a look at the title and laugh, probably thinking something like "well, how can you fail at that?" This is because a PvE mage is probably the most powerful character to play in a battleground, and this is an excellent reason for every player to actually get the gear! Most of the stuff I'll be writing about will seem obvious enough; other tricks are perhaps less so.
This guide is written in the assumption that you are a level 48 mage with knights and a full 40 gear, legendary or otherwise. It does not assume that you own any clothes whatsoever (although most people will have some.) Higher level battlegrounds is a subject that is too complex to go into detail about in this guide.
Step 1: Entering the battleground
The first step is to check the enemy team and your own. Click on the names and check their level. If you see a level 50+, leave, wait 5 minutes and rejoin. You've been entered into the high (for you, wrong) bracket.
The second thing is to identify the major players on the enemy team. Easy enough. Go through the roster and make note of the high BR players and especially the high BR archers. These are your worst enemy since they can target your backline and possess better physical AoE than the knights.
(Side note 1: It is normally not possible for you to identify the honor level of your foe. Most people don't wear their actual honor title in BG. However, there are SOME conclusions you can draw and some dead giveaways.
First, if a player has a Crit ratio of exactly 10 we are dealing with a knight or mage using Enhanced Will Destroyer who has refined away all the critical attributes on their gear. These are strong players. Much of their damage comes from EWD which does not show in Battle Rating.
A player with exactly 610 Crit is an Imperial Commander of the aforementioned type. 710 Crit means Lord Divine. Those are even worse.)
If, and only if, there are NO strong knights in the opposing field but a slew of strong archers, put yourself in front of your troops. This will make their nasty backline skills hit your knights instead of yourself. This trick has saved me a number of times.
Step 2: Starting the fight
The bell sounds. Immediately race out and head for the first enemy NPC (the foot soldier.) You should have enough strength to take out all the NPCs but you really only need one or two. You use the NPC as a safe way to build rage. Make sure you are fully healed after the NPC fights (Suntoria does the trick.) This will also net you 200 or 400 star points to restore health if this should be needed. Be careful about that, though, and only use it when it's necessary.
After that, it's time to kill people. I'm assuming you've entered the playground to fight, gain honor and win, but even if your goal is to cart, you'll end up fighting people anyway. The rotation for fighting foes with your skill set is nearly automatic considering you do not have to worry about getting stunned but it can always change - for example, if an Archer opens with a Delphic and cuts you down to 30% health with the first shot. Otherwise:
Suntoria - Rage rune - [ Rain of Fire - Meteor - Lightning Bolt ] * x
The good thing about the mage AoE spells is that using a PvE set you actually do not lose rage by simply rotating them with one LB between each cycle. As needed you refill your Suntoria and use your Restoration. Make sure you do not use Restoration on any of your troops. Misfired Restoration spells are one of things that easily kill you in BG.
The above rotation is the safest way to play it. Suntoria at the start can obviously be shifted to Restoration if you do not start your battle at full health. It may also not be needed; a simple look at your opponent's troops should tell you if this is the case. There is no reason to waste time on weak opponents unless you are low on rage and need to refill with LB; kill them as quickly as possible and you're doing both of you a favor.
One of the golden things about the mage class in PvE set is that it can leave any fight with a subpar opponent at full health and good rage. No other class has this advantage.
Now, this is your skill tree, or at least it was mine at 48.
Now, I know some people will take exception to this. Meteor 2 -> 3 is a huge upgrade. As the tree stands, the Meteor will do less damage than your Rain of Fire. However, these two AoEs combined will in most cases be more than enough to take care of the enemy. It is possible, of course, to modify this.
Some people like to go with Thunderer and only one AoE; I'm not saying they are wrong.
With this build the rotation is slightly less intuitive: Rain of Fire - Suntoria - Lightning Bolt - Rage rune - Rain of Fire - Thunderer (assuming the two RoF actually did clear the troops.) I've tried it for myself and wasn't too happy about it but others swear by it.
You can also choose to gimp your Suntoria severely by putting it at 1 and add points in Castinador and Meteor to get Meteor upgraded to 3. In my opinion, though, the first build presented is the most resilient BG build for the level. It is worth noting though that when it comes to Rain of Fire, 3 -> 4 is the huge upgrade. LB and RoF does not need to be maximized, the additional damage is insignificant. Some people will take exception to the fact that Castinador has only 1 point (and it isn't even present in the second skill tree!) but these are builds for PvE mages in Battlegrounds. Castinador isn't exactly vital for a mage when you gain 10 rage per action.
Well, that's it. I hope I have presented information that can be useful for someone. Good luck!
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