Are you one of those mages that keep hesitating between choosing the critical build for your mage or to stick with the meta (Will Destroyer build) ?
If you are on of those eternal doubters I hope I can aid you by writing this guide.
Hello there, I am Redoga. I've been a Will Destroyer mage for over a year and I am a critmage since early October 2013. Want my opinion on the two builds? Keep reading.
Let's start off by taking a look at what the EWD (Enhanced Will Destroyer) build has to offer.
Choosing for the EWD mage is normal and offers a great variety of benefits. What are the pro's and cons here?
---Pro's---
Steady and reliable damage output
The EWD mage is tankier than the critmage
No need to bother about the 'critical points' stat.
---Cons---
If you want to perform good at the World Boss event you'll need to build a Sniper astral (crit) and a determination astral (increases critical dmg by x%) which requires some gold
... there aren't really any cons further than the World Boss - 'astral switch' - problem.
Summary:
The EWD build is reliable. It is a solid choice and almost mandatory.
You will be more tanky than the critmage.
Only thing that might be annoying is building a Sniper and a determination astral for the World Boss event.
Now let's take a look at the critmage. Obviously this next section will be more complex.
First off allow me to explain how crit works.
Crit rate
With critical build we understand you will be doing two kind of hits. The first type is the regular hit. The second type is the critical hit.
How much you'll land critical strikes depends on your critical score AND YOUR BATTLERATING !!
This is something I think most people don't know. We do not have the crit formula but there's two things we know:
- In order to increase your crit rate you need to increase your critical points
- The higher battlerating you are the more critical points you'll need! This means a 30k br mage will do more than fine with 3k critical points while an 90k br mage will absolutely do bad with 3k crit.
So let's say you're and 80k br mage with 4500 crit points. Your crit rate will be decent. Few weeks later your mage has grown and is now a 100k br mage with the same amount of crit points (4500). You'll notice a drop in your crit rate.
How to acquire critical points
Now that you know how crit works I'll explain the variety of ways to acquire the minimal amount of crit:
Crit gems: This means you'll be sacrificing another type of gem. This will either be PDEF, MDEF or HP. The choice is up to you. I recommend to keep hp and drop either MDEF or PDEF or a mix of those two. Dropping HP means lowering your defense to both type of damaging classes (magical and physical) while dropping MDEF or PDEF means lowering your defense to one type of class.
Soul Engraving: Along with Crit gems comes Soul Engraving. Having a high Soul Engraving is recommended.
Crit refines: These are the green stats on your gear. Yet again this means a drop in defense.
Sniper astral: Obviously. Same problem as gems and refines; EWD mages will only need the EWD astral while the critmage will need both the Sniper astral and the Determination astral.
Honor rank: Imperial Commander or Lord Divine. This is basically mandatory if you want to go with the Critical build.
So much sacrifice for that extra amount of damage? Is it really worth it?
I have my doubts... but I really enjoy playing the critmage. In my opinion it is more fun and more exciting than having the reliable damage output you have with EWD. It's 'Kill Fast' or 'Be Killed'.
Another nice thing about the critmage is the Critheal; which are nice to witness
Be aware they are unreliable as ***** and you shouldn't expect them. By this I mean don't drop your HP accidentally because you hope for a critheal. Imo you should consider them as a potential saviour.
a critheal
Note that a critmage can easily be countered. If someone decides to equip a decently lvled Guardian Angel astral (reduces opponents crit rate by X%) you are ***d...
Let's summarize the Pro's and the Cons:
---Pro's---
THAT DAMAGE! (if acquired the necessary amount of crit!)
THOSE HEALS! (Though unreliable it is nice to see a critheal)
No need to keep an extra Sniper- and determination astral in your astral bag as you are a critmage (Doh!)
---Cons---
Weak defense. It's 'Kill Fast' or 'Be Killed'
Can easily be countered with the Guardian Angel astral
Need to upgrade your crit as you upgrade your battlerating
Summary:
The critmage is fun to play. It is an unreliable build though that depends on some luck.
Sacrificing all that defense to increase your damage might not seem worth it.
Because of the Guardian Angel astral critmage might not be a very good idea after all. The fate of your battle depends on your opponent...
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I hope I've been able to help you a little by writing this guide. Now go out there and make the choice!
Feel free to criticize or add additional info by commenting
Feel free to share some experience and please DO share your opinion!
If you are on of those eternal doubters I hope I can aid you by writing this guide.
Hello there, I am Redoga. I've been a Will Destroyer mage for over a year and I am a critmage since early October 2013. Want my opinion on the two builds? Keep reading.
Enhanced Will Destroyer Mage
Let's start off by taking a look at what the EWD (Enhanced Will Destroyer) build has to offer.
Choosing for the EWD mage is normal and offers a great variety of benefits. What are the pro's and cons here?
---Pro's---
Steady and reliable damage output
The EWD mage is tankier than the critmage
No need to bother about the 'critical points' stat.
---Cons---
If you want to perform good at the World Boss event you'll need to build a Sniper astral (crit) and a determination astral (increases critical dmg by x%) which requires some gold
... there aren't really any cons further than the World Boss - 'astral switch' - problem.
Summary:
The EWD build is reliable. It is a solid choice and almost mandatory.
You will be more tanky than the critmage.
Only thing that might be annoying is building a Sniper and a determination astral for the World Boss event.
Critical Mage
Now let's take a look at the critmage. Obviously this next section will be more complex.
First off allow me to explain how crit works.
Crit rate
With critical build we understand you will be doing two kind of hits. The first type is the regular hit. The second type is the critical hit.
How much you'll land critical strikes depends on your critical score AND YOUR BATTLERATING !!
This is something I think most people don't know. We do not have the crit formula but there's two things we know:
- In order to increase your crit rate you need to increase your critical points
- The higher battlerating you are the more critical points you'll need! This means a 30k br mage will do more than fine with 3k critical points while an 90k br mage will absolutely do bad with 3k crit.
So let's say you're and 80k br mage with 4500 crit points. Your crit rate will be decent. Few weeks later your mage has grown and is now a 100k br mage with the same amount of crit points (4500). You'll notice a drop in your crit rate.
How to acquire critical points
Now that you know how crit works I'll explain the variety of ways to acquire the minimal amount of crit:
Crit gems: This means you'll be sacrificing another type of gem. This will either be PDEF, MDEF or HP. The choice is up to you. I recommend to keep hp and drop either MDEF or PDEF or a mix of those two. Dropping HP means lowering your defense to both type of damaging classes (magical and physical) while dropping MDEF or PDEF means lowering your defense to one type of class.
Soul Engraving: Along with Crit gems comes Soul Engraving. Having a high Soul Engraving is recommended.
Crit refines: These are the green stats on your gear. Yet again this means a drop in defense.
Sniper astral: Obviously. Same problem as gems and refines; EWD mages will only need the EWD astral while the critmage will need both the Sniper astral and the Determination astral.
Honor rank: Imperial Commander or Lord Divine. This is basically mandatory if you want to go with the Critical build.
So much sacrifice for that extra amount of damage? Is it really worth it?
I have my doubts... but I really enjoy playing the critmage. In my opinion it is more fun and more exciting than having the reliable damage output you have with EWD. It's 'Kill Fast' or 'Be Killed'.
Another nice thing about the critmage is the Critheal; which are nice to witness
Be aware they are unreliable as ***** and you shouldn't expect them. By this I mean don't drop your HP accidentally because you hope for a critheal. Imo you should consider them as a potential saviour.Note that a critmage can easily be countered. If someone decides to equip a decently lvled Guardian Angel astral (reduces opponents crit rate by X%) you are ***d...
Let's summarize the Pro's and the Cons:
---Pro's---
THAT DAMAGE! (if acquired the necessary amount of crit!)
THOSE HEALS! (Though unreliable it is nice to see a critheal)
No need to keep an extra Sniper- and determination astral in your astral bag as you are a critmage (Doh!)
---Cons---
Weak defense. It's 'Kill Fast' or 'Be Killed'
Can easily be countered with the Guardian Angel astral
Need to upgrade your crit as you upgrade your battlerating
Summary:
The critmage is fun to play. It is an unreliable build though that depends on some luck.
Sacrificing all that defense to increase your damage might not seem worth it.
Because of the Guardian Angel astral critmage might not be a very good idea after all. The fate of your battle depends on your opponent...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope I've been able to help you a little by writing this guide. Now go out there and make the choice!
Feel free to criticize or add additional info by commenting
Feel free to share some experience and please DO share your opinion!
Comment