Details to note
Hybrids fall into the same problems as mage, however they’re alleviated by other combat methods such as Fighting Styles, Spirit Relics, and Weapons as well as imbuements being a large part of them. I am aware that Fridge made a topic similar to this not two weeks prior to posting, however I do not care. I would also like to note that this is focused on PvE rather than PvP. The mage experience in PvP is likely much different, however these problems still stand. I am not stating that Mage is in any way weaker than other classes. This post is not intended as bait, instead it is my own opinion derived from my personal experiences and the stated experiences of those from my post on the reddit covering this topic.
Mage, the titular class of the game and, in my opinion, the least interesting class to play. Unless Full Release saves it, it will remain as such for a while.
The premise of mage is a simple one - you choose a magic at the start, get a second and third, then get losts and ancients that mutate off your “base magics”. However, your first magic is a choice you make with no knowledge of the game. If you choose Wood and dislike it, you may want to change it. Sadly, Vertex said Hecate Essence and doomed mages to several hours in the Far Reaches. Magics are also certainly not equal: case in point, Temperature Magics. Taking up 8 of the 20 slots, these cannot be used underwater save for Water Magic. This puts mages who pick a second heat magic for synergies at a major disadvantage underwater - unable to fight off sharks or kill jellyfish effectively.
There’s very few viable spells and said spells fall into three categories. Placed Explosion, Beam, or blast/blast reskin (cannon, pulsar, javelin). These are your main spells, the others simply aren’t viable. Snare is unreliable, Surge is ineffective, self explosion can simply be grabbed out of, and Array can’t hit the broad side of a brig. That gives three main attacks, two of which function very similarly to each other.
Additionally, the overall playstyle is rather dull. In my experience, the best way to play mage is to keep away and spam blast/beam at your opponent. While this is certainly the easiest playstyle available, it’s certainly the least fun. Warriors can do a bit of everything while Berserker is mostly a rushdown, with few ranged options. I assume that the Spirit classes will also play similarly to mage, however with more unique abilities.
On the topic of unique abilities, it perplexes me that Spirit Relics get the interesting ideas (and even an old magic spell from AA) while Magic gets either ineffective or repetitive spells. Where’s my magic wall, magic tendrils to immobilize an enemy from a distance, or a second mobility move? Even weapons get cooler things, hell, they get unique Ultimate Arts! Magic/FS Ultimate Arts are simply bigger and better versions of a normal spell at the cost of more energy.
With all of these points combined, it should be clear that mage is in a poor place. Boring to play, uninteresting spells, and major problems for over a quarter of magics. Full Release is the prime time to fix this, seeing as Agility is already being removed and Spirit Classes are finally eating after far too long. With Moochezz doing so much cooking, I can only hope that Mages will get some good food as well. If not, I’m swapping to Plasma Conjurer.
