Noob Question

Vepar

When thinking about mage combat (currently a pyromancer), what sort of things should you look for in a race? I am currently a Illuminated Dracnari which seems to have fairly solid stats (15 con 16 int decent cha) some decent resists including fire which I hear is good and some regens, but it seems really slow. My staff attack is about 4.2s which just seems like forever to me. The only races I saw that have equil bonuses was Merian and Mugwump both of which seem to trade in some con for speed.

So my question is: what are some of the more important stats / perks you should consider when look at combat as a mage?

Steingrim

I wouldn't recommend changing race unless you're prepared to change it again. At this point you have a single race change left.

Races will be redone as part of the overhaul and the call is to remove some of the speed buffs from races to bring outliers in line.

A bit tankier race will help you in survivability as you learn to PK. I wouldn't worry too much about speed until you get demi. As for hunting, you can trade off risk for more reward by tackling harder mobs.

Aerotan

PvE is all about INT for damage and Eq to pump it out faster. Your Con can come into play in terms of damage received, but a couple of points usually results in one or two more hits taken at best, and since either you or the stuff you're going to be hunting is not going to survive long enough for that to matter, it's not as important for bashing. In addition, if you plan on using telekinesis, eventually your CON/Health is supplanted by your CHA/Ego. 

That said, there's a lot of room for debate as to just how much those stats matter past a certain point, and whether that difference in bashing is large enough of a gap to justify you switching races.

As an aside, is POINT STAFF on eq or bal, does anyone know?

PvP is a different monster, and I'll let someone else handle that.

Vepar

It is on eq

Aerotan

Thanks. So yes, Dracnari isn't terrible for a Pyromancer, but you will bash a little slower than other races.

Steingrim

Aerotan said:

PvE is all about INT for damage and Eq to pump it out faster. Your Con can come into play in terms of damage received, but a couple of points usually results in one or two more hits taken at best, and since either you or the stuff you're going to be hunting is not going to survive long enough for that to matter, it's not as important for bashing. In addition, if you plan on using telekinesis, eventually your CON/Health is supplanted by your CHA/Ego. 

That said, there's a lot of room for debate as to just how much those stats matter past a certain point, and whether that difference in bashing is large enough of a gap to justify you switching races.

As an aside, is POINT STAFF on eq or bal, does anyone know?

PvP is a different monster, and I'll let someone else handle that.

Denizen dishes out damage you must be able to take that damage. You're correct in that you don't need more con/ or if tk mage more bubble then you need to survive. A dracnari mages' tankiness is not entirely based on con or bubble. Higher max health/ego is more about bigger sips, regen etc then it is about taking a couple of hits.

Viynain

As a mage combatant, a lot of consideration goes into the method by which you're looking to not only land a kill, but surviving long enough to do so. Personal buffs are on the Overhaul list of things to be addressed soon, but it does not hurt to acquaint yourself with these to boost your output in both PvE and PvP.

Quite a few people have already chimed in about PvE, but here are my two cents anyway: with access to trans TK, you're able to boost up your primary health pool much more easily than with the other tertiaries. With Forcefield active, your pool switches from health to ego, and boosting this with CHA blessings (Netzach/Artisan throne/karma blessings) is much easier than trying to boost your health with the limited stat buff perks for CON: platters and karma blessings.

In terms of damage output, a 4.2s staffcast on a base EQ race leads me to believe you're not upkeeping Enchantment runes on your staff. Since both guardians and mages can etch these, I recommend you get in the habit of renewing these any time they fade to drop your staffcasting to around 3.8s (much more palatable) and also raising the damage inherently. Kirigami are also your friend since they boost your crit hit chance and overall damage, too.

PvP combat is of course a lot more involved, but overall, speed is definitely one of the many goals to aim for. Most solo situations have someone aiming for a specific kill condition, and as a TK Pyro, you're largely going to go for speedy heartbursts and cremations more than likely.

With speed in mind, a couple races have shown themselves as favorites and equally viable according to the player. Because Id balance is dependent on total ego, it's not uncommon to see Illithoid mages with racially bloated egos running around with their good CON and INT, but it's limiting if you want to influence because their CHA is so low and their weakness to Magic damage. Staying Dracnari is always possible because of the inherent tankiness of the race (especially as a mage), but they're not winning the speed race anytime. Mugwump and Merian do indeed have both high INT and EQ bonuses, but their Fire damage weakness makes them fodder to a lot of high-end combatants with Destruction. Faeling has excellent INT and CHA and even has a balance bonus, but is about as tanky as a paper bag if not adjusted for accordingly.

In the end, you balance out what you're aiming for with what you can live with. Min/max it out with the buffs you want and you'll customize your choice according to your own desires.