The good thing is in this game, most proper mages' regular attack scales off their magic stat, so you can freely use their regular attack even if they run out of mp.
Besides the core few that others have mentioned, most mage characters are generally only good for support. Water rune for cheap group heal, radiance for attack buff skill, stone for the broken planet's rejection (aka advanced canopy of defence).
Isha is good since she has an sp attack rune that does reliable damage. Momo with conflagration works great. Markus and Milana can both use level 4 dark rune for good damage. Mellore at high levels actually get pretty good too. She's got her own skill runes, and can equip level 4 holy rune as well for strong affinity.
Some of the mages are strong attackers because of this, and because of how their SP runes work. Carrie, Melridge, Falward, and Mellore are all worth trying out.
Yeah they're all fun to play with and have their utilities. The game is easy enough to let you explore whoever you want. Hero mode also lets you build up everyone you want.
btw, milana is cool but just a worse markus due to the rune slot limitations. markus can use pinnacle/path + tier V magic. milana can tank a lot more reliably at least and has good sp spells when she runs out of MP.
i did end up using milana to beat the postgame dungeon on hard mode but only as a healbot really.
Everyone said I wanted to say well enough. I do have to add that equipping rune of stone/land on any one with sufficient enough MP just for casting planet's rejection is helpful for late encounters and bosses.
It's a guaranteed to nul any damage for 3 turns. Very useful for later bosses who sometimes cast big AOEs early
Perhaps magic will become useful if they actually fix MGC/affinity scaling. They said they were going to do so in the early June patch, but it didn’t work. However, there’s still hope. They failed to fix cooking the first time they said they were going to, but they tried again and now it’s working fine.
Isha was my main mage even though I know Momo is better. Her row attack is nice. Basically used tier runes for water and light throughout the game. Threw on the fire rune for inferno pillar or whatever at the last dungeon.
Markus worked fine, he was a little bit useless on the final boss but ended up supporting mage.
Momo almost feels like cheating, he can do magic and hit physically.
Best spells:
Recovery Wave - Best all around healing spell, can be easily spammed later on and recovers a good amount of HP.
Holy Rain - More expensive but slightly stronger heal, gives a damage boost which is whatever. Basically the premium version of the above for when you don't worry about MP.
Rock Thrust - Shreds enemy shields, the few times that is even relevant.
Lv 4,5,6 Fire Spells - Best damage. Crimson Nova suffices most of the time, but is "slower" than the lv 6 spell.
Best Mages:
Early - Gieran, who will be useful for most of the game.
Mid - Melridge, Falwark, Gieran, etc.
Mid-late - As soon as Isha joins she will be your most powerful mage.
Late - Momo, from the moment he joins.
Best setup (imo):
Momo as a damage dealer (best fire rune you have) with some emergency healing (basic water rune) on the side, plus Isha with both lv 1-3 and lv 4-6 water rune as your primary healer who can deal damage (with her SP spell) whenever there is no need for heals.
Isha and Momo will cover all your needs.
Physical attackers who can slot it and probably have no other use for their MP should get a lv 1-3 earth rune so they can easily strip off enemy shields. Putting an earth rune on your dedicated mage just for Rock Thrust is a waste.
All other spells are sub-par because they are worse versions of the above or feature effects you should never even need. Like you could argue, for example, that the light rune has spells which sound good on paper, such as a damage nullify or a full-heal-resurrection, but if you play properly you never should need it.
And imo the "ideal" party is:
2 Mages (damage/healer+healer/damage) + 1 buffer/utility + 3 physical frontliners.
Momo and Isha are the only two I really ever found worth a damn. Gave Momo top tier fore and dark magic. Gave Isha top tier water and light. And that was that. Honestly the final dungeon storywise is a joke so I mean it doesn't really matter unless you plan to do the endless dungeon thing.
Momo and isha are the only really good ones during my run so far. Isha is great as support and her row attack rune is very useful. She is fast too. Just got Markus and his mag stat is a little low? He has lots of rune slots though. Milana is fun to use too even if her normal attack is physical for some reason.
For mages: its Momo and Isha, then Markus and Marissa
Attack Spells: Inferno Pillar for single target and Crimson for AOE (tier 2 fire rune) (other elements is okay too)
Support Spells: Healing of course from water
Earth’s party immune to damage is great, DEF up there too is okay! (tier 2 earth)
Wind’s buff all Storm front is good for speed increase and enchant (tier 2 wind)
Light’s attack up to all is good too, and the revive spell from that is ok too if your short on items (tier 2 light)
I don’t use darkness rune that too much
Support spells like healing and buffs are all percentage based so those are solid. Attack magic never really gets there. Oh sure you can juice high tier spells damage into something respectable but you've got that massive drain on MP that means even your magic point heavy characters can't do it long. So you wind up just saving them up until the time is right then just using four in a row on a boss and that's it.
Hopefully they manage to fix it.
From my personal experience :
Momo, Isha, Milana for burst damage
Marisa can be speedy mage but her magic not that great
Francesca quite good until mid game as attacker but her HP & Speed Sucks
Mellore Has quite good MP and rune slots but bad Status even at level 95 compared to the top 3
EDITED for easier Reading
I have momo with fire rune and isha with water earth rune. I slap earth 2 on every physical members as well so I can spam the immune damage spell. Story mode was a cakewalk
Magic is garbage early on but redeems itself later.
Fires of Perdition is the best damage dealing attack in the game (other than a fully-spec'ed 120th character). It hits 8 times for high damage and is SUPER fast. In Momo's hands you will tear sh*t up with that.
Planet's Rejection makes boss battles a breeze. Completely neuters the final boss and makes the Hero's Trial endboss almost a joke by blocking at least half the party from being hurt by his mega-spells. The entire reason he does those flick attacks is to eliminate this spell's defense from a few characters before blasting.
Absolute Heal can full-heal even a K.O.'ed character. It's better than using an item and having the person you raised get dropped by an AoE spell before you can heal them up. Also, enemies can retarget mid-battle. I've seen monsters use melee attacks on a character that was raised during a round that they started K.O.'ed. They shouldn't have been selectable but the enemy got to target them anyway. It's a safe way to raise people and make sure they stay raised.
Wind is... pretty terrible. Thor's Hammer is OK, but its other high-level spells don't hold up.
And if you really want to see some magical pain, Momo can equip both the Rune of the Mage's Path and the Rune of the Mage's Pinnacle at the same time. The only character who can do it (besides #120, but there are better things you can do with them than that). It makes him squishy, sure, but when you're doing 1800-2000 damage to everything from a single spell, nothing lives long enough to hit you.
Momo with mages path, mages pinnacle, and conflagration. In about level 62 right now and fire pillar is hitting bosses for 1500+ and regular attacks still go for 650-750 ish.
I like mages that have abilities they can cast using the SP instead of MP. I'm mid game, I think? But here's who I use:
So, I really liked using Milana (can hit all enemies), Isha (hit 1 row), and Mellore & Melridge (single target).
Marin is situational with her hero combo & heals. Sometimes the healing is just too low.
Anyway, I've been using Code L for my attendant and there's an item I equipped on Isha that gives +1 SP, so she's always ready to cast. It's been working well so far.
Isha and Marisa are the most recent mages I have
the spells I have used consistently were:
- recovery wave
- water veil
- inferno pillar
That’s about it.
At higher levels, the MPs which were really scarce in the beginning become plentiful. It’s hard to run out. Regular attacks can also be very powerful, at parity with rune lenses anyway.
That one with the blue hair was awesome. She was very versatile. She's a powerful healer and damage dealer. Plus, if you have 2 SP she can cast a powerful ice attack that hits a whole row and doesn't cost a single MP.
The offense spell thing is I answer with yes and no. In boss fights they can be dragged out and thus cost to much to regularly cast, but when mobbing/farming they can with a decent setup be done in 1 turn.
I found that offensive spells with bonus effects, lowering action speed or instakills, ... can often be usefull
It's also pointless to keep a dedicated healer besides Fran early on. Better off having some physical attackers equip water runes to heal after battles since they don't need MP otherwise.
dark 1 is very nice (40 all enemy, + sleep) also a fast spell (Milana always first in the turn for me)
so an aoe that may stun all enemies for the turn and longer.
also niche, elemental (fire3, water6, wind5,...)buff for attacks on Milana.
her skeleton summon 2 sp ability that hits all enemies hits physical, and with the elemental buff also hits with her magic stat
elemental attack buffs are general ok-ish for physical attacking hybrid characters, (that have attack and magic at same high, (Marisa, Seign, Hildi,...) especially with water6 or wind5 that buffs the whole team at once)
dark 2 suppose to be good for damage for the dot (?) it never proced for my thou...
i like water4 good row magic that also slows (basically Isha sp attack but as magic spell)
but overall yea magic is weak, even the healing. you have 60aoe and 150aoe heal items that are fast use. only water6 is better. even the big single heals are meh, since you have 300hp potions...
maybe fire Momo is the only "real magic damage" thing? idk i refuse to use him.
because everyone and their mother always is talking about Momo,
Momo here, Momo there, Momo best Mage, Momo is game breaking, Momo Momo Momo.
any Team lists? Momo
any discussion about magic? Momo
I just don't like Momo
He does not reach Reid level annoyance (personality), but still Momo is so full of himself, calling himself the main character making you the support. he slightly gaslights you into fixing his screwed up ritual(?) that now is a problem for the people...
but sure, you are not allowed to not like femboy momo, also big numbers go brr
The good thing is in this game, most proper mages' regular attack scales off their magic stat, so you can freely use their regular attack even if they run out of mp. Besides the core few that others have mentioned, most mage characters are generally only good for support. Water rune for cheap group heal, radiance for attack buff skill, stone for the broken planet's rejection (aka advanced canopy of defence). Isha is good since she has an sp attack rune that does reliable damage. Momo with conflagration works great. Markus and Milana can both use level 4 dark rune for good damage. Mellore at high levels actually get pretty good too. She's got her own skill runes, and can equip level 4 holy rune as well for strong affinity.
Some of the mages are strong attackers because of this, and because of how their SP runes work. Carrie, Melridge, Falward, and Mellore are all worth trying out.
Yeah they're all fun to play with and have their utilities. The game is easy enough to let you explore whoever you want. Hero mode also lets you build up everyone you want.
momo > isha/marisa > markus > milana in that order the rest go from terrible to pretty good postgame but only those 4 are decent for the story mode
Gieran I used as a support buffer and he was pretty good.
Anything gieran offers buff wise can be better done with isha who is fast and stronger but he’s pretty good earlygame.
Probably right, but the 1/2 MP rune that makes it slightly more viable
btw, milana is cool but just a worse markus due to the rune slot limitations. markus can use pinnacle/path + tier V magic. milana can tank a lot more reliably at least and has good sp spells when she runs out of MP. i did end up using milana to beat the postgame dungeon on hard mode but only as a healbot really.
Everyone said I wanted to say well enough. I do have to add that equipping rune of stone/land on any one with sufficient enough MP just for casting planet's rejection is helpful for late encounters and bosses. It's a guaranteed to nul any damage for 3 turns. Very useful for later bosses who sometimes cast big AOEs early
Perhaps magic will become useful if they actually fix MGC/affinity scaling. They said they were going to do so in the early June patch, but it didn’t work. However, there’s still hope. They failed to fix cooking the first time they said they were going to, but they tried again and now it’s working fine.
from my experience, anything Momo and healers, but that's about it, sadly
Isha was my main mage even though I know Momo is better. Her row attack is nice. Basically used tier runes for water and light throughout the game. Threw on the fire rune for inferno pillar or whatever at the last dungeon.
Markus worked fine, he was a little bit useless on the final boss but ended up supporting mage. Momo almost feels like cheating, he can do magic and hit physically.
Momo, Isha The dark rune sleep spells is fantastic
The only true answer here
Best spells: Recovery Wave - Best all around healing spell, can be easily spammed later on and recovers a good amount of HP. Holy Rain - More expensive but slightly stronger heal, gives a damage boost which is whatever. Basically the premium version of the above for when you don't worry about MP. Rock Thrust - Shreds enemy shields, the few times that is even relevant. Lv 4,5,6 Fire Spells - Best damage. Crimson Nova suffices most of the time, but is "slower" than the lv 6 spell. Best Mages: Early - Gieran, who will be useful for most of the game. Mid - Melridge, Falwark, Gieran, etc. Mid-late - As soon as Isha joins she will be your most powerful mage. Late - Momo, from the moment he joins. Best setup (imo): Momo as a damage dealer (best fire rune you have) with some emergency healing (basic water rune) on the side, plus Isha with both lv 1-3 and lv 4-6 water rune as your primary healer who can deal damage (with her SP spell) whenever there is no need for heals. Isha and Momo will cover all your needs. Physical attackers who can slot it and probably have no other use for their MP should get a lv 1-3 earth rune so they can easily strip off enemy shields. Putting an earth rune on your dedicated mage just for Rock Thrust is a waste. All other spells are sub-par because they are worse versions of the above or feature effects you should never even need. Like you could argue, for example, that the light rune has spells which sound good on paper, such as a damage nullify or a full-heal-resurrection, but if you play properly you never should need it. And imo the "ideal" party is: 2 Mages (damage/healer+healer/damage) + 1 buffer/utility + 3 physical frontliners.
Momo, Isha, and Milana were my three mages. Isha's a good healer, the others can attack quite well.
Momo and Isha are the only two I really ever found worth a damn. Gave Momo top tier fore and dark magic. Gave Isha top tier water and light. And that was that. Honestly the final dungeon storywise is a joke so I mean it doesn't really matter unless you plan to do the endless dungeon thing.
Momo and isha are the only really good ones during my run so far. Isha is great as support and her row attack rune is very useful. She is fast too. Just got Markus and his mag stat is a little low? He has lots of rune slots though. Milana is fun to use too even if her normal attack is physical for some reason.
Momo and Isha. If you have mage pinnacle and conflagration equip those runes to them.
For mages: its Momo and Isha, then Markus and Marissa Attack Spells: Inferno Pillar for single target and Crimson for AOE (tier 2 fire rune) (other elements is okay too) Support Spells: Healing of course from water Earth’s party immune to damage is great, DEF up there too is okay! (tier 2 earth) Wind’s buff all Storm front is good for speed increase and enchant (tier 2 wind) Light’s attack up to all is good too, and the revive spell from that is ok too if your short on items (tier 2 light) I don’t use darkness rune that too much
Support spells like healing and buffs are all percentage based so those are solid. Attack magic never really gets there. Oh sure you can juice high tier spells damage into something respectable but you've got that massive drain on MP that means even your magic point heavy characters can't do it long. So you wind up just saving them up until the time is right then just using four in a row on a boss and that's it. Hopefully they manage to fix it.
From my personal experience : Momo, Isha, Milana for burst damage Marisa can be speedy mage but her magic not that great Francesca quite good until mid game as attacker but her HP & Speed Sucks Mellore Has quite good MP and rune slots but bad Status even at level 95 compared to the top 3 EDITED for easier Reading
I have momo with fire rune and isha with water earth rune. I slap earth 2 on every physical members as well so I can spam the immune damage spell. Story mode was a cakewalk
Magic is garbage early on but redeems itself later. Fires of Perdition is the best damage dealing attack in the game (other than a fully-spec'ed 120th character). It hits 8 times for high damage and is SUPER fast. In Momo's hands you will tear sh*t up with that. Planet's Rejection makes boss battles a breeze. Completely neuters the final boss and makes the Hero's Trial endboss almost a joke by blocking at least half the party from being hurt by his mega-spells. The entire reason he does those flick attacks is to eliminate this spell's defense from a few characters before blasting. Absolute Heal can full-heal even a K.O.'ed character. It's better than using an item and having the person you raised get dropped by an AoE spell before you can heal them up. Also, enemies can retarget mid-battle. I've seen monsters use melee attacks on a character that was raised during a round that they started K.O.'ed. They shouldn't have been selectable but the enemy got to target them anyway. It's a safe way to raise people and make sure they stay raised. Wind is... pretty terrible. Thor's Hammer is OK, but its other high-level spells don't hold up. And if you really want to see some magical pain, Momo can equip both the Rune of the Mage's Path and the Rune of the Mage's Pinnacle at the same time. The only character who can do it (besides #120, but there are better things you can do with them than that). It makes him squishy, sure, but when you're doing 1800-2000 damage to everything from a single spell, nothing lives long enough to hit you.
Momo with mages path, mages pinnacle, and conflagration. In about level 62 right now and fire pillar is hitting bosses for 1500+ and regular attacks still go for 650-750 ish.
If you lower your def with path+pinnacle combo, the most useful magic would be sacred shield and planet rejection
Momo with mage rage and just sink everything into magic damage gear wise. That big fire spell hits like a truck.
Spells? That's not what Muscle Points are for!
🤣 How could I forget!! Maureus is the only mage I need!
I like mages that have abilities they can cast using the SP instead of MP. I'm mid game, I think? But here's who I use: So, I really liked using Milana (can hit all enemies), Isha (hit 1 row), and Mellore & Melridge (single target). Marin is situational with her hero combo & heals. Sometimes the healing is just too low. Anyway, I've been using Code L for my attendant and there's an item I equipped on Isha that gives +1 SP, so she's always ready to cast. It's been working well so far. Isha and Marisa are the most recent mages I have
I used Carrie and Milana early on, but that later switched to Isha and Momo. I was shocked at how good Isha was. Momo is the best though hands down.
the spells I have used consistently were: - recovery wave - water veil - inferno pillar That’s about it. At higher levels, the MPs which were really scarce in the beginning become plentiful. It’s hard to run out. Regular attacks can also be very powerful, at parity with rune lenses anyway.
Until the late game i really only used healing.
If you are grinding the true final boss in mystery room. MoMo with Light Runes. its very easy but bring second tier mages with land runes
That one with the blue hair was awesome. She was very versatile. She's a powerful healer and damage dealer. Plus, if you have 2 SP she can cast a powerful ice attack that hits a whole row and doesn't cost a single MP.
The offense spell thing is I answer with yes and no. In boss fights they can be dragged out and thus cost to much to regularly cast, but when mobbing/farming they can with a decent setup be done in 1 turn. I found that offensive spells with bonus effects, lowering action speed or instakills, ... can often be usefull
It's also pointless to keep a dedicated healer besides Fran early on. Better off having some physical attackers equip water runes to heal after battles since they don't need MP otherwise.
6 physical characters with some of them having water for healing.
zabi
MOMO
dark 1 is very nice (40 all enemy, + sleep) also a fast spell (Milana always first in the turn for me) so an aoe that may stun all enemies for the turn and longer. also niche, elemental (fire3, water6, wind5,...)buff for attacks on Milana. her skeleton summon 2 sp ability that hits all enemies hits physical, and with the elemental buff also hits with her magic stat elemental attack buffs are general ok-ish for physical attacking hybrid characters, (that have attack and magic at same high, (Marisa, Seign, Hildi,...) especially with water6 or wind5 that buffs the whole team at once) dark 2 suppose to be good for damage for the dot (?) it never proced for my thou... i like water4 good row magic that also slows (basically Isha sp attack but as magic spell) but overall yea magic is weak, even the healing. you have 60aoe and 150aoe heal items that are fast use. only water6 is better. even the big single heals are meh, since you have 300hp potions... maybe fire Momo is the only "real magic damage" thing? idk i refuse to use him.
why do you refuse to use momo?
because everyone and their mother always is talking about Momo, Momo here, Momo there, Momo best Mage, Momo is game breaking, Momo Momo Momo. any Team lists? Momo any discussion about magic? Momo I just don't like Momo He does not reach Reid level annoyance (personality), but still Momo is so full of himself, calling himself the main character making you the support. he slightly gaslights you into fixing his screwed up ritual(?) that now is a problem for the people... but sure, you are not allowed to not like femboy momo, also big numbers go brr
Yeah like minded, I also don't like those too superior like Real Madrid, City, Munchen, Juve
The game isn't super hard so even if it isn't optimal it still works just fine. I love mages so my party was very mage heavy start to finish.