Mage builds: archetypes, skills and guide builds

The Mage casts from range with a wand. Its base spells are Heal, Teleport, Meteor and Ice Snake; archetypes change several of them (Arcanist's first spell becomes Arcane Transfer, Light Bender's third becomes Ophanim). In the EHP model it has a class factor of 1.2, so the same items give a Mage about 17% less effective HP than a Warrior. Teleport costs almost nothing in the suggested trees, so Mage cycles are mostly about the other three spells.

Riftwalker

Riftwalker builds spell cycles inside its rift (Dimensional Tear) and mixes elements freely. It leans on raw spell damage, Elemental Damage and Critical Damage more than on a single element, which makes Strength and Dexterity its usual skill point sinks. It has the most guide builds of any Mage archetype.

• Usual skill points: Strength, Dexterity, Defence
• Usual elements: Thunder, Fire, Earth
• Stats the site's archetype profile weighs highest (used for Other picks and the Build Solver): Elemental Damage %, Spell Damage (raw), Fire Damage (raw), Damage %, Critical Damage %
• Abilities the suggested tree adds to the damage panel: Burning Sigil, Dimensional Tear

Guide builds (15)

Light Bender

Light Bender combines healing and spell damage: Ophanim, Lightweaver, Crystallize and Dawn come from its tree. Healing Efficiency shows up in its builds next to raw spell damage, water spell damage in particular; its builds usually spread points over Dexterity, Intelligence and Defence.

• Usual skill points: Dexterity, Intelligence, Defence
• Usual elements: Water, Fire, Earth, Thunder
• Stats the site's archetype profile weighs highest (used for Other picks and the Build Solver): Spell Damage (raw), Water Spell Damage (raw), Fire Damage (raw), Damage %, Defence
• Abilities the suggested tree adds to the damage panel: Lightweaver, Freezing Sigil, Crystallize, Dawn

Guide builds (8)

Arcanist

Arcanist is about big raw spell bursts with cheaper third-spell casts, with abilities such as Judrajim and Tangled Origin. Raw Spell Damage is the stat it values most by a wide margin, and its guide builds use every one of the five skills depending on the element mix.

• Usual skill points: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Defence, Agility
• Usual elements: Thunder, Air, Earth, Water
• Stats the site's archetype profile weighs highest (used for Other picks and the Build Solver): Spell Damage (raw), Spell Damage %, Elemental Damage (raw), Dexterity, Water Spell Damage (raw)
• Abilities the suggested tree adds to the damage panel: Burning Sigil, Judrajim, Tangled Origin

Guide builds (12)

Generating a Mage build

1. Open the Build Recommender, pick Mage, your rank and level.
2. Choose an archetype (the site suggests a tree for your ability points), or build your own tree or paste one from Wynnbuilder. The spells in the "Maximise" list come from that tree.
3. Pick what to maximise and set your effective HP minimum. Class factor 1.2 means EHP numbers aren't directly comparable with other classes.
4. Type your spell cycle if you want a sustainable build, then press Generate.
5. Compare the result with the guide builds above: open both in Wynnbuilder, or copy the result into the Build Creator to tweak it by hand.

Guide builds come from The Ultimate Build Guide (by Sugo, maintained by helmp and gardenguy555), credited to the players who made them; "Made for" lists the content the guide recommends them for. The archetype profiles are the site's own, calibrated on those builds; the recommender itself scores items from your chosen goal on your tree.

Open the Build Recommender →