Demoskinos
Member
This. Black Mage AoE is just so fun. The burst damage is insane.
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Your favorite spell caster experiences in games?
- Thread starter bati
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This. Black Mage AoE is just so fun. The burst damage is insane.
old manatee
Banned
Dota 2. Especially Lion and his finger of death.
Fuckin' A I miss old FFXI. I main'd WHM back in the day, but spent plenty of time leveling BLM. Always fun being in a party where you could burst stuff like Freeze or Flood with macros. FFXI was such a fun game. As a WHM, I took pride in getting clearing party debuffs as quickly as they popped up. It definitely had a great rhythm for casters.
cireza
Member
I loved spell casters in Lost Odyssey.
They really felt like they needed protection, taking several turns to cast spells. But the spells themselves were very impressive and seemed much more powerful than anything else. You could even dedicate the turn of another character at helping a spell caster to cast faster. And of course, you had the option each turn to continue preparing the spell, or cancelling.
So this was a very good balance between the effort required and the power of the spell.
They really felt like they needed protection, taking several turns to cast spells. But the spells themselves were very impressive and seemed much more powerful than anything else. You could even dedicate the turn of another character at helping a spell caster to cast faster. And of course, you had the option each turn to continue preparing the spell, or cancelling.
So this was a very good balance between the effort required and the power of the spell.
Carpe Libertatem
Member
Discipline Priest in WoW. Especially WotLK era.
I always found the idea of absorbs and shields for a healer to be cool.
I always found the idea of absorbs and shields for a healer to be cool.
This, and you could craft your own spells even without the cecipes once you realized the rudimentary grammar the magick system worked on and what each rune meant, so you could craft spells knowing that you were just going like "Summon empowered mantarok monster".
QisTopTier
XisBannedTier
All of the casters / healers in FF14 are a blast, Scholar being my favorite as you tend to help attack more with smart use of mitigation based shield magic, huge instant cast heals and a pet that heals about 1/2 as strong as you do. Which lets you apply dots and nuke away most fights with a little bit of proper stance dancing. All the healers can do this but sch is the best at it imo.
WoW casters are fun too, Warlock being my favorite back in WotLK
WoW casters are fun too, Warlock being my favorite back in WotLK
It just feels really tactical, smart and satisfying. In ff14 Scholar main shield is based of a single target heal spell and it's potency doubles on crits. so non crit 5k heal = 5k shield but a 10k crit = 20k shield. Seeing a tank buster hit for less than a bosses auto atttack through that and spell that lowers the bosses stats by 15% never gets old. The best thing is they gained a spell to copy those huge shields to the rest of the party off the target
Faren spells in Meridian 59, not super popular and expensive as fuck to level the high-end like Lightning Bolt so when you actually brought it out people were pretty fucked.
Wizard in EQ, aoe was pretty sick. Quadding raptors on the island when others would have trouble soloing (plus 10 minutes recovering hp/mana) was pretty nice. Knowing you were a heartbeat from dying instantly with a shitty corpse-run gave it some gravitas too =p
Enchanter was also a lot of fun if you didn't have a group breaking mezzes and whatnot.
Mage in EQ, from PoM Pyro in Vanilla to Shatter combo Ice mages later, good times.
Wizard in Black Desert Online just for the damn spell effects and screen shaking.
Wizard in EQ, aoe was pretty sick. Quadding raptors on the island when others would have trouble soloing (plus 10 minutes recovering hp/mana) was pretty nice. Knowing you were a heartbeat from dying instantly with a shitty corpse-run gave it some gravitas too =p
Enchanter was also a lot of fun if you didn't have a group breaking mezzes and whatnot.
Mage in EQ, from PoM Pyro in Vanilla to Shatter combo Ice mages later, good times.
Wizard in Black Desert Online just for the damn spell effects and screen shaking.
AgentLampshade
Member
First thing that came to mind is Aqua from Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. By the endgame, if you play your cards right (ugh), you can wind up with some super powerful, unique magic.
Playing a conjurer in Nox by Westwood Studios is an absolute blast.
Still my favorite spellcaster in any game ever.
Necromancer from Diablo 2 is a close second
and Shadow Knight from Champions of Norrath being the third.
Still my favorite spellcaster in any game ever.
Necromancer from Diablo 2 is a close second
and Shadow Knight from Champions of Norrath being the third.
Dr. Buni
Member
Scholar in A Realm Reborn: Final Fantasy 14
Rubick \o/
DreadfulOmen
Member
dragon's dogma, and there's a F2P mmo that i tried along time ago on the pc that lets the mages throw a fire phoenix. it looked pretty bad ass.
Enigmatic Rainbow
Member
Tales of Graces F, Dragon's Dogma, Phantasy Star Online, and Phantasy Star Online 2 are the only games that come to mind that I've actually enjoyed playing as a magic type character.
bizzarewars
Banned
Ctrl F Melia
Nothin'?
Melia from Xenoblade Chronicles is the only spellcaster in any game that I truly LOVED playing as. She's the burst-iest of all burst characters if you play her and build her right. For heaven's sake I even one-shotted a couple bosses with her. So good.
Nothin'?
Melia from Xenoblade Chronicles is the only spellcaster in any game that I truly LOVED playing as. She's the burst-iest of all burst characters if you play her and build her right. For heaven's sake I even one-shotted a couple bosses with her. So good.
M0nochromatic
Member
Magicka 1 is one of the best games about being a wizard and killing others and yourself.
Napalm_Frank
Member
DotA/HoN/DotA2 pulling a perfect ultimate with Lich/Plague Rider.
Bizukah
Neo Member
Though the animations were kinda lackluster, there's something romantic about being able to make custom spells in Oblivion...
The only other games i've played that do magic well are MMO's.. they always seem to have just the right amount of umph. Although seeing all these Dragon's Dogma screenshots make me kinda wanna pick up that game...
The only other games i've played that do magic well are MMO's.. they always seem to have just the right amount of umph. Although seeing all these Dragon's Dogma screenshots make me kinda wanna pick up that game...
SatelliteOfLove
Member
You can tell it's great cuz it was amputated down to a mandatory yet one-trick pony by patches. Balance!
Tales of Graces F.
The big reason they're saying this?
You shorten cast times by comboing. This COMPLETELY revolutionized ARPG combat yet...doesn't really get used again. Sad.
Baron Von Beans
Member
Lichdom Battlemage is a fps that plays out like the title implies. No pesky mana to worry about here. I only just bought it, played maybe an hour or two so far, but I enjoy it. There seems to be spell customization, along with several other upgrade paths and whatnot.
I bought the PS4 version, which many may remember the launch of it say the game having sub 20 fps constantly. Well, they patched it, along with the XBO version. Digital Foundry did a second look at the game post patch if anyone cares to look.
I bought the PS4 version, which many may remember the launch of it say the game having sub 20 fps constantly. Well, they patched it, along with the XBO version. Digital Foundry did a second look at the game post patch if anyone cares to look.
Just looking at recent games for now.
In terms of mechanics, it was Divinity: Original Sin by a good green country mile. Not only is the versatility in battle completely unmatched (due to environmental and cross-spell effects), there are also lots of inventive ways you can use spells out of battle to achieve goals (and break some puzzles).
In terms of aesthetics, Dragon's Dogma has everything else beat. It's also one of the few action RPGs which achieves a good risk/reward balance for magic, by having long and vulnerable casting times but also exceedingly powerful spells.
In terms of mechanics, it was Divinity: Original Sin by a good green country mile. Not only is the versatility in battle completely unmatched (due to environmental and cross-spell effects), there are also lots of inventive ways you can use spells out of battle to achieve goals (and break some puzzles).
In terms of aesthetics, Dragon's Dogma has everything else beat. It's also one of the few action RPGs which achieves a good risk/reward balance for magic, by having long and vulnerable casting times but also exceedingly powerful spells.
Perfect way of describing Scathe, that spell looks and sounds like it can punch a goddamn hole in spacetime.
Anyway, I have to echo everyone else saying Dragon's Dogma. It's one of the few games where status effects like sleep and toxin are really useful (and cool looking), where you can literally whip people with a bolt of lighting that you hold, or use your gigantic icespell to create ice platforms you can use to reach other places, another useful thing is that you can actually float giving you mobility other vocations don't have.
Hell, there was even a mechanic where if your pawns were also mages they would start simulcasting, greatly reducing casting time and copying your chosen spell.
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Dragon's Dogma, WoW, and D3 have already been mentioned, so I will throw in Torchlight. Very satisfying.
BigWeather
Member
For spell customization Two Worlds 2 is up there. Love D:OS too.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
Kingdoms of Amalur had some neat magic abilities.
too bad they neutered it but the magic in DAI is amazing the ice blink forward in particular is so much fun.
too bad they neutered it but the magic in DAI is amazing the ice blink forward in particular is so much fun.
bati
Member
Not quite, I was merely curious what makes gaf mages tick. My personal preference is definitely on the more mechanical side though.
this.
two worlds 2 also had a really good magic system. as did magicka 2 (really fun to mix elements)
StanleyPalmtree
Banned
another vote for dragons dogma
a particular favorite moment of mine being a time i was fighting a gryphon out in a field, the thing was flying around, and started heading straight for my party, im just think ill have to dodge, but just as the thing reaches us, Ka Boom. big ass fire explosion just nails it (my sorceror pawn had some crazy good timing), its wing catch of fire and the thing just crashes right into the ground, lost like a third of its health from the one blow, and left it fallen (in a prime position for me to get hacking away at it) and its wings staying on fire meant it would be a while till it could fly again.
god i love that game.
a particular favorite moment of mine being a time i was fighting a gryphon out in a field, the thing was flying around, and started heading straight for my party, im just think ill have to dodge, but just as the thing reaches us, Ka Boom. big ass fire explosion just nails it (my sorceror pawn had some crazy good timing), its wing catch of fire and the thing just crashes right into the ground, lost like a third of its health from the one blow, and left it fallen (in a prime position for me to get hacking away at it) and its wings staying on fire meant it would be a while till it could fly again.
god i love that game.
thestopsign
Member
I always enjoyed finding different combinations of characters for Techs in Chrono Trigger. They felt very satisfying to use.
Cracklox
Member
2nd replys a winner. Doze meteors that burst through the atmosphere and come crashing down. Dem twisters. Dat mutherfuckin lightening whip.
Bartholomuse
Member
I would call FF8 as a whole a pretty cool game for spell casting. You can break the game in 30 mins with the junction system and everything you do feels like your accumulating more awesome power. Even the games resident mingame (Triple triad) ties directly into junctioning allowing you to have 9999hp and do 9999 dmg by modding cards into magic items and spells.
Why would you intentionally imbalance the game ? let alone recommend it? Because FF8 is just more fun that way, FF8's level scaling immediately turns me off playing the game "right"
The Junction system is at it's best when it feels like an in game set of gameshark codes, it just makes all the battles go by faster and everything feels way more epic when all your party members are hooked up with Ultima and Meteor. You can even get a magic ability from an optional boss that lets you turn off random encounters.
Magic and spellcasting being insanely OP is even constructed into the story, so it doesnt even really feel like cheating. The game is all about these ancient wars with mages and wizards and Socereses are considered war criminals and the world that you play through is kinda of a post war, run down shit hole.
Shits like anime Harry Potter lol and the games complete lack of difficulty makes it one of the most casual and enjoyable Final Fantasy's in my view
Why would you intentionally imbalance the game ? let alone recommend it? Because FF8 is just more fun that way, FF8's level scaling immediately turns me off playing the game "right"
The Junction system is at it's best when it feels like an in game set of gameshark codes, it just makes all the battles go by faster and everything feels way more epic when all your party members are hooked up with Ultima and Meteor. You can even get a magic ability from an optional boss that lets you turn off random encounters.
Magic and spellcasting being insanely OP is even constructed into the story, so it doesnt even really feel like cheating. The game is all about these ancient wars with mages and wizards and Socereses are considered war criminals and the world that you play through is kinda of a post war, run down shit hole.
Shits like anime Harry Potter lol and the games complete lack of difficulty makes it one of the most casual and enjoyable Final Fantasy's in my view
The four part Sorcery series (Steam, iOS) is great for this. You're often given opportunities to use magic to influence your current situation. Unlike most games, the spell system is really out there, with all kinds of crazy effects. Look at the spellbook: http://www.thesewall.com/guides/sorcery-complete-spellbook/
Of course, all of this is possible because the story is mostly told through text but it's still impressive stuff.
Of course, all of this is possible because the story is mostly told through text but it's still impressive stuff.
FelixTheSexranger
Member
Top tier spells can bring your whole enemys army down. Spells give you many strategic choices and I think this is still a visual joy to watch.
R_thanatos
Member
I came to this thread after read the thread title to post this
That was so good.
Electric lasso + those demonic floating orbs as a basic attack combo were my favorites ways to hunts wolves ( in packs)
xeroborn55
Member
I almost always play mages. I want to give a special shout-out here to the fantastic class design of Dark age of Camelot and Warhammer Online. My 2 favorites are:
Dark Age of Camelot Bard - twisting buffs was fun in a group, if you were good at it people really noticed and it made a big difference to the groups effectiveness.
Warhammer Online Swordmaster - The way this worked was you had 3 tiers of attacks, and you had to move from level 1 to 2 to 3, you had several choices at each level so you had to choose wisely for the situation at hand. This mechanic combined with the audio/visual presentation of the attacks was so satisfying. You were basically a protection mage/fighter casting bubbles and cc. it was so much fun.
Dark Age of Camelot Bard - twisting buffs was fun in a group, if you were good at it people really noticed and it made a big difference to the groups effectiveness.
Warhammer Online Swordmaster - The way this worked was you had 3 tiers of attacks, and you had to move from level 1 to 2 to 3, you had several choices at each level so you had to choose wisely for the situation at hand. This mechanic combined with the audio/visual presentation of the attacks was so satisfying. You were basically a protection mage/fighter casting bubbles and cc. it was so much fun.
Handy Fake
Member
A nicely crafted Arc spell in PoE clears areas with a satisfying thunk. Especially combined with a Pyre ring...
I really enjoyed playing Shadow Priests in WoW up until they added the dark orb mechanic.
Elemental Shaman have been pretty fun too. Chain Lighting is so satisfying.
Non MMO aside Dark Souls 2 Faith builds are pretty fun, but I never really slung projectiles, it was more about buffs.
Elemental Shaman have been pretty fun too. Chain Lighting is so satisfying.
Non MMO aside Dark Souls 2 Faith builds are pretty fun, but I never really slung projectiles, it was more about buffs.
Once did a pure mage run in Skyrim, spells only and travelled straight for winter hold.
Felt far more creative using spells for offense and defense as opposed to swords and armour. Got me interested in spellcasting.
Since then I've hit Dark Souls, Dragon Age Inquisition, and Divinity Original Sin as spellcasting and had a blast.
Felt far more creative using spells for offense and defense as opposed to swords and armour. Got me interested in spellcasting.
Since then I've hit Dark Souls, Dragon Age Inquisition, and Divinity Original Sin as spellcasting and had a blast.
I'm not a big fan of Dragon's Dogma and have a huge laundry list of complaints when it comes to the game, but it did three things right: boss battles, night settings, and some epic magic abilities.
Pure mages in Skyrim can actually be pretty fun, especially with the difficulty cranked high up to max. I kept my starting health the same throughout a playthrough.... a single arrow can kill. I also chose to avoid the perk where two-handing destruction spells stun-locks enemies, that just leads to spamming. It's certainly the quickest way to get things done, but ignoring it means you're open to all sorts of other options: turning enemies against each other, calming, invisibility, buffs, summons, healing, etc.
Pure mages in Skyrim can actually be pretty fun, especially with the difficulty cranked high up to max. I kept my starting health the same throughout a playthrough.... a single arrow can kill. I also chose to avoid the perk where two-handing destruction spells stun-locks enemies, that just leads to spamming. It's certainly the quickest way to get things done, but ignoring it means you're open to all sorts of other options: turning enemies against each other, calming, invisibility, buffs, summons, healing, etc.
Kingdom of Amalur was a neat spellcasting experience, just because it made you really mobile with teleporting, you could mix in abilities from other classes, and everything animated like a character action game with combos.
Dragon's Dogma just made the spells over the top as you get into the later game, and you feel pretty powerful casting a full sized tornado.
Divinity Original Sin would be another fun one, just because your spells can interact with your environment, or combo off other things to make some really satisfying stuff happen. Oh, and the fun of creating a flammable surface, enemy takes damage getting out of it, and then you teleport him/her back into it to keep the damage over time going.
Skyrim was also pretty fun as a mage, just for being able to dual wield spells in each hand, or double the same spell in each hand for a more powerful effect. Loved the progression unlocking by using the same spells over and over vs. random exp for quests.
I keep hoping if the Souls or Bloodborne games continue one day in the future, they could make spellcasting not an utter snoozefest.
Dragon's Dogma just made the spells over the top as you get into the later game, and you feel pretty powerful casting a full sized tornado.
Divinity Original Sin would be another fun one, just because your spells can interact with your environment, or combo off other things to make some really satisfying stuff happen. Oh, and the fun of creating a flammable surface, enemy takes damage getting out of it, and then you teleport him/her back into it to keep the damage over time going.
Skyrim was also pretty fun as a mage, just for being able to dual wield spells in each hand, or double the same spell in each hand for a more powerful effect. Loved the progression unlocking by using the same spells over and over vs. random exp for quests.
I keep hoping if the Souls or Bloodborne games continue one day in the future, they could make spellcasting not an utter snoozefest.
Nikodemos
Member
A somewhat niche example, since you were pretty much limited to being a spellcaster (and no other class). But yes, raising a volcano in the middle of your opponent's army, or bringing down a rain of exploding frogs is pretty awesome.
Top tier spells can bring your whole enemys army down. Spells give you many strategic choices and I think this is still a visual joy to watch.
For a completely different take on the genre, Darklands. 'True' magic is demonic in nature, and only practiced by witches and devils. Your characters instead use the power of faith to pray (to one or more saints) for miracles.
Arcanum allows you to feel like the avatar of destruction in the late game. There's a spell, Tempus Fugit, which doesn't just make your opponents twice as slow, it also makes you party twice as fast. You end up being four times faster than your foes. It makes for pretty short battles, which is just as well, since you usually end up nearly collapsed from the lack of stamina (Arcanum Magick doesn't use mana, but rather your character's stamina, also used for running and swinging your sharp implement of chioce).
A similar spell system can be found in Betrayal at Krondor. Your spellcasters use both stamina and health (if they run out of stamina) to cast spells. Most of the spells have quite creative names, like Fetters of Rime, Grief of 100 Nights, Gift of Sung, and, last but not least Mad God's Rage.