Looking for some on leveling up an Arcane Build Character

[Shaylo]

I have decided now that my dragon finally grew up and became Ancient I was going to make me an arcane magic character. I also have a biped character that is mainly melee so decided I would like a change of pace. Now that you know my background, on to the question.

Which of the following schools would be best to level to 100 first?
Chaos Warrior, Healer, Mage, Sorcerer, or Conjurer

Or would I be better off leveling a combination of the four to 100? I plan to have Chaos Warrior as my main. I plan on leveling Fitter and Weaver to 100 for 1000 Dex and Strength. I plan on taking Healer for the Gifts, Buffs, Heals and the 1000 focus. Mage for the Power, Flame, and Energy skill, Sorcerer for the Mind skill and Spellbind. Conjurer for the Ice and Summoning skill and MultiCast II. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

Would warrior be beneficial to continue to raise higher after these classes? I didn’t really see much benefit as Chaos Warrior get 20 health per level and 10 two hand crush. I will get Armor Use from Mage. Is it beneficial to take Wizard to 100 for the extra Energy skill since they get 11 per level? I will mix druid in to the mix while leveling the classes up to get to Nature’s Fury and stop. Are there any other schools that offer a nice masterable ability that I should get along the way?

Any thoughts or advice are much appreciated. Also tips on what type of mobs are good to kill for this type of build while leveling to 100 on it for first time and what to avoid would be much appreciated. I guess I have spent to much of my time on the melee and priestly side of the fence to know enough about the arcane side.

[Gremblthrg]

If you really want to be an arcane caster in plate, I would recommend Knight of Creation - shield use/skill in addition to the Blessing of Istaria (additional HP, armor, shield skill, 1hs skill or some such).

Wizard not only adds 100 energy skill over mage, but also 100 more magic evasion and some masterables - acceleration shortens spell casting time, and there are some stun skills.

Nature's Fury doesn't affect spell damage, but would help melee damage. As for other masterables, it depends on what you want from your build - more defense spells (resist/ward), defense skills (evasion), defense abils (both passive and active, beyond what yor currently planned classes offer), melee damage (particularly melee aoe), and spell damage (more flavors of bolts) - as well as how many classes/levels you are willing to do.

Your meaty class would probably be easiest to level first, and both KNoC and CHSW get enough armor use for the best armor at level 99. The additional 80 AU from mage isn't really needed.

- Grem

[Kwinn]

Was it me I would run mage, healer and monk concurrent. Mage gives ya the flame and power and arcane is more about than anything else. Power only adds to the damage. Healer gives ya the heals and buffs you'll need and Monk evasion, melee skills and Detox are hard to argue with.

To optimize arcane usage you'll want conj, sorc and wiz. Even with those and mage maxed out you'll still be putting about 600 TP overall in your arcane skills to getting optimal usage from your spells.

Chaos Warrior, KNoC or Battlemage personal choise there although I am partial to Battlemage. Timing Reflect Attack IV properly will drop Fafnir like a bad habit. No other school can do that

[Shaylo]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I need to get my thinking away from my current character and if I am going to go something actually go something new. I keep forgetting that Knoc is an arcane school. The name always makes me think it is nature based.

It is interesting thought leveling Mage, Healer, Monk at same time. Never really considered monk. I may have to give that a try to just get me out of my comfort zone and learn something new.

Any other thoughts are much appreciated.

[Gremblthrg]

Ah, I'd forgotten about battlemage - they also wear plate, can use shield, and bring some interesting skills to the table. However, all their skills and stats per level are relatively low, including shield skill, armor use, and HP; they require a fair bit of multiclassing to maximize all the skills and stats they use.
Not to say they can't be effective of course, it just may require more work.

Probably the simplest way to point out which classes to take for what would be to list all of them, and what they offer...
gamersinfo does just this, http://horizons.gamersinfo.net/schools/schools.php
And a quick breakdown of which classes are arcane:
battlemage, chaos warrior, conjurer, flame disciple, ice disciple, knight of creation, mage, sorcerer, wizard are arcane. Once you take one, it's easier to level the others, since you'll have access to the same arcane spells.

If you *really* want to get out of your comfort zone, try flame or ice disciple They only wear leather armor, but ice disciple offers the same evasion as monk, and flame disciple has a damage shield, damage add, and can be fun to run...
- Gremblthrg, flame disciple

[Aria]

...is reaver or bloodmage considered arcane also?

and for classification purposes, spiritist and shaman are mystic yes?

[Gremblthrg]

The mystic classes (ones that can cast all nature/spirit/blight/aug spells and rez spells) are blood mage, cleric, druid, guardian, healer, paladin, ranger, reaver, shaman, spirit disciple, spiritist, storm disciple.

In addition, blood mage, cleric, druid, healer, shaman, and spiritist can cast all health spell lines, as they are the mystic casters (as opposed to hybrids, which get more melee skills).

The remaining classes that aren't mystic or arcane, which I'll call the physical classes for lack of a better term, are berserker, crossbowman, elemental archer, monk, scout, spearman, warrior. They only have access to the basic spells everyone can use - bolts, (imp)revits, resists, wards, gifts, raises, fire/ice/energy attack buffs, and single target roots.

I hope this clarifies things for you!
- Grem

Edit: Oh, and arcane classes are the ones that can cast all fire/ice/energy/mind/summon spells. Sorry for not mentioning that sooner.

[Aria]

Thanks so much Grem, that helped quite a bit

[tjl]

In general, I would level the classes that give you better defense and melee skills first (health/dodge/evasion etc), and then focus on the more arcane/ranged damage. classes that teach you heals and buffs I would put somewhere between.

a level 100 melee type starting as a level 1 mage can effectivly use thier melee and defensive skills if your spells don't get the job done. (and often times they wont, given how adventure rating makes you fight stuff at a much higher level) going this direction gives you more room for error, and more tools to kill with.

a 100 mage with level 1 melee is practically worthless in melee and spells***. It would almost be like leveling the two classes totally separately. there is no synergy, which means leveling up will be tougher and more difficult.

Which of the following schools would be best to level to 100 first?
Chaos Warrior, Healer, Mage, Sorcerer, or Conjurer

given this list however, I will agree with kwinn and say mage should be considered first.

I happen to have chaos warrior and all arcane casting classes to 100, and it really is a blast. only downside to the build is my lack of heals/buffs, and shield skill. Chaos warrior doesn't use a shield.

*** the exception is if the melee type is knight of creation, battlemage, or chaos warrior. those level quite well after getting 100 mage first.