PART 2: COMBAT
For this guide, I have chosen to break up combat into two major categories: Solo combat, and Group combat.
Solo Combat
Roughly the first 30 levels of mage can be called the beginner stage. In this stage, you get the tier I versions of all the spells you will use as a mage. Now is the time to practice spell combos that work, get to know the various mob nuances, and just plain figure out how to be a successful mage. The learning curve is steep, but once you master the basics the remaining skills will all fall in place with a little practice.
Beginner Soloing
Soloing at this stage can be both easy, and hard. The key to being successful is picking your battles. Mages are a frail class... you cannot take a beating very long and hope to win a fight. Explore around, and find out which creatures you do best against. The main priority is to keep the enemy at a distance, while blasting away at its health with your nuke spells. Often times you may be tempted to beat on a mob with your staff that has gone into melee range. My advice is to not get used to that. It may work great for the first 10 levels or so, but it's a habit that must be broken fast.
Mid-level Soloing
From about level 30-70 could be called mid-level soloing. I found the mid-level soloing to be the most difficult. The main reason it's harder is because the mobs get tougher as you get into the higher tiers. They have much more health, more armor, and will take more time to bring down. There is also a disproportional amount of melee mobs in the game, almost all of which can take down mage types really fast. Fortunately, there are some tricks that help ensure victory. The first is to chain cast different tiers of certain spells. Take binding crystals for example. An extremely necessary spell for a mage, that keeps mobs rooted through damage. Start the battle with tier I, when it breaks cast tier II, and when it breaks cast tier III... all while nuking away at the mob. Then repeat the process if necessary. Chain casting should limit the amount of time one melee mob can hit you to almost zero. (Currently, the timers on almost all of the tiered spells are not linked. This may change someday... so be ready for it.) Most big damage spells can be chain cast too: you could start with flame wave II, and follow it up with flame wave III.
Another thing to master at this stage is the "just in case..." tactics. If a mez misses, if your control spells are on cool down, if your key abilities are on cool down, if you're low on health, if adds come... etc, you NEED to know your options (plural!) for these scenarios. The great thing about a mage is you have the flexibility to win a battle many different ways, with (or without) many different spells. Find easier mobs that provide some room for error, and practice things on them. Try killing them without any ice spells or without any mezzes. Try to kill 3-4 at once. See how long you can kill enemies without waiting for your health to regenerate. When it becomes easy, try it on stuff your level, or above.
Learn some cool spell combos. By combos I mean more than 2 different spells/abilities that when cast in order accomplish more than just damage. Burn Armor + Debase + Engulf + Flame Wave, for example. And if debase misses... now what? I think you get the picture.
End-game Soloing
Past level 70 is the end-game stage. This is where you really have some fun posting huge damage numbers and destroying anything in your way. Once you get your entire tier IV and tier V, you can almost stop chain casting entirely, since the higher tier spells get the job done on their own. The only challenge to overcome is the considerable grind it takes to get to 100.
Group Combat
Group combat is naturally very similar to soloing, but there are a few new challenges. The primary challenge is not drawing aggro off the tank. You have to limit your damage output. Huge spikes of damage will draw aggro fast, and will create problems. The easiest way to keep aggro off you is to go "gentle" on the mobs from the start. Let the tank get the first few hits on the mob, hit the enemy with a debuff or DoT, and begin using a repeater spell (energy bolt is my favorite). Once the mobs health is low, switch to high damage and blast away to finish it off.
Another huge aspect of grouping is crowd control (CC). Rarely will a full group be fighting just one monster at a time. It is a mage's duty to help control the masses of monsters for a smoother combat round. Mages have mez, root, and slowing spells to achieve this. A huge thing to keep in mind is that mezzes break on ANY damage! Therefore, you must let the group know which mob(s) your mezzing so they do not break the mez! You must also not try to mez monsters that have DoTs on them, since the mez will be broken by the DoT. Macros can be very helpful in alerting the group about mezzes. I cover macros later in the guide.
Here is a list of some group combat priorities for a mage. I tried to order them by importance, but that is really dependent on the situation.
1. See that the tanks have all the aggro. If they do not, use your CC to help keep stray mobs at bay, until they can re-establish it.
2. Always see to it that healing classes are safe. Control any mob that threatens this.
3. Throw the damage where it counts. Find the primary targets and go for them, because you don't want to damage the targets the tank is not hitting.
4. Keep tabs on targets that you controlled. Mezzing and rooting targets will make them aggro you. When the group gets around to killing those targets, make sure you have some distance, and let the tanks take the aggro. Also be aware of the spell timers and re-apply control if needed.
5. Always watch for adds. Mages are good at controlling them, so it should be your job to watch for adds, and keep them immobilized.
6. Make sure you're always in range of the healer. If you have to run from a stray mob, try to run in circles around the healer or tank.