This is an all-inclusive (read: long) guide to the Archmage. I will mainly focus on the details, giving opinions of the current state of abilities where I feel they are needed. Please, do not take my opinions too much to heart because they are, just that, opinions. The last thing I want you to do is finish reading this guide and be swayed that the Archmage is either incredibly overpowered, broken, useless, ect. My intent is to inform and guide your knowledge of this career so you can form your own opinion about whether or not you'd like to play the career. Though, if there is one thing you take from this guide it should be that Mythic has created a game where each career has it's own allure and unique feel. Every career is so fun in it's own way that you really cannot get by playing a different career, and often not even by playing that career's mirror.

With that said, let's move on to the one career that, despite my fickle nature, kept drawing me back whether I had to start at level 1, or was given a template.



To play an Archmage is to be among the best practioneers of magic. No, this doesn't mean that you out heal and out damage everyone. It means you're exceptionally good at what you intend to do. This does not always mean being the best at each individual aspect, but, in this case, having a wide variety of options. Asking, why then, do Archmages not have an option to become DPS is much like asking why you can't play an Empire Wizard other than the Bright. The simple answer is that, yes, Archmages exist who specialize their skills around being purely destructive. You'll see plenty of NPC Archmages that fling lightning or other various effects. But, the fact is, just as the playable Empire caster happens to only include those of the Bright College, so then does the playable Archmages only include those who chose to follow mainly the Lores of Life, Light, and, of course, High Magic in order to better assist in all aspects of combat.

The State of the Archmage
I wondered whether to put this at the end or at the beginning, but I believe I'd rather tell you the blunt truth up front rather than dazzle you with all the goodies you'll get then, possibly, bring you down.

One thing that will be apparent is that the Archmage is a near duplicate in mechanics and abilities to the Shaman. Our button glow for our mechanic actually still has the "Mork and Gork" skulls among the flames. But, this just means Archmage is a career with a lot of room to grow. Most careers have started off very similar to their mirrors and then diverged. The Archmage has a lot of potential, he's just lacking his niche. His spells look cool and he has many of the same abilities of the Shaman and some very unique spells of his own, but he just doesn't excel at anything except potentially at widespread debuffs that aren't very effective at the moment.

The last thing I want is to turn this guide into an "An Archmage runs into a Shaman..." thread, but, currently despite all the physical impossibilities, the High Elven Archmage comes up short to the Goblin Shaman. This is not a thing of imbalance or favoritism, it's simply the fact that the Shaman has been around longer than most other healers, has had more time for design and time to 'grow' into his unique niche.

So, while I left my comments blunt and honest, please remember that this is an MMO and it's all about growth and change and the Archmage as a lot of room to grow.

The Archmage Mechanic - High Magic
**Note that this description is mostly of my own making. I felt Mythic's description of the AM mechanic was lacking and difficult to understand. Thus the reason people find it hard to understand why a shaman's Gork spells build Mork Waagh, and vice versa, yet an AM's Force spells build Force and Tranq spells build Tranq. Based off of the recent BW mechanic changes, I was able to ascertain a "trend" in how the Winds of Magic seem to work in WAR and used that in trying to make the mechanic sound "cooler" and less like they just dropped the Drain Magic Mechanic idea, gave us the Shaman mechanic, and gave us a vague and elfy description.

High Magic, also known as True Magic and represented by the runic word Qhaysh, is the Lore of the High Elves. To first understand High Magic, and how the Archmage wields it, you must first understand the cruder, yet no less destructive, way that Bright Wizards wield the Winds of Aqshy. As a Bright Wizard conjures the flames of Aqshy into being, a sort of lingering magic, called Combustion, fills his body. The Bright Wizard funnels this build up of magic into his spells, making them even more powerful than they would normally be. However, doing so results in even more of the volatile magic filling him, possibly even harming him in the process. The only way to rid himself of this dangerous build-up is to either refrain from using his magics, letting the lingering Combustion drain away, or, rather than using the Combustion to empower a spell, forming this raw power of Aqshy into a powerful blast called a Meltdown.

Elves are more suited for wielding the Winds of Magic than Humans. Not only do they not suffer from the detrimental effects that humans do, but they know the secret to using this magical build-up safely. Archmages recognize two separate types of magical build up in their bodies when they weave the winds, based on the intent for which the spell is woven. Destructive or offensive spells, build up a sort of magic Archmages call "Force", while healing or supportive magics build up what they refer to as "Tranquility". Whereas the Bright Wizard focuses his power into spells that further build Combustion, resulting in a net gain, Archmages focus the lingering magics into a spell of the opposing type. This counter balancing effect results in not only a more potent spell, but they negate any potential backlash and further building up of the magic to unstable levels. It is through this careful balancing of the winds of magic, and build up of magic, that Archmages are able to produce a variety of powerful effects.

In game terms, this mechanic is represented as a Ying Yang. As you cast either destructive or support magics one side of the Ying Yang will light up and build a "point" of High Magic per casting. Destructive spells build Force and Healing spells build Tranquility. The next time you cast the