mage posts

Exclusive video of Mage class in Dungeon Fighter Online

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 16th 2009 at 6:30PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles, Free-to-play, Dungeon Fighter Online

The team over at Nexon has given us a look at the Mage class from their new 2D dungeon crawling brawler, Dungeon Fighter Online, and boy does she pack a punch!

Hard hitting magical spells define this class, of course, but that's not all she can accomplish. The class also has some monster controlling abilities, like gravity wells and knockbacks, in addition to their elemental area of effect spells. If that wasn't enough, the mage can also summon elemental pets, making her the "stand back and let something else beat it" class of the game.

Of course, you shouldn't take our word on this alone. We have this fancy exclusive video of the mage exploding people! Hit the continue reading, and let your eyes absorb all of the tasty monster destruction.

Tags: 2d, dfo, dungeon-crawl, dungeon-fighter-online, mage, mage-gameplay, nexon, trailer, video

Dungeon Fighter Online trailer shows classes and gameplay

by William Dobson Jul 21st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Free-to-play, Dungeon Fighter Online

Not going to be at Comic-Con to see the Dungeon Fighter Online preview that will be on show? Fear not, as Nexon has provided us with a new trailer for the game that gives a short introduction to its story and its five classes, as well as showing a tiny bit of gameplay at the end -- it's pretty much the perfect way to get acquainted with the game if you haven't looked into it yet.

Head past the break to meet the Slayer, the Fighter, the Gunner, the Mage, and the Priest (each with their own incredibly cheesy catch phrase), all while getting worked up listening to the adrenaline-filled arcade-style tune pumping in the background.

Tags: dungeon-fighter-online, fighter, free-to-play, gunner, mage, nexon, priest, slayer, trailer, video

Delving into the archetypes and specialty classes of Aion

by Brooke Pilley Jun 27th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Classes, News items

The folks over at Ten Ton Hammer have been cranking out a number of features that examine the various class archetypes and specialty classes of Aion. So far, they've produced two game guides showcasing the Priest and Mage archetypes and had four interviews with NCsoft discussing the Gladiator, Templar, Ranger, and Assassin specialty classes.

When creating a character in Aion, you must initially choose one of four available archetypes. Anyone who has played a fantasy MMO or RPG in the past decade or so will find them quite familiar. They are the Warrior, Scout, Priest, and Mage.

Once you reach level 9, you're sent on a quest to discover your true identity and ascend to daevahood. The quest is like Red Bull - it gives you wings. At this point you must choose a specialty class defined by your original archetype. Warriors become Gladiators or Templars. Scouts become Rangers or Assassins. Priests become Clerics or Chanters. Mages become Sorcerers(esses) or Spiritmasters.

By our count, TTH has covered half the archetypes and specialty classes so far, so keep your eyes peeled for the second half coming soon. We'll also bring you our own impressions of these classes when beta permits. So far, we've been limited to testing some pretty low level characters.

Tags: aion, assassin, chanter, class-guide, cleric, gladiator, mage, ncsoft, priest, ranger, scout, sorcerer, spiritmaster, templar, ten-ton-hammer, warrior

The spellcasters of Ether Saga Online

by Shawn Schuster Apr 13th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, MMO industry, Free-to-play

In a recent dev journal at MMORPG.com, the magic classes of the Free-2-Play Ether Saga Online are explained in greater detail for those players who may want more from their casters. Although there are six classes available to the three races in the game, this dev blog focuses on the Conjurer, the Mystic and the Shaman.

According to this journal, the Mystic is the healing class of the three, depending more on defensive magic for beneficial buffs or debuffs. The Conjurer is the damage-dealing magic-user, using offensive and manipulation magic to cause the most damage to their enemies. The Shaman is considered the hybrid class of Ether Saga Online, functioning both as a spellcaster and a tank. If you'd be interested in learning more about these classes, check out the dev journal for a complete description of each.

Tags: classes, conjurer, ether-saga-online, mage, magic-user, mystic, shaman, spellcaster

Patch 3.0.8 lands on World of Warcraft servers

by Kyle Horner Jan 20th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Patches, News items

It's finally here, the first post-Wrath patch-of-important-things for World of Warcraft. And by "important things" we mean changes like allowing players to create a Death Knight on any server, so long as they have a level 55+ character on at least one server. There are also a bevy of class changes, as well as a pretty nifty launcher update that's added plenty of utility plus style. Overall, the 3.0.8 patch was quite beefy -- now we just have to sit tight for the eventual Icecrown patch to slam onto our harddrives.

If you really want to get the low-down on all changes both big and small, WoW Insider's got you covered. And if you're an Arcane Mage, then count yourself lucky as Blizzard saw fit to give out candies this go-around.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Tags: activision-blizzard, arcane, blizzard, death-knights, launcher, mage, patch-3.0.8, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow, wrath, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Age of Conan beta guide: The mages

by Kyle Horner May 1st 2008 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, New titles, Massively Hands-on

We've given you some hands-on impressions from our time with Age of Conan's mages from the Gamespot PvP weekend, but over the past few days we've had a chance to play these classes in the beta proper. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen (and very trying) performance issues that were out of our control, our finely crafted plans of digging deep into these classes were viciously assassinated like a Necromancer in Age of Conan's PvP.

That didn't stop us from prying further information on the Herald of Xotli, Demonologist and Necromancer classes. So if you'd like the expanded low-down on these magic-manipulating mages, read on!

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-guide, aoc, beta, demonologist, eidos, featured, funcom, herald-of-xotli, mage, mages, necromancer

The Digital Continuum: Macrotransactions

by Kyle Horner Apr 26th 2008 at 1:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Business models, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

The subject of microtransactions tends to bring out a lot of different opinions in people and sometimes harsh words are exchanged. I've never really taken a stance on the matter, as I've always been a bit unsure of which side of the argument I fell on.

I recently had an epiphany on my stance. Everyone that is talking about microtranasctions seems to be missing something important. They're all a little bit wrong. Michael Zenke (one of our intrepid leads here at Massively) recently brought up the subject in a different light and in doing so made me come to this realization that we'd all been missing an important factor in this discussion.

I think we need to stop looking at microtransactions with a black or white lens. Monthly subscriptions and single-dollar purchases aren't the only options available to us. For the sake of argument, let's call what I'm about to discuss something different.

Let's call them Macrotransactions.

Tags: blizzard, burning-crusade, featured, human, macrotransactions, mage, microtransactions, the-digital-continuum, world-of-warcraft, wow, wrath-of-the-lich-king

Age of Conan loses two classes

by Mike Schramm Jan 18th 2008 at 12:45PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Classes, Game mechanics, Launches, New titles

TTH has word that Funcom has dropped two more classes from Age of Conan, bringing the total down to twelve instead of fourteen. If you were really hoping to play a Scion of Set (upgraded from the Priest archetype-- you choose an archetype at level 5, and a class from that set at level 20) or a Lich (upgraded from the Mage archetype) in the upcoming MMO, then let your hopes fall away like so much dust into the wind, because those classes are no more.

Can't say yet whether this is a good thing or a bad thing-- on the one hand, it could be because Funcom couldn't make them work, which doesn't say much for the game we all want to play. But on the other hand, it could be good news-- Funcom may have more time to work on the other classes and get them up to speed. And maybe it's just our optimism for this game, but the fact that Funcom plans to spread the abilities of these classes back around to the other ones should mean that they're just cutting the fat, not bailing out a sinking ship.

[Thanks, Boltar!]

Tags: age-of-conan, archetype, breaking, classes, lich, mage, priest, scion-of-set

Age of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video

by Akela Talamasca Dec 14th 2007 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, Lore, Previews, Hands-on, Massively Interviews, Massively Hands-on

On December 5th, I was invited to the Eidos/Funcom Age of Conan press event, where I was privileged enough to be granted access to both the game itself and the development team. I was able to play the opening area, leading into the first town. I sussed out the combat and the conversation interface. I spoke with Jørgen Tharaldsen, the Product Developer, and he let drop a metric ton of knowledge upon my fevered noggin. I reprint here our conversation, interspersed with my handheld-shot video pieces, the first of which is shown above, which is where the game starts, with you as a survivor of a shipwrecked slaver ship. I'd like to thank Jørgen and the entire Eidos/Funcom team, all of whom I found to be gracious, witty, and enthusiastic about their game, which is refreshing to see. My take? The game looks incredible, and it's extremely immersive from the get-go. They say they're on schedule for an early 2008 release, so this is something to anticipate indeed.

More videos and the interview after the jump!

Tags: 5.1-surround, age-of-conan, anarchy-online, aquilonia, archer, architect, arnold-schwarzenegger, barbarian, breaking, cimmeria, commander, crom, dark-templar, didrik-tollefsen, eidos, featured, funcom, gameplay-video, germany, guardian, hour-of-the-dragon, hyboria, interview, jorgen-tharaldsen, joystiqfeatures, kushites, mage, mammoth, marvel-comcs, massively, mitra, mtv, norway, picts, prestige, priest, robert-e-howard, shadowlands, siege, stygia, the-longest-journey, thoth-amon, vanir