[General Discussion] You are a black mage. POWER UP!

In many typical RPGs, you'll almost always get the archetype mage that commands the powers of what is normally known as "magic" or any derivatives of, which now spans to many various disciplines of sorcery magic or technology that harnesses mystical powers for combat.

I've always had the fondness for any fire based magic. I found myself always almost using that type of magic first, and would almost always use it extensively on most enemies and bosses, unless of course they were immune to it or absorbed it as a source of power, SEE: IFRIT.

Here are two questions for you:

1) In the RPG world, what type of BLACK harm magic do you find yourself using almost extensively against enemies, assuming it will damage them?

2) If you YOURSELF were a black mage, what type of magic would you like to be a master of and why? Is it because it suits your personality, or that you think it'd be also helpful in certain situations? So you could be one that specializes in Lightning spells, however, you also have some proficiency in say, a poison spell?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I really like using time and status based spells when I can. Especially when you are weaker than the enemies, setting a few time and status spells can swing things in your favor easily. And I know the most annoying thing in RPGs is when enemies start pelting me with those kinds of spells.

And if I were an actual character in an RPG world, those are probably what I'd be using. I'd be the kind of person watching the whole battle, and seeing how everyone is faring, and casting support and setup spells.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Scratch and Sniff

Here are two questions for you:

1) In the RPG world, what type of BLACK harm magic do you find yourself using almost extensively against enemies, assuming it will damage them?

2) If you YOURSELF were a black mage, what type of magic would you like to be a master of and why? Is it because it suits your personality, or that you think it'd be also helpful in So you could be one that specializes in Lightning spells, however, you also have some proficiency in say, a poison spell?

1. Heh, KnightOfNee pretty much got my combo. I try to cripple as many enemies as possible so I have more time to heal/attack/steal/etc... Of course in games where enemies are largely immune to most of this, I'd have to go with Time and a non-elemental spells. The former I used in the same way as the other titles, while non-elemental spells are often the strongest kind and don't get affected by elemental resistance.

2. Wow, this is a tricky one. If I were a mage in an RPG, I'd probably go with the dual setup. If you were a pro with fire magic, you could "fan the flames" with Wind/Air spells. Eh, I'll go with Time and status inflicting spells.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Metal Sphere, that chick in the middle with headphones turns me on. Maybe I should have included a MUSIC mage as well. Sup FFIV character that plays a lute.

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Fire, obviously. Though my namesake was more of a Blizzard/Ice user.

I've always liked fire best. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Sailor Mars is my favorite Sailor Moon character and she uses fire. *shrug*

Lightning would be used the least because much like Rikku of FFX, it scares me. ;_;

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Scratch and Sniff

Metal Sphere, that chick in the middle with headphones turns me on. Maybe I should have included a MUSIC mage as well. Sup FFIV character that plays a lute.

What the hell.

Wow, a sonic mage wouldn't be all that strange. Different frequencies would net you different effects, depending on environment and target. On top of that, they could even have some status inflicting spells. One example being low frequency waves on a target could make them nauseous and give them poison? or slow? High frequency might make them confused?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I usually find myself using fire or ice spells first when having black mages in battle. One spell I almost never use is wind since it never helped me too much in all the games I've played. In Suikoden III, most of the earth-based spells helped me a lot, so it also depends on the game and the enemies.

As for my own, I'd probably choose fire magic first.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Scratch and Sniff

Here are two questions for you:

1) In the RPG world, what type of BLACK harm magic do you find yourself using almost extensively against enemies, assuming it will damage them?

2) If you YOURSELF were a black mage, what type of magic would you like to be a master of and why? Is it because it suits your personality, or that you think it'd be also helpful in So you could be one that specializes in Lightning spells, however, you also have some proficiency in say, a poison spell?

1) In the first half of the game I usually have no choice other than to learn all the elemental spell types. Which seemed to consist of Fire, Ice, Lightning, and maybe Wind. After that fiasco you're usually able to train your black mage into any element of your choosing. Personally I tend to go with Dark/Arcane types or if possible non-elemental types. Sure its length of time to cast is longer or it simply costs a insane amount of MP but there are ways to get around that. So with that said, a regular battle is almost always over once I get to cast Meteor .

2) Heh, what would I like to specialize in?
Well I like to be the one who deals the trump card that might make or break a victory. So I will pick the slow but powerful Arcane and non-elemental spell types. *Not enough MP.. *

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In RPGs I use all magic elements, it really depends on the enemy. If it's blue and covered in crystals and called "Snow Demon" then I'll probably use fire on it. Unless you're playing Shining Force, all the elemental spells are probably going to be equally powerful and take the same MP so there's really no need to choose a specific spell if you're fighting a non-elemental enemy.

If I were a black mage however I would have a magic spell called DARK DRAGON NECROPOCALYPSE OF THE SEVEN BLACK MOONS OF MORDOR that creates a fattening buffet of delicious soul food that enemies would eat and get so fat they can't even move except to eat mo' soul food. Of course it would be magical soul food that regenerates so they would never run out and then they would eventually die of heart disease.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I always go straight for the fire spells, and maybe ice if it seems like it would logically make more sense. The only time I use lightning magic is if it's a mechanical enemy. It makes little difference in most RPGs, and sometimes even heals them, but Midgar in FF VII managed to drill it into my head that mechanical enemies are weak to electricity.

As for my own abilities, I'd take fire. It just has an innate coolness that the other elements lack, though freezing things would be cool too. Plus it looks more threatening. Time magic would be secondary, since stopping people and hasting myself would be incredibly handy.

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Time-based for sure. Then I could do cool stuff like Dominique from Trigun.

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Well, I chose "other" because my favorite type of magic to use in games is summoning/conjuration magic. It is usually found more in MMO's in the form of "pet" classes, but sometimes found in single-player RPG's as well. Obvlivion is a good example of this, where you can summon a create to fight for you/alongside you. For me, using pets just adds an element of strategy and keeps things interesting an unpredictable vs. casting the same old fire spell for the hundredth time. Then there is also summoning in the form of "espers" in the FF games, although they are obviously quite different than the spells of a pet-class caster...

If I were choosing magic for myself to use, I would also cast conjuration/summoning magic. It seems like this would be a type of magic based mainly on willpower and skill.

I guess I picked the right av/sig combo for this thread!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I usually go for the fire and ice magic whenever possible as I'm starting out. There aren't all that many common enemies that are strong against both of the types.

However, if I was a Black Mage, I'd learn ice and lightning magic as soon as possible. Ice mastery would help in slowing down enemies and just being overall mischievous with hit-and-run tactics. Lightning mastery is there only because I'm so fascinated with electricity. Plus, electricity would make metal-based armor a bit more hazardous for the enemies to don.

I don't know what I'd get by mixing the two elements, probably a weird electrical blizzard or something.

I was speaking idiomatically.

It's usually fire and then ice. If fire doesn't work, then use ice. =p Hey, nazpyro, right? If neither works, then it's usually pretty much game over for me.

If I were a mage, it'll definitely be fire as well. BUT! I'll also have ice as a backup that I can bring out of nowhere. My enemies wouldn't expect it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I prefer using fire magic in most games, though, I usually try to avoid using mages altogether. Though, if I, myself, were a mage, I'd definitely go with fire. Fire feels like it does more damage than other elements. This probably isn't true, of course. Dark magic is also cool, though, I don't really see it too often in video games. Wasn't Cecil's "Dark Wave" attack in Final Fantasy IV dark magic? I found that spell to be extremely useful, and I was pissed when they took it away. I believe the Soul Eater rune uses dark (or death, but it's probably the same thing) magic, as well, and it's a fairly bad ass rune.

I think Poison/Status ailment magic would be cool if it actually had any use in most games. The only game I can think of where poison and status ailments would be of any use is Pokemon, and that's only really when you're battling other people.

FELIPE NO

The whole elemental aspect of baddies in RPG's tend to be really subjective so it's pretty situational. I mean, you'd clearly focus your attacks on fire in the middle of a glacier, and lightning in a mechanical city, etc. Apart from those kinds of situations, I find that magic is better spent invested in healing.

As for my own preference, I tend to like cryomancy over pyromancy in most cases, simply because I find it more badass to encase baddies in ice instead of setting them on fire. Ice tends to have other benefits to their usage (eg. Zelda's ice arrows let him make floes to walk on.) Time magic would also be beneficial I suppose, for obvious reasons involving diversions, etc.

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Hmm, time magic seems more popular than I thought it'd be upon looking at the poll options.

Well, as others have said, in an RPG I generally go with the element that the area dictates. If I can, though, I love inflicting status effects on the enemies in addition to the regular nukes - regardless of whether or not they're tactically useful. I remember doing this a lot in the Persona games to mixed results.

If I myself were a mage, I'd love to be a chronomancer. It's a cool word. Of course, the idea of being able to slow down/speed up/compress time is pretty attractive too; I really liked fooling around with Time Mages in Final Fantasy Tactics. A sonic mage like Metal Sphere brought up would be kickass - a sonomancer?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

o kuttlas u, selecting all the magic powers. You're like a rainbow mage. :3

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by the quiet fox

A sonic mage like Metal Sphere brought up would be kickass - a sonomancer?

An echomancer, perhaps? That's the best I can come up with in the sound terminology department.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

1) Lightning, of course. Pikachu, I choose yew

2) I'd go for time magic, personally. God knows I've never enough time -- I could Haste myself, and do my errands at the speed of lol. That would be best.

Of course, failing that, I could be a summoner for if I ever find myself in a bad part of town in the middle of the night. I'd like to see the person who'd mug me and my pal, Belias.

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I usually use fire and lightning magic in RPGs. But like a few others have said, it depends on the enemy and their elemental weaknesses. Lightning for robots, fire for ice creatures, etc.

In real life, I would use time/dark magic. Controlling time would be hella nifty and I've always liked the look of dark abilities in games and anime. Big Magus fan here.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Stop Sign

I'd like to see the person who'd mug me and my pal, Belias.

What.

Moar liek:



I should have pointed out that the magic should be more for combat use in your lives as a mage, not as a convenience.

I'm cold...

:: casts firaja to forest ::

I'm warm now.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Fire spells are usually the one that deals the most consitent damage so I think its a good choice to start with it. I also go with dark magics very often. Always liked to Drain other people life points. They usually have a low damage output though.

Lightning is similar to fire but the damage isn't consistent. (Very low min. damage and very high max. damage.) I only take lightning when there is a nice area spell in early levels. (Fire area spells are usually stronger in later levels.)

Ice deals low damage but slow the enemy down. The thing is, we never know how that works. In some games it works great and barely in others. So it really depends on the game. Ice is often associated with Water so I'll put them in the same category.

Support spells (Time included) aren't my top priority as a black mage. I'm supposed to deal lots of damage. Let the support mages/clerics take care of buffing me.

Status attack is the worst of all; everything become immunized in later stages. That happens way too much. I'd also never get specific monster elements such as Holy since, well, its usually for a specific monster/group of monster. (EX: Undeads) Plus, Fire is usually a good alternative to Holy. Wind and Earth just don't appeal to me.

So in order:

1) Fire/Lightning
2) Non-Elemental/Dark (Necromancers <3)
3) Water/Ice
4) Holy/Wind/Earth/Arcane
5) Support
6) Status

FELIPE NO

Time: I'm always using Haste in RPGs (Hastega=<3). I'm not a great fan of Stop because of an unknown reason. I'm quite partial to Slow, too.

Dark/Arcane matter: It isn't common for enemies in RPGs to be immune to dark magic. It's pretty versatile, powerful and a personal favourite.

Water: Uh...I'm not sure why I put this. Out of this, Fire, Ice and Electric, I like the element of Water the most. I'm not saying I use Water magic more freely than, say, Fire magic, but I do like the element and much like Dark, there aren't as many enemies who are immune to Water as you'd think, at least in the RPGs I've played.

A shame Water magic isn't as widely known and used in RPGs. Oh yeah, and honourable mentions, I guess, go to Wind and Earth. Earthquake and Tornado spells always kick ass.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm really surprised that not many people chose to discuss Holy as a primary choice. Lots of people are pyromaniacs >=). The only monsters I ever picture being immune or that absorb Holy are angels (ToS), although there are exceptions like White Dragons and whatnot. My viewpoint is that, if anything is out to get you or bears you even the slightest ill will, it certainly won't be holy angels or fairies and stuff, so Holy would be effective against almost anything (I don't think machines would count). Plus, it's wicked to be able to smite your enemies with divine judgement and ethereal blasts of energy. I'd want to wield spells like Celestial Ray, Mystic Cross, Holy, Pearl, White, Saint, etc. You name it! The whole purifying bit. I guess maybe people think of the Holy element as curative and defensive pansy stuff I guess :S
Of course, if Holy would be left purely to white mages, then it wouldn't be in the poll :P
As FFT states "black magic is used to protect others"


Despite my namesake, I wouldn't instantly want to be a summoner since the strongest summons anywhere would take the most work to get. By the time I would be able to summon pinnacles of guardian deities like Ark, Raftina, and Zodiac, I would be dead several times over from their "tests of strength", or if not, from all the time and effort expended for their powers. They'd be terribly useful in helping the party though, like summoning a chocobo for transport, one of the bird summons for flight, maybe a particularly intellingent being to solve something without force, etc.

Jam it back in, in the dark.