Build Guide - Archmage
Depending on your luck and budget, the skills you have available to you at the start of the game will vary. Also, some encounters demand different types of skills or damage types as well. Because of this, there is no one-size-fits-all build for all content; instead, it’s better to understand all the strongest skills Sage has to offer and use the ones your account has to build what’s best for you at the time.
Introduction
Finally, we’ve reached Tier 3 - Archmage, which changes almost everything about what we bring in battle. Your Mage now deals even more damage, crushing targets faster, and urghh, die as fast if not faster than the T2 version. This honestly never changes for the Sorcerer, but at least you’re getting more tools in your box to kill enemies before they kill you.
Meta-wise, you’re still focusing mostly on multi-elemental builds, but with the addition of the new 
Rapid Cast charm, you’re able to frontload your damage even more than before, turning Dungeons into a breeze - you often will be able to just kill the whole room in a single turn at the start of the battle before the other party members even do anything.
New important skills
Divine Wrath - The most hated yet loved Technique at this tier. It’s definitely the strongest single-target skill against giant bosses (think of a co-op boss or guild boss), because you can land a lot of bolts onto it. The problem starts rising when you try to land this skill on a small group of enemies. The RNG is so frustrating sometimes; we drop it for Wind’s Delight.
Howling Hurricane - The second 2-turn cooldown Technique at this tier. It deals very good damage, and has a super big AoE.
Meteoric Flames - It’s about time we forget the 
Flaming Path completely, because this tech also scorches the earth (and 2 flames will override each other). The damage is insane on static targets, but even on targets that move a lot, the damage is not negligible either.- Rapid Cast - Very hard to replace this charm, at least up to tier 4. It has 2 effects: gives you some elemental mastery, which is whatever, and allows you to cast tech 1 turn sooner. Yeah, it means you can now release Meteoric Flames or
Wind's Delight at turn 1, instead of letting enemies slap you around first. Considering the squishiness of Mage, unleashing skill first means A LOT. It’s also the reason later on (season 2), everyone will run 
Pandarial Fantomon (it has the same 1-turn forward skill). 
Radiant Sear - The strongest charm in terms of damage at this tier (and even next tier). It has a super high chance to trigger Light damage, and even comes with a good debuff Blind (making the next tech of enemies has 50% chance to deal 0 damage).
Builds
AOE Build
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This setup should deliver the best outcome for AoE cleaning, and against mix groups too (Boss - Minions). For the charm, consider replacing 
Mana Surge with either 
Repelling Wind , 
Lightning Mystery , or 
Elemental Harmony . Just find out which charm works the best for you.
ST-Focused Build
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It doesn’t change much compared to the AoE build, but you can replace Divine Wrath with 
Tempest Sphere to trigger Radiant Sear more. You can also use this setup (without Divine Wrath ) in PVP, though you don't have much to bring there.
Stats
Secondary Main Stats
Below are the recommended secondary stats to look out for when gearing up. Having the right secondary stats is important for maximizing performance, but significant “Power/Gear score” upgrades or pieces with better additional stats can overwrite this priority.
Staff |
Elemental Mastery > ATK > Crit > Speed > Effect Hit Rate |
Codex |
Elemental Mastery > ATK > Crit > Speed > Effect Hit Rate |
Helmet |
DEF >= Physical Res = Elemental Res > HP > Effect Res |
Chest |
DEF >= Physical Res = Elemental Res > HP |
Boots |
Elemental Mastery > ATK > Speed |
Sub Stats
All item slots will roll a number of additional stats on them, which are chosen randomly from a universal pool. Below is roughly the order of priority to look out for on your gear; however, just because an item has great additional stats doesn’t make it the best choice. Make sure to consider the item's overall power and whether it has the optimal secondary stats as well.
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Fantomon
Starting level 50, you will be able to summon pets - aka Fantomons to help you in battle. We won’t go in-depth covering pets since we have a dedicated guide here, so let’s just mention the good ones.
Your job is to maximize your damage output while still being alive somewhat (because a dead Mage deals 0 damage). Therefore, at the early stage, you should consider this:
Armopi : It gives you a bit of DEF and a slight shield based on your DEF. Hope it can buy you a turn, because for Archmages, sometimes 1 turn is all you need.
Sylvaerie : The buff sounds nice on paper, but in reality, the amount is super small.
When you have enough pull (on average, 500 pulls), you will have 60 hearts to redeem a Mythic Fantomon. Go for this one:
Nyxarchon : The Dark Fantomon that debuffs enemies with max -30% def, and also deals good damage itself. Very suitable for a glass cannon like Archmage.
Relics
Important note for Relic! The %stats (beside Crit Rate, Crit DMG, Accuracy, Block, Crit Res, Effect Res, and Damage boost) are all scaled on your Relics stat, not total stat. For example, if your total flat ATK from relics is 2000, and you have a relic that increases 5% ATK, it will give you 5% x 2000 = 40 more ATK even if your total combined ATK is more than 10.000 already.
Actually, the formula is a bit more complicated, since the 5% can be improved by your character’s trait, too. For example, a Warrior has 15% ATK bonus that comes from the class, which means the final %ATK from the relic is not 5% but 5% x 115% = 5.75%. This rule applies to almost every category except the Class stat group - it runs a different formula, which we don’t really care much about.
Since you are playing a Archmage, you have to accept that you have to go more ham into Elemental than other classes. Of course, at best, you need to go all 5, but you can compromise with this:
Light: Must. Your strongest output setup always revolves around Light techniques and their charms.
Fire: On T4, there is an AoE setup that relies on Fire damage, which is very strong.
Other elements can be prioritized as Wind > Water > Dark (it’s because, besides Nyxarchon, you will have 0 source of Dark damage).
Since the relic hunt is more about RNG, we will list the best Relic to be showcased instead (gaining them is on you). These relics are updated up to Aqualis (season 1 map - Archmage region).
Since you are a damage per turn character, you look to maximize your damage output first (Affinity - ATK - Speed), not power.
There might be situations where you have to put a %stat Mythic relic on display instead to gain more Affinity, which is better than some small ATK/Speed gains. To do this, you can put a %stat Mythic relic on, check your stat in Profile, replace the Mythic relic with a flat stat Relic, check your stat again. Only do this if you don’t care much about the Elemental of the relic, because as you progress, the Elemental Affinity/Aegis will play a more important role than some small difference in ATK/Speed/Hp/Def.
Light
Luminous Edict (SPD - Legendary - Light Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Cinder Ridge II
Crown of Unbinding (ATK - Legendary - Light Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Cinder Ridge V
Thunder Wraith (ATK - Legendary - Light Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Aqualis VII
Yata Luminary Mirror (ATK - Mythic - Light Affinity)
Fire
Everburn Throne (ATK - Mythic - Fire Affinity)
Hellbloom Delusion (SPD - Mythic - Fire Affinity)
Crimson Agate (ATK - Legendary - Fire Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Aqualis XII
Scarlet Cannon (SPD - Legendary - Fire Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Aqualis XVIII
Wind
Fate’s Grand Banner (Elemental Mastery - Legendary - Wind Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Cinder Ridge XIV
Wind Pouch (ATK - Mythic - Wind Affinity)
Tengu’s Feather Fan (SPD - Legendary - Wind Affinity).
Banebreaker Arrow (ATK - Legendary - Wind Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Aqualis VIII
Water
Mirror of Reflection (Elemental Mastery - Legendary - Water Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Cinder Ridge XV
Stillwater Vambrace (ATK - Legendary - Water Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Verdantglate III
Alchemist’s Perfume (Spd - Legenady - Water Affinity). Can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Verdantglate VI
Nymph’s Swordhilt (%Crit - Mythic - Water Affinity) - This one is tricky because there’s nothing else better.
Dark
Soul Keeper’s Armor (ATK - Mythic - Dark Affinity)
Abyssal Glyph Whip (Elemental Mastery - Legendary - Dark Affinity)
Obsidian Key (ATK - Legendary - Dark Affinity). This one can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Verdantglate X
Imp’s Statuette (SPD - Legendary - Dark Affinity). This one can be explored by Destiny Fruits in Verdantglate XVII