A quick primer on mana regen, because that's how mages win the game, and I've seen some people mention not getting anywhere with mages. On any character who has chosen 2+ spell-slinging skillsets, you should be effectively invincible as long as you keep your blue bar full and avoid stepping on traps. Pyromancy is uniquely notable for having zero built-in tools to keep you alive, but most other spellcasting skillsets will give you a teleport, heal, CC, or defensive buff to stave off dirt-naps. Ways to Keep Your Blue Bar FullRanked roughly in order from most obvious to least obvious . . . .1 - Buying booze from vending machines. . . . .Why do this? Because you will eventually have way more money than you know how to spend. You can rely on this if you're ONLY running one buff, such as the first level of viking magic or astrology. This is also the most common way to get the Szygy buff from drinking a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. . . . .Downsides? It takes awhile for your income to become ludicrous; at early levels this will not be sustainable if you buy something nice from a shop. . . . .2 - Blood Magic . . . .Why do this? Because you are rampaging through the dungeon wrecking things with powerful, expensive spells such as those of Necronomiconomics or Pyromancy. This is the ONLY mana-generating skill that will keep up with you if you're using a "guns blazing" playstyle - the faster you kill, the faster you get mana. You don't have to put any levels in the skill; by simply taking Blood Magic, you get great mana return on kills. . . . .Downsides? If you're not killing things, you're not gaining mana. If you stop to smell the roses, or explore the dungeon, or otherwise take a breather, you'll probably need to disable any mana-draining buff spells. . . . .3 - Leyline Walker . . . .Why do this? Because you need sustained mana regen over time, whether for a slew of always-on mana-draining buffs, or for occasional castings of single-target spells such as those of Mathemagic. You're an explorer - you clear floors of the dungeon completely, you shop, you organize your inventory. Leyline Walker will top off your mana tank while you do such things. If your build doesn't already have a teleport in it, you get insanely high bang for your buck out of Leyline Walker - it covers your mana regen needs and an amazing teleport. . . . .Downsides? If you want that great teleport, you have to take several boring levels that do nothing except give you more and more mana regen. . . . .4 - Magic Training . . . .Why do this? You don't anticipate needing a lot of mana, but you will need some! You hate spellcasters, and you want to shut them down. Your build is effectively complete at 6 skills, and you wouldn't mind using your 7th skill to grab a bit of mana, a bit of mana regen, a bit of magic power, and a cool anti-mage spell. . . . .Downsides? While this skill gives you a little of everything that spellcasters like, it's in the form of raw stats, not interesting spells. . . . .5 - Alchemy . . . .Why do this? You love potions! The more emergency tricks in your pocket, the better! You want to craft the best caster weapons in the game. You often stumble onto traps, and you could use a smattering of resistances to some common damage types. . . . .Downsides? You'll need to be methodical enough to plan ahead and keep your booze stocked, and hopefully you don't mind the tedium of crafting each bottle yourself. . . . .6 - Dire Gourmand . . . .Why do this? Because despite being a wizard, you also like to hit stuff - most of this skillset involves melee combat, so it's good for "gishes". You need sustained stores of mana for similar reasons as mentioned under Leyline Walker, but Leyline Walker is too boring for you. You've already tried all the core skills, and you want to try out mod skills for a change of pace. . . . .Downsides? You'll need to spend multiple turns knocking back all the free beer this skill gives you, which might be a liability if you're deep in combat already - plan ahead! (or keep yourself perma-drunk) . . . .7 - Fungal Arts . . . .Why do this? Because you're super-squishy and you're not confident that you'll be able to keep your distance and nuke everything to death - this skill comes with a pet! Similar to Alchemy, you might pick this skillset for the resistances it gives you and the wide variety of buffs - but Fungal Arts is a lot less complicated! You like the idea of throwing mushrooms at people. It's nothing to be ashamed of - most of us agree on that topic! . . . .Downsides? Until you have 4 levels in the skill, for Moldsmith, you have to rely on RNG to give you the right kind of mushroom. If unreliable randomness frustrates you, steer clear! (usually you'll be fine though) Hope that helps! Questions, corrections, comments welcome. (Also let me know if any of the other 300 mod skills out there can suffice as a primary mana regen skill. 3 reasons to take it and 1 downside to watch out for would be lovely!)
Typing from my Kindle, so no formatting. Rogue Scientist -- as per Alchemy, but requires more investment and offers other cooldown-based combat skills on the side. Archmage -- turn corpses directly into beer at 1st level. Expensive at first, but lots of side bennies. Degree in Dungeoneering -- get more mana from every drink you drink starting @ 2nd level (once drinkBuff is actually turned on.) Wild Mage --randomly summon stacks of booze or mushrooms or potions andsometimes gain a pile ofmana just for the hell of it. Spellsword -- turn HP into MP directly at first level. I'm pretty sure one or both of Gardener and/or Druidism has at least 1 booz-summoning ability. There's more, too, I'm sure, but my thumbs hurt.
Gardener was supposed to, but it never ended up happening. However, its' level 1 skill allows you to turn corpses into fruit. Arcanist on the other hand, has an actual booze summoning ability. No idea about Druidism.
Nice guide - Great work! May I suggest adding in Equipment since that also has the possibility of giving mana regen and thus also indirectly add in Archaeologist since you can shake up your bonuses with that
The druid mod has interesting synergies with both and , and passively boosts both with the "Shelter" spell.It is a great mod to take with Ley Lines and to use all the regen items you can get your filthy mitts on. Plus on the damage side it has a great AoE spell early that will nuke the everloving heck out of things for less than most spells cost. But do not take my word for it, check it out yourself: http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/druid-mod-v1-4.3158/
