Dungeons and Dragons: The Mage Class

Following on from my Druid and Necromancer builds, here is my attempt at the Mage Class for the final set of adventures in the Ruin of Nimbar campaign. For the figurine I used a Elf MaleWizard from Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Minis (Bought from Wizard's in Stadium on Main, Cape Town but raru.co.za also has availability).

A few tweaks were needed after my initial play through but I am quite pleased with the result: an amalgamation of an Elementalist build I got off of boardgamegeek and my own invention.

Nolzur's Marvellous Minis: Unpainted Elf Male Wizard

Nolzur's Marvellous Minis: Unpainted Elf Male Wizards Unboxed

I used this version for my Mage Build

Breakdown of the Hero build below:

"Only one remained and it was he, who at the very end, bested Blaughir and  Khythri at the Silver River. Some there were who recorded seeing the likeness of the Mages of Old fighting alongside him, the last of the great scions."

Mage Character Card Side 1

Given that Eladrion was built around the latter part of my custom Ruin of Nimbar campaign, it would have seemed appropriate that his stats be slightly higher, given that the campaign has only gotten harder through progressive adventures. However, when compared with the earlier Druid build, our Mage's stats are fair and on-par, with perhaps an above-average Speed value. His innate ability, called 'Surge' enables the recharging (i.e. flipping back up) of an extremely powerful Daily Power but at the cost of sacrificing 2HP. While I will explain the actual Daily Power down below, I wanted (like with the Druid's Wolf Form) some leverage for recharging this power again. Thematically, this untamed raw power requires a sacrifice in our Elven Mage who's alignment is always purely elemental.

Mage Character Card Side 2

Mage At-Will: Card Back

Mage At-Will: Summon Elemental

 Eladrion's primary At-Will ability allows the summoning of powerful Elemental Allies, each with their own unique abilities. Knowing 'when' to cast 'which' Elemental adds an extra dimension to the ability that allows for tactical thinking. For example: Summoning Crush with his -2AC attack to Monsters makes sense early-game. The fact that he sticks by your side and is fairly hardy (2HP) makes him a worthy early ally. Blaze, on the other hand, has a powerful 2 damage Fireball to cast but is almost always on the kill and seeking out enemies, making it a useful ally to summon when their are a few more enemies on the board. Freeze is similar, going after monsters and effectively immobilizing them but both of these allies are easy pickings for stronger monsters, making them useful decoys for late-game tactics. One thing to note (in case it is not obvious), as with most allies in this game series, these Elementals activate first in step 3 of the villain phase. I have included the printable ally cards and tokens for each of these below but feel free to use actual miniature representations of any of these Elementals.

Mage Elemental Ally: Gust (Air)

Mage Elemental Ally Token: Gust (Air)

Mage Elemental Ally: Crush (Earth)

Mage Elemental Ally Token: Crush (Earth)

Mage Elemental Ally: Blaze (Fire)

Mage Elemental Ally Token: Blaze (Fire)

Mage Elemental Ally: Freeze (Water)

Mage Elemental Ally Token: Freeze (Water)

Mage At-Will: Phoenix Song

Eladrion's signature attack is the Phoenix Song, first seen when the Mage Scion was an ally to Immeril in Adventure 6. It's a fairly standard attack with a knock-back advantage and is particularly useful when dealing with multiple monsters or spawns/ swarms of enemies.

Mage At-Will: Lightning Bolt

Similar to the Druid build's Piercing Thorn, this range attack is useful for when you refuse to get up close with nasty Troll with an affinity for garlic and onions.

Mage Daily: Card Back

Mage Daily: Fury of the Elements

The most powerful of Eladrion's powers by far, Fury of the Elements allows you to send all your created allies to Elemental heaven by blowing themselves up. Poof! Infidels...I kill you! This particularly nasty attack is useful for when your allies are bunched up around a big boss-type Monster that needs a few slaps around the old yard.

Mage Daily: Phoenix Blades

Just in case you thought Eladrion's cowering behind his golems and ice creatures, this Daily shows that the aged-Mage still knows how to kick ass ninja style. Wielding 2 razor sharp Phoenix daggers, Eladrion dives in for the kill, charging up t his speed before severing the heads off of 2 Monsters in a furious attack!

Mage Daily: :Lightning Surge

A level-up on the Lightning Bolt, this ranged attack is quick and effective in getting rid of a lot of nasty enemies quickly.

Mage Utility: Card Back

Mage Utility: Summoner's Call

The Summoner's Call Utility is useful for quickly bringing all your Elementals into play without having to wait 4 turns.

Mage Utility: Dimension Warp

A Mage without a teleportation device is like a Timelord without a Tardis. This Utility Power is useful for getting out of tight spots, where your party is immobilized or the music on the current dungeon tile is just low on funk.

Mage Utility: Mage Shield

Mage Shield was initially created to pair with Surge but I needed it to extend to the party as well. The +3AC bonus made sense but adding in the ability to 'regain 2HP' was like the icing on the cake. If you feel this card is too OP then reduce the HP rejuve to 1 HP instead but the Nimbar campaign, we needed this card desperately.