Choi's SVS Arch Mage Guide

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Introduction

The main purpose of this guide is to provide information on the gear progression for Soul Vulcan Strike-focused Arch Mages. However, as the gear and concepts are similar across different builds, this should also be helpful for other Arch Mage builds as well as other Magic Damage classes like Soul Ascetic and Elemental Master. Please feel free to reach out to me (IGN: Choi or Tokki) for any questions or feedback!

Also, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped me, as I learned and continue to learn AM!

Notes

The Soul Vulcan Strike build has a very fluid progression that will allow the user to be strong throughout all parts of the game. Among the Arch Mage skills, Soul Vulcan Strike has the shortest Fixed Cast Time at 1s. Along with its short cooldown, its high damage and 11 x 11 AoE make Soul Vulcan Strike a very effective ability for leveling and farming. Additionally, with the Warlock Telekenesis Intense skill providing a 3x damage buff for ghost damage, the Soul Vulcan Strike scales very well into the late game allowing you to MVP even the toughest MVPs.

However, due to the nature of Dim Glacier Weapons providing large damage bonuses to specific abilities and the strength of specific elemental MVP cards, you will be mostly gated to having Soul Vulcan Strike as your main magic damage ability. As such, you will be weaker against Neutral, Holy, Poison, and Shadow Elemental MvPs and mobs (The main one to note here is Betelgeuse and Jabberwocky). Even so, you will still be a highly effective MVPer!

For other classes and builds, the gear progression and concepts should be fairly similar other than a change in weapon and gear.

Note: The Bug Fix as part of Patch #79 reduced the SPL scaling from 15 to 3. As a result, the SVS build continues to be strong, but other AM builds are viable as well!

Relevant Skills

  • 5220.png Soul Vulcan Strike: Soul Vulcan Strike is your bread-and-butter ability. The formula for Soul Vulcan Strike is MATK (((250 * Skill Level) + (3 * SPL)) * (Base Level/100))%.
  • 5217.png Mystery Illusion: Mystery Illusion will be your secondary ability due to the enchantment on your Dim Glacier Weapon. It also pairs well with Soul Vulcan Strike as Mystery Illusion does Shadow Property damage which is effective against holy and not resisted by Neutral.
  • 5012.png Telekinesis Intense: Telekinesis Intense provides a 3x Ghost Magic Damage and 50% Variable Cast Time Reduction Buff for 1 minute or until death. However, it has a 5-minute cooldown, so use it wisely, but don't be frugal about it!
  • 366.png Mystical Amplification: Mystical Amplication provides a 1.5x Matk buff. It has no cooldown, so you should always try to keep it up!
  • 2206.png Recognized Spell: Recognized Spell provides a buff that lets you do the maximum damage. It's a great overall buff and also allows you to test different gear effectively.
  • 2210.png Drain Life: Drain Life has a 90% chance to absorb 40% of the damage you do with this skill. It should basically full heal you when you use it on a mob.
  • 5216.png Rain of Crystal: Rain of Crystal is a water elemental 13x13 AoE skill that hits targets around you. Very useful for farming.
  • 2213.png Comet AKA 2231.png Reading Spell Book and 2230.png Release: Comet is a large AoE skill that provides decent damage. However, it's main use is that it applies a 50% elemental resist decrease debuff for 20s to targets hit by it. However, rather than casting the actual ability, most Arch Mages opt to using Reading Spell Book with 100073.png Spell Book (Comet) (100073) and using Release to cast it to avoid any cast time.

Your other Arch Mage skills are still powerful, so feel free to use what you would like!

Stats and Traits

Generally, Stats should be based on what best suits you. As such, I won't provide my exact Stat distribution, as you should update yours accordingly. Instead, I'll provide my priority and the benefits of each Stat:

  1. Int: Provides the highest bonus in StatusMATK. It also provides the second-highest reduction in Variable Cast Time.
  2. Dex: Provides the third-highest bonus in StatusMATK. It also provides the highest reduction in Variable Cast Time from stats. Early on, you will want a lot of Dex, as your gear may not provide the VCT reduction you need. Later on, it will be a lower priority. However, I tend to keep a lot of dex in my full build, as I don't always use my full build in lieu of item drop rate gear.
  3. Vit: Provides a lot of tankiness through HP, SoftDEF, and SoftMDEF.
  4. Agi: Provides some additional tankiness by providing FLEE, and the ATKSPD improves DPS by reducing Cast animation.
  5. Str: Provides additional weight capacity which will help for farming.
  6. Luk: Provides the second-highest bonus in StatusMATK. However, I use more Dex than Luk because of the cast time reduction.

Traits are additional stats that provide bonuses for fourth classes. Traits are bit more straightforward:

  1. SPL (100): Provides the highest bonus in S.MATK and your abilities will additionally scale off SPL.
  2. CON (90-100): Provides the second-highest bonus in S.MATK.
  3. WIS (25-45): Provides Magical Resistance which I prioritize over Physical Resistance, as you will have a lot of Flee for physical damage.
  4. STA (0-20): Provides Physical Resistance.

Gear Progression

Madame Celery's Guide to MuhRO has a very useful section for Gear Progression and Useful Cards, so please check that out! The information I will provide for Gear Progression will be more specific to Magic Damage Classes, particularly SVS Build Arch Mages. As you read through, you can look at the Magic Gear Progression Table below. This table will have links that will guide you to the relevant pages.

It may be tempting starting out to want to rush your end-game gear. However, I do not recommend doing this and instead recommend improving your gear gradually, so you can farm more effectively.

Phase Eden

At Level 100, you can talk with Labraham and Louis at @go Eden to get your Advanced Paradise Gear. These gears will require 7318.png Old Pick (7318) , 1034.png Blue Hair (1034) , and 7200.png Elastic Band (7200) .
Additionally, you can talk with Lucy in the same room to receive your Advanced Paradise Shadow Gear by renting it for 20 Eden Coins for 3 days or buying the set permanently for 230 in total.

Phase One

Moving forward, your main priority is to see where you can reduce your fixed cast time, and your second priority will be increasing your damage output (for now).
Abilities will have a specific Fixed Cast Time and Variable Cast Time. For Soul Vulcan Strike your fixed cast time is 1s and your Variable Cast time is 3s.
Fixed Cast Time can be reduced by equipment (Most often through Shoes, Costume Enchant Stones, Accessories, and Higher Level Headgear).
Variable Cast Time can be reduced by gear (all types of gear) and stats. The formula to calculate your Variable Cast Time Reduction is 1 -((1-((Int + (Dex*2))/530)) * (1 - Bonus VCT from gear)).
For now, just assume that your VCT will come in time and go full int and dex for your stats.

At Level 150, you can start using 470021.png Grace Magic Boots [1] (470021) , which can be obtained after completing the 17.1 Questline from the Sentinel NPC. The boots are the easiest way to obtain some Fixed Cast Reduction, providing .5s at Refine Level 7.
At Level 170, you will have access to the Illusion of Labyrinth and its related equipment. The Illusion Morpheus Set will provide a good boost in damage, and a +9 19428.png Illusion Morpheus's Hood [1] (19428) will give you Skill Cast Interruption Protection.
Lastly, the Advanced Paradise Equipment does not provide a Middle or Lower Headgear, so getting middle and lower headgears will provide an easy upgrade.

Phase 1 Gear
Type Item Notes
Upper +9 to +11 19428.png Illusion Morpheus's Hood [1] (19428) You can use 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) depending on how long you plan on staying on Illusion Morpheus Hood. Make it +11 if you decide to enchant it.
Middle 410091.png Cor Core Booster (410091) or 410092.png Cor Core Booster [1] (410092) Depending on if you have a card or not.
Lower 420003.png CD in Mouth (420003)
Armor 450186.png Advanced Paradise Robe (450186) or +7 to +9 450110.png Grace Crimson Robe [1] (450110) Crimson Bolt is a good secondary ability while you level.
Weapon 2051.png Illusion Survivor's Staff [2] (2051) or 2039.png Illusion Wizardry Staff [2] (2039)
Shield N/A The Two Handed Mastery Passive provides +20 S.Matk, so use Two Handed for now.
Garment +9 to +11 20948.png Illusion Morpheus's Shawl [1] (20948) You can use 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) depending on how long you plan on staying on Illusion Morpheus Shawl. Make it +11 if you decide to enchant it.
Shoe +7 to +9 470021.png Grace Magic Boots [1] (470021)
Accessory (Right) 32238.png Illusion Morpheus's Ring [1] (32238) or 490020.png Grace Magic Ring [1] (490020) Use the Grace Ring if you're using the Grace Robe.
Accessory (Left) 32239.png Illusion Morpheus's Bracelet [1] (32239)

Zeny Tip: Illusion of Underwater 2 and Illusion of Labyrinth are great places to farm zeny starting out, and you'll be able to get 100425.png Underwater Refinement Box (100425) and 100423.png Labyrinth Refinement Box (100423) to upgrade your gear or to make Safe to Refine tickets!

Phase Two

1s Fixed Cast Reduction is what you need. However, 1.5s is better since most of your other skills (Mystery Illusion, Rain of Crystal, etc.) have 1.5s Fixed Cast. It's up to you to decide whether you want to upgrade to 1.5s by getting the 470088.png Gray Wolf Shoes [1] (470088) with the 310602.png Wolf Orb (Fixed Casting) Lv.3 (310602) or whether you want to sit on the 470021.png Grace Magic Boots [1] (470021) until Phase Three.

  • For Soul Ascetics and Elemental Masters, go for the Gray Wolf Boots; the 1s Fixed Cast Reduction is necessary for you.

The Brilliant/ Sinful Sapphire Accessory Pairs give a good amount of damage and provide .2s and .3s FCT reduction respectively. With the 25170.png Minor Casting Stone (Garment) (25170) that gives .3s FCT reduction, you'll have a total of 1s or 1.1s FCT reduction. Additionally, you can get a 1000614.png Warlock Stone (1000614) for .5s FCT reduction. I do not recommend getting a 25067.png Cast Stone (Garment) (25067) ; it's too expensive, and you'll already have enough FCT!
Moving forward, we're just working on damage; let's up those numbers!!

Between the 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178) and the 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207) , both options are great. 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178) provides more damage and 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207) provides more tankiness. Generally, 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207) will be cheaper, as you can buy the necessary enchantment stones from other players. However, this requires other players to have and be willing to sell those stones, which may not always be the case. 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178) , however, requires farming of 1000405.png Amethyst Fragment (1000405) which may be grindier but more reliable. My recommendation if you plan on going the snow flower route is to make sure that the stones you need for the 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207) are available.

The Vesper Headgear is time-gated, requiring mysterious ores from a 24hr cooldown instance. You can try to farm these if you would like or buy these from a vendor.

Phase 2 Gear
Type Item Notes
Upper +9 to +11 400154.png Survival Circlet-LT [1] (400154) or +9 400111.png Vesper Headgear [1] (400111) To Craft and To Reform the Survival Circlet. To Craft the Vesper Helmet
Middle 410017.png Battle Processor [1] (410017) or 410092.png Cor Core Booster [1] (410092) Unslotted versions are fine if you don't have a card to use.
Lower 420066.png Orbs of Survival-LT (420066)
420022.png Young Leaf of World Tree (Intelligence) (420022)
420003.png CD in Mouth (420003)
OoS: To Craft and To Reform. Use OoS if you're using Survival Circlet.
YL: 311081.png SPL Lv2 (311081) or 310985.png S.MATK Lv.2 (310985) , 4814.png Spell Lv2 (4814) or 310989.png MATK Lv.2 (310989) , 4712.png INT+3 (4712) . Use Young Leaf if you are using Vesper Helm. Any Young Leaf is fine; it's the enchants that matter.
Alternatively, you can continue to use CD in mouth combo for a while.
Armor +9 to +11 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178)
+9 to +11 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207)
For Gray Wolf: 310532.png Wolf Orb (Shadow Spell) (310532) 310510.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.3 (310510) 310507.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.2 (310507) . Gray Wolf Gear can be obtained after completing Episode 18

For Snow Flower: 1000717.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Physical Defense) (1000717) or 1000718.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magical Defense) (1000718) , 1000721.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magician) (1000721) , 1000773.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Shadow Spell) (1000773) . Snow Flower gear can be obtained after completing Episode 19 . Only get Snow Flower if the related Ice Flower Magic Stones are easily obtainable (available in vend).

Weapon +9 640033.png Glacier Staff (640033) 311353.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical - Element) (311353) 311351.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical - Size) (311351) 311349.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical - Race) (311349) 311343.png Glacier Flower Spell (MATK) (311343) Just buy this from a seller!
Shield N/A
Garment +9 or +11 20948.png Illusion Morpheus's Shawl [1] (20948) You can use 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) depending on how long you plan on staying on Illusion Morpheus Shawl. Make it +11 if you decide to enchant it.
Shoe +9 470021.png Grace Magic Boots [1] (470021) or +7 470088.png Gray Wolf Shoes [1] (470088) 310602.png Wolf Orb (Fixed Casting) Lv.3 (310602) if Gray Wolf
Accessory (Right) 490064.png Brilliant Light Sapphire Ring [1] (490064) or 490052.png Sinful Sapphire Ring [1] (490052) For Brilliant Enchants: Any Happiness, Any Destructive Evil. For Sinful Enchants: Any Horror, Any Dragon Scale. I recommend at least level 3 for both.
Accessory (Left) 490065.png Brilliant Light Sapphire Necklace [1] (490065) or 490053.png Sinful Sapphire Necklace [1] (490053) For Brilliant Enchants: Any Happiness, Any Destructive Evil. For Sinful Enchants: Any Horror, Any Dragon Scale. I recommend at least level 3 for both.

In terms of Priority:

  1. Weapon, Accessories, Minor Cast Stone
  2. Armor and Headgears
  3. Garment and Shoes.

Zeny Tip: Thanatos 11 and 12 are great places to farm at this point and in general, and you'll be able to farm the materials for your accessories. 12710.png Guyak Pudding (12710) will help tremendously to prevent the 30.png Decrease Agility debuff effect.

Phase Three

You can sit pretty comfortably on the Phase Two gears for a while. The best spots to upgrade are probably the Garment and Shoes if you're still on Grace. Now would be a good time to start farming your Shadow gear as well!

Dim Glacier Weapons are a great place to start dipping your toes into the painful world of item grading! Luckily, the 101637.png Dim Glacier Reinforcement Device (101637) helps ease you in. Dim Glacier and Snow equipment can be obtained after completing Episode 19. The Dim Glacier Staff is stronger initially, but the s.matk you gain from 5228.png Two-Handed Staff Mastery will lose value as you gain more s.matk.

  • For other magic classes, the main difference here is going to be in the weapon you use.
Phase 3 Gear
Type Item Notes
Upper +9 to +11 400154.png Survival Circlet-LT [1] (400154) or +9 400111.png Vesper Headgear [1] (400111) To Craft and To Reform the Survival Circlet. To Craft the Vesper Helmet
Middle 410017.png Battle Processor [1] (410017) or 410080.png Deep Blue Sunglasses [1] (410080)
Lower 420066.png Orbs of Survival-LT (420066)
420022.png Young Leaf of World Tree (Intelligence) (420022)
OoS: To Craft and To Reform. Use OoS if you're using Survival Circlet.
YL: 311081.png SPL Lv2 (311081) or 310985.png S.MATK Lv.2 (310985) , 4814.png Spell Lv2 (4814) or 310989.png MATK Lv.2 (310989) , 4712.png INT+3 (4712) . Use Young Leaf if you are using Vesper Helm. Any Young Leaf is fine; it's the enchants that matter.
Armor +11 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178)
+9 to +11 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207)
GW: 310532.png Wolf Orb (Shadow Spell) (310532) 310510.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.3 (310510) 310507.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.2 (310507)
SF: 1000717.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Physical Defense) (1000717) or 1000718.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magical Defense) (1000718) , 1000721.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magician) (1000721) , 1000773.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Shadow Spell) (1000773)
Weapon +12[A] 550089.png Dim Glacier Wand [1] (550089) 311458.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical Grade) Lv5 (311458) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294)
Shield +11 460018.png Illusion Silver Guard [1] (460018) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) Use the shield if you're using a One-Handed weapon.
Garment +11 480125.png Convertible Magical Wing [1] (480125) Please see below notes for more information on the convertible Wing
Shoe +7 to +9 [C] 470204.png Moan of Corruption [1] (470204) Start on the Dim Glacier Weapon until you have the 30 1001033.png Poisonous Magic (1001033) to craft it
Accessory (Right) 490064.png Brilliant Light Sapphire Ring [1] (490064) or 490052.png Sinful Sapphire Ring [1] (490052)
Accessory (Left) 490065.png Brilliant Light Sapphire Necklace [1] (490065) or 490053.png Sinful Sapphire Necklace [1] (490053)

To craft the 480125.png Convertible Magical Wing [1] (480125) , you'll need a +7 20732.png Supplement Part VIT [1] (20732) , a +7 20733.png Upgrade Part - Engine [1] (20733) , a +7 16030.png Pile Bunker S [1] (16030) , 5 727.png Opal (727) , and 3 27015.png Repair Robot Turbo Card (27015) .

Zeny Tip: You should be able to farm comfortably at Clock Tower Basement and Niflheim 2 now, and they'll provide a lot of great end-game material as well. As mentioned, now would be a great time to work on your shadow gear, as both those maps provide 25729.png Shadowdecon (25729) .

Phase Four

We're almost at End Game. Time to make some of the tougher gears. You can skip to Phase Five if you think you can comfortably get the Equipment from Constellation Tower (Hard) and Alice Twisted Madness (Hard).

Phase 4 Gear
Type Item Notes
Upper +11 to +12 [A]400111.png Vesper Headgear [1] (400111)
Middle 410017.png Battle Processor [1] (410017) or 410080.png Deep Blue Sunglasses [1] (410080)
Lower 420022.png Young Leaf of World Tree (Intelligence) (420022) 311081.png SPL Lv2 (311081) or 310985.png S.MATK Lv.2 (310985) , 4814.png Spell Lv2 (4814) or 310989.png MATK Lv.2 (310989) , 4712.png INT+3 (4712) . Do not change to Young Leaf until you switch to the Vesper Headgear. Any Young Leaf is fine; it's the enchants that matter.
Armor +11 450178.png Gray Wolf Robe [1] (450178)
+9 to +11 450207.png Snow Flower Robe [1] (450207)
GW: 310532.png Wolf Orb (Shadow Spell) (310532) 310510.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.3 (310510) 310507.png Wolf Orb (Mage) Lv.2 (310507)
SF: 1000717.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Physical Defense) (1000717) or 1000718.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magical Defense) (1000718) , 1000721.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Magician) (1000721) , 1000773.png Ice Flower Magic Stone(Shadow Spell) (1000773)
Weapon +12 [A] 550089.png Dim Glacier Wand [1] (550089) 311458.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical Grade) Lv5 (311458) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294)
Shield +11 460018.png Illusion Silver Guard [1] (460018) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) 29001.png Rune of Intellect Lv2 (29001) Use the shield if you're using a One-Handed weapon.
Garment +11 480125.png Convertible Magical Wing [1] (480125)
Shoe +12 [A] 470204.png Moan of Corruption [1] (470204)
Accessory (Right) 490304.png Temple Rune Ring [1] (490304) 311958.png Intelligence of Varmundt Lv5 (311958) 311998.png Fragment of Varmundt (SPL) Lv5 (311998) Second Slot Enchant is your choice. Best is 311943.png Brilliant Biosphere Gem (Boss Type) (311943) but its a .05% chance.
Accessory (Left) 490307.png Temple Magic Ring [1] (490307) 311958.png Intelligence of Varmundt Lv5 (311958) 311998.png Fragment of Varmundt (SPL) Lv5 (311998) Second Slot Enchant is your choice. Best is 311943.png Brilliant Biosphere Gem (Boss Type) (311943) but it's a .05% chance.

Phase Five

AKA the final phase. Phase Five revolves around the gear you get from Constellation Tower, Alice Twisted Madness, and Biosphere Depths and Depths 2. The Enchants on the Stellar Spell Seal provide a large boost in VCT reduction that you'll need after losing the Convertible Magical Wing and Wolf Robe. I don't recommend switching out of the Convertible Magical Wing until you get the Stellar Spell Seal fully enchanted and upgraded.

The 450284.png Engraved Soul Purification Rune Robe [1] (450284) is the better armor, particularly against bosses. However, you will still likely need 450173.png Nebula Robe of Spell [1] (450173) before being able to farm Biosphere Depths effectively.

The Items from Alice Twisted Madness can provide S.Matk and Magic Damage with Element or provide a lot of VCT Reduction. You should get enchants according to the amount of VCT reduction you need for your build.

Phase 5 Gear
Type Item Notes
Upper +11 to +12 [A]400111.png Vesper Headgear [1] (400111)
+11 to +12 [A]400535.png Time Dimensions Rune Crown(Arch Mage) [1] (400535)

Time Dimensions: 4714.png INT+5 (4714) , 312709.png Time Dimension Jewel (Intelligence) 3Lv (312709) , 312769.png Spell Jewel 1Lv (312769)
Middle 410233.png Gambler's Seal [1] (410233)
Lower 420213.png Ace of Spades in Mouth (Magical) (420213)
Armor +12 [A]450173.png Nebula Robe of Spell [1] (450173)
+11 to +12 [A]450284.png Engraved Soul Purification Rune Robe [1] (450284)
Nebula: 310688.png Star Cluster of Spell Lv.3 (310688) ,310738.png Nebula of Spell Lv.3 (310738) or 310744.png Nebula of Health Lv.3 (310744) , 4714.png INT+5 (4714)
Depth: 312374.png Soul Purification Rune 10Lv (312374) , 312364.png Purification Rune 5Lv (312364) , 312359.png Soul Rune 5Lv (312359)
Weapon +12 [A] 550089.png Dim Glacier Wand [1] (550089)
+12 [A] 640049.png Dimensions Arch Staff [2] (640049) or +12 [A] 640050.png Dimensions Arch Rod [2] (640050)
311458.png Glacier Flower Spell (Magical Grade) Lv5 (311458) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294) 311294.png Glacier Flower Spell (Illusion Soul Magic) (311294)
For the Dimensions Weapon, use the enchant you prefer.
Shield +9 [A] 460020.png Mad Bunny-LT [1] (460020) 310860.png Variable Casting (Magical) Lv.3 (310860) or 310872.png Magical Lv.3 (310872) . With the Dimensions Weapons, you will not be able to use a shield.
Garment +11 [A] 480233.png Death Rune Manteau [1] (480233) 310925.png Spell of Varmundt Lv3 (310925) 4714.png INT+5 (4714) Second Slot Enchant is your choice.
Shoe +12 [A] 470204.png Moan of Corruption [1] (470204)
Accessory (Right) 490136.png Stellar Spell Seal [1] (490136)
490304.png Temple Rune Ring [1] (490304)
310711.png Star of Spell Lv.5 (310711) 310711.png Star of Spell Lv.5 (310711)
311958.png Intelligence of Varmundt Lv5 (311958) 311998.png Fragment of Varmundt (SPL) Lv5 (311998) If you don't need the VCT Reduction from Stellar Spell Seal you can use a Temple Rune Ring instead.
Accessory (Left) 490307.png Temple Magic Ring [1] (490307) 311958.png Intelligence of Varmundt Lv5 (311958) 311998.png Fragment of Varmundt (SPL) Lv5 (311998) Second Slot Enchant is your choice. Best is 311943.png Brilliant Biosphere Gem (Boss Type) (311943)

For pure damage, 490304.png Temple Rune Ring [1] (490304) is better than 490136.png Stellar Spell Seal [1] (490136) due to the power of the Second Slot Enchant. However, the Second Slot Enchant is limited to two races (unless you get the normal/boss enchant). Additionally, the Stellar Seal gives 30% variable cast reduction from a single accessory which is very powerful.

490052.png Sinful Sapphire Ring [1] (490052) and 490053.png Sinful Sapphire Necklace [1] (490053) will still be useful to have due to its race modifiers against dragon which will be very strong against Betelgeuse and Jabberwocky.

Shadow Gear

Shadow Gear is a great bonus to your power and can also provide additional benefits. Starting out, you should get the Beginner Shadow Gear from Lucy at Eden. Once you reach level 100, you should work on getting the Advanced Paradise Shadow Gear. The Advanced Paradise Shadow gear will give great benefits early on including ignoring 50% def/mdef pierce.

However, more powerful Shadow Gear and Shadow Gear Enchants are available in the main office basement. For these, you can either go for a mix of the advanced Shadow Gear or the Master Shadow Gear

The Master Shadow Gear is a slightly weaker but easier option than the mixed shadow gear. The Master Shadow gear provides both 100% DEF/MDEF penetration and 20% RES/MRES penetration. As such, it is a flexible shadow set that can be used on both physical and magical classes. However, the enchants on the Master Shadow gear give bonuses for specific skills e.g. 312241.png Arch Mage Soul(Soul Vulcan Strike) (312241) , so with the enchants it is the most build specific shadow gear. Additionally, the enchants on the Shadow Gear, while pricey, are specific and won't require RNG. Master Shadow Gear is a great option even though it is a little bit weaker as it is cheaper and easier to enchant.

Mixed Blue Shadow Gear is the strongest option and provides a lot of flexibility for magic classes. Mixed Shadow Gear refers to the various kinds of advanced Shadow Gear that are available. These Shadow Gears can provide additional bonuses like permanent 8.png Endure status with the Lord Bearer's Combo 24764.png Lord Bearer's Shadow Armor (24764) . Unlike Master Shadow Gear, you can mix and match different Blue Shadow Gear but do note that they still have their own combos. Mixed Shadow Gear is more expensive as their enchants require RNG. However, due to their enchants not being skill-specific, they can be used for all your magic damage classes.

Some great options for Blue Shadow Gear are:

  • Full Tempest (I recommend you always get a two piece combo of this)
  • True Gemstone
  • Clever
  • Full Spell
  • Centering
  • Lord Bearer's
  • Spell Caster

As mentioned before, your Shadow Gear can be mixed, so one combo you could possibly use is: 24883.png Full Spell Shadow Armor (24883) , 24884.png Full Spell Shadow Shoes (24884) , 24753.png Magical Spell Shadow Weapon (24753) , 24754.png Magical Spell Shadow Shield (24754) , 24665.png Full Tempest Shadow Earring (24665) , and 24668.png Full Tempest Shadow Pendant (24668) ! But please review the different options, and see what would benefit you the most. Spell Caster, for example, provides a lot of VCT that your build may need.

Misc

Costume Stones: The Arch Bishop (1000857.png Arch Bishop Stone (Top) (1000857) , 1000859.png Arch Bishop Stone (Low) (1000859) , and 25709.png Archbishop Stone (Garment) (25709) /1000019.png Archbishop Stone II (Garment) (1000019) ) Combo provides the largest Magic Damage increase.
Cute Pets: 9122.png Gloom Under Night Egg (9122) or 9134.png White Knight Egg (9134) are good choices.

Cards
Type Item Notes
Upper 4598.png Lichtern Green Card (4598) or 4366.png Katrinn Card (4366) Depends on how much VCT you need
Middle 4598.png Lichtern Green Card (4598) or 4169.png Dark Illusion Card (4169) Depends on how much VCT you need
Armor 4392.png Observation Card (4392) , 300376.png Two Eyes Dollocaris Card (300376) , or 300308.png Meyer Lugenburg Card (300308) 4392.png Observation Card (4392) Pairs with 300269.png Eldest Card (300269)
Weapon 27384.png Mutating White Knight Card (27384) or 300455.png Copo Card (300455) 300455.png Copo Card (300455) Pairs with 300458.png Icewind Card (300458)
Shield 27385.png Mutating Khalitzburg Card (27385)
Garment 300269.png Eldest Card (300269) , 300375.png One Eye Dollocaris Card (300375) , or 300424.png Friedrich S. Heine Card (300424)
Shoe 4658.png Nightmare Verit Card (4658) or 300458.png Icewind Card (300458) 300455.png Copo Card (300455) Pairs with 300458.png Icewind Card (300458)
Accessory (Right) 300470.png Icebear Card (300470) , 4577.png Elvira Card (4577) , 4040.png Creamy Card (4040) 4040.png Creamy Card (4040) allows the use of teleport!
Accessory (Left) 300370.png Wasted Intermediate Rgan Card (300370)

For other classes or builds, Celery's guide has a great list of relevant cards.

Magic Gear Progression Table

Based off Celery's Gear Progression Table

Gear Slot Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
Upper Headgear Illusion Morpheus's Hood Survival Circlet-LT
Thanatos Magic Helmet-LT
Great Magician's Ceremonial Crown-LT
Illusion Morpheus's Hood
Survival Circlet-LT
Thanatos Magic Helmet-LT
Great Magician's Ceremonial Crown-LT
Illusion Morpheus's Hood
Bacsojin Doll Hat-LT
Vesper Helm Vesper Helm
Time Dimensions Rune Crown
Middle Headgear Cor Core Booster Cor Core Booster
Battle Processor
Deep Blue Sunglasses
Battle Processor
Deep Blue Sunglasses
Battle Processor
Gamblers Seal
Lower Headgear CD in Mouth Survival Orbs-LT
CD in Mouth
Survival Orbs-LT
Young Leaf of World Tree
Young Leaf of World Tree Ace of Spades in Mouth (Magical)
Armor Eden Paradise Armor
Grace Armor
Gray Wolf Robe
Snow Flower Robe
Gray Wolf Robe
Snow Flower Robe
Gray Wolf Robe
Snow Flower Robe
Nebula Robe of Spell
Engraved Soul Purification Rune Robe
Weapon Illusion Survivor's Staff
Illusion Wizardry Staff
Glacier Staff Dim Glacier Weapon
Flush Weapon
Dim Glacier Weapon
Flush Weapon
Dim Glacier Weapon
Flush Weapon
Dimensions Weapons
Shield illusion Silver Guard
Magic Absorber
illusion Silver Guard
Magic Absorber
Mad Bunny-LT
Garment Illusion Morpheus's Hood
Grace Garment
Illusion Morpheus's Hood
Grace Garment
Convertible Magical Wing
Gray Wolf Garment
Snow Flower Garment
Convertible Magical Wing
Gray Wolf Garment
Snow Flower Garment
Death Rune Manteau
Death Rune Manteau
Footgear Grace Magic Boots Grace Magic Boots
Gray Wolf Shoes
Moan of Corruption
Gray Wolf Shoes
Moan of Corruption Moan of Corruption
Right Accessory Illusion Morpheus's Ring
Grace Magic Ring
Brilliant Light Ring
Sinful Ring
Gray Wolf Accessory
Snow Flower Necklace
Brilliant Light Ring
Sinful Ring
Gray Wolf Accessory
Snow Flower Necklace
Temple Rune Ring Temple Rune Ring
Stellar Spell Seal
Left Accessory Illusion Morpheus's Bracelet Brilliant Light Ring
Sinful Ring
Gray Wolf Accessory
Snow Flower Earring
Brilliant Light Ring
Sinful Ring
Gray Wolf Accessory
Snow Flower Earring
Temple Magic Ring Temple Magic Ring

Damage Calculations and Diminishing Returns

The formula for Soul Vulcan Strike is MATK (((250 * Skill Level) + (3 * SPL)) * (Base Level/100))%. Afterwards, all modifiers applied on your ability's damage is multiplicative. Other than the specific skill's formula, the behavior for the modifiers are similar for all magic damage abilities.

You can check your total modifiers through the command @bs in game.

The formula can then further be broken out for Soul Vulcan Strike to say S.Matk ((MATK * (1+ MATK%))(((250 * Skill Level) + (3 * SPL)) * (Base Level/100))% * (1 + Skill Damage Modifier) * (1 + Skill Element Modifier) * (1 + Element Modifier) * (1 + Race Modifier) * (1 + Size Modifier) * (1 + Class Modifier)).

The main takeaway is that the modifiers that you add are multiplicative with one another, so when thinking about gears and cards, you should consider two important concepts:

  • Each additional increase in a specific modifier provides less benefits the more of that modifier you already have.
  • Spreading out your modifiers is more beneficial than indexing into one modifier.

To put this into a relevant example, 300265.png Regenschirm Scientist Card (300265) and 27384.png Mutating White Knight Card (27384) on a +12 staff provides 30% Skill Element Modifier or 20% Size modifier, respectively. For this example, if you already have a 50% Size Modifier, the 27384.png Mutating White Knight Card (27384) will provide more benefit than 300265.png Regenschirm Scientist Card (300265) once you already have 130% additional damage with element:

Keep in mind that this is theoretical and may not be exactly accurate as the cards give flat and % matk as well.