MagpieLee's Guide to Magic
Please note that this is very very old. I'm constantly (but slowly) working on updating it. --MagpieLee 17:25, 1 February 2009 (CST)
Here's how I leveled up my magic. Magic isn't like other skills to level up. It can be expensive for a newbie, so you should expect it to be slow and hard. Before I continue, I should tell you that I wasn't a servant of the magic god, Unolas, until I was magic 44. As a rough estimate, I would say that if I wasn't serving him, I'd be magic 70 instead of 76. So serving him helps, but it's not necessary. There are two main problems for a pure newbie: mana and essences (assuming you have all the sigils).
Mana
Buy Potions of Mana from Mira in White Stone City. Use the potions, and keep the empty vials to make potions yourself. Slowly train your potioning skill by making Potions of Mana. These are easy and cheap to make, have a quick cooldown and allow you to reuse the vial. I was a potioner, and mana was plentiful becasue I was already making SR's, so regenerating it wasn't a problem for me. However, it can be expensive for a newbie, so it may be better for you to make Potions of Mana instead of SR's.
Essences
Buying health, magic and matter essences can be really expensive for a newbie. Making them is expensive, too, because you need a few books and nexus for making them and mining the ingredients, which is absolute hell. I did it the hard but natural way by making my own essences.
Fast regeneration
My white cape is just for looks? Yes...but it serves a great use by regenerating my mana while I mix essences at storage. When I hit my mana cap, I "cast away" my mana with a spell solely for experience, and in a few minutes, it regenerates. This is a great way to slowly train up your magic without even training in it. Right now, I have a maximum mana of 64, cast the True Sight Spell three times to get 1080 exp, and in 20 minutes, my 60 mana is replenished. It might seem slow, but do this over the course of your EL life, and the exp difference is massive.
I've done this over 1000 times, and with just over 360 experience per cast, that's over 360000 precious magic exp. Not bad for effortless training, but that's only with the expensive True Sight. It may be better for you to cast something cheaper.
Semi-AFK training
There are several locations that grant you free fast regeneration. Healer's Mists in SRM is my favorite location as it has a nearby storage. When I go AFK, I bring lots of food, lots of essences to cast, a Crown of Mana and my FR cape. When I arrive at the fast regeneration area, I cast away my mana with whatever spell I'm training on (depends on your level - I was doing True Sight) and sit AFK with a full food bar, waiting for my mana to recharge.
When I come back from being AFK, it's possible for me to cast True Sight 10 times. That's an easy 3600 magic experience for doing almost nothing.
Magic schools
There were no magic schools in my time or any specific magic-only training areas. Whilst the latter is a complete waste of time, the former can be very useful when used in conjuction with LD and your summons. The only pity is that it doesn't work with MD - the #1 method of training magic. Remember that whilst magic schools are useful, most are annoying to travel to (away from storage), and you're limited on what you can cast. You can pursue this with the help of hyperspace bags and maybe a friend to get lots of essences and SR's to a spot and cast away.
Level by level
Level 1-21
Heal (level 1)
Remote Heal (level 3)
Shield (level 9)
Keep in mind that you don't actually need healing from the Heal spell or extra armor from Shield; you're casting them for the experience. Although, Remote Healing newbies (like me and lots of others have done) does increase your magic exp and makes newbies feel good. Remember that you're casting spells for the experience, not the "thank you"'s!
Level 21-30
Restoration (level 21)
Bones to Gold (level 23)
Teleport to Portals Room (level 24)
Life Drain (level 27)
Cast Restoration as often as you can, even when you don't need it. (I used this in my Fast Regeneration bit when I was younger.) If you're PvP'ing or training A/D, this is natural. Once you get the Portal Room Spell, use it to go everywhere you can, but continue to cast Restoration to train your magic.
Bones to Gold is a truely unique spell. Though you don't need bones to cast it, it offers 5 more base magic exp than Restoration (more mana needed btw) and a hearty 50 alchemy exp. You need 1 less essence to cast it compared to Restoration, too, so this is definitely an option worth looking into if you want that extra little punch.
As for Life Drain, I didn't use it, but it's cheaper than Restoration or Teleport, so it gives more experience for the money. Finding a partner is very hard for this, but remember that you don't need a partner to cast it; you can cast it on an animal, monster or your summons. (It will attack you, so avoid bears until you can handle them.) To LD your partner, you need to be in a PK map.
Level 30-35/37
Magic Immunity (level 30)
Mana Drain (level 40)
Magic Immunity is a spell I used a lot for slow training at storage. Life Drain shouldn't be ignored, but this is only effective if you have plenty of mana or a partner. Getting to level 35/37 is slow, but I never said it was going to be easy!
Once you're at that level, you can use Magic Potions to reach level 40 to cast Mana Drain. For this, it's recommended you have a partner who can teach you how to mana drain. It costs 6 Air Essences, so it's quite expensive, but the best thing about MD'ing is that it doesn't require SR's if performed correctly. Note that you only have a 2-minute window of opportunity to cast Mana Drain under the potion effect, so you should bring a few of the potions along with Air Essences. Remember that you need to be in PK to MD with another player, and remember to cast Teleport to Portals Room to zip around Draia.
Level 37+
- Mana Drain (level 40)
Continue to MD with your partner(s) and use Magic Potions until you're level 40. Potions are not required at level 40, but they help reduce spell failures. The failures will bother you, but keep going because things get better as you level up.
Many people stop at magic level 49: the level where you stop failing when casting Restoration. This should be your main way to level up magic, and with Unolas you can really see the difference, especially on a Scholars Day. You should still be casting Restoration for AD/PK/PvP'ing, teleporting everywhere and mana draining nearby creatures.
Other spells that deserve a mention
- Magic Protection - Don't bother with it.
- Smite/Heal Summoned - waste of time
- Poison/Harm - Harm is used in PK a lot, but it's not good to train with because it requires the expensive Death Essence.
- Teleport to Range - my favorite spell, but not used for training.
- Bones to Gold - gives alchemy experience, too (no bones required)
- Heat/Cold/Radiation Shield - Doesn't have much use if you equip augmented leather armour. Not really needed to progress in magic.
- True Sight - Expensive. I used this for slow training for a bit. Returns a lot of experience.
- Invisibility - Heavily expensive (30 essences), but it returns the most experience. Good in invasions.
- Intercontinental Portals Room - Expensive but cheaper than using C2 rings.
End note
Ok well here it is, DragonCairn. I originally wanted it to be short but I can see now that its turned into a massive essay. Sorry about that. And I hope to see you getting high in magic soon.
Note that high Will is good for experience and mana. Also, the Journey of Seridia quest is good for exp if you choose magic as your skill. High level fighters who train all day will automatically get a good chunk of magic exp every day from Restoration, Magic Immunity (PK) and Mana Draining (with yeti).
