Monday, July 20, 2015

Fantasy AGE: Arcana Analysis

A mage in Fantasy AGE is a mighty creature indeed. Able to harness primal forces, they can command the elements and rain death down upon either single targets or multiple targets. 


Wait, what?


Oh dear, do we have purely battlefield focused mages again? That's what I am hearing, but lets see what we actually have. Mages learn spells by selecting Arcana, each arcana comes with two spells base and can be upgraded twice more supplying 4 spells in total plus an ability focus and a stunt point reduction.





Here's a table showing the Arcana and the spell types granted:

Arcana
Novice 1
Novice 2
Journeyman
Master
Air
Defensive
Utility
Attack
Flight!
Divination
Utility
Utility
Debuff
Buff
Earth
Attack
Defensive
Utility
Attack
Fate
Buff
Debuff
Buff
Buff
Fire
Utility
Attack
Defensive
Attack
Healing
Buff
Buff
Buff
Buff
Heroic
Buff
Buff
Buff
Buff
Lightning
Attack
Attack
Attack
Attack
Power
Utility
Defensive
Attack
Defensive
Shadow
Attack
Utility
Utility
Utility
Water
Utility
Attack
Defensive
Attack
Wood
Utility
Utility
Attack
Utility

Let's count them up!
Attack 14 out of 48
Buff 12 out of 48
Debuff 2 out of 48
Defensive 6 out of 48
Utility 14 out of 48

So Utility (the cool stuff) equals Attack (the blast stuff). Not as bad as I have been told. We need more and we certainly need some key magical concepts covered by the Arcana (shapeshifting, invisibility, illusion, etc.) but I don't feel that mages are entirely hamstrung here.