MAGE PASSIVES
Active Abilities are all well and good, but often the Passive Abilities are the unsung heroes.
They are the background, the support that's always there, and here I endeavor to do right by the (nearly) almighty Passives.
SPIRIT
Guardian Spirit (+3 Constitution)
Mages are often known for being "squishy". Less health, and lower armor, combined with high aggro generally don't go together well. But this passive easily remedies that.
What it does is act as a "Get out of death free" card, by automatically bringing up a full barrier around the mage when their health would be reduced to zero. This is a much needed second chance in a heated battle or prolonged confrontation.
The only caveat is that it has a 60-second cooldown. In longer fights against dragons or bosses, that cooldown feels a lot longer. Depending on the situation, you're best bet is to either reposition yourself so you're not in the line of fire, or down a health potion.
Peaceful Aura (+3 Willpower)
Going back to the whole "high aggro" thing, this passive is a life-saver. and combines well with Guardian Spirit.
What this does is cut all threat you generate in half. If one high-powered attack would draw enemy attention, then this allows you to make two high-powered attacks for the same threat, or make one and remain untargeted.
Rejuvenating Barrier (+3 Constitution)
This is very handy to have for any mage, since most everything you do requires mana, and this helps you recover it that much faster. As an added bonus, it applies to your allies as well, so even if it's stamina instead of mana, the boost applies
The only downside to this is that it is dependent on the character having active barrier, so if you have no mages in the party, this becomes nonexistent. The other thing to consider is that it's deep into the Spirit ability tree, so it requires some investment to acquire.
Strength of Spirits
This can be a bit confusing, but what it basically does is increase your maximum barrier.
The only downside is that it does not reduce the decay rate of your barrier. Still, it comes in handy if you can consistently keep barriers up, and if you're this far into the Spirit tree, then you may as well grab this while you're here.
As a whole, Spirit passives reduce your aggro, improve your mana regen and barriers, and provide a "get out of death free" when things go bad.
STORM
Stormbringer (+3 Magic)
A bit hard to understand in-game, but what this does is about every 15 seconds in combat, a bolt of lightning will strike an enemy for 300% weapon damage, upwards of 25 meters away.
Pretty impressive in it's own right, and one you're not likely to notice in the thick of combat; if you target a group of enemies from within that 25 meters, you might see it, but the real reason to grab this is for what follows.
Gathering Storm (+3 Magic)
Even if you don't want to use any Storm abilities, this is definitely worth getting.
Aside from not having enough mana available, the other issue mage abilities can run into is cooldown. This passive basically solves that problem in a rather elegant way. Basic attacks reduce all active cooldowns by half a second per attack.
The mage's basic attacks are pretty fast as it is, occupying a middle ground between warriors and rogues in attack speed. This is especially handy for abilities like Fade Step, which require no mana to activate and are limited only by cooldown time.
Conductive Current (+3 Magic)
Lots of numbers here, (every 10% missing mana gives your spells an additive 5% more power) so let me break it down for you. The less mana you have, the more damage you do, but it's in percentages instead of raw numbers.
What makes this difficult to utilize is that you need mana for spells. The best way to do this is to lead with a low-damage attack such as Chain Lightning, and then follow with a high-damage attack such as Immolate.
Since the first attack (Chain Lightning) uses up mana (50%), that means you have 50% missing mana. Mathematically speaking, following up with Immolate means that Immolate deals 25% more damage.
This is why you want to lead with low-damage attacks, because 25% of 500 points of damage is greater than 25% of 100 points of damage.
To summarize: this goes hand-in-hand with Gathering Storm, and really shines when using the last of your mana for high-power attacks.
Static Charge (+3 Constitution)
This is similar to Stormbringer, except while Stormbringer occurs regardless of what you're doing, Static Charge is more selective.
When spellcasting, if an enemy tries to interrupt you, lightning arcs out and strikes them. It's not very damaging, but the real benefit is that you can cast spells with far less interference. This is great because it also affects ranged attackers, not just melee.
In a way, it's almost a "mini-barrier", in that it effectively halts an enemy attack on a regular basis.
As a whole, Storm passives increase your damage as you expend mana, disrupt and damage enemies that attack you, and reduce cooldown times all the while.
INFERNO
Flashpoint (+3 Magic)
Always great when it happens, Flashpoint activates whenever you land a critical hit. What it does is it eliminates the cooldown of the next spell you cast.
Very handy if you want to use Fade Step twice in a row or deal a double-dose of Energy Barrage.
Even better, it never expires, so if you watch carefully, you can "save" it for later. It also combines with Mana Surge quite nicely when you can get it. (see below)
Pyromancer (+3 Willpower)
Somewhat limited in use, given that it only increases Burning and Panicked/Fear durations.
Obviously good for mages who invest heavily in the Inferno tree, and for Necromancers; even if you don't use much of Inferno but have a fire staff, it increases the duration of your basic combo.
Clean Burn (+3 Willpower)
Very similar to Gathering Storm: it's cooldown reduction is twice that of Gathering Storm, but it's through the use of active abilities, not simply basic attacks. When you have both, though, everything you do takes less time to get ready.
Chaotic Focus (+3 Magic)
In a strange synergy with barriers, this makes it so that every fire spell you use takes half your current barrier to boost the initial damage done. If you only have a small amount of barrier, then the damage boost is comparatively small, but when you have full barrier, it's a whopping increase.
While it doesn't increase Burning damage or duration, it more than makes up for it in direct damage.
An often overlooked side-effect is that it increases your maximum barrier.
As a whole, Inferno passives add benefits to critical hits, offer a direct damage increase, encourage spell-slinging, and turn your defense into a powerful offense.
WINTER
Mana Surge (+3 Magic)
In a somewhat odd manner, this passive takes effect when you become your most vulnerable.
Whenever a barrier you have is completely depleted, whether from being attacked or just dissipating, it explodes, freezing all enemies in the blast. Afterwards, your next spell costs no mana.
This is a huge boon, since getting a free spell can mean the difference between life and death.
However, "free" does not mean "no cooldown", that plays out like normal; it's only your mana that remains undepleted. Also, it requires that Winter's Grasp be taken beforehand. It's a useful spell for any mage, so it's not like the point is wasted.
On the flipside, it's possible to get both Flashpoint (see above) and Mana Surge together, since they never expire. It's possible to save them both for later, and they will both get used when you cast your next spell. Altogether, it's two for the price of one!
Winter Stillness (+3 Willpower)
This one can feel a bit counter-intuitive, but is actually quite rewarding when applied tactically.
What this passive does is increase your mana regeneration when you are standing still. It takes a few seconds to kick in, but if you pay attention, you'll really see your mana skyrocket.
The key thing here is positioning. If you want to maximize the benefit of this passive, then make sure that in battle, you are in a position where you don't have to move unless you want to.
If you're constantly mobile, this passive is entirely non-functional, aside from the attribute bonus.
But if you can have significant portions of time where you are stationary, then this passive alone can double or even triple the amount of spellcasting you can do.
Frost Mastery (+3 Magic)
Similar to Pyromancer, and similarly "limited", this is also the most straightforward passive in the Winter tree.
It increases the duration of Frozen and Chilled. This includes the basic combo of a cold staff and one of the upgrades for Fade Step.
Even if the only active ability you take is Fade Step, this passive is very useful to have.
Frost Armor (+3 Willpower)
This one is very situational but very good when in effect.
This passive reduces all damage you take by a hefty amount any time you are near a cold spell or a frozen enemy. Since mages have naturally lower armor than the other classes, this comes in handy.
The only downside is that it is low on the tree, requiring a heavy investment into the Winter tree to obtain it, and it requires some positioning. The upside is that if you're going down this far into the Winter tree, you'll have everything you need to set up frozen enemies and cold spells.
As a whole, Winter passives can offer a stroke of good fortune, reward caution and planning, improve your battlefield control, and make you much harder to kill.
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