Sages are a PvP-oriented class with the role of caster/anti-Mage. They do not have the offensive abilities of a Wizard, but are a slightly buffed version of Mage with their Free Casting. Sages shine in their defensive abilities, with many builds centered around Magnetic Earth. Dispell is also a popular and sought-after spell which is useful for removing buffs from the enemy. Many of their skills can only realistically be used in PvP, making PvM quite difficult, particularly for VIT/DEX builds that have difficulty solo levelling. Battle sages are a 'for fun' build which can become a powerful leveling build only if matched with a Soul Linker (see Sage Spirit for more info).
Changing into a Sage from a Mage requires the player to complete a number of tasks:
Item Collection
Written Test
Battle Test
Thesis Composition
After completing these tests, the player will be transformed into a Sage. This takes place in Juno.
Builds
Generally the best two Bolts to max are Fire Bolt and Lightning Bolt. The former is pretty much a given and LB is chosen because it is on the opposite side of the elements table. What this means is that having both FB and LB covers all the basic elements with no room for weakness. FB/CB on the other hand is weak to Water, as neither element is effective against it.
Leveling skills generally include Thunderstorm, Fireball, and Heaven's Drive for AoE. All three Bolt skills are not bad for single target damage. It is recommended to skip PvP oriented skills as a Sage, such as Stone Curse and Magnetic Earth, and only acquire these after rebirth for use at a higher level as a Sorcerer.
Although a single target battle build can be enjoyable, if partied with a Priest or if using HP Healing Items, a pure PvM caster build yields much faster exp rates (AoE leveling is faster than killing single targets). Their endows can be indispensable for other classes, hence many Sages are built for slaving purposes only.
Sages start off with decent Magic AoEs with Thunderstorm and Fireball, and can pick off single targets with bolt spells. Unfortunately towards later levels (after about 85) it may not be possible to one shot monsters anymore with the bolt skills, and Thunderstorm and Fireball may not be reliable or quick enough to use. That is why players should prepare their builds with a decent amount of VIT for survivability to tank the monsters while recasting during solo leveling, or also survivability in party situations. Later levels will be spent either aiding with additional damage and Endow buffs in parties, or finding mobs weak to the Earth element to AoE with Heavens Drive. The rebirthed Sage, the Scholar gains access to very useful SP giving / recovering support skills with Soul Exhale and Indulge, and becomes an extremely useful support class.
Hindsight
With Soul Linker
STR: 1
AGI: 80-99
VIT: 50-80
INT: 80-99
DEX: 20-40
LUK: 10-30
Without Soul linker
STR: 30-50
AGI: 80-99
VIT: 50-80
INT: 80-99
DEX: 40-60
LUK: 10-30
CRIT Build Without Soul Linker (the better of the 2 non-soul linked builds)
LUK: 10-30 (if using dagger of counter, little to no LUK will be needed other then for MATK and ATK damage boost)
CRIT build is the better of the two non-soul linked builds because it offers higher damage hits, and requires little to no DEX to land hits. This means STAT points can be put into other stats such as VIT or more STR. Additionally, LUK not only adds CRIT, but also adds MATK, which helps with Hindsight. This build WILL require CRIT gear due to the lack of DEX. Dagger of Counter or Soldier Skeleton Cards in an Encyclopedia are the best options.
Free Cast and Hindsight allows this build to melee with books while raining bolts from above on their foes. Despite being a melee build, their main offensive power does not come from having STR, but rather from the high ASPD to trigger the moderate damage bolts. Some even prefer to drop their STR to a marginal amount, and wield a Bazerald dagger for the added MATK bonus. Coupled with the Sage Spirit buff of Soul Linkers, leveling them in Ice Dungeon with Lightning Bolt is very effective. Hindsight Sages should not use any shield because using them will lower their ASPD by a significant amount.
It is not recommended to play this build without FLEE gear because Mages do not get any extra FLEE bonuses the way Thief classes do with Improve Dodge. Mages also tend to have lower HP. A Whisper Card and an Alicel Card will help FLEE a lot if no soul linker is available to Kaahi the Sage. With auto-cast and CRIT or attack power boosting gear, players can make a non-soul linked version of this build work, however it is very pricey to do. The non-soul linked version requires points into LUK, DEX or STR to make up for the poor bolt damage to ensure that players hit their target. Relying solely on bolt casts will lead to many deaths.
During the early days of the introduction to the Sage class, it was the glory days of the Hocus-pocus Sages. Sadly the yellow-gem nerf and Hocus-pocusBoss nerf meant the end of their era. The build aims at the most INT possible for a good regen rate, since casting HP repeatedly can drain the SP considerably. It also doesn't go for maxed DEX, but focuses more on VIT instead to avoid death by random Hocus-pocus skills.
Eden Group Equipment is free and a great place to start for gear to use. The Staff or Dictionary are good weapons and generally a good choice for a Sage and their future classes' use.
It is recommended to look at the Equipment recommendations for the Third Class job to see what equipment to strive for, rather than to spend a lot of money on a piece of equipment that will not be used in the future as a third class. However, some equipment may have a high level requirement, or are transcendent only.
Weapons
After considering what requirement skills have (some skills can only be used with certain weapon types), the Weapon Search tool within the iRO Wiki DB site is very helpful. Generally, for physical classes (both melee and ranged), something with high ATK is best. For magic classes, something with high MATK is best.
Strictly for Magic Attack, The Principles of Magic sets (Principles of Magic, Pocket Watch, Librarian Glove, Monocle) outperforms other gear combinations on a hindsight sage with a Soul Linker slave. Ledger of Death, on the other hand, is a better choice for those who wish to achieve the highest possible attack speed. The Encyclopedia coupled with dmg cards offers a decent replacement for using Dagger of Counter, although Dagger of Counter is still the ideal weapon to use for Hindsight builds.
This easy to get item is the best weapon a Sage has access to until rebirth. It offers the highest mAtk of all non-trans staffs and is only 1-handed so the Sage can also wear a shield with it for damage reduction.
Don't bother with the Mage-class Card combo (Parasite), just go for a racial card.
Guard/Memory Book Slotted memory book is very useful for caster sages, it has the same function as a guard with an additional +1 INT. Memory Book is also part of the Pocket Watch set.
Stone Buckler Offers -5% damage from Large Sized Monsters.
Accessory
Clip Clips are good for utility cards, for example Creamy, Phen and Vitata. It is almost essential to get these cards, otherwise it will be significantly harder to level. Once the player reaches level 90 alternatively they can be slotted into Gloves/Rosaries for a small boost in stats and to make switching easier.
Nile Rose A good alternative for Clips. The reason to this is that they take a different hotkey. Cycling between 3 accessories has never been easier with two Clips (Phen and Smokie) and a Nile Rose (Vitata).
Pocket Watch and Librarian Glove Used with the Principles of Magic set. Pocket Watch is used with the monocle + memory book set.
