Dark Lord Advice

[varial]

Hi,

I'm looking at adding some new skills to my TM 114 Wizard with the intention of going Dark Lord. I have 28 points available and I was wondering what you guys would recommend. Here are my skills:

Invincible Casting
Mana Arrow: Master
Arrow Rush: Master
Cure: lvl 10
Bottle of Mana: lvl 1
Mist of Mana: Master
Dark Pact
Hellfire: Master
Wicked Flame: Master

I've read that Dark Lance is the standard way to go, but I don't understand why, since it seems like Mastered Mana Arrow with Mastered Arrow Rush would be stronger. I've also seen Dark Distractor being used in builds, but wouldn't it be a better use of points to augment offense?

Thanks,
Varial

[Rom]

Master Cure and learn/master Dark Lance, then save the rest of your points. Dark Distractor is for PvP only, so don't learn it if you don't PvP. Or if you do PvP, learn it only after you get your more important skills.

Dark Lance is a must for any and every Dark mage. It may not be as strong as Arrow Rush, but it's fast and efficient, and still fairly strong. It'll also be great to be able to cycle through the two skills, so you won't really have to wait for cooldowns.

[varial]

As far as cure goes, is there a point in mastering it? M cure doesn't heal that much more than 10 cure, and I'm not aware of any skills that require it.

I can see how DL would be useful once I can get Dark Commando, but since I can switch between mastered MA and mastered HF+WF, wouldn't it make more sense to master mana shield and go for dark barrier?

[Rom]

It may not seem like much, but that extra 6% can really make a difference. Of course you don't have to master it if you don't want to, I'm only suggesting. Or more like.. saying what I'd do.

Personally; I think you learned Hellfire and Wicked Flame too soon. Outside of Bosses and Mine PQs, it's not that useful for everyday PvM - it's much too slow to spam. Dark Lance does a better job at that.

Dark Barrier isn't necessary at your current level. You can live without it for a while. I'd say ignore it until you're at least TM 145-150.

[Draft]

I don't see any reason to master Mana Shield early. I rarely used it because monsters fail at using magic, super low accuracy and little damage.

Dark Lance is also a requirement for Scythe, the strongest Dark Lord skill in my opinion. I'm not sure but doesn't Dark Commando requires Scythe as well? So getting Dark Lance is a priority.

Edit: Dark Commando requires Fear Lv 1 and Dark Barrier Mastered.

[Rom]

1. Dark Lance is a prerequisite for Scythe.
2. Scythe and Rust are a prerequisite for Fear.
3. Fear and Dark Barrier are a prerequisite for Dark Commando.
4. Dark Commando is a prerequisite for Ghostly Whisper.
5. Ghostly Whisper is a prerequisite for Dark Assimilation.

Oh, and Dark Lance is also a prerequisite for Staff of Agony, but that's not very useful unless you have Dark Attribute.

[varial]

I see, so I can't really do much without it. Ok. Makes sense. I'll go pick it up. Thanks. What should I do after Dark Lance? Mana shield followed by dark barrier?