War mage

War Mages are a mutant sub-type of the Wizard profession.

War Mages generally rely on moderately strong physical attacks in combination with high damage factor weapons and the utility Haste (506). Due to the low cost of Spell Aiming, War Mages are generally (but not always) capable of bolt attacks, although not at the same strength of as a pure wizard.

Stat Placement and Race Selection

As the primary Wizard statistics, Aura and Logic remain extremely important for training point purposes.

Unlike a bolt-casting Wizard, Strength is a more important statistic than Dexterity. Since a War Mage will never be able to reach the physical attack strength (AS) of a Square, it is important that a War Mage maximize their AS however possible. For this reason, it is highly recommended that a War Mage select a race with a neutral or positive strength modifier.

Although not as important as Strength, Dexterity remains an important statistic, especially if the War Mage intends on training in Spell Aiming to supplement their physical attacks. Additionally, a moderate to high Constitution is useful for improving hitpoints and encumberance, since a War Mage is more likely to be successfully hit than a bolt-casting Wizard.

Primary Training Recommendations

War Mages train roughly equally in both physical and magical skills. Important skills include Two-Handed Weapons or Polearms, Armor Use, Combat Maneuvers, Physical Fitness, Arcane Symbols, Magic Item Use, Spell Aiming, Harness Power, Spell Research, and Elemental Lore.

Two-Handed Weapons or Polearm Weapons

This is a War Mage's primary attack skill, and should thusly be singled in for life. War Mages rely on weapons with a high damage factor (DF) to make up for their lack of AS. Two-Handed Weapons have a generally higher DF than Polearms, but lack the ability to use the combat maneuver Trip.

A few War Mages use One-Handed Weapons and a Shield, but is much less common due to the high training point costs.

Armor Use

War Mages take more often and cast spells less often than pure Wizards. As such, Leather Breastplate (27 skill points) or Cuirbouilli Leather (35 skill points) offer the best combination of protection, spell failure, and training point cost. War Mages often settle for Full Leather or Double Leather until considerably later in their career.

Physical Fitness

It is of utmost importance that a War Mage reach their maximum hitpoints as soon as possible. Although additional training past this point offers some minor mechanical advantages, training points are best spent elsewhere.

Arcane Symbols and Magic Item Use

Useful for reading/casting scrolls and using wands. Since War Mages don't use runestaves, there is little point in training past the point where they can effectively use any scroll or wand.

Spell Aiming

Since War Mages rarely use Elemental Focus (513) and generally have lower Dexterity than their pure counterparts, their bolt-casting abilities will be considerably lower. However, Spell Aiming is cheap to train, and is incredibly useful against creatures with bolt susceptibilities and against turtled creatures. Highly recommended to train in, unless you are short on training points.

Spell Research

War Mages will want as many spells ranks as they can comfortably afford.

Combat Maneuvers

Despite the lack of maneuvers available to Wizards, and despite its high training point cost, Combat Maneuvers remains an important skill to train in. The +.5 AS that comes with each training is its primary benefit, although Feint and Trip become extremely effective after three or four ranks in combination with Haste (506).

Later in their career, War Mages often add a couple ranks of Disarm, as it helps them resist disarming attempts by higher level creatures.