Part 59: More Than a Mere Mage...
Chapter 44 - More Than a Mere Mage...
Ready for some more training? 
Yes, Walt.
Good. Grab a sword from the armory. The key is on the library table.
Alright.
"About the Game" posted:
The key to the armory is in fact on the library table.
Poisonous Cloud
- This shoots an area effect cloud of poison. It's rather boring and really weak. It's a bit bugged though - If you shoot it near a friendly NPC, it does poison them, and they run around all poisoned, and if you do it enough, they die, without going hostile, so if you're patient, you can depopulate an area without anyone getting upset. At Rank 1 (available at level 20), it shoots out 4 clouds and does 10-40 damage. At Rank 5 (available at level 44) it shoots 12 clouds and does 30-10 damage. By the time you're that level, you've got much better and more direct spells to kill enemies.
Hell Spikes
- Hell Spikes is THE damage spell for mages. It does physical damage and cannot be resisted, and given how many enemies in the final area have immunities, it's going to be your primary spell. It's also an area-effect spell, which starts out tiny and grows to large. It's pretty worthless until you have at least three ranks in the skill, but after that it's very powerful. At Rank 1 (available at level 1), it summons 1 group of spikes which shoot three times, each hit does 4-14 damage. At Rank 5 (available at level 25), it summons a group of 5 spikes which shoot three times, each hit doing 20-70 damage. An enemy can be hit with more than one spike at once, but you're not going to hit them with all 5.
What training montage is complete without "Ye Olde Cliched Training Montage Song" - "Eye of the Tiger"? It doesn't hurt that the lyrics are semi-applicable.
"About the Game" posted:
Skeletal Wall
- Most of the Wizard's Summoning skills cannot be learned via spellbooks, including this one, because there aren't any spellbooks for that spell at all. This skill is first available at level 16, and it summons 5 Steel Skeletons of level 16/18/20/22/24, but since you can't abuse the spellbook trick, it'll take you until level 40 to be able to summon level 24 skeletons. But the magic cost for summoning 5 distractions is pretty cheap (16 to 28 magic), if I have lots of skill points to spare, I'll probably pick this one up.
I did pick this one up, albeit unintentionally. I pit a point into it so I could record screenshots of me using it, then I kept going without reloading. It's OK, I end up with more than enough skill points anyway.
Alright, I think that's enough for today.
See you around, Jeremiah
I sheathed my sword and sat down on the ground.
I don't think I've ever been this tired, ever. But it's a good tired, right? No. No, it isn't. You surprised me, Jeremiah. You still need to work on some things - and work hard at them - but you were better with the sword then I thought you'd be. Just because I prefer spells doesn't mean that I've never touched a sword. My father was a mercenary in his youth. He taught me a little about how to fight with a sword. I don't really know if it's for me. I'm just a mage. Jeremiah, you're more than a mere mage. You've got some talent with a blade and if you focus enough, you could become a good sword-fighter as well. Your main problem is that you're too defensive and you're relying on your shield too much. It makes you more reactive than active. I'm trying to wait for openings in my opponent's defense. That's all well and good, but it's also dangerous - while you're passive, it gives your opponent more changes to attack. One mistake in your defense and you're done. You need to attack more. Tomorrow, let's have you try a two-handed sword, so you'll have to be more aggressive and can't rely on your shield to save you. Until tomorrow, Walt. I should get back to my duties. 
Next Time: The Perfectly Sane Madman
Behind the Scenes
This update doesn't seem that important, and it isn't, but it does serve a couple of purposes: One, Jeremiah is about to get his third piece of final gear, and he'll require 55 strength to equip it. Two, since you can't use magic in Stormfist Castle, having Jeremiah get more experience in melee combat is a good idea. You know, just in case he needs to fight something when he can't use magic.
Behind the scenes, I've been gathering up spellbooks. I got a LOT from Verdistis, especially Sir Patrick's mansion, he has a huge library. I finished off by sweeping the castle for books. Here's what my mage skills look like now:
That's a total of 93 points.
Of those, one point in Meteorstrike and Summon Vermin came from being a male wizard, so that's 91 points. Of those I put one point into Limbs of Lead, Summon Skeleton, and Lightning. All the rest - 88 points - came from free points or spellbooks. To be precise, 1 point into Bless, Polymorph, Meteorstrike, Spellshield, and Summon Skeleton, and 4 points into Restoration were from free points or pre-placed spellbooks, so I found 79 spellbooks.
What's fake in this update?
- Everything is fake in this update. Walt doesn't train you.