Mages, Boom-Up bonus EXP, JUMP etc.

Hey ppl,

I'm thinking of making a mage, most probably a F/P one and I'd like to know a few things:

• Since I'll train it during the Boom-Up timeframe, does it matter if I make the first advance at like... lvl15~20? I mean, losing HP/MP and such.
  
• Main attacks at 4th job after JUMP are misting->exploding and Paralyze? What about I/L: Ice chain->CL?
  
• Is using a reverse staff good enough? I don't wanna bother with elemental weapons at all.
  
• Heh... I thought of a bunch of stuff but once I click the "post new thread" button the ideas just vanish
  

I'll post more if I think of/remember something else

The "gain mp" skill as you level up is gone now, but supposedly it was included similarly to how the additional hp was for a warrior. I have not tested either one and I don't know if you advance late if your job instructor makes it up for you. But why would you advance so late (15-20), you'll probably be 10-11 when you the last quest from maple island (assuming you want the quests done and don't skip it) and turn it in at Lith Harbor.

You still gain you missing skill points for advancing late, I advanced at lvl 11 on a KoC and it was fine (4sp).

My mages are only 3rd job so I haven't been thinking about 4th job skills. But I believe your are right the trend seems to be to focus on the job specific non full screen attacks.

Elemental weapons no longer give the insane boost they used to (I believe it's 5% or something). Some people still like them and some claim it isn't worth it anymore.

Elemental weapons are still 10% to your main element and 5% to the secondary, it's quite a lot (dunno if they fixed that bug where the fire weapons didn't give the bonus to the correct elements). It all depends on what you are satisfied with.

From what I remember you can't lose hp/mp anymore by advancing late, this used to be a method to have a slightly higher base HP on mages but I remember someone saying it didn't work anymore.

For 4th job you'd be basically:
-Use paralyze most of the time
-Charge big bang when going up/down ladders or jumping down (you can now cast it mid-jump so it can be pretty useful)
-Cast mist while you go around the map
-Mist explode as it cools down
-If it's a mob of really strong monsters (LHC/Monster Park), it's worth it to use all you DoT skills available to increase the damage done by mist explosion.

Thanks for all the info, guys!

I'll be making my mage tomorrow. I said I'd advance later because after completing the quests and killing monsters while the Boom Up event is going on, it's too easy to go past the recommended level 10 (and way past 8 for mages...).