From Glass Cannon to Tank - Exploring the Mage Talent System

During the Mage showcase stream on Twitch, hosted on ArmegonTV, Creative Director, Venelin and Game Designer, Kaloyan (Koko), walked through the class’s evolving talent system and demonstrated how different builds and mechanics are beginning to take shape in-game.

Rather than presenting a finished version of the class, the stream focused on showing the Mage in active development, how its abilities interact, how talents modify gameplay, and how different archetypes are starting to emerge through player choice. It’s worth mentioning that what was shown during the stream reflects the current vision for the Mage Class and its talent system. As development continues, certain mechanics, abilities, and interactions may evolve further based on iteration, testing, and overall gameplay direction.

Defining the Mage Archetypes

Early in the stream, Venelin outlined the broader direction for the Mage and the philosophy behind its design.

Instead of forcing the class into a single role, the talent system is being built around multiple archetypes with distinct identities and gameplay styles. The Mage can lean into mobility and fast-paced spellcasting, focus on burst damage and ability interactions, or even transition into a surprisingly durable, tank-oriented build.

The goal is not just variety for the sake of variety, but creating paths that genuinely feel different to play.

Building Around Core Abilities

The showcase then shifted toward the Mage’s default abilities and how talents begin to reshape them.

One of the first examples was Haste. Rather than acting as a simple movement or casting speed increase, the ability directly affects the pacing of gameplay, enabling faster chaining between spells and creating a more fluid combat rhythm.

Ice Lance demonstrated a similar philosophy. Through talents like Effective Ice Lance, even a straightforward spell can evolve into something more reliable and impactful, depending on the build being played.

These examples reinforce a recurring design direction throughout the stream, baseline abilities are only the foundation, while talents determine how those abilities actually function in combat.

Warp Strike and Expanding Spell Identity

One of the more in-depth showcases centered around Warp Strike and the different ways it can evolve through talents.

Through variations like Silencing Warp and Rules Breaking Warp Strike, the same core ability begins to serve entirely different purposes. One path introduces utility and disruption through silence effects, while another pushes the spell into more unconventional territory by altering how the ability behaves altogether.

This demonstrates a key part of the system’s philosophy. talents are not simply there to increase numbers, but to redefine the role and functionality of abilities.

Mobility, Positioning, and Battlefield Control

Another major focus of the showcase was the Mage’s emphasis on movement and spatial control.

Abilities like Planar Shift highlight how mobility is becoming a core part of the class identity, allowing players to reposition aggressively or defensively depending on the situation.

This direction expands further through Cosmic Orb and talents like Sharper Cosmic Orb, eventually leading into abilities such as Black Hole. These mechanics place increasing importance on positioning, timing, and area control, shifting the Mage away from the traditional image of a stationary caster.

The result is a class that feels significantly more dynamic and reactive.

From Burst Caster to Tank Mage

One of the more surprising moments during the stream was the reveal of the Mage’s tank-oriented direction.

Through barrier mechanics and defensive interactions, Venelin demonstrated how the class can absorb incoming damage and sustain itself in combat far more effectively than players might expect.

Abilities like Void Stare and its related barrier interactions form the foundation of this archetype, rewarding players for managing defensive resources and positioning carefully under pressure.

Rather than functioning as a gimmick, the tank Mage appears to be a fully supported playstyle within the talent system.

Talents That Connect

Throughout the showcase, another important theme became increasingly clear: talents are being designed to work together rather than exist as isolated upgrades.

Abilities and talents often build on top of each other, reinforcing a specific direction and encouraging players to commit to a playstyle. Some talents modify a spell directly, while others enhance the effects created by those modifications, creating layered interactions throughout the build.

As Venelin explained during the stream:

“We don’t want talents to feel like a checklist; they need to connect.”

This approach is what allows the Mage’s archetypes to feel distinct, rather than simply being collections of unrelated bonuses.

A More Active Combat Philosophy

Another notable design discussion centered around the absence of traditional auto-attacks.

Instead of relying on passive filler actions, the Mage is built entirely around active ability usage and decision-making. Every spell contributes to combat flow, and every action is intended to feel deliberate.

This philosophy ties directly into the broader direction of the talent system, gameplay should come from meaningful choices and ability interactions, not downtime between casts.

Expanding the Mage Toolkit

The latter parts of the stream continued to showcase the range of mechanics being explored for the class.

Abilities like:

• Stormbreaker

• Phoenix Strike

• Quick Elemental Beam

further demonstrated the variety of offensive tools available to different Mage builds.

Each spell reinforces the same core direction, abilities are designed not just to deal damage, but to support distinct playstyles, interactions, and pacing.