So the mage is one of the three archetypes here in Happy Wars, as most of us already know.

The mage is a distance class where he can focus from afar with lightning strikes, enchanted elemental bolts, and even wield arrows of light and summon meteor strikes. Though there are also other tricks under his sleeve, that wand can give a good wacking too you know.

I personally believe that the three archetypes are related with three core values: offense, defense, support.

Warriors work as Offense / Defense - Sword + Shield, what can you say?
Clerics work as Defense / Support - Tons of support skills, don't even bother meleeing when you can just milk xp with dash, sacred armor, heals, resurrects...
Mages work as Offense / Support - we'll talk about this in depth, okay?

So Mages should capitalize on dealing damage, with tidbits of support aside.

Mage functions on the battlefield

From the OFFENSE SIDE:

Mages work as the ARTILLERY of the group. They're the only class with disjointed AoE spells. So you would say that they're the "glass cannons" of the battlefield. They have heavily damaging spells that can wreck enemies to pieces. Their single target damage may not be amazing compared to warriors, but their group target damage is unparalleled.

Another role is the CROWD CONTROL. Each enchantment has their specific effects, like ice enchant turning enemies into snowman, etc. Also, most mage skills have smash effect with them, making them effective at army splitting and just inducing chaos in general.

From the SUPPORT SIDE:

Mages must ENCHANT, this can act as a quick XP boost during your early levels( level 1 - 3), and give your teammates additional firepower in general. Really important to start enchanting everyone right from the beginning. Spamming enchants for +5XP is amazing(Like cleric spamming heals).

Mages should DESTROY ballistas/flower cannons. Their enchantments(except wind) and most of their skills can easily destroy ballistas in the enemy castle.

Other than that, specific enchantment shots, such as the ice shot, makes for a great "dispel" like projectile that cancels out the sacred armor of enemies.

Other Characteristics

Mages are versatile. There are ice mages, fire mages, wind mages, lightning mages, and a mix of two and more, and add that with a variety of skills. Knowing which situation matches what element is key to your play.

Also, I believe that Mages are the most gear-reliant in the game. Having access to high-levelled weaponry can net one hit kill to the most sturdy of warriors.While having low-levelled weapons will greatly hinder your damage, hopefully assist XP will alleviate this a bit.

As said in the last section, there are different kinds of mages.

(This might be filler a bit, but a tiny bit of lore is nice, tee hee)



FIRE MAGES

Individuals who seek to sow terror and destruction are well adept using the fire magicks. The Fire mages are known to be the most versatile of mages, they can attack from long range to close quarters combat, from fireballs to exploding mines . Their enchantments directly provide increased damage. They are feared for their power of summoning meteors in the battlefield, causing destruction, and mayhem, and also FPS drops when one person with outdated computer is in that vicinity(he only experiences that though).


LIGHTNING MAGES

Lightning mages are most known for their long ranged attacks. Their lightning strikes have long casting range. Lightning arrows launched to incredibly long distances. Lightning mages also have the most utility of all mages, as their lightning enchant induces enemies to move to "Communication Delay" speeds, and useful to stop opponents in their tracks to get hit by a lightning strike. Their lightning arrows are really useful for killing enemy gates, or just killing the ballistas on the castle.


WIND MAGES

Although mages are a distance class, Wind mages can do exceptionally well in close quarters combat. Wind-enchanted weapons can cause enemies to stagger back with no signs of retaliation. Wind enchant shots are very nasty when they are shot-gunned into an opponents face. Tornado's are very risky to summon as they are needed to be cast near an enemy's vicinity to be useful, but when successful, makes enemy suffer with one hit kills.


ICE MAGES

These individual's heart are tempered to be the very coldest among the mages. Geez, poor chap's only got two spells, what is wrong with you, toylogic?! Anyway, if you've experienced the ice elementals in co-op mode, then you know how fierce the ice mages can be. If you get hit by an ice enchant shot, well good luck getting out of it. Ice mages are good "dispellers" in a respect that they can cancel out cleric's sacred armour. Ice mages are also good supporters in a way that they can immobilise enemy movement, leading into ambush attacks.


And that's it for the four types of mages. I'm not saying anything that this skillsets are the best, nuh-uh. A mix of spells can be good too! After all, wizards must use all their knowledge to be successful assets in the battlefield.

Okay, in-depth skill time!

Fire mages wield three skills to just... destroy everything in their way:


FIRE ENCHANT

Fire enchant is the most straight-forward enchant in the game. Having it into your weapon gives it additional damage. That's it actually.

Fire enchant shots have hitstun in them, meaning that it can cause foes to stop their actions when hit, wait isn't that everything else? Well sure, but fire enchant shots are long ranged so stopping your enemies from afar is a really good benefit.

Super Fire enchant shots (for those of you who don't know, you can simply press F to activate this) are just bigger fireballs that launch off surprisingly fast, moderate damage.


MAGIC NAPALM

Plant star shaped mines, exploding when given command by the caster.

Actually, this can arguably be the skill with the longest casting range, since you can cast while walking, you can just release it by the time you're back to the other side of the battlefield and have the skill still activates! Though I never saw this happen.

Also, this skill can be the most COSTLY skill in the game, each napalm decreases a part of your AP, so the more AP you have, the more mines you can set, and the more consecutive explosions you can get!

The main function of this is a baiting tool, when you are being chased by angry warriors, just set up a napalm and then boom! They fly away. They can kill if you can chain-explode them to bits.


METEOR SHOWER

All hell breaks loose, meteors fall over the place, those struck are killed.

This skill probably takes the most RAM in your device. It needs 3 people to pull off. Unfortunately, the places where meteors gonna strike are random, so it's an unreliable kill tool, but it does give a sense of satisfaction when it pulls off since you know... destruction everywhere.

LIGHTNING ENCHANTMENT

Weakest enchantment EVER, damage-wise. They're like S-tier utility wise. Having this as an enchantment to your weapon would give a chance to your weapon to induce the shock effect, where the enemy would be slowed for a set amount of time.

This enchantment shot is a DoT(Damage over Time) that continuously drains AP but also continuously applies shock to the enemy. It is really useful when there's a stupid backdoorer cleric, you can just zap it with this shot, and they whittle to bits.

The super enchant shot is not a DoT, but like a single burst of electric energy, think of it as an auto-aimed fireball. Great for killsteals, I guess.(Heh)

Other than that, yeah, this enchantment is just a utility shot, spreading shock everywheeere...


LIGHTNING STRIKE

With only a second to warn, a lightning bolt will pierce the heavens into the land, blasting opponents it hits

I bet this is the mage's most famous skill. This skill can be cast over long distances, no obstacles barred since the strike comes from the heavens. how far the enemy will be flung depends on the distance from the strike, the least thing that will be done to the enemies is that they will stagger, while those directly hit will be flung to the heavens.

Really powerful when aimed correctly, providing more chaos over a challenged tower is nice. Though the problem with it is when trying to strike it from afar, since the cursor takes so long to move... compared to the ice enchant shot, so it can also be useful in close quarters, if you summoned it in time before the enemy smacks you, that is.


LIGHTNING ARROWS

Lightning arrows will rain from the sky, decimating enemy armies from afar

Probably the team skill that is easiest to pull off, since you only need one other person to do it. Of course, given the name, this is best done from afar, although this is sometimes used directly at the enemy's castle gate.

This has directional input that is independent to each user.

It can kill, no worries! Placement is key with this skill.

WIND ENCHANT

I'd say, this enchantment is really nice, it can give a good burst when shot-gunned properly. Enchanting this into a weapon makes enemies stagger when hit, giving more opportunities to punish them to death.

The wind enchant shot is a three-pronged wind... shot from the staff. It's most useful when you are in the opponents face then blasting them with this shot. Another good function is to keep enemies at bay, as they stagger when hit.

The super shot is just a much larger, faster version of the normal shot, maybe it can one hit kill burst when shot-gunned?


WIND TRAP

Cast a trap at the user's feet, triggering instantly when an enemy steps into it

I think this is more reliable than napalm's. This is often used to keep enemies at bay, since you just can sit on your trap all day long and when the enemy steps in and damages you, the get blasted back, good trade.

Apparently that's all there is to it, security, and if you're a bit more daring, as a bait and punish tool for punishing chasers.


TORNADO

Summons a tornado that will quickly kill any enemy it touches

Yes, the one-hit killer vortex is part of Wind Mages' arsenal. It requires four people to use, but when pulled off, nothing can stop you, unless they managed to get out of the way.

Remember that you can directional input so that you can steer the tornado.

Yeah, straightforward.

Do note that being a snowman removes sacred armor, I don't know if team skill buffs get removed..


ICE ENCHANT

This enchant is labelled as the most EVIL and most ANNOYING enchant ever. It is highly spammable, TO DEATH.

Putting this into a weapon can give that weapon a chance to make enemies to snowmen. Really handy for ambush attacks.

The enchant shot has an arc, so it can be used to shoot ballista in the castle gate. And... highly spammable, ugh! Better put your shields up when facing an Ice mage, or else you'll be a snowman till death.

I guess this is used as recompense for the 2 skills they only got. ( Maybe the last skill the Ice Mages gotten is that they turn into a walking blizzard like in that scene where Elsa and Anna had a musical conversation in Frozen "I'm such a fool I can't be free!")

The super enchant shot is just a bigger version(as always), but it can't be aimed and thrown from afar. It can act like a mini-blizzard of sorts.


BLIZZARD

The ice mages scream their howls of death, freezing any enemy in a set radius

Remember that damage here is inevitable, snowman isn't. Turning a snowman here is just a high rate. It's useful for stopping enemies, maybe a bait and punish tool (just noticed that all 2nd skills can be a bait and punish tool... okay probably except lightning strike)?

Nonetheless, this is a great offensive support tool so that your teammates can easily decimate their frozen enemies.

Know your ranges.

From shortest to longest. (In terms of projectile distance)


*Fire and Ice enchant shots may be arguable...

From shortest to longest. (In terms of caster distance & Radius)


--- Tier 2 skills



*Magic Napalm and Blizzard May be arguable... Blizzard has circular radius but 0 caster distance, magic napalm has medium- distance and line radius. For the sake of safety, I ranked Magic Napalm 2nd(Though Blizzard can be safe, just risky [ lol irony ] ).

Skill functions


Anti- Material (The build breakers)
This is most useful when you have teammates that can pummel through the castle gate. Make sure no ballista gets built, EVER. Otherwise Magic Napalm/ Lightning arrows to tear the castle gate apart.


Disruptors (Smash and other debuffs, use other enchants to buff)
Team-friendly. Blizzard into the hearts of the enemies and just support your allies with enchants.


All-out WAR (Pick an enchant, 2 skills, and an ultimate, advised to have full wargear before using)
Spam your skills. Priority is ultimate > skill > enchant.


The BAIT (Mobility speed 3 is MANDATORY, most fun to use IMO)
Magic Napalm, EVERYWHERE. Otherwise, stand on your windtrap and use other offensive skills till they are chasing you.


SURVIVING THE BATTLEFIELD
1. Behind the frontlines ALL THE TIME.
2. Spam your enchants for quick XP.
3. Conserve your AP, especially when you don't have the right buffs to be a spammy mage.
4. When chased, use your skills to keep them away, even your enchants have hitstun! use it to get away.(I'm pretty sure you can run and still be alive and if that's not possible, either you got too near in the warzone or didn't use your skills in time.)

Know YOURSELF FIRST

• Do you have high- levelled weaponry. (MANDATORY)
  
• Do you have buffs that will aid you to your victory. (RECOMMENDED)
  
• Do you have what it takes... Ugh I forgot that show to be the MVP?

Well, that is relatively simple, duh knowing yourself is easy, y'know? (Do your sanity checks).

ENEMY TIME!!!

Warriors
If you see highly levelled ones, STAY BACK, SERIOUSLY STAY BACK. They'll kill you in two hits and can easily chase you. They rush blindly, so they'll never notice...


As I said, Wind Trap's easier to execute and much more subtle. These are your defenses. Damage is inevitable, but you'll do a good trade-off. Napalm's for serious destruction, but it takes commitment.

Clerics
They're meatwalls and their the source of all annoyance and troll-ness in HW(if they intend to.) They'll make sure everyone's fit, no one dies on their team, so they're evil!

Anyway, to exterminate these life-giving pests( they're anathema to your death-like destruction):



Typical disruptor stuff, make sure they will never do their jobs, EVER. Add in a bit of lightning strikes in there, but ice enchant shot in itself is already powerful. For the sake of the team!

Mages

ALL SKILLS

First, it's a battle of:
1. Distances
2. Burst to death
3. Better gear ( Lightning bursts very well, never thought of that)

I find it very rare to occur in mage-to-mage combat. It's usually who gets the first hit to win(especially if it's an ice enchant shot! or that napalm...). Obviously fire mages have distinct long range advantage with their snowballs, or use wind enchants to tear that other mage apart.

These combats tend to last... short, so may the best mage win here!

Just try to get anything that would reduce your cooldown, reduce AP costs, and increase your AP reserves. Also movement speed.


Hence...

Reduce cooldown
Conserve AP
Increase Max AP
Mobility speed lvl 3

For offensive upgrades, you could try to get a slayer, warrior preferably, those meat tanks are really hard to kill sometimes, Cleric too. Anyway, a slayer would be good since you can just shut down that class so easy.

Other than that, check the other guide here on steam, they got a specific info on that.