You played Magicka, or plan on buying it? You want to read up a few useful tips to get your bearings around the game, or to help you with your own gaming methods? Look no further. Magicka might be a colorful and funny game but it is also challenging. As you progress to the final stages of the Campaign you will find the need to be a very skilled wizard. Before you get that far though you must learn a few basics which will help you cope in this strange and dangerous world.
Let’s be honest. Wizards were never good with swords.
1. Experiment with the Elements – Magicka has eight different basic elements for you to choose from and experiment with. Certain elements are “fired” in a specific way, or have a specific effects on yourself, and others. In order to realize what you can do with the different elements you have to experiment. Combine Shielding with Health, then cast it as an AoE (Area of Effect). Combine Frost with Earth, and fire it at somebody.
At this point in time, without giving too much away, there are two types of “elements” which you will use for more advanced spells, and it is necessary for your to learn them. Those are Steam and Ice. Steam is produced from combining Fire and Water, Ice from combining Frost and Water. The order in which you combine the elements is important for some spells. When you have a spell which needs, for example, Fire and then Steam, you have to cast Fire, Fire Water, and not Fire, Water, Fire. In the second case instead of having Fire as your first element you will have Steam.
2. Memorize those Magicks! – When you face a demanding opponent you could pause the game and check the formula for the one spell which could get you out of the sticky situation. You will not have this time online, so it is useful to memorize the spells you will use most often. Among these will of course be Haste and Teleport, but there are more Magicks you could use during combat.
3. Stop, Drop and Roll – Wizards can’t swim, are flammable and tend to conduct electricity. What do you do when faced with a river, or when a dragon turned you into a living torch? In the case of crossing water or magma you can use frost. Frost can be used as a spray (right mouse button) or as an AoE (Shift + Right Mouse Button). It is safer to use the AoE because the entire area around you will be frozen. Meanwhile, if you are on fire you can dose the flame by casting water on yourself (middle mouse button). If you are wet, use a bit of fire, also casting it on yourself (you could also cast a fireball nearby, or similar). These are not all of the things that can happen to you. In case something penalizing happens, use the opposite element to recover. It’s the simplest, yet most effective rule. Be careful not to over do it! You could go into a spiral of being wet and on fire.
4. Healthy competition – Health does not regenerate on its own, usually. Instead you have to cast Healing spells on yourself or others. When you use healing be careful that you do not heal your enemies as well. This does not count for the undead, whose weakness is in fact Health magic.
5. Fire with fire? – Sooner or later you will learn the hard way that certain enemies are resistant or even healed by certain elements. You can use this to your advantage however. When fighting undead you could summon an Elemental, enchant it with Health Magic, and then spam Health magic at it, which will heal it and harm the undead nearby. Or you can summon undead and spam Arcane at whatever they are attacking, healing them at the same time.
6. Sharp end of the stick – Although you can find weapons in the main campaign, challenge maps and Versus they are a bit risky to use. Hitting an enemy calls for a bit of practice, unless you are completely mobbed. Most weapons will be too weak to make their use worthwhile, but some weapons have additional properties, making them useful to carry around. Play Challenge maps to practice with the countless weapons available in Magicka, so that you know what to use in the future.
7. Stave galore – Just like with weapons, there are plenty of staves for you to choose from. Most staves are in some way unique, and you will quickly work out a preference for some of them. Surprisingly enough, even the most “pathetic looking” staff will be good for certain tasks. The Gnarled staff which druids drop allows you to summon earth spirits. The Staff of Emergency Teleport will allow you to get out of a sticky situation. Some special robes will give you access to decent “starting” staves. Once again, experiment!
8. Know your foe – Certain enemies are more predictable than others. A goblin will not surprise you with anything, but fighting a Deep One could be a shock when you incidentally electrocute yourself. As you play through the game you will meet a wide range of foes, which could later appear in Challenge maps. Knowing what to expect from them allows you to prepare your spells accordingly. This also includes, choosing the correct weapons and staves.
9. Friendly Fire! – Let us be honest. In the heat of the moment one of your friends is bound to die, horribly. Maybe you combined the wrong beams, or that thunderbolt hit the wrong target. Whichever the case, do not be stressed out when it happens. When you will continue to play through the maps you will see that it is sometimes impossible not to kill a friendly. During those moments you must quickly revive and heal them. Anybody who is revived will start with his basic equipment, but unless they were completely smashed, fell off the map, drowned or were sucked into a vortex, their old equipment should remain where they died.
10. POWER! – When you cast spells you will notice a few things. The more of the same element you use the more powerful the spell. Spells that can be charged up by holding down the right mouse button will do even more damage. For example, using a spell with a single earth element will allow you to chuck a rock at somebody. If instead you used five earth elements you would throw a sizable and deadly boulder. This does not mean that combining elements creates a weaker spell. You simply have to use as many elements as possible.
Although filling up all those five slots with elements is a good idea, especially when you have to deal a lot of damage, whenever you are charged up your movement speed will be greatly reduced. Walking around with a ready spell made up of five elements will make you an easy target.
Lastly, you can combine beams, to create a single more powerful beam. This can usually be only achieved online, but sometimes you can turn an opponent’s beam, and use it against his friends. If by mistake two opposite beam types meet (Arcane meets Health, for example) there will be an explosion at the meeting point of the beams. Enemies will occasionally do this to themselves, so you will have a chance to see how a seemingly good spell can go awry.
