Ok, so before I read anything here I was pretty sure (based on a stratics post) that I wanted a chiv mage, but now I am not so sure. I would like to kill people.... with a mage. I would like to kill them with a dexxer too but that would require a different post.

Currently my mage looks like this:

Magic Resistance 120.0 120.0 +( 1.6)
Evaluating Intelligence 115.0 115.0
Meditation 115.0 115.0
Focus 87.6 87.6
Magery 76.7 99.7 -( 22.9)
Inscription 70.0 70.0
Armslore 50.0 50.0
Chivalry 50.0 50.0

Str 99 99
Dex 41 34 (+7)
Int 110 110

The magery has a 120 on it, and I have a crystaline ring that will take me to 100, hence it is only at 100. That ring also gives me 20 focus (I think).

I have an orny, rune beetle thingy, that ring, and the inquistors resolution on my mage currently. The rest is barbed crap so I can cast !!!! in my house. I dont want to make a nox mage (doing that with my dexxer), I was thinking of raising chiv just to keep me alive, but then I started reading the forums and now I am confused! Hiding always seemed like a good skill to have on a PK... I have no problem runnin like a schoolgirl, the best part of valor is discretion.

What the flying !!!! in the name of baby jesus (the 5lb 6oz xmas jesus) are the current skill modifier caps? I mean the HCI, the SDI, DFI, and the mage related ones. For some reason (last time I played was a few years back) I remeber them being lower then they appear to be now? Or was that just my lack of understanding? LMC is still capped at 40%? LRC you obviously dont need to have over 100.

I signed up in a guild that does champ spawns frequently, so I plan to join them once I can figure out that that whole on my backside is a place for poop...

Drop Armslore, raise Inscription to GM (you only get the bonus at GM)

If you plan to keep your Focus, do so in 20 pt intervals (ie drop it to 80 or raise it to 100)

If you don't plan to keep Focus (it really isn't necessary) pick up a weapon skill or wrestling and take it as high as you can afford. If you plan to do this, you could also drop Inscription and pick up Parry (I would suggest this).

That would leave you with:

120 Resist
115 Eval
115 Med
100 Magery (120 w/ring)
100 Inscription (or 100-120 Parry)
100-120 WeaponSkill
=650 - 690 skill pts Total

If you have a 720 cap, and have around 50 pts left I'd keep the Chiv for Close Wounds.

well ya, I wasnt planning on keeping armslore (advanced character came with the template)

I dont plan to keep the focus, it got raised as a side effect of training magery.

Inscription has a bonus to SDI thats over the cap? Is it worth it instead of taking like necro/SS (or do you need a weapon with necro?)

Is it worth it to take wrestling over a weapon skill?

Necro/Mage is always a viable option (albeit with the "gimp" label). No weaponskill is necessary (although it doesn't hurt).

120 Resist
115 Eval
115 Med
100 Magery (120 w/ring)
120 Necro
120 Spirit Speak
=690 skill pts Total

Advantages to Wrestling over Weaponskill:
Being able to use a spellbook (ie Scrappers Compendium)
Special Moves - Dis-Arm and Paralyze
Not having to worry about having Spell Channeling AND Fast Cast on a weapon.

Advantages to Weaponskill over Wrestling:
Use of other Special Moves - Bleed, Dismount, Nerve Strike, etc.
Another avenue to deal damage

use a mage weap if possible if you don't have wrestle or a weap skill...such as magi staff, or swords of prosp.
You will get hit alot less that way....

ya ok, my friend told me that I should pick up macing + tactics...

So then my template would be something like:

120 resist
120 macing
115 EI
115 Med
100 magery (120 with ring)
100 tactics?

That gives me 50 points to mess with... 30 if I take tactics to 120. Could I just keep chiv for back up healing? Or will it be completely useless if I tank my karma.... see murdering people.

put 50 points into bushido so you can Lightning Strike. It can only help.... You can lower your tactics down a bit too, to get more bushido too.

drop tactics and medi for bush/parry
get lots of mr
drop macing for swords, and get a bokuto

120 swords
120 bush
120 parry
120 mage
120 ei
120 resist

-rest into some necro possibly for vamp embrace...if not that then id say into chiv for divine.remove curse...

keep shield hand open, carry lots of pots (even if in vamp can still use GH pots just have to wait for the vamp form to tick...and arch-cure if u get lp'd)

actually imo u are better off w/o vamp form

carry lots of pots, red yellow and orange
keep free hand
drop the crystalline for an ecru citrine w/ 75% ep on it...and possibly some fcr depending on if u use inquis or not...

what would the stats look like on a template like this.

Oh and sorry bout this a little off topic, but how do you repair a spirit of the totem? I can't seem to do it.