I'd like to first say thanks for putting in the work to update DO, TKT and Burn. TKT now being able to function with Naphtha and having yavash slivers ignite makes it perhaps the most versatile and interesting TM in the game currently. I also think the changes for Burn and DO were exactly what the guild needs in general to fit into the gaining power when the moons are up and feeling weaker without them.

I still think there needs to be something done for the earlier levels to help even out the progression into casting spells that are meaningful and impact gameplay. I recently started a new bard, trader, paladin and also a new moon mage in order to get a feel of how early game plays out and I must say that the moon mage felt underwhelming compared to them in terms of magic power, utility and ease of training. Aside from the Trader that is who I feel also suffer from the issues of lunar magic including the added variable of cloud cover.

I have a few observations after the experience that I would like to share. Overall in the big picture the guild is still in an amazing spot. The lore in general for the guild is un matched in my mind and the quality of many of our spells has remained intact and even improved over the years. More or less I just want to spark some discussion and hear others thoughts on the current state of the guild and what ideas they have for moving forward.

Moonblade Should become an intro spell that unlocks for 1 spell slot after you learn Focus moonbeam. Shape and empower moonblade should also be made easier and be something that the mage can start using sooner. The roundtime for shaping are so long at low ranks is also impractical. It also takes far too much skill to break them into shards to use with TKT. This should be something you can do right away. The moonblade and TKT should be what you begin training with and they should grow with the mage. In the long term Shape Moonblade should scale with skill, allowing at higher ranks to shape it into any melee weapon type. The fact they can already make a staff and a claymore makes one wonder as to why they can't form a maul or spear while they were at it as a primary magic guild. Tertiary trader magic can create whole suits of armor.

Teleport and moongate in the new world of DR are delightfully redundant. You don't require either to get around fast anymore, they really don't do anything to help improve your quality of life and they are very unwieldy, taking a long time to be able to function at all. The amount of skill and time they take to learn to use well is more than enough time for a new player to learn to live without them, and never care about them. Especially considering the only real trademark they leave us is to kill ourselves.

Calm Dazzle and hypnotize are all very underwhelming and redundant. To say the least they basically serve as a way to clog up the spell book. You cast calm while training and first off the mobs leaves the room, second you can't even learn from casting it again on the same target. Stun foe and Aether Wolves are both superior in function and power. I mean as a Bard with Aether wolves you can start at circle one using an AOE cyclic to immobilize anything you face and lock debilitation in short fashion while still chain casting breath of the storms. Stun foe works better to train because you can just do it. It doesn't have annoying mechanics like requiring a moon up or making the target leave the room, and you can learn by casting it over and over.

You would think that as a primary magic guild we would be better at magic, but when compared to secondary and tertiary magic guilds the only thing that stands out is that moon mages are actually less proficient if anything. As a moon mage when asking about new spells you are more often told you don't have the skill to cast them despite them doing nothing that secondary or tertiary magic spells aren't doing with less ranks. You also aren't able to learn all your spells and still have the same or equal gaps in your spellbook as other guilds with half the spells. They just realize they have less slots I guess so they made their books more efficient. Who knows.

The prediction suite released including read the ripples are more or less just there to make Astrology functional. Until you have very high ranks astrology is not reliable at all to cover the missing gaps in the spellbook and even then its still a gamble. Many of the spells and abilities that were gutted from the guild left a power void. The Trade off in power is no longer present in the guild to justify the Randomness of astrology or the Limited window that spells can be used. Particularly since our spells are not more powerful than spells that do not come with caveats.


"An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells; If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else. No! you won't 'eed nothin' else"