Mage 90–99: Crit and Penetration Builds

What a Mage at level 90–99 should wear, learn and slot. Two play styles — Attack + Crit and Attack + Penetration — and three modes: Abyss, League Expedition and Secret Realm. Numbers come from the game data as checked on 13.10.2026; names are the ones used in the English version of the game.

Key points

• At 90–99 the Mage plays on ice. The core skill is Frostfocus, the set is Dark Gate. By the portal's calculation this kit hits with the core skill 18% harder than the fire kit with Dragonbreath (calculated).
• The Ice Howl Staff and Deep Cold Gauntlets work for the same skill. The set, staff and gauntlets all boost one Frostfocus — so in the talent tree your Core skill must be Frostorb, not Flamehand.
• The staff and gauntlets only work when the node of their skill is learned. If you stay on the fire tree, the ice items give stats only.
• Frostspread is 1.35× weaker than Frostfocus by calculation in each of the nine scenarios of the model.
• No more than two identical emblems per pet, even if they are different colours.
• Magic stones need a Star and a Moon. Without stones of these shapes the combination bonus does not turn on.
• A Penetration gem does not fit into the weapon. Weapons only take Attack, Hit Rating and Crit gems. At 90–99 gems go up to level 9.
• Passive rows IV–VI and the 4th and 5th inscription slots are unlocked by class promotion: Inscription Rating 1000, 2500 and 7000.
• The Oracle opens at level 90 — start saving materials in advance.

Equipment

There are no level 99 items in the game. Items come in steps, and by the end of the range you wear the best that exists:

Staff and gauntlets

• Ice Howl Staff (Lv. 96): Frostfocus damage +46.8%; a monster can be instantly crushed by an ice orb with a chance (the lower its health, the higher the chance); Core skill cooldown −15%.
• Deep Cold Gauntlets (Lv. 96): after a Tactical skill, the next Frostfocus deals 180% more damage.

Set: cloak, shoulders, chest, legs

Wear Dark Gate. It boosts the same Frostfocus as the staff and gauntlets.

• 2 pieces — +2.5% Combat Penetration Boost, Core skill cooldown −15%;
• 4 pieces — Frostspread and Frostfocus: damage +120%.

Why not Death Wish. Death Wish boosts Snowstorm and Slowing Blizzard by 110% — Tactical skills. But you use a Tactical skill three times less often than the Core one: in the Abyss, 31 casts in 400 seconds against 94. So by the portal's calculation Dark Gate with the ice staff and gauntlets is stronger (calculated).

Accessories

Each slot has two effects to choose from. Which is better depends on your build.

Slot	Main choice	Replacement
Ring, 94	Shimmering Vision: +3% damage bonus and another +0.5% for each socketed gem of level 9 or higher, up to +8%	Demon Hunter: damage to mobs and bosses +5%
Necklace, 94	Elven Artificer: +3% damage bonus and another +1% for each Soul Forging level on this item	Step into Eternal Night: after the Ultimate skill, damage +10% for 10 s
Bracers, 98	Pack Leader: after a pet skill, 8% of the energy spent is returned	Thunder Curse Domain: when a basic attack hits, 30% chance of a lightning strike (damage rate 400%)
Mark, 98	Swordplay Master: while health is above 30%, +6% damage bonus	—

The ring's threshold is level 9 gems: change the ring together with the gems. If you have fewer than five level 9 gems, Demon Hunter may be better (3% + 5 × 0.5% = 5.5% is already above 5%) ❔: the two kinds of bonus cannot be compared by the game's formula.

Attack + Crit: gems, special effects, refinement

Slot	Gem	Special effects (left = more important)	Refinement (3 lines)
Weapon, 96	Crit	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Accuracy, Unyielding	Attack, Attack Bonus, Penetration Bonus
Gloves, 96	Crit	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Boom Boom Boom Boom!, Luck	Crit Bonus, Crit, Hit Bonus
Cloak, 90	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration, Stable Victory	Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus, Penetration
Shoulders, 90	Attack	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Boom Boom Boom Boom!, Penetration	Damage Bonus, Attack Bonus, Penetration
Chest, 92	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Luck, Unyielding	Crit, Attack Bonus, Penetration Bonus
Legs, 92	HP	Boom Boom Boom Boom!, Luck, Penetration, Unyielding	Crit Bonus, Damage Bonus, Crit
Ring, 94	Crit	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration, Stable Victory	Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus, Penetration
Necklace, 94	Crit	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Accuracy, Unyielding	Attack, Attack Bonus, Penetration Bonus
Bracers, 98	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Boom Boom Boom Boom!, Penetration	Crit Bonus, Damage Bonus, Attack Bonus
Mark, 98	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Luck, Unyielding	Crit, Attack Bonus, Penetration Bonus

Attack + Penetration: gems, special effects, refinement

Slot	Gem	Special effects (left = more important)	Refinement (3 lines)
Weapon, 96	Crit or Attack (Penetration does not fit into the weapon)	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Accuracy, Unyielding	Penetration Bonus, Attack Bonus, Attack
Gloves, 96	Penetration	Courage Blessing, Sharpness	Crit Bonus, Hit Rating, Crit
Cloak, 90	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration, Stable Victory	Penetration, Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus
Shoulders, 90	Attack	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration	Penetration, Damage Bonus, Attack Bonus
Chest, 92	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Unyielding	Penetration Bonus, Attack Bonus, Attack
Legs, 92	HP	Penetration, Unyielding	Penetration, Damage Bonus, Crit
Ring, 94	Penetration	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration, Stable Victory	Penetration, Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus
Necklace, 94	Penetration	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Accuracy, Unyielding	Penetration Bonus, Attack Bonus, Attack
Bracers, 98	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Penetration	Attack Bonus, Penetration, Damage Bonus
Mark, 98	Evasion	Courage Blessing, Sharpness, Unyielding	Penetration Bonus, Attack Bonus, Attack

• "Attack" is a flat amount, "Attack Bonus" is a percentage. The same goes for Crit, Penetration and Hit Rating. "Damage Bonus" increases all damage.
• Everything in the Refinement column can roll when you refine that slot ❔: the rule lives on the server and cannot be checked from the data.
• Four special effects only appear on Golden Flashing items. A regular Mythic item has two or three, so pick them from left to right. On bracers, aim for Boom Boom Boom Boom!, not the weaker Boom Boom!: on items 90–98 it gives +17% Crit against +6.8% for Boom Boom!.

Skills and passives

Which skills to take

Max out each of the four branches: the skill, Mage Skill Enhancement and the bottom node (Major Upgrade for the Basic skill, Medium Upgrade for the others). That is 40 points. Another 9 go into the three passive rows and 1 into Mage Stat 2. 50 out of 50 in total.

Slot	Abyss	Secret Realm	League Expedition
Basic	Lightning Lash	Frostbolt	Lightning Lash
Core	Frostfocus	Frostfocus	Frostfocus
Tactical	Slowing Blizzard	Slowing Blizzard	Slowing Blizzard or Snowstorm
Ultimate	Missilestorm	Missilestorm	Missilestorm

• Core skill — Frostorb → Frostfocus. The same branch has Frostspread, but by calculation it is weaker by a factor of 1.35 in every scenario. The portal has no separate calculation for the League Expedition ❔: if you have measured a gain from Frostspread there yourself, keep it — the Glacier Staff and Freeze Gauntlets boost exactly that skill.
• Flamehand (fire) and Frostorb are mutually exclusive branches: choosing one closes the other.

Which Tactical skill

The portal calculates a skill's "share" in a fight (higher is better; compare only within a column) (calculated):

Tactical skill	Abyss (26 targets)	Secret Realm (5 targets)	One boss
Slowing Blizzard	300	83	16.7
Chain Lightning	278	77	15.5
Paralyzing Lightning	255	71	14.2
Snowstorm	146	80	17.7

• In the Abyss and on floors with several targets — Slowing Blizzard. The leader is ahead of second place by 5–8%, so Chain Lightning is also fine. Against a single boss — Snowstorm.
• Paralyzing Lightning comes last everywhere in the calculation, but it paralyzes the target: if control matters to you, count that as a plus ❔.
• Deep Cold Gauntlets boost Frostfocus after any Tactical skill, so the choice does not depend on the gauntlets.

Passives: Class Core Passive and Core Passive

These are the three bottom rows in Talent. In each row you pick one node, left or right. The rows are unlocked by class promotion, not by level.

• In row T5 the right node gives the same bonuses, but after a Tactical skill. You use the Core skill three times more often (and its cooldown is shorter with the staff and set), so take the left one.
• Until you reach T6, put the spare points into Mage Stat 2 (+1.5% Crit Bonus per point) for a crit build, or into Mage Stat 1 (+1% Penetration Bonus per point) for a penetration build.

Inscriptions

At first you have the main inscription and two support ones. The 4th slot unlocks at T4 (Total Inscription Rating 1000), the 5th at T5 (2500). The main inscription is listed first.

Abyss

Sin Domain or Arcane Domain + Stasis Field, Pause Field, Mirror Device, Winterless Art.

In a long fight both domains give about the same, around 15–16% damage. The game's own Balance preset suggests Arcane Domain. These domains do not wait for a cooldown, so Stasis Field and Pause Field, which lengthen it, do not hurt them.

League Expedition

• Crit, option 1: Sin Domain + Stasis Field, Pause Field, Mirror Device, Daybreak Art.
• Crit, option 2: Vengeance Domain + Dreamforge Art, Dawnflower Art, Lone Lamp Art, Daybreak Art. There are no fields here that speed up Vengeance, so it triggers at the 30th second of the fight.
• Penetration: Sin Domain + Stasis Field, Pause Field, Mirror Device, Winterless Art.

Secret Realm

• Normal floors: Vengeance Domain + Quick Field, Rapid Field, Daybreak Art, Lone Lamp Art. With these fields Vengeance Domain triggers as early as the 6th second. The game's own Extreme Speed preset suggests the same set.
• Hard floors: Vengeance is delayed so it triggers closer to the boss.
  • Vengeance at the 21st second: Vengeance Domain + Quick Field, Dreamforge Art, Dawnflower Art, Flowfire Art.
  • Vengeance at the 16th second: Vengeance Domain + Quick Field, Speed Field, Dreamforge Art, Dawnflower Art.

When Vengeance Domain triggers

Without fields, Vengeance Domain first triggers at the 30th second of the fight. Fields move this time: percentages add up, and Speed Field subtracts 5 seconds.

Specialization: Concentrated Exploding Star

When the Mage stands still for 2 seconds, a special missile appears. While the Mage does not move, the missile gets stronger every second, up to five times. It fires when the Mage moves, or by itself 8 seconds after reaching full charge. Specialization nodes make the missile stronger. There are 20 points in total; each new point takes 12 hours to create.

How missile damage is calculated

• The missile hits with a 200% damage rate; each charge adds 300%: a full charge is 1700%.
• Missile Enhancement 5/5 adds +200% per charge: +1000% at full charge.
• Strength Through Reserve 3/3 adds +300% to a missile with four charges and +900% to a full charge. The in-game tooltip says +600%, but the data says +900%.
• With both nodes a full charge hits at 3600% — a third stronger than without Strength Through Reserve (2700%).

Why it differs by mode

• Abyss. You stand at the boss and have time to charge the missile fully. Charged Explosion only works from weak shots and resets after a strong one, so here Strength Through Reserve and Blazing Missile take its place.
• League Expedition. Energy Accumulation Timing only speeds up the automatic shot, down to 2 seconds, so its points are better spent on Strength Through Reserve and Blazing Missile. If you have to move a lot, you can keep one point in Energy Accumulation Timing.
• Secret Realm. You keep running through the floor, and the missile fires weak, not fully charged. Charged Explosion rewards exactly these shots, so here it replaces Strength Through Reserve.

Magic stones

Stone slots unlock when the specialization has 20 points. If the five slots hold stones of five different shapes — round shield, triangle, tower shield, star and moon — the combination bonus turns on. Only the shape of the stone matters.

Set with the Chain Explosion bonus: Swiftstrike Round Shield, Howler Triangle, Strategist Tower Shield, any Star, any Moon. The Chain Explosion combination bonus makes the missile explode a second time more often: +20% chance, 50% together with the Chain Explosion node.

Wound Control set (not verified). If you take all five stones for Wound Control (pet damage), there will be no Star and no Moon among them, and the combination bonus will not turn on. It is also unknown whether Wound Control works at all: the game client does not use it when calculating damage. Only measuring damage in combat can tell.

Potentials:

• Specialization Empowerment raises missile damage at every stage, and therefore its second explosion too: it is the same shot. It does not change the chance of the second explosion.
• Specialization Resonance only boosts Arcane Echo for the Mage.

Artifacts

Each artifact has nodes for different skills. Cores go into the nodes of the skills you actually hit with.

Artifact	What to slot
Eye of the Fallen Titan (Lv. 64, basic skills)	Frostbolt and Lightning Lash
Pipe of Insight (Lv. 70, core skills)	Frostfocus (extra damage that grows with the number of debuff types on the target); Frostspread can be the second; fill both defensive slots
Flame of Paradise (Lv. 74, tactical skills)	The node of your Tactical skill: Slowing Blizzard (+5 extra hits) or Snowstorm (extra area damage at the end); fill both defensive slots
Destiny Tome (Lv. 80, ultimate)	Missilestorm (+20 missiles); fill all three defensive slots

If you play Chain Lightning or Paralyzing Lightning, Flame of Paradise has nodes for them too: Chain Lightning — a chance of a second explosion and a bonus for each Basic skill use; Paralyzing Lightning — extra damage for each type of debuff.

Cores: Attack + Crit

• Corrupted Will - Decay — when any skill is used, 20% chance to apply burn, bleed, slow or paralysis to the target for 5 seconds and deal an extra hit. The more different debuffs on the target, the stronger the hit.
• Insight Oak - Perception — the Basic and Core skills hit harder on a wounded target: +3% for every 15% of health it has lost.
• Heaven Core - Burning — when the target has three or more different debuffs, there is a 15% chance to cast Missilestorm instantly; afterwards all debuffs are removed.

Cores: Attack + Penetration

• Corrupted Will - Spread — after the Core and Tactical skills, there is a 30–35% chance to cast the Basic skill as well.
• Insight Oak - Perception — same as for crit.
• Heaven Core - Ascension — each Basic skill use boosts the next Missilestorm by 2%.

Fourth core (Destiny Tome) — by mode

• Abyss — Fate Secret - Omen. Damage grows during the fight: every 12 skills cast give +0.8%, up to +12.8%. For long boss fights.
• League Expedition — Fate Secret - Constant. If you stand still for more than 3 seconds, damage +8%. The bonus disappears when you move.
• Secret Realm — Fate Secret - Fading. Attacks apply a bleed, and the target takes extra damage while it moves.

Numbers are for top-quality cores. Decay and Spread go into the same slot of the Eye, so you pick one of the two. Fill the defensive slots: they have their own limit and do not take anything away from attack. Power Nexus and Strong Nexus boost different skills, and which is better depends on the fight (not verified).

Pet emblems

Each of the three pets in the team has its own slot shape: the first has triangles (△), the second hexagons (⬡), the third diamonds (◇). The fifth slot is already open. No more than two identical emblems per pet. "Unique" means only one per team. Numbers are for top-rank emblems.

Level 90 emblems appear on the server in waves: the first wave from day 83, the second from day 139. There are no level 100 emblems — level 110 comes right after 90. The main setups are for a server older than 139 days; if your server is younger, take the replacements from the "before day 139" rows.

Attack + Crit

Pet	What to slot	Total
△ First (all Unique)	Rampaging Hydra · Hellwyrm · Wrath Tyrannosaur · Frenzied Blackdragon · Fel Hydra	Attack 2150, Penetration 1050, Damage Bonus 64.1%
△ after day 139	the same, but Nightshade Blackdragon instead of the tyrannosaur	Attack 2150, Penetration 1750, Damage Bonus 68.3%
⬡ Second	Rampaging Greendragon (Unique) · Phantom Lavagiant ×2 · Wind Sprite ×2	Crit Bonus 184.7%, Penetration 1100, Evasion 3500
⬡ before day 139	Tyrannosaur ×2 instead of the giant	Crit Bonus 137.9%
⬡ after day 139, with Attack Bonus	Rampaging Greendragon · Nightshade Tyrannosaur (Unique) · Phantom Lavagiant ×2 · Wind Sprite	Crit Bonus 156.1%, Crit 1100, Attack Bonus 15.9%
◇ Third	Ice Bear ×2 · Bio Giant ×2 · Phantom Statue	Crit 800, Penetration 1300, Attack 1100, Evasion Bonus 95.4%
◇ before day 139	Lava Giant instead of the statue	the same, Attack 650

Attack + Penetration

Pet	What to slot	Total
△ First	the same five Unique emblems as for crit	Attack 2150, Penetration 1050–1750, Damage Bonus 64–68%
⬡ Second	Shadow Broodmother ×2 · Firekin ×2 · Frenzied Tyrannosaur (Unique)	Penetration Bonus 128.3%, Attack 650, Evasion 3500
◇ Third	Bio Giant ×2 · Spider ×2 · Phantom Statue	Penetration 2620, Attack 1100, Defense Bonus 38.2%, Evasion Bonus 57.2%
◇ before day 139	Lava Giant instead of the statue	the same, Attack 650
◇ after day 139, more attack	Phantom Statue ×2 · Bio Giant ×2 · Spider	Attack 2200, Penetration 1960

Spider, like the imps in the previous range, is given for Bounty Quests and sold in the alliance contribution shop. League Trial emblems (Orc Archer, Troll Shaman and others) are hidden in the data, so I did not use them as replacements.

Pets

• Abyss and League Expedition: Meteor (crit) or Dancer (penetration), Light Howl, Flame Demon. If you do not have the Demon, take Brightwing or Hornbash.
• Secret Realm, normal floors: Soulclaw, Light Howl, Meteor or Dancer.
• Secret Realm, hard floors: Flame Demon, Light Howl, Meteor or Dancer.

Meteor strikes again on a crit, so it is for crit builds. Dancer weakens the target on non-critical hits, so it is for penetration builds. Night Shadow Leopard is not in our version of the game yet.

Badges

• Crit: Companion Along the Way, Midnight Run, Free Rider.
• Penetration: Long Journey, Midnight Run, Free Rider.

Set bonuses turn on at levels 3, 6, 9 and 10. The set level equals the lowest badge level in it, so level your badges evenly.

Oracle

The Oracle opens at level 90. It has five stages: War Oracle, Wisdom Oracle, Future Oracle, Wealth Oracle and Mind Oracle. A prayer in a stage gives permanent and random stats for 168 hours.

How it works. Points accumulate in each stage separately. When the threshold is reached you can pray: the prayer spends its cost, and the bonus lasts 168 hours. Re-rolling the random stats costs 100 points. A stage opens when all the previous ones are open.

What earns points (the same for every stage):

Material	Points each
Statue Offerings	100 (from the Inscription Prayer and the Badge Lottery)
Inscription Essence	2 (from wild map exploration, Hard Raid floors and the resource shop)
Inscription Essence	2 (from converting surplus inscription shards; in the game two items share this name)
Moonlight Cloth	5
Demon Cloth	10
Frostwoven Cloth	20
Silk Thread	1
Magic Pattern Thread	10
Rune Thread	100

What it gives. The values depend on the World Level of the server, not on your character level. Below are World Levels 90 and 100; the numbers grow as the World Level rises (at 120 the Penetration of the highest of the seven grades is already 1830).

The chances of the seven grades are 20 / 20 / 20 / 17 / 16 / 5 / 2%: the top two are rare, and the 100-point re-roll exists to hunt for them.

Towards level 100

• At 100 items of level 100–108 and level 10 gems become available. The next ring step counts only level 10 gems and up, so change it together with your gems.
• At 100 the fire set Outland Echo (it boosts Dragonbreath) is available again, and at 110 the ice set Eternal Imprisonment. What is better at 100–109 depends on whether you stay on ice: the staff and gauntlets effects are tied to the node of the chosen Core skill.
• Inscription Rating 7000 means T6 and the T6 passive row. If you have not reached it yet, start now.

(calculated) — computed from game data, not tested in combat. (not verified) and ❔ — the rule lives on the server and cannot be confirmed from the data.

Not tested: actual damage in combat, whether Rapid Strike and Wound Control work, which special effects can roll on which slot, which Core skill is better in the League Expedition, how many Statue Offerings the lottery gives.