Int-mage

Pros: Very high atk, fast lvling
cons: Very low hp, low evasion, low hit rate
Recommended path of lvling: solo or preferably, party with a defender and grind on yellow/orange mobs, or even red if you’re in higher modes. When you’re partying w/defender, make sure that he/she has properly lured mobs before you atk, or else mobs will switch target.
Stats: Pure int, or add in some wis in a 4:1 ratio. You can stop adding wis when you find that you have enough mp to use. Eventually there is a passive that add mp, as well as a skill that converts sp to mp. Pure ints will find themselves drinking lots of mp pots before lvl 25ish due to not enough mp. So therefore, some wis will save you money at early lvls as well. *I personally recommend adding some wisdom!
Later on: do 6:1 (wis), 5:2 (1 wis, 1 rec), or 7:2 (1 wis, 1 rec)

Rec-mage

Pros: high defense, high hp, money-maker, good for soloing
Cons: medium atk
Recommended path of lvling: solo on green mobs that use PHYS. atk (attempting to fight mobs that use mag. atk will be terrible), lure lots of them (at least 5+), you’ll barely take any dmg, then run, then release your AoE skills. the skill fire thorn will help out a lot, because it aggros mobs, and they will take dmg every time they hit you while fire thorn is active. you’ll lvl almost as fast as a pure int. don’t party, it will only reduce exp gained. green mobs won’t cost you much in terms of pots, and you’ll get lots of money off them. use the money to buy a really good weapon to increase your atk.
Stats: Mostly rec, some int/wis. 4:1
Difficult mode: 6:1 (int/wis), 5:2 (1 int, 1 wis) - this build not recommended for ultimate mode

Luck mage
- an interesting build. I’ve heard about its power at later levels, so I put it here as an option. This build is more for later modes when you want to do a different build for fun and power ^^
Pros: amazing crits! highest atk
Cons: slow lvling
Recommended path of lvling: go int-mage or rec-mage, then buy an item mall product that resets stats. or if you don’t want to spend the money, it’s a very slow grind on blues/greens. the amazing crits and misses don’t really show till high lvls. for example, when you have 300 luck pts, your crit rate is only about 50%, but with 400 luck pts, crit rate is almost 80%. so before you crit all the time, you’re weaker than int, rec mages. you also need really good gear in order to lvl decently.
Stats: Mostly luck, some int/wis. You need 500 luck pts, preferably 600 w/ lapis to be a decent luck mage. works out best in ultimate mode, 6:3 or 7:2

Hybrid mages
- a personal combination of stats that you prefer - works best for difficult/ultimate mode
popular types are int/rec, and int/luck. There’s always a few wis pts tossed in there, but very little.

Intuitively, a dex-mage makes sense - dodge rate, right? But this is actually a really crappy build, because everything is low. Low atk, low hp, low mp, low mag. hit rate. Finally, since like luck pts, you need a ton of dex pts to actually dodge a certain % — again, very bad lvling too

Leveling:

In general, mages should kite, especially at early levels. I see the new mages standing there and trying to tank mobs. Nooo! You should cast, cast again, run away if mob is near or hits you, then cast again. Particularly as a ranged class, distance is important. Eventually, rec-mages don’t have to care anymore; they can tank somewhat. Shaiya is also not a potting game. Pots have 30 second delay time, so it’s heals, and then you can’t heal again until 30 secs later. Be prepared, and drink that pot as soon as you feel some pressure. Don’t wait. Another general thing some people don’t realize is that you can jump and swim in the game. When trying to get to your favorite grind spot, save time by jumping over things or swimming.

There’s a lot of complaint going on about skill interruptions and mages being a weak class. Before you complain, you should reflect first ^^ Except doing PvP, PvE should be no problem for you~

Are you picking the mob in the most strategic location?
Int-mages, always pick the most isolated and distant one, to allow for maximum number of casts and to avoid AoE’s surrounding mobs. Rec-mages, cast your AoE’s into most crowded place, but, you should not run into most crowded area.
My skills keep getting interrupted/ I don’t have enough time to cast my spells?
Remember, skills mostly interrupt by either 1)a mob hitting you, or 2)you run before the skill finishes casting. Avoid doing either, and if surrounded by lots of mobs, keep an eye on the hp bar and run in circles. A higher level technique is to dogde- double hitting S (dodge back), Q (dodge left), E (dodge right).
Mobs get too close before I kill them?
Take note of elemental resistance! Use the skills that deal most damage on a particular mob. Finally, know the cast times of your spells! Cast the one that takes the longest first (when you have max distance), and the instant one last.