The best role-playing games with illusionist class

Key takeaways

  • Illusion magicians in video games rely on intellect rather than strength to outsmart enemies with apparitions and mental manipulation.

  • Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Guild Wars, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 feature mage classes that excel at using deception to win.

  • Illusion-focused classes in these games can specialize in manipulating minds, creating clones, and pitting enemies against each other.

Anyone who typically chooses to play the role of magic user in video games does so for the satisfaction of outmatching their adversaries with intelligence over strength. While mastering the elements is one aspect of the mage archetype, another is his mastery over the mind. The craft of a real-life magician is based on his ability to weave illusions, create fantastic ghosts and deceive his audience.

A truly magical illusionist is the same, except his audience usually tries to kill him. A good illusionist has the ability to turn the power of his enemies against himself and win battles through mental manipulation and tactical deception. This means that they must outwit their enemies indirectly and not with force. This subtle art can be a challenge to implement, especially in a combat-oriented medium, but some games have managed to pull it out of the hat.

Baldur’s Gate 3 – The illusionist magician

A student specializing in deception

From Baldur’s Gate 3 is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the fifth edition D&DIllusion spells work practically the same as in the pencil and paper game. Mages can specialize in the School of Illusion, granting them access to a host of deceptive abilities, both for use in and out of combat.

While an illusion specialization is possible at character creation (and highly viable throughout the game), an illusion mage will have access to some standard magic spells from the start, but will have plenty of opportunities to continue the path of the illusionist. School of Illusion spells are also available to sorcerers and warlocks, but bards, clerics, and even the arcane trickster and eldrich knight subclasses can make use of them.

Guild Wars – Mesmer

The Masked Master Manipulator

Even among other illusionist magicians, Guild WarsThe hypnotist is unique. While the work of this profession may not be outwardly flashy, the hypnotist has an explosive spell to dominate, control and take down almost all opponents. The effect of his spells takes place in the minds of his enemies. For example, her Empathy spell causes enemies to guess her hits, reducing any damage they would have otherwise dealt to their target and instead hurting themselves.

Mesmers drain their enemies’ energy, a universal resource used to do almost anything from casting magic to charging an attack, and use it to fuel their manipulations. They are known for their ability to interrupt an enemy, nullifying their power of action, thanks to their ability to cast spells much faster than other professions. The Mesmer is not only one of the most powerful professions in Guild Wars, but also one of the most difficult to learn, as its effectiveness depends on the player’s knowledge of other classes and their abilities.

The illustrious school of illusion

Each ancient scrolls Playing with the illusion branch of magic would count towards this list, but Forgot It is technically the last game in the series to feature classes. The mage is an all-round magic user, as no other pre-made class can take advantage of spells like Calm, Frenzy, and the much-loved Invisibility as they can to get a gang of bandits to fight each other while sitting in the same place. the center of their camp.

All Illusion Magic spells come from Bravil, which is where a budding magician of deception should head as soon as he emerges from the sewers. Of course, there’s nothing stopping players from creating their own custom class, the “Illusionist”, from a combination of Intelligence and Personality attributes, perhaps with Speech as an important skill thrown in for good measure.

Guild Wars 2 – The Mesmer (Chronomancer, Mirage, Virtuoso)

The (illusory) attack of the clones

Fight in Guild Wars 2 It can be chaotic, but fortunately, the hypnotist profession thrives in this type of climate. Leaning more towards the performative illusionist, Guild Wars 2Hypnotists use a variety of unusual shaped weapons. They wield torches to spread blindness and become invisible, and use greatswords as a means of firing long-range blasts of arcane energy. However, his main weapons of choice are his clones and ghosts.

Whenever a mesmer attacks, it produces illusory duplicates of itself to distract enemies. The Mesmer can detonate his clones to stun, disrupt, or damage enemies. Their ghosts imitate the techniques and attacks of other professions, such as the warrior’s jab, while the mesmerist remains at a safe distance. Hypnotists break the boundary between the real and the fantastic with their ability to teleport, create portals from one place to another, and transform their victims into pink moa birds.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 – The Trickster

Using deceptive smoke to cause friendly fire

Thematically and mechanically, Dragon Dogma 2The trickster vocation is everything a battle illusionist should be: glassy in a one-on-one fight but untouchable with the right combination of weapon and spell skills. The trickster relies on spreading magical, scented smoke across the battlefield that confuses enemies and causes them to turn against each other. They can summon a simulacrum, a ghostly body double, to draw in the enemy’s heat.

Attaching this double to an enemy causes their allies to attack them. By conjuring illusory floors, enemies can be tricked into running down a cliff to their deaths, and the trickster can even form a dragon from his deceptive smoke to terrify enemies into fleeing. Trickster may seem like a “set it and forget it” vocation, but playing it requires constant decision making, experimentation, and action.


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