Shopping for the Mage! Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Like anyone else, Mages may purchase whatever item the player truly wants to buy, with the singular restriction of being banned from building more than one Cursed item at a time. That said, Mages arguably have the single hardest time viably venturing outside of their category in the entire game, simply because an effective Mage is very item hungry to reach power spikes needed to be effective. As such, picking a Mage and then choosing to purchase or build a non-Mage item is generally very ill-advised.

Amulet of Chaos is a Mage item bent on enhancing the user's capabilities when there is more than one foe in the immediate vicinity. By recording a kill or assist, Amulet of Chaos will instantly refresh the cool downs on all three of the buyer's Abilities, letting them sustain more burst AoE damage.

Astral Catalyst is an interesting mesh between trying to counter enemy shields and hastening the rate at which one can access their Ultimate. It allows the buyer to deal 40% extra damage to enemies which actively have a shield applied to them, and it reduces the buyer's Ultimate cool down by 20% of the maximum value whenever they record a kill or assist.

Azure Core is basically the signature item for Gideon, but really, any Mage could theoretically make use of it. It is a Mana Scaling item, so it is most optimally purchased as one's very first item for their build, so that they can scale optimally. Once Azure Core is finished, the player receives one permanent Max Mana for every one CS attained, up to a maximum of four hundred.

Caustica is the go-to Mage item for countering Tanks, as it supplies the buyer with a ton of Magical Penetration and a passive that ignores a huge chunk of their enemies' Magic Armor.

Claw of Hermes is an enigmatic choice for most Mages, and generally finds a home on Lt. Belica builds. It allows the user's Basic Attack to Mana Drain on-hit, which synergizes beautifully with Lt. Belica's base kit. It is a pretty rare sighting for anybody else, however.

Combustion is maybe the single most spammed Mage item of all time, and is something every Mage should have on their build, no matter who they may be. It's effect is simple: every fifteen seconds, the next Ability the user wields that strikes an enemy will gain a hefty added burst of damage output. Given that the Midlane is host to Magical Ability spam, Combustion is a no-brainer for nearly anybody to eventually use.

Dreambinder is an interesting utility Mage pick, as it applies a Slow on-hit to all of the buyer's Abilities.

Entropy is another Anti-Tank Mage item, applying a festering DoT to anyone who the buyer manages to hit with an Ability. The DoT is percent-based on the target's Max HP, making the damage output consistent.

Gaussian Greaves are an awkward fit for most Mages, yet are classified as such. It grants the user a minor out-of-combat movement speed buff and, every ten seconds, lets the buyer do a double jump. If they double jump and when they land, it creates a small magical explosion.

Golem's Gift is, again, a relatively quirky pick for most Mages, but has a bit more broad use. It supplies Mana Regen, which already attracts the interest of Argus players. In addition, it supplies the user with six stacks on each Physical and Magical Armor, with each stack granting six armor, and one stack being lost whenever the user is hit by a Basic Attack. So, in essence, it is a middle ground between being a Tank and a Mage...

Lifebinder is basically guaranteed to show up on the builds of Countess and Morigesh in particular, but any Mage could realistically use it. It applies a nasty Magical Lifesteal to all of the buyer's Abilities.

Magnify, funnily enough, is basically the signature item for Aurora despite the fact Aurora isn't a Mage. Nevertheless, it can certainly see use on actual Mages, as the effect is simple and easy to take advantage of: on striking a target with an Ability, they receive Magical Armor Shred for several seconds. This stacks, so Iggy & Scorch with their Flame Turrets could quickly build Shred stacks up against a reckless opponent, as could Argus with his Particle Shredder.

Megacosm is essentially a different take on Entropy with the exact same DoT effect. The difference lies in the stats it provides for the buyer; Entropy offers Magical Penetration, Megacosm provides Max Health. One could very justifiably put both on their build if they wanted to.

Oathkeeper is a Mage item which seeks to supplement the user's Basic Attacks. On casting an Ability, even if it misses and does no damage, the very next Basic Attack the buyer uses, when it connects, deals extra damage based on their Magical Power.

Orb of Growth is another Mage Scaling item, this one instead seeking to provide a powerful buff when its conditions for evolving into Orb of Enlightenment have been met: on casting an Ability, even if it does no damage, the buyer will heal for 3% of their Max HP. This effect refreshes, but does not stack, tempering but allowing the player to keep the healing going with repeated Ability casts. As well, the item grants a ton of Max Mana and Health to the buyer. This has caused the item to basically become signature on Iggy & Scorch, as well as Shinbi despite Shinbi not being a Mage.

Orion is a very quirky item, one which basically goes hand-in-glove oddly enough with Cursed Ring, despite that item not being a Mage item. It improves the user's Attack Speed by a value equivalent in % to their Ability Haste score. Most Mage items do grant Ability Haste, but most Mages also care very little for their Attack Speed, which makes Orion a pretty awkward fit for most of them.

Overseer is a Mage item centered around enhancing one's Ultimate, by making it much stronger and granting it significant Magical Lifesteal.

Prophecy, much like Orion, is centered around enhancing Attack Speed. This time, however, Prophecy simply provides a flat bonus to Attack Speed as well as Magical damage on-hit. This item is the only means in which one may cause their Basic Attack to deal Magical Damage, which is significant. This item is very popular for early game Lt. Belica builds to wield, and can see use on other Mages such as Morigesh and Howitzer.

Soulbinder is the final Mage Scaling item to be discussed today. It is the only one which scales infinitely too; on hitting an enemy player at a range just outside of the buyer's Basic Attack range, Soulbinder gains one stack. The buyer receives one permanent Magical Power per Soulbinder stack, and Soulbinder stacks do not ever cap. This is basically the signature item of choice for Wraith and Gadget, but could easily see optimal use on any Mage not named Lt. Belica.

Spectral Schematics is another item seemingly trying to create a middle ground between Tank and Mage. On immobilizing the enemy, the buyer will automatically deal 40 flat Magic damage + an extra 6$ of the target's Max HP in damage. Unfortunately, not all Mages actually have the means to immobilize enemies. Howitzer, for example, cannot get any real value out of Spectral Schematics. Hilariously, this is an amazing item for Steel, Mourn and Riktor seeking specifically to play in the Offlane. For actual Mages, it is an awkward fit at best for most of them.

Spellbreaker is probably the single most overrated, overused item in this whole entire game. Its effect is simple; every 20 seconds, the player receives a Spellshield which will automatically block the next incoming enemy Ability. While the shield holds, the buyer receives a boost to the Magical Power. Unfortunately, it is just way too easy for the Spellshield to be consumed way too quickly, and the cool down is so high that the buyer will basically never get it back if they lose the shield in the middle of a fight. While the shield is down, this item is literally useless compared to the rest of the Mage catalogue.

Tainted Scepter is the Mage's entry into the Tainted family of anti-heal items. It is as simple as can be: simply dealing any Magic damage at all in anyway will apply Tainted to the target, and greatly reduce the rate at which they can heal through any means. If the enemy team has a Khaimera, Boris or Grux on it, it doesn't matter what Mage you're playing: you'll be adding this item to your build, supposing you want to actually be able to fight them instead of die pointlessly tickling them while they easily outheal your damage output, anyway.

Timewarp is an excellent pairing with Orion, for those who want to use it, but it is a tremendously valuable Mage item in general. It gives the highest amount of Mana Regen in one item, making it attractive for Argus builds specifically. As well, it grants the user an effect where, every eight seconds, any cooldowns they have to their Abilities are immediately reduced by one extra second.

Worldbreaker's status as a Mage item is confusing, as it seems to do what the Oblivion Crown item does, but for tanks. Both items grant the user a simple percentage based bonus to their Magical Power. Oblivion Crown's bonus is based on the user's Magical Power, while Worldbreaker's is based on the buyer's Max HP. Worldbreaker is basically only for Magical-scaling tanks like Steel, Riktor, Mourn and maybe Kwang. Its effect on actual Mages is directly outclassed by Oblivion Crown, yet Worldbreaker remains a Mage item.

Finally, Wraith Leggings offers the user a little bit of movement speed, and a psuedo-Execute to all of their Abilities. Psuedo-Execute is an effect where the user deals more damage the less HP their target has.