If you are fond of playing cyberpunk fantasy games, then Shadowrun Hong Kong will undoubtedly excite you. However, you will have to go with the best build for the characters, especially mage, to get the best experience. So how do you optimize your build to get the most OP shadow running experience? Stick around this guide as we show you what equipment to acquire and allocate your karma to get the best mage build.
Since Shadowrun Hong Kong races don’t share equal stature, your best bet for excelling with a mage is Dwarf. It gets the highest Willpower and is a perfect choice for a race. However, the build that we will be showing you fares well in every condition, regardless of the race you choose. Our OP mage build will allow you to excel in every race as it cheats the system and provides maximum Willpower to the players.
However, if you don’t want to cheat the system and play a fair game, Dwarf will be your best choice.
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Shadowrun Hong Kong Mage Stat Allocation
Shadowrun Hong Kong runs a Bonus Campaign, and by the end of it, you should have 230-240 karma in your bag. The number varies if you play a regular game and should be around the 215-220 mark. However, it’s a rough estimate, and it varies based on two conditions. Firstly on your race selection and secondly, on the amount of optional karma collected during the game.
Let us take a look at the core build that you would probably have around mid-game:
- Cyberware Affinity 3
- Intelligence 4
- Willpower 8
- Body 6
- Charisma 4
- Spirit Summoning 3
- Conjuring 1
- Spellcasting 8
Since you accumulated a max of 240 karmas and all these items should cost around 120 karmas, it will leave you with 120 karmas at the end, which can tempt you to max out your Spellcasting/Willpower. However, it would be best to play along based on what you want to specialize in and not divide your build. Additionally, the game provides +1 spellcasting through items and +3 Willpower through cyberware or items.
Many players shift their focus on a secondary build at the halfway stage rather than developing their mage build, such as Decking (to replace Is0bel) or Conjuring )for Hastel IV). Since our guide focuses more on perfecting the mage build in Shadowrun Hong Kong, we will provide the best build for a mage.
Cyberware Tank Mage
After several days of gameplay, research, and testing, we have finally landed on a perfect build. Below are the stats that you should have by the end.
- Cyberware Affinity 6
- Intelligence 5 (4)
- Spirit Summoning 3 (4)
- Spellcasting 9 (10)
- Body 9 (11)
- Willpower 8 (11)
- Qi Casting (5)
- Quickness 6 (7)
- Conjuring 1
- Dodge 6 (8)
- Charisma 5 (7)
You can see, we have used all our karma acquired in the game on this build, and this is by far the most straightforward and effective mage builds that we have developed. We tried a lot of mage characters with this build, including Shaman. However, many would argue that we should have given the Conjuring spell importance. But after having tried so many builds, we felt the conjuring spell was useless and only useful for Hastle IV. Additionally, it will save you 56 karmas, which you can spend on other items.
As we mentioned earlier, we tried this build on several mage characters and out which Rigger delivered the most devastating damage in the game. This build will help you a lot, and leaning into the tanking territory means more damage for a mage. Furthermore, standing on Dragon Lines provides you with a big bonus.
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Our build will help you to end the game with various benefits, which include:
- You will have perfect Spellcasting and Willpower
- You will have 110 Health
- You will end up with the maximum armor (10 Armor)
- You will have 7 Quickness
- You will end up with 8 Dodge
So what about the other items in the build? Well, here is a rundown of why you need them.
1. Charisma 5 – Having Charisma 5 allows you to get Spell Focus: Life Siphon 2 for free. This item will enable you to pass the Charisma 7 check when the game ends.
2. Conjuring 1 – It allows you to use a Spirit Fetish, which rewards you with a +1 Charisma. Additionally, it also provides a +1 Spirit Control bonus.
3. Spirit Summoning 3 – It unlocks a totem, where you can pick the Fish (+10% Dodge) or Cobra (+1 DMG, +5% accuracy). For our build, we recommend going for the Fish as Spellcasting and Willpower can take care of your accuracy, and +1 damage is not that much.
4. Cyberware Affinity – Since the game offers bonus essence at rank 3 and 6, you can equip two essence worth of cyberware. Additionally, it allows you to raise your dependent skills with your cyberware bonus. Ensure that you don’t have points in Cyberware Affinity when you start, or you will lose your essence. You can take the points later.
Shadowrun Hong Kong Mage Equipment
Here is the list of equipment that will provide the best results:
1. Weapon Slot – Powerbolt 4
2. Spellslots – Flamethrower 4, Spell Focus: Life Siphon 2, Chain Lighting 2, Fireball 3, and Martial Defense 1
3. Inventory – Hermetic Fetish (+1 Willpower), Imbued Hermetic Fetish (+1 Spellcasting, +1 Willpower), Shamanic Fetish (+1 Charisma), and Spirit Fetish (+1 Spirit Control, +1 Charisma)
4. Cyberware (Don’t equip more cyberware other than the following.)
- Skin: Ares Dermal Planting Alpha (+2 Armor, +1 Body)
- Brain: Pain Editor (-1 Intelligence, +1 Willpower)
- Body: Suprathyroid (+1 Strength, +1 Body, +1 Quickness)
- Arm: Renraku Skillwires (+1 Dodge) x2
Please note for cyberware: You can use Wired Reflex, but you will have to ditch other items, such as the Skillwires, Suprathyroid, or the Ares Dermal Planting Alpha. We recommend going by the above items for cyberware, but you can try Wired Reflex if you want.
We believe this is the perfect build that a mage can get in the Shadowrun Hong Kong. You can check our Games Section for more game guides and other articles on Shadowrun Hong Kong.
