B grade: AVA set and valhalla acumen
A grade: dc robe set som acumen
dont change dc robe set for major arcane cuz dc is the best robe set for mages.....dyes +4int+4wit-8men and +4dex-4str or +4int+5wit-9men dont use +4 con cuz sh has the worst con and that 4 con dont boost your hp/cp very much and about stun you will always get stuned even orcs get stuned...you will need +4 dex becuz daggers still run better than you even if you curse them with slow

what i wrote to nubgod goes to u too

(THE GUY ASKED FOR B SET DAMN GUYS READ CAREFULLY)

i know but the c grade set can replace the b set
anyway what i said is a good and valid setup
you can go on sph either extreme matk and lose cast speed
or gain cast speed and become close to the sps ( cast speed master of l2 )
ANYWAY
most common sets on mages
avadon with/without shield ( robe of course )
sword of valhalla + acu or homu + acu and oe
depends on your money )

I think it's OBVIOUS that Sekkurel meant use demon set at b-grade.

that guys has some problems.. he needs to flame all the time? i dont get?
guys ill tell ya 1 thing..i think it will be usefull

USE UR FKIN RETARDED BRAINS BEFORE SAING OR DOING SOMETHING!
BEFORE FLAMIN ON SMB FIRST THINK OF ALL THE ASPECTS OF HIS MSG!!
MAYBE HE RLY THINKS THAT DEMON SET MAY BE USEFULL FOR B GRADE!!
being lvl 52+ doenst allawayes mean that u 100% have to wear b grd equioment!simple example!pl set vs doom set(light)..pl set adds +4str and costs very cheap,the doom set has crappy pdef and gives 3dex and costs shitloadz of money..so why the hell dont u save ur money for a grade set?u can miss the b grade cuz ur pl set is allready great for u.. same is here
+4int pwnz asses man..id use my demons set till~61

god try to be aliitle more calm )
there not worth the bother )
let them play there 3405065406450694086k servers )

i just cant take this anymore..brainless noobs that only wait for the moment to start just another forum flame.. thats why most of thoe guys dont know SHIT about l2..they just dont use their brains!f1+f2...tahts theyr playstyle!sry for being a bit not-calm;]

I'm getting real tired of saing this but:

FOR PVE USE EQUIPMENT THAT INCREASE MAGIC ATACK!!!! DEMON TUNIC OR ZUBEI AN A MAGIC POWER WEPON!!!!

Why magic power and not empower? coz even with that +15% mana consumption u EXPAND UR 1 SHOT 1 KILL TARGET LIST!!! this is the setup u use on low and mid rate servers, so u can optimize ur shots and mana pots consumption. Well, in normal C speed equipment u can kill a mob in 2-4 hits, a normal hp one. But in M atack equip i can go for 1-2 hits, witch means faster exping ( 1-2 spells in m atack equip are quicker to cast than 3-4 spells in c speed). so there u have it. And if u have a bd, se, or ee friend, or even pp for zerk... u'll do much more better

oh, and btw... on the other hand SpH is the most suited player to exp in C speed set, if shots aren't a bigger problem. U just go and take 2,3,4,5x mobs without a problem . Vampiric Claw is the spell that makes Sph king in pve among nukers. imagine just: u hit a 4x mob not ot much strunger than u. he comes to u and he starts hiting. well, from time to time u "drain" a little , that sets u apart, especially when ur soloing. Imagine if ur a sps and u get a 4x mob, how many nukes and heals u have to do to keep u up?

well, judging from the suggestions, i think i have come up with 4 types of set-up...

a point to be remembered:
do not lower your SPH's cast speed to its lowest possible outcome!
we all know that sph has the lowest WIT, therefore the lowest cast speed amongst all the mage in L2...
so further reducing your cast speed can and will be fatal...

1st set: the most common.. +cast speed type
set: ava robe set
dyes: +4wit +4int -8men +4con -4str
weapon of choice: homun+acu & oe, valhalla + acu, wiz tear + acu
remarks: pure + to cast speed, +int is helpful, +con is not that great but the + to stun/poison resist, + to max HP/CP is more helpful than +4dex which gives a little + to speed and little + to shield def success rate...

2nd set: the c-grade set in exchange for b-grade
set: demon set
dyes: +4wit +4int -8men +4con -4str
weapon of choice: acu weapons, recommended is wiz tear for its high matk
remarks: this build is made so that the SPH's cast speed won't go below 400, but still has a total of +8 int for the additional damage...

3rd set: b-grade set for flexibility
set: zubei robe set
dyes: +4wit +4int -8men +4con -4str
weapon of choice: acu weapons or mag power weapons, recommended is wiz tear again..
remarks: since zubei robe set does not reduce any of your base stat, it can be used to pair up with a weapon that has acu(+cast and damage) or a mag power weapon(+damage)...

4th setup: similar to the 2nd, but still different..
set: ava robe set...
dyes: +4wit +4int -8men +4con -4str
weapon of choice: wiz tear mag power
remarks: same as the 2nd setup, balance between cast speed and matk...


note: the 2nd, 3rd and 4th setup is made for balancing the cast speed and damage

i just hope nobody will flame me for the "hybrid" setups...
anyway, everyone has their own setups that they follow, so dont flame me for posting this...

i just dont like the build where your cast speed is below 400 but inflicts high damage...
this is because even with high matk, you can't possibly kill EVERY mobs in 1hit...
and what will you do if you are mobbed by 3 or more monsters?
or is backstabbed by another player or another monster?
these situations cannot be avoided, so its best to be prepared at all times by having the right, or at least balanced, setup...

hybrid char imo is not the good option.. why?!each race and class has his + and - so if u balance ur char u will have no strong point..like sh without his matk=shit
sps without his cast spd=shit

u have to improve ur strongs!

@gods3nd well, you have a point there... but lowering the cast speed of the SH is not a good idea also...
i mean using demon set with -1wit isn't such a great deal, but it still lowers the cast speed...
and such occurrences while exping, like being backstabbed by other players or mobbed by many monsters, cannot be avoided...
so its either you have to balance out both damage and cast speed...
or you always have to bring equip that is specialized for pvp and pve...

anyway, the + of SH is its high matk, and - is the cast speed...
my setups enhance both aspect...
i mean, you still have your matk even if your setup is for +cast speed only...
and also, i suggest that you improve your + that will not heavily affect your -...
i mean demon set + mag power weapon.. yeah you can dish out HIGH damage, but what will happen to your cast speed?
with this set up, you can exp easily, but you have to also worry about unexpected pvp...
as you have said before, this setup is for pve only...

imo, any type of mage should have good cast speed and good matk...

since sph has low wit that little -1 wit wont affect him
its true that you will need cast speed gear fi you have clan war )
but i dont think he has clan war so ...
oh and lets not forget the the cast speed is pretty high even without the acumen or +wit
the lvl 3 acumen +zerk + song of con ( if you have bd ) or only con and mistic from bd will do the trick

ononono look guys! there are two biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig parts of the game!if im wrong u can kill me..farming part and pvping part.. ingame thats all u farm to lvl-up to get some money or u pvp well ofcourse u can sit in giran and talk about shi7 with some friends..
now if u want pvp any noob knows u need high cast spd..only newbies dont know that so u choose carmian,avadon,dc and +acumen weapons
but if u want to farm! u ofcourse choose mobs wich can be easly killed
perfect are green mobs..but wtf?what if u were able to kill yellow mobs in 1 hit?or white?of all mages only the sph is able easly to find those mobs so u lower ur cast and u get huge m atk bonus..remember?higher stat=higher gain and higher loss,lower stat=lower gain+lower loss
so -1wit?wth?u use the strong part of ur char and farm easly..other noooooobs choose acumen sets cuz they`ve played pvp servs and cast is best there.. but u lvl much faster and ur life is MUCH easyer!
there are only 2 sets-+cspd and +matk
its easy to choose-u r farmer or pvper?u have bunch of enemyes or u have bunch of friends(or u r neutral)
btw no class is balanced...every char,every race,every proffession has his goods and bads..wtf?i hear smth about necro?balanced cspd and matk?and what about this?SLOWEST MAGE OF ALL!!u improve cast or matk thats all-trying to balance ur char is stupidity-u loose ur strenght(matk in our case) and dont get such a high power up..

gods3nd, be calm for once.. nobody is screaming at you, and nobody is arguing with you...
we are simply expressing our ideas here...

all i am saying is that any player of any class will POSSIBLY experience unexpected situations...
situations such as unexpected pvp or being mobbed by multiple monsters...

sure, not every player belongs to a clan with a clan war...
but even in retail servers, a player can PK anyone just for the heck of it, and for no reason at all...

also, almost every mobs, especially high level ones, are social..
and its pretty easy to get mobbed if you are not careful..
and even if you are careful enough, there are times where being mobbed cant be avoided, especially in VOS...

i'm just pointing out that with a setup that maximize your matk, but lowers your cast speed, you will have troubles when such situations happen...

you can't simply expect a "peaceful" farming every time...

@sekkurel -1wit will still lower your cast speed, even if its not much. it is still approximately 4-5% cast speed reduction. this is not the exact %, thats why its an approximation.

whats 4% out of 500 cast speed ???
or lets say 600 cast speed ???
hmm lets say 50 ???
not that much )
you wll have 1 sec delay of killing a mob
or the mob gets closer to you by 1 meter
big deal )