Ashes of Creation Best Race for Mage
Picking a race for your Mage in Ashes of Creation can shape your whole style of casting. Some races lean toward knowledge and focus, others toward raw elemental power or magical balance. Here’s how it really breaks down.
Best Race for Mage
The Empyrean and Vek are the best races for Mage players. Both have natural ties to arcane and celestial magic. Empyreans bring intelligence and structure, while Vek focus on prophecy and cosmic power.
Race Breakdown and Mage Strengths
Empyrean
Empyreans are the classic high-elf archetype. They value grace, knowledge, and order, with deep roots in magic and martial training. Their culture revolves around study, refinement, and strategy. Empyrean Mages are disciplined and methodical, favoring control-heavy magic and large-scale spells. Their long lifespan also means deeper magical mastery through time and tradition.
Vek
The Vek are orcish stargazers who believe their fates are written among the stars. Their civilization is built around prophecy and celestial alignment. This connection makes them ideal for Mages who prefer spellcasting with purpose and precision. They’re intuitive casters, seeing patterns others miss, and often use astral or divination-themed magic.
Py’Rai
The Py’Rai are wood elves tied closely to the essence of nature. While better known for their stealth and survival skills, some Py’Rai Mages specialize in natural energy and elemental magic. They’re not as academically focused as Empyreans, but their intuitive bond with essence makes their spells feel alive.
Racial Augments and Ability Impact
Intrepid Studios has confirmed that racial augments will exist but has not shown their exact effects yet as of December 2025. These augments will modify how certain skills behave. They can affect cooldowns, visuals, and ability flow, but not direct stats. So a Vek Mage and an Empyrean Mage will play differently through flavor and focus, not raw numbers.
Mage Class Combinations
Once you hit level 25, you’ll unlock your secondary archetype. This shapes your final class. Some combinations for Mages include:
Archwizard (Mage + Mage), pure elemental destruction and big AoE attacks
Warlock (Mage + Summoner), chaotic servants and DoT-based spell synergy
Acolyte (Mage + Cleric), balanced mix of divine offense and support spells
Battle Mage (Fighter + Mage), short-range combat caster with explosive power
Shadow Caster (Mage + Rogue), stealth-infused magic with fast burst openings
These combos don’t depend on race directly, but your racial background will color how your augments behave later in development.
Final Blurb
Empyreans dominate in structured arcane mastery, Vek excel in cosmic magic and insight, and Py’Rai lean into primal elements. No matter which you pick, the Mage archetype stands as one of the strongest long-range DPS and crowd-control roles in Verra. The best race comes down to your flavor, not stats.
Read more about all races in Ashes of Creation here.
FAQ
Do races affect spell damage
No, damage is based on your archetype, gear, and skill choices, not race.
Will racial augments boost elemental magic
Possibly, but the effects are still unconfirmed as of December 2025.
Is Empyrean the only good magic race
No, Vek are just as viable with their prophetic focus and celestial flavor.
Can Humans compete with elves in casting power
Yes, humans like the Vaelune can still perform well with the right augments and build.
What is the pure Mage class called
Archwizard, a Mage combined with a secondary Mage, focused fully on raw spell power.

