Ashes of Creation Best Race for Mage

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.


More Ashes of Creation

view all Ashes of Creation
GamerBlurb Team

We’re a group of gamers from the United States. We write about the games we love, from big releases to niche hits, with a focus on clear guides and tips to help you level up.

https://gamerblurb.com/about-us
Previous
Previous

Ashes of Creation Best Race for Rogue

Next
Next

Path of Exile 2 Druid Reroll Guide | Should You Reroll Your Druid