Best time to cast mana shield in pvp?

[WhoIsThis]

I've been playing more PvP recently and I have noticed that the mages tend to cast mana shields at a wide variety of times.

1. Some cast right before an encounter (bad idea IMO; archer can easily break if you are stacked, although you aren't up against bird, you probably can). Generally, this behaviour is common in group encounters. However, I suppose that in 1v1 this is a valid tactic if you don't face bird, although that mana shield could save you from the blow of a blast shot, giving you the time you need to unload your spells.

2. Others cast immediately upon damage - it doesn't matter what types of enemies they face.

3. Others seem to cast when close to death (seems like best option, but risky as there is a delay).

I suppose I should mention that I am a pure int mage, so things may be a bit different. The question is option 2 or 3 better for group encounters - a pure int mage does not have the health that a pally or even a hybrid has, so often delaying to 3 can be fatal.

And strength mages I've noticed often don't even bother to cast shield. I suppose that hate and rift don't generate the mana fast enough to bother.

[j46g629h]

just a question,

how much time do you have to cast mana shield when you are close to death in pvp?

[PhreEkGarden]

Yeah, mana shield takes a second to kick in, so you cant really just cast it right as your about to die. Or maybe this effect is just lag... but either way, I always cast it going into the fight. If a bird can pop all your mana instantly you most likely won't survive it without mana shield anyway.

[noobmigo]

You cast Mana Shield when you are about to get screwed and you have half hp. You heal b4 and then you mana shield.

[WhoIsThis]

You cast Mana Shield when you are about to get screwed and you have half hp. You heal b4 and then you mana shield.

That is my thought too, but as pure int, you may not get that kind of a time window to press mana shield and wait for it to go up then use heal or drain life.

[KingFu]

Depends against to and as what, as mage, cast it right away, as pally, stay as long without it as you can, use life drain and heal before using it, but if you are about to be dead, use it! 2 second delay on mana shield, also, remember, blast shot absorbs mana shield, so be careful with archer.

[WhoIsThis]

2 second delay on mana shield, also, remember, blast shot absorbs mana shield, so be careful with archer.

That's the thing I guess with my build. It's a pure int. And I have not been doing very well against archers in 1v1. I try to stay in groups, but there will be times when I need to face an enemy 1v1. I find myself barely killing more than I die. I'd say that the majority of my deaths are against archers.

If it will help, I have included an older picture of my build:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_qxqUJiD0__c/TUTwpqp8yII/AAAAAAAAAGI/RKLnkSOFd3I/Int%20Mage%201.png

I think that if I had just a bit more time to unload all of my spells on a bird, I could probably emerge victorious in most encounters.

[Pharcyde]

1v1 with either a mage, pally, warbird: Cast mana shield after you cast drain life/heal.
1v1 with a avian: Cast it immidiately, some birds know how to pop your mana shield before they even hit you with one damage skill. This is a case where no matter how skilled or fast you are, your screwed.

[KingFu]

1v1 with either a mage, pally, warbird: Cast mana shield after you cast drain life/heal.
1v1 with a avian: Cast it immidiately, some birds know how to pop your mana shield before they even hit you with one damage skill. This is a case where no matter how skilled or fast you are, your screwed.

Uhmm, warbird will nuke him if he doesn't have mana shield, mages usually cast mana shield when they buff, from the start when fighting other mages, because a full int Mage nuke can take out mana and health, as a nuke, so why not use it firt to basically go from 400 health, to 1150 (mana + health) minus mana consumption from skills of course.

[WhoIsThis]

The problem here is how much time does a mage really have against a warbird or pure dex bird?

They are going to use blast shot at some point for sure and its assured that it will be 5 or now, 6. All a pure int mage needs is a bit of time to unload everything they've got in terms of spells and any bird should die. The problem here is - how does an int mage get themselves that time?

[PhreEkGarden]

I always open with drain life on birds, and that seems to work well enough. Drain life, nuke, heal, combo...(armor debuff somewhere in the middle of that if i feel like the drain life is gonna be timed right, and if i am close enough to them...) ive gotten pretty good at when I need to time the heals, and it works most the time. Doesn't seem like there is any way to win that fight every time though.

Sometimes I'll get the debuff off before the drain life hits, I'm not positive it works that way but it seems like it should. If you cast drain life then immediately follow with debuff... it should debuff them right before drain life, right?

I just love drain life.... it does so much damage on a pure int, haha.