MabiPro: The Authentic Old-School Mabinogi Experience

Ranked it to 1 and only getting 7k crit damage at full charge.

Negatives
Takes too long to charge before an aggro
Costs more mana than all other skills
Cannot use wand
Therefore no Meditation
No solo potential
Multiaggro will guarantee to kill you
Short range

Positives
No durability cost for using staff
Staff upgrades are quite good
Good medium damage
Hit multiple targets in a small range
High damage potential with a partner

Short...Range? Wasn't it buffed to be very large?

Oh that's right it was buffed. I was referring to the fact that you can't wait for enemies to get closer while you run out of Hailstorm duration. You're always risking mana cus it never stops using it

No I don't believe Hailstorm is useless. Though I will say that a problem with the skill is:
1) No counter; The skill doesn't have a counter so when you're fighting in a raid and there's a lot of people there, you literally cannot hear how many charges you've charged without kissing your screen to hear the faint counter

2) Slow charge time; The initial cast time for Hailstorm is something I honestly do not mind. Hailstorm is meant to be used in the back and should never be used next or near an enemy's aggro range (even though I have a bad habit of doing that lmao). However, what I will agree on is the fact that its charge time after releasing an ice crystal is very slow to start up because any faster enemy can start coming closer and closer until they hit you.

Meditation can definitely be used (and is recommended) before using Hailstorm. It'll really help because of buffed Meditation. Using a staff, you should always turn Meditation on when you are stopping and are casting a magic skill. The only time I would suggest turning it off is when you have to move to another spot or location and need to run. Otherwise, Meditation with a staff will always be a problem.

Hailstorm was never meant for solo play. As in matter of fact, Mage is never meant to be solo play. Neither are the other classes are meant to be solo play. Harder dungeons like Peaca favors a party of players who have variety in their skillsets and etc.. Hailstorm is meant to be used in certain places where it excels, and then there are places that it should not be used where it does not excel. Since this skill locks you into place, it wouldn't be wise to use this skill on, say Cave Dragon in Raid, because Cave Dragon will most likely flinch you before you can get past the cast time and the charge time. Hailstorm should be used when you know that you are secure enough to cast it without you getting flinched from any nearby mobs. This is why Barrier Spikes users are so valuable to Mages because it can block about 80% of the threats Mages have when they are unable to move.

Hailstorm's range is not of an issue as R1 Hailstorm with 2000 range is a GODSEND. I rather have 2000 than a measly 1400 range any day; it's enough to snipe and at the same time enough to have its penalties.

To be honest, I wished we also got the 40 second buff that Live Hailstorm got as well because the 30 seconds on Pro's Hailstorm includes the cast time for the skill, essentially only giving you 20 seconds to do damage. If we got the 40 second buff, we would have true 30 seconds to do damage. I feel like if we also got the 40 second buff the skill will outweigh the negatives by a huge margin.

The time increase would be a very welcomed thing, however there is little content that can handle the dmg, if done right, outside of very end game bosses, for those extra 10 seconds. Still would be nice! A counter would also be great if possible.

It is true that you can't really solo with hail, and it's meant to be used in particular situations, but not many situations call for the spell outside of end game or near end game content to begin with, making it...very lackluster until rank 1 (like most magic). It suffers much harder than any other magic skill, only equal to fireball in this, in its cast time and locking you in place. IS, TH, Fusion bolts and basic bolts, and even blaze, all are much faster skills, MUCH faster really. So standing still for 6.5 seconds just to get your FIRST charge, hitting 10.5 seconds - 9.3 seconds depending on rank, just to hit the full charge. (I might be off on that math). Many other skills are faster than magic and, in most content, get the job done the same way. Not all content mind you, but a large chunk of it.

hailstorm is viable, damage is high and uses magic def to calculate resistances. the extended range of 2k makes it about as powerful as a ranged magnum with no miss chance, with current meditation buffs you can run medi to offset the cost a lot.

the only drawback it really has is that its slow to start up like all magic, and additionally that it doesnt ignore protection for crit chance but its still one of the best single target damage sources.

1 v 1 me hailstorm only

I realize this thread is ancient by now, but to anyone who has come across it wondering about magic skills like me, please note that the cast time is NOT part of the duration. You get a full 30 seconds of channeling starting from the moment the 6.5 second load time completes.