I used to believe that evokers had all of the super good and powerful skills all waiting for me to learn them at level 30, like how Frozen Orb was like in Diablo 2. Alas, I found out that some of the most powerful Evoker skills are the ones you start with.
Tests were made in Single player in patch 0.1, that means I didn’t get to try these skills in group environments, and they could change in some future patch. I plan to add a video for each skill when I have the time and probably write reviews for other classes (and maybe weapons as well). If you wish to add any of the text here to the Hellgate Wiki then feel free to, but it would be nice if you could add a small reference 😉
On a small note, my main language isn’t English so read with a grain of salt.
Score System
Scores are out of 10 (0 is crappy, 10 is godly)
- Usability: Is it fun, easy, and effective? How often will you use it?
- Damage: How powerful it is, keep in mind that the focus item is the main damage factor in most skills.
- Utility: Does it do Something?to your enemies that benefits you or your group? How useful? Any tactical usage?
- Upgradability: Does it improve a lot when upgraded? (Spending additional skill points)
- Overall: The overall value of a skill. This is good?or This is crappy and worthless?
Instantly cast a fear nova that sends all foes within 10 meters running away from you.
7 Usability
0 Damage
8 Utility
6 Upgradability
7.5 Overall
Comments: Works very nicely for the beginning of the game, and it can be powerful when invested in. But it does no actual damage and has no guarantees that it’ll actually work. Good in many situations. I personally don’t use it as often as I should.
Rapidly casts short-ranged scattering sparks that cause fire damage (scattering in a cone in the direction the caster is facing). Hold down the mouse button to cast it repeatedly.
8 Usability
8.5 Damage
7 Utility
9 Upgradability
8.3 Overall
Comments: Upgrading it will cause the ignite effect to work almost all the time (You’ll notice this from the first extra point), this means guaranteed death to almost any rare, epic, legendary or boss mob provided you can get in range. Range is the primary issue here, I’ll also add that it consumes a good amount of mana if you’re just holding the mouse button, to conserve mana you should just fire in bursts of 1-2 seconds since that’ll ignite almost everything around you. Even with all that, I find myself using this skill often in many situations.
Fires a spectral bolt that after 0.5 seconds splits into many bolts that move a bit haphazardly, if the single bolt DIDN’T have the time to split then it’ll simply cause the damage of 1 bolt. Every evoker starts with this so just go try it out.
8 Usability
9 Damage
8 Utility
9 Upgradability
8.9 Overall
Comments: Very good skill. Phased foes take 50% more damage and cause 50% less damage, and with this skill at higher levels you’ll phase out almost anything in a single shot. Although the bolts move randomly and can get annoying, they do hurt a good deal of damage
Level 5
Brom’s Curse
2 seconds cast time, cannot move while casting. On cast it unleashes a curse on X enemies within 15 meters for Y seconds. Anyone that causes damage to those cursed mobs will get Z% of his Total HP back, the effect can occur once every 2 seconds per mob (That means u cant fire a machine gun and get infinite health back). Mass enemy damage spells and weapons will work with the curse. E.g. if you cursed 5 zombies and hit them all at the same time, you’ll get 40% of your total HP back, very handy.
7 Usability
0 Damage
? Utility
7 Upgradability
8.5 Overall
Comments: While it is indeed a very powerful curse, the 2 second cast time make it difficult to time especially on fast moving mobs since you could easily die if they get close enough. Also, this isn’t that handy for your everyday evoker since the heal effect won’t restore your shields, it’ll simply forcibly prolong your life. It is, however, very nice when used right. Very useful for Templars in your group though, and probably summoners too.
Channels a beam that automatically locks on ALL enemies in front of the caster. 20 meters range. Each enemy will increase your mana regeneration by X%.
4.5 Usability
0 Damage
4 Utility
10 Upgradability
5.5 Overall
Comments: Not a bad skill, but not good either. It does work very nicely in certain situations where there are lots of mobs cramped together, but I’d rather switch to a gun or mind control weapon if I’m low on mana, or use a powerpack than use this skill. Investing skill points multiplies the effect greatly.
Passive. Allows you to dual wield focus items. “Two focus items are better than one” as the damage from the other focus item directly increases your total spell damage.
10 Usability
10 Damage
? Utility
6 Upgradability
9.7 Overall
Comments: Upgrading will reduce the willpower feed (The cost of willpower you need to equip weapons/armor/mods). Evokers naturally should have high enough willpower, unless you have very powerful gear that needs amounts of willpower. Some evokers who rather wield a focus item and a gun or mind control device could skip this, but I wouldn’t. It’s a must-learn.
Important Note: DOES NOT require any corpses nearby to use, the official description is very misleading!
Casts a bone spear that travels in a straight line, hitting and penetrating all enemies for 20 meters, and most likely stunning them.
9.5 Usability
10 Damage (Multi mobs) – 8 Damage (Single mob)
7.5 Utility
9 Upgradability
9.3 Overall
Comments: A few points in this and you can stun almost anything besides giants and main event bosses. The best part about this skill is that as mobs come (and as you run away from them) they automatically align in a vertical line, allowing you to use 1-3 shots to stunlock and kill them all without breaking a sweat! A monster of a skill.
Fires a long range, slow moving homing (specter-like) projectile.
? Usability
8 Damage
? Utility
? Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: It is good but the slow projectile speed can get frustrating. And the fact that it only hits 1 monster is enough to give this a bad rating. I need further testing to see how useful this really is. I can imagine it being a little viable for PvP, but I’d certainly invest in arc legion for that.
0 Damage
? Utility
? Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: I can imagine this being useful in certain situations, like when you’re locked on with lightning beams from those floating eye thing mobs and you want to nuke em down. Other than that, I much prefer mobility if I want to survive, standing still and taking the hits isn’t really a cabalist job..
Channels a spectral beam that causes damage. Must recast spell when target dies or is lost from sight (Annoying to do). Spectral Lash Mastery upgrades this skill.
5 Usability
7 Damage
? Utility
6.5 Upgradability
6.8 Overall
Comments: Only focuses on 1 target at a time. Upgrading the skill will cause it to have a really long range, sort of an sniper-killer kind of thing as it hits really far and doesn’t need aiming. I’m yet to see the usefulness of this skill, as arc legion bests this in everything besides range.
Throws a ball of lightning (Infinite range) that travels like a grenade and explodes on impact, causing the floor to have an electric field that lasts for 5 seconds (approx.). Current game mechanics allow only 1 floor damage effect to exist at a time, that means you CANT stack lightning fields.
8 Usability
? Damage
? Utility
4.5 Upgradability
8.0 Overall
Comments: Combine this with Brom’s Curse for excellent HP recovery. A very good skill all in all and can be key in certain low HP / low speed mob situations, like when fighting Zombie Summoners. No cooldowns, low mana cost, and its grenade-like throwing makes this a rather useful skill. Just not so useful against fast moving things that don’t like to stand still.
Important Note: DOES NOT require any corpses nearby to use, the official description is very misleading!
Instantly (as fast as word of fear) damages enemies within a 10 meter radius around the caster, likely stunning them. 8 second cooldown.
6 Usability
9 Damage (Multi) – 6 Damage (Single)
? Utility
8 Upgradability
7.4 Overall
Comments: A better version of word of fear that causes decent damage, but more risky. Fear causes mobs to move away, giving you an opening. Stun just makes them sit there and block your exits, while the rest rotate around you and beat you to death. Plus the fact that most melee mobs have higher stun resistances than the rest will increase the risk factors. Still, the skill is good to pick up if you invested in Demonspine.
Channels a bolt that causes little damage and restores your life by X per second. It’s harder to lock on multiple targets than its predecessor.
5 Usability
3 Damage
? Utility
8.5 Upgradability
2.5 Overall
Comments: I hate this skill, I’d use brom’s curse if it wasn’t instant. As far as I’ve tested it doesn’t technically DRAIN life, it just heals you and causes some very low amount of damage. I’d imagine this being useful if you’re trying to skip a batch of mobs by spraying this as you pass and praying that you live to reach the portal. Health Injectors are there for a reason even if they do have a 10 second cooldown.
1 second cast time. Summons 1 elemental creature to assist you in combat.
8 Usability
7 Damage
? Utility
7.5 Upgradability
8.2 Overall
Comments: No pre-requirements greatly increases the overall value of this skill. And since the pet basically causes extra damage for no direct mana cost, its pretty handy to have, provide it doesn’t run around killing itself (sadly that happens often). Its one of those “Why the hell not?” type of skills, just a bit of a hassle to cast every now and then. I heard that his damage scales with the character level, but I haven’t been keeping an eye on his progress much.
Launches X number of flame spikes in a chinese fan-spread like way in front of the caster, each spike will explode after about 1.5 seconds. Spikes can stick to monsters, and on cast they’re not evenly distributed. (e.g. sometimes all spikes appear on the right most side). 20 meters range.
8.5 Usability
9.3 Damage
? Utility
9.5 Upgradability
8.5 Overall
Comments: Good range, no cooldown, lots of fun! Use this on the frontline of a huge army and you can easily blow the first few lines away. Although I’d typically use Demonspine, this is more useful if the enemy is approaching you in a horizontal formation. Also, while almost all spikes can stick to a giant mob or boss to cause good damage, its usually better to use Firestorm to get the ignite effect on. You can also cast spikes on the floor and time the explosions to do a good deal of damage to an incoming force.
Instantly creates a Venom Armor around you that increases your armor value, and whenever you take any hit unleashes a single swarm of locusts (sometimes more, unconfirmed) that home to nearby enemies and damage them.
7 Usability
7 Damage
? Utility
8 Upgradability
7.6 Overall
Comments: Decent. Just the high mana cost that bothers. Should be an interesting combination with Brom’s Curse and other spells, but I’m yet to test that kind of approach.
Coming soon…
Coming soon….
Passive. Causes a small explosion on an enemy killed by Spectral Lash, can only happen once every 2 seconds.
8 Usability
5 Damage
? Utility
7.5 Upgradability
6.7 Overall
Comments: While it’s passive and free, the explosion is rather small and weak, and not worth using Spectral Lash for it. Just wait for Arc Legion and use that if you really like homing beam attacks.
Throws a green ball that travels like a grenade and explodes upon collision, causing the floor to have a swarm field of damage that lasts for 7 seconds (approx.). Works almost exactly like Lightning Field, but with a cooldown.
9 Usability
10+ Damage (Multi) – 9 Damage (Single)
? Utility
7 Upgradability
8.7 Overall
Comments: A powerful spell, while it does have a cooldown and a big mana cost, the damage it does is very high. Just pray that you throw the ball somewhere near a floor or the effect is wasted. Also, don’t use Lightning Field with this as it will override the swarm field.
First, a white beam appears for 2 seconds so you can point where to strike. After 2 seconds, a red glyph appears on the floor, and after about 3 seconds, a meteor strikes the glyph causing a good amount of damage and burning the floor for about 4 seconds. No cooldown.
3 Usability (Opinion may vary)
10 Damage
? Utility
6.5 Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: Situational. This skill would be a TON better if they remove the annoying 2 second wait on the white aiming beam and just get on with the meteor shower. Huge mana cost on this spell, but upgrading it will solve the issue. I can’t rate it yet (or ever) until I test this fully in multiplayer and see how powerful it can get on stationary mobs.
9.5 Damage
9 Utility
6.5 Upgradability
9.1 Overall
Comments: Automatic lock-on for easy targeting. Powerful, and acceptable mana cost. Its short range is absolutely not an issue, and if it was then a few extra skill points will fix the problem. Can shock your target very quickly, and you can cast this skill even if you’re shocked (in fact, you can cast all lightning type magic when you’re shocked). This skill is almost perfect except that its generally not good against waves of cramped up mobs as the other evoker skills, and not nearly as good as Firestorm on bosses that have high HP (Due to the Ignites). I can imagine this skill being the most popular PvP skill in all of Hellgate, I’d like to try it in a duel.
Level 20
Enter a stance that allows you to deal X% extra damage.
8 Usability
9.5 Damage
? Utility
9 Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: An excellent way to start attacking something unaware of you, combine it with enough power and you’ll kill things before they get to you. But don’t be Rambo about this and start moving if it gets dangerous. I’m sure this skill has its priceless moments in party play, like when you have a good guardian. The only downfall is its 10 second cooldown.
Causes you to instantly teleport a few meters ahead. If there’s a wall blocking you then it won’t work and won’t cost you any mana or trigger the cooldown.
? Usability
0 Damage
? Utility
7 Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: This is strictly down to your style of play. It’ll teleport you ahead, either saving or killing you in the process. But it can be amazingly useful in skipping rooms when used right. In my personal opinion, learn it since it has no pre-requirements, you never know when it’s handy.
About 3 seconds cast time. When done, creates a thundercloud that’s about 20 meters wide and lasts for roughly 15 seconds (Can’t remember exact time). Any monster that goes near the cloud will get zapped with a powerful attack. The cloud has 3-4 zaps (Again, not very sure) that shoot at the first enemy, and each one of those zaps has its recharge time of about 3 seconds. So it’s not exactly mass damage (AOE), it’s just a cloud that has mini lightning turrets zapping 1 monster at a time.
8 Usability
9.5 Damage
7 Utility
8.5 Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: Very powerful skull, albeit slow and painfully hard to pull off right. It totally depends what you’re up against, and it should prove to be much stronger in party play. If you’re up against slow moving melee targets, one Tempest will make a difference.
Throws a fast moving, small ricocheting ball of bone that after 1.5 seconds explodes into X number of instant hit splash damage bone bullets. The explosion from these bullets has a good radius, but the direction they travel in is hard to spot, my best guess is a wide cone in the direction the original ball was heading to. Note that if the original ball hits a monster then it won’t explode and instead cause very little damage. When used right, it can cause ridiculous amounts of damage.
? Usability
? Damage(Varies greatly)
? Utility
9 Upgradability
? Overall
Comments: Very hard to pull off, or maybe I need a lot more practice using it? I can’t say that its good or bad, I can only say that if you throw a high level Skullsplitter into a small room and HOPEFULLY the ball didn’t hit anyone in its way there, there’s a good chance everything in there will be dead. Personally, I think Hellfire is easier to pull off than this. But with enough practice, Skullsplitter can be very devastating even if it lacks the stun power from its predecessors. I think the key to using this is how you ricochet the shot, need more experimenting..
2 seconds cast time, cannot move. Drains the life of every corpse around you in a 10 meter radius, restoring X HP per corpse drained.
5 Usability
0 Damage
? Utility
4 Upgradability
5.4 Overall
Comments: Free instant HP recovery, but absolutely not necessary. As an evoker you shouldn’t be taking damage that burns through your shields that often, and even if you do, you can simply use a healthpack or something. It can be handy in certain situations, like if there are waves of mobs spawning on top of each other, and I can imagine this skill being handy, or key, for some high HP / armor Evoker builds. This skill could actually useful in battle if it was instant and its energy cost was lower, or even zero
Starts channeling a beam into your target for 3 seconds, you CAN move while it’s casting. When the channeling is done, you gain X% Elemental Defenses and reduce the target’s Elemental Defenses by Y%. Both effects last for about 7 seconds, 20 meters range.
7.5 Usability
9.5 Damage
10 Utility
9.5 Upgradability
8.9 Overall
Comments: Wow! Absolutely powerful and amazing to use on any stubborn creature, albeit costs a good sum of mana. I love the fact that you’re able to move as you’re casting. Every party play or boss hunting Evoker is advised to learn and maximize this skill!
GamersVue 
Great info, thanks for useful article. I am waiting for more