Meditation

Meditation is the mage's mana-regeneration skill. It scales the base mana regen rate as a function of skill level and Intelligence, and it offers a doubled-rate active meditation mode that breaks on any action other than party/guild chat or being attacked. Every dedicated caster builds Meditation to GM or higher; warriors with mana-using specials build Focus instead, which has similar effects without the medable-armor restriction.

Rate formulas

Mana regeneration ticks every 8 to 10 seconds (rate-dependent). The rate formula:

rate = 2 + (Meditation × 3 + Intelligence) / 40

At 100 Meditation or higher, a 10% bonus multiplier applies to the formula:

GM_rate = 2 + 1.1 × (Meditation × 3 + Intelligence) / 40

The 100-skill bonus is a deliberate Grandmaster reward — the formula stops being purely linear at GM and pays a small bonus on top of the line.

A Legendary mage with 120 Intelligence regenerates roughly 15 mana per tick baseline — enough to support one mid-tier spell (Energy Bolt, 30 mana) every two ticks without any item-property Mana Regen.

Mana Regeneration property items add directly to this base rate. A Med 100 / Int 100 character with +5 MR jewelry effectively reads as if running 18 baseline. Both stack with each other.

Active meditation

Manually invoking Meditation through the macro or skill button doubles the regeneration rate for the duration of the active state. The active state breaks on:

• Any spell cast.
• Any movement action.
• Any combat swing.
• Equipping or unequipping items.
• Being attacked (but the attacker still rolls damage normally).
• Any context menu interaction.

The state does not break on:

• Party chat.
• Guild chat.
• Public speech.
• Standing still without action.

A successful active meditation also makes a hidden or invisible character visible — the act of meditating reveals the caster, breaking Hiding/Invisibility cover. This is the central reason mages don't combine Meditation with Stealth builds for combat-window mana cycling.

Active meditation is most useful between fights — drop into the active state, double-rate regen until full, break the state and resume combat. In a sustained boss fight where the mage is being hit, the active state breaks immediately and provides no benefit; the passive formula is what the mage relies on mid-combat.

The medable-armor requirement

A character receives neither passive nor active Meditation bonuses while wearing armor pieces classified as non-medable, unless the armor has the Mage Armor property.

Medable armor classes (passive Med functions): leather, studded leather, bone, woodland. Non-medable armor classes (require Mage Armor property): chain, ringmail, plate, dragon scale.

A mage in plate without Mage Armor regenerates mana at the natural creature-base rate (no Med bonus), which is roughly 1 mana every 2 seconds — slow enough that no real spell economy is sustainable. The Mage Armor property restores Med functionality on a piece-by-piece basis, costing one of the property roll slots on the armor.

Stam-stacked dexers and warriors who use mana-driven specials (any combat skill's mastery, Bushido moves, Necro spells, etc.) typically take Focus instead of Meditation specifically because Focus has no armor restriction — the warrior can wear plate or ringmail without losing mana regen.

Training

Meditation trains rapidly through both active use and passive mana cycling.

Movement is not required; the gain rolls fire on the regen tick regardless. A high-LMC mage with a low-cost spell on macro can train Meditation passively while at the keyboard for any other task.

Build context

• Pure Mage. 100 – 120 Meditation. Combined with 120 Magery + 120 Eval Int + GM Resist + 120 Inscription. Maxes mana regen for high-circle-spell loops.
• Necromancer / Mystic. 100+ Meditation. Both schools draw mana from the same pool the Mage uses; the regen formula applies the same way.
• Spellweaver. 100+ Meditation. Spellweaving has high mana costs (Word of Death = 50 mana base) and limited self-mana-leech, making Meditation a build requirement.
• Sampire / Dexer. Meditation is dropped in favor of Focus. The Sampire wears non-medable plate or studded with Mage Armor for maximum elemental resists; Focus regenerates mana cleanly through plate.
• Bard. 100 Meditation is the conventional baseline — bard masteries (Inspire, Despair, Tribulation) consume mana on activation and need passive regen between songs.

Strategy notes

• Mage Armor property is one slot. A mage in chain or plate with Mage Armor on every piece sacrifices five property slots across a five-piece suit. Most mages stay in studded leather or woodland to preserve property roll slots for FC/FCR/MR/LMC and elemental resists.
• Active meditation reveals you. Don't combine with Hiding/Invisibility — the active state breaks the cover. For mid-fight regen on a stealth build, passive Med must do the work alone.
• The 100-skill bonus is real. The 10% multiplier kicking in at 100 Meditation is the reason GM is the universal target rather than 99.9 — that last 0.1 unlocks a meaningful bump.
• Mana Regen items stack on top. A 100/100 mage with +5 MR (Jewelry/2 + Rune/3) regenerates faster than a 100/100 mage without. Don't skip MR jewelry just because Meditation is at GM.
• Cloak of Corruption training. The artifact's mana-drain creates a perpetual sub-max state where every regen tick rolls a Med gain. Sleep-train target.

See also

Mana, Mana Regeneration, Magery, Necromancy, Mysticism, Spellweaving, Evaluating Intelligence, Spirit Speak, Focus, Mage Armor, Medable Armor, Cloak of Corruption, Hiding, Invisibility, Inscription, Wrestling, Resisting Spells, Sampire, Reactive Armor.