Enshrouded Battlemage: Wand Builds Before and After Update 1.0
Published by the Enshrouded Builds team
The wand was already the easiest way to play magic in Enshrouded, but before 1.0 it had one attack and a special ability that enemies could knock you out of. Update 1.0 gave it a full moveset and tied it to the staff. This post compares the Battlemage before and after 1.0, with skill values from the 1.0 game files (build 1267041) and quotes from Keen Games' 1.0 changelog.
Short version: wands now have a heavy attack from the start, two new attack skills (Wand Evasion Attack and Aerial Wand Attack), a staff combo (Blast and Cast), uninterruptible special abilities and much better targeting. Wards can now be repaired at camp anvils, and leech perks were rebalanced. The three new skills cost 10 points together.
What changed for wands in 1.0
- A full moveset. "Wand gameplay has been expanded with a heavy attack that is immediately available, as well as unlockable evasive and aerial attacks as active skills."
- No more interrupted specials. "Wand special abilities don't get interrupted by enemy attacks while casting anymore."
- Targeting. Wand targeting "now better considers the maximum range of the projectile of each individual wand", hard-lock target switching with wands is "possible much faster after the attack", and "a new free aiming mode for wand gameplay has been added to the combat section in the gameplay settings". You can also target explosive barrels with wands now.
- Wand and staff work together. The new Blast and Cast skill rewards switching to a staff right after a wand crit.
Wards, shields and leech perks
Two gear changes matter for a Battlemage who carries a ward or shield. First, "anvils found in enemy camps now finally repair equipped shields and wards", so long trips no longer end with a broken off-hand. Wards were also renamed for consistency, so don't be surprised if yours has a new name.
Second, Keen rebalanced leech: "In version 0.8 percentage based leech perks were too strong in the late game." Now "perks with leech now use a flat value" early on, and "the very valuable percentage leech is reserved for specific weapons and gear" in the late game. If your old build relied on percentage mana or health leech, expect less of it until you find those items. Unity and Arcane Deflection, which restore mana from the skill tree, matter more as a result.
The three new wand skills
| Skill | Area / group | Cost | In-game text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wand Evasion Attack | Mage / Battlemage | 4 pt | When equipped with a Wand, you can perform a Wand Evasion Attack by pressing [Use Item] while evading. It fires a magical disc that pierces enemies and deals 50% additional weapon damage. Cost: 50 Mana |
| Aerial Wand Attack | Mage / Battlemage | 3 pt | When equipped with a Wand, you can perform a special attack by holding [Use Item] during a jump. It fires a magical projectile that deals 50% additional weapon damage in a small blast radius. Cost: 25 Stamina |
| Blast and Cast | Mage / Trickster | 3 pt | After a Critical Strike with a Wand, the base damage of your next Staff attack within 10 seconds is increased by 50%. |
Wand Evasion Attack is the best of the three for a Battlemage: you dodge all the time anyway, and now every dodge fires a piercing disc. Aerial Wand Attack is cheap utility. Blast and Cast sits in the Trickster group and pays off if you carry a staff as your second weapon. The new 1.0 skills post compares all eight.
The other wand skills in the Battlemage group
The rest of the wand kit in the Battlemage group, with the 1.0 in-game text at max rank:
| Skill | Cost | In-game effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|
| Wand Mastery | 1 pt × 3 | Wand damage is increased by 15%. |
| Wand Specialization | 3 pt | Unlocks Special Abilities of Wands. Press [Special Ability] to unleash a powerful Special Ability after generating enough Focus. Focus: Generate Focus by attacking. Focus can be built up with any weapon type and is used to trigger Special Abilities of weapons. |
| Unity | 1 pt × 3 | Damaging enemies with Wands has a 30% chance to restore 6% of your maximum Mana. |
| Sting | 3 pt | Repeated Wand damage is increased by 20%. |
| Eternal Spark | 1 pt × 3 | Dealing damage with Wand projectiles has a 45% chance to restore 1 durability to that weapon. |
| Arcane Proliferation | 3 pt | Wand attacks have a 30% chance to spawn double the amount of projectiles. Extra projectiles spawned deal 50% less damage. |
Battlemage before vs after 1.0
| Before 1.0 | In 1.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Attacks | Light attack and the wand special ability | A heavy attack from the start, plus Wand Evasion Attack and Aerial Wand Attack as skills |
| Special ability | Could be interrupted by enemy attacks | No longer interrupted while casting |
| Targeting | Shared auto-target with other weapons | Range-aware wand targeting, faster hard-lock switching, an optional free-aim mode, and explosive barrels can be targeted |
| Wand + staff | Two separate weapons | Blast and Cast: a wand crit gives the next staff attack +50% base damage |
| Wards | Not repaired at camp anvils | Anvils in enemy camps repair equipped wards and shields; wards renamed for consistency |
| Leech perks | Percentage leech, strong in the late game | Flat leech early; percentage leech kept for specific late-game weapons and gear |
How to skill a Battlemage in 1.0
Wand Evasion Attack costs 8 points from an empty tree by the cheapest path, and our planner preset already has all three new wand skills by the end of the levels 1–15 stage (65 points). The full core of our Battlemage preset: Mage Apprentice, Wand Specialization, Wand Mastery, Arcane Proliferation, Sting, Unity, Arcane Deflection, Life Burst, Chain Hit, Wand Evasion Attack, Aerial Wand Attack, Blink, Blast and Cast, Wizard, Exalted, Power Parry, Double Jump.
Load the level 1–15 Battlemage preset or the full level 50 build in the planner. The Battlemage build guide has the complete skill order, wands, wards and spells, and the Mage skill tree page lists every skill in the area.
Is the Battlemage still the best build in 1.0?
For most players, yes. Our tier list keeps it at S-tier and calls it the easiest strong solo build: the ward covers mistakes, and Unity and Arcane Deflection keep the mana flowing even with weaker leech. Its main trade-off: lower burst than a pure wizard. If you want that burst, look at the Wizard, or read how the Necromancer and Ranger changed in 1.0.
Sources & how we checked this guide
Facts on this page were last checked on October 20, 2026 against Enshrouded 1.0.0.2 (Steam build 1269579). Patch facts come from Keen Games' official posts. Skill ranks, point costs and percentages were checked against the in-game skill text exported from the 1.0 game files (build 1267041) and cross-checked with two independent community sources. Item names were checked against the official Enshrouded Wiki. Read our methodology.