Calmwind

Physical AoEs can be a problem for mages. I'm curious about debuffs to the mob that can lower a physical AoE's outgoing damage.
1) Is there there a debuff a coercer can apply, like a hex doll? (I have no idea if lowering INT, etc would help lower physical AoE damage)
2) What other debuffs are availble from other classes that would lower outgoing AoE physical damage?

Thanks,
Calmwind

Revel

Unfortunately, I have not found a reliable method to debuff physical ae's. Theoretically, str would help but it does practically very little. Thus the only way to handle ae's as a mage is to buff hp and mitigation. Priests, bards, and crusaders can buff physical mitigation directly with permanent buffs, along with temp buffs from warriors.

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Donnfleic

Pushing our own HP, helps survings many areas.. most mages forget that having much hp helps surving.

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Harowen

Get smoldering reinforced whatchamacallits for both wrist adorns and forearms to give +77 crush/pierce/slashing x3 and put 5 AA's into the physical damage reduction ability in TSO.

There's a helm from Atrebe's, mind of the weapon or somesuch, that's 310 mit. And you could wear suboptimal gear that has bonus to phys damage protections.

Also, having that Edict of the Whispered Word from Chelsith (last mob) helps for avoiding aoe's entirely. Helps keep the group ward from disappearing on the rest of the group too.

And of course there's casting intellectual remedy when the aoe's coming to help your defiler put out a bigger ward.

Other than that your other options don't amount to too much. Got a paladin in raid? He'll boost everybody's mitigation. If not, got an SK? Ask them to give you their phys mit buff.

On pull don't forget to invis yourself so you avoid any alpha strike aoe's.