Question about Fireball mages (in General)

When You compare Ablative Shield, Guardian Angel and Ethereal Chains, what is the best one to choose in order to fight against fireball mages?
Or, except Antimagic Field, what do You think the best magic against fireball mages is?

I'm presuming you're considering another minion with an enchantment. If you're going after FB mages then Guardian Angel is your best bet. Each time they attack you, you attack them.

Ethereal Chains is the anti tank spell - makes no difference against mages attack, only reduces ST/DX.

No! GA is not recommended...! GA is the worst most absolutely awfulest (is that a word?) spell ever against a FB mage.....!

**Note, if this was not persuasive enough, please don't attack me ^_~
I happen to like my life as a FB mage.

/me wanders off angrily muttering about GA...

Granted GA is nice vs FB, but that's why almost all FB mages train DM ... so don't count on GA helping much unless you're going RoS .. I say make a huge huge AMF ... that'll be enough with a 4 minion team to weaken the FB enough for you toi do some damage ... IMO

I personally think AMF is the best vs FB mages. However AS is also a great spell. IMO better than GA.

Ethereal Chains is an antitank spell and has no place in fighting mages.

AS is best on 3 or 4 minion characters however. On 1 and 2 minion characters it is best to train HP directly. However on a 2 minion character that uses a familiar, AS might be of great help.

The reason I prefer AS is that more hp helps your minions live longer, diluting the FB damage. Remember that FB damage is reduced per minion as more are alive. As your minions die, the damage to the remaining ones goes way up.

Unless you ue a RoS, don't count on any ED helping you versus FB mages. Just about all of them will have a high DM, which will make your EDs useless.

My favourite victim when Jack Crow was running was the FB mages. Ranger's right that more HP on your team will help you survive - the key to defeating them is spreading their damage for as long as you can. However where DM is concerned there are less FB/DM mages around than there used to be. The introduction of the RoS made a few people realise that FB/AMF or simply FB on it's own was worth doing. Check out some of the bigger single FB mages nearer the top and see what I mean. Single FB mage, with a ToE is making a comeback. Although some people (take a bow Inebriated Arsonist) have never stopped.

If you're up against an FB/AMF mage then a large AMF of your own and a large GA will shut them down. A large ranged attack of your own will make a difference too.

And if they are a FB mage with a fire familiar you should be trying to keep both of them - yes I do mean your opponents - alive. Then they will kill themselves with friendly fire.

Reason why I asked this question is rising number of fireball mages, so I hope this helps other players as well (it sure helps me).

So here is a conclusion:
Best against fireball mages is Merged Chappy/Johnnywas/Ranger/GentlemanLoser strategy:
- Have Antimagic Field as high as it can be,
- Train Ablative Shield ("diluting the FB damage") on one minion and,
- Train Guardian Angel ("Each time they attack you, you attack them") on another.
- If there is DM think about RoS.
This way protection/retaliation is achieved at its best.

Thank You friends and all best to You all.

As a team that uses GA and AS I'll tell you this. The entire top end of my fight list is Single FB mages. Granted I also have a good amount of AC on my two high HP minions and a MgS. As for Susan Death, she knows now not to mess with me. :P

My biggest hurdles are ToEs, and I suppose DM. But I don't run into DM as much these days.