What's better? Huppermage or Foggernaut?

i can tell you something about huppers since my main is one, but i haven't played a fogger since a rudimental test-run when it came out

huppers are a fun class, the animations are nice and the sprites look pretty!
as for their role in combat, they're mainly a damage dealer with added perks. their playstyle requires some strategy but is not difficult to learn and it's not easy to mess up. huppers possess such a huge amount of tools that sometimes it's easy to forget - e.g. i tend to neglect polarity's movement gimmicks when i could need them, especially the off-element functions. it's rather rewarding to play when you master them all, but for the most part you learn by heart some spell successions to spend your turn casting.
on the other side, they are not a very polished class (neither is the fogger, in my view) as there are still redundant spells in their set and for some i can't really find a sense, but it doesn't mean the class is unplayable, it's just not really balanced internally.other classes such as fecas, pandas and enutrofs, even the xelor, have a much more coherent design.
for example: elemental drain is a very powerful spell, it deals damage and steals massive characteristic points based on the state of the enemy, but its range is very close, so in order to use it efficiently you'd have to tank your enemies. this is very coherent with the water element, but less so with all the others - the earth one especially, because of the long-range playstyle involved.
combos aren't that much of a key factor as the most useful ones are just two, but usually triggering a combo is less about the debuff itself and more about the power buff associated with triggering one, because each time you do you get 50% more power for that turn and the following.


when choosing huppers you'll want to choose one main element for the first 60-80 levels and a second one to hybridize with as you keep playing, choosing your gear accordingly. ombi becomes a possibility only in end-game.

here's an overview of the elements:
water: close-range, high damage dealer, rather easy to solo with but painful on long-range starting maps, as you'll lose 3-5 turns just walking and journey-ing to get to your target. the bonus from contribution is stellar and the play style revolver around attracting entities and increasing power.
fire: mid-range attacker with unbewitching and the coolest animation on the AoE spell. contribution and tribute bonus is a very handy shield and no spell has a minimum range.
air: mid-to-long range damage dealer with very awkward ranges, especially on the AoE spell, that doesn't really fit in with any other element's AoE unless you move around - which you can do because you'll have lots of dodge - but it's tactically painful.
earth: long range but has the lowest base damage amongst the elements but i've heard that a mono-earth, pushback-based build wrecks havoc in pvp - i'm expecting it to be somehow nerfed soon. i, personally, wouldn't advise it as the main element from the get-go. since 2/3 spells have a minimum range, elemental drain becomes a forgettable mechanic with this element, especially early in the progression.

i'd say, try the class out you might get really into it or not, won't know until you try