how does everyone use so little mana.

my char is level 23 ranger. and i always seem to struggle for manna. ive been watching ziggyds videos and he seems to use so little with most of it going into auras. how is this possible? also how is their health so high he has like 4k health i have 400. im going for ziggyds tornado shot build btw.

take some life nodes from the passive skill tree and get life mods on gears. for my play style, 400 life at lvl 23 is really low :D

you can use mana flasks for leveling, but at later-game you should find a way to sustain your skills mana cost. like taking some mana nodes from the tree, leech mana, clarity aura, use blood magic, some unique items.

Gives base mana regen which magnifies the effectiveness of %mana regen. Some specs run it at a low level while others max the gem out to 20+.

The passive skill node Eldritch Battery increases the maximum amount of mana you can have. It wouldn't be unusual for you to get a couple thousand mana, using this node.

Pretty much what Whildus and slatra said.

I don't remember for sure what I usually have at level 23, but I'm pretty sure it's higher than 400 HP. I think I can easily have 600-900 by the end of Act 2 which will be level 20 something. Most people help Oak which gives them 40 hp times any multipliers.

As far as mana, there are a couple of things to mention. Both auras and skill gems might have mana reduction gems or passives. Also, mana regen is based on a percent of total mana. So as your mana pool increases, so does the mana regen. Early in the game you might have to spam mana flasks, but later you'll be able to sustain mana use through regen. I usually phase out my mana flasks as I level higher.

Take those life nodes in the bottom part of the Ranger start area. Also that cluster to the right of the start (Herbalism). Thick Skin life cluster got nerfed, but it's still a pretty decent cluster. Revenge of the Hunted is also a nice cluster.

How many supprt gems are you linking? By late Act 1 and early Act 2 you'll start using support gems. That's when your mana use jumps up and is harder to sustain. If you are using two support gems it might be hard to keep up at that point. You might have to keep spamming flasks, or temporarily take more mana passive nodes, or get some mana on gear. When you choose supports, watch the multiplier. There is a big difference between a 150% and 110-120% support multipliers. You might have to temporarily remove a support or switch to a different one.

But bottom line is that mana drain is not as bad later in the game as your mana pool/regen increase. Keep an eye out for mana reduction gems. Even if you can't link them yet, try to socket and level them for later use. Even if you never use them in your current build they are real nice to have in your collection.

One way to sustain mana which wasn't brought up by previous posters is Revelry cluster right below Duelist's start.

Yea, good point about Revelry. He can get the equivalent on gear also. Same with Mind Drinker to the right of Shadow.

Look for mana, mana regen, mana on hit, and mana leech gear. If you are still using a Coral amulet, ditch that thing and get Paua amulet instead....unless you have something better...the point is that the Coral amulet is for early leveling but does almost nothing after you get a few hundred HP.

Maybe most obvious thing to me for OP's question is using Elreon jewels (amulet/rings). By far the best way to control early- to mid-game mana costs, as long as you have access to Elreon as a master (so you can do dailies and pickup highest rolls possible on as many jewels as your build needs; in this case "-8 to mana cost of skills" could be had on up to 3 slots).

resource management is vital part of every build. There are many ways how to do it and individual solution effectiveness depends on build specifics

while leveling it is common having to rely on mana flasks, because the mana management does not work yet for many builds

the game is very complex and from these days point of view also kinda difficult. with your first char your goal should be to finish Normal difficulty and get familiar with the basic, and not to perform the same as some nolife streamers

the problem is youre lvl23 and youre probably watching a video of a character in the mid 80s+, when you get to that level if you are following his build guide youll have the same life he has and be able to sustain attacking with mana leech and a very small amount of mana, that isnt going to happen at lvl23.

If you're going to watch streamers, pay attention to their approach and play style because each main skill needs different method to utilize the effects to the max. But never, ever, even keep an eye to their dps tooltips or whatnot. No-lifers have time to amass wealth to buy/craft the best items in game. We mortals will have to stick to affordable ones. We will need to setup our gears and adjust our play style accordingly.

TLDR: watch streamers for ideas for your own build, not for templates.

EDIT: I use gears with mana leech from phys attack, and put a point into Mind Drinker notable. I also use Reduced Mana, linked with my aura and heralds. With enough phys damage, 6% mana leech practically makes skills pay for itself.