Ouroboros226

What was the name of that psychopathic insane dwarf monk from NWN1? I want him back or the like xD

Thanks for helping out! I've decided to get 30% increased duration from int, and put the rest in might/dex. One last question though, what race would you guys recommend? Since I won't be tanking I'm starting to think firegodlike's DR4 bonus or fire retal won't help that much. Since they buffed death godlike to 25% endurance tresh-hold I'm considering that instead atm.

So we agree on con, might and int here I was thinking that since wizard has low deflect to start, but, has good deflect spells - then buffing deflection for the times you cant avoid melee is good. At least more useful than con since you wont have high health anyway. How would you distribute your stats for a melee combat wizard which uses minimal DD spells? I wouldn't. If you want your wizard to go into melee, my stat priority would not change. This is because I would let them only use reach weapons and hide behind Eder. They posses nothing making them capable of being front-line for more than one fight against trash/intermediate mobs. Wizard buffs are terrible and not adequate nor efficient to rely on. Int, Might, Dex, Con, Res, Per. That order, no matter the use. Ok, thanks for the advice But fully buffed a Wizard gets +11 damage reduction, +20 deflection, +20 con, +20 dex, +10-20 all saving throws, + 20 accuracy, +100 endurance, +15 all elemental DR, +50% attack speed. Surely this would make them powerful in important fights for the 30-60 seconds the Wizard has these up? I am making my whole build around it. So if you think this wouldnt work could you elaborate abit further? A wizard with all buffs up, will outperform a barb or fighter in melee combat by a LONG shot, at least on paper? Note that I do not intend to tank but play as a melee dps "striker".

Hey again. Thanks for all the input. I get that I may be missing out on some mechanics and considerations that you guys made a point of here. So I stand corrected on some of them. I still feel that "free use of T1+T2 spells" is not a valid argument though. Because a Wizard's major strength should IMO not be the use/spam of boring 1st and 2nd level spells. In the later levels, having your 1st + 2nd level spells being your most valuable resource as a "powerful wizard" kinda takes away what SHOULD be the strength and fun of one, namely limited but powerful spells. The spells of a wizard (DD ones, not CC) are not near enough in damage to be considered worth it when you consider GAIN vs COST on a multiple encounter travel without rest. For example fireball. The damage at endgame for me was 30 damage. I mean come on, thats the same damage as my 2 hander does in an autoattack even though fireball is an AOE. I just think Wizard is missing that limited but powerful feel somehow. Then again maybe I'm wrong or the devs wanted another direction with Wizard. One thing I did NOT take into account is that we have yet to unlock or T7-9 spells. Hopefully some "Tremble before me mortals" are introduced in the expansion

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think mirrored images has charges like iron skin. You start at 20 deflect and that chance get lowered each time you get hit. Like 20 deflect. *get hit* Now you have 15 deflect. Etc. IIR the first lvl deflection skill only has ONE charge, making it a kinda useless spell.

So we agree on con, might and int here I was thinking that since wizard has low deflect to start, but, has good deflect spells - then buffing deflection for the times you cant avoid melee is good. At least more useful than con since you wont have high health anyway. How would you distribute your stats for a melee combat wizard which uses minimal DD spells?

Can someone help me out? Been theorycrafting for 2 days now, I WANT TO FINALLY PLAY! But the attribute choices for my build is keeping me up at night. Since wizards get alacrity buff down the line (+50% attack speed bonus), I'm wondering if its not better to pump Might up to max and dump dex completely. As a melee wizard almost all your buffs are fast to instant anyway, so since long casting times is not an issue (not planning on using DD spells) I'm starting to think that Dex can be used as a dump stat. The strongest stat for a melee wizard is int, as you need your most important buffs (combat form + vital essence, both 15-20 seconds base) to last as long as possible. Due to low health/end gain, buffing con feels useless as you get the least from buffing con of all the classes. You'd want to buff deflection though. So I'm thinking: Might: Max Con: 10 Dex: Dump Per: 10 Int: Max Resolve: Any remaining points If its relevant to my choice I'm going either weapon focus peasant to use parasitic staff OR Tidefall (greatsword) OR Estoc. So 2 hander. The plan is to use a fire godlike with light armor, retaliation, drain. So this should further cement the need for might and the less dependency on dex?

Thanks for the reply Hopefully someone who knows or tested this can confirm this.

Hey OP. I made a wood elf /w marksman and gunner with 20dex using robe only for 0% recovery penalty. The plan was to play a gunslinger (though currently used arbalest) wizard that relied on the Wizard buffs (eldritch aim, defensive buffs, crit buff and ultimately combat form for another +20 accuracy and dex) to create an arcane archer of sorts which could also use CC. So the plan was to use spells for buffs that benefited ranged combat, and using weapon for damage instead of spells and instead use the leftover spells for CC. However - I found out that increased action speed from dex does NOT REDUCE RELOAD SPEED. (For whatever illogical reason the devs decided this). So I'm rerolling a melee wizard instead now. The Idea of a ranged wizard is fun imo, but if dex does not reduce reload speed the entire idea is imo ruined. The whole point of 0% recovery + max action point gunslinger / ranged wizard is to reduce reload speed. Point is: You are better off just using spells for damage and blast + autoattack, and if you do decide to make a wizard based on weapon damage - melee is probably better than ranged (again due to reload speed).

Hey. I'm wondering if the heal bonus from might affects the strength of endurance drain for either spells or weapons. Lets say I have a weapon that drains 20% of the damage done. With 20 might, lets say that with modifiers my damage is now 35. 20% of 30 is 6. Will my weapon now drain 7 bonus endurance? I'm also curious if potions and talents like potent potions (25% potion strength / duration) benefit from might + intelligence for their strength and duration. I don't know if the bonuses from attributes affects enchantments like drain, potions and so on. Are the attributes global in this regard or are potions and enchantments not included in these bonuses?

I would like the following talent added: Logic-failure removal Reloading speed of ranged weapons now properly benefits from dexterity's faster action speed

Wizards already have strong conjurable ranged weapon, but rarely find a time to use it, unless there is multiple wizards in party. Huh? I just double checked the Wizard spells. Only conjurable weapon I see is parasitic staff :|

Crap I built a 20 dex wood elf wizard with the primary purpose being the use of wizard buffs to make a wizard gunslinger. So 20 dex is wasted completely? And the alacrity (1.5x actionspeed buff) won't work either then for reloading guns? So much for a ranged combat mage *sigh* Really silly that dex does not affect reload speed. The devs need to fix this asap. No logic that a person with good dexterity spends just as long reloading a gun than clumsy oaf.

If you use pistol will you benefit from the one weapon talent (graze to hit) or do pistols count as 2 handed for this talent? If two handed, will all firearms and ranged weapons then benefit from the 1.15 damage from two hand style? And do you guys consider this a worthwhile talent? Sorry for a bit of hijack OP, I thought better to ask here than make a new thread since we are discussing ranged weapons anyhow

What can you recommend my wood elf bow wizard? I have 20dex and running around naked for no recovery penalty x) I'm unable to commit to a weapon talent because I can't decide. Will probably be running alacrity, so thats 1.5x speed on top of 30% action speed. I wanted to use pistols myself but I'm not 100% sure on the ranged weapon mechanics yet.

Me too! But not so much for the stats as for the appearance of the weapon and the reload animation. It looks so sexy <3 Btw pistols is not an option?

I did not consider using this for spells like this, duh I see your point though. I guess its fine as it is.

Imo Eldritch aim is currently way to weak and situational due to its 10 second duration. Currently my bow-mage is only granted 2 attacks with Eldritch aim, and that is with 20 dex. I can imagine it is even worse for gun users. To think of it, it is also bad for 2H... actually... this spell is just bad overall! How about changing this spell to last for the next 5 attacks instead like the iron skin mechanic? Do you guys like this idea? What do you think about eldritch aim atm?

Making a melee Wizard for hard + expert. I could really need some help not to make any terrible mistakes. The following post is my logical train of thought for making it maximum viable. Could you give me any advice or tell me if some of my decision making here is off? Race It seems that fire godlike and moon godlike are the only good choices here. Which one would you consider better? With moon godlike, you heal endurance 3 times per encounter at 75/50/25% hp. Seems to favor: Might (+Damage and benefit from the +Healing) With fire godlike, 4DR at 50% health and below. However: With low base health, might not actually be that good? Seems to favor: Con ... Endurance and constitution The difference between 3 - 10 - 20 constitution is for a lvl7 Wizard (choosing mid-range level here): -21% - 0% - +30% @30+10 endurance per level: 79HP or 100hp or 130hp. With vital essence our endurance will be (at its peak): 179 - 200 - 230 ... Spell durations for a Melee wizard Parasitic staff: 30 seconds Eldritch Aim (+15 ACC): 10 seconds Spirit shield: 60 seconds Bulwark against elements (elemental DT): 60 seconds Infuse with vital essence (100end bonus): 15 seconds Alacrity of motion (1.5 attack speed, minor endurance drain): 15 seconds Displaced image (+20 deflection +20 reflex): 15 seconds Iron skin (+8DT): Duration is 10 received attacks Martial power (+20 con, dex, deflection, +20 to hit roll): 20 seconds As we can see, the absolute highest peak we can reach in one fight is: +20 to hit +20 deflection +20 dex +20 con +20 reflex, will, fortitude +8DT 100 end bonus 1.5 attack speed In conclusion, int should definitely be your main boosted stat to improved durations, due to limited rest. Do you agree? ... Weapon of choice Spears for +acc /w light shield for deflection bonus. Light shield has no +acc penalty. Estoc for DR bypass, will be good /w the 1.5 attack speed buff. Quarterstaff for extended reach and parasitic staff spell. Hatchet for deflection bonus. These seems to be the best options, thoughts? ... Talents + chance to hit is VITAL for a melee wiz due to low starting value. Weapon focus: Peasant grants +6acc to hatchet, spear and quarterstaff. This would definitely be the best choice unless you go Estoc? Cautious attack: 0.8 speed modifier for +10 deflection. With alacrity (1.5 bonus) this becomes 1.3 bonus with +10 deflection. A good choice no? Lesser and greater spell heuristics: Increases the casting time for all our buff spells. Can't go wrong with these I think? Superior deflection: +5 deflection ... ATTRIBUTES Constitution: Leave at 10 imo, because Wizards get the LEAST from boosting health. A melee wizard should focus on DR and deflection. Alternatively - If you go fire godlike, max Con. Might: If moon godlike, max. If not, 10-14 Dexterity: 10-12 Perception: 10-12 Intelligence: 18+ Resolve: 10-12 ...

I believe I have a solution to all of these problems. Considering that one of the main problems is that many buffs in this game feels useless due to the horridly short duration. A 15 second duration buff is over before you have had time to do anything at all really. So how to address "no out of combat buffing" + "Extremely short duration spells"? Simple. Add a talent to gain the sequencer ability from DnD. Example: I put Iron skin, Mirror image and improved accuracy buff into a sequencer. When I click this button, all these three buffs fire off at once. Tada! No buffing out of combat AND spell buffs being bad due to low duration + cast times, all solved in one.

Hey people, first post here ^- ^ (And you are probably thinking, "and of course! A whine thread!"). Hopefully this rather classifies as constructive criticism. Please excuse my poor English (non-native). I love the game to death! I can't get enough of it and I feel horrible not having backed it. I mostly lurk at forums but this is something I think the devs really, really need to fix. I almost feel there is a duty to say this In DnD Wizards are balanced around limited casts, something PoE adopted. In return, these spells can be tremendously powerful. Back with NwN + NwN2 I remember it still... A wizard was truly a wizard. You could summon meteors from the sky to demolish your enemies. You could use finger of death to instantly kill a foe. You could stop time itself and summon Balors from the abyss to cleave your enemies in half with their vorpal blades. You could summon wailing banshees, instill fear, obliterate mobs with fireballs. You were as I said, truly a WIZARD. Running around with haste and fireshield wrecking chaos and death in your wake. In this game I went for Wizard due to my nostalgia for such days. I expected Wizard to be powerful yet physically frail. But near the end I actually rerolled before the last boss. Because the frustration and disappointment over PoE's take on Wizards had completely destroyed any love I thought I would have for the class. I would rather not see the ending than waste it on a wizard in its current state. The problem: 1) Wizard spells are on par with Ciphers in damage and CC potential as I see it. Some people have even stated that Cipher spells are superior! Yet Cipher does not have a spell limitation. Wizard spells should be doing at least THRICE the damage they do to justify having limited cast spells. 2) Wizard spells suffer from a huge lack in imagination and variation. You have generic and forgettable spells for CC and damage. Not only are there FEW spells. The spells you do have, most of them serve pretty much the same purposes with a slight variation. 3) Chanters get the summons now. Understandable, to make that class more unique and have its tools. However, if this makes Wizards not being able to have summons, then at the very least give us something more/else. 4) Currently there is no reason to roll a wizard instead of a cipher. Maybe wizards can out-damage a cipher if they frontload all their spells in one fight. Maybe. But over the course of say, 10 encounters without rest - a cipher will probably out-dps a wizard ten to one. 5) To add insult to injury, ciphers get tons of role-playing options. In my 50 hour first playthrough I did not get one conversation based on the wizard class. So here is my suggestions: 1) First, the Wizard needs 1-3 extra spell options per level. Give us something interesting and varied. 2) Boost the power of wizard spells. They SHOULD be powerful. Limited casts remember? There is a reason Wizards were so powerful in DnD, they were poor combatants with their base stats, with poor health-gain, terrible aim and no real combat talents other than spells. It is as if you were afraid to make Wizards too powerful? 3) Too late for PoE, but for the expansion - add more conversation options for wizards pretty please? It felt like cipher or priest were the intended player classes and the rest of them were "filler" classes. 4) Last but not least. Wizards really need some more spell talent options on level up. Like: * Can auto-cast a selected defensive spell at 50% endurance * Can gain recovery speed for a limited time only applied to spells (spell haste) * Less recovery penalty for armor, but only applied to spells and not auto-attacks * Let us enchant our spellbook * Choose to lower the number of spells on each spell-tier to boost them. Instead of 4 fireballs for 40 damage, you get 2 fireballs with x2 damage amplification (for example). Wizard is not a broken class, its not that bad. But it is IMO a weak class that needs improving. I apologize if this seems like a negative post but I love PoE and I love Wizards, but I feel like Obsidian is not giving them justice Any thoughts on this? What do you people think?