Fun Martial Class for Multiclasses with Wizard?

[zilbest]

I already finish my first game with Monk + Cipher - forget the exact name (I love the idea of replenishable 'Mana').

 

For the second run, I picked Sorcerer (Wizard + Druid) as total caster char and I already at the 2/3 of the game.

 

For the 3rd run, I'm already in love with Wizard (no sub) but I plan to combine it with martial classes.

 

What martial class do you guys think is the most fun to combine with Wizard? Because I really can't decide...

 

From the name sake, Battlemage is the most catchy, IMHO, but there are already so many fighters in my team (Eder, Palegina, even Aloth).

 

For Paladin, I'm afraid the disposition will restrict me to some choices. Also, I'm not that interested with most active skills.

 

For Rogue, I don't really like playing stealth in this game.

 

For Monk, I already tried it on my first run.

 

The only thing that I have in mind right now is Barbarian because of Carnage.

 

But is it kind of redundant? because both are AoE expert in their respective area? Barbarian is an expert in AoE auto-attack I think.

 

I'm not saying I wont consider again those 5 classes I mentioned if you guys have interesting ideas.

 

I'm even considering Wizard + Priest / Cipher again to make a different kind of caster.

 

Is there any interesting ideas or theory-crafting build to be used with Wizard multiclass, especially now with 1.1 patch?

[evilcat]

HellWalker Wizard, for action speed and int/migh bonus.

[Ryzak]

I enjoy Devoted/Evoker Battlemage. Paladin is nice because of the defenses but I agree that its not worth the disposition annoyances. Rogue can work - strong mobility and very high damage, although you would probably be a bit reliant on your wizard for defenses. Battlemage has been my preferred play style since Cipher is fairly abysmal in 1.1.

 

I think the fun part of the Devoted/Evoker is that the fighter aspect lets you deal with things 1v1, while the wizard gives you a combination of some strong self buffs and enough area of effect damage to handle groups. Torrent of Flame in particular can be nasty for a melee caster.

[Sheyde]

HellWalker Wizard, for action speed and int/migh bonus.

Combine that with Citzal's Spirit Lance, and you can get some crazy melee AoE. It's been a lot of fun in my first post 1.1 PotD run.

[zilbest]

I see.. thanks for an idea. I guess Hellwalker Wizard will be some sort of Glasscannon AoE so I have to use scepter again.

 

I still incline to the idea of Tanker-Off Tank / Debuffer since my Sorcerer is also Glass Canon AoE.

 

Sorry, my reply has to be approved before. Let me check about the conjurer weapon. Certainly it's new to me since I've never considered it before.

Edited June 8, 2018 by zilbest

[Owlbear]

Shattered Pillar Monk/Wizard is my current fav. I just finished my 2nd game and I enjoyed it way more than I did with the previous Devoted/Soulblade. 

 

Barbarian looks interesting, but I'm not really a fan of the subclasses.

 

Rogue could be fun and it wouldn't force you to play stealthily. Streetfighter or Trickster could make a great Spellblade with counter attacks, great mobility and various debuff/damage abilities. Also if you plan to use the conjured Spirit Lance you can apply everything a rogue has as an aoe.

 

It's kinda tempting to start a real caster like a wizard/druid. If I don't start a wizard/rogue then I'm sure my next charater will be a wizard/druid... or maybe something else with a monk. :D

 

 

 

 

Helwalker/Wizard would only work if you generate wounds by hurting yourself as it would be such a waste to play a wizard without using it's deflection buffs. 

[gkathellar]

You don't actually need to use stealth to play a rogue, fwiw. You can absolutely function as a shifty combat debuffer.

[zilbest]

Shattered Pillar Monk/Wizard is my current fav. I just finished my 2nd game and I enjoyed it way more than I did with the previous Devoted/Soulblade.

 

Barbarian looks interesting, but I'm not really a fan of the subclasses.

 

Rogue could be fun and it wouldn't force you to play stealthily. Streetfighter or Trickster could make a great Spellblade with counter attacks, great mobility and various debuff/damage abilities. Also if you plan to use the conjured Spirit Lance you can apply everything a rogue has as an aoe.

 

It's kinda tempting to start a real caster like a wizard/druid. If I don't start a wizard/rogue then I'm sure my next charater will be a wizard/druid... or maybe something else with a monk. :D

 

 

 

 

Helwalker/Wizard would only work if you generate wounds by hurting yourself as it would be such a waste to play a wizard without using it's deflection buffs.

What kind of abilities do you recommend for the Rogue if I want to be a debuffer?

[Forrestor]

 

HellWalker Wizard, for action speed and int/migh bonus.

Combine that with Citzal's Spirit Lance, and you can get some crazy melee AoE. It's been a lot of fun in my first post 1.1 PotD run.

 

 

What's attributes did you go with? Sounds like fun! 

[Sheyde]

 

Shattered Pillar Monk/Wizard is my current fav. I just finished my 2nd game and I enjoyed it way more than I did with the previous Devoted/Soulblade.

 

Barbarian looks interesting, but I'm not really a fan of the subclasses.

 

Rogue could be fun and it wouldn't force you to play stealthily. Streetfighter or Trickster could make a great Spellblade with counter attacks, great mobility and various debuff/damage abilities. Also if you plan to use the conjured Spirit Lance you can apply everything a rogue has as an aoe.

 

It's kinda tempting to start a real caster like a wizard/druid. If I don't start a wizard/rogue then I'm sure my next charater will be a wizard/druid... or maybe something else with a monk. :D

 

 

 

 

Helwalker/Wizard would only work if you generate wounds by hurting yourself as it would be such a waste to play a wizard without using it's deflection buffs.

What kind of abilities do you recommend for the Rogue if I want to be a debuffer?

 

Confounding Blind, Blinding Strike upgrade, is pretty awesome, Deflection penalty keeps getting better the more they get hit. I also like opening with debilitating strike, gets a couple debuffs on them which helps.

 

I've run Streetfighter as a rogue, I was going unclassed until I saw the Blunderbuss modal which basically ups your recovery by 50% as it makes you Flanked. It does take away some accuracy, but I think the benefits far outweigh the penalties. I usually open with a Blunderbuss shot of Debilitating and then switch weapons and go for a Confounding and then switch back to Blunderbusses and COnfounding...you get the idea.

 

It's actually worked very well in my party so far. The debuffs help and my Streetfighter/Beguiler does do some decent damage when I need it.

[Sheyde]

 

 

HellWalker Wizard, for action speed and int/migh bonus.

Combine that with Citzal's Spirit Lance, and you can get some crazy melee AoE. It's been a lot of fun in my first post 1.1 PotD run.

 

 

What's attributes did you go with? Sounds like fun! 

 

I did max Might, Pen and Int, while putting as much into Dex as I could. I dumped Con and Res as I felt the defensive spells wiz brings covered most of what I lost from dumping those two stats.

 

It is a little rough in the beginning as you don't get the Lance until 13, some of the monk skills help you still close things out. I also picked up the PL1 Parasitic Staff in case I needed it. This combo is my number 2 damage dealer behind my Sharpshooter/Barbarian combo that is just sick and awesome.

 

I am trying a solo PotD run with this build, but I am running Shattered Pillar as opposed to Helwalker because I am not a masochist.

 

Good skills to get on the monk side with Helwalker are: Swift Flurry, Dance of Death, Torment's Reach(and upgrade), Duality(Int), Turning Wheel, Heartbeat Drumming, and Spin Kick(for fun).

 

The class really turns into a badass when all your wizard buffs last longer than most fights. I have only had to empower my resources one time that I can think of, and that was early in my journey(pre-lance).

 

Hope that helps!

[zilbest]

Thanks Sheyde... I definitely can imagine the build and it's certainly intriguing.

 

Let's see if others also have more ideas..

[QuiteGoneJin]

I enjoy Devoted/Evoker Battlemage. Paladin is nice because of the defenses but I agree that its not worth the disposition annoyances. Rogue can work - strong mobility and very high damage, although you would probably be a bit reliant on your wizard for defenses. Battlemage has been my preferred play style since Cipher is fairly abysmal in 1.1.

 

I think the fun part of the Devoted/Evoker is that the fighter aspect lets you deal with things 1v1, while the wizard gives you a combination of some strong self buffs and enough area of effect damage to handle groups. Torrent of Flame in particular can be nasty for a melee caster.

I'd like to hear more about this build, spell choices, stats, and devoted weapon. 

[QuiteGoneJin]

I had the idea that ranger/no subclass wizard would be strong though didn't flesh it out, just knew itd have insane accuracy and concussive tranq to interrupt casters and remove all 30sec or less buffs for a quick snipe. Plus haste spells, evasive roll and the teleport/swap spell would be neat. But every time I make a ranger I hate the mid game. Wounding shot is just so crappy and I dont like to rely on the poorly scaling pets. 

[ErlKing]

Warlock (Barbarian) is an interesting choice for Speed bonuses. Frenzy and Bloodlust give +20% action speed each.

 

Berserker also gives +2 penetration to your spells, but you have to deal with Confusion debuff, damage over time and hidden health meter.

Unorthodox choice - Corpse-eater has +1/+2 Power Level boosts from certain food (kith meat and craftable specials), but you don't get enough for it to be viable.

 

I would say Rogue-Wizard is more powerful due to Sneak attacks modifiers, mobility tools and such. You have limited number of casts anyway, so instead of casting them faster you might want them to hit as hard as possible. Also with Blunderbus/Streetfighter you can have up to +100% damage from sneak attacks and -50% recovery time on spells.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Any really, Wizard self-buffs are the best in the game imo and work well with martial classes. Are you looking to be a frontline character who supplements with magic or are you looking to boost your casting?

[zilbest]

Any really, Wizard self-buffs are the best in the game imo and work well with martial classes. Are you looking to be a frontline character who supplements with magic or are you looking to boost your casting?

If I can, I prefer to be the support / tanker / debuffer actually.

 

Since I've been the DD for the first 2 runs and I think it could be more challenging and fun if I had to use my team to deal damage.

[Gromnir]

helwalker sages are only prohibitive squishy early.  by mid levels you will have enough monk talent defenses and wizard spell defenses to go full melee if you so desire.  while spirit lance and other 2-handed weapons is mighty keen, we would recommend dual wield or one-handed.  dual wield is a fantastic options as you will eventual be able to double-up power level bonus weapons.  if you are gonna use helwalker bonuses most to power your spell casting, then go with dw.  alternative, one-hand weapon is also a great option 'cause while many o' the on-crit weapons has been nerfed with 1.1, crit abilities and modifiers is nevertheless powerful.  a one-handing orlan with a high accuracy weapon is gonna crit frequent even at potd difficulty.   

 

am a fan o' helwalker contemplatives, but sages is more powerful.  that said, the helwalker squishiness does add an element to gameplay which requires micromanagement, and there will be combats wherein your main character is forced front-and-center following a cutscene, which is not ideal for a helwalker.  in spite o' the drawbacks, the benefits is substantial... though less now with 1.1--  turning wheel damage bonuses were multiplied.  at release a helwalker contemplative casting pillar of holy fire could do 700 damage per target before an empower.  silly strong. helwalker sages is still strong, but the ai options won't be sufficient for many combat encounters. need to be extreme hands-on with a helwalker, particularly early but also for a few tougher encounters. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited June 8, 2018 by Gromnir

[Braven]

Monk/wizard - reflect many types of attacks. Ranged with soul mirror, spells with arcane reflection, and melee with blade turning. Wizard deflection buffs allow you to get those misses needed to make soul mirror actually work. Really funny watching enemies kill themselves as they try to attack you

 

Fighter/Wizard - The ultimate protect the party tank with high spell accuracy. Fighter provides extra engagements in the defender stance along with damage reduction. Wizard provides deflection buffs, +20 to all defenses (that stacks with deflection buffs), and +5 armor over a very long duration with the “Safeguard” spell. Also, you can switch to conquerer stance and use disciplined barrage to gain +15 accuracy and 50% graze to hit on your spell casts.

Edited June 8, 2018 by Braven

[Dorftek]

One of my favourite things to do in the first game was to combine combusting wounds with carnage and fast weapons.

So a barbarian/wizard with rapiers, high int and combusting wounds might be cool in this game too.

 

If you don't want to go barbarian a nalpasca or shattered pillar with rooting pain and Citzels Lance or hand mortar could be a good option too to combine with combusting wounds.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

 

Any really, Wizard self-buffs are the best in the game imo and work well with martial classes. Are you looking to be a frontline character who supplements with magic or are you looking to boost your casting?

If I can, I prefer to be the support / tanker / debuffer actually.

Since I've been the DD for the first 2 runs and I think it could be more challenging and fun if I had to use my team to deal damage.

Fighter will be the tankiest, Paladin will bring support, Monk brings plenty of tanky and some other stuff.

[zendingo]

I am currently playing a new game with a Thaumaturge (wizard/priest) in my party. She isn't much of a damage dealer, relying only on auto attacks with her decently high might, but she protects my squishy dps by tanking, healing, and buffing. I had no problem being in melee right from the beginning on upscaled all PoD 1.1. (Disclaimer: I started at level 4 with Blessings of Berath and am currently only level 7 in Nethataka, but this was not my PC so no extra stats or anything). I use the wizard spells pretty much exclusivly for self-buffing and the preist spells for healing, team buffing,  and withdraw. This lets me run 3 glass canons plus a herald in my custom party. So far so good.

[dunehunter]

Turning Wheel works with spells, it basically multiples your spell damage by x 1.2.

 

Same as Eternal Flame, that’s x 1.1.

[QuiteGoneJin]

I know what turning wheel is, but eternal flame?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I know what turning wheel is, but eternal flame?

IIRC it's the upgrade for Flames of Devotion that gives +10% damage as burn for a duration after using FoD. I never though to check that out and if it holds through the DLCs I may do an Arcane Knight instead of a Warlock.