Optimal stats for a wizard (blood mage)

[Takolin]

So I came to PoE2 after a long break as all dlcs are available and I want to main a wizard (blood mage subclass) as a main but I'm stuck on stats.

 

Role: nuker

 

I got this so far:

Max perception because if you don't hit, you do 0 damage.

Dumped resolve

Constitution is around 10,because I want to use the blood mage ability effectively.

But now I'm unsure on how to divide dex, int and might as they all have their merits

 

Might: easiest way to increase damage/hit

Dex: faster casts = more casts (and ranged weapon hits). Blood mage should be able to cast more spells than an another wizard in the long fights. Can be easily buffed by casting dex buff on self (fleet feet or DAoM). Is DAoM a wise choice for a blood mage who'll already take more damage.

Int: longer duration on self buffs and dot spells (combusting wounds). (can be buffed with infuse of vital elements (with con as well)

 

Companions

Eder: fighter/rogue tank

Ydwin: CC cipher

Teheku: druid/chanter support bot

TBD

[Sifjar]

I started 2handed tactition/bloodmage.

Went usual18/3/18/18/18/3 since it is not solo.

2handed since i plan to use BoEP and SL for tactitian procs. May be ChS in late game.

Eder, Xoti, Ydwin, Rekke.

 

Early game was easy as f. Would go pure BM, but i never actually used high tier spells that much. So decided to hold on spell progression, but get benifits from tactitian.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Sifjar

[Clerith]

While Resolve is fine to dump to 3, Con is a little annoying... I like having ~8, especially with a class that'll be losing HP for sure. If you go 3 you'll risk getting one-shot or what feels like it a bit much. Max Per, while Might, Dex and Int is up to personal preference/build.

[MaxQuest]

I echo Clerith's sentiment regarding dumped CON and high chance of being one-shot. 3 CON is too low for a backliner (unless he is in plate armor), and it's too low for a frontliner no matter the armor, unless there are some build shenanigans involved and going low on hp is your actual intention.

 

A ranged nuker Blood Mage, wants high MIG, PER, INT and decent DEX. So it's something like 18/7/15/18/17/3 or 20/7/17/21/20/5 (if with Berath's blessing).

 

P.S. Looking at your party composition Takolin, it looks like your Blood Mage is asking for Wayfarer or Shieldbearer teammate. Otherwise you'll be heavily depended on Moonwell scrolls and Potions of Final Stand / Miraculous Healing in order to sustain Blood Sacrifice self damage.

Edited December 17, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Boeroer]

But he has Tekehu as a Stormspeaker/Watershaper in the party. That should provide plenty of healing over time, shouldn't it?

[MaxQuest]

Well... hmm, that doesn't look like enough for me.

 

Stormspeaker is not a troubadour to spam Fingers of Daylight (yeap, I undervalue Ancient Memory ^^).

And Watershaper is not a lifegiver.

Plus what about an off-healer, and who will be resurrecting if Tekehu is down..

 

Last run, I had a goldpact/lifegiver (who was all about tanking and healing) and a wayfarer/skald (who was healing for 2x20hp every 3s with White Flames). And that felt good. But I didn't have to sustain a Blood Mage in my party...

Edited December 17, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Boeroer]

Hm, I once had a Berserker/Nalpasca with max MIG (who most likely accumulates more dmg than a Bloodmage?) and had no big problem with Xoti as only source of healing.

[Sifjar]

While Resolve is fine to dump to 3, Con is a little annoying... I like having ~8, especially with a class that'll be losing HP for sure. If you go 3 you'll risk getting one-shot or what feels like it a bit much. Max Per, while Might, Dex and Int is up to personal preference/build.

 

Agreed. Battle mage has 2 passive hp recovery skills. The only problem is oneshot hits, but there are not that many enemies who can deliver that. My last playthrough i was pure mage with same stats with dual s&m and favor. Only few times i felt danger.

[MaxQuest]

Hm, I once had a Berserker/Nalpasca with max MIG (who most likely accumulates more dmg than a Bloodmage?) and had no big problem with Xoti as only source of healing.

Than it was something wrong with my party

 

I remember needing a lot of healing on upscaled PotD during:

- Oathbinder's Sanctum (lvl 7 party)

- Giant Grub (lvl 8 )

- Torkar (lvl 9)

- Madhmr Bridge (lvl 14)

- Naxiva fight (lvl 14)

- Neryscirlas (lvl 15)

 

For reference, I used:

 

 

frontline:

- main-tank/main-healer/sup: goldpact/lifegiver (plate, large shield)

- offtank/offhealer/off-cc: wayfarer/skald (plate, rapier + dagger)

- cc-offtank: unbroken/wizard (plate)

midline:

- main-dps: streetfighter/ascendant (plate, blunderbuss + pistol)

backline:

- offdps/offheal: helwalker of berath (Aloth's armor, Aloth's sceptre + Tuotilo's Palm)

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by MaxQuest

[Boeroer]

Yeah - only multiclasses. Rookie mistake.

[MaxQuest]

Ha! 

Caught myself several times thinking that priest could better be single-classed.

+10 MIG/+10 INT for sure is nice for a DoTer... but rank 7 stuff comes toooo late.

 

Even if those Shining Beacons deal up to 200 total damage, by level 15, mindstalker dealt thrice the priest damage.

[brasilgringo]

How hard are you gimping a Battlemage if you dump / lower STR, since I read it affects the damage from Blood Sacrifice? There are some builds going around (like Nerd Commander's on Youtube) with STR at like 3. 

[Phyriel]

If you go for party potd i'd build more offensively than defensively - the difference is that with offensive party you will micro to kill enemies fast and around alpha strikes, with defensive setup you micro around staying alive because you kill too slow. That being said in a long run going much more defensively will be safer as you go higher level and stack enough defenses that can't be penetrated while all meaningful buffs last - much more boring tho imo. 

[Clerith]

PotD wizards having 10 Might is fine. I might not like it, since Might is such a big portion of what's available to boost spell damage, but it's fine, arguably even great, especially if you also do things like Combusting Wounds and CC or have a battlemage build (getting damage from legendary/mythic quality weapons makes Might less important than other attributes).

[Yosharian]

Boosting damage through Might feels 'expensive' compared to the bonuses that other Attributes give.

[Zymos]

Yeah - only multiclasses. Rookie mistake.

When do you think multiclass builds are justified?

[Yosharian]

I'm building my Blood Mage / Berserker with 10 MIG.  He's a damage dealer, but I just don't see the point of putting points into MIG over other attributes, not when I'm just ramping up the damage I cause to myself

[Climhazzard]

Been playing a Blood sage on my current playthrough (Monk-Bloodmage).  It's a good combination but requires very high micro to reach it's full potential.  If you have a Herald in your party and you're sitting in the backlines then the best way to play it is to just use blood sacrifice after every single spell cast for infinite wounds and spells.

 

Might affects your self damage and your self regen, so it's not bad if you want your abilities to do plenty of damage.  Personally I just max perception, use 10 resolve/constitution, then split the rest.  I think I had maybe 1 extra point in might than the others.

[Flucas]

Basically, you have to choose between MIG and DEX. For a non-blood wizard MIG is the obvious choice because you want to squeeze the most out of limited spellcasts. For a bloodmage it depends, i imagine going for dex may do more for your dps if you can infinicast a few strong spells.

[dejarik]

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

[knownastherat]

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

 

 

Depends on your playstyle. For example, Combusting Wounds, Slicken, Thrust of Tattered Veils (100% hit and interrupt), Miasma, or even Ray of Fire. If you try stuff you will see soon enough what works and whatnot for you.

[Climhazzard]

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

 

Minor MIssiles are minor to say the least, I personally think waving a scepter at your enemy is better.  That aside, you'll probably need access to a few defensive spells like spirit shield.  Pretty much all the early fire spells are useful if you can line them up.  Set the game to pause when finishing a long spell cast so you can retarget the spell for best effect.  For an early spell that really synergizes with blood mage take Concelhaut's corrosive siphon, it'll regenerate your health significantly so you can keep casting without a lot of team support, it works pretty well in combination with combusting wounds too.

 

When i don't mind a bit of heavy micro I'll start a round off with Eldritch aim then immediately use blood sacrifice so my first serious spell gets a powerlevel boost and a perception boost, plus as a blood sage I'll get enough wounds that way to use thunderous blows which helps my spells penetrate and do more damage too.

 

The first fire spell that isn't to useful imo is wall of fire, since it has abysmal penetration, I only find it good for proccing combusting wounds, but I'm sure there are plenty of better ways to proc combusting wounds, like chill fog.

 

To be honest it's nice to just carry around a heap of grimoires for various situations.  Some of the aforementioned spells target fortitude for example which makes them hard to use on a lot of enemies.  Enemies with really high fortitude saves often have low reflex saves though so stuff like fireballs and lightning bolts work better instead.  You'll also find the lightning spells to be the only efficient way to apply damage to iron and steel constructs.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Climhazzard

[TheWeaver]

 

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

 

The first fire spell that isn't to useful imo is wall of fire, since it has abysmal penetration, I only find it good for proccing combusting wounds, but I'm sure there are plenty of better ways to proc combusting wounds, like chill fog.

 

Currently showing a PEN of 0 (which I guess is the limiting definition of "abysmal").  Is that a bug or has it always been that way?

[brasilgringo]

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

 

At early levels, just recast chill fog + combusting wounds + wall of fire on the grouped mobs.  multiples of each.  you can throw in the concelhaut siphon spell as needed for health regen, and supplement as needed with either offensive spells (fireball) or buffs (mirror image, spirit shield).  Once you get spell shaping talent you can reduce the AOE size for more PL, also the +Pen spell talents help.

 

Does anyone know if there is a way to make the AI recast Vigorous Defense when it runs out?

[FleetFeet]

 

What kind of spells would you say are the best choices to be trying to recast constantly? I’m only on level 4 with my Tactician/Blood Mage, so for me it’s been Chill Fog and Minoletta’s Minor Missiles so far.

 

At early levels, just recast chill fog + combusting wounds + wall of fire on the grouped mobs.  multiples of each.  you can throw in the concelhaut siphon spell as needed for health regen, and supplement as needed with either offensive spells (fireball) or buffs (mirror image, spirit shield).  Once you get spell shaping talent you can reduce the AOE size for more PL, also the +Pen spell talents help.

 

Does anyone know if there is a way to make the AI recast Vigorous Defense when it runs out?

 

I've been using the "More AI conditions" mod. It adds a bunch of conditions including one for Vigorous Defense being active.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/88?tab=files

 

It hasn't been updated in a while but still working for me.