Suggested class for a melee DPS wizard PC in PoE2 RTwP

[crunchydeer30]

Can anyone help me with deciding which class would be optimal for a melee wizard in PoE 2? I'm choosing between Devoted/Wizard and Fighter/Wizard (Battlemage); Rogue/Wizard, Assassin/Wizard and Streetfighter/Wizard (Spellblade). I don't consider other classes such as Monk, Paladin and Priest for RP reasons although they seem to be quite strong. In short, I would prefer more damage over tankiness and not planning to use shields, but want to be able to take a few hits with the help of wizard's buffs. Frontline of my party would also include a pure tank fighter and an off-tank paladin DD.

In PoE 1 I also played as a melee wizard and had a blast with it. Easily the highest dps in party after unlocking Spirit Lance at level 9. In PoE 1 I usually went for Mirrored Image, Hardened Veil, DAoM, Slirit Lance and Martial Power and started hitting multiple enemies staying behind the tank's back while not being afraid of aggroing some enemies due to high defelction. The damage was insane especially with almost non existent recovery with DaOM and durgan infused armor.

Something like this in PoE 2 would be perfect. But honestly after 100 hours of PoE 1 I've grown tired of this particular build and want to freshen things up a little by multyclassing and using non conjured dual weapons. But I can't decide which multiclass to pick. Streetfigter seems like the most optimal choice and I've played with it a little. But 20% recovery penalty is very annoying and I don't see how I'll be able to stay bloodied or flanked consistenly, especially while having a dedicated fighter tank and off-tank paladin in my party. And most of the time bloodied status would mean a 1/2 hit death for my character with 10 con. But the bonuses for having these effects are huge indeed. The only thing that bothers me is that enemies tend to target my character quite often even while being engaged by a tank which makes surviving much harder. That wasn't a problem with Spirit Lance due to its reach though. Assassin seems nice but I guess it's more fitting for spellcaster kind of build. No Sublcass rogue also seems nice but I can't yet determine if Streetfighter would be more beneficial in the long run after unlocking better defensive spells for much needed survivabilty. I also consider picking a fighter or devoted for their offensive passives, but I think sneak attack damage boost of rogue would be better for my party. (I'm going to also have a pure Wizard for CC and debuffing enemies for making them flanked or afflicted). But I might be wrong and looking for your suggestions.

Edited August 4, 2021 by crunchydeer30

[Not So Clever Hound]

Considering your parameters of choice and what you ultimately seem to want to get out of this Char, I would strongly consider:

Fighter (vanilla) / Wizard (Bloodmage or vanilla) specialized in 2Handers, wielding the Willbreaker (see all posts, great synergy with Wizard abilities) and occasionally going bonkers with Spirit Lance. You will see that certain synergies will be a ton of fun (Spirit Lance + Clear Out, Unbending + Wall of Draining, Willbreaker + the Ryngrim spells). You will be powerful, durable, versatile and have a clear Battlemage flavor.

If you want to really focus on Willbreaker or another specific 2H weapon, you could go Devoted but it's limiting on a first playthrough.

Your other classes of consideration are very good also, but IMHO less aligned with what you seem to be looking for.

[Boeroer]

Does it have to be strictly melee?

Because Streetfighter/Wizard with dual mortars (Serafen's blunderbusses with AoE effect) is very potent. 

The modal Powder Burns triggers the Streetfighter passive at all times (no need for bloodied or getting actively flanked). 

You'll have two damage types (mortars deal pierce/slash) and the AoE targets Reflex instead of Deflection (Wizard has lots of debuffs for that). Also Expose Vulnerabilities and Combusting Wounds is great with dual mortars. 

On top of that the mortars' AoE apply all effects from Rogue strikes - e.g. Arterial Strike's or Gouging Strike's raw dmg components. 

The recovery bonus is also great for casting spells faster. 

And the mortars - like all blunderbusses - are rel. short ranged so it's not a super-ranged build either. 

Summoning an Essential Phantom with your two mortars equipped can be fun, too.

[crunchydeer30]

Thank you for your replies! Yeah, only melee unfortunately. I considered a blunderbuss modal build and it looks insanely good, but it's not my cup of tea. Does Streetfighter get better tho? Would higher level defensive spells make it possible for it to stay bloodied consistenly or I'd better ditch the idea and pick fighter or rogue? Or is there any other way to trigger flanked? Like friendly fire spell or something? So far I seem to die often with Streetfighter/Wizard on PoTD. And overall game feels more difficult on PoTD than the first one. First Island feels like doing that temple of Eithas in Gilded Vale with 3 character on 3rd level all over again, lol.

[Not So Clever Hound]

18 minutes ago, crunchydeer30 said:

 Like friendly fire spell or something?

Besides Powder Burns, a popular way of triggering Distracted is to have a Chanter cast The Lights Danced Across the Moor and have the upgraded Wisp target your Streetfighter. You can also Blind yourself but that is a severe penalty! I personally find the alternatives to Powder Burns too gimmicky. IMHO then you're much better off with Battlemage for melee.

18 minutes ago, crunchydeer30 said:

And overall game feels more difficult on PoTD than the first one. First Island feels like doing that temple of Eithas in Gilded Vale with 3 character on 3rd level all over again, lol.

It gets better! Maje is a well-known grind on PotD. Do not despair, soon enough you will be stomping on everyone with relative ease. You can look for Maje strategies on this forum.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Not So Clever Hound

[Boeroer]

You said dual melee weapons, hm...

How about a "Huana Mataru" Unbroken/Wizard with a spear (Stalker's Patience) and a club (Kapana Taga) plus Reckless Brigandine plus Whitch Mask (later Champion's Helmet)?

Sounds weird? Let me explain:

Unbroken have a nice passive that grants them a big bonus with Engagement/Disengagement Attacks: +1 Engagement and +10 PEN on diseng. attacks. Paid for with -10% Stride (nobody cares once DAoM is active) and -15 Reflex (counter with a self buff like Llengrath's Displaced Image if you must).

Kapana Taga has the will reducing modal (-25 Will), dual damage (crush/slash) and neat enchantments - one that gives you +2 engagement. You are at 3 engagement slots.

Stalker's Patience has a modal that gives you +1 engagement at the cost of lesser stride (again: DAoM), it does awesome damage due to the wounding enchantment and you can skip recovery on crit 20% of times (cool, especially with disengagement attack which have high ACC bonuses, also with Overbearing Guard). You are at 4 engagement slots.

Reckless Brigandine gives you more dmg, AR and action speed based on health and/or on how many enemies you engage. That stacks with Mob Stance(!). You are at 5 engagement slots.

If you take Hold the Line you'll get 6 engagement slots (not really needed but maybe good to gap the bridge until you get all the items).

With Reckless Brigandine, Armored Grace, the Pet Abraham, dual wielding, Two Weapon Style, DAoM and Mob Stance you will be pretty fast, especially once you engage a lot of enemies. 

Now... White Witch Mask, why? It gives you +1 to all Illusions (and looks good with Kapana Taga/Reckless Brigandine and thus completes the "Hauna Mataru" look quite well).

Illusions include stuff like Dazzling Lights, Miasma of Dull-Mindedness and the two terrifying Ryngrim spells. Now the Unbroken and Wizard parts come together:

You gather enemies around you and engage them. You hit them a bit with the club+modal (-25 Will). You cast Miasma of Dull Mindedness onto the enemies (-40 Will -> now at -65 Will). You cast Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage. Now the enemies get terrified and try to disengage. Often they trigger hefty disengagement attacks which will be executed with Stalker's Patience (chance of skipping recovery). If they die you will get an additional Full Attack from Mob Stance. And so on...

Disciplined Strikes + Merciless Gaze lead to a good amount of crit conversion.

You can really mess up enemies that way, do CC and damage at the same time. And against fear immune enemies? Well you are still a proper Battlemage so you'll think of something.

The most fun part imo is that if you summon an Essential Phantom it will also have +3 engagement from the Brigandine and the club. So you can both deliver disengement attacks. It won't have your modals and passives but it's still a nice addition.

If you want you can even summon Concelhaut's Draining Touch and use it als main weapon instead of the spear - but in order to keep it you need to use a game glitch. But even if you don't want to use that glitch: on a phantom the Draining Touch weapon stays after hits and will not dissolve like if would on your own character. And the neat thing is that it has not only huge base damage but it targets Will instead of Deflection (and you reduced enemies' Will substancially before). 

Icing on the cake is Zandethu's Draconic Fury (spell from a unique Grimoire) at Power Level 7. It lets you terrify on hit and getting hit (and adds two potent lashes). Too bad it's on the same tier as Wall of Draining - so I'd recommend Bloodmage in order to gain that spell use back so you can cast both spells in one encounter. 

I didn't play this for a whole playthrough though so I can't say if it's fun all the way. I only verified the concept with a hireling during a normal playhtough and with the console + some random encounters. But I always wanted to play that concept.  

     

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Boeroer