Focused Class Analysis: The Wizard

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I've been going through each class, focusing on the "core four" and intend on reviewing each of them. I'll be starting with my favorite RPG class, the Wizard, of which I have extensively play-tested.

 

General Impression

The class feel familiar, with the nice addition of being able to use armor and all weapons should I feel so inclined. The spell list is adequate for the level and is strongly reminiscent of classic D&D spells. Most of the attributes feel worthwhile (after much testing), with some being far more notable than others. The ability to engage in melee if determined to, along with the open skill selection gives the class a more dynamic feeling than is traditionally possible. However, it is the core of the class that is weak and in need of serious revision. I believe these reasons are fixable, but fundamental, and would exist even if talents were implemented. As is, the Wizard fails most at what it was intended to do.

 

Spells & Spellcasting

 

The potency of damaging spells are entirely inadequate. Even with maximized Might and Dexterity, whilst casting spells with a "high" threat range, the most damage I have ever done in a single casting is 78 damage. Spell damage is most consistently confined the high 20s to low 30s range and below. Considering Wizard spells are a very scarce expendable resource and enemies have Stamina well into the hundreds and above, this is not useful. Even with a level 7 wizard, it often takes nearly every single spell with its repertoire to defeat even one single foe--and just barely at that, if at all.

 

The duration of spells which disable and paralyze are woefully short. Even with Intellect maximized, there is little use in casting these spells. Without Intellect maximized, duration is negligible. With Intellect maximized, durations are often only long enough to close into melee and enact a single attack. Even within melee, these durations are too brief to be of use for more than one or two attacks and are extremely difficult to use with large radii often disabling your own party--the offending wizard included. Again, for a scarce expendable resource, these effects are inadequate. Furthermore, spells would also benefit from having greater standardization of area of effect. Being that they are all more or less equal in effects and potency, the dramatic disparity between their radii is pointless.

 

This may be an AI bug, but often when commanding my wizard to cast a spell, the character instead reverts to auto-attacking. Sometimes the action will show the spell icon but have it use the Blast ability instead, but more often than not it will simply fail to trigger.

 

Customization & Play Style

 

While there is a discernible difference between min/max attributes like Might, Intellect, and Constitution, others feel marginal. While Dexterity increase are noticeable for a "muscle wizard" build engaged in melee, usefulness spell accuracy appear negligible. This may be due to how infrequently they are cast though. Perception has no strategic value what-so-ever. There could be some potential, but even at level 7, my Wizard cannot per-encounter use level 1 spells. Furthermore, with all wizard spells taking equally long to cast with a set "recovery time", using spells to interrupt any action is not feasible. Resolve is of some use, but even whilst maximized, using DT 6 armor, and Spirit Shield, spell interruption is still common.

 

Currently, the "muscle wizards" are the best approach, purely because spell casting itself is woefully ineffective for the Wizard. It's currently better to be briefly adequate at melee, rather than next to useless as anything else. The Blast ability is of little comfort. While it can produce damage on par with spells, that is only because spell damage is so low. Misses are common with maximized Dexterity. Damage to peripheral foes is unreliable, often not possible, and not compensatory for the pittance done to the actual target. I considered the Blast ability to be conceptually awful, and I feel that opinion has been vindicated in its implementation.

 

The ability to choose any skill and item does shine though. I have had fair success with a stealthy and mechanically inclined Wizard. Being able to wear armor and weild weapons does not much in compensate for its fundamentally weak at its intended class role, but does provide options. I look forward to seeing their impact once the class is further developed.

 

End Point

If wizards were to have their entire spell book be brought to a per-encounter basis, the class would still be underpowered. Major balancing, spell, and class revision is required. They fail at the role they've been designed for, and are probably my only major disappointment with PoE thus far.

[HoonDing]

Only worthwhile damage spell: Jýnncwhe Cwmhélmak's Horrid Wilting.

[Ganrich]

Yeah, I think there is a discrepancy for the damage on many a wizard spell. The Druid and Priest are the same way. Some spells feel right on the money. Others are over or under tuned.

 

With the cipher being the focus damage caster I feel like OBS dials it back with wizards to keep them behind in that regard. Which is why the wizard, druid, to to an extent the Priest have so many AoE spells. Some of those AoEs are pretty small even with high Int, and require great work at times to hit 2+ enemies to justify the spell usage. This is odd considering the Cipher has no limitation on his spells.

 

A couple ways to assist the wizard here:

 

1). Some abilities may need their numbers buffed.

 

2). Add good conditional effects onto weaker damage spells.

 

3). Spells like Soul Ignition (Cipher) need to be toned down. It is basically power word kill in the beta. With unlimited casts (and a cheap focus cost) no less.

 

I am sure there are other things that could be done here that I am not thinking of.

[Infinitron]

Currently, the "muscle wizards" are the best approach, purely because spell casting itself is woefully ineffective for the Wizard. It's currently better to be briefly adequate at melee, rather than next to useless as anything else. 

 

 

Ironically, this is also true in low-level D&D. Replace "muscle wizard" with fighter/wizard multiclass.

 

Who says Josh doesn't respect the old games?

Edited August 29, 2014 by Infinitron

[swordofthesith]

I've been going through each class, focusing on the "core four" and intend on reviewing each of them. I'll be starting with my favorite RPG class, the Wizard, of which I have extensively play-tested.

 

 

Spells & Spellcasting

 

The potency of damaging spells are entirely inadequate. Even with maximized Might and Dexterity, whilst casting spells with a "high" threat range, the most damage I have ever done in a single casting is 78 damage. Spell damage is most consistently confined the high 20s to low 30s range and below. Considering Wizard spells are a very scarce expendable resource and enemies have Stamina well into the hundreds and above, this is not useful. Even with a level 7 wizard, it often takes nearly every single spell with its repertoire to defeat even one single foe--and just barely at that, if at all.

 

 

End Point

If wizards were to have their entire spell book be brought to a per-encounter basis, the class would still be underpowered. Major balancing, spell, and class revision is required. They fail at the role they've been designed for, and are probably my only major disappointment with PoE thus far.

 

Hi!

 

Thanks for your class analysis. I agree with a lot of your points. I blew through a lot of my offensive spells on my BB Wizard and found that they really did not do significant enough damage to shape the momentum of combat. They just didn't hit hard enough. They should significantly boost the damage for Wizard spells, especially seeing as how these spells are NOT recovered after an encounter and a player is required to rest in order to restore their spell book. 

 

Additionally, I believe Wizard Area of Effect damage spells are some of the most important spells in their arsenal but as right now it is extremely difficult to land these spells. MOBs move into melee range at warp speed and there are no spells or power in any of the classes that can 'ensnare' MOBs as they rush into melee range, leaving them exposed for heavy hitting AoE raw/direct damage spells. I am often reduced to using inefficient single target damage spells or spells that have a beam-like AoEs.

 

As they are current implemented I would most likely switch out a Wizard in my party in favor of another Priest or Cipher. They have much more utility than a Wizard at the moment. 

Edited August 30, 2014 by swordofthesith

[Ashen Rohk]

Some good points well made!

 

How do you stack your intellect/resolve? Imho, condition durations are as important as raw damage. Wizard level 2 spell - Web will catch enemies in their tracks for a while, although you are right about how fast bad guys move.

 

Even thought Might dictates overall damage, you can't stack 18 and then ignore the other aspects otherwise there'd be no point in assigning attributes.

[swordofthesith]

Some good points well made!

 

How do you stack your intellect/resolve? Imho, condition durations are as important as raw damage. Wizard level 2 spell - Web will catch enemies in their tracks for a while, although you are right about how fast bad guys move.

 

Even thought Might dictates overall damage, you can't stack 18 and then ignore the other aspects otherwise there'd be no point in assigning attributes.

 

 

Great point! I'll go ahead and test a maxed out intellect and resolve Wizard build and try and make more use of Web and see how that works out.  We definitely could use more snares though!  

[Valeris]

Though I appreciate the OPs article, he commits some fallacies; most importantly - even in "gread awesome D&D", Wizards of level 7 were, damage whise, hardly usefull. They had some weak crowd control and AoE spells, but melf`s minor meteroids aside (which were consideres OP by many) they were garbage.

Some sort of nostalgia bias working here.

Further more, in D&D or the way Black Isle implemented it´s ruleset in BG2, wizard didn´t scale all that well with equipment (robe of vecna aside) or stats, but with level. In PoE, it is already obvious that they will scale with Equipment ("plus might, plus intelligence"), and since the beta is a low level adventure, you can not expect to find awesome stuff.

[Shadenuat]

In any of my playthroughs of the beta BB Wizard did 2-3 times more damage than any character in party only using Fireball&Fan of Flames.

[Fiebras]

As they are current implemented I would most likely switch out a Wizard in my party in favor of another Priest or Cipher. They have much more utility than a Wizard at the moment.

 

This is also my opinion on wizards. Its not that they dont have useful spells or dont fill a role but as they are currently they require much more micromanagement than other classes.

You not only have to position your entire party a certain way for them to not be hit by all the wizards spells but your wizard needs to be flanking or behind the mob of enemies (as many spells go through "all targets" while also originating from the wizard), leaving him quite exposed.

 

As it stands a Priest can land AOE´s that affect only allies and others that affect only enemies. Most of the wizard´s spells offer no such friend/foe distinction.

The wizard is only useful when the enemy has many ranged combatatnts since then he can just unload everything on an ally-free area but I would argue that other classes like the rouge, druid, cypher and priest offer similar advantages against ranged foes while also being useful in every other encounter type.

 

So yeah, the class is rather impractical to use ATM and very situational in its utility.

 

 

In any of my playthroughs of the beta BB Wizard did 2-3 times more damage than any character in party only using Fireball&Fan of Flames.

The problem is that they can only use those abilities so many times before they need to rest where something like a rouge can consistently pump damage without needing to ever rest or worry about hiting allies.

[Shadenuat]

All that you say is what is expected of class and perfectly fits it's design.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Shadenuat

[Lord Wafflebum]

Good post. It gives me ideas to play with now that I'm about ready to explore the wizard class a bit more. Thanks!

[Panteleimon]

So yeah, the class is rather impractical to use ATM and very situational in its utility.

 

 

In any of my playthroughs of the beta BB Wizard did 2-3 times more damage than any character in party only using Fireball&Fan of Flames.

The problem is that they can only use those abilities so many times before they need to rest where something like a rouge can consistently pump damage without needing to ever rest or worry about hiting allies.

 

 

Well, sure, but that was ALWAYS the case with wizards in IE games until you got up to higher levels.

 

Playing through BG1(roughly the same level range as PoE, though they might calculate levels differently) as a wizard mostly involved a lot of quarterstaff/sling/wand work and saving my spells for serious enemies. It was only towards in the second half of the game where you really came into your own. I'm not saying that it has to stay that way, but they have to do something to keep from going the Dragon Age route of being able to toss endless fireballs forever.

 

As for hitting allies, at least wizards have the possibility of hitting many hostiles at once. I use BB Wizard's jumping lighting and various AoE abilites to full effect every game. Couldn't do it without him.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Panteleimon

[Ashen Rohk]

I think the wizard feels less useful than the other casters because it is both limited by spell choice AND number of casts. All other spellcasters have one or the other.

[Mayama]

I think the wizard feels less useful than the other casters because it is both limited by spell choice AND number of casts. All other spellcasters have one or the other.

I guess he might be the most flexible in the end

[Cantousent]

Great read.  Wizard is my favorite class and I'm sure I'll suffer through at least one play even if the class is gimped.  ...But a lot of game require the players to find good combinations that make each class more powerful, so I'm hoping that in time I can find ways to overcome the deficiencies wizards might have.

[mutonizer]

Great point! I'll go ahead and test a maxed out intellect and resolve Wizard build and try and make more use of Web and see how that works out. We definitely could use more snares though!

Actually I'd be careful with that. I saw a video where the guy's wizard couldn't cast some spells without himself being caught in them because his boost to the AE size of the spell due to his high INT made their radius bigger than the actul max casting range of the spell.

 

One hilarious moment was I think when he tried pulling the spider queen pack with the grease spell and the radius was so big compared to the cast range that the wizard got knock-downed by it right in the middle of it, with all spiders rushing him, forcing the entire team INTO the knockdown areas to save him.

 

Total carnage and hilarious moment. Gotta love them "intelligent" wizards

Edited August 30, 2014 by mutonizer

[Fiebras]

Yeah, it seems the more manageable wizard would be the idiot muscle wizard. All Might and Dex, no INT. Which kinda defeats the whole theme of being a wizard I guess.

 

Also, fights tend to start and end so quickly that duration seems somewhat neglible.

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Though I appreciate the OPs article, he commits some fallacies; most importantly - even in "gread awesome D&D", Wizards of level 7 were, damage whise, hardly usefull. They had some weak crowd control and AoE spells, but melf`s minor meteroids aside (which were consideres OP by many) they were garbage.

Some sort of nostalgia bias working here.

 

Understandable that you would suspect that. I assure you though, that's far from the case. My context is far beyond BG2, though I loved it. The lvl 7 D&D Wizard has very few spells per day, but they can matter intensely. A level 7 3E Wizard was a force to be reckoned with. They couldn't cast often, but when they did it had significant value. That trade-off is entirely absent with PoE Wizards.

 

I digress. The point is, that the Wizard is currently not even capable of moderately fulling its design intention as an AoE damage and crowd controller. This is entirely fixable, and largely rests on spells needing severe reconsideration. Introduction of talents will likely improve this lot as well.

 

At the moment, I have two impressions. First, Mr. Sawyer does not like D&D Wizards. Secondly, the Wizard class for PoE has been so severely diluted in the attempt to give other classes more distinctive identity, that Wizards are currently impotent. I regard it as an "inverse bard syndrome". Whereas Bards are typically troubled by having too little of everything, PoE Wizards are currently besieged by the attempt to keep them from being the "omni-class". When I experiment with classes like the Cipher and Druid, this becomes all too obvious.

[swordofthesith]

 

Great point! I'll go ahead and test a maxed out intellect and resolve Wizard build and try and make more use of Web and see how that works out. We definitely could use more snares though!

Actually I'd be careful with that. I saw a video where the guy's wizard couldn't cast some spells without himself being caught in them because his boost to the AE size of the spell due to his high INT made their radius bigger than the actul max casting range of the spell.

 

One hilarious moment was I think when he tried pulling the spider queen pack with the grease spell and the radius was so big compared to the cast range that the wizard got knock-downed by it right in the middle of it, with all spiders rushing him, forcing the entire team INTO the knockdown areas to save him.

 

Total carnage and hilarious moment. Gotta love them "intelligent" wizards

 

 

Yes. I noted that in the bugs forum. Wizard spell ranges MUST be boosted a lot. As they are implemented currently, we are more likely to hit our Wizard with our AoE spells than the enemy. Yet another reason, to leave behind the Wizard in favor of a Priest or Cipher at the moment. 

[Sensuki]

Short length of the adventuring day atm is hampering proper Wizard impressions as to how they use their spells strategically over the day, but currenlty all you seem to do is dump damage spells on the enemy. Not exactly exciting compared to the IE Wizards.

 

BG1 Edwin would be a good example since he actually had some spells to cast over the day, there was more flexibility in spell type.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Sensuki

[Shadenuat]

The real problem with Wizard is that half of schools we were used to have in IE games are missing and everything is focused around damage, CC and a few +deflection spells.

[archangel979]

I liked how in BG wizard spells took a while to cast, were vulnerable to being interrupted while doing so but once cast were noticeable powerful.  If possible, increase power of wizard spells in PoE and give them longer casting animations (which are cool by themselves, I don't like how all casting animations in VODs last for 1 second or less). 

Edited August 31, 2014 by archangel979