Wizard (Ranged) 1.05 POTB Build

[Naughtydread]

I have been reading different posts pertaining to wizards and have read about the "melee wizard build". This leads me to believe that in order to complete POTB a wizard cannot focus entirely on spells. I am wondering if any experienced players can make suggestions with regards to a wizard focused solely on maximum ranged spells that deal fire, acid(corrosive), and freeze damage.

 

As a new player some talents look amazing on paper for a long ranged wizard. I am uncertain how the talents listed below pan out in-game or even if they are applied to spells.

1. Scion of Flame - All/Utility Grants +5 damage reduction against Burn damage. Increase Burn damage you deal by 20%
2. Heart of the Storm - All/Utility Grants +5 damage reduction against Shock damage. Increase Shock damage you deal by 20%
3. Spirit of Decay - All/Utility Grants +5 damage reduction against Corrode damage. Increase Corrode damage you deal by 20%
4. Secrets of Rime - All/Utility Grants +5 damage reduction against Freeze damage. Increase Freeze damage you deal by 20%

Uncertain if these talents work in conjunction with spells:

1. Two-Handed Style - While wielding a two-handed weapon, deal x1.15 damage (My thought is a wand)
2. Interrupting Blows - Increases the chance to cause an Interrupt with any damaging attack by 15%
3. Bloody Slaughter - All attacks at enemies with low Endurance convert +20% of Hits to Crits. Crits done this way have +0.5 increased crit damage multiplier

Any advice from veteran wizards for making a long ranged spell friendly wizard is appreciated. My main goal is to create a ranged wizard that can have a chance in defeating POTB. The melee wizard builds look interesting but the play style I enjoy the most is long ranged spell casting. Some people detest min-max characters and I respect that, ever since Ultima I have enjoyed min-max my characters.

 

[Wolken3156]

You can only have up to 6 talents, choose wisely.

 

Elemental talents do indeed work with spells. Scion of Flame and Spirit of Decay are the best ones since Fire and Corrode are most commonly used elements for a Wizard. Secrets of Rime is also pretty solid as well as 2 of their best spells are of that element (Blast of Frost and Chill Fog). I'd avoid Heart of the Storm as Crackling Bolt is difficult to use effectively a lot of the time, and Chain Lightning usually won't see as much use as the other 6th level spells.

 

Two-Handed Style only works with melee weapons. Interrupting Blows is pretty useless as Perception is a dump stat for Wizards and you can always just cast Slicken if you need to immediately interrupt an incoming spell. Thrust of the Tattered Veils also works as well.

 

Bloody Slaughter is not very useful either since most of you mass AoE damage will be while the enemies are mostly unscathed. Its slightly more useful in PotD since enemies have higher endurance pools, but still not that fantastic of a talent.

[omgFIREBALLS]

Just making sure: Are you intending to solo?

[JONNIN]

Not only do those work (except 2h style) but I would say having a couple of them is absolutely necessary if your wizard is going to be doing damage (You can play a low might wizard that is debuff focused instead). 

 

I am pretty sure other stuff that is similar works as well -- for example orlan hits to crits racial should work on spells (and I argue that it might beat wood elf out, or at least rival it).   I also am *pretty* sure that "marksman" works on spells from afar.

[Vorad]

 I also am *pretty* sure that "marksman" works on spells from afar.

I have tested marksman and it doesn't work on spells.

 

As for racials regarding wizards, Wood Elf, Orlan and Death Goodlike all fit in for nuking BUT since you only have a limited ammount of trials until you apply your cc, I would say that it's more important to make sure your spell lands on target asap especially if it's cc(and mostly it will be) therefore I would say the Wood Elf racial when it comes to nuker/cc wizards can't be rivaled. Orlan is ok maybe for a spellsword type of wizard though. Death Goodlike might be an alternative for purely roleplaying purpose without gimping your wizard too much.

 

Finished PoD with a party of 2 wizards both Wood Elf nuker,cc (rest was fighter, chanter, druid, priest). My specc on both wizards was all elemental talents and they did actually work on damaging elemental spells, + deep pockets for extra scrolls/items ( if you actually think of it you get 2 more scroll slots that's like 10 extra spells per encounter way more superior to the lackluster extra spell talent), as final pick I choose Bloody Slaughter since there is no better alternative for amplifying damage at this point and since minions have more endurance in PoD this talent does help a bit in order to finish them off. 

 

However Bloody Slaughter is still lackluster and it's used only as a filler in my case, because as a ranged wizard you will most of the time apply cc on the opponents while the rest of the team will do the killing and a prone, paralyzed opponent won't trouble you much anyway so that extra "execute" from Bloody Slaughter hardly comes into play even in PoD. 

 

To sum up all of the elemental talents are really useful, add in there deep pockets for extra utility, the final talent I'm not sure though since the remaining are at best mediocre (maybe now with 1.05 arcane veil can be of some use... not sure)

Edited May 11, 2015 by Vorad

[Tigranes]

I wouldn't take any of those, but depending on your playstyle there's a good case to be made for one elemental talent, and/or Two-handed. 

 

I don't think even the most weapon-oriented wizard will make Int Blows worthwhile, and Bloody Slaughter is probably never going to be.

 

For Solo defensive talents, weapon accuracy talent & deep pockets / fast runner are more crucial (along with of course Arcane Veil + Hardened in early levels). In a party with a two-hander? I suppose that would mean Two-handed, weapon accuracy talent and maybe vulnerable attack.

[Exoduss]

Arcane Veil + Hardened Veil talents should be no brainer +75 Deflection is a thing .  

Then i would go for Fire + Corrode Damage's , and last 2 talents depending on what you do with your wizard 

But those 4 talents is good for any wizard variation 

also its strange but wizards function in melee better in this game imo basicly because of fan of flames hence why you need arcane veil even with a backline wizard , so you can safely cast fan of flames when needed to . 

Edited May 11, 2015 by Exoduss

[Naughtydread]

Thanks for all the feedback. The potential for theorycrafting in this game is amazing.

Arcane Veil + Hardened Veil talents should be no brainer +75 Deflection is a thing .  

Then i would go for Fire + Corrode Damage's , and last 2 talents depending on what you do with your wizard 

But those 4 talents is good for any wizard variation 

also its strange but wizards function in melee better in this game imo basicly because of fan of flames hence why you need arcane veil even with a backline wizard , so you can safely cast fan of flames when needed to . 

After reading your post I did not utilize all of my wizard's abilities. The first 4 levels of wizard were borderline unbearable due to deaths. My wizard has died more times than the rest of the party members combined. I tried to save arcane veil for dangerous moments. Sadly a vast majority of the time my Wizard was insta-gibbed before I even knew what happened. The early levels would have been much more enjoyable, if I had run into melee range, and preemptively used the veil + fan of flames combo...derp...

 

Now that my wizard is level 7 he only dies during party wipes with the regiment of buffs I cast. It would be nice to be able to buff out of combat. The priest and druid are on par with the offensive damage spells but now that my wizard lives he does a good job. 

 

 

Just making sure: Are you intending to solo?

I love the party experience in this game, however I am also interested in solo play. 

[Tigranes]

If your wizard is dying all the time in the party, even at early levels, then I'd guess that that's more down to your general playstyle (how you are managing the enemies, the space, the engagements, etc) than just about whether you use AV or not. AV is a "holy crap" lifesaver button in early levels to be sure, but even if you never use AV your backline wizard shouldn't be dying all the time. Indeed, he/she should rarely be targeted in the first place, because either your other party members are engaging them, or blocked the pathway, or paralysed / hobbled them, etc. 

[Exoduss]

Well clearly what you described tigranes is very situational more like his wizard died because you need to be melee or flanking for fan of flames to work and it is main damage spell early , meanwhile your party has like 1 hard cc spell at best , basicly if you want pure spellcaster wizard he is gona have to get carried trough early game by rest of the party or you go melee battlemage approach and its easier that way . 

[taek]

Personally, I wouldn’t pick up the +20% one element talents over just picking up extra spells to use.

 

Let’s take the best case scenario, you use only 1 spell, Fan of Flames. Early on you can use L1 spells 4x. 4x FoF, +20% per cast = 80% damage of one FoF spell.

An extra 1^st spell = 100% damage of one FoF spell.

 

And if you have any spell diversity at all, the value of those +20% single element talents goes down tremendously compared to an extra spell.
 

The other thing is that Wizards are notable  for their powerful self buffs and debuffs/CC. Buffing yourself with the +50% speed buff will wipe out the enemy much faster than a +20% to one element talent.

 

The +20% elemental talents might make more sense on a Druid, since they don’t really self buff at all and their debuffs are built into the nukes. I’d probably still take extra spells however.

[Eos]

I need to ask: what does POTB stand for? Path of the Bamned? Path of the Braindamaged? Path of the Bibbidi-bibbidi-bu?

[knownastherat]

Path of the Balance

[Wolken3156]

As for racials regarding wizards, Wood Elf, Orlan and Death Goodlike all fit in for nuking BUT since you only have a limited ammount of trials until you apply your cc, I would say that it's more important to make sure your spell lands on target asap especially if it's cc(and mostly it will be) therefore I would say the Wood Elf racial when it comes to nuker/cc wizards can't be rivaled. Orlan is ok maybe for a spellsword type of wizard though. Death Goodlike might be an alternative for purely roleplaying purpose without gimping your wizard too much.

Honestly, racials aren't that big of a game changer unless its a Moon Godlike. Any race can perform Wizard without any trouble.

 

That said, I'd say Hearth Orlan is the best race for Wizard due to their racial always being active. The Wood Elf's one doesn't work if you're within 4m of an enemy, which you'll likely be for a lot of the game honestly.

 

also its strange but wizards function in melee better in this game imo basicly because of fan of flames hence why you need arcane veil even with a backline wizard , so you can safely cast fan of flames when needed to . 

Not really. Fan of Flames is perfectly usable at ranged with enough INT. Here's that ridiculous range image I posted again:

 

The sad thing is, I can probably get it even bigger since he's only getting +1 INT from gear and doesn't have a food bonus ._.

 

To sum up all of the elemental talents are really useful, add in there deep pockets for extra utility, the final talent I'm not sure though since the remaining are at best mediocre (maybe now with 1.05 arcane veil can be of some use... not sure)

You'll need Hardened Veil, but +75 Deflection is actually really good. Its a hard counter against enemy ranged attackers and teleporting enemies.

 

And if you have any spell diversity at all, the value of those +20% single element talents goes down tremendously compared to an extra spell.

Extra spell slots are completely worthless IMO due to the fact you can always just Rest and get all your spells back. There's also a ring you can get which comes with 2nd-level and 4th-level bonus spells anyway.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Wolken3156

[Vorad]

The Wood Elf's one doesn't work if you're within 4m of an enemy, which you'll likely be for a lot of the game honestly.

Depends on playstyle and specc, I was playing nuker/cc ranged constantly and never had a problem with keeping distance from start to end. In the begining when you are solo before you reach gilded vale maybe there's a range issue but nothing that a proactive fog from stealth can't solve followed by slicken + Fan. As for teleporting shades, they won't bother you any more if for the 5 seconds you let your tanks get their agroo. I had 2 tanks so it was easy to keep range with my 4 casters(all squishy in clothes), for a solo triple crown it's a different  story there maybe orlan or even pale elf melee specc could be an alternative.(possibly the only wizard alternative)

 

Anyway to the original poster, talents for wizard are a bit lackluster generally speaking they provide a limiting bonus, situational in many cases but that's understandable considering that you got a spell for everything you need. Pick your role in the party and then pick those talents which help you achieve it best. Also what works for one player doesn't necessary work for another playtesting will be required. 

[omgFIREBALLS]

I love the party experience in this game, however I am also interested in solo play. 

Your diplomatic reputation went up a notch...

 

Anyway, if you are going to play your wizard in a party you don't need to meddle with this melee-mage thing one bit. Maybe not even for solo - I don't play solo so I can't comment.

 

Personally, I wouldn’t pick up the +20% one element talents over just picking up extra spells to use.

 

Let’s take the best case scenario, you use only 1 spell, Fan of Flames. Early on you can use L1 spells 4x. 4x FoF, +20% per cast = 80% damage of one FoF spell.

An extra 1^st spell = 100% damage of one FoF spell.

I'm quite opposed here. The math of extra spells vs. harder hitting spells assumes battles last long enough for you to go through your entire arsenal. I find that this is almost never the case - definitely not later in the game. Plus it's more time for opponents to throw fireworks as well. I don't take bonus spells on any caster, because in the Big Fight That Matters, if I lose, it will not be because I ran out of steam.

 

I will advocate taking +freeze damage first. Chill Fog is a great spell, and stacking several of them on top of each other is brutal AoE + constant blind. If you can find good positions to cast Fan of Flames from that might be better though.

[Naughtydread]

I need to ask: what does POTB stand for? Path of the Bamned? Path of the Braindamaged? Path of the Bibbidi-bibbidi-bu?

 

 

Hmmm I am going to blame this on a 3 am post. Any chance a mod can fix this for me please?