Armor for wizard on PoTD.

[stiven]

So yeah, yeah, i agree that in ideal situation wizards shouldn't be hited even once. But in order to achieve this, many save-reloads is required. But aren't there a way to make Wizard more practical and no "oh **** random AI decided run/paralyze/blink to my wizard - reload, reload"? I mean:

 

any hatched +5 def

Exceptional Small Shield +16 def

= it is already 21 deflection defence for free. Defence witch is always active, as long as character switched from DPS wands to "defensive" weapon slots.

Llengrath's Displaced Image +25 acc for almost one minute with 16+ int, already 46 acc from thin air with zero sacrifices since it possible to switch grimoire in combat.

 

Also if not pushing for wands/rods/scepters damage, then it easy to pick up :

Weapon and Shield Style +6 deflection and bonus to relex equal deflection from shield

for total +27 always active deflection, and up to 48 of "painless" achieved bonus to acc with "Llengrath's Displaced Image" activated. And it is even without taking about arcane veil (wich is only 13 sec and 2 per rest) and buffs from clerics and high level wizard spells.

 

So it' relatively easy to bump up Wiz deflection, but what about armor? All robes are relatively crap, and 18 dex "speed" isn't so much usefull for casting spells. Durance with his 9 dex naked, casting almost as fast as my main with 23 dex and in robe. So i guess, it maybe be better to switch from robes to some light-medium armors with White Forge enchanting. But to which one? Can someone with experience of playing slighty "armored" wizard give advice on the matter?

Edited February 23, 2017 by stiven

[MaxQuest]

So yeah, yeah, i agree that in ideal situation wizards shouldn't be hited even once. But in order to achieve this, many save-reloads is required. But aren't there a way to make Wizard more practical and no "oh **** random AI decided run/paralyze/blink to my wizard - reload, reload"?

Tbh it indeed is so

If you want a blast-wand wizard, you have to plan your party accordingly, in order to have:

- enough per-encounter cc, to immediately charm or hard-cc everyone who goes for wizard

- have a bait. A dedicated character (usually support) whom you are giving low deflection and DR, and whom you are placing a little bit closer to the enemy than your wizard or any other ranged dps-squieshy. It's especially great if that character has something like Silver Tide plus Swaddling Sheet, Gyrd Háewanes Sténes and Raiment of Wael's Eyes due to their spellholding procs.

 

Imho any wizard that has blast talents and high mig + int + per along with decent dex should switch to 1h+shield only when he enters 'caster mode'. I.e. right before a boss fight.

Otherwise you could go with an wizard-offtank (which carries a shield 24/7) from the very start)

 

and 18 dex "speed" isn't so much usefull for casting spells. Durance with his 9 dex naked, casting almost as fast as my main with 23 dex and in robe.

Dex actually is useful for fast spell casting)

Look:

23 Dex provides a 39% duration reduction of attack and recovery phases (compared to 10 Dex)

 9 Dex provides a  3% duration increase of attack and recovery phases (compared to 10 Dex)

 

A robe provides a -0.15 penalty coefficient to recovery duration. Provided there are no other attack/recovery related stuff affecting your character, that -0.15, will increase your recovery duration by 30%. See here for how it is calculated.

 

So... let's take an average spell of average speed:

- it has base attack (casting) duration of 60 frames (2s)

- it has base recovery duration of 50 frames (1.666s)

 

Durance would cast it in: (60 + 50) / 0.97 = 113.3 frames

Your main would cast it in: (60 + 50 * 1.30) / 1.39 = 90 frames

 

Now if you would durganize your robe, it would be: (60 + 50) / 1.39 = 79 frames

Now if you would also drink DAoM potion, it would be: (60 + 0) / 1.39 = 43 frames

 

 

So i guess, it maybe be better to switch from robes to some light-medium armors with White Forge enchanting. But to which one? Can someone with experience of playing slighty "armored" wizard give advice on the matter?

If you want to wear heavier armor, you can. With DAoM potion and Gauntlets of Swift Action you can achieve zero-recovery while wearing armor up to -0.22 recovery penalty, e.g. durganized scale armor (-0.35+0.15=-0.20). And there are quite a few good armors of this type: Autumn Fire, Hirbel's Protective Skin, The Golden Scales, Pike's Pride.

Edited February 23, 2017 by MaxQuest

[stiven]

Thx for respond. I would go for leather armor then, with nice slash/crush/piece DR with -10% recovery after "durganization" . Just for not sweat against archers or casters with crush/piece spells.

[George_Truman]

That was like getting a developer response.

[Boeroer]

I once played a wizard tank (Bilestomper) and it was awesome. He had 2 (!) DEX, thick armor and a shield. Sure, his castings took way longer, but he seldomly went down. All that 0 recovery stuff is of no use if you fall on your face when enemies look at you. If you already have good deflection via shield then things like Wizard's Double work even better. Since that spell only gets removed when you receive a hit (not a graze) it can last quite a while. And all the grazes get catched by thick armor quite well.

 

A dps blaster wizard with low deflection and low RES can use (durganized superb) robes plus Spirit Shield and later Iron Skin to reach high DR while retaining 0 armor penatly. It should be sufficient to survive a swarmer even if your defenses and endurance are poor. If you also have a druid then combine it with Form of the Delemgan to reach crazy high DR - for a squishy caster.

Another good way to distract attackers is casting a duplicate.

It's also not bad to put on a Girdle of Mortal Protection because it lowers crit damage to that of normal hits (100 + 50 = 150; 150 * 0,73 = 110). With ok DR, it's the crits that will kill you, not the hits. It's better than a Blunting Belt on a low deflection char.

A leather armor will take away some dps, but will help to survive. It's up to you to decide if you need it or not. I personally like my casters to be not squishy because I like to fight in loose formation, swarming enemy casters and so on. Others like to protect their casters at all costs and don't need DR on them as much. My experience with my playstyle is that it's not worth the fuzz. If I build a party in a way that everybody has decent defenses and everybody can deal good damage the game becomes easier for me. That is because even if somebody goes down it doesn't mess up my whole party composition. Some parties have big problems when their dedicated dps guy(s) get knocked out because their tanks and supports can't kill anything on themselves.

 

Another fun thing for ranged wizards who go into casting mode can be a switch to hatchet + Aila Braccia. With (hardened) Arcane Veil + Wizard's Double you can reach a lot of deflection, add Wood Elves' defensive bonus against ranged attacks and usually you will reflect all those nasty spells and shots that would normally take you out. Lagufaeth and others love to target the wizard in the back. With this shield they will get punished so badly. Sadly, it comes so late.  

Edited February 26, 2017 by Boeroer

[Ymiraku]

I wear full plate armor on my wizard - he carries many scars. Always start a fight with alacrity and then throw up my defensives. Works a charm.

[JFutral]

My most recent wizard build in PotD made it through most of the game with Rundl's Finery, then went with Wayfairer's Hide when debilitating attacks got too annoying, and ended with Elryn's jacket.

 

I am beginning to think armor heaviness almost doesn't matter as much as we think it should. Once my fighter/tank got Old Gerun's Wall, it almost didn't matter the armor. Towards my end game I gave her Gwisk Glas and she was pretty much unstoppable.

 

But in PotD difficulty I almost always favoured _anything_ that helped with countering any CC/Prone/Stun/Paralyze cast my way, no matter the DR.

 

Joe

[Blades of Vanatar]

That was like getting a developer response.

He pretty much is a developer. To the good fortune of the rest of us.