How Do I Wizard?

[Titus_Draconius]

I know there is great power in there somewhere. (People have observed so at least.) I on the other hand feel like wizards aren't as...impactful. I have only played up to the 2nd power level so It is too early to draw any conclusions of course but I feel like:

 

1. In the beginning casting and recovery times are too long for what happens after the spell lands. Do the power levels improve them and make them worthwhile?

 

2. Enemy AI tends to drop engagement and hunt down isolated, squishy ranged dps. Heavy defensive values alter this aggro behaviour somewhat. So medium / heavy armor doesn't look so bad. This would naturally wreck recovery. So...does that mean increasing dexterity and taking low recovery high casting spells is more favourable? Or just self buff instead of armour?  

 

3. Where is the power? When do you start feeling it? Which spells help turning the tide or devastate the battlefield? 

 

4. In PoE 1 I felt like things were more like in D&D where spells from every tier were easier to cast, had a more noticeable impact, but limited in quantity. I really liked this. In Deadfire, I feel like you just ignore the first 5-6 tiers and hope you get to the good stuff. 

 

So essentially what's a great way to build a single class wizard? Can someone teach me how to approach this correctly?

 

Thanks. 

 

 

[Dongom]

Takes a bit to get to the place were they feel strong. First few levels are painful.

 

Try to get the +2 evocation  gloves (through Berath's Blessing vendor on first island), and be a Nature Godlike, this is very helpful.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Dongom

[Titus_Draconius]

I'll check those gloves out, thanks. Godlikes in general I find sort of jarring. Their mutations are bit too much for my tastes. Nature godlikes seem to be staple for many meta builds though.  

[ppscurry]

Chill fog. Whatever problem you think you are facing, chill fog is your answer. Even if you think it won't help, just cast it. Trust me, it works. When I first played a solo wizard for a potd run, my first few power levels were basically defensive spells + chill fog and slowly whittle them down with melee attacks/ minoletta missiles (all the power levels except PL1 cuz chill fog). Things start to really pick up once you break past the defensive PL levels (I,II,III). At PL 8,9, wizards are broken.

[Edolamberto]

I started to get the power's feel at PL3 with fireball..

About the aggro system I tried to equip all my squishy with heavy armor and my tanks with light but I didn't feel much difference.. I felt the improve in aggro management when my tanks got +3 engamnent aura and the pull ability..

I really would like to know how aggro works in this game

[Rhonto]

Evoker. Abuse firecrackers before combat to group enemies while stealthed, fire an empowered minolettas concussive missile into the group = dead enemies. As soon as my evoker got his level four spells (minolettas concussive missiles) I quite literally breezed through every player-initiated encounter on POTD difficulty. Evoker damage with empowered spells is just absurd! Red triple skull mobs fell at my feet! I think, perhaps, that there's some strange beneficial interaction between evokers, the empower ability, and any spell with minoletta in the name. Because no other empowered spell ever had the same effectiveness while empowered. With the one exception being, delayed fireball, because casting it from stealth doesn't initiate combat which means you will still be able to use an additional empowered spell once combat begins.

 

Admittedly the first few levels are tough. They didn't have to be but I went with a min max evoker build (18m/3c/17d/17p/19i/4r) which made me fodder for ranged enemies and put me at a major disadvantage during early game-initiated fights because the game ignores your group order and puts the main character front and center, directly beside your enemies. But again, as soon as you get your level four spells, you dominate. Also, it's very beneficial to dump your skill points into metaphysics because there's this shield called "Cadhu Scalth" which when upgraded provides % reduced damage that scales based on your metaphysics stat. It's obtainable in the Old city/old city ruins which are accessible by going to the gullet in neketaka and taking the lift down. It requires two shells to open and is gated behind a boss, although you could sneak by him, possibly. Once I got that shield my evoker became very, very durable. Pair that with "Nemnoks Cloak" and you have a dangerously powerful character who is also nigh unkillable. 

 

One last thing, and this tip isn't just for wizards, but I would highly advise actively looking for and equipping items one-use-per-rest summoning items, these are a huge help. The summons can deal tons of damage, especially when paired with certain pets (animancy cat available in sacred stair in neketaka) and they take the heat off your party, letting you focus solely on damage. Arguably one of the best summons can be obtained really early on by salvaging an area on a small area just north of the starting island. At least I think it was north. But this item is a little different because it's a necklace, still, it's amazing. 

[Titus_Draconius]

These answers are very helpful thank you. After playing around a little I came to appreciate the early level defensive spells more actually, and later on I am confident damaging spells will be devastating enough

[eschu101]

Takes a bit to get to the place were they feel strong. First few levels are painful.

 

Try to get the +2 evocation  gloves (through Berath's Blessing vendor on first island), and be a Nature Godlike, this is very helpful.

where exactly is this vendor? i missed and cant recall it

[Witness41920]

I know there is great power in there somewhere. (People have observed so at least.) I on the other hand feel like wizards aren't as...impactful. I have only played up to the 2nd power level so It is too early to draw any conclusions of course but I feel like:

 

1. In the beginning casting and recovery times are too long for what happens after the spell lands. Do the power levels improve them and make them worthwhile?

 

2. Enemy AI tends to drop engagement and hunt down isolated, squishy ranged dps. Heavy defensive values alter this aggro behaviour somewhat. So medium / heavy armor doesn't look so bad. This would naturally wreck recovery. So...does that mean increasing dexterity and taking low recovery high casting spells is more favourable? Or just self buff instead of armour?  

 

3. Where is the power? When do you start feeling it? Which spells help turning the tide or devastate the battlefield? 

 

4. In PoE 1 I felt like things were more like in D&D where spells from every tier were easier to cast, had a more noticeable impact, but limited in quantity. I really liked this. In Deadfire, I feel like you just ignore the first 5-6 tiers and hope you get to the good stuff. 

 

So essentially what's a great way to build a single class wizard? Can someone teach me how to approach this correctly?

 

Thanks. 

 

DISCLAIMER: I am, by no means, a master of this game but here's some basic casting advice:

 

For your first problem (cast and recovery times), raise your Dexterity a little bit and don't wear armor. At all. Any of it. You're a Wizard and you don't need armor, armor is for mundane people. 

 

You can also choose your spells in a better order. Spells have different cast and recovery times built in (you can see them when you right-click a spell to get more details), prioritize your spells for efficiency. Longer duration and shorter cast times are the highest efficiency spells, from there choose spells that suit what you want to prioritize more (do you want spells that last longer or spells that cast faster)? 

 

The answer to your second question is more-or-less stated above. You don't need a lot of buffs, honestly, you need to position your Wizard a little better, most likely. Standing WAY IN THE  BACK is actually not going to help you as much as you think it will, you should instead position your Wizard in-line with your tank and a few steps behind them so that anything that wants to get to your Wizard has to pass DIRECTLY by your tank, this will do wonders for protecting your squishy, flashy, spell-flinger. Also, don't hesitate to take spells that give you some breathing room if you're still having engagement issues (spells like the level II spell that knocks people away from you with your tome, for instance. It casts really quickly and gets you out of engagement). You can couple this with your Cipher who has the knock-back ability as well, target your friendly Wizard and the Cipher will knock back the closest enemy to the Wizard. 

 

The answer to question 3 is going to depend largely on what type of Wizard you're wanting to play. If you're looking for the Wizard that casts the giant explosions and that's what you consider "turning the tide" or "impacting the battlefield" then it's going to take a few levels before you really start seeing the numbers that you're looking for. You'll also need to prioritize Might so that those spells hit a lot harder since they're going to take some time to cast. If you're more like me and favor control spells then you have some amazing tide-turning spells right from the beginning.In this case you'll want to prioritize Intellect because radius and duration will be a lot more helpful than damage numbers. 

 

As for your last point, I have to strongly disagree with you. Some of the best spells in the game are in spell levels I - III. To summarize my advice:

 

1. Don't wear armor, you don't need it and you can easily protect yourself with good positioning and the right buffs. 

2. Prioritize MIGHT and DEXTERITY if you're looking for the Wizard that explodes things, prioritize INTELLECT and DEXTERITY if you're more interested in control/debuff.

3. Basic recommendations for spells:

 

Defense spells: (These are basic spells that help with any situation)

Level I: Spirit Shield (instant cast, long duration that provides armor rating and protects against interrupts)

Level II: Arcane Veil (instant cast, long duration that provides a lot of deflection and also protects against interrupts)

Level III: Llengrath's Displaced Image (instant cast, long duration the gives more deflection and converts hits to grazes) 

 

If you've got your positioning right then these three spells should be sufficient protection in most situations. Most other defensive spells in the higher spell levels are very situational. 

 

Damage spells: (prioritize Might to maximize)

Level I: Minoletta's Minor Missiles (instant cast, medium recovery, gets substantially stronger as you level and does Corrode damage)

Level II: Necrotic Lance (slow cast, medium recovery, does massive amounts of damage and provides a damage over time)

Level III: Fireball (medium cast, medium recovery - it's a fireball....)

 

Control spells: (prioritize Intellect to maximize)

Level I: Chill Fog (arguably the best spell in the game, works at all levels)

Level II: Curse of Blackened Sight (only hurts enemies, blind is excellent debuff)

Level III: Arduous Delay of Motion/Expose Vulnerabilities (only hit enemies, long lasting debuffs)

 

Control spells in general take longer to cast and have longer recovery. 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Witness41920

[crimsonarc]

 

Takes a bit to get to the place were they feel strong. First few levels are painful.

 

Try to get the +2 evocation  gloves (through Berath's Blessing vendor on first island), and be a Nature Godlike, this is very helpful.

where exactly is this vendor? i missed and cant recall it

 

As you play the game, you get Berath's Blessing points when you unlock achievements. These points are persistent and can be used when making a new character to unlock some cool things, ranging from more starting gold all the way up to +2 to all stats for a new character.

 

One of the choices you can make is adding a Berath's Blessing Vendor that shows up by the main vendor on the starting island. He sells a lot of items very cheaply.

 

You need to start a new character to have access to the vendor, and allocate 3 Berath Blessing points to get access to them. It's very easy to get 3 Berath Blessing points and every time you make a character you can allocate all the points you've earned (they aren't spent like coin).