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Link to CW MOD 15 Guide
sixguns1
Member Posts: 13 Arc User
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Take a look...
Great MOD 15 pve Guide
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NtLmerlR1CmkuawMplE5ZhG-y67b_gkp/edit
Great MOD 15 pve Guide
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NtLmerlR1CmkuawMplE5ZhG-y67b_gkp/edit
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Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
For heroic feat remove one point from Blighting Power and place it into Arcane Enhancement for single target rotation. The extra damage to the 3 Arcane powers really help out with this minor change.
As for artifacts that are there simply for stats I recommend going with the Heart of the Black and Blue dragon for Recovery over other artifacts. If you plan to use the black dragon as your main over others, than I recommend adding the Black Ice Beholder artifact for more recovery and armor pen.
As for enchantments on companions - if you have both grave strikers and use the Restoration/Medic Elec. Neck I recommend Gigantics in 3-4 of the five slots. Than silveries or Ruthless for added recovery.
As for the character, Black Ice all around for power, crit and recover and if you find yourself not needing crit than I would go with Cruels for power and recovery.
As for RoE on tab, most end game groups run 5 or 10 debuff companions making RoE on tab not really need but it is still good to use off tab as an Arcane ability. I would go with CoI on tab to ensure you always have 5 stacks of chill if you are having issues keeping up chill. If you are not having issues keeping up chill I would recommend Icy Ray on tab for its higher damage it does when on tab.
Running with an GF, OP, and AC DC I get to use Disintegrate every 3 seconds at 18K recovery and my dailies come up every 9 seconds. This is on PS4 at the moment.
Next mod my recovery will be closer to 24-28K and hopefully I will get my dailies to come up every 7-8 seconds.
Regardless, the changes coming in mod 15 look really good and will allow me change my CW once again to keep it fresh.
And no matter what happens, if you are not having fun go play another game. If you are having fun, awesome and enjoy!
I think the guide is right on the money when it says that the whole idea is to buff Disintegrate. I love Disintegrate, but I'm less in love with the fact that the CW's entire rotation is about buffing ONE encounter to the exclusion of almost every other consideration.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
What's the point of even letting us test the update if they won't truly listen to our feedback. The only group they made changes to based on feedback was the DC class. I'm sorry but the CW needed this move just like DCs needed a buff and not a debuff for TI.
If the devs did this than the Thaum build would still be able to stack chill with IV or with Sudden Storm feat from the Oppressor tree and each paragon feat path would be clearly defined and the CW would be in a really good spot, at least IMO.
I wish the dev would have listened a bit more than they did on the CW feedback thread.
Having mechanics to follow isn't a bad thing, but I can't help feeling that CW is in a similar place as before (still only one really viable build, even more so now that the auto-CA tree also happens to be best for DPS, knocking off Oppressor for support as well as DPS), just with a moderately higher damage ceiling and more balls to juggle to maintain performance.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
If the devs would have made the new feat in the Thaum path CW would have 3 viable builds. Oppressor would be for PVP and a secondary buffer for Control Momentum. The Renegade would be the full buff path and finally Thaum would be DPS.
This would have made all three paths worth pursuing for CWs and each one would have a unique purpose in group or content. Instead now Renegade all the way.
As for the mechanics yeah it is now a bit more tedious than before but a skilled player would welcome this change and embrace it; I know I am. I hope the devs see that the CW take a bit more to achieve its DPS and as such it should be rewarded for the extra effort. I know the game is not even close to having classes balanced at this point. Maybe mod 16 there will be additional changes to benefit the CW and not only the CW but other classes as well. At this point all we can do is wait for the next mod to land in the test server.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
I'm just happy that CW are more DPS but the reality is that as Renegade CW we are still buffers. Devs need to really consider fixing the CW moreso than how they did in mod 15 for mod 16.
I have no doubt that CW, with the buffs to Arcane Mastery and Disintegrate in particular, is excellent in a speed-run setup where support is coordinated to one-phase bosses. Unfortunately this isn't the normal setup for anyone not running with a premade group for this purpose, and it still leaves us with only one truly viable build direction.
So far my biggest beef is that Chill Stack management is extremely annoying. We went from extreme easy mode with Icy Veins available in the optimal builds to tapping Ray of Frost constantly throughout the rotation to prevent Chill Stacks from falling off every 2.5 seconds or so. Unless you run Icy Terrain, Conduit, or some other lower-damage combination of Cold encounters, it seems that tedious reapplication of RoF is the way to go. I thought the point here was to make an Arcane-focused wizard more of a thing, but we're stuck tapping RoF all the time. One of the things I enjoy about CW is the smooth, multi-encounter rotation, and this doesn't really do it for me. Am I maybe missing something (no, really, I would like to know)?
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
Like I said the Thaum path needed the new feat, not the renegade and because the wrong paragon feat path got the new updated feat it basically made Renegade the only viable paragon feat path for us as CW. Hopefully the devs do something improve Thaum path come mod 16, until than we have what we have and I like it. It is a bit more tedious but IMO better than easy mod of a GWF, HR or GF.
The most important thing I see is recovery; I think dropping the Orcus set and going for the MC3 set may help out moreso in mod 15 due to the bonus of 1.5K recovery (another 3% increase in action point and 6% in recharge speed) than we saw in mod 14.
I swapped out two of my artifacts and got the Heart of the Black and Blue dragon for 2K more recovery. Swapped out my black ice enchantments on my companion for Ruthless and Silveries for added recovery. I will eventually be swapping out enchantments on my character for even more recovery. I'm around 20K recovery prior to using any potion or food. I believe 24-28K recovery will really help CW push out more damage. My power in groups went from 245K to around 215K. The drop of 30K power in a optimal group has not lowered my damage at all; the added recovery has allowed me to actually surpass the damage I was doing when my recovery was around 12k.
For CW this is how we should build now...
Defense Ignore to 100%
Crit Chance to 100%
Than add to Recovery until you get it to 20K
Than start adding to power
Elemental Reinforcement would have to be pried from my cold, dead hands.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
since I'm shelving my do for mod 15 and my cw is almost done with boons I figured I'd beef it up and do a support cw.. but reading this guide.. I don't understand the class enough to know which is the best all around powers load out to stick with until one does understand the class more? I did a mof opp/renegade adn a mof thau/renegade per this guide.. but can someone please be a dear and tell me which four encounters to slot along with oppressive force/ice knife and Swath and chilling and if there is any particular order those should be used in? also if I understand correctly I should be using chilling cloud and scorching burst.. what is the order for them?
I'm going to be finishing up a couple campaigns on this critter to get used to him.
edit, or is there any point to practicing wiht the mod 15 load out before mod 15 is live where I am using him?
edit: should the rotation be fanning icy terrain steal time and then ray of enfeeblement?
If you want to be very cheap support that does close to no damage but can provide some buff/debuff and be useful at low IL in endgame content, check the last section at the end of the guide for MoF pure debuffer. Only feats change between mod 14 and 15 for that. So if you're heavily undergeared and play endgame content where your damage compared to other DPS is so low it hardly even matters, then this is one way to play. And while gearing up - moving away from some debuffs to more personal damage.
Mod 14 regardless if Opp or Rene, the powers to use are mostly the same. If you don't have high crit chance then don't bother with Spellstorm and stick to MoF since it doesn't rely on crit.
For AoE - Chilling Presence and Combustive Action, Fanning the Flame on mastery, Icy Terrain, Disintegrate, Steal Time. Usually the rotation goes: FtF > IT > OF > ST > Dis. For at wills you can use mainly Chilling Cloud in AoE.
Single target - Chilling Presence and Swath of Destruction, Ray of Enfeeblement on mastery, Icy Terrain, Disintegrate, Fanning the Flame. Scorching Burst to apply smolder and proc Swath debuff, RoE to apply debuff, IT to proc Controlled Momentum and keep up chill stacks, FtF and Dis for damage and keeping up Elemental Reinforcement buffs. For at wills Scorching to apply smolder at the start of the fight and in case it falls off during phases, as primary at will Ray of Frost is good to use for faster proc (AoC, Shatter Strike) rate than other at wills.
With stats like that and if you'll get gear and companions with damage bonuses (Hag's Rags, Terrored Grips, Shadowstalker/Offensive Action rings, Razorwood, Archons, etc.) and high rank bondings plus weapon enchant (Trans+ Fey or Perfect+ Vorpal) you can safely run DPS so scratch the pure debuffer stuff and keep Chilling Presence 24/7, plus you can as well run SS in AoE. For sure make SSC to use as main for damage, Atropal/Black Dragon is good in AoE. For CoDG there always should be at least one other class that can force CA (GF, HR, GWF, Templock) so keep in mind there's no reason to run Renegade in mod 14. Run MoF Opp/Thaum single target loadout (with Focused Wizardry) so you can also contribute with more damage and more reliable Controlled Momentum buff. I usually run AoE powers until cubes - Chilling Presence and Combustive Action, Fanning the Flame on mastery, Icy Terrain, Disintegrate, Steal Time. When mobs spawn: FtF > Dis > IT > OF > ST > Dis. The first Dis before IT and OF simply to proc Elemental Reinforcement for arcane element to also buff OF and ST. Before cubes switch to single target: Chilling Presence and Swath of Destruction, Ray of Enfeeblement on mastery, Icy Terrain or Chill Strike (depending on the group), Disintegrate, Fanning the Flame. Scorching Burst to apply smolder, Ray of Frost when other powers are on cooldown. IT vs CS - depending if group is slower or faster with better burst and buff window.
On bosses in T9G it's the same, though if you run in specific group compositions with no one else being able to force CA - on Withers it may be better to run Rene since it's not convenient to position for CA there. In AoE you should be fine running either SS or MoF. Mod 14 the difference is not as big as in mod 15 due to multiproc of AoC and Shatter Strike on Opp. Personally I liked to run MoF Opp in AoE when someone else was providing CA or SS Rene/Opp when there wasn't reliable source of CA. MoF Opp - extra debuff for increased damage of AoC and Shatter Strike, SS Rene - increased damage of Storm Spell procs from ST with Masterful feat. But recently it's very rare to run in group with no good other source of CA so I mostly run SS Opp in AoE with Sudden Storm on mastery, Icy Terrain, Disintegrate, Steal Time. Mostly going: Storm Pillar > Dis > IT > OF > SuS > ST > Dis. Until mod 15 both SS and MoF have similar DPS potential in AoE, depending on content and group composition one can be better than the other.
all I'm doing with it until mod 15 is levelling up boons I don't have yet. (although I have most campaigns) and farming for things like hags rags and maybe quing a few Random ques to get used to rotations. got the shadow stalker, offensive action, I have razorwood siege and tiger and one archon. willow wisp in the last slot, to be replaced with an archon or something better eventually, the four good ones are legendary. bondings are already 14 and I'm running t fey. (I switched some stuff over from my hr since I'm still farming with my dc)
This toon is meant as a replacement for my Do which they aren't going to want once mod 15 hits. I can't stick the platform with my hr, but the cw dodge seems to work pretty near identically to the do. I tested it and had no serious problems sticking the platform. but in the mean time I'm just sticking with my do for farming codg because he's already 17.6 with rex. why mess with a good thing if I don't have to
but for the rest of this mod I'll switch mof opp thaum load out like you suggest above and I won't go pure debuff in mod 15. I went single target in feats. and have mastery: ray of enfeeblement, icy terrain, disintegrate, fanning the flame.
the one thing is this is a drow toon. should I keep it drow or make him human or tief for mod 15? for now I'm not too worried since I'm not doing anything to serious with him.
ty for the help!
Follow-up questions and stuff: I'm still feeling somewhat frustrated in that I'm not confident that I've hit on the best power loadout for single-target play. The choices that would appear to be optimal for damage cause me issues in any fight where circumstances prevent me from attacking for about 2 seconds (CC, having to reposition, boss jumps, etc.), causing Chill stacks to drop off. I'm wondering if it isn't generally better to keep Icy Terrain slotted despite its low damage since a disproportionate amount of the DPS is coming from Disintegrate, and any period with no or reduced Chill stacks is a significant loss.
I've played with tapping Ray of Frost to maintain Chill, but not only is this highly tedious, it sometimes slows my DPS because I'm forced to tap it after each (or at most every other) encounter activation instead of chaining them as soon as they're ready.
Also, I like the idea of running Entangling Force to maximize the benefit of Arcane Mastery, but I'm wondering if it doesn't make more sense simply to streamline the rotation by using FtF for the sake of keeping Elemental Reinforcement up and refreshing Smolder if necessary without having to tap Scorching Burst as well.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
I have a question regarding class features though.
Why is it adviced to use "Chilling Presence" for single target builds (mainly for bossfights)? The +48% damage will never happen on bosses (they will never freeze - or will they?)
I guessed "Arcane Presence" would be better if you pair it with "Arcane Powerfield" because it doubles the +% damage of "Arcane Presence"? On the other hand you are forced to use cold spells for the chill stacks when using "Chilling Presence".
When I did testing with ACT on puppets it also showed that the overall DPS was better with using "Arcane Presence" + Powerfield and "Chilling Presence" + Powerfield were weaker. Is there a special combination in dungeons where "Chilling Presence" profits more than "Arcane Presence" from the group for example?
I am glad for every answer that can help me understanding this situation better
As for RoF, currently still on mod 14 on PS4 I tend to just hold it down while using other powers, so if I can't use another encounter right after the previous one, it just starts channeling RoF. The main hand bonus for RoF should also be helpful for applying chill faster. Try instead of tapping it to just hold it down.
Having 3rd arcane power for quickly getting max arcane stacks is also good idea, especially if you'd use IT for chill. Damage wise EF deals slightly more damage than FtF with APF active at max 5 arcane stacks, but less at 4 stacks (because it has 1 less hit). With FtF in mod 15 also applying Smolder there's no need to use Scorching Burst at all, though there are 2 things about FtF that can be a little bit annoying - first it has longer cooldown, and second it has fixed AP gain not affected by AP gain stat.
There's some room for a choice depending on personal preference when it comes to 2 out of 4 encounters to use on single target since RoE and Dis have to stay, so everyone should be able to find the right combo that works for the best. On mod 14 the only choice we basically have is just IT vs CS (or rarely IR) because FtF has to stay to proc Elemental Reinforcement.
It can be also pretty interesting to run 2 CWs and the second CW going for extra debuffs and helping with keeping up chill on boss, and even running no capstone loadout for Controlled Momentum and Icy Veins. This can be pretty good in 10 man, but for sure will also be interesting in 5 man. The one downside is with 2 CWs, Devo and AC there's only 1 slot left for last support who would have to cover granting Combat Advantage unless Rene CW would spec into Nightmare Wizardry when other CW runs Controlled Momentum. Chilling Presence will increase damage of Disintegrate while Arcane Presence only makes Arcane Mastery work for non arcane powers so it doesn't affect the damage of arcane powers, and on single in mod 15 the new Disintegrate is total killer so buffing it as much as possible is the best way to maximize single target damage. It's 24% buff from CP plus another 3% from off hand bonus.
APF is 16.67% buff to arcane powers except Dis and 28.57% buff to Dis.
AP is 0% buff to arcane powers and Dis which is the biggest part of single target damage on bosses. It'll only increase damage of IK, FtF and cold powers by 20% at max 5 arcane stacks without APF and 40% with APF active. Arcane Presence would make sense if we'd use cold and fire/lightning powers as the main source of damage and arcane powers only for utility to buff cold powers. Not the case with Disintegrate.
You could run Swath for extra debuff and not worry about chill at all, but of course 20% debuff can't match the damage increase from CP. And if you're to run Swath for extra debuff then it's better to run Swath instead of APF while keeping CP. CC with extra 25% crit sev at total 170% crit sev + CA (no Phantasmal) would only be about 9.2% buff but only to crits. With Phantasmal it would be about 8.5% buff to crits and with running Dread instead Fey - only 6.6% to encounters.
I find the changes to playstyle forcing you to put some work into managing chill stacks to maximize damage a good thing because it encourages paying attention to one of the base mechanics of the class and getting better at playing your character instead of just relying on Icy Veins and spamming powers.
Everything makes sense now, thank you. I missed the fact that Arcane Presence does not improve the damage of arcane powers like Disintegrate. Checking my ACT logs Disintegrate is roughly 35-40% of my total damage so it definetly makes sense to buff the power even more with Chilling Presence
And artifacts like Heart of the Blue dragon/Black Ice Beholder/Lantern of Revelation really help to "freely" gain those CA damage.
And I'm personally biased on the Heart of the blue, because the 1k reco+crit, which cannot be found on any other artifact and just really useful in general.
At 200k, 600 is 0.25% dps increase (not rounded to 400)
At 200 severity + CA 0.9% CA will be 0.3% damage increase (Actually more, because that 0.9% is increased by the boon, so it becomes 0.99%)
Though I don't think in practice it's important, I'm sure I make more mistakes than 0.3% damage here or there.
What about the combination Storm Spell + Powerfield for Single Target? I noticed most CW are using this in CODG and it seems to work very well and a lot of good CWs told me it would be BiS.
Encounters are RoF, Dis, Chill Strike, Icy Veins - so 2x cold for stacks and 2x arcane for stacks