test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Mod 4 Build Ideas
pointsman
Member Posts: 2,327 Arc User
Hi all,
I was hoping to test some builds on the preview server but every time I try to log in my client crashes. So, I guess I will have to try out my ideas for a build the expensive way, on the Live server, once Mod 4 is here. To those of you who have been able to test things on the preview server, what viable builds have you found for various types of purposes for the CW (damage, control)?
I think probably the heroic feats would remain unchanged as compared to what it is currently, except removing the 3 points in Focused Wizardry and putting them somewhere else useful (Prestidigtation, Learned Spellcaster, Fight On).
What feats, powers and passives do you suggest for Oppressor, Thaumaturge and Renegade, both Master of Flame and Spellstorm? (For PVE play.)
I was hoping to test some builds on the preview server but every time I try to log in my client crashes. So, I guess I will have to try out my ideas for a build the expensive way, on the Live server, once Mod 4 is here. To those of you who have been able to test things on the preview server, what viable builds have you found for various types of purposes for the CW (damage, control)?
I think probably the heroic feats would remain unchanged as compared to what it is currently, except removing the 3 points in Focused Wizardry and putting them somewhere else useful (Prestidigtation, Learned Spellcaster, Fight On).
What feats, powers and passives do you suggest for Oppressor, Thaumaturge and Renegade, both Master of Flame and Spellstorm? (For PVE play.)
Post edited by pointsman on
0
Comments
Currently most of my test build spend 10 points in Bitter Cold (5), Chilling Control(1), Critical Power(4) - assuming I'm Thaum. After that I'm buying my normal skills from my feat tree.
I don't see any point in buying Snap Freeze any longer (chill will almost always be present, so deal with it and benefit from it).
If the changes to Storm Spell go through, that will replace EotS, but I think that will get nerfed/canceled quickly (35% activate, double damage). I can't see them letting a 7* improvement in skill that is normally 6-10% of your damage stick, and takes no real skill to use.
Thaums are definitely going to competitive single-target damage dealers for both PVP and PVE, and this idea has been made powerful with the planned rework to Focused Wizardry (30% increased damage for single-target powers). They can burn down the boss while the GF tanks the adds and the boss, and GWF will dispatch the adds. It won't be the CW's job anymore to nuke adds with these changes. They can help, but CWs are better off in the boss-killing department with Thaum. Spellstorm Thaum for damage in bursts with Assailing Force + Storm Spell + RoF, or a sustained damage Thaum via MoF; RoF + Bilethorn + Rimefire (Critical Conflagration), while the DoT ticks take care of proc-ing Assailing Force.
For Renegade... I'm not even sure what this tree is. It's like some sort of chop suey-ed theme-less paragon path. There's no real benefit in taking it. Too chaotic to be of actual use. This tree is no longer viable, in my opinion.
I think with freeze not breaking on damage anymore, 21 points in Thaumaturge, 10 in Oppressor is probably how I'll go. The buffs to SoD and CA in MoF are monstrous, and should add significantly to the overall group damage, even more so that before the balance changes, so I'm very excited to stay a MoF.
Actually it is, I did like 10 CN runs on preview 5 with eye of the storm + storm spell and then with evocation + storm spell and I had like 15% increased dmg with evocation so for me eye is dead
Here are my stats on preview with reinforced HV (+400 ArP, +100 stat per HV item)
With 21 CHA and 3.4k crit I have almost 40% crit chance, this stats are with Ioun stone. I dont have tested new rings/necks so I think Ill drop my recovery to 3-3.5k and get more power/crit
BTW: Ill use INT belt thats for sure and Chilling eye weapon artifact (http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?717241-M4-Stuff-for-CW)
Burst damage is dead. Damage over time is the way of the future. That goes for both Stormspell and Master of Flame. Figure out how to deal as many hits as possible as fast as possible. Then stack everything you can that procs off damage hits.
The highest damage builds I've found use the Thamuturge tree and revolve around Conduit of Ice, Icy Terrain, Steal Time and a Perfect Lightning Enchantment. That holds for MoF and Spellstorm. MoF I put Fanning the Flame on tab and place those three in the regular slots. Passives slot Critical Conflagration and Swath of Destruction. Then just melt everything. That's the highest damage configuration I've found. I've topped 26k damage per second doing Major Heroic Encounters with that set-up. The down-side is that it offers pretty meager control. Only Icy Terrain is applying Chill stacks so it takes a while to incapacitate anything. You just have to dodge a lot. Spellstorm my preferred build is CoI on tab, Steal Time, Icy Terrain, and Sudden Storm (with Chilling Control feat so it adds 5 stacks of chill). Passives slot Storm Spell and Eye of the Storm (swap out for Orb of Imposition if you need better control). This build does less damage than a MoF build but because CoI, Icy Terrain, and Sudden Storm all apply chill stacks enemies freeze really, really fast and really often. I do around 21-23k DPS doing major heroic encounters with this set-up. What makes it work is that everything, including the lightning arcs, has a chance to proc Storm Spell so it will contribute ~12% of your overall damage.
This all may change before it goes live, however.
Should test:
-Alternates for EoTS.
Need to raise crit/CHA.
Need to think outside from Vorpal because of the decreased crit chance and DOTs (Lightning?/PFire/Bilethorn/Flaming) .
-Alternative for shard:
Icy terrain? Conduit? Chill strike?
-Should try Thaumaturgy at least 3 variations.
w or w/o bitter cold.
should try elemental empoverment.
because of the unreachability of Nightmare Wizardry drop Blink Dog/Devourer find suitable pets
-Should try Renegade w or w/o chilling presence build.
-Should peek Oppressor but disapproving already...
-Every variation should be tested in Fire Mage version.
-Should try w or w/o FI.
-All variation of passives.
-Should drop Focused Wizardry for maximizing Learned Spellcaster.
-Because of every single CW feat was nerfed the gap between Tiefling and Human widened.
-raise Arp because its finally fixed for all spells
So we have some job in mod4...
I dont play PvP a lot but friends from guild who are playing PvP thinks bile is dead, better will be flaming or plaguefire.
yup, bile is soo dead for TR's but for cw? they are that bad??
Just a couple of questions:
1. Why do you suggest P. Lightning for MoF which doesn't have Storm Spell?
2. Did you test CoI on tab for MoF and FtF in regular encounter slot? This ought to give better control but less DPS. Is the tradeoff worth it?
Thanks for your testing.
The lightning enchantment by itself still adds significant damage with DoT spells even without the added benefit of procing storm spell. Doing Hammerstone Invasion with a MoF build and Perfect Lightning the lightning damage and lightning arcs accounted for 14% of my total damage (2.1 million damage out of my total of 14.96 million). That's roughly equivalent to what a Perfect Vorpal adds if you have 50% crit chance. But I actually think the Lightning is even better than that in some cases because it's pretty much useless on single targets. So it was probably doing more than 14% while I was clearing trash and less than 14% when I was fighting the Invasion Leader. Going forward you could have two weapons each with different enchantments (one Lightning, and one Plaguefire or Vorpal) and use the lightning for trash clearing and the vorpal or plague fire for bosses. It's an expensive option, but something worth considering.
I know someone is going to ask why isn't lightning better now on Live if it is on the Preview server? The answer is because the best spells to use on live are not damage over time spells (think Shard of Avalanche) so it doesn't work well with lightning enchantment. The huge burst damage + Vorpal is much better than the huge burst damage + Lightning.
I did not test that configuration. Yes, it would give better control.
This is going to be an issue that every CW is going to have to consider in Module 4: finding the balance between damage and control that works for them. Some builds that do pure damage might make some people happy. Other builds that do pure control will make others happy. Most people are going to have to tweak their spells and their feats to find the balance that makes them happy. I like having 5 stacks of chill on Sudden Storm because it gives me better control. But to select Chilling Control I have to bypass other feats that would add more damage. I'm also opting to use the feat Fight On because faster cooldowns mean less gaps in my control and I'm bypassing damage feats to select that. Heck, I'm even planning on acquiring a set of T1 Archmage gear (if they ever fix the DD chests) to see if I like how the reduced cooldowns to control spells affects things and if that might be preferable to my High Vizier set (doubtful, but worth a look). On the other hand I'm choosing Assailing Force and the Thaumaturge tree over Shatter and the Oppressor tree because I think the extra damage is worth more than the control of Shatter.
Basically, there isn't going to be one or two cookie-cutter builds going forward. Everyone is going to be able to pick how they want to play and those builds will useful and viable in different ways.
CRAZY MIKE - 14.6k PvE CW
Backbone - 16.7k PvP HR
[SIGPIC]http://i59.tinypic.com/s3hts7.png[/SIGPIC]
ST (at least it used to, some have said it got changed in Mod3 but I haven't tested) removes 6 seconds, one for each tick of the power. So you could throw CS and IT then ST and the first two would be nearly off of cooldown. If for some reason you or your party want to throw the Nothics into the acid at the end of Spell, the set really shines. Otherwise it just doesn't affect a good set of powers to really be viable.
Gear/stats
http://gyazo.com/556c7e3250a08cd2633ae0cba9f6de4a
Feats (as of the current CW changes)
http://gyazo.com/2842f40758974c8450756601635e9c74
Shield is going to be very useful compared to how it is now.
Repel + Ice Rays will be your BEST FRIEND fighting HRs, TRs, GFs, & DCs when holding points in domination. With orb of imposition I can get my force choke to last for almost 6 seconds (if not deflected)
Thaumaturge path has the ability to lock someone down with control for almost 70% of the fight, aswell as steadily draining their hitpoints with assailiant and the bonus damage on Ice Rays is very welcome. You also now have 10ft bonus range on ALL single target abilities.
CRAZY MIKE - 14.6k PvE CW
Backbone - 16.7k PvP HR
[SIGPIC]http://i59.tinypic.com/s3hts7.png[/SIGPIC]
IKR!!! where do you sit on the loserboards with that?
Some reasons for changes:
Wizard's Wrath, Arcane Enhancement, and Focused Wizardry are no longer "must own." They used to be 2-4x times stronger than indicated (they were bugged). Now they've been nerfed in addition to having the bug fixed. The damage boost they give is now negligible. I'd rather spend 5 points in Fight On ( about 0.7-1 second knocked off each encounter cooldown) and 3 in Prestidigitation than those. Prestidigitation will boost party DPS and individual DPS (it applies to you too) more than any other option that's left. Also no more SotEA means Steal Time is the only arcane power I'll regularly use so Arcane Enhancement can take a hike altogether.
On the Thaumaturge tree I've picked Malevolent Surge, Destructive Wizardry, and Frozen Power transfer. Alternating Storm Pillar and Chilling Cloud when my encounters are on cooldown will give me a steady 10-25% damage boost and I'll get an extra 5% damage every time I kill something which will be fairly often.
Bitter Cold and Chilling Control seem like the best options remaining given that I'll be using a fair amount of cold spells and I want Sudden Storm to apply Chill stacks.
What enchant are you using with that build if you dont have EoTS or high crit? PF, Terror or Bile?
This was the exact paragon feats I end up with on preview but after the most recent changes (paragon passives are buffed insanely) I couldn't decide between MOF and SS.
I have a question, does focused wizardy (%30 increased single target damage) increases dot damage from smoulder, Ice conduit and FtF? Or in general, are dots counted as single target damage for focused wizardy, except the obvious AOE ones like IT?
Can anyone test these after today's preview patch is on and share the results? Since I can't seem to make ACT work and I can't figure these out myself.:/
I also wonder if MOF passives are as effective as they look on paper, I really like the idea of finally giving MOF a try after all this time.
As for me, I don't think I will be announcing my own build. I doubt I will be going for maximised DPS this time around, and going Oppressor with stacked control bonuses (on pets) and just have fun. Unless it hinders/does not contribute well to successful runs then I will change it. I've just gotten bored of DPSing these days, and want a new experience for my wizard (got a gwf and Ranger who can fill those boots if i need it.).
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
In the feedback thread I asked the developers specifically what spells and feats Focused Wizardry is supposed to affect because there probably won't be enough time between now and Mod 4 launch for me to test them all to see which ones are affected. They haven't responded. Obviously, if things like Storm Spell, Assailant, Warped Magics, Smoulder and other things "count" as single target spells then the 30% increased damage from focused Wizardry becomes a no-brainer even at the expense of 10% AoE damage. I'll try and test what I can after these are implemented which probably won't be until late Friday.
so back to being fully defensive? That seems rather boring to me. Is the black ice gear that much better than grim/profound?
Is Prestidigitation working?
Thanks man!
Though I cannot find the parsing plugin for NW.
Well on the preview I haven't been using EotS and I might not even when it gets updated to 20 sec cooldown, Orb of imposition is too good to lose, and so is storm spell. I've been using a plaguefire but I'm switching to either a Terror or Lifedrinker, both have their benifits and I'm gunna be testing which is more useful, terror = offensive lifedrink = defensive
It really depends on what abilities your using, I've been using shield on mastery for some fairly good sucess, so I haven't needed to use profound thaum gear. (purified also has 1k more hp then the thaum set & gets me 2k lifesteal with ease TONS of healing :P)
CRAZY MIKE - 14.6k PvE CW
Backbone - 16.7k PvP HR
[SIGPIC]http://i59.tinypic.com/s3hts7.png[/SIGPIC]