[PC] CW Mechanics Guide: (Mod 13)

thefabricant

Here is a link to my mechanics guide for the Control Wizard class in mod 11.5. Moderator edited out rule violation. If you are looking for builds for the CW class, you may as well close the tab now, there are none to be found here. This is a guide for class mechanics, not a cookie cutter build and I am going for the, "teach a man to fish" approach here.

Credits:

@agatagdr Told me about Maelstrom of Chaos being useable under control effects. Also proofread the original version of the mod 8 version of this guide.
@dairyzeus reminded me the Rubellite set exists.
@darthtzarr for acting as my target dummy in PVP when testing Control Resistance and for helping me to check Feytouched.
@d66723225: Simplified the formulae and added illustrations for each equation in the weapon enchant comparison.
@falkon84: Provided his own simplified version in addition to some tools in the weapon enchant comparison.
@gildriador for pointing out I had forgotten Chilling Control.
@greyjay1: pointed out the formula had been simplified too far and was excluding Vorpal+Dread in the weapon enchant comparison. Also helped to proofread the current edition of this guide.
@micky1p00 provided the formula for basic damage calculations. Also proofread and provided some criticism of the weapon enchant comparison.
@rjc9000 for taking the time to proof read my guide, give me snarky criticism and suggest some improvements.
@rsdag proofread this edition and provided criticism of some of my explanations. Also helped testing damage scaling and added to my explanations of AP gain. He also tested the Wheel of Elements, helped me test Aura of Courage and read over and improved my At Will and Daily Power comparisons. He also helped me test ability ranges.
@theosymphony for setting the standards for guide writing high in the early stages of Neverwinter. This community misses you.
@theraxin#5169 for telling me about the Ice Knife+Lightning+Combustive Action bug.
@xyrella for proofreading and looking for mistakes.
@zeusom Created a picture listing consumables.

Anyone reading this, for making the time and effort that was put into compiling this guide worth something.

micky1p00

To support further work and testing, I've decided to open a kickstarter, to help @thefabricant with motivation and to create better work.

It will work like this: Interest people to donate, send valuables to me, and I will start-kicking Sharp to do more testing, and repeat! The shinier and more valuable the items you send, the more whipping and kicking I'll do !

dairyzeus

This thing is amazing. Every person who plays this game can probably learn something from this, regardless of class.

Not entirely sure I deserve a mention, but thanks anyways.

rjc9000

thefabricant said:

... I am going for the, "teach a man to fish" approach here.

Wait, if that's the case, then why isn't this guide written by professional angler @wickedduck22#9795?

Clearly, this guide is about the in-depth workings of how to fish, which means that its up to date for mod 12 due to the return of fishing!

I'm hooked on updates for this guide, as I'm waiting with baited breath on when Duck is going to do the fishing overhaul. The fact that he didn't get a shoutout tips me off to some reel fishy business going on.

micky1p00 said:

To support further work and testing, I've decided to open a kickstarter, to help [Sharp] with motivation and to create better work.

It will work like this: Interest people to donate, send valuables to me, and I will start-kicking Sharp to do more testing, and repeat! The shinier and more valuable the items you send, the more whipping and kicking I'll do !

I got a good kick out of what you did there.

TR secret Hurricane Kick attack confirmed?

--

(Nice work overall, reading it has definitely made my CW a bit easier to understand/run stuff on.)

thefabricant

rjc9000 said:

thefabricant said:

... I am going for the, "teach a man to fish" approach here.

Wait, if that's the case, then why isn't this guide written by professional angler @wickedduck22#9795?

Clearly, this guide is about the in-depth workings of how to fish, which means that its up to date for mod 12 due to the return of fishing!

I'm hooked on updates for this guide, as I'm waiting with baited breath on when Duck is going to do the fishing overhaul. The fact that he didn't get a shoutout tips me off to some reel fishy business going on.

micky1p00 said:

To support further work and testing, I've decided to open a kickstarter, to help [Sharp] with motivation and to create better work.

It will work like this: Interest people to donate, send valuables to me, and I will start-kicking Sharp to do more testing, and repeat! The shinier and more valuable the items you send, the more whipping and kicking I'll do !

I got a good kick out of what you did there.

TR secret Hurricane Kick attack confirmed?

--

(Nice work overall, reading it has definitely made my CW a bit easier to understand/run stuff on.)

I am trying, very hard, to not make this the very first post I hit dislike on, due to all the terrible jokes in it :P

michela123

Sorry but I didn't take part to that guide, I don't want my name in the credits.

thefabricant

michela123 said:

Sorry but I didn't take part to that guide, I don't want my name in the credits.

@michela123 *Shrugs* up to you. You did take part in the previous versions and you were listed for that, but if you object to being listed for that, then I will remove your name.

niadan

Great work Sharp!...

So, until fixed, do you recommend Chilling Presence Offhand feature over SS?

thefabricant

niadan said:

Great work Sharp!...

So, until fixed, do you recommend Chilling Presence Offhand feature over SS?

Yes.

niadan

BTW:

"One man's fish is another man's poisson"

blazious11

"The mirage weapons can proc Abyss of Chaos, Weapon Enchantments, Storm Spell, Creeping Frost, Smoulder, Spell Twisting and Aura of Courage."

So it's better, than the other weapons?

Nevermind, I read it.

Anyway, as fast as the bugs are taken care of, I would try it

rjc9000

blazious11 said:

"The mirage weapons can proc Abyss of Chaos, Weapon Enchantments, Storm Spell, Creeping Frost, Smoulder, Spell Twisting and Aura of Courage."

So it's better, than the other weapons?

Sort of.

Yes, in the sense that all 3 illusions can proc all of those stuff, which means 3x as many procs on the proc class.

No, in the sense that the illusions proccing stuff is technically a bug. So, if it gets fixed (which is likely), then Mirage only has its damage bonus to fall back on, which isn't as strong as the Relic bonus.

In short: Mirage if the bug never gets fixed, Relic if the bug gets fixed.

thefabricant said:

I am trying, very hard, to not make this the very first post I hit dislike on, due to all the terrible jokes in it :P

You should have seen those puns coming from a kilometer away, even if the puns were being affected by the Aboleth animation bug.

thefabricant

blazious11 said:

"The mirage weapons can proc Abyss of Chaos, Weapon Enchantments, Storm Spell, Creeping Frost, Smoulder, Spell Twisting and Aura of Courage."

So it's better, than the other weapons?

It isn't that great on trash since the mirages die too fast, but it is better on bosses yes. I won't be using them simply because I expect at some stage they will be fixed.

thefiresidecat

niadan said:

BTW:

"One man's fish is another man's poisson"

good one!

michela123

I did not take part to the previous version either, I was listed as co-author for no reason.
Anyway, here's a guide for you:

The best rule of thumb for punctuating in and around parenthetical remarks is that the sentence should be valid if you remove the parentheses and everything inside them.

Here I have an example (with a parenthetical remark).
Here is the same example (with the same remark, even.)

Removing the entire parenthetical remark from the first sentence still leaves me with a valid structure, while removing it from the second leaves me lacking any terminal punctuation; thus the first is correct.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6632/where-does-the-period-go-when-using-parentheses

rsdag

Great work, Sharp - but you already know I liked it.
Most people will take months to understand the implications.

micky1p00 said:

To support further work and testing, I've decided to open a kickstarter, to help @thefabricant with motivation and to create better work.

It will work like this: Interest people to donate, send valuables to me, and I will start-kicking Sharp to do more testing, and repeat! The shinier and more valuable the items you send, the more whipping and kicking I'll do !

thefabricant

michela123 said:

I did not take part to the previous version either, I was listed as co-author for no reason.
Anyway, here's a guide for you:

The best rule of thumb for punctuating in and around parenthetical remarks is that the sentence should be valid if you remove the parentheses and everything inside them.

Here I have an example (with a parenthetical remark).
Here is the same example (with the same remark, even.)

Removing the entire parenthetical remark from the first sentence still leaves me with a valid structure, while removing it from the second leaves me lacking any terminal punctuation; thus the first is correct.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6632/where-does-the-period-go-when-using-parentheses

Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

vasiamen1

Thank you very much from all CWs! Great job!

niadan

@thefabricant

Tough Crowd.

Technically @michela123 has now contributed to the "proof reading" of your guide. So you can credit me for crediting her for doing so...lol

I am now going to grill some fish.

mebengalsfan

Thanks for your work here. Definitely read through it and saved the link for later reference.

rothgarbaerig

Thank you Sharpedge and all your co-authors!

As if all the sampling, analysing and processing of game data wouldn't be enough, no you also have the courage to share the results with the Neverwinter community. That never cease to amaze me!

Please continue your hard work, we highly appreciate it.

Question:
In your current publication on page 8, the Smoulder Section. You say the following:

"If you have points in Spell Twisting and are within 15 feet of the enemy, Spell Twisting will prevent Smoulder stacking from occurring."

Is this a typo and you actually mean Icy Veins or is Spell Twisting really a devil in disguise?

thefabricant

rothgarbaerig said:

Thank you Sharpedge and all your co-authors!

As if all the sampling, analysing and processing of game data wouldn't be enough, no you also have the courage to share the results with the Neverwinter community. That never cease to amaze me!

Please continue your hard work, we highly appreciate it.

Question:
In your current publication on page 8, the Smoulder Section. You say the following:

"If you have points in Spell Twisting and are within 15 feet of the enemy, Spell Twisting will prevent Smoulder stacking from occurring."

Is this a typo and you actually mean Icy Veins or is Spell Twisting really a devil in disguise?

It is Icy Veins, thanks for picking up the typo @rothgarbaerig

pitshade

"I will try to update these sections as best as I can with the release of mod 12, but be >weary< investing into anything based on the information contained within these sections."

You've been so TIRELESS in your testing and I FEAR you might burn out.

thefabricant

@michela123 I believe I have managed to fix all of the parenthesis periods.

thefabricant

A quick edit/update on the Storm Spell offhand:

I forgot that it can crit on my writeup on it, which means that although it has a lower base damage, it has a higher final damage than the SS procs it overwrites assuming it crits (it will with 100% crit chance). Thanks to @smulch for pointing this out to me, I should have seen it but I did not. Apologies to anyone who switched due to my brain failure, it is still a decent option. It should increase your Storm Spell damage in the region of 6-8% overall, but not other damage sources. Personally, imo, CP is stil a better option.

niadan

@thefabricant

Assuming access to both an aoe and a boss loadout, 185k hp with executioner chest (5% damage buff), 214k hp with Psion chest....

What would you recommend to wear for aoe/boss (assuming you can stand behind the boss) when running with Pally giving AOC?

I am assuming Psion for trash or for when you can't stand behind boss, possibly executioner if you can stand behind boss the majority of the fight.

mamalion1234

I read this is in your guide : Note, the way this is being measured is by activating an ability and then immediately pressing and holding in another ability. The length of the animation is being defined as the time from when the first ability greys in on the tray to the time the second ability greys in on the tray. This does however mean that any ability that can be cancelled via activating another encounter power, has the cancelled time listed rather than the time of the full animation. This should not be a major issue however, as if you intend to play your CW optimally, cancelling encounter powers is necessary.

I Want to share my thoughts : is other thing to use animation canceling to get out of difficult situation ( for example when i cast ice knife i cancel it to dodge out of red) and is another thing to use animation canceling to bypass the cooldown timer of a skill even if it is for "optimal" play.

micky1p00

mamalion1234 said:

I read this is in your guide : Note, the way this is being measured is by activating an ability and then immediately pressing and holding in another ability. The length of the animation is being defined as the time from when the first ability greys in on the tray to the time the second ability greys in on the tray. This does however mean that any ability that can be cancelled via activating another encounter power, has the cancelled time listed rather than the time of the full animation. This should not be a major issue however, as if you intend to play your CW optimally, cancelling encounter powers is necessary.

I Want to share my thoughts : is other thing to use animation canceling to get out of difficult situation ( for example when i cast ice knife i cancel it to dodge out of red) and is another thing to use animation canceling to bypass the cooldown timer of a skill even if it is for "optimal" play.

Animation canceling is not bypassing the timer. It's exactly like it sounds, it's canceling the animation that happens after the power is cast and the CD is in effect.

fizgigtiznalkie

Great work. Sometimes I notice I cast oppressive force and my daily is not used but it's visible on screen. It's hard to tell on PS4 with all the other DoT numbers and the blinding OP animation where the numbers are if it actually cast. You mention the animation cancelling, I assume dodging out of the red counts, is it not really casting when this happens?

mamalion1234

micky1p00 said:

mamalion1234 said:

I read this is in your guide : Note, the way this is being measured is by activating an ability and then immediately pressing and holding in another ability. The length of the animation is being defined as the time from when the first ability greys in on the tray to the time the second ability greys in on the tray. This does however mean that any ability that can be cancelled via activating another encounter power, has the cancelled time listed rather than the time of the full animation. This should not be a major issue however, as if you intend to play your CW optimally, cancelling encounter powers is necessary.

I Want to share my thoughts : is other thing to use animation canceling to get out of difficult situation ( for example when i cast ice knife i cancel it to dodge out of red) and is another thing to use animation canceling to bypass the cooldown timer of a skill even if it is for "optimal" play.

Animation canceling is not bypassing the timer. It's exactly like it sounds, it's canceling the animation that happens after the power is cast and the CD is in effect.

Oh sorry i thought you meant the other animation canceling bypassing the cooldown now i understood it.

fizgigtiznalkie

"if you teleport forward during the animation you will land on the fire"

I get the joke in this section, but you'll trigger relic defense buffs if you're using the weapons...