Last played when Mod 3 came out :o

drscone

I've started playing Neverwinter again after a 3 year hiatus, having mostly played a Thaum CW. I got him up to 60, ran all the epic dungeons, gather my BiS gear and finally called it a day shortly after module 3 came out. I'd had enough of grinding and the whole Black Ice thing just didn't appeal.

It loos like a lot has changed since then My lovely High Vizier set has lost it's bonuses, the level cap has raised and powers and feats are very different. In fact it looks like I need to relearn almost everything. I was used to powers like Steal Time, Conduit of Ice (suitably feated) and Chilling Cloud primarily being used for debuffing, but that mechanic looks long gone now.

I've had a look over some of fabricants CW guides and generally had a prowl around various forums but has anyone got any advice for taking a former maxed out CW with decent gear into the brave new world that he finds himself in?

pitshade

I came back a little over a year ago and CW plays pretty much the same as it did in mod 4. Mod 3 was before the nerf to Shard and Sing, neither of which are worth slotting now, but beyind that it will be mote about remembering than relearning. You may need some practice if you want to debuff as a Master of Flame but all in all CW is a very easy class to pick up again while some classes play very differently now.

If you are still level 60, the place to start would be the Elemental Evil campaign. It is grindy as everything but will get you to level 70. At level 61, consider looking at tge campaign stores for mods 1 or 2 and buying the leveling weapon and armor as they require only campaign currencies and will last you until you can get decent level 70 gear.

There is a lot that has changed in the game itself. Search out information about Mount Stables, Character Loadouts, Bonding Stones and Artifact Equipment as these will be important to returning you to endgame status. Finding a guild is likewise important as it can provide information, support and really good boons.

drscone

Thanks for the advice. I looking forward to getting stuck in again

I have got the impression that viable end game builds are a bit less varied than they were. I used to run with Shard, Sudden Storm and Steal Time, with CoI on Mastery and I could have sworn that both Shard and Steal Time had a higher target cap than 5 - I thought that one or both were 15. If that is the case, then one is rather forced to use those powers with higher caps. Some people did use Icy Terrain, but it now appears to be almost mandatory.

I'll play around a bit, but is there anyone that uses Shard these days?

pitshade

Shard was nerfed to the point of being abandoned in Mod 4. I think the knock effect has a higher cap than 5 but the burst damage has always been at 5.

Steal Time once had a cap of 8, I believe that is still the case but can't swear to it. Most of the time, the hit caps don't matter like they used to. New content doesn't feature endless trash for the most part.

I run CoI on mastery (as always), Icy Terrain, Steal Time and the newer power Disintegrate. That's a very standard loadout for trash clearing, though some swap ST for Sudden Storm.

commanderdata002

You played in mod3?
Oh man we are hammered if your last experience was module 3...
Mod4 nerf was 2 pages. Lots of good wizards left or become pvp player.
CWs burst dmg was gone. Now we are some melee dot fighter or something like that.

That being said due to the tenacious nature of CWs you can still do decent dps.

drscone

It does seem to be quite a lot different I can't see me playing it for as long as I did originally - the grind will get to me and I think I'd rather take a rest once it starts to do so, then come back again after a few months. So I'm working my way through all the 'new' content, salvaging most of my old gear (I'm keeping the High Vizier set for old times sake though).

It's fun enough for now at least, but the power inflation does feel silly. I've had Master of the Hunt skirmishes over faster than I can walk through it...

I do miss shard, but the new chill feats like Chilling Control and Icy Veins mean everything is pretty much perma and insta frozen all the time. I.T. + SS ices all, even without icy veins. Not sure if I like it or not tbh.

I used to PvP a lot, but for now I'm avoiding that until I hit lvl 70...

pitshade

A fair number of people you meet in MotH will be actually level 70 and can easily solo if if they want.

The Insta Freeze datea back to the mod 4 rework (when Shard got nerfed) and is still useful, but dungeon mobs have so much control resist that it is more of an interrupt. Still useful but won't seem as overpowered at that point.

I won't slag the game, but it is more fun when you haven't seen the Big Picture but can just have fun playing. The grind at max level is far worse now.