test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Options
Control wizard feels underpowered/weak
ogarious
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 740 Arc User
Now I'm n ot asking for a high damage blaster type class. But maybe something can be done with Ray of Frost so that it slows down mobs faster and more. Because even with the teleport dodge you end up taking way more of a beating then any of the other classes. Now I know your a wizard and stuff. But if your going to have 3 other classes that can all solo with high survivability then the Control Wizard should too. Just sayin'
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Hell, keep us rooted for Magic Missile. But allow us mobility for ray of frost and some of the other spells. And give Ray of Frost a action timer and a cooldown timer. So you just cant run around using it to kit mobs around. Make it a balancing act between your hard hitting damage spells and your weak spells that you have to use to give you distance to drop the proverbial bomb.
Survivability is fine as long as you're using teleport effectively (constantly), and running away whenever enemies get close, but I don't find this kind of gameplay to be keeping with the theme of "control". Also, a side effect of constantly having to reposition is wizard damage is terrible when soloing, but I don't have any experience with the wizard in groups yet so the actual potential damage could be much higher.
-Potion chugging is what makes me survive more than Teleport does. It seems that my biggest trouble with Teleport was in Tower District (orcs place) and that I always end up aggroing nearby mobs with Teleport. And on some bosses (the quest chain instances and not the dungeon queues), I end up running out of stamina too often. All the boss attacks, I Teleport just fine (more like, I HAVE to Teleport from them), but the problem is I can't spare any stamina to avoid the endless spawn of mobs.
-Ray of Frost would work well, I would assume, once you start getting all those Chill related feats. And right now, I feel like I build up action points faster with RoF than with MM (I do have that first tier feat of build up action points when casting control spells).
Also, RoF damage is pretty good if you have all cold Powers out since the level 10 passive increases your damage per Chill stack. The problem is just with most bosses and how they resist most control effects.
-Yeah, mobility is very limited right now. But what's really annoying is the huge wind-up animations that roots us in place. Sometimes, I prefer using the weaker RoF than MM because MM wind-up takes forever and I end up getting my face exploded.
Just reached 17 and totally agree with you, if they join this new Magic missile animation with the mobility of the old one will be perfect!
im low level still but i feel the cleric was far superior in the control abilities (they had that great chains aoe hold ability) which was far more effective than any of the single target holds we have.
Honestly I don't like both classes having magic missile as the primary. Sure it looks different, but it's still just magic missile
PS: Excuse me but I was wrong. After playing a little longer I would say cleric is easier.
The Control Wizard is supposed to be heavy on the control spells and dps, for the most part, but oftentimes I do, in fact, feel underpowered or that my control spells last literally about one second, then the enemy is back to trying to stab my face. While there are MANY cheap spell combos to keep things at a distance, or to flat out annihilate them right back, it would be very nice if the Control Wizard had a teensy bit of a buff to them, or reverted their Magic Missile back to its previous animation and ability to move while casting.
Ray of Frost = Epic. Simple as that, while the freeze on it doesn't last very long (About .5-1 second), it can be spammed since Ray of Frost applies one stack every .5 seconds and freezes them on the sixth stack. Not only that, it builds up your Action Points like nobody's business. You can just spam it and have your daily back up every other mob if Ray of Frost is all you used. I wouldn't recommend only using it though, as Magic Missile is still your bread and butter for At-Will dps. Ray of Frost's dps is still very low, as it's a utility and control power.
Combos? Yes! Repel, Ray of Frost, Ice Rays, Ray of Enfeeblement are all awesome. I've had a few successful rotations (depending on if they couldn't be knocked/controlled) that involved all of those. Ray of Frost is fantastic for keeping things either busy or away from you, using Repel and Ice Rays to keep them at a snail's pace. While the slow should be MUCH stronger and the hold MUCH longer, it's still pretty nice for a Combo. Holds aren't very strong right now and you -can't- rely on them to save you, but your knockbacks will save your life more than anything. Arcane Singularity and Ice Storm will be the bee's knees for your Daily abilities.
All in all.. Underpowered? Maybe not, but it could easily use a buff in some respects, especially the control aspects. Control doesn't mean only knockback, it's also the Dazing, Holding, Immobilization and such. Control duration buff? Yes, please! Maybe a healing spell? EVEN MORE SO. But for right now, the Control Wizard is a fantastic class that I will definitely be playing when it comes launch.
So much could be done to change the class and make it better, and odds are the devs are reading the forums on the subject, or even watching some of us play it up through the levels, seeing what combos we use, what we never use. Maybe give them some clarity on what needs a buff, what needs to be taken out, ect.
Ogarious, the power you're thinking of is Chill Strike in the Spell Mastery slot. Best. Spell. Ever. As Spell Mastery. Ever since we could slot it in there, it's -never- moved from that slot, everything else wasn't as epic or helped me live better than that. Just a suggestion? Chill Strike in SM, Repel on Q, Ice Rays on E and Ray of Enfeeblement on R. Magic Missile and Ray of Frost on the mouse buttons. It's a combination of control abilities and high dps that would put you under Rogues, but still kind of up there. You'll have some very helpful abilities to keep things at a distance, slowed down, ect. On bosses that -can- be knocked and frozen, you will -never- be hit in melee if done right in the perfect rotation.
For me, that's what made the enchanter in EQ fun to play. Sure, you couldn't do great DPS, but if you were able to play your class well, people wanted to have you in their group. I remember back in LDON days I would mez things and then run around making sure things continued to be mezzed while the rest of the group took out the mobs one by one. Back then if you didn't have a good enchanter, you would get absolutely annihilated... but that's just how it was tuned. Since then I've been waiting for another game where CC was actually necessary for the harder pulls/content. It makes things much more interesting in my opinion than just zerging/DPS'ing everything. I preferred it when there were four major types of classes: dps, tank, heal, support. Probably not going to get that with NWN but hey, I can throw it out there.
I see some traits in the Paragon level that increases the number of Chill stacks our Powers apply, so maybe that will help stun them faster. But as of right now, I can only rely on potion chugging. Against CC-able 1-on-1 bosses and big monsters, it's perfect, you can chain Ray of Frost-freeze, Chill Strike-stun, and Repel-push them all day long. But CC is near useless in large crowds;
Only difference is wizard dies a lot more *sigh*. Got to 34 and called it quits, want to see some tweaking to wizard skills.