pyrophoriaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Silverstars, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
Control Wizard -could- use a lot more tweaking to be special or even a highly desired class like it should be, but hey, isn't that what this beta is for? Bring on the adjustments. Developers like reading forums during their betas, so let's see how they react.
silveraMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
Because as control wizard , we got the wrong spells , no thunderwave (PBAOE push back) at-will , ray of frost should do more damage ( about damage magic missile) and magic missile should be for a DPS class (sorcerer ?).
No AOE mez (Icy Terrain encounter ) , priest have a nice but not CW. And for Daily no Web,Sleep spells.
Sorry cryptic but it dont feels a Controller wizard.
Just give it a little more control and it would be fine. Right now they feel more like ICE wizards rather than "Control Wizards". I got to lvl 19 solo and only died once in a group instance. The gameplay takes some getting used to but once you figure it out it's pretty good. And being stationary wasn't a problem once I figured out what to do. Was soloing Ogres and barely taking damage in BlackTower area.
My other character was a rogue and I got him to 21, I'd say that rogue was easier to learn, but Wizard was easier to play. It just required more brain power. The other classes are Run in attack, attack , attack. But Control Wizard requires thought.
And Don't forget the Companions. I picked up the man at arms. With the companion, I had no issues whatsoever.
So I think they are fine just the way they are. Just beef up the control aspect of the class and they will be good to go.
should be renamed to just wizard. Damage is weak and almost every thing 30 + is resistant. If there cc ablitly did something during boss fights it would be nice. Suggestion please make dailies worth it i am so sick and tired of using in bose fights and doing only 600 points or being resisted Non of the other classes have their abilities resisted 100% of the time in boss fights. Aoes need to either do some cc (more than 1 - .5)secs. If its going to be a CC wizzards then please let it be one. 1 sec hold or slow down is not control
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crazydavey804Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
My thoughts on the control wizard:
At-wills:
-Level 30 at-will needs to be tweaked. As abcdefg2234 stated 20-25 damage on a charge up at-will is a joke.
-Magic missile ends up being the spell of choice. Five spams and you get stacks plus lots of damage on third strike.
-Didn't really switch out ray of frost. No other ice at-will stacks chill faster.
-icy clouds is alright for stacking chill, but I ended up using ray of frost.
Encounter powers:
-chill strike is nice for freezing.
-The level 40 Spellstorm encounter needs to be tweaked massively. 30' range on an encounter spell when you're supposed to be far away from enemies is kinda useless.
-Choking grasp duration is too short, even with spell mastery.
-ended up using enfeebling ray on spell mastery for the double debuff.
-Chilling wind does nice aoe damage.
-icy terrain doesn't do any damage.
-Repel is great for pushing enemies over ledges or into spike pits.
Daily powers:
-Ice knife does the most single target damage.
-Ice burst 40' radius is misleading. Misses enemies that are very close.
-Arcane singularity is good for grouping enemies.
-Didn't test out opposing force.
I love the dodge animation. Every time I dodged I felt like I was flash stepping in Bleach or something. I can see them modifying this at later levels to move the caster even further than 18'.
Overall feels like a great class. Could use some damage boosting though. During beta weekend two I was consistently out dpsed by rogues every time.
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granmazzoMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
Wizard need a real redesign in the first 15 levels. They lack real control, real damage , and survivebility
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rikussMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 6Arc User
edited March 2013
I had no trouble with survivability made it to level 21 without dying once, but I was out damaged by rouges all the time. I feel the same like others here wizard needs damage boost and the control need to be reworked it just take to long to build up and does not last long enough to really matter.
I had no trouble with survivability made it to level 21 without dying once, but I was out damaged by rouges all the time. I feel the same like others here wizard needs damage boost and the control need to be reworked it just take to long to build up and does not last long enough to really matter.
The rogue is a striker. He should be outdamaging you on single mobs. I think the damage level is fine, but the control aspects need some work. I'd like to see a level 60 CW with feat points set for maximizing control and see how it works.
Dont think the Wizard is weak, however his combination of spells is terrible. Normaly i enjoy playing mage/wizard/insert caster, however in this game it just suck. I really hope they make the wizard more fun to play, a big lackluser for me, i dissagree that the wizard should be able to move and cast spells, it kinda ruins the balance of the game. However the Wizard should have a better combination of spells like WOW Firemage after the first expansion, the wizard got these spells now they just dont sync as they should. Also plz give the wizard more aoe damage without pushing everything 1k yards away!:O
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doctorcomicsMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Silverstars, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
I found the Wizard rough going for the first few levels, until my encounter powers started to fill in. Once I had a few of those, the class became fun. I put Repel in Spell Mastery and it works great soloing, but I am encouraged by the way everyone has their own favorite Spell Mastery power. That's a good sign, if there is no single best option, but all are good.
Once I got my Cleric companion at level 16 I was rockin and rollin. With three encounters chained on the boss, Repel to keep the minions off, both a ranged and personal Daily and Ray of Frost to rebuild Action Points, teleport to stay out of the fire, and a Cleric to keep me healed, I was confidently taking on all comers.
The graveyard quests were 3 levels above me and proved challenging. Groups of four Wights, all three or five bars, summon gangs of minions and I was kiting like crazy. But if my Cleric could stay standing, I usually made it out alive. If we had not been in a weekend event, I would have taken a time out to run Foundry missions to get back up to quest level.
In short, my experience was very much like pre-4e D&D: being a low level wizard sucked, but once you got to 5th level and Fireball (level 16 and a companion in this game), it was a whole new game.
As it stands control wizard is not as useful in groups as a fifth cleric told to dps, cc, and backup heal. Monsters in this game tend to die quick, and are ccs last even quicker. The CC is nothing like an Enchanter in EQ I or a controller in CoH. Add in that bosses resist a lot of our CCs and the class starts to lose its luster. You can avoid calling our attacks true CC and state they're only interrupts, which is how I ended up trying to use them due to how long the abilities kept monsters CCed. Pushback will become taboo in group shortly after release (although I never saw anyone complain last beta) because of all the melee classes. In solo our lack of actual control gets us in trouble when trying to kill whole groups. I cannot take a stronger monster out of the fight while I use my mediocre DPS to kill the weaker adds first. In groups I was always second on DPS behind the rouge but I am not sure if that is saying much. The Cleric at least has an aoe root I have seen them use, plus they can DPS when not committed to healing, so a fifth Cleric just seems more useful in groups. It is still beta, so we can always hang off that comment that things will change.
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rufusscipio23Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
I played the rogue in the last beta and the wizard in this one. I wasn't really feeling it. The CC effects didn't seem to last long enough to give me any meaningful room to work with. Also, looking down the tree I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed in there only being fire and force. No disintegrate, no mage armor, no etc. The magic classes in DandD have always been about the etc. I am heartened by the paragon path stormwhatever. Lightning at will and a couple encounters, that's cool. Very cool. As in something you should make a NORMAL OPTION. Perhaps I wanna DPS mage rather than CC. That should be an option as it doesn't just fit the lore and the setting but IS the lore and the setting. Even post spellplague wizards can do more than ray of frost and mm. I would really like to see that. Plus swordmage.
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khandenMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 2Arc User
edited March 2013
It would be much worse if we had the actual hitpoints mages are supposed to have in D&D. At least this is survivable.
This was my first weekend, and I only played a control wizard to level 15. It felt like a poor man's version of the COH Dominator. The daily was like Domination for a few seconds you were powerful, you can handle 1 mob reasonably well,you get 3 guys and a boss or lieutenant level beating on you and spend all your time running/teleporting around trying not to get hit.
I came down on the camp that I disliked Ray of Frost, which I called "the ray of come beat me down," it was a better power for groups but then my dps sucked, and I am not sure it really helped with damage avoidance or reduced team risk. All of these games are always about the faster the dps the better.
Granted, I only played to level 15, but I got the distinct impression that my wizard played exactly like every other wizard, and even by level 15 there absolutely nothing to distinguish my wizard from anybody else. I play fantasy role playing games to be different, not to be one of 5 clones. What is this the game of clones? We all look alike, we all cast the same powers over and over with little to distinguish ourselves? This is bad game design.
I should be able to choose 2 arcane primaries or 2 cold primaries or try to build a balanced control wizard between arcane and chill and begin to distinguish my character from the very beginning. Did they learn nothing from City of Heroes? Having the ability to customize my character extensively, including the colors of the powers helped make that game great!
This class needs an early root to help control the minion level classes because it is not fun just running away all the time like Brave Sir Robin. If the class stays the way it currently is it will need minstrels for companions.
I think the arcane daily sucks, and would rather kill a bunch than daze them so they can just get mad it me and all jump on me. I think it sucks that I had to suck down so many potions just to survive. The control was way too soft to make a real difference in damage avoidance, and DPS was pretty weak with the exception of one or two spells. I understand control can make encounters trivial, and there is a reason why it is hard to balance control and DPS but if you want this class to be solo-able than you need to up one or the other (control or dps) and I shouldn't have to wait to level 50 to feel powerful after enhancing my skill tree to the point that it actually makes a difference.
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xdzinMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
I love Wizz Class but it's broken ... it's a fact !!! :mad:
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silknightMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 199
edited March 2013
Control Mage is by far the weakest of all the classes played in beta thus far. Tricksters do it way better, clerics do it much better, and guardian tanks even play better. One thing I love about these beta's is that it'll help me weed out the classes I won't be playing. Though the one I've been itching to play most has yet to be seen, and really the main reason I came to this game, the Great Weapons Fighter.
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gothisphereMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 17Arc User
The main thing is, currently the class works better as AoE dps than it does as control. Yes, CW does offer some degree of control, but that generally doesn't work quite as well as going all out glass cannon dps.
This was my experience as well with the control wizard.
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valtrayMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
This class suffers most because of the inability to move while attacking. Lack of Aoe attacks and cc atleast lower levels, makes it impossible to keep the small mobs off you. Not the big ones, they are easy since they power up their attack, giving you alot of time to move away. I would love if you could make magic missile aoe and not single target.
This class suffers most because of the inability to move while attacking. Lack of Aoe attacks and cc atleast lower levels, makes it impossible to keep the small mobs off you. Not the big ones, they are easy since they power up their attack, giving you alot of time to move away. I would love if you could make magic missile aoe and not single target.
I found two things interesting based off this. One, weaker mobs end up doing more damage because you can not avoid their damage as easily as the stronger mobs. And two, we are suppose to avoid damage by jumping out of the way or blocking etc so that even further decreases the need to use our CCs because you should be avoiding the attacks. We need longer CCs to put weak mobs out of the fight more than we need these two second ponies we get.
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angelxeyeMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 1
edited March 2013
Love this class- but ray is weaker than most the other skills, everyone wants bigger stronger faster- but it would not hurt to be punched up a notch- honestly I just did not use it.
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muzrub333Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
The CW is the only finger waggler I have ever played that could stand in a group of 6 mobs, and let them beat on him until he could cast a PBAoE to kill them all. If they gave us a real hard CC like webs, or sleep, we would be pretty much unstoppable. I had fun, don't get me wrong, but weak or under-powered are not the adjectives I'd choose in regards to the CW. Sure, avoid the real tank mobs hitting you, but against anything other than Bosses, not any real worries. Except those **** Mimics! <---should make that my signature.
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doctorcomicsMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Silverstars, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited March 2013
Why didn't we get Web or Sleep? I mean, if you're looking for control spells, there are some pretty obvious and traditional ones.
silvergryphMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 740Arc User
edited March 2013
I had no problem surviving. I soloed exclusively to level 20. I had exactly one death because I wasn't paying attention. I also found that once I focused on Power gear I was inflicting much greater damage. Lieutenants and Bosses were no problem at all. I did have to use many more healing potions than I did with the Trickster Rogue but that is to be expected going from leather to cloth armor I think.
As far as the control powers I would also like to see them work a little better. But, control classes in most game seem to be a little weaker and less desirable outside of PvP. Why lock an enemy down when you can just kill him? I think the real issue is that if you make the control powers really effective then you trivialize the content. If you can keep the enemy locked down for a significant portion of the fight everything gets too easy.
silvergryphMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 740Arc User
edited March 2013
One more thought: I do think there is definitely room for better control without reaching that point of trivializing things. As an example, my Trickster Rogue's little shadow dummy was a much more effective control spell than anything I had on my Control Wizard. So, the CW should get something at least that good. Maybe even almost the same power with a different skin and call it an illusion spell.
There were a few levels, in the lower teens, that I felt under powered. Once I got a decent weapon upgrade and figured out how Spell Mastery worked I was wrecking groups.
Freeze is an ok hold...I was shocked the first time someone broke out after .5 sec of CC. I know one class passive gave 10% CC duration and some Feat Points may get that above 30%... but 30% of 1 is 1.30. The immobilization effect in Icy Patch (w/e the name was) was really low as well. Entangling Force with 5 stacks of Arcane Mastery didn't seem to Hold much longer than when I had zero stacks.
Like I said earlier, I didn't feel under powered once I figured out how everything worked but I still believe Freeze and the Immobilization effect on Icy Patch should be 25%-50% stronger and Chill should be 10-15% stronger. If I knew the math behind it I would be more accurate. Whatever those numbers are they need to be just a little longer. A little.
My experience was actually that I didn't end up having to necessarily have encounter spells on cooldown for a while, not till around perhaps the time I got my spell mastery slot. I used Ray of Frost a lot initially and then eventually stopped using it altogether although I kept it as my secondary At Will with Magic Missile as my primary. I used Ice Storm interchangeably with Ice Knife depending on the dungeon until I could unlock my second daily spell where I always had Ice Knife as a secondary.
I fiddled around with Oppressive Force but I found I preferred Ice Storm as it more consistently delivered results. I ended up keeping most of my initial encounter spells, Repel, Entangling Force, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Chill Strike as my go-to spells. I experimented with Conduit of Ice and Steal Time but they didn't feel strong enough or the benefits were seemingly unremarkable to me at the time. I tried all of these in the spell mastery slot and eventually concluded that Chill Strike was best there.
My combat strategy involved opening up with Chill Strike, then attacking the closest danger target with Ray of Enfeeblement, Entangling Force, while Repelling another danger target and continuing to pummel with Magic Missile and spells as they came off cooldown. I would cycle through the spells against the right targets, teleporting around to keep distance, avoid attacks and such. I used a Dog as my companion and he would at times keep aggro, although he was best when he knocked targets prone. His damage seemed decent.
Arcane Singularity was when things got even better, I felt this spell entirely replaced Oppressive Force for only slightly less damage. It was targetable at a good distance, and allowed me to do the above all the while my enemies were helpless. It was a good feeling to hammer them as they drew into the eclipse. Admittedly I didn't really test Icy Terrain, and perhaps I will next time. I had a good groove going and enjoyed the class up to level 38.
I put Conduit of Ice in for a while because it provides its own Chill to Proc damage. Conduit of Ice(Mastery) + Icy Terrain is a very good combo. It will Freeze an entire group quickly if you stay near the Icy Terrain. Chill Strike and Entangling Force as the other two spell for duels with Elites. Cloud of Snow? and Ray of Frost for my at wills, for chill stacks and its easy to Freeze when everyone is Chilled from all the other abilities.
Chill Strike(Mastery) with Conduit of Ice, Icy Terrain, and Entangling Force works much the same way with Chill Strike providing the Chill effect for damage proc. Conduit sustains higher damage from more stacks of Chill as the AoE lasts but the damage Chill Strike AoE is nice so it balances out, again putting Chill Strike as the Favorite.
this class is useless. even if you make spells 50% better. you are going from 1 sec to 1.5 sec. to be useful we need to see 100% or 200% upgrade. And come on if you use ray of frost at lvl 5 its does no more damage than it does at lvl 6. This game is not d&d its just another action game no different than star trek but in a bad copy of D&D setting
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crazydavey804Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Why didn't we get Web or Sleep? I mean, if you're looking for control spells, there are some pretty obvious and traditional ones.
Yeah did these developer's even talk to Wizards of the Coast, or play D&D for that matter. Web and Sleep are pretty obvious choices for a class with "control" in the title.
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castagyreMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 4Arc User
edited March 2013
I didn't get to play as much as I'd have liked to so I only made it to about level 15. I have to say, I also did not feel very controllery. When I think control I think of the Dom or 'troller from CoH or the Enchanters from EQ/EQ2. This class ain't it. I liked some of the tools I gained access to like Ray of Enfeeblement, but over all the class seemed like it should have been called Minimal Mitigation Wizard Giving Everyone the Finger instead of Control Wizard. Playing it that way I managed to get by ok.
Remembering Hanlon's Razor can save one a lot on aspirines.
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No AOE mez (Icy Terrain encounter ) , priest have a nice but not CW. And for Daily no Web,Sleep spells.
Sorry cryptic but it dont feels a Controller wizard.
My other character was a rogue and I got him to 21, I'd say that rogue was easier to learn, but Wizard was easier to play. It just required more brain power. The other classes are Run in attack, attack , attack. But Control Wizard requires thought.
And Don't forget the Companions. I picked up the man at arms. With the companion, I had no issues whatsoever.
So I think they are fine just the way they are. Just beef up the control aspect of the class and they will be good to go.
At-wills:
-Level 30 at-will needs to be tweaked. As abcdefg2234 stated 20-25 damage on a charge up at-will is a joke.
-Magic missile ends up being the spell of choice. Five spams and you get stacks plus lots of damage on third strike.
-Didn't really switch out ray of frost. No other ice at-will stacks chill faster.
-icy clouds is alright for stacking chill, but I ended up using ray of frost.
Encounter powers:
-chill strike is nice for freezing.
-The level 40 Spellstorm encounter needs to be tweaked massively. 30' range on an encounter spell when you're supposed to be far away from enemies is kinda useless.
-Choking grasp duration is too short, even with spell mastery.
-ended up using enfeebling ray on spell mastery for the double debuff.
-Chilling wind does nice aoe damage.
-icy terrain doesn't do any damage.
-Repel is great for pushing enemies over ledges or into spike pits.
Daily powers:
-Ice knife does the most single target damage.
-Ice burst 40' radius is misleading. Misses enemies that are very close.
-Arcane singularity is good for grouping enemies.
-Didn't test out opposing force.
I love the dodge animation. Every time I dodged I felt like I was flash stepping in Bleach or something. I can see them modifying this at later levels to move the caster even further than 18'.
Overall feels like a great class. Could use some damage boosting though. During beta weekend two I was consistently out dpsed by rogues every time.
Once I got my Cleric companion at level 16 I was rockin and rollin. With three encounters chained on the boss, Repel to keep the minions off, both a ranged and personal Daily and Ray of Frost to rebuild Action Points, teleport to stay out of the fire, and a Cleric to keep me healed, I was confidently taking on all comers.
The graveyard quests were 3 levels above me and proved challenging. Groups of four Wights, all three or five bars, summon gangs of minions and I was kiting like crazy. But if my Cleric could stay standing, I usually made it out alive. If we had not been in a weekend event, I would have taken a time out to run Foundry missions to get back up to quest level.
In short, my experience was very much like pre-4e D&D: being a low level wizard sucked, but once you got to 5th level and Fireball (level 16 and a companion in this game), it was a whole new game.
Seven Against Thay: An RP-Focused Guild for all Races and Classes
I came down on the camp that I disliked Ray of Frost, which I called "the ray of come beat me down," it was a better power for groups but then my dps sucked, and I am not sure it really helped with damage avoidance or reduced team risk. All of these games are always about the faster the dps the better.
Granted, I only played to level 15, but I got the distinct impression that my wizard played exactly like every other wizard, and even by level 15 there absolutely nothing to distinguish my wizard from anybody else. I play fantasy role playing games to be different, not to be one of 5 clones. What is this the game of clones? We all look alike, we all cast the same powers over and over with little to distinguish ourselves? This is bad game design.
I should be able to choose 2 arcane primaries or 2 cold primaries or try to build a balanced control wizard between arcane and chill and begin to distinguish my character from the very beginning. Did they learn nothing from City of Heroes? Having the ability to customize my character extensively, including the colors of the powers helped make that game great!
This class needs an early root to help control the minion level classes because it is not fun just running away all the time like Brave Sir Robin. If the class stays the way it currently is it will need minstrels for companions.
I think the arcane daily sucks, and would rather kill a bunch than daze them so they can just get mad it me and all jump on me. I think it sucks that I had to suck down so many potions just to survive. The control was way too soft to make a real difference in damage avoidance, and DPS was pretty weak with the exception of one or two spells. I understand control can make encounters trivial, and there is a reason why it is hard to balance control and DPS but if you want this class to be solo-able than you need to up one or the other (control or dps) and I shouldn't have to wait to level 50 to feel powerful after enhancing my skill tree to the point that it actually makes a difference.
This was my experience as well with the control wizard.
I found two things interesting based off this. One, weaker mobs end up doing more damage because you can not avoid their damage as easily as the stronger mobs. And two, we are suppose to avoid damage by jumping out of the way or blocking etc so that even further decreases the need to use our CCs because you should be avoiding the attacks. We need longer CCs to put weak mobs out of the fight more than we need these two second ponies we get.
Seven Against Thay: An RP-Focused Guild for all Races and Classes
As far as the control powers I would also like to see them work a little better. But, control classes in most game seem to be a little weaker and less desirable outside of PvP. Why lock an enemy down when you can just kill him? I think the real issue is that if you make the control powers really effective then you trivialize the content. If you can keep the enemy locked down for a significant portion of the fight everything gets too easy.
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There were a few levels, in the lower teens, that I felt under powered. Once I got a decent weapon upgrade and figured out how Spell Mastery worked I was wrecking groups.
Freeze is an ok hold...I was shocked the first time someone broke out after .5 sec of CC. I know one class passive gave 10% CC duration and some Feat Points may get that above 30%... but 30% of 1 is 1.30. The immobilization effect in Icy Patch (w/e the name was) was really low as well. Entangling Force with 5 stacks of Arcane Mastery didn't seem to Hold much longer than when I had zero stacks.
Like I said earlier, I didn't feel under powered once I figured out how everything worked but I still believe Freeze and the Immobilization effect on Icy Patch should be 25%-50% stronger and Chill should be 10-15% stronger. If I knew the math behind it I would be more accurate. Whatever those numbers are they need to be just a little longer. A little.
I fiddled around with Oppressive Force but I found I preferred Ice Storm as it more consistently delivered results. I ended up keeping most of my initial encounter spells, Repel, Entangling Force, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Chill Strike as my go-to spells. I experimented with Conduit of Ice and Steal Time but they didn't feel strong enough or the benefits were seemingly unremarkable to me at the time. I tried all of these in the spell mastery slot and eventually concluded that Chill Strike was best there.
My combat strategy involved opening up with Chill Strike, then attacking the closest danger target with Ray of Enfeeblement, Entangling Force, while Repelling another danger target and continuing to pummel with Magic Missile and spells as they came off cooldown. I would cycle through the spells against the right targets, teleporting around to keep distance, avoid attacks and such. I used a Dog as my companion and he would at times keep aggro, although he was best when he knocked targets prone. His damage seemed decent.
Arcane Singularity was when things got even better, I felt this spell entirely replaced Oppressive Force for only slightly less damage. It was targetable at a good distance, and allowed me to do the above all the while my enemies were helpless. It was a good feeling to hammer them as they drew into the eclipse. Admittedly I didn't really test Icy Terrain, and perhaps I will next time. I had a good groove going and enjoyed the class up to level 38.
I put Conduit of Ice in for a while because it provides its own Chill to Proc damage. Conduit of Ice(Mastery) + Icy Terrain is a very good combo. It will Freeze an entire group quickly if you stay near the Icy Terrain. Chill Strike and Entangling Force as the other two spell for duels with Elites. Cloud of Snow? and Ray of Frost for my at wills, for chill stacks and its easy to Freeze when everyone is Chilled from all the other abilities.
Chill Strike(Mastery) with Conduit of Ice, Icy Terrain, and Entangling Force works much the same way with Chill Strike providing the Chill effect for damage proc. Conduit sustains higher damage from more stacks of Chill as the AoE lasts but the damage Chill Strike AoE is nice so it balances out, again putting Chill Strike as the Favorite.
Yeah did these developer's even talk to Wizards of the Coast, or play D&D for that matter. Web and Sleep are pretty obvious choices for a class with "control" in the title.