Lv1-12 Wizard Feedback

vdude

Just doing a quick one here so I didn't look up skill names for everything.

--Magic Missile: Compared to the other classes basic attacks this feels visually weaker then it should feel. The numbers on it are on the other hand are high and it's easy to score highest DPS on a wizard.

The animations are jumpy especially when you're switching between targets or mixing up like firing off the 3rd volley right after a teleport.

--Ray of Frost: Early on this is a basically useless skill because of how low dmg it is. Along with how you can drink potions like a fish drinks water I never find a reason to sacrifice my DPS to do a little CC. On top of that I could thin out targets super fast with magic missile so I was taking less damage just killing mobs then I would trying to CC anything. And then when I actually do get to fight my first group battle 'boss' in the blacklake instance it's immune to all CC effects. So the one time I thought it'd be worth using this didn't turn out.

Because you're forcing a low bar of entry to support the F2P environment CC skills seem less appealing, why slow down DPS if there isn't a threat. I would do something with this to make it more interesting or provide something meaningful to players at low level.

--1st Daily Acquired(crazy ice stabs out of ground): Flashy, feels great. Numbers seem fine for it being on a paper class.

--2nd Daily Acquired(flashy dazing thing): I could see myself using this in parties so I'm not upsetting the melees by tossing their mobs around. Visuals felt good. Felt like it had nice impact.

--1st Encounter Skill Acquired(The frost bolt): Visuals are excellent feels visceral, mundane and deceptively small DPS increase vs magic missile but that isn't going to stop me from using it--between the small CD and just enjoying the feel of the skill I've never taken it off my bar.

--2nd Encounter Skill Acquired(The Darth Vader choke): Again feels great.

--3rd Encounter Skill Acquired(Mini-cyclone): Seems alright the AoE component makes it interesting. And the chill makes it great for CC locking when used with ray of frost however pointless as it is at this point in the game.

--4th Encounter Skill Acquired(Bolt of Force): This one is my goto skill for solo play. Actually feels like using it to CC because of it's AoE effect and the feel of the skill is great. DPS being as low as it is and CC not really being needed though it seems not all that useful for parties. I think you're always better off using the 3rd Acquired(Mini-cyclone) in it's place.

---Summary: The other couple classes I played to Lv10+ Trickster, Devote. Both have very meaningful right clicks and added some depth to them. The devote I had a the most fun with because of the 1st encounter being a low CD AoE. I'd do left clicks on all the targets in a group to weaken them as they walk towards me then finish them with the AoE and it felt awesome and it was faster, and more engaging. The rogue if I wanted I could time dodges and use my knife throws in-between to maintain DPS and that felt great however pointless with the spammable potions.

But control wizard. I'd walk in at max range and hold left click and spam magic missiles on nearest target. This was the least engaging gameplay between the classes I played by far. I think the pointless to use right click is what really brings down the experience. They could really use something to make their basic combat more interesting. The devote I think has the most depth especially 10+ with their crazy tab mode and interesting right click and more things to juggle and maintain. The rogues have shifting in and out of close combat and tons of chances to use the dodge skillfully. But the wizard just didn't do it for me.

The low level is when you need to hook people into your game you need to have something more engaging here for players that are looking for depth in combat then just spam magic missiles and encounter skills with little positioning or context besides you get some minor bonuses to encounter skills if you used magic missile first. Something you do all the time anyway.

--Arcane build up: Last this is one thing I almost forgot to hit. The arcane build up doesn't feel that impactful there is limited(no?) visual feedback to the player which could be remedied pretty easily. The mini-cyclone encounter skill could look bigger when it's arcane charged for example, since it's suppose to become AoE. Or the mages orb or hand could glow and there could be a audio cue when they reach 5 arcane charges. Some kind of basic visual/audio feedback for the player. That says hey you built up arcane charges now you're awesome.

wingedkagouti

vdude wrote: »

But control wizard. I'd walk in at max range and hold left click and spam magic missiles on nearest target. This was the least engaging gameplay between the classes I played by far. I think the pointless to use right click is what really brings down the experience. They could really use something to make their basic combat more interesting. The devote I think has the most depth especially 10+ with their crazy tab mode and interesting right click and more things to juggle and maintain. The rogues have shifting in and out of close combat and tons of chances to use the dodge skillfully. But the wizard just didn't do it for me.

The low level is when you need to hook people into your game you need to have something more engaging here for players that are looking for depth in combat then just spam magic missiles and encounter skills with little positioning or context besides you get some minor bonuses to encounter skills if you used magic missile first. Something you do all the time anyway.

Ray of Frost has earned its spot as my secondary attack due to the Controlling Action Feat, which builds your Action Bar faster when you use a control power (such as RoF). Granted, this doesn't really come into effect until you have both Icy Terrain (lvl 17) and Steal Time (lvl 20), but with my current build I can basically cast a Daily Power once per encounter if I want to. RoF helps make this happen.

--Arcane build up: Last this is one thing I almost forgot to hit. The arcane build up doesn't feel that impactful there is limited(no?) visual feedback to the player which could be remedied pretty easily. The mini-cyclone encounter skill could look bigger when it's arcane charged for example, since it's suppose to become AoE. Or the mages orb or hand could glow and there could be a audio cue when they reach 5 arcane charges. Some kind of basic visual/audio feedback for the player. That says hey you built up arcane charges now you're awesome.

It seems like you're confusing Arcane Mastery with Spell Mastery. Arcane Mastery is a minor buff that helps certain powers (such as +duration on Entangling Force), you gain it by casting cerain arcane spells (mainly Magic Missile). Spell Mastery is applied to one of your Encounter Powers by placing it into the Tab slot (left most slot on the bar, has a special border), which you may not have unlocked yet (unlocks at level 15 iirc). Picking the power you put into your Spell Mastery slot is fairly important, as it can affect your playstyle noticably.

I'm not saying you're wrong in wanting CW to have some changes to low level play, but many of the choices that seem strange do have a deeper purpose.