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Endgame Thaumaturge Guide

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  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    syfylis wrote: »
    Nice build but.

    Got CW with GS 9,5k and I'm sure that your build must do great dmg but when you go to any instance from Pirate king and higher your team need CC more than ever. I manage to get to 4th boss in castle never and amount of mobs is ridiculous. So unless you pull out really huge dps then your team will fail.

    This argument has been discussed and beaten in the previous pages. Look for the "There is nothing that increases crowd control ( stun/daze/root/knockback ) in the Renegade tree. The only thing even related is Maelstrom of Chaos adding Chill, and no one uses that crappy spell."

    Just switch Steal Time and Entangling Force into your bars if you need CC, problem solved.

    I've beaten the Dracolich and completed instances like Frozen Heart & Mad Dragons Lair. Without any damage bugging set items.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • kerspoinkkerspoink Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Everyone, please, forgive my ignorance.

    I keep seeing people say that with this build, magic missile will lower the targets mitigation. Unless I am reading the feat "Elemental Empowerment" very wrong, it says "Your Arcane Encounter spells weaken a target's defenses....."

    Arcane Missile is an At-Will, not encounter.

    Is this a bug or am I missing something?
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    kerspoink wrote: »
    Everyone, please, forgive my ignorance.

    I keep seeing people say that with this build, magic missile will lower the targets mitigation. Unless I am reading the feat "Elemental Empowerment" very wrong, it says "Your Arcane Encounter spells weaken a target's defenses....."

    Arcane Missile is an At-Will, not encounter.

    Is this a bug or am I missing something?

    You read it right and I had a typo. Fixed.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • nasuradinnasuradin Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013

    also i think eye of the storm is kinda useless because when you are low health you are gonna rather heal yourself than keep deeling dmg and die, dont you think?

    Correct! Which is why nobody loves Storm Fury

    Eye of the Storm gives you a 5% chance to have every attack be a critical for 4 seconds, 8 sec at rank 3
  • midorimarchmidorimarch Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Nice review free bump.
  • kdbakdba Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    So how screwed am I when I originally created my character thinking that the class would be all about CC and now have 21/19/15 Int/Wis/Cha at 38? Do stats actually make all that much difference?
  • lachdanonlachdanon Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    never mind! *redacted*
  • reilz1981reilz1981 Member Posts: 512 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    awesome guide i have hated playing a CW since beta weekend 2 but with these changes i am actually enjoying it for the first time
    Actual Join date: Dec 2007
  • nefastarunefastaru Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    After various testing in all 3 trees and about 2 million diamonds in respecs I'd like to offer my advice. Currently Renegade is the best Spec for post 60 dungeon play. Thaumaturge is nice as well and I guess that it 's a personal choice as to what you'd like to play. Except that Renegade synergizes better IMO with the "mainstay" abilities we use in dungeons. Also "IF" your beating the rogues in your party either A) your doing it wrong or B) they are doing it wrong. Your job in tier 2's/Castle Never is primarily not to dps it's to control the fights. I can be top DPS rather easily with a Renegade build as well, and it puts out a lot more dmg than when I ran Thaumaturge but that's not my role. Even using my cc's/KB's efficiently I am not that far behind my rogue (usually within 2-3 million and in a dungeon like Epic Spellplague it's a difference of 23 million dmg to my 20 million)

    If you haven't used shield for it's knockback it's pretty much an instant daily refill on large packs and you should be using either it or repel in almost every dungeon at some point to knock mobs/adds off cliffs/ledges etc. Also Shields cooldown with max stacks of arcane mastery goes from 13 seconds to 6 and I've actually had points where I could spam it with no CD what so ever (maybe a bug?). Allowing me to use Arcane Singularity every 10 seconds (which is huge on most boss fights IE Aboleth, suck adds to the edge then knock them off with shield burst and instantly your dailies refilled again)

    I would love to see you beat the last boss in most tier 2's/Castle Never with your rotation and no other CW carrying you by properly using cc/knockback. I largely disbelieve that it happens.

    Also why you'd ever use Sudden Storm in it's current state is beyond me. It's a terrible spell that doesn't crit has no chance to proc Eye of the storm does not benefit from evocation and does about 1.5k less damage than it displays on the tooltip, this has been tested by many wizards(including myself) and reported in the CW Master Bug List thread. (something I suggest you take a look at.)

    All in all your build is ok (I also don't agree with some of your heroic feat choices but again that's preference), but I just don't see it beating a Renegade with equal GS. Also if you are clearing every tier 2 no problem why isn't your gs in the 10k range? Anyway, I digress, I mostly wanted to post to inform you of Sudden Storm so you could change that spell out and increase your dps.

    You Stay Classy Neverwinter!
    ~Nef~
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    nefastaru wrote: »
    Currently Renegade is the best Spec for post 60 dungeon play.

    Nope.
    nefastaru wrote: »
    Also "IF" your beating the rogues in your party either A) your doing it wrong or B) they are doing it wrong.

    Also discussed around 5 pages ago, and again, nope. I deliver all the control that the group requires and I outdamage the rogues with AOE. I've never been carried by another CW.
    nefastaru wrote: »
    this has been tested by many wizards(including myself) and reported in the CW Master Bug List thread. (something I suggest you take a look at.)

    You're quite pompous, just assuming I havent. The guide also says to switch Steal Time inplace of Sudden Storm if required/wanted. Steal Time has a small channeling time which lowers a players damage output. If you position poorly you can also have it cancelled by an NPC attack/ability. Just to show a few faults of Steal Time, despite being a decent spell I use too.

    nefastaru wrote: »
    Your job in tier 2's/Castle Never is primarily not to dps it's to control the fights. I can be top DPS rather easily with a Renegade build as well, and it puts out a lot more dmg than when I ran Thaumaturge but that's not my role.

    Oh look, its the Renegade crowd control featuring a Control Wizards supposed role -argument again. Interesting that you didn't achieve similiar damage as Thaumaturgy, must be something you did.

    My gearscore as of now is 10,2k, I can't update the threads name.

    Guide updated. Reasoning:

    Now includes it's own portion for Control Wizards Are For Control Renegade -people.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • j0nixj0nix Member Posts: 8 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    thoughts on icy ray? wrecks in pvp when u set it up. not sure how it does for boss fights. Probably wouldnt use it for trash clearing.
  • draxcoldheartdraxcoldheart Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    I just wanted some opinions regarding the following feats

    Prestidigitation
    You and your allies gain 1/2/3% increased Stat Ratings.
    So does that mean it is like adding 1 for rank 1 or 3 for rank 3 to all stats for everyone in the party?

    Learned Spellcaster
    Increase the amount of bonus damage Intelligence gives you by 1/2/3/4/5%/
    So this is just like adding a 1 to 5 to Intelligence for just the wizard?

    Focused Wizardry

    Your area effect powers deal 3/6/9% more damage when they only strike a single target
    So far the Control wizard master Bug reports post says that Conduit of Ice, Icy Terrain, Sudden Storm and Arcane Singularity are not affected by this feat. So what spells ARE affected be this feat?

    I’m asking because I want to know out of these three feats where should I put the last of my points before I hit Paragon Feats.
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    I just wanted some opinions regarding the following feats

    Prestidigitation
    You and your allies gain 1/2/3% increased Stat Ratings.
    So does that mean it is like adding 1 for rank 1 or 3 for rank 3 to all stats for everyone in the party?

    The way I read it, it will give you and your party a 3% increase say for example, in Power. One percent per invested Feat point.
    Learned Spellcaster
    Increase the amount of bonus damage Intelligence gives you by 1/2/3/4/5%/
    So this is just like adding a 1 to 5 to Intelligence for just the wizard?

    Intelligence gives you a certain amount of damage increase, this increases that by 5%, the way I read it.

    Focused Wizardry

    Your area effect powers deal 3/6/9% more damage when they only strike a single target
    So far the Control wizard master Bug reports post says that Conduit of Ice, Icy Terrain, Sudden Storm and Arcane Singularity are not affected by this feat. So what spells ARE affected be this feat?

    Unclear, hence I avoid it until it's clear.
    j0nix wrote: »
    thoughts on icy ray? wrecks in pvp when u set it up. not sure how it does for boss fights. Probably wouldnt use it for trash clearing.

    I tried it a couple of times in PvE, was uninspiring. Can't say about PvP, since I don't do it till it makes more sense balance -wise and feels more meaningful.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • draxcoldheartdraxcoldheart Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Ok i might go with Learned Spellcaster then since Focused Wizardry only works on a very few spells and Prestidigitation isn't what i thought it was. But now i have to ask when people talk about stats they mean Ability Scores and when i checked the character screen the power, critical, ap etc they are called ratings and not stats.

    Ok now that i look closer at Prestidigitation it says stat ratings as in the ratings on the character screen. *Facepalm*
  • rhoikyrhoiky Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Nice guide mate.
    Can we / you ask a moderator to move it to CW class specific forums maybe?
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Would be a good idea. Couldn't find a moderator contact form or button anywhere though. If someone can manage it ( bit busy now ) tell the moderator to also switch the thread name to "Thaumaturge Endgame DPS Guide & Ability Reviews " -and tell him I wished for it, and that he can check this post to confirm.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • starlitskies21starlitskies21 Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Did you mean to say "Spell Mastery: Chill Strike" ? Or is Ice Strike a spell I just can't find?
  • wangwong1wangwong1 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 7 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Perhaps I missed it but what are your thoughts on best in slot gear? I'm currently using your build with fatebender for the 15% increased encounter damage but it has no crit, just recovery. Iirc I think it was weaver that had the 450 crit 2set and an interesting 4set that did two different things depending on when you hit them with at-will powers or control powers.

    Also what enchantments should be used in weapon and armor slot? I would imagine armor being soulforged for the lifesaver thing, and I suppose plaguefire would be BiS for weapon?

    TL;DR What's the BiS slot gear for thaumaturgy?
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    I honestly haven't looked at gear so much that I could tell you what is BiS. Plaguefire and Vorpal are both pretty good weapon enchants.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • elyrielleelyrielle Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Does anyone actually know for a fact if Learned Spellcaster does anything?

    I monitored my stats sheet (closing and opening my character sheet to be sure it refreshed) before and after adding in this feat and nothing changed there (not power or the offensive summary, or anything with the intelligence tooltip). So if it does anything it'd only be noticed on actual damage values (which of course at 1 point in the feat I didn't notice any increase at all).
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    elyrielle wrote: »
    Does anyone actually know for a fact if Learned Spellcaster does anything?

    I monitored my stats sheet (closing and opening my character sheet to be sure it refreshed) before and after adding in this feat and nothing changed there (not power or the offensive summary, or anything with the intelligence tooltip). So if it does anything it'd only be noticed on actual damage values (which of course at 1 point in the feat I didn't notice any increase at all).

    It doesnt show on your stats at all, as its a separate damage modifier that just increases the amount given by your intelligence. And even so, there are reports that it doesn't work, a bit like the AoE damage feat. And also the capstone feat of Renegade seems to be bugged.

    With Cryptic communicating with its playerbase poorly regarding Feats and Powers that dont work, it's impossible to say.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Update:

    Added PvP guide worthy of Neverwinters depth in PvP.

    Reasoning:

    You can only PvP in Renegade or Opressor spec, said the Renegade/Opressor.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    Thread moved to class forums and renamed to better suit the contents. Thanks moderators.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • xlucius90xlucius90 Member Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Hi there, may i know your starting ability score? and your opinion about rolling 16 int 12 wis 18 cha or 20 int 13 wis 13 cha as human. I'm interested about the 4% dmg bonus + 5% recharge speed vs 5% crit rate. thx
  • notsilentnotsilent Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Hey Great guide, found it really helpful.

    I was wondering if you could maybe make 1-2 vids in T2 Dungeons/Castle Never to further show how you go about doing them? Maybe teach tricks/positional advantages/best skill setups, along the way? Also do you not use Shield/Repel to knock off mobs? Or do you switch out shield while attempting dungeons (Sorry if this has been answered before). If you could also post your equips at the moment it would be nice. I was planning on going for Magelord since it has some really good stats, as well as+400 power for 2, and 900 recovery if you hit a target above 75% health, this easily makes it better than the Vizier set.
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    notsilent wrote: »
    Hey Great guide, found it really helpful.

    I was wondering if you could maybe make 1-2 vids in T2 Dungeons/Castle Never to further show how you go about doing them? Maybe teach tricks/positional advantages/best skill setups, along the way? Also do you not use Shield/Repel to knock off mobs? Or do you switch out shield while attempting dungeons (Sorry if this has been answered before). If you could also post your equips at the moment it would be nice. I was planning on going for Magelord since it has some really good stats, as well as+400 power for 2, and 900 recovery if you hit a target above 75% health, this easily makes it better than the Vizier set.

    The bad thing about doing videos, especially in a community as bad as NWO, is that a lot of people will just comment on what could have been played better, that they crit for more than the creator of the video, and other useless comments. And that's why I really don't feel like making a video.

    I use Repel at certain dungeons, like Frozen Heart, to knock mobs off cliffs. I don't use Shield. The Magelord set is a decent choice, personally I haven't collected a set, my gear just consists of non-set items that have granted the most Power, Crit and Recovery.

    Regarding ability scores, I went with 20 Int on the starting roll, and put the rest to Int and Cha.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • xlucius90xlucius90 Member Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Btw with human racial bonus i have 3 extra heroic feat, where should i spend those? into focused wizardry or Prestidigitation?
  • lupita170lupita170 Member Posts: 122 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    I'm using this spec, but I'm not using chill strike. I find that using Steal Time in your tab slot to create combat advantage to the group, along with nightmare wizardry is a huge dps boost. I'm using Ray of Enfeeblement, Conduit of Ice, and Shield as my other encounters. For some boss fights I will put ray on tab so rogues can get in some heavy burst, such as dracolich, when all I'm really doing is controlling adds.

    I'm using 4-set Shadow Weaver, and I've tried Magelord and High Vizier, and Shadow Weaver is definitely the best t2 set. Combat Severity to the entire group is just so huge.

    I'm also socketing recovery in all my offensive slots. Sitting at 4700 power, 2700 crit, and 4600 recovery, Ive been able to singificantly out dps other wizards stacking pure power (upwards of 7 thousand power) by doing this. I would definitely say that recovery is a more important stat than power.
  • teylajinteylajin Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Read pretty much every post on this thread and have a few questions that hopefully people can help with.

    Assailing force (paragon thaumaturge tree) does the mitigation reduction(-15%) benafit everyones damage in my group or just my dmg? I'd guess everyone in the group (like ray of enfeeblement does) but would i be right? Also, being that it is for conduit of ice it would mean every mob hit by it would get the -15% as well as the primary target and the debuff would last for/be refreshed for, the duration of the spell. Chaos magic (final skill, renegade tree) just says foes "near" the target, which im guessing is not the same AoE as Conduit and makes it sound like the primary target is not affected by the debuff.

    [B]Elemental empowerment[/B]. (paragon, thaumaturge tree, weapon dmg over time and reduced defence)
    Over what period of time does this do dmg? and if a spell like Conduit of ice or icy terrain is used does it refresh the dot over and over everytime the ability does dmg

    Snap freeze
    . (paragon thaumaturge tree, 20% extra dmg when maxxed to foes not affected by chill)
    Does this bonus dmg stop the moment a chill is added when used on a DoT skill like conduit of ice? So for e.g. you go to do a fresh pull on a pack of mobs. you use conduit of ice.. mobs dont have chill on so extra 20% dmg added but then conduit adds chill, so does the next DoT effect of conduit of ice loose the 20% or is it like Crits and if you crit on first hit all other hits crit?

    Nightmare wizardry (paragon Renagade Tree, 20% chance of combat advantage ).
    Am i wrong or is the combat advantage given, just for you and will have no effect on other group members? Either way, is it still worthwhile? Surely in a group everyone should always have combat advantage just from people being spread out and fighting.


    Like has been mentioned before and you guys know, the details/descriptions of what spells/skills do and how they work is pretty HAMSTER in Neverwinter and leaves allot of questions to be answered. I could ask a 1000 more questions on things but if anyone can clear up those few to start off with that would be great.
  • runicfirunicfi Member Posts: 269 Bounty Hunter
    edited May 2013
    teylajin wrote: »
    Read pretty much every post on this thread and have a few questions that hopefully people can help with.

    Assailing force (paragon thaumaturge tree) does the mitigation reduction(-15%) benafit everyones damage in my group or just my dmg? I'd guess everyone in the group (like ray of enfeeblement does) but would i be right? Also, being that it is for conduit of ice it would mean every mob hit by it would get the -15% as well as the primary target and the debuff would last for/be refreshed for, the duration of the spell. Chaos magic (final skill, renegade tree) just says foes "near" the target, which im guessing is not the same AoE as Conduit and makes it sound like the primary target is not affected by the debuff.

    [B]Elemental empowerment[/B]. (paragon, thaumaturge tree, weapon dmg over time and reduced defence)
    Over what period of time does this do dmg? and if a spell like Conduit of ice or icy terrain is used does it refresh the dot over and over everytime the ability does dmg

    Snap freeze
    . (paragon thaumaturge tree, 20% extra dmg when maxxed to foes not affected by chill)
    Does this bonus dmg stop the moment a chill is added when used on a DoT skill like conduit of ice? So for e.g. you go to do a fresh pull on a pack of mobs. you use conduit of ice.. mobs dont have chill on so extra 20% dmg added but then conduit adds chill, so does the next DoT effect of conduit of ice loose the 20% or is it like Crits and if you crit on first hit all other hits crit?

    Nightmare wizardry (paragon Renagade Tree, 20% chance of combat advantage ).
    Am i wrong or is the combat advantage given, just for you and will have no effect on other group members? Either way, is it still worthwhile? Surely in a group everyone should always have combat advantage just from people being spread out and fighting.


    Like has been mentioned before and you guys know, the details/descriptions of what spells/skills do and how they work is pretty HAMSTER in Neverwinter and leaves allot of questions to be answered. I could ask a 1000 more questions on things but if anyone can clear up those few to start off with that would be great.

    Ill answer asfar as I know the answers:

    The mitigation debuff from Conduit should benefit everyone, atleast members of my standard group have said numerous times they can see the difference. In comes the cryptic stuff of Cryptic, meaning you can't be 100% sure ( seeing how there's like 20 Feats in the game that are bugged/do nothing. )

    Combat advantage should effect your whole group ( one of the main advertisments of Renegade specced Wizards. )
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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