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The Power of Chilling: The Oppressor Control Wizard
imivo
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,682 Bounty Hunter
Note added on May 24: I've put this project on ice (pun intended!) for the moment while I wait for some balance and feat tweaks. A Renegade or Thaumaturge build does pretty much everything you could want from an Oppressor, and they do it better. I'll revisit this project in a few patches.
The Power of Chilling: The Oppressor Control Wizard
A Work-in-Progress: Not Quite a Guide Yet for the Cool Caster
Preface: What's this about?
A little while ago I posted a build for a Renegade Wizard. It sparked quite a bit of interest and discussion, and fantastic feedback!
One of the recurring themes, both in responses to the guide and in other threads, is the question about the Oppressor tree. The usual response is that "it sucks" and is inferior to Renegade and Thaumaturge. Part of the reason for this is that Chill does not work on bosses, which cuts deep into the damage potential where it matters. In addition, the Oppressor paragon feats are somewhat mediocre and not as exciting as what the other paths have to offer.
However, I was still curious what can be done with a chill/cold-based build in general and a Oppressor Control Wizard in particular. This post here outlines my experience with the build and I will update it as I level the character. For the time being, this is more of a blog than an actual guide. It will quite likely evolve into one, but before the character is at the level cap and has done T2 content, I don't feel I should be drawing any "more definite" conclusions. So, as with my Renegade guide, consider what you read here just my opinions and observations rather than anything that is set in stone. (If you follow this and I change my mind on feats and powers, it's not my fault!)
I also need to mention what my aim is with this build. Mostly, I just want to chill! And leveling another wizard allows me to do just this. But seriously, one of the "issues" of the Renegade wizard is the heavy focus on damage at the expense of control. With the current content, I feel that damage is really all that matters and that the Renegade wizard brings sufficient control to the table without focusing on it. Damage is king, at least for now. Future content may, however, change this, especially with additional classes being released such as the Warlock. So, I would like to see how well control and damage can be balanced, without gimping myself in one area or the other.
Additionally, I enjoy doing Foundry quests, which at level 60 can be quite challenging. The Renegade wizard does work for this, but it is, at times, rather twitchy and you have to be on your toes and be quick. With the cold-based build centered around control, I hope to be able to do this in a little more relaxed fashion, with fewer potions and less blinking like crazy. Also, I level the character without a cleric (as she gets really tedious after level 40) and instead switch between a Cat and the Dire Wolf. I only use level-appropriate items on the cat, no level 60 gear.
A note on PvP: Living in Europe, I rarely get better pings than 180-200ms, which I find rather problematic when facing other players with sub-50ms pings in PvP, especially with a squishy class like the Control Wizard. I will be doing PvP to see how it works, but it isn't a focus, especially not at level 60 where the PvP is extremely fast paced and delays have a major impact. So what I will write here mostly concerns PvE, both group and solo (including leveling). I wrote the Renegade guide when I was at max level already. This post here is written as I level, so it covers those aspects a bit more in-depth.
The two top choices are the same as with the Renegade Control Wizard: Human or Tiefling. Both are good choices. I went with the Tiefling because I like the racials and I think +2 INT and +2 CHA are very good, especially to compensate a little for the low CHA starting roll. Since I want to balance control and damage, I went with the 16/16/12 (INT, WIS, CHA) array. With the Tiefling bonus, this translates to 18/16/14, which looks pretty good. Level up attribute points go into INT and WIS. I'm a little iffy about that because it is a definite dps loss with lower crits and Combat Advantage bonus damage, but the faster cooldowns may compensate at least a little for it.
Human is also a good choice and I would go with the same starting attributes, with the +2 into INT. I feel it is definitely "less happy" looking than the Tiefling's starting stats, but we are really only talking about 2% here and he human does get the three extra feat points. But yes, I do think the Tiefling is the better option.
Other races work, too. Perhaps not as well, but with diminishing returns and a major impact of gear later on, you really can choose any race you like. It's more important to enjoy your character than to have the best possible stats. If you don't want to do Tiefling and Human is too boring too, consider the Wood Elf. The Drow, because of its racial, is also an interesting choice. Those two would be next on my list of candidates. Perhaps a Half-Elf, too. Everything else is less optimal. But pick what you like!
In the first twenty levels there really aren't many choices to make. You will have an easy time leveling. By level 20, I used Chill Strike (in the mastery slot), Conduit of Ice, Entangling Force, and Shield (for lack of anything else). I could have picked up Repel, but it affects one target unless it is tabbed and for now I'm going to ignore it. Magic Missile and Ray of Frost are the At-Wills (I will consider Chill Cloud soon, which will be hard because I am so in love with MM!), Orb Imposition and Chill Presence are the class features for now. I used Ice Storm before I got a second slot for the daily powers and then at 20 put Arcane Singularity in the second slot. I feel a bit bad for using Ice Storm in dungeons and avoid it, but for questing it is awesome and we will keep it at least until we get Ice Knife. Arcane Singularity will go into the second daily slot when it unlocks.
1-20: Not much choice so early on. The 21st point went into Shield.
For feats, I put 3/3 into Weapon Mastery, 2/5 into Controlling Action, 5/5 into Fight on, and 1/5 in Blighting Power. I skipped Toughness this time around because not only will I use controlling powers more often with this build, I also won't have to stay within 20ft of a mob, and I'll be going ligher on Steal Time and may skip it entirely. As a result, I should get hit less often and so I take the extra AP generation instead.
The only dungeon in this level range is Cloak Tower. You'll just sail through it, even without a Cleric or a Guardian Fighter. Level and gear equal, you should do as much damage as a good rogue and clearly out-dps everyone else. Tabbed Chill Strike rocks even at this level and it will probably never leave your tab slot.
Below is a meaningless score table from CT at level 18 (everyone else was 18, too). The rogue and I had quite the battle going on there. The others were two CWs and a GF. There was another CT run where a GWF (!) beat me with around 10k. I hid in a corner and cried a little. Anyway, you should level super fast and without any problems.
Level 18: Don't get used to beating rogues with this build!
I also did a few arena matches and probably annoyed my opponents with all the CC and mad blinking. Rogues are super manageable at this level and pretty much no class can do much to you. But this is the same with any Control Wizard build at this level.
From 20-25: I had intended for this section to cover only 20-25, but this was unspectacular and all there is to get rank 5 for the spells you use: Magic Missile, Chill Strike, Entangling Force, Arcane Singularity, Ice Storm -- in roughly this order. I had tried Chill Cloud again, but just like when I leveled my Renegade wizard, but this spell just doesn't work for me. Damage is low, casting animations are slow, and it doesn't have any good "feedback" to it. I'm not entirely sure what to think of it. The chill stack is nice, but Magic Missile is just so substantially better than I don't think the chill makes up for the downsides.
Feat wise, filling in the rest of Blighting Power is an easy choice, after that it's harder. Still contemplating Wizard's Wrath vs. Arcane Enhancement (for MM chiefly), but Wizard's Wrath is probably the better choice. Hanging onto those points for a couple more levels while I dwell on it.
On, and also: The first thing you want to do when you get to 20 is hitting the vendors in the Sevens Sun market and buying a complete set of gear. Some of the green pieces are better than the blue ones (you mostly want Recovery at this point). This will carry you through the next five levels before you'll start to replace pieces with greens that you find. This only costs a few silver and you can definitely afford it. Don't wait until 21 as you won't be able to see the items anymore and may need a lower level alt to purchase them for you. Not all of the pieces are great (not enough recovery, too much defense), but probably better than what you have. The orb is certainly worthwhile. While leveling, I focus on recovery first, critical chance and power second. Recovery was a stat whose value I had not discovered until later with my first wizard, and I hadn't realized how relatively weak power is.
Anyway, off to do some foundries or PvP since I finished Blackdagger Ruins at 24 and would like to get a couple level under the belt before tackling Neverdeath!
Update from May 18th:
In spite of the latency and connection issues surrounding the Dragon shard, I made it to 30 with the character. I did some more PvP because I'm a little burning out on doing the same quests for the sixth time! (Been leveling a couple other alts, too.) The CW is still by far the class I enjoy the most when leveling. It's just never tedious. I've been using the Dire Wolf for solo questing and the pushback attack of it is quite useful.
So, in PvP, the increased control potential and the focus on Recovery are definitely noticeable and I had little trouble handling other CWs since I usually got Entangling Force off first, and then it's pretty much over, if no one interferes. Rogues (one of them at a time) pose no trouble either. I ran with the same spells as in PvE: EF, tabbed Chill Strike, CoI and Shield (those were my only Encounter powers I had points in). AS and Ice Storm, and Orb of Imposition and Chilling Presence (not convinced of the latter). PvE, there are no issues, still out-dpsing other classes in dungeons (skirmishes not always due to end bosses having so many HP points that the rogue's single target damage shines).
At 30, I picked up Icy Terrain (swapped out Shield for it, though I miss it), which is being discussed heavily in the comments to this post. With this build, it actually works well for me. The way I use it is similar to how I use Steal Time on my Renegade Wizard: I teleport in, drop the spell, teleport out, and follow up with a tabbed Chill Strike. Icy Terrain also works well as a follow up to Arcane Singularity with mobs falling right on it. For now I feel that Chill Strike is the better choice for the mastery slot since I actually find placing Icy Terrain easier if I don't have to target it. Blinking to where I want it, or dropping it right before I blink out, interferes less with the flow of combat.
Feats-wise I'm somewhat uncertain. At 30, my Oppressor (she can be called this now!) has points in these feats:
I wanted one of the two AoE damage increasing feats, so I went with the better of the two, Focused Wizardry. Perhaps surprisingly, I also picked up Arcane Enhancement for the extra arcane damage. The reason for this is that I really can't get the hang on Chilling Cloud (I have it on the RMB at the moment), so a good portion of damage comes from Magic Missile. Prestidigiation is something I would like and perhaps it is better than Focused Wizardry, especially since it would further highlight the more support-focused nature of the character (especially in light of not all AoE spells being affected by Focused Wizardry). So, this is subject to potential change.
Also, check the vendor in the Seven Suns market for level 30 upgrades. The green gear is well itemized with Recovery.
There, this is where I'm at now. I'll post the next update when she is 40. So far, the build feels different from the Renegade Wizard. Curious about the actual damage difference at 60, but we'll find out!
More coming soon!
Please post your thoughts, observations, criticism and anything else you always wanted to share with the Wizard Community!
The Power of Chilling: The Oppressor Control Wizard
A Work-in-Progress: Not Quite a Guide Yet for the Cool Caster
Preface: What's this about?
A little while ago I posted a build for a Renegade Wizard. It sparked quite a bit of interest and discussion, and fantastic feedback!
One of the recurring themes, both in responses to the guide and in other threads, is the question about the Oppressor tree. The usual response is that "it sucks" and is inferior to Renegade and Thaumaturge. Part of the reason for this is that Chill does not work on bosses, which cuts deep into the damage potential where it matters. In addition, the Oppressor paragon feats are somewhat mediocre and not as exciting as what the other paths have to offer.
However, I was still curious what can be done with a chill/cold-based build in general and a Oppressor Control Wizard in particular. This post here outlines my experience with the build and I will update it as I level the character. For the time being, this is more of a blog than an actual guide. It will quite likely evolve into one, but before the character is at the level cap and has done T2 content, I don't feel I should be drawing any "more definite" conclusions. So, as with my Renegade guide, consider what you read here just my opinions and observations rather than anything that is set in stone. (If you follow this and I change my mind on feats and powers, it's not my fault!)
I also need to mention what my aim is with this build. Mostly, I just want to chill! And leveling another wizard allows me to do just this. But seriously, one of the "issues" of the Renegade wizard is the heavy focus on damage at the expense of control. With the current content, I feel that damage is really all that matters and that the Renegade wizard brings sufficient control to the table without focusing on it. Damage is king, at least for now. Future content may, however, change this, especially with additional classes being released such as the Warlock. So, I would like to see how well control and damage can be balanced, without gimping myself in one area or the other.
Additionally, I enjoy doing Foundry quests, which at level 60 can be quite challenging. The Renegade wizard does work for this, but it is, at times, rather twitchy and you have to be on your toes and be quick. With the cold-based build centered around control, I hope to be able to do this in a little more relaxed fashion, with fewer potions and less blinking like crazy. Also, I level the character without a cleric (as she gets really tedious after level 40) and instead switch between a Cat and the Dire Wolf. I only use level-appropriate items on the cat, no level 60 gear.
A note on PvP: Living in Europe, I rarely get better pings than 180-200ms, which I find rather problematic when facing other players with sub-50ms pings in PvP, especially with a squishy class like the Control Wizard. I will be doing PvP to see how it works, but it isn't a focus, especially not at level 60 where the PvP is extremely fast paced and delays have a major impact. So what I will write here mostly concerns PvE, both group and solo (including leveling). I wrote the Renegade guide when I was at max level already. This post here is written as I level, so it covers those aspects a bit more in-depth.
Birthday: Creating the Character:
The two top choices are the same as with the Renegade Control Wizard: Human or Tiefling. Both are good choices. I went with the Tiefling because I like the racials and I think +2 INT and +2 CHA are very good, especially to compensate a little for the low CHA starting roll. Since I want to balance control and damage, I went with the 16/16/12 (INT, WIS, CHA) array. With the Tiefling bonus, this translates to 18/16/14, which looks pretty good. Level up attribute points go into INT and WIS. I'm a little iffy about that because it is a definite dps loss with lower crits and Combat Advantage bonus damage, but the faster cooldowns may compensate at least a little for it.
Human is also a good choice and I would go with the same starting attributes, with the +2 into INT. I feel it is definitely "less happy" looking than the Tiefling's starting stats, but we are really only talking about 2% here and he human does get the three extra feat points. But yes, I do think the Tiefling is the better option.
Other races work, too. Perhaps not as well, but with diminishing returns and a major impact of gear later on, you really can choose any race you like. It's more important to enjoy your character than to have the best possible stats. If you don't want to do Tiefling and Human is too boring too, consider the Wood Elf. The Drow, because of its racial, is also an interesting choice. Those two would be next on my list of candidates. Perhaps a Half-Elf, too. Everything else is less optimal. But pick what you like!
Baby Steps: The first twenty levels
In the first twenty levels there really aren't many choices to make. You will have an easy time leveling. By level 20, I used Chill Strike (in the mastery slot), Conduit of Ice, Entangling Force, and Shield (for lack of anything else). I could have picked up Repel, but it affects one target unless it is tabbed and for now I'm going to ignore it. Magic Missile and Ray of Frost are the At-Wills (I will consider Chill Cloud soon, which will be hard because I am so in love with MM!), Orb Imposition and Chill Presence are the class features for now. I used Ice Storm before I got a second slot for the daily powers and then at 20 put Arcane Singularity in the second slot. I feel a bit bad for using Ice Storm in dungeons and avoid it, but for questing it is awesome and we will keep it at least until we get Ice Knife. Arcane Singularity will go into the second daily slot when it unlocks.
1-20: Not much choice so early on. The 21st point went into Shield.
For feats, I put 3/3 into Weapon Mastery, 2/5 into Controlling Action, 5/5 into Fight on, and 1/5 in Blighting Power. I skipped Toughness this time around because not only will I use controlling powers more often with this build, I also won't have to stay within 20ft of a mob, and I'll be going ligher on Steal Time and may skip it entirely. As a result, I should get hit less often and so I take the extra AP generation instead.
The only dungeon in this level range is Cloak Tower. You'll just sail through it, even without a Cleric or a Guardian Fighter. Level and gear equal, you should do as much damage as a good rogue and clearly out-dps everyone else. Tabbed Chill Strike rocks even at this level and it will probably never leave your tab slot.
Below is a meaningless score table from CT at level 18 (everyone else was 18, too). The rogue and I had quite the battle going on there. The others were two CWs and a GF. There was another CT run where a GWF (!) beat me with around 10k. I hid in a corner and cried a little. Anyway, you should level super fast and without any problems.
Level 18: Don't get used to beating rogues with this build!
I also did a few arena matches and probably annoyed my opponents with all the CC and mad blinking. Rogues are super manageable at this level and pretty much no class can do much to you. But this is the same with any Control Wizard build at this level.
Growing Up: Twenty to Thirty!
From 20-25: I had intended for this section to cover only 20-25, but this was unspectacular and all there is to get rank 5 for the spells you use: Magic Missile, Chill Strike, Entangling Force, Arcane Singularity, Ice Storm -- in roughly this order. I had tried Chill Cloud again, but just like when I leveled my Renegade wizard, but this spell just doesn't work for me. Damage is low, casting animations are slow, and it doesn't have any good "feedback" to it. I'm not entirely sure what to think of it. The chill stack is nice, but Magic Missile is just so substantially better than I don't think the chill makes up for the downsides.
Feat wise, filling in the rest of Blighting Power is an easy choice, after that it's harder. Still contemplating Wizard's Wrath vs. Arcane Enhancement (for MM chiefly), but Wizard's Wrath is probably the better choice. Hanging onto those points for a couple more levels while I dwell on it.
On, and also: The first thing you want to do when you get to 20 is hitting the vendors in the Sevens Sun market and buying a complete set of gear. Some of the green pieces are better than the blue ones (you mostly want Recovery at this point). This will carry you through the next five levels before you'll start to replace pieces with greens that you find. This only costs a few silver and you can definitely afford it. Don't wait until 21 as you won't be able to see the items anymore and may need a lower level alt to purchase them for you. Not all of the pieces are great (not enough recovery, too much defense), but probably better than what you have. The orb is certainly worthwhile. While leveling, I focus on recovery first, critical chance and power second. Recovery was a stat whose value I had not discovered until later with my first wizard, and I hadn't realized how relatively weak power is.
Anyway, off to do some foundries or PvP since I finished Blackdagger Ruins at 24 and would like to get a couple level under the belt before tackling Neverdeath!
Update from May 18th:
In spite of the latency and connection issues surrounding the Dragon shard, I made it to 30 with the character. I did some more PvP because I'm a little burning out on doing the same quests for the sixth time! (Been leveling a couple other alts, too.) The CW is still by far the class I enjoy the most when leveling. It's just never tedious. I've been using the Dire Wolf for solo questing and the pushback attack of it is quite useful.
So, in PvP, the increased control potential and the focus on Recovery are definitely noticeable and I had little trouble handling other CWs since I usually got Entangling Force off first, and then it's pretty much over, if no one interferes. Rogues (one of them at a time) pose no trouble either. I ran with the same spells as in PvE: EF, tabbed Chill Strike, CoI and Shield (those were my only Encounter powers I had points in). AS and Ice Storm, and Orb of Imposition and Chilling Presence (not convinced of the latter). PvE, there are no issues, still out-dpsing other classes in dungeons (skirmishes not always due to end bosses having so many HP points that the rogue's single target damage shines).
At 30, I picked up Icy Terrain (swapped out Shield for it, though I miss it), which is being discussed heavily in the comments to this post. With this build, it actually works well for me. The way I use it is similar to how I use Steal Time on my Renegade Wizard: I teleport in, drop the spell, teleport out, and follow up with a tabbed Chill Strike. Icy Terrain also works well as a follow up to Arcane Singularity with mobs falling right on it. For now I feel that Chill Strike is the better choice for the mastery slot since I actually find placing Icy Terrain easier if I don't have to target it. Blinking to where I want it, or dropping it right before I blink out, interferes less with the flow of combat.
Feats-wise I'm somewhat uncertain. At 30, my Oppressor (she can be called this now!) has points in these feats:
I wanted one of the two AoE damage increasing feats, so I went with the better of the two, Focused Wizardry. Perhaps surprisingly, I also picked up Arcane Enhancement for the extra arcane damage. The reason for this is that I really can't get the hang on Chilling Cloud (I have it on the RMB at the moment), so a good portion of damage comes from Magic Missile. Prestidigiation is something I would like and perhaps it is better than Focused Wizardry, especially since it would further highlight the more support-focused nature of the character (especially in light of not all AoE spells being affected by Focused Wizardry). So, this is subject to potential change.
Also, check the vendor in the Seven Suns market for level 30 upgrades. The green gear is well itemized with Recovery.
There, this is where I'm at now. I'll post the next update when she is 40. So far, the build feels different from the Renegade Wizard. Curious about the actual damage difference at 60, but we'll find out!
More coming soon!
Please post your thoughts, observations, criticism and anything else you always wanted to share with the Wizard Community!
Unsure about skills and feats? Check the Master List of Class Builds!
Post edited by imivo on
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Comments
Thanks! So far it is quite fun, but any flavor of CW would be at those levels.
Back to leveling!
Oppressor does less damage, no doubt about it (there is a reason my other wizard is a renegade one!), but I think the Oppressor tree is workable as a good compromise between control and damage. I could have tested this by respeccing, buying different gear, etc, but I'm curious how it levels and want to get a general feel for the playstyle. Once she is 60, it'll allow me for a more direct, realistic comparison.
For example, if we're talking about control, by your own admission it's about damage so.. uh... Thaumaturgy or Renegade! But also, if we look at how the chill mechanic works it's less favorable than simply using Steal Time or Endless Shard for the knock down or even throwing out Shield to repulse mobs off of the cleric. Chill takes too long to develop so icy terrain is somewhat of a poor choice even if it does proc off enchantments etc. (and in which case ... anyone can use it to great effect) .
What about the other chill oriented spells like Icy Ray? It's not that great in terms of damage and its immobilization is matched by Entangling (though Entangling does benefit from an Oppressor feat...).
So I am not sure if it really is a compromise at all as you aren't getting anything that the other two trees or base line can do. However, it is certainly a different play style.
Also, my gut feeling tells me that if you wanted a truly radical shift and to take advantage of the Oppressor tree you would have gone human , stacked defense, pushed HP to 30k, go for recovery and power. Your emphasis would be on the lower tier PvP and at 60 you would attempt to make some kind of tank mage while in dungeons you would attempt to not even try to kill the adds but control them as a person .. doing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
How it really works in T2s, I don't know. I have never played with an Oppressor wizard, especially not one who geared for it. It is unlikely, at the current time, to be as good as the renegade build, for end game group PvP. But how much worse it is, that is something I want to find out. I write this "blog" while I level mostly to keep myself motivated and to give newer players a bit of an idea how leveling works with this build. (Most guides are written at 60, for 60.)
Since you mentioned a tank build, actually, that is on my mind too, but also chiefly for solo content. There's my 180ms+ ping, there is rubberbanding, there is playing without caffeine. I sort of doubt it is do-able, though, but yes, it's something I may give a whirl. I can afford a few respec tokens! The human's 3% def don't seem to make a difference. In Unspecifiederror's build 2.0 cleric video (in the master list), he talked a bit about it and how little the actual value is. The Tiefling's Infernal Wrath racial may be more efficient, for tanking. (I know you were only semi-serious, but hey, I did ponder the viability of a battle/tank wizard, too!)
It was one of the builds I was contemplating for PvP to see if I could get around the instant-gib fests. I figured that at 60 that even if I went all defense I could probably still one round a player but I got lazy and didn't bother due to the respeccing costs of feats and powers, and gathering the equipment.
I am fairly certain, still, that if you rolled up a power/defense/recovery Oppression wizard you'll do extremely well in PvP and in PvE you might have to change gears a bit and find a new way to herd kittens because your killing power may not be there. You can probably kite them over icy terrain and use knock backs in conjunction with tabbed Conduit of Ice. You'll have a MILLION mobs chasing you and it'll look like kiting strategies from Black Wing Lair if you remember that era and played WoW .
The 3% defense is more consistent than the Tiefling one and if you're stacking defense it really means you can trade 90 some odd defense for crit or something else. But really what matters are the 3 extra feats which the defensive oriented mage would probably need. More health, and more damage against chilled targets etc.
Since you have the time and patience, I elect you, imivio to find out for us and come back with the results. You carry our hopes and dreams. You are our... Hope-rah.
It doesn't matter. It's an Oppressor build. All he has to do is to Oppress someone and the build is a success. Even if the only person he can Oppress is himself. =p
I'm actually curious where this will go to, as I recently started a second wizard (tiefling) myself and was leaning toward trying Thaumaturge this time (since my halfling is renegade).
STACK WISDOM! 22% CC RESIST! AHHHH MOTHERLAND! THE ULTIMATE EVOLUTION IN DEFENSIVE MAGICKRY !
Nooo one expects the Halfling Inquisition!
Time, yes, as long as work is slow and I would otherwise twiddle thumbs. Patience, don't be so sure.
Hmm, BWL40, I played a priest at that time. Oh! The eggs, of course!
There was one strategy that involved the Mage kiting all the adds. Boy that was not a fun time.
I think that's what your end goal might be with a defensive wizard. You just need enough fire power to keep the adds on you, lay down icy terrain and whatever chill effects then start making those figure 8s while snatching up adds.
Also, make it a HALFLING. Come on! Higher deflection rate and CC resistance! You'll probably win in PvP simply because even Entangle would last less than a second on you or something! Do it! DO IT!
I'll ... maybe even consider leveling with you as to dull the pain of going to 60 again!
I think you did a really good Job with your renegade guide.
And yea my Damage sucks (although its still more than clerics and Tanks :-)
Side-note: state priority is Recovery, Health/defense, Power, Armor pen
Post it. Go through your build, justify it, and then discuss how you deal with the typical encounter. More data points are always a good thing.
Knowledge is power.
I would love to see your setup. I have to say CW's keep saying all that matters is damage, but on most T1 fights as a cleric I'd rather have the adds under control and the boss take 5min longer than run around with my head cut off drinking 20+ potions...
You can pile up monsters with Singularity and dish out good AOE with Chilling Cloud.
That is the Theory, my problem is half of CW feats not working as intended, so i rather not waste money finding out.
What do you do when you don't have APs for Arcane Singularity, though? What I was thinking about was putting Chilling Cloud in the second At-Will slot and keep MM on the LMB. I think MM is too good to skip it entirely with any CW build.
True, with some feats not working as advertised, or only affecting some spells, or having effects that are different from the tooltips, it is generally hard to test out things.
I built my CW as a complete support/control character. This means I focus only on control and survivability any additional damage I get is purely a +1 and luckily the PvP gear offers everything I want. I wont go over every choice in the feat tree's because keeping that in mind it should be obvious why I chose the majority of these feats. That being said I will focus on a few that I find exceptional.
Severe Reaction: This is gold for two reason's 1. Teleport in my opinion is completely underused by most and this allows me to teleport a lot more often 2. This displaces melee that are on you specifically rogues and increases the time they can't hit you.
Glacial Movement: This is because in PvP people dodging greatly reduces your chance to freeze them repeatedly. Having your chill stacks fall off is no good and this allows them to be reapplied much more effectively. Also great for keeping melee away if you don;t want to be in the frey for a few seconds.
Alacrity: Allowing me to entangle people faster saves me as well as team mates all the time and having icy terrain up all the time is golden for freezing people very quickly. CC is king. This really shines in PvE because I can freeze entire groups of mobs with conduit and icy terrain without every having to actively target any of the mobs.
Reapers Touch: I know I said I wan't going for damage but This built is meant o get in the middle of the fight and live and get right back out. Meaning you will always be within 20ft of your targets. This is a huge damage boost that can;t be ignored since I do not rely on crits at all.
For Both PvE and PvP:
At-will 1: Arcane Missile- Bread and butter spell. Not much to say about it.
At-will 2: Ray of frost- This thing is great with the added chill stacks. You don't have to cast it for its full duration ever to freeze someone then you can immdiately go back to encounter powers or arcane missile.
Side-Note: Substitute Arcane Missile for Chilling Cloud on PvE fights with tons of adds that are together reduced damage for everyone and chill stacks on everything means more freezing on multiple mobs more often
PvP Powers:
Spell Mastery: Ray of Enfeeblement- This ability does so much damage its unreal. With the added benefit of procing spell storm from the dot and reducing their mitigation for yourself and teammates and reducing their damage making them next to worthless. (Great for killing those pesky Guardians and clerics quickly while making them do practically no damage.)
Q: Chill Strike- Additional stun, high damage, and 3 chill stacks meaning ray of frost instantly refreezes them before the stun wear off.
E: Entangling Force- Any wizard without this doesn't know their class. Hands down one of the best abilities we have. Use it to save people, kill people, keep people off points.
R: Icy Terrain- Immobilizes saving your skin as well as your teammates. Added benefit of procing spell storm for extra damage and adding chill so that they can be frozen quickly.
1: Ice Knife- 1v1 Instant win button.
2: Ice Storm- Displace teams off points or large aoe damage to kill multiple low targets.
Passive 1: Orb of Imposition- Longer CC makes any reduction they get from ability scores go away.
Passive 2: Storm Spell- This procs off everything dot's, all your arcane missile hits, all your Ray of frost ticks EVERYTHING. It hits for around 800 with my current gear. Super underestimated ability.
Build Explanation: In General I never lose 1v1 to any class if I see them coming. Rogues or other CW's can kill me 1v1 if they get the drop on me and have their dailies up. If they don't have both of those factors its a toss up but in most cases I come out on top. This build also allows me to 1v2 many people. With the exception of Double Rogue, Double CW, or Rogue + CW.
The Build works like this: Entangling Force, Chilling Strike, Ray of Frost till freeze, Double Ray of enfeeblement, repeat and throw in arcane missile if all encounters are down. Icy Terrain is used whenever the enemy gets close. As soon as they are in range pop it and teleport. then kite them around on it or cc them on it. This is the general concept It works retardedly well and Once you try it you will quickly see how it's done.
This is also used in the 5v5 team fights by cc'ing their priority targets, teleporting into the middle of them and casting icy terrain and then teleporting back out. ray of frost to your hearts content.
PvE Powers:
Spell Mastery: Conduit of Ice- This plus Icy terrain = persistent freezing on multiple mobs without targeting them as well as aoe damage and procing spell storm.
Q: Chill Strike- Same as PvP.
E: Entangling Force- Same as PvP.
R: Icy Terrain- Same as PvP except now you use this with conduit and everything is frozen.
1: Arcane Singularity- Groups things up nicely for your group as well as knocks them up for 1 seconds and makes it harder for the mobs to chase people. This plus the icy terrain and conduit combo = gold for oh **** moments.
2: Ice Storm- Only used for damage on a boss or a self save. generally pisses the rest of the team off and isn't to be used unless your actively going to die without it.
Passive 1: Orb of Imposition- Same as PvP. Longer CC is awesome even if its only an extra 1 second.
Passive 2: Spell Storm- Synergies with all the dots and aoe so well its redonculous. This is a huge damage boost.
Build Explanation: CC/aoe is the name of the game. You tele in, icy terrain, tele out, and then conduit one of the larger mobs in the group. then proceed to CC anything going for the healer/ other dps or dps to your hearts content while reducing the damage done to anyone hit. This make trash trivial and the mini-bosses nothing. Your job on the final boss is to keep mobs that the tank does't have off your teammates or cc the mobs on the tank so he doesn't take as much damage. You really only attack the actual boss if A nothing is up or your just casting dots on it. Again if the boss is relatively stationary icy terrain+ conduit and all the adds around it = frozen.
The biggest issue with this build in PvE is that your CC doesn't work on certain mobs or the actual bosses. It sucks but it would be too OP if it did so I understand. But the point of this build is to support/ control the fight. If your rogue can stay on a boss in combat advantage because he doesn't have to worry about getting hurt he's going to do more damage than any spec you have chosen in that fights time. It also allows you to reduce all incoming damage making the tanks and the healers job easier. as well as saving them by stopping mobs in their traps so they can use their avoidance/ block for the red circles of death.
The damage isn't that far behind others to make it worth not being able to make things as much easier as they are with this set up.
This is a Control wizard key word being "control" and I feel that playing one as such really outshines one trying to compete with a rogue on damage or dying instantly in PvP because they cant survive a few hits.
Again, Stats are Recovery, Health/Defense, Power, Armor Pen.
Ability Points all went into Int and Wis. Try it and you wont be disappointed. I'm sure there could be a few tweaks to it and yes there are times when I slot other spell's but this is the general idea of the character and you have to decide for yourself when something else would fit better for that particular situation.
Any question's feel free I'll be checking the post occasionally.
Encounters:
Spell Mastery: Conduit
Q: Icy Terrain
E: Steal Time
R: Arcane Shield
Daily 1: Arcane Singularity
Daily 2: Ice Storm, Ice Knife, or Oppressive Force
Class Features:
1: Orb of Imposition
2: TBA
At-wills:
Chilling Cloud
Ray of Frost or Magic Missile (Depends on how badly you need to keep adds down).
The skillset shown should be able to near-indefinitely keep control over a set of mobs, which is exactly what is needed for many of those PvE boss fights. There shouldn't be much of a damage sacrifice as Chilling Cloud would be granting a 5% damage buff per enemy you're controlling. In some fights, this can be the upward of 10 foes.
With that said, an Oppressor build would function just about the same, just at a large damage disadvantage for a low chance of freezing rogue targets a little sooner. Remember, Thaumaturge also provides a lot of mitigation reduction just from using arcane spells or Conduit. Oppressor adds a couple chill stacks to some single target skills.
I have had no issues in Pugging so far in t1's and haven't pugged any t2's. With this build you really can carry your team through almost anything through sheer control. If its not hitting them they can't die no?
Ya the whole reason I made a CW alt was I know what the cleric deals with lol. You are correct if the adds are being handled by X player, every fight becomes really easy for a cleric. Which in turn gives everyone loot.
According to your skill build mentioned above, you're not making use of Arcane Shield and I strongly disbelieve 5% less damage taken is worth ~15-25% more damage dealt by all players. Also, Chilling Cloud reduces enemy damage as well (by at least 5% at rank 3), yet you're not using that either.
What I'm saying is the difference in control for a PvE scenario between an Oppressor build by comparison to a Thaumaturge is negligible, while the damage difference and utility granted is significant.
Edit: PvP is currently something of a bad joke, so don't go there. I could go featless and still one-shot opponents due to the interactions between Ray of Enfeeblement and Icy Knife. Also, Thaumaturge offers more mitigation reduction which is why that PvP combo even works.
And about the shield its nice but doesn't fit well with keeping enemies in my icy terrain when Ray of enfeeblement reduces all their damage by at least 15% with one use and it is doubled when cast twice on the same one. That reduction plus the damage it does while keeping them where I want them overrides the usefulness of shield. That being said there are times when I use it if things are spawning to fast or I can't cc them fast enough. Pop that on when the shield breaks push them away and its back up again in no time.
Everyone has their opinions and this is what is working very well for me; if you don't agree that's fine. Experiencing it through my playtime I have yet to see any wizard do as well alone or in a team set up. The ones that are close tend to run a very similar setup skill wise and gear wise. (I ask because I like to know never know when someone is using something I've never thought of.)