Spellstorm Renegade Guide: Death is the Best Crowd Control

angrymanagement

Disintigrate hits like a freight train regardless of tooltip. Best single target encounter damage we have not counting procs from IT/COI.

kgrizzle22

Hey, is this guide still up to date for the current state of the game? I just came back after not playing since August 2013. I figure I should just follow this guide if it's still up to date so I don't gimp myself.

I stopped playing when they introduced "Master of Flames". How does it compare to this build for PvP/PvE? I mostly do PvE on my CW and I'm also only lvl 60 so I'm sure I need a PvE oriented build right now.


Thanks

Edit - My ability score rolls are 12 str, 12 con, 12 dex, 24 int, 14 wis, 24 cha. That is without the +1 campfire bonus or whatever. Are these okay or should I respec these as well?

I started with this roll as Tiefling - 10, 10, 10, 18(int), 12(wis), 18(cha). That includes the +2 int/cha for being Tiefling...I think

romotheone

Race and rolls are perfect for a Renegade Spellstorm CW, this is the best build you can go with right now.

kgrizzle22

romotheone wrote: »

Race and rolls are perfect for a Renegade Spellstorm CW, this is the best build you can go with right now.

Awesome, thanks for your response

kgrizzle22

I'm a bit confused by the wording here:

"3: Level 70 - Death is STILL the Best Crowd Control

Raising the level cap to 70 has brought some new and exciting feats for the Control Wizards to play with, so the build is changing a bit from the level 60 version to take advantage of this. If you're starting a new Control Wizard, you can still level from 1 - 70 with the feat choices below. If you're currently using this build, you'll unfortunately need to use your free respec to adjust to the new powers."

Then he posts a picture of a build...is that the final level 70 build? Or the one he recommends to use while leveling? The wording above threw me off a bit and I'm not sure if the pictures that are posted underneath are the leveling build, or the final build. =X

romotheone

It was for the people who had to adjust their build from lvl 60 to lvl 70, coming from mod 5. If you are a new wizard, you can just follow the guide as it is, if you were switching over from mod5, you might have to make a few changes.

That's what it means.

ironzerg79

romotheone wrote: »

It was for the people who had to adjust their build from lvl 60 to lvl 70, coming from mod 5. If you are a new wizard, you can just follow the guide as it is, if you were switching over from mod5, you might have to make a few changes.

That's what it means.

Sorry, missed the question, but this is correct.

The updated build is what is pictured. If you're coming back to the game after a long hiatus, it might require you to respec. The previous DITBCC build put points into the Oppressor tree, but I think Renegade/Thaumaturge is more optimal.

solbergx

Hi ironzerg, what do you think of terror vs frost for pve and for pvp? Or is it Vorpal still better cause aftert the nerf i was told vorpal lost its power.

ironzerg79

Vorpal isn't as powerful as it was, but it's still good. I'm personally running with Plaguefire now for the team damage boost, but I'm thinking about terror now that it was fixed.

I have little experience with frost, and I don't really PvP that much, so I don't have any advice there.

But for both PvE and PvP, Terror should be a solid choice.

etherkami

ironzerg, the orb you recommend is not the Artifact you get at the end of spinward? why?

niadan

You are seeing his xbox sub-section recommendation. Obviously he recommends the new Orb once you finish Spinward for those that play on PC.

kevian87

Thanks for the guide ironzerg79. I've been talking to some other CW's in my guild and discussing our rotations. I typically start an AoE pull with CoI (on tab) so i can start doing damage right away at range. Others are running toward the adds and dropping IT.

Could you share your rotations for AoE and single target pulls? The guide was clear as to what you slot in each situation, but I was unsure of your rotations. BTW, I'm on XBox one and Tiamat doesn't get released for a few more days.

Thanks,
Kevian

romotheone

Depends on what you are using, kevian.

For mod 4/5:

Thaumaturge with Storm Spell + Eye of the Storm:
1. Proc EotS with a magic missile
2. Conduit of Ice (on tab) on the big monster
3. run towards mob group, place Icy Terrain
4. Steal Time
5. Sudden Storm
6. spam Chilling Cloud until encounters are off cooldown and just use whichever comes back first

Renegade with Storm Spell + Chilling Presence:
1. Cast 2-3 Chilling Clouds to proc the Renegade buffs (to make encounters more effective)
2. Conduit of Ice (on tab) on the big monster
3. Icy Terrain
4. Steal Time
5. Sudden Storm

kevian87

Thanks romotheone. I thought it was implied that I was SS Renegade since I asked about ironzerg's rotation. But I'll try to be more specific in the future. :-)

romotheone

I added both rotations because Thaum + eye of the storm was the most popular and most effective during mod 4/5. Simply because you could burst everything down while Chilling Presence needed chill stacks to build up. Even if Rene + Chilling was able to deal more damage overall, the monsters just didn't live long enough for that to happen.

kevian87

Now that I've taken a look at 3 SS Renegade rotations, I have 3 different answers.

kevian87

Meant to say "now that I've looked at 3 SS Renegade CW's, I have 3 different answers."

ironzerg79

There's not really a set rotation, just cast as stuff comes off cooldown.

But I'll typically lead with CoI at range, teleport closer, Steal Time, drop Icy Terrain, Disintegrate the biggest guy, then repeat as stuff comes off cooldown. Fill in the gaps with Chilling Cloud and that's about it.

babyjmr

What up iron love your stuff btw. I basically run same rotation as you but I try to drop icy after I teleport in then steal time. Any reason why you prefer steal time first?

ironzerg79

I try not to teleport right into the thick of it, then cast Steal Time as stuff is running up to me, then drop Icy Terrain during the brief stun, then step back. Sometimes in the dungeons I feel like I risk eating the floor if I teleport RIGHT in the middle of stuff.

But you can do either, and honestly I tend to do both...something I like about Neverwinter is combat is very situational, so there's no set rotation other than "use these 4 abilities over and over".

babyjmr

Awesome. Keep up the good work iron!

lillibp

I have 774 CA, would I benefit from using a Blink dog/Intelegent devouver? I know CA have a high deminishing return over 700 points, but I am not quite sure how the % from the companions ads to this number. So would I get most out of keepeing my Ereniys or change to a companion that gives CA?

umsche

They don't add value to the CA stat, they simply add 5% to CA damage, the same way charisma does.

So yeah they're great.

ironzerg79

The way the math was determined to work is that they act as 5% x 5% multipliers at the end of the CA damage formula, so they are extremely good. In fact, if you can routinely create combat advantage, they're the highest DPS pets available.

lillibp

Thanks a lot. I have never really concidered CA that much, but will start leveling my Blink Dog and Intelegent Devour (Have both in my idle bag at lvl 20 since I am a huge companion colector ) and try using them instead of my Eryin and Fire Achron.

angrymanagement

ironzerg79 wrote: »

The way the math was determined to work is that they act as 5% x 5% multipliers at the end of the CA damage formula, so they are extremely good. In fact, if you can routinely create combat advantage, they're the highest DPS pets available.

Was this determined or assumed? The old formula in Kaelec's guide made an assumption on the Intellect Devourer since both Blink Dog and Int Devourer weren't available for testing at the time. I have both, but never went back to check how they interacted. Has anyone else sit down to do the math on testing parses?

kevian87

Ironzerg,
I noticed a couple of times in your guide where you said you no longer use the full HV set. I play on XBox and wanted to make sure that's still the recommended set for us. I'm finding it difficult to get my ArPen up without putting Dark rank 7's in every offensive slot.

FYI - I have all my artifact gear except for my main hand. I received my first one through ToD this morning, but it wasn't the right one.

ironzerg79

Yes, on Xbox, still use HV. For Armor Pen, use the personalized neck and rings. That will help a ton. The Lantern and GWF Sigil also have nice amounts of Armor Pen on them.

cerberusxll

what is the current consensus on best companions for this build?

ironzerg79

Section 9 is updated with companions. I'm at a loss for how to link individual posts in this new forum, so here you go, for your convenience

ironzerg79 wrote: »

Section 9: Companions

Active Companions

Companions that focus on Crit Severity, Combat Advantage Damage or raw damage increases are ideal.

Keep in mind that active bonuses max out at Epic, so there's no need to take all your companions to Legendary status. All you need in your active slots is one Legendary companion, and when you summon a companion, you will receive the 15% bonus stats from that companion. I don't know if that's how it was intended to work, but the tooltips are ambiguous and as of right now that's how it DOES work.

From what I've read, the 15% Legendary bonus is not being conferred to summoned augments that aren't Legendary.

I know people have their own personal preference, as well as different levels of access, so I'm going to share a range of companions that I think suit this build or are useful to CW's in general.

Bonuses are listed are for the Epic versions, but these pets are all still very good at any level.

The Erinyes is from the Scourge Warlock Pet. Starts at blue for a 5% incease in Crit Severity. 10% at Epic.

The Cambion Magus was a special charge reward bonus pet that also gives you a 10% increase in Crit Severity. Only place to get him now is off the AH, probably for a ridiculous amount of AD.

The Blink Dog and Intellect Devourer are available for cheap on the AH (due to the Winter Event). The Intellect Devourer was dropped only from a Call to Arms, so definitely pick him up before he gets expensive again. The Blink Dog is a rare drop in Celadrine's Tower in Sharandar. Both increase Combat Advantage damage by 5%.

The Wild Hunt Rider is available via the Zen store (800), or on the AH. 5% chance to increase damage by 10%, which procs a lot for CWs.

The Air Archon provides a 5% bonus to damage against targets NOT at full health. He drops from lockboxes or Troves (which can come from lockboxes ), so check the AH.

The Fire Archon provides a 7% bonus to targets below 50% health, which is another nice DPS boost. Again, check the AH for this guy

The Cantankerous Mage gives you a 25% increase to control strength at epic, which is a substantial boost to the duration of your controls spells. Any time you need a little better CC, slot him in. Available n the Zen Store.

The Will O'Wisp is another great control pet, giving you a 15% increase to control strength and 25% bonus to control resist, which reduces the duration of CC effects on you. Available in the Zen Store.

Summoned Augments

Most people still prefer using an Augment as their summoned companion, which is fine. The great news here is that pretty much all the Augments are useful, since the Sword Coast Adventures (the dice game on the Gateway) is now dropping a wider range of BiS companion gear.

Look for Loyal Avenger gear. The rings are painfully expensive, but the other Loyal Avenger gear is more reasonable. If your companion has a belt slot, look for "of the Striker".

If your pet has all Offensive slots, that's great. Use whatever runestones you need to increase your stats. Keep in mind that Bonding Runestones (while the bonus ability doesn't activate) provides a lot of power for their cost. If your Augment has Defensive slots, use Eldritch runestones for the +%stats bonus.


Summoned Companions (non-augment)

For those that want to push into new territory, there's ways to make a summoned non-augment an extremely powerful (but expensive) tool in your companion arsenal.

The trick here is to maximize the benefit from Bonding Runestones. These runestones proc when your companion uses an ability. This buff is called Companion's Gift. Each bonus will transfer 20/35/50/65% (lesser/normal/greater/perfect) of your active companion's stats to you. You can slot three Bonding Runestones, which can stack three times. With Perfects, that's a 195% stat bonus from your companion to you.

The Runestones have a 20 second uptime, and a 10 second down time (30 second cooldown from when they first proc).

That's extremely powerful. If you have a companion that attacks rapidly, it's very possible to start each fight with three stacks, giving you a substantial boost over an augment at the beginning of the fight. This works beautifully for trash, and the way the cooldowns tend to work, the buffs will overlap during longer boss fights, so you should expect to average 2 stacks at any time.

But we all know if your companion is dead, they're not casting and you'll stop getting the bonus (note: if a companion dies while you have the Companion's Gift buff, you keep the buff until it wears off). So the trick is to keeping them alive. There's some very "easy" ways to do this...easy is in quotes because it's expensive.

First, get a Lliara's Bell of the AH. As of this post, they're dirt cheap. The bell will not only resurrect your companion, but it will return them to full health AND make them immune to damage for a short time.

Second, make them Legendary. It's expensive, but a Legendary companion has inherent bonuses which allow them to deal more damage and take more damage. In addition, if they do die, they'll self-rez every 5-10 seconds and get themselves back in the fight.

Third, pick the right pet

My personal favorite is the Zhentarim Warlock. From a gear perspective, she uses two talismans, which are crazy cheap as far as the Loyal Avenger gear goes. She has a 40 ft range on her two spells, and she attacks very, very fast. Of all the companions, she might be the only one that doesn't have a cooldown on her main attack. She'll cast Eldritch Blasts just like a normal warlock, meaning she stacks Companion's Gift very fast.

If you want to use a healing companion, nothing can beat the Acolyte of Kelemvor as a healer. Unlike traditional healers, she doesn't really heal you directly (although her Rank 30 ability bonus will). She provides two buffs to you. One reduces the damage you take by 10%. The other gives you a massive (Over 4000 points) to your lifesteal stat. I have about 10% lifesteal on my CW. With her slotted (and utilizing bonding runestones and dark enchantments in the defensive slots), it jumps to over 26%. And that basically "feels" like old school lifesteal. I used her leveling to 70 and anytime I'm trying to solo major HEs, and sometimes it feels like cheating

Those are my two recommendations. Running dungeons these days, my Warlock Anne Loade is my primary companion. If you have a favorite companion that you love, bust him or her (or it) out and be proud. Beyond the awesome Bonding Runestone buff, companions also contribute to DPS, Healing and Tanking. They'll eat up damage meant for the PCs, which is always a swell thing for a henchman to do, and I've see Frost Mimics and Young Yeti's tank bosses effectively (at least in T1's) so don't be afraid to try it.

There's no wrong way to play, and don't let someone bully you into stowing that companion because "augments are obviously always better". They're not.