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Control Wizard...My Thoughts
dianocus
Member Posts: 23 Arc User
When I first heard of this game and saw the class for the Control Wizard and watched the video, I got so psyched for this game I could barely control my excitement. Now that I have actually tried out the class. I am level 11 as I write this and so far I have some pros and cons of the class. First lets start off with the pros.
Pros
Spell Mechanics - These are by far the best mechanics I have come across in any game. It even surpasses a certain popular MMORPG. The way that I can control more than one enemy is fun. (The duration of CC is discussed in the Cons) Freezing one, while choke hold another and a third to blast away from me while I focus back on number one. Though it was complicated at first to understand the mechanics of the Control Wizard but after a few hours of learning the class, it came to me quite easy.
Early Levels (Up to 11) - Now even though I am only Level 11 the number of spell choices you get very early on is pretty good. Unlike other games where you basically mash 1 button for attack, this game basically forces you to use what spells you have to maintain control of the battlefield. Okay so I guess the word force is not the right one. Maybe what I should have said was that the spells are highly recommended to use. You don't have to use them all but you might find yourself in trouble.
Spells - The spells I have used so far are pretty awesome (Love the AOE Ice spell, Forgot the name). I love how Magic Missile and Ray of Frost are your two main attacks and how you can switch between attacks so fast without interruption. The Daily spells are a nice touch to control the class from being way to overpowered. My favourite ability so far is the teleport. I love to run up to a player and then using my ability to appear behind them. The stamina control for utility powers is another great way to stop spamming of teleports which would make it way overpowered.
Weapon - Okay so the ball that floats beside me is different. I'll give that. At first I was like "What?!?! No weapon?" but when I went to try the healer class I noticed that the weapon blade was grazing the armpit of the toon and it looked weird so I became fond of the ball weapon for the wizard.
Stances - These are by far my favourite aspect of the control wizard. The stances when he attacks are beautifully done. Where most RPGS have the toon just standing like board when attacking and just flicking there finger and out pops a spell. This toon use the function of the whole body to manipulate a spell and that is just cool.
Cons
Spell Mechanics - As the class title says, you are a control wizard. What exactly am I supposed to control? Enemies? Elements? Battlefield? I am assuming enemies. Even though I am level 11 I find the abilities to control enemies to short a duration. The duration for freezing PVE mobs is too short if you are fighting off more then one mob. Maybe doubling the duration for PVE and keeping the duration as is for PVP. Other games have at least 8 seconds for CC in PVE and half that for PVP. I am a Control Wizard and controlling a mob for 3 seconds doesn't feel very controlling.
Early Levels - I don't really have anything bad about early levels except that by level 11 you have at least 6 spells you learned so far. Maybe spreading out the learning to make it a bit more challenging.
Spells - Okay so this one is where it hurts a bit to the Wizard class. Wizards are supposed to be adept in many spells of arcane or elemental. I know that most games have a caster class learning up to at least three elements and that other caster classes are meant for the other elements. With the Control Wizard we have here basically one element we focus on. Sure we have a few arcane spells but a vast majority of them are frost. Maybe you should change the name of Control Wizard to Frost Wizard. There are ways to control mobs by the way of Earth, Lightning and Fire. Maybe you can keep the control and ice aspect of the wizard and have them off learning the other elements of their choice. More choices other then ice will make the wizard feel like a wizard.
Stances - Nothing regarding stances.
Okay so I said my thoughts on the Control Wizard.
Other then those cons I mentioned I am pretty psyched about this game and cannot wait for it to be released. Though we do need some casters who practice the dark arts. That would be cool.
Pros
Spell Mechanics - These are by far the best mechanics I have come across in any game. It even surpasses a certain popular MMORPG. The way that I can control more than one enemy is fun. (The duration of CC is discussed in the Cons) Freezing one, while choke hold another and a third to blast away from me while I focus back on number one. Though it was complicated at first to understand the mechanics of the Control Wizard but after a few hours of learning the class, it came to me quite easy.
Early Levels (Up to 11) - Now even though I am only Level 11 the number of spell choices you get very early on is pretty good. Unlike other games where you basically mash 1 button for attack, this game basically forces you to use what spells you have to maintain control of the battlefield. Okay so I guess the word force is not the right one. Maybe what I should have said was that the spells are highly recommended to use. You don't have to use them all but you might find yourself in trouble.
Spells - The spells I have used so far are pretty awesome (Love the AOE Ice spell, Forgot the name). I love how Magic Missile and Ray of Frost are your two main attacks and how you can switch between attacks so fast without interruption. The Daily spells are a nice touch to control the class from being way to overpowered. My favourite ability so far is the teleport. I love to run up to a player and then using my ability to appear behind them. The stamina control for utility powers is another great way to stop spamming of teleports which would make it way overpowered.
Weapon - Okay so the ball that floats beside me is different. I'll give that. At first I was like "What?!?! No weapon?" but when I went to try the healer class I noticed that the weapon blade was grazing the armpit of the toon and it looked weird so I became fond of the ball weapon for the wizard.
Stances - These are by far my favourite aspect of the control wizard. The stances when he attacks are beautifully done. Where most RPGS have the toon just standing like board when attacking and just flicking there finger and out pops a spell. This toon use the function of the whole body to manipulate a spell and that is just cool.
Cons
Spell Mechanics - As the class title says, you are a control wizard. What exactly am I supposed to control? Enemies? Elements? Battlefield? I am assuming enemies. Even though I am level 11 I find the abilities to control enemies to short a duration. The duration for freezing PVE mobs is too short if you are fighting off more then one mob. Maybe doubling the duration for PVE and keeping the duration as is for PVP. Other games have at least 8 seconds for CC in PVE and half that for PVP. I am a Control Wizard and controlling a mob for 3 seconds doesn't feel very controlling.
Early Levels - I don't really have anything bad about early levels except that by level 11 you have at least 6 spells you learned so far. Maybe spreading out the learning to make it a bit more challenging.
Spells - Okay so this one is where it hurts a bit to the Wizard class. Wizards are supposed to be adept in many spells of arcane or elemental. I know that most games have a caster class learning up to at least three elements and that other caster classes are meant for the other elements. With the Control Wizard we have here basically one element we focus on. Sure we have a few arcane spells but a vast majority of them are frost. Maybe you should change the name of Control Wizard to Frost Wizard. There are ways to control mobs by the way of Earth, Lightning and Fire. Maybe you can keep the control and ice aspect of the wizard and have them off learning the other elements of their choice. More choices other then ice will make the wizard feel like a wizard.
Stances - Nothing regarding stances.
Okay so I said my thoughts on the Control Wizard.
Other then those cons I mentioned I am pretty psyched about this game and cannot wait for it to be released. Though we do need some casters who practice the dark arts. That would be cool.
Post edited by dianocus on
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Comments
I also really like the stances. I'm just not sure an old man with a stick mumbling and waving his hands around would fit into an action MMO like this, but my Control Wizard sure as hell does.
About the lack of stick - it's a wizard orb, like a crystal ball.
These things are actually pretty tightly connected to the DnD lore - the way that magic users channel their energy changed a lot since the Spellplague, so I guess that's the reason casters now have to use their entire body to channel magic (instead of just their fingers), and use an orb (man made) instead of a stick (natural).
Spells -
The control duration for almost all CW abilities was doubled from last weekend to this one. Additionally, at level 11, you just received your 1st feat point. At level 60, you will have 61 feat points, or, if you are human, 64. Needless to say, you can extend the duration and recharge time for your control spells quite a bit with those feat points, in addition to the stat points you will be receiving as you level up.
At level 30, you choose your paragon path. The only available one right now is the Spellstorm Mage, who focuses on lightning spells. So you'll start seeing another element soon.
If you browse the forums - or the auction house - you'll probably see the words "Scourge Warlock," and "Hellfire Bringer." I think it's safe to assume that the Warlock class is coming soon(tm) and will at least partially be fire focused.
The honourable mind is much easier to manipulate,
A swift mind solves problems before they occur,
Accept your fate, or lie, pretend,
Death collects you in the end,
The light that reveals is the glare that blinds,
Knowledge brings power, and with power you can
grab truth by the throat and shape it as you wish,
A large enough debt turns even a friend into an enemy,
Danger is the price of wealth.
Also, I find myself using more Arcane than Ice. It's much better for damage, and about equal in terms of CC. Could they replace some spells to give more elemental variety? Maybe, but remember that we still have the unreleased War Wizard class to think of. Control Wizard specializes in Arcane and Frost, so War wizard may be fond of Fire and Lightning, for example.
My first Foundry mission, The Valley of Darkness NW-DG9DOTZLU
At this point I find myself during dungeons main bosses to protect the cleric and fight the add ons. We are far better suited to lock down the large groups at once while other people are taking care of the big guy.
I just dinged 30 last night before I went to bed and I'm loving my Control Wizard. I use a Wizard companion (named Bumbling Idiot) and i have never died once yet. Together we lock down and kick ***. I'm looking forward to arcane singularity
The stances have nothing to do with lore. You can use either a staff or an orb as a focus for magical powers. This was purely a design decision to reduce the amount of work needed to model the character. I personally am no ta fan of this decision, but it's not a deal-breaker.
I played up to level 37. The CW comes into his own at level 25+, but the control powers were not doubled in duration. More like increased by about 40%.
My problem with the feat points at higher level is that they eventually end up buffing three abilities, primarily. And there are very few storm-affecting talents. Some add chill to your daily power (Maelstrom), some get stacks of arcane. But it's all over the place - none of the talents progress into using specific abilities which synergize into a useful, finished build with useful power selections. The talent system is a bit ADD, and more on the side of using frost-based powers rather than arcane.
By my calculations, you can shave about 2s off of recharge times via feats. The rest is recovery-based, and that has severe diminishing returns. I hit level 35 and my previously "reduce recharge by 2%" (with a focused 2000+ point recovery) became 1%. In one level, 2000 points of gear had far less recharge potential, and it was visible in game that this changed.