Chilling Presence
This one is more situational, but I think it's especially powerful on boss encounters where you can keep the Chill effect at 6 stacks permanently. With 3 points in this power and 6 Chill stacks on a boss, you give yourself an 18% damage bonus to all your spells, and it's pretty easy to maintain on a single target boss encounter. Use RoF to build then initial 6 stacks on the boss, and then a Chill Strike or a tick of RoF every so often will keep it refreshed. This also gives a 10% damage bonus to Steal Time and RoE. It's less useful on AOE because 1) it's hard to build chill stacks on multiple targets (unless you tab Conduit of Ice), and 2) most of them will freeze at 6 stacks thus removing chill. Therefore, I recommend this for bosses only.
Are you finding chill actually stacks on bosses? I was under the impression it got stripped soon after it lands. I haven't bothered with chill since very low level though so I could be mistaken on that. I thought the common wizard complaint was chill not working on bosses.
i just started and am about to hit level 10 and was hoping someone could help me with a couple beginner pointers...
1) i'm looking for help on managing clicking and combat rotation, especially in pve. say i'm about to solo a pack of basic mobs... how to you open and what order do you use your cooldowns? also, what makes you determine whether to use a teleport or say your daily?
2) i could probably figure this out over time, but how "click-y" are you with magic missile? do you spam the <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> out of it each time before you teleport away or do you try to finesse your presses one at a time?
Depends on the level but typically I would start fights with encounter powers because they are the heavier hitters and offer controls - it really depends on what you have on your bar. For example: a fight with a couple strong mobs and some minions I'd start with a chill strike (mastery for AE) into one while entangling force on the other strong to keep them out of the fight briefly while cleaning out the minions with whatever I had left (another encounter or magic missile spam). Then finish them off by using at wills with teleports to avoid damage until encounter powers are back up.
Dailies I'd use almost on cooldown as I kept going (assuming they wouldn't be wasted - wouldn't use Ice Storm on a pack of minions for example) because I build action points very fast with my feats.
Magic missile it's pretty important to do all 3 hits, as the 3rd hit (the one that hits multiple times) is the one that grants a stack of arcane mastery. This eventually becomes not as important once you get steal time (which grants 5x off the bat) and becomes more of an upkeep thing.
What do you think about Snap Freeze in the Thaumaturge tree? Replacing Malevolent Surge. 20% extra damage on Chill Strike, when your targets are not affected by chill. The only attack we use that really apply chill is Chill Strike. And even with tons of recovery, the CD on Chill Strike will not go below the duration of chill. Hence it's basically a 20% increase on Chill Strike?
I think this is an interesting idea, but Malevolent Surge still strikes me as potentially stronger. Hmm. Then again ...going to ponder this some. I wish we had proper combat logs to get some numbers.
edit: One thing to consider is that unless you play in a regular group (I sadly don't), you may have other CWs on your team. The majority of epic runs I did today through the LFG tool had at least one other CW, so depending on what they do, Snap Freeze's return could be quite lower.
2) i could probably figure this out over time, but how "click-y" are you with magic missile? do you spam the <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> out of it each time before you teleport away or do you try to finesse your presses one at a time?
When i'm not planning on using another power, i just hold down the magic missile button, it will then just keep firing it off until i let it up. I also took the skill that adds to damage if the mob is close to me though, so i don't mind letting them be there, i just dodge the red or seeing the big mobs start a big attack.
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keterysMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
You're wise to avoid this, when I tested it during the last beta weekend, it gave 1-5% bonus of the value that Int gave. So if you had +10% from Int, 5 points in this would give you +10.5% total.
I tested this in the Foundry using a level 31 wizard, and every point added 1% to damage when I mouseover-ed spells. (ie, 1000 -> 1010, 1020, etc)
The similar talent that clerics have that adds Healing to Wisdom adds directly as well, as far as I can tell.
I have to imagine the talents will be redesigned at some point in the not horribly distant future, given the horrible math either implied or actual in several of them, but I suspect it's pretty far down the list of important actions.
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violated87Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
Are you finding chill actually stacks on bosses? I was under the impression it got stripped soon after it lands. I haven't bothered with chill since very low level though so I could be mistaken on that. I thought the common wizard complaint was chill not working on bosses.
I'm not entirely sure tbh. Since I don't have Ice Knife quite yet I've just been running with Evocation as my 2nd passive and focusing on AOE. I have done bosses before where I've kept it stacked, or where another CW was in the group and was using RoF instead of MM and it was staying stacked, but maybe it doesn't work on higher level bosses. That's certainly important though.
what about equips?
what stats do you prefer? crits/power/restoration etc
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justyflyMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 2Arc User
edited May 2013
Can you tell prefered stats for equipment? Like crit>power>recovery?
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violated87Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
Crit seems to suffer from diminishing returns, so there's not really a defined stat priority. I can say that I focus all my gear into crit and power. I completely ignore other stats, socket power and crit into offensive slots as needed, life steal into defense (don't feel the need for hp or defense or deflection right now), and probably movement into utility (but I've been doing exp or glory while leveling).
Crit seems to suffer from diminishing returns, so there's not really a defined stat priority. I can say that I focus all my gear into crit and power. I completely ignore other stats, socket power and crit into offensive slots as needed, life steal into defense (don't feel the need for hp or defense or deflection right now), and probably movement into utility (but I've been doing exp or glory while leveling).
which one come first? power or crit? sometime it is +crit and -power and vice versa
While leveling, I went with crit and power (whatever I found, basically). Now at 60, you have less choice because the sets are what they are. The Archmage set, which is the first and easiest to get (for unicorn seals) doesn't have crit on it, so you get power and recovery mostly. The set for drake seals is just the same.
I did find a piece of a set called "Focal Magi", and this seems to be crit based. The piece has power/crit, the 2-set bonus is +400 (!) crit, and the 4-set bonus gives players around a controlled target +225 power and recovery for several seconds (presumably to the caster too, if you stand close -- which I generally do). So while I have no idea yet where you get the other pieces, this Focal Magi set would seem to be the first bigger goal to go for. (There isn't another seals vendor somewhere that I totally missed, right?)
violated87Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
Early on I found crit to be better than power, but I was also hard pressed to find crit so my power tended to be 3x or 4x higher than crit. In my 40s I've been seeing it more even in value (power is still about 2x crit in total), and I tend to just take items with the highest combined crit + power.
While leveling, I went with crit and power (whatever I found, basically). Now at 60, you have less choice because the sets are what they are. The Archmage set, which is the first and easiest to get (for unicorn seals) doesn't have crit on it, so you get power and recovery mostly. The set for drake seals is just the same.
I did find a piece of a set called "Focal Magi", and this seems to be crit based. The piece has power/crit, the 2-set bonus is +400 (!) crit, and the 4-set bonus gives players around a controlled target +225 power and recovery for several seconds (presumably to the caster too, if you stand close -- which I generally do). So while I have no idea yet where you get the other pieces, this Focal Magi set would seem to be the first bigger goal to go for. (There isn't another seals vendor somewhere that I totally missed, right?)
what level is focal magi set?
im still 32 though and i dont know any set on that level --
Early on I found crit to be better than power, but I was also hard pressed to find crit so my power tended to be 3x or 4x higher than crit. In my 40s I've been seeing it more even in value (power is still about 2x crit in total), and I tend to just take items with the highest combined crit + power.
At level 30 you get to chose your path. At this time, you get the choice between being Spellstorm Mage, a Spellstorm Mage, or a Spellstorm Mage. My suggestion is that you go for Spellstorm Mage.
[/B]
This part gave me a good laugh , when I hit lvl 30 I thought to myself "Well you say choose your path, butI'm not seeing a choice here" Also thanks for your guide , I lvl'd to 60 as Renegade but some of my powers and feats did not pan out that well after choosing and testing them , kudos to you good sir.
Where can I find a good explanation of the basics for Wizards, effect stacking and the various synergies between spells, etc?
Thanks!
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yummydownontheseMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
How important is Recovery? I've been using as much Smiting Occult (pow, rec, and crit) gear as I could get. Currently level 26 with 516 power(2031 attack), 852 crit(26% crit chance), and 691 recovery(25.4% recharge speed and 13.7% AP gain). Really liking the recovery stat.
violated87Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
I really like RoE in tab, shield, chill strike, and entangling force. Ice Knife for daily and I mostly focus on single targets at a time, but usually keep Arcane Singularity on the bar as well if I feel the need. Use MM at will and RoF as necessary for extra cc.
Masterful Arcane Theft (5/5)
More damage for Steal Time and Ray of Enfeeblement, both of which you will be using.
Does the damage boost kick in with just arcane mastery stacks (the second part) or does it still require having a chill stack first? If it still requires a chill stack, I feel that getting Critical Powers is better for PvE since you will very likely only use Chill Strike for gaining chill stacks (and maybe ray of frost when CCing a solo quest boss). For PvP MAT would be better I suppose.
Your image of the renegade feats you've taken includes Chaos Magic (which got fixed in the most recent patch), yet ctrl+f chaos magic yielded no results. Would you be able to discuss the feat? I think it's one of those feats that sounds good on paper (and is most likely the most bang you're able to get out of that 1 feat point). However, in practice, the buffs aren't very likely to last long at all, as long as we're constantly spamming MM. Which buff/debuff we apply is random, and it's not feasible to stop casting MM to, say, let the party take advantage of the 3% max hp per second. Thoughts?
PLEASE for the love of GOD people learn your spells stop spamming all pushback spells in dungeons it makes it hard for melee mainly when my rogue is using his main attack I am about to do the quick hit and BOOM PUSHBACK all my attacks miss. I was doing dungeon today and kept asking the caster not to spam it but he ignored and continued so I left the group.
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drumoebaMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 1Arc User
edited May 2013
Thanks for putting this together. Only lvl 30 on my wiz, but picked straight control feats. In PVP it seems the control just doesn't last long and I need to hit harder. Will check this out for sure. Mad props brah.
Hi, thanks for the build! I've been searching one.
I have one doubt though, what should I search in my items? Right nwo im lvl 30 and i just take the items wich gives me power, should i focus more on crit than power? I don't really see items that offer me both power and crit.
Yes, AP generation is slower than with a Thaumaturge build. I think, though, overall the sustained damage makes up for this. Moving the two points from Toughness into Controlling Action helps. I'm slowly arriving at the conclusion that Controlling Action is probably the better place, at least at 60 for PvE. For PvP, I would still go with Toughness every time.
Some answers to questions (if I missed any, sorry!):
@doneeee: I think the build is very viable in PvP, too. You would want Enfeebling Ray in the spell mastery slot and swap in Shield for Steal Time (can't stand there and cast for 2s). I use Conduit of Ice in PvP, too, but I think Repel may be a better choice here. If I made a character solely for PvP, I would consider the feat that gives stamina when you teleport/blink. I would dive deeper into PvP, but from Europe there is a constant 200ms latency, which makes it fairly hard to play against rogues since you eat strikes that you would not take if you had less latency.
@ryuzaki62: I wouldn't worry much about gear while you level. You replace gear quickly, so using whatever looks good works just fine. Items with power and critical chance are ideal, and either one by itself is a boost too. Recovery is excellent, but I wouldn't prioritize it. Get the highest damage orb you find, even if it may have slightly less power than your old one.
@yummydownonthese: Recovery is great and you'll have it on all the sets at level 60. I posted a list of epic armor sets that I have found so far here.As mentioned above, I think for leveling everything works.
(I recall seeing a question about Chaos Magic too. Will add something about this to the guide.)
I started to add a bit to part 3 (third post on the first page). Not much there yet, just my views on companions because I've been getting tells in the game with questions about which I use. For group PvE I think there is really one option, and it's the most adorable of all choices anyway!
Comments
Are you finding chill actually stacks on bosses? I was under the impression it got stripped soon after it lands. I haven't bothered with chill since very low level though so I could be mistaken on that. I thought the common wizard complaint was chill not working on bosses.
Depends on the level but typically I would start fights with encounter powers because they are the heavier hitters and offer controls - it really depends on what you have on your bar. For example: a fight with a couple strong mobs and some minions I'd start with a chill strike (mastery for AE) into one while entangling force on the other strong to keep them out of the fight briefly while cleaning out the minions with whatever I had left (another encounter or magic missile spam). Then finish them off by using at wills with teleports to avoid damage until encounter powers are back up.
Dailies I'd use almost on cooldown as I kept going (assuming they wouldn't be wasted - wouldn't use Ice Storm on a pack of minions for example) because I build action points very fast with my feats.
Magic missile it's pretty important to do all 3 hits, as the 3rd hit (the one that hits multiple times) is the one that grants a stack of arcane mastery. This eventually becomes not as important once you get steal time (which grants 5x off the bat) and becomes more of an upkeep thing.
I think this is an interesting idea, but Malevolent Surge still strikes me as potentially stronger. Hmm. Then again ...going to ponder this some. I wish we had proper combat logs to get some numbers.
edit: One thing to consider is that unless you play in a regular group (I sadly don't), you may have other CWs on your team. The majority of epic runs I did today through the LFG tool had at least one other CW, so depending on what they do, Snap Freeze's return could be quite lower.
When i'm not planning on using another power, i just hold down the magic missile button, it will then just keep firing it off until i let it up. I also took the skill that adds to damage if the mob is close to me though, so i don't mind letting them be there, i just dodge the red or seeing the big mobs start a big attack.
The similar talent that clerics have that adds Healing to Wisdom adds directly as well, as far as I can tell.
I have to imagine the talents will be redesigned at some point in the not horribly distant future, given the horrible math either implied or actual in several of them, but I suspect it's pretty far down the list of important actions.
I'm not entirely sure tbh. Since I don't have Ice Knife quite yet I've just been running with Evocation as my 2nd passive and focusing on AOE. I have done bosses before where I've kept it stacked, or where another CW was in the group and was using RoF instead of MM and it was staying stacked, but maybe it doesn't work on higher level bosses. That's certainly important though.
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what stats do you prefer? crits/power/restoration etc
which one come first? power or crit? sometime it is +crit and -power and vice versa
I did find a piece of a set called "Focal Magi", and this seems to be crit based. The piece has power/crit, the 2-set bonus is +400 (!) crit, and the 4-set bonus gives players around a controlled target +225 power and recovery for several seconds (presumably to the caster too, if you stand close -- which I generally do). So while I have no idea yet where you get the other pieces, this Focal Magi set would seem to be the first bigger goal to go for. (There isn't another seals vendor somewhere that I totally missed, right?)
im still 32 though and i dont know any set on that level -- thx for answering
The purple sets are all level 60.
This part gave me a good laugh , when I hit lvl 30 I thought to myself "Well you say choose your path, butI'm not seeing a choice here" Also thanks for your guide , I lvl'd to 60 as Renegade but some of my powers and feats did not pan out that well after choosing and testing them , kudos to you good sir.
Thanks!
Your image of the renegade feats you've taken includes Chaos Magic (which got fixed in the most recent patch), yet ctrl+f chaos magic yielded no results. Would you be able to discuss the feat? I think it's one of those feats that sounds good on paper (and is most likely the most bang you're able to get out of that 1 feat point). However, in practice, the buffs aren't very likely to last long at all, as long as we're constantly spamming MM. Which buff/debuff we apply is random, and it's not feasible to stop casting MM to, say, let the party take advantage of the 3% max hp per second. Thoughts?
I have one doubt though, what should I search in my items? Right nwo im lvl 30 and i just take the items wich gives me power, should i focus more on crit than power? I don't really see items that offer me both power and crit.
Thanks
sorry for my bad english
Yes, AP generation is slower than with a Thaumaturge build. I think, though, overall the sustained damage makes up for this. Moving the two points from Toughness into Controlling Action helps. I'm slowly arriving at the conclusion that Controlling Action is probably the better place, at least at 60 for PvE. For PvP, I would still go with Toughness every time.
Some answers to questions (if I missed any, sorry!):
@doneeee: I think the build is very viable in PvP, too. You would want Enfeebling Ray in the spell mastery slot and swap in Shield for Steal Time (can't stand there and cast for 2s). I use Conduit of Ice in PvP, too, but I think Repel may be a better choice here. If I made a character solely for PvP, I would consider the feat that gives stamina when you teleport/blink. I would dive deeper into PvP, but from Europe there is a constant 200ms latency, which makes it fairly hard to play against rogues since you eat strikes that you would not take if you had less latency.
@ryuzaki62: I wouldn't worry much about gear while you level. You replace gear quickly, so using whatever looks good works just fine. Items with power and critical chance are ideal, and either one by itself is a boost too. Recovery is excellent, but I wouldn't prioritize it. Get the highest damage orb you find, even if it may have slightly less power than your old one.
@yummydownonthese: Recovery is great and you'll have it on all the sets at level 60. I posted a list of epic armor sets that I have found so far here.As mentioned above, I think for leveling everything works.
(I recall seeing a question about Chaos Magic too. Will add something about this to the guide.)
More soon!