Yes, but ALL your spells are DPS. You built a Striker.
Trying to be kind, I did not. A well-built striker should destroy single targets much better.
You build a "I'll hold him, you hit him" wizard. I built a "I'll hold him, and there may not be anyone around to hit them so I need to be able to take care of myself."
I suspect my CC capabilities are not much different than yours.
Trying to be kind, I did not. A well-built striker should destroy single targets much better.
You build a "I'll hold him, you hit him" wizard. I built a "I'll hold him, and there may not be anyone around to hit them so I need to be able to take care of myself."
I suspect my CC capabilities are not much different than yours.
I consider Entangling Force one of the best Striker powers in existence. It doesnt kill a single target, but it shuts down a single target.
To be fair, "I'll hold him, you hit him" is exactly what a "controller" means. The problem is, it is inappropriate in the context of soloing.
Also, the Wizard can only "hold" one target. And is powerless against multiple heavy-damage aggro.
The Shepherd quest you mention, for instance, I did earlier - I'm a about 6 or so past that one now. It was pretty easy - did it as a 32 (made 33 during).
If you mean the street where you first zone into the area that has a set of mobs to the right, and another set to the left - I can run through there and I don't aggro anyone - no problems avoiding fights there at all if I want to. This is why I was asking about your hireling - maybe he's pulling aggro that my companion does not.
So if I understand this right, you read the class title being "Control Wizard" so you said to yourself. OK! I'll fill up all my spell slots with CC spells and then go kill stuff! Then when it didn't work instead of adjusting your strategy or trying something else you decided the CW is bad and came here to complain?
I leveled from 1-60 solo, doing every single quest in every zone often times pulling 2+ groups at once and NEVER died. Well ok to be fair I had 1 death on the flying island when I... well... I fell off of it >.> But that has nothing to do with my CW. I also used different companions and didn't really need health potions unless I accidentally pulled multiple packs. And I didn't use the AH or 5mans for gear, I just used whatever gear quests gave me etc. So its clearly doable, you're just doing something very wrong.
Just because it has the word control in it doesn't mean you should fill your ENTIRE bar with control spells. You still need to do damage to actually solo things, that's how builds work.
Like you didn't invest in Arcane Singularity... ok, why not? You went for Opressive Force, saw that it sucked and then decided to just not put a point into Arcane Singularity? Which btw is the best "control" spell in the entire game and probably the best daily CWs have.
Or your at-will power, you should be using Arcane Missiles. Its the basic bread and butter of At-wills, Chill Ray (was that its name? I forget) is useful in some situations like when 1v1ing a big mob or in PvP but its not suppose to be your primary go-to ability.
There's tons of great abilities that are amazing for soloing. If you deliberately decided to ignore anything that doesn't control then you're handicapping yourself. Don't expect that to work in any game.
This is why I was asking about your hireling - maybe he's pulling aggro that my companion does not.
Ah. Hmm. Maybe. Probably.
I have noticed times, my Wizard suddenly leaped into combat stance. I looked around to see what was going on, and it was because my Manatarms was engaged with monster. Until now I assumed the monster noticed my Wizard. But its possible the Manatarms is provoking nearby fights.
Similarly, in the recent fight I mentioned earlier. The Manatarms ran ahead to attack a monster, before I did anything. Its possible, he is finding idle monsters. But much of the time, he leaves nearby monsters alone. So, Im unsure what the pattern is. Maybe he leaves them alone, but they dont leave him alone if they notice him.
Out of curiosity, have you gone thru that Helmshold street? Such as for the quests relating Hexabaal?
I know you weren't asking me, but I did that without using a cleric companion. It's not hard to avoid dangerous amounts of adds if you look further than the group of enemies you wish to engage to check for patrols.
The streets of Helms Hold is not the most dangerous place for a solo CW either. You will die while soloing, just take it as an opportunity to learn about your powers and the encounter that got you. And no, not every build should be viable solo, especially not ones that do not build upon the strengths of the class (in the case of CW: AoE damage and lots of it).
I consider Entangling Force one of the best Striker powers in existence. It doesnt kill a single target, but it shuts down a single target.
To be fair, "I'll hold him, you hit him" is exactly what a "controller" means. The problem is, it is inappropriate in the context of soloing.
Also, the Wizard can only "hold" one target. And is powerless against multiple heavy-damage aggro.
Sounds like this is likely the crux of your problem really. You made a team based build to solo with.
Did I read earlier that yoy also didn't bother getting steal time? That is one of the best control spell for soloing imho. You would likely call me a striker also but am more of a solo control build.
Did very little research on builds fyi;
I run with Storm(sudden storm?-cone one) In AM. I just like the damage and dot aspect in mastery and find it easy to use
Encounter are shield, steal time and shard of avalanch.
When see a tougher group I start the shard, when rushed I hit steal time(stunned), if multiple high hp mobs are present I adjust position(if needed) and use storm. Any left I loose the shard(which likely added an arcane stack) and cause damage/knockdown, still any left I can pop the shield and cause damage/knockback. Pick off any leftovers with MM and with minimized refresh timers im just about to able to restart the process. Aside from storm I consider all "control" spells.
That said im making two CW. This one is all force/lightning other will be all cold.
I imagine only a very specialized build could be able to go toe to toe with much of any group and come out looking very well. Hit and run is the way of the solo CW imo. Just finished leveling to 60 with minimal grouping with little trouble. Die occassionally but without that risk whats the point?
To sum it up you are trying to fit a round peg in a square hole in soloing with youre build. This all just imho though. TC.
*shrug* it happened. I have no reason to lie to you, I never once died while soloing regular mobs. I died once to falling off a cliff which was funny, and obviously when my group wiped in the few dungeons I did. I die plenty in PvP as well. But solo? Not really.
Mind you there was some close calls. Arcane Singularity saved my hide while I dodge and wait for health pot to recharge. But close calls only happen when I pulled 2-3+ groups at once by accident. If you find yourself often fighting more than 1 group then its a problem with you or your companion agroing too much.
The game should rename the Wizard a Striker Wizard, primarily a Striker who only dabbles in Control secondariy.
Clearly, the only viable Wizard build is a Striker build with max dps.
Kill the aggro before it can reach you.
Not even close, mobs WILL reach you. That's what dodge is for, you have a fast recharging blink and health pots for a reason. Its not like health pots are expansive either, you get dozens of them. They're not there just to look pretty and not be used.
I used a mix of control abilities (entangling, arcane singularity), damage (sudden storm) and defensive (shield). The key word is balance, what I DIDN'T do is make a 1 dimensional character that only focuses on CC, or only on damage. Those don't work as well for solo content. You're making a 1 trick pony and its not working. That's basic principle of most solo RPG games, its no different in Neverwinter.
Its called a control wizard because you do have access to the most control spells of all the classes. That doesn't mean that ALL you do is control.
If you look at end-game dungeons you'll see control wizard really do focus on control, mostly Arcane Singularity and Knockbacks. But that synergies well with the damage etc. of their group members. As solo you're a group of 1, you need to cover all areas by yourself. What you're doing is akin to a dungeon group that brought 5 controllers and no other classes.
As far as leveling is concerned, I have leveled a CW, which is my main, and now at around 11k gear score, and I am now leveling a TR, it's at level 40. The leveling process was much more difficult solo with my CW than my TR.
anashim (or "people" :P) , I read some of your posts and I can say, if your mage dies so much at lvl 30 then you simply aren't playing him right. This is not meant as an offense or anything toward you, I just think you need to review your playing style against other mages.
a) Wizards by their nature are squishy, always have always will be, part of their nature.
b) The wizard in this game is one the LEAST squishy mages i've ever seen in a game/MMO. Just the fact you can solo above lvl 10, not to mention 30!( Im currently on lvl 45 and doing fine solo) should tell you that he isn't squishy at all. And I didn't spend a single penny on any item or gear for "pay-2-win".
I think you just need to "train" a little bit with him, learn to chain and synergize your spells better
EDIT: also, I don't use shield at all, I use Tabbed Chill Strike like most, Its an excellent opener and sometimes enough to 1-shoot a small group, then, before i got Steal Time I had CoI which I would throw right into he oncoming mob for extra dmg, then use sudden storm on the group coming into you. If by then they aren't all dead or very close to, I start teleporting around, while entangling usally the strongest to keep him away, by that time most of your spells should be ready to fire again.
For Dailies I use Ice Storm mainly in PVE soloing, which I replace with Singularity for the rare times imin a party (better to help concentrate them, than knocking back all the mobs from the party). And now I always have Ice Dagger as 2nd daily for big dmg on Big Bads when the mobs are down.
Yes some fancy footwork and potions are necessary, hardly wasting all your money on, but you just need to learn to move :P
The game should rename the Wizard a Striker Wizard, primarily a Striker who only dabbles in Control secondariy.
Clearly, the only viable Wizard build is a Striker build with max dps.
Kill the aggro before it can reach you.
You need to take a look at the player's handbook. Wizards are Controllers period. Maybe what you're referring to is the War Wizard kind of Wizards which focuses on dps more so than the Control Wizard. In either case, both War Wizards and Control Wizards are considered Controllers.
Just like how a Great Weapon Fighter and Guardian Fighter are both Defenders. Except GWF is more dps oriented, but still does less dps than a real Striker but is tankier. Whereas GF is focused on tanking.
In the War Wizard's case, it is more dps oriented than the Controller wizard, but focuses more on AoE dps than single target dps like Strikers do.
The "Great Weapon Striker" corresponds to the 4e "Slayer" Fighter. And is a Striker. Not a Defender. Primarily a Striker, who dabbles in Defender secondarily. (The Great Weapon Fighter also resembles the 4e Barbarbarian, in the sense of an interesting kind of Striker that relies on high mobility, the ability to reach or bypass single targets, then deliver large single-target damage.)
The "Guardian Fighter" corresponds to the 4e "Knight" Fighter, a Defender.
I just experimented and walked from the zone entrance to the tavern. No pulls. I think you should look at your pathing.
No, thats not the location. Its FROM the Dirty Dwarf Tavern TO the crossroads after the Tavern, thru the gate adjoining the Tavern. These streets. One road to the left leads to another campsite. Straight ahead to the Cathedral. To the right to Hexabaal.
In the Neverwinter game, the "Controller" Wizard is an invalid design. It is unsuitable for a game that assumes solo adventures.
Also, the Wizard is too dependent on healing potions, too squishy.
If the Non-Striker "Controller" build is going to work, the design for it needs to be more effective at controlling multiple high level targets. Especially, those multiple high level targets that are surrounding and pursuing the Wizard. Disabling those surrounding attackers also helps the Wizard be less squishy by reducing the frequency of multiple attacks at once.
The following Non-DPS powers and feats intend to control surrounding multiple targets but fail to do their job adequately.
- Icy Terrain, encounter (lame, sometimes helps, seems to synergize with the Chilling Presence feature, but ultimately inadequate)
- Oppressive Force, daily (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, I took it, and it is so unhelpful I dont bother using it, as surrounding targets remain and continue attacking)
- Storm Fury, feature (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, seems to never do anything ever)
- Severe Reaction, feat (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, 15% chance of a push away proves too seldom to do the job against surrounding attackers)
The following powers seem to help to control surrounding multiple targets.
- Ice Storm, daily (awesome, but actually causes massive aggro to arrive afterward, similar to how the Devoted Cleric heal spell causes massive aggro, except the Wizard is too squishy to deal with it)
- Shield (good, didnt take, but has good reputation)
- Arcane Singularity (awesome, didnt take, but has good reputation)
- Steal Time (awesome, cant take it yet, but certainly will when I reach its level)
The valid Wizard build optimizes around DPS, power, and critical strike. In other words, a damage-dealing Striker.
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losse1Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
I am full cold spec because of this and always level in groups until I am at least a couple levels (preferably 4) above solo content. Then I can usually solo stuff.
"The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose." -Charles Dickens
No, thats not the location. Its FROM the Dirty Dwarf Tavern TO the crossroads after the Tavern, thru the gate adjoining the Tavern. These streets. One road to the left leads to another campsite. Straight ahead to the Cathedral. To the right to Hexabaal.
Finished this earlier, also no problems.
In the Neverwinter game, the "Controller" Wizard is an invalid design. It is unsuitable for a game that assumes solo adventures.
No, I think it fits thematically in the D&D 4e them pretty well. Yes, the system is hella different - but the concept holds. Everyone does some damage + something. Maybe it's more buffs, more AoEs, more CC .. or for Strikers, more damage. For controllers, it's a mix of AoE and CC.
Besides, there's the long-standing D&D saying ... the best CC is "dead".
The "best" wizard doesn't short one tool in the arsenal at the expense of others - but I think to you that's what "controller" means. This is the equivalent of playing an enchanter-only in 3.5 and carrying no weapons. Yes, you're going to suck solo - that doesn't mean the wizard platform is bad, but that instead you built a valid but very limited character. Your choice, your limitation. Like people who want to play the archer who doesn't even carry a knife. Your choice, your limitation. That doesn't make you a better archer / ranger / whatever necessarily.
In the Neverwinter game, the "Controller" Wizard is an invalid design. It is unsuitable for a game that assumes solo adventures.
Also, the Wizard is too dependent on healing potions, too squishy.
Not sure what to tell you..... I lvled from 1-60 solo with out much problem. I was never in any real danger of being exploded. I controlled the fight and dominated it. I am full Renegade spec. I ran MM/ROF Tab was chill spike. Q was COI. E was Sudden Storm for aoe or ROF for boss fights. R was choke. I used Arcane singularity and Ice knife.
I never used more pots then I found was never over lvled. Actually underlvled when and had to do PVP to catch up.
I even use the dog companion because I kited so well the dog was icing on the cake.
I will have to admit those Ulstilagor packs or whatever they're called at the 60s zone hurt pretty **** badly since all of them will teleport and hit you for around 800 damage a piece. It's a pretty funny thing. Some times they don't come after you all at once so after you teleport you may get hit.
Not sure what to tell you..... I lvled from 1-60 solo with out much problem. I was never in any real danger of being exploded. I controlled the fight and dominated it. I am full Renegade spec. I ran MM/ROF Tab was chill spike. Q was COI. E was Sudden Storm for aoe or ROF for boss fights. R was choke. I used Arcane singularity and Ice knife.
I never used more pots then I found was never over lvled. Actually underlvled when and had to do PVP to catch up.
I even use the dog companion because I kited so well the dog was icing on the cake.
Heh, I know what to tell you. You confirm the analysis of this thread: the Striker Wizard is a valid design, the Controller Wizard is an invalid design.
The "Renegade" is a Striker, primarily, not a Controller. It is THE Striker build for a Wizard, optimizing around damage and critical strikes.
• Entangling Force often classifies as a control spell. But is so effective at shutting down a single target, it functions as if one-shotting the target. Defacto it is a Striker power.
Now, to be fair, your build dabbles in Controller secondarily.
• Ray of Frost, atwill, is a control spell, and (when the bug doesnt prevent it from working) is mainly suitable for a single target.
• Arcane Singularity, is a control spell, and apparently is effective versus multiple high-level targets.
So, Ray of Frost is only a backup while Magic Missile is the goto atwill anyway. Despite Arcane Singularity, which is the only main control spell - and indeed functions to set up massive area damage - the Renegade build is a Striker and survives by dealing massive damage. Your chosen build optimizes around dps, and I assume you are optimizing around the stats for power and critical strike too. Probably, your chosen feats optimize for dps and crit too.
The problem here is your fundamental expectations of what a "controller" is. I'm leveling a GF and a DC right now and I guarantee you we have more control than they do. But it seems your expectation of a CW was not just being the best in the game at control but rather to be able to reliably control multiple targets for extended periods of time. And no, that's just not possible.
We can control 1 target near infinitely or multiple targets for a brief time. Unfortunately the latter requires Arcane Singularity and/or Steal Time neither of which you have so... you're kinda boned there.
I do agree some control spells are highly underwhelming, such as Icy Terrain. Maybe they need buffs. But I don't think the style you envision is ever gonna be possible. We'll still need to have enough DPS in our builds to kill stuff before our control runs out, and it WILL run out when facing multiple targets. Its just too OP to expect a class to be able to infinitely control more than 1 high power mob.
Basically right now a control builds looks like something like this:
3-4 control spells (Arcane Sin, Steal Time, Entangling Force)
The rest DPS
A Striker builds looks something like this:
0-1 control spells (mostly Arcane Sin)
The Rest DPS, mostly AoE DPS to clear packs before they kill you abusing Shield defense and good teleports
One build kills stuff outright, the other controls it briefly (if multiple mobs) or near-infinitely (if single mob) and kills it while its controlled.
To answer your squishiness problem - both builds rely on Shield while soloing for defense, it makes a tremendous difference.
I see and hear a lot of "CW's are too squishy!" talk and I hear that they rely on potions too much.
I would like to remind those of you that top DPS charts with glass cannon items (stacking power / crit / armor pen) that regeneration and life steal are the offset. If you stack a bit of Regen and a bit more life steal you will quit using potions all that often. Because we (CW's) are masters of AoE we have burst healing with Life steal as it is generated not only through at-will attacks but ALL attacks. So if you are like me you put Chill strike in the tab position and start your fights with it. When it explodes in a pack of mobs it does a significant amount of healing.
The only issue with Life steal is that I don't think Life "Steal" is an accurate depiction of what it does. It heals you for damage done, Stealing life would mean that a percentage of your damage was converted to "Life Steal" and that would be damage as well.
Beyond the point, a healthy mix of Regen and Life Steal while stacking power and crit majoirity keeps us alive.
Slater - Mindflayer - Control Wizard
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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terradraconisMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 17Arc User
There is no way my Wizard could survive the multiple high-level attackers in Helmshold. No way. Simply stepping out into the street on the way to the Cathedral got him killed. The only time he lived was when the monsters were busy with other players.
Err ok, if you say that, but I did solo Helmshold. I was using shield and umm, the lighting strike to clear squishies from around me. Typically fired up the shield, froze and channeled my nastiest foe, swept squishies with the lighting strike power in a line infront of me. Used magic missiles and chill cloud depending on mob density.
Oh and with my cleric out I never really even needed to watch my pots, otherwise with my wolf or phoera I bought from the auction house I would go through some pots but I always make more money than I spend in pots.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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terradraconisMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 17Arc User
So if I understand this right, you read the class title being "Control Wizard" so you said to yourself. OK! I'll fill up all my spell slots with CC spells and then go kill stuff! Then when it didn't work instead of adjusting your strategy or trying something else you decided the CW is bad and came here to complain?
I leveled from 1-60 solo, doing every single quest in every zone often times pulling 2+ groups at once and NEVER died. Well ok to be fair I had 1 death on the flying island when I... well... I fell off of it >.> But that has nothing to do with my CW. I also used different companions and didn't really need health potions unless I accidentally pulled multiple packs. And I didn't use the AH or 5mans for gear, I just used whatever gear quests gave me etc. So its clearly doable, you're just doing something very wrong.
Just because it has the word control in it doesn't mean you should fill your ENTIRE bar with control spells. You still need to do damage to actually solo things, that's how builds work.
Like you didn't invest in Arcane Singularity... ok, why not? You went for Opressive Force, saw that it sucked and then decided to just not put a point into Arcane Singularity? Which btw is the best "control" spell in the entire game and probably the best daily CWs have.
Or your at-will power, you should be using Arcane Missiles. Its the basic bread and butter of At-wills, Chill Ray (was that its name? I forget) is useful in some situations like when 1v1ing a big mob or in PvP but its not suppose to be your primary go-to ability.
There's tons of great abilities that are amazing for soloing. If you deliberately decided to ignore anything that doesn't control then you're handicapping yourself. Don't expect that to work in any game.
I heavily use a mix of control and area of effect spells. Does wonders at dealing with the 1 bar foes while letting m disrupt my tougher foes with the control spells while saturating them with magic missiles or chill cloud depending on if I need extra AOE or not.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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ninesleeMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 15Arc User
Nineslee, hmm. I have Chill Strike in Mastery. It does more damage, is pretty much my only damage spell but also causes Chill, and supposedly shatters to do area damage.
I will give Conduit of Ice a try, with the idea that it does area damage. But with its low damage, I dont see how it helps against serious aggro.
The Wizard cannot survive being the focus of aggro.
The main advantage of CoI in the mastery slot is that it adds chills (5x over the whole length of the spell) which slows the mobs and gives you better chance of kiting them (if you use your teleport right).
About the Chillstrike, I might do that when I hit 60 .. but there's no need for it now.
Comments
Trying to be kind, I did not. A well-built striker should destroy single targets much better.
You build a "I'll hold him, you hit him" wizard. I built a "I'll hold him, and there may not be anyone around to hit them so I need to be able to take care of myself."
I suspect my CC capabilities are not much different than yours.
To be fair, "I'll hold him, you hit him" is exactly what a "controller" means. The problem is, it is inappropriate in the context of soloing.
Also, the Wizard can only "hold" one target. And is powerless against multiple heavy-damage aggro.
The Shepherd quest you mention, for instance, I did earlier - I'm a about 6 or so past that one now. It was pretty easy - did it as a 32 (made 33 during).
If you mean the street where you first zone into the area that has a set of mobs to the right, and another set to the left - I can run through there and I don't aggro anyone - no problems avoiding fights there at all if I want to. This is why I was asking about your hireling - maybe he's pulling aggro that my companion does not.
I leveled from 1-60 solo, doing every single quest in every zone often times pulling 2+ groups at once and NEVER died. Well ok to be fair I had 1 death on the flying island when I... well... I fell off of it >.> But that has nothing to do with my CW. I also used different companions and didn't really need health potions unless I accidentally pulled multiple packs. And I didn't use the AH or 5mans for gear, I just used whatever gear quests gave me etc. So its clearly doable, you're just doing something very wrong.
Just because it has the word control in it doesn't mean you should fill your ENTIRE bar with control spells. You still need to do damage to actually solo things, that's how builds work.
Like you didn't invest in Arcane Singularity... ok, why not? You went for Opressive Force, saw that it sucked and then decided to just not put a point into Arcane Singularity? Which btw is the best "control" spell in the entire game and probably the best daily CWs have.
Or your at-will power, you should be using Arcane Missiles. Its the basic bread and butter of At-wills, Chill Ray (was that its name? I forget) is useful in some situations like when 1v1ing a big mob or in PvP but its not suppose to be your primary go-to ability.
There's tons of great abilities that are amazing for soloing. If you deliberately decided to ignore anything that doesn't control then you're handicapping yourself. Don't expect that to work in any game.
I have noticed times, my Wizard suddenly leaped into combat stance. I looked around to see what was going on, and it was because my Manatarms was engaged with monster. Until now I assumed the monster noticed my Wizard. But its possible the Manatarms is provoking nearby fights.
Similarly, in the recent fight I mentioned earlier. The Manatarms ran ahead to attack a monster, before I did anything. Its possible, he is finding idle monsters. But much of the time, he leaves nearby monsters alone. So, Im unsure what the pattern is. Maybe he leaves them alone, but they dont leave him alone if they notice him.
The streets of Helms Hold is not the most dangerous place for a solo CW either. You will die while soloing, just take it as an opportunity to learn about your powers and the encounter that got you. And no, not every build should be viable solo, especially not ones that do not build upon the strengths of the class (in the case of CW: AoE damage and lots of it).
Anyway.
The game should rename the Wizard a Striker Wizard, primarily a Striker who only dabbles in Control secondariy.
Clearly, the only viable Wizard build is a Striker build with max dps.
Kill the aggro before it can reach you.
Sounds like this is likely the crux of your problem really. You made a team based build to solo with.
Did I read earlier that yoy also didn't bother getting steal time? That is one of the best control spell for soloing imho. You would likely call me a striker also but am more of a solo control build.
Did very little research on builds fyi;
I run with Storm(sudden storm?-cone one) In AM. I just like the damage and dot aspect in mastery and find it easy to use
Encounter are shield, steal time and shard of avalanch.
When see a tougher group I start the shard, when rushed I hit steal time(stunned), if multiple high hp mobs are present I adjust position(if needed) and use storm. Any left I loose the shard(which likely added an arcane stack) and cause damage/knockdown, still any left I can pop the shield and cause damage/knockback. Pick off any leftovers with MM and with minimized refresh timers im just about to able to restart the process. Aside from storm I consider all "control" spells.
That said im making two CW. This one is all force/lightning other will be all cold.
I imagine only a very specialized build could be able to go toe to toe with much of any group and come out looking very well. Hit and run is the way of the solo CW imo. Just finished leveling to 60 with minimal grouping with little trouble. Die occassionally but without that risk whats the point?
To sum it up you are trying to fit a round peg in a square hole in soloing with youre build. This all just imho though. TC.
*shrug* it happened. I have no reason to lie to you, I never once died while soloing regular mobs. I died once to falling off a cliff which was funny, and obviously when my group wiped in the few dungeons I did. I die plenty in PvP as well. But solo? Not really.
Mind you there was some close calls. Arcane Singularity saved my hide while I dodge and wait for health pot to recharge. But close calls only happen when I pulled 2-3+ groups at once by accident. If you find yourself often fighting more than 1 group then its a problem with you or your companion agroing too much.
Not even close, mobs WILL reach you. That's what dodge is for, you have a fast recharging blink and health pots for a reason. Its not like health pots are expansive either, you get dozens of them. They're not there just to look pretty and not be used.
I used a mix of control abilities (entangling, arcane singularity), damage (sudden storm) and defensive (shield). The key word is balance, what I DIDN'T do is make a 1 dimensional character that only focuses on CC, or only on damage. Those don't work as well for solo content. You're making a 1 trick pony and its not working. That's basic principle of most solo RPG games, its no different in Neverwinter.
Its called a control wizard because you do have access to the most control spells of all the classes. That doesn't mean that ALL you do is control.
If you look at end-game dungeons you'll see control wizard really do focus on control, mostly Arcane Singularity and Knockbacks. But that synergies well with the damage etc. of their group members. As solo you're a group of 1, you need to cover all areas by yourself. What you're doing is akin to a dungeon group that brought 5 controllers and no other classes.
Elf Control Wizard - Dragon
a) Wizards by their nature are squishy, always have always will be, part of their nature.
b) The wizard in this game is one the LEAST squishy mages i've ever seen in a game/MMO. Just the fact you can solo above lvl 10, not to mention 30!( Im currently on lvl 45 and doing fine solo) should tell you that he isn't squishy at all. And I didn't spend a single penny on any item or gear for "pay-2-win".
I think you just need to "train" a little bit with him, learn to chain and synergize your spells better
EDIT: also, I don't use shield at all, I use Tabbed Chill Strike like most, Its an excellent opener and sometimes enough to 1-shoot a small group, then, before i got Steal Time I had CoI which I would throw right into he oncoming mob for extra dmg, then use sudden storm on the group coming into you. If by then they aren't all dead or very close to, I start teleporting around, while entangling usally the strongest to keep him away, by that time most of your spells should be ready to fire again.
For Dailies I use Ice Storm mainly in PVE soloing, which I replace with Singularity for the rare times imin a party (better to help concentrate them, than knocking back all the mobs from the party). And now I always have Ice Dagger as 2nd daily for big dmg on Big Bads when the mobs are down.
Yes some fancy footwork and potions are necessary, hardly wasting all your money on, but you just need to learn to move :P
The original post was (a) squishy (b) because I pull so much random aggro.
I just experimented and walked from the zone entrance to the tavern. No pulls. I think you should look at your pathing.
Just like how a Great Weapon Fighter and Guardian Fighter are both Defenders. Except GWF is more dps oriented, but still does less dps than a real Striker but is tankier. Whereas GF is focused on tanking.
In the War Wizard's case, it is more dps oriented than the Controller wizard, but focuses more on AoE dps than single target dps like Strikers do.
The "Guardian Fighter" corresponds to the 4e "Knight" Fighter, a Defender.
The bottom line is:
In the Neverwinter game, the "Controller" Wizard is an invalid design. It is unsuitable for a game that assumes solo adventures.
Also, the Wizard is too dependent on healing potions, too squishy.
If the Non-Striker "Controller" build is going to work, the design for it needs to be more effective at controlling multiple high level targets. Especially, those multiple high level targets that are surrounding and pursuing the Wizard. Disabling those surrounding attackers also helps the Wizard be less squishy by reducing the frequency of multiple attacks at once.
The following Non-DPS powers and feats intend to control surrounding multiple targets but fail to do their job adequately.
- Icy Terrain, encounter (lame, sometimes helps, seems to synergize with the Chilling Presence feature, but ultimately inadequate)
- Oppressive Force, daily (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, I took it, and it is so unhelpful I dont bother using it, as surrounding targets remain and continue attacking)
- Storm Fury, feature (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, seems to never do anything ever)
- Severe Reaction, feat (<font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, 15% chance of a push away proves too seldom to do the job against surrounding attackers)
The following powers seem to help to control surrounding multiple targets.
- Ice Storm, daily (awesome, but actually causes massive aggro to arrive afterward, similar to how the Devoted Cleric heal spell causes massive aggro, except the Wizard is too squishy to deal with it)
- Shield (good, didnt take, but has good reputation)
- Arcane Singularity (awesome, didnt take, but has good reputation)
- Steal Time (awesome, cant take it yet, but certainly will when I reach its level)
The valid Wizard build optimizes around DPS, power, and critical strike. In other words, a damage-dealing Striker.
Finished this earlier, also no problems.
No, I think it fits thematically in the D&D 4e them pretty well. Yes, the system is hella different - but the concept holds. Everyone does some damage + something. Maybe it's more buffs, more AoEs, more CC .. or for Strikers, more damage. For controllers, it's a mix of AoE and CC.
Besides, there's the long-standing D&D saying ... the best CC is "dead".
The "best" wizard doesn't short one tool in the arsenal at the expense of others - but I think to you that's what "controller" means. This is the equivalent of playing an enchanter-only in 3.5 and carrying no weapons. Yes, you're going to suck solo - that doesn't mean the wizard platform is bad, but that instead you built a valid but very limited character. Your choice, your limitation. Like people who want to play the archer who doesn't even carry a knife. Your choice, your limitation. That doesn't make you a better archer / ranger / whatever necessarily.
Not sure what to tell you..... I lvled from 1-60 solo with out much problem. I was never in any real danger of being exploded. I controlled the fight and dominated it. I am full Renegade spec. I ran MM/ROF Tab was chill spike. Q was COI. E was Sudden Storm for aoe or ROF for boss fights. R was choke. I used Arcane singularity and Ice knife.
I never used more pots then I found was never over lvled. Actually underlvled when and had to do PVP to catch up.
I even use the dog companion because I kited so well the dog was icing on the cake.
The "Renegade" is a Striker, primarily, not a Controller. It is THE Striker build for a Wizard, optimizing around damage and critical strikes.
Atwills
• Magic Missile = DPS
Encounters
• Sudden Storm = DPS
• Chill Strike = DPS
• Ice Knife = DPS
• Entangling Force often classifies as a control spell. But is so effective at shutting down a single target, it functions as if one-shotting the target. Defacto it is a Striker power.
Now, to be fair, your build dabbles in Controller secondarily.
• Ray of Frost, atwill, is a control spell, and (when the bug doesnt prevent it from working) is mainly suitable for a single target.
• Arcane Singularity, is a control spell, and apparently is effective versus multiple high-level targets.
So, Ray of Frost is only a backup while Magic Missile is the goto atwill anyway. Despite Arcane Singularity, which is the only main control spell - and indeed functions to set up massive area damage - the Renegade build is a Striker and survives by dealing massive damage. Your chosen build optimizes around dps, and I assume you are optimizing around the stats for power and critical strike too. Probably, your chosen feats optimize for dps and crit too.
The Striker Wizard is a valid design.
We can control 1 target near infinitely or multiple targets for a brief time. Unfortunately the latter requires Arcane Singularity and/or Steal Time neither of which you have so... you're kinda boned there.
I do agree some control spells are highly underwhelming, such as Icy Terrain. Maybe they need buffs. But I don't think the style you envision is ever gonna be possible. We'll still need to have enough DPS in our builds to kill stuff before our control runs out, and it WILL run out when facing multiple targets. Its just too OP to expect a class to be able to infinitely control more than 1 high power mob.
Basically right now a control builds looks like something like this:
3-4 control spells (Arcane Sin, Steal Time, Entangling Force)
The rest DPS
A Striker builds looks something like this:
0-1 control spells (mostly Arcane Sin)
The Rest DPS, mostly AoE DPS to clear packs before they kill you abusing Shield defense and good teleports
One build kills stuff outright, the other controls it briefly (if multiple mobs) or near-infinitely (if single mob) and kills it while its controlled.
To answer your squishiness problem - both builds rely on Shield while soloing for defense, it makes a tremendous difference.
I would like to remind those of you that top DPS charts with glass cannon items (stacking power / crit / armor pen) that regeneration and life steal are the offset. If you stack a bit of Regen and a bit more life steal you will quit using potions all that often. Because we (CW's) are masters of AoE we have burst healing with Life steal as it is generated not only through at-will attacks but ALL attacks. So if you are like me you put Chill strike in the tab position and start your fights with it. When it explodes in a pack of mobs it does a significant amount of healing.
The only issue with Life steal is that I don't think Life "Steal" is an accurate depiction of what it does. It heals you for damage done, Stealing life would mean that a percentage of your damage was converted to "Life Steal" and that would be damage as well.
Beyond the point, a healthy mix of Regen and Life Steal while stacking power and crit majoirity keeps us alive.
Err ok, if you say that, but I did solo Helmshold. I was using shield and umm, the lighting strike to clear squishies from around me. Typically fired up the shield, froze and channeled my nastiest foe, swept squishies with the lighting strike power in a line infront of me. Used magic missiles and chill cloud depending on mob density.
Oh and with my cleric out I never really even needed to watch my pots, otherwise with my wolf or phoera I bought from the auction house I would go through some pots but I always make more money than I spend in pots.
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I heavily use a mix of control and area of effect spells. Does wonders at dealing with the 1 bar foes while letting m disrupt my tougher foes with the control spells while saturating them with magic missiles or chill cloud depending on if I need extra AOE or not.
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The main advantage of CoI in the mastery slot is that it adds chills (5x over the whole length of the spell) which slows the mobs and gives you better chance of kiting them (if you use your teleport right).
About the Chillstrike, I might do that when I hit 60 .. but there's no need for it now.