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((T2)) Thaumaturge Spec/Powers/Role

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  • roidragemltroidragemlt Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    First of all thanks for this build! I just tried in in spider and its simply great. I'm using icy terrain over shield for trash though as I feel the added chill stacks are beneficial, not to mention the mobs get frozen quicker. Icy terrain works very well since this build is more of a melee mage build. I have full shadow weavers so in order to make use of the 4pc bonus, I have to be in close range so this build is perfect with a shadow weaver set. I still have to try out the High Vizier set to see how it compares. I just need the helm grrrr

    Now to my question. You mentioned that you dont need over 1000 Arp with this build. My problem is that with my current gear, full shadow weavers and ancient orb/talisman, I only have about 154 Arp. Any ideas on how i can get more arp? Most CW items dont offer Arp at all except for the PvP set
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    First of all thanks for this build! I just tried in in spider and its simply great. I'm using icy terrain over shield for trash though as I feel the added chill stacks are beneficial, not to mention the mobs get frozen quicker. Icy terrain works very well since this build is more of a melee mage build. I have full shadow weavers so in order to make use of the 4pc bonus, I have to be in close range so this build is perfect with a shadow weaver set. I still have to try out the High Vizier set to see how it compares. I just need the helm grrrr

    Now to my question. You mentioned that you dont need over 1000 Arp with this build. My problem is that with my current gear, full shadow weavers and ancient orb/talisman, I only have about 154 Arp. Any ideas on how i can get more arp? Most CW items dont offer Arp at all except for the PvP set

    - Do you have a Cat or Ion Stone? One of those can easily add 2500 in stats.
    - What are you using for enchants? That's the next obvious route to take.
    - Use a blue belt. Lots of Berseker Belts have ArP then you can add more ArP in the now extra Offensive Slot that comes with the belt.

    Also regarding your replacement of Shield with Icy Terrain. In my opinion that is a mistake. In fact I dont think any CW, no matter the spec, should remove Shield off their bar. It's one of our best damaging AoE, but more importantly our only way to fill up our AP instantly without slotting Entangling Force.
    If you want to keep Icy Terrain, then I suggest the following...Put CoI on Tab, then the rest is Icy Terrain, Steel Time, Shield. You can then switch the 5 points in Snap Freeze into Tempest Magic. You will be a Freezing Machine, CoI will alwayd do max damage plus an extra Tick. You will generate good AP. In fact, depending how the Cleric nerf plays out in our next T2s, I might have to do that myself.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • roidragemltroidragemlt Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    What do you mean blue shield exactly? Also, I'm using the Ioun Stone currently geared towards crit/recovery. Guess I'd need to tweak the little guy a bit to include Arp
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    What do you mean blue shield exactly? Also, I'm using the Ioun Stone currently geared towards crit/recovery. Guess I'd need to tweak the little guy a bit to include Arp

    Sorry, I fixed that. I meant Blue Belt.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    what does elemental empowerment work on? chill strike, ice rays and icy terrain do not seem to trigger it.

    the only thing i can get it to work with is conduit of ice.

    and im pretty sure chill strike does not work with snap freeze, im testing on dummies and its just doing the regular damage.
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
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  • masabooooooomasabooooooo Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 36
    edited June 2013
    I saw your build, have some questions.
    There you putted much effort on AoE spec(feat, evocation).
    I don't know about shield because it doesn't show any damage, but for others, only (spell mastery chill strike) and (steal time) are getting bonus damage from AoE spec. Pretty sure chill strike deal good damage but steal time is for CC doesn't deal much damage.
    I cannot see the benefits from specing on AoE feats and Evocation, any reason you spec into those?

    Sorry for unskilled english.
  • grich111grich111 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    is this build still relevent after the recent patch? i'm looking for a good CW build for T2 dungeons :)
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    UPDATE: POST-Patch

    Ok, I don't know how many of you ran T2s after today's update. But things are somewhat different. CWs and TRs to a lesser degree, are definitely getting clobbered now. The DC not being able to have Astra Shield up 100% of the time shifts the responsibility of party survivability onto the CW. In other words we need to do more control. So this how I slotted today and it worked perfectly.

    Conduit of Ice on TAB, Icy Terrain, Steel Time and Shield. With CoI and Icy Terrain, everything gets frozen very quickly, steel times stuns in between the freezes is just perfect. Chilling Cloud even better with the update maintain maximum chills which leads to higher damage on Conduit.

    Damage output didn't change at all to my surprise. The bigger radius of CoI debuffing more mobs plus its extra tick and dealing maximum damage from the constant chills stacks, more than compensates the loss of Chill Strike on tab.

    As a result, I think removing the 5 points in Snap Freeze and putting them in Tempest Magic, would be more beneficial since there wont be any opportunity where our targets dont have a chill.
    grimah wrote: »
    what does elemental empowerment work on? chill strike, ice rays and icy terrain do not seem to trigger it.

    the only thing i can get it to work with is conduit of ice.

    and im pretty sure chill strike does not work with snap freeze, im testing on dummies and its just doing the regular damage.

    Pre-patch it was definitely working with Chill Strike for the cold powers. With my switch of Powers slotted, it is working with both CoI, Icy Terrain, Steel Time and Shield to proc both the cold and arcane effects. Now here is the best part. Chilling Cloud THIRD hit procs Elemental Empowerment!
    I saw your build, have some questions.
    There you putted much effort on AoE spec(feat, evocation).
    I don't know about shield because it doesn't show any damage, but for others, only (spell mastery chill strike) and (steal time) are getting bonus damage from AoE spec. Pretty sure chill strike deal good damage but steal time is for CC doesn't deal much damage.
    I cannot see the benefits from specing on AoE feats and Evocation, any reason you spec into those?

    Sorry for unskilled english.

    Both Shield and Steel Time are a must. You play enough T2s and you will see that they are indispensable. Aside from their incredible utility, they do pump out a TON of damage. If you log your entire T2 run, and import it into ACT, you will be shocked at how much Shield and even Steel time contribute to your total damage. On the last CN run I logged, out of 30mil damage, Shield and Steel time contributed to 8.8mil. That's almost a third. Granted that the last fight favors Shield Pulse, but even on a regular T2 run, both of these Powers would equal 1/4 of your damage.

    You can not build a spec predicting what cryptic considers AoE from one day to the next. I also can't test the effects of feats with every patch or update. After today, they now have a few of our Powers count as DoTs. What does this mean, I have no idea. Are AoE dots not AoE powers? The feats do work on enough of our powers to still make them worth it. Plus there isn't much that's more attractive in the heroic feats.

    With Regards to Evocation, it's only because Chilling Cloud makes EotS go nuts. You can trigger 100% crit non-stop, or you can never get the buff again for an entire fight. It's very weird. If you are ok with that, switch Evocation with EotS.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • crystal892fcrystal892f Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 385 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    copticone, how do you think about Chilling Presence vs. Evocation now post-patch?
    I'm undecided which one to use. I mean, since your Chill Stacks now also stay even when frozen, Chilling Presence grants you 3% * 6 Chill Stacks = 18% damage increase max vs Evocations 15% more AoE damage all the time.
    The 15% all the time still sounds better, but do (post-patch) all your powers (Chilling Cloud 3rd hit, CoI on Spell Mastery, Icy Terrain, Shield and Steal Time) get buffed by Evocation now (or not anymore - look at the bug reports :/)? Any data on this yet?
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    copticone, how do you think about Chilling Presence vs. Evocation now post-patch?
    I'm undecided which one to use. I mean, since your Chill Stacks now also stay even when frozen, Chilling Presence grants you 3% * 6 Chill Stacks = 18% damage increase max vs Evocations 15% more AoE damage all the time.
    The 15% all the time still sounds better, but do (post-patch) all your powers (Chilling Cloud 3rd hit, CoI on Spell Mastery, Icy Terrain, Shield and Steal Time) get buffed by Evocation now (or not anymore - look at the bug reports :/)? Any data on this yet?

    Right now with the new updates, I am slotting CoI, Icy Terrain, Steel Time, and Shield. If all are considered AoE for the purpose of damage calculation, then I would say Evocation is better. If 1 or 2 of them aren't making use of Evocation, then Chilling Presence would be better.
    I would have to respec and test both Features to see what powers are affected by evocation. But just looking at how they fix things here, this could easily change from one update to the next. Frankly I am sick and tired of doing Cryptic's job. We shouldn't waste AD, $$, or even our Time, testing things that should have been clearly described in the Tooltips.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • ttupalattupala Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Is this guide/build updated for version NW.3.20130529d.6? :confused:
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    ttupala wrote: »
    Is this guide/build updated for version NW.3.20130529d.6? :confused:

    If you mean as of 6-13-2013, then yes :)
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • ttupalattupala Member Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Yes, that's what i mean. Thank you! :)
  • masabooooooomasabooooooo Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 36
    edited June 2013
    Thanks for the answer :)

    Currently only (steal time) and (Shield pluse) getting advantage from AoE buff, seems having 6% and 9% only for them is not big deal I think, and seems Learned Spellcaster gives 5% buff on all damage ( it said based on inteligence but actually its on top of inteligence). If COI and Ice terrain(bugged and never crit) will calculated as AoE, it seems good but not now?

    Eye of the storm has Internal cooldown which is 30sec. This CD start when the skill triggers, so actual CD is only 22sec when Rank 3. So every 8/30 sec is 100% crit at all the fight. I tried to and EotS triggers within 4sec all time so when i hit dummy I hit 16/68sec 100% crit and for other time about 35% crit. which makes huge buff rather than putting Evocation.
  • ramiauramiau Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    copticone wrote: »
    UPDATE: POST-Patch

    As a result, I think removing the 5 points in Snap Freeze and putting them in Tempest Magic, would be more beneficial since there wont be any opportunity where our targets dont have a chill.

    Is a good move, but there is a conflict ... where will you reallocate then the reaper's touch feat points?.
    Leaving aside tiefling racial not working with tempest magic, but thats a minor issue, many people dont roll the tail guys and *hopefully* will get fixed, as you said we can't exclude all the feats that are bugged/doesnt work properly until they do so, respecs are extremely expensive compared to other shop features of more relevance on purpouse (see a correlation here ;-)

    Also for some specific runs / soloing foundries, or whatever you decide to slot chill strike on mastery after a regular coi for a high punch (going more dps focused, leaving the chill power setup aside) or entangling force tabbed or not, snap freeze can be a good boost to compensate blighting power + bitter cold 14% dmg if the targets are not chilled,it opens more flexibility on powers setup change on the run without loosing so much damage.
    Or you still value the 15% dmg from reapers touch in your given playing style that seems to go more on close quarters with foes with icy terrain + focusing on chilling them, also can be still useful on pvp.
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    i tested it again, elemental empowerment does not trigger on anything but CoI. and snap freeze isnt working with any spells.

    If you say it is working, can you please post a screenshot of your combat log?
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • aylimeiaylimei Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I've just switched to this spec the other day and used the 'original' setup in Spellplague just now, I only have 1 problem, Now I draw too much aggro and not enuff AP. Im currently

    Power: 3237
    Crit: 2201 (400 off Focal Magi Gear)
    ArP: 953
    Recovery: 3282 (400 Off High Viz Gear)
    Def: 1634

    This is in 2p High Viz & 2p Focal Magi gear (w/ Focal Orb), I've re enchanted Myself and Cat for ArP to get it close to the recommended 1000 but AP Regen is a pain, im waiting for at least a group of 6-8+ adds for Singularity/Shield/Steal Time and it will only give me about 50% maybe of my AP gem. Any ideas how to pump this up? Do I need more power, I just bought the High Viz chest and still need the head, havent slotted it until I do, but yea, Damage is crazy, Aggro is nuts, but AP just isn't happening :(
    ~ 60 CW ~ <Brothers till Death> ~ Dragon Server ~
  • crystal892fcrystal892f Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 385 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    aylimei wrote: »
    but AP Regen is a pain, im waiting for at least a group of 6-8+ adds for Singularity/Shield/Steal Time
    What about CoI? Because of the AoE it should hit many targets (especially in Spell Mastery) and refill your AP also a lot.
    And Icy Terrain should refill your AP when enemies are chilled (I read it somewhere - can't remember), but the enemies should be chilled all the time.
    So even with all 4 powers you don't get full AP from 6 - 8 adds? I find this quite impossible. :D
  • grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    okay now chill strike is working with elemental empower, but icy and ice rays not still..

    wtf is going on.
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    @masabooooooo Are you sure about Learned Spellcaster? Since Open Beta, it's been always skipped because it only added a minuscule 5% of your current bonus. So you are saying that now it is a flat 5% added on top? Did you confirm that yourself or can you share where you got that info? Obviously if you are correct then any CW should get it, no matter the spec.

    Regarding EotS. I do not know how in the world you are getting EotS to work with Chilling Cloud. I've tested this over and over and only 2 things happen. Either a 100% uptime of EotS as long as I am spamming Chilling Cloud, or 0% uptime after the buff falls off. This bug doesn't happen with Magic Missile.

    @ramiau I decided to keep Reaper's Touch. Even after the nerf, 15% extra damage for Chilling Cloud is pretty good. I find myself constantly within 20ft of mobs, so it is pretty much always active.
    I hardly run any Foundaries. I do not think it is worth it to invest in feats just for running Foundary missions. In the end, it's still up to you. There is definitely some wiggle room in this build. So you can play around with 5 points as you please. To me, maximizing my CW for T2-T3 is more important.

    @aylimei Spellplague shouldn't be run with the typical slotting I mentioned in the OP. There are two ways to do Spellplague. One, is to slot Entangling Force on Mastery, to generate a ton of AP and throw adds by the dozen over the side. The other way is to slot Repel in Mastery and just spam it on small groups as they come in.
    With regards to AP generation, the Thaumaturge tree in general actually generates more AP. My current setup after yesterday's Update generate more AP then original setup in the OP. I now am slotting CoI in Mastery, then Icy Terrain, Steel Time, and Shield. With that I am refilling AP quite fast. But in any fight where you need instant AP regen, you must slot Entangling Force in Mastery.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • banecrushrbanecrushr Member Posts: 129 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    Ok, edited and removed stupidity of asking question which was answered above! Dang it and I thought about keeping RT and went with tempest for those 5 pts... yesh respec here I come
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    Thats great news son, now we can attack from ALL sides"!
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Elemental Empowerment:

    Ok bear in mind that you if do not have my build with the same feats, you may get different results. This is proven with EotS and other things. That said, the following procs Elemental Empowerment:

    Cold Effect:-
    Chilling Cloud (On the third hit)
    Conduit of Ice

    Arcane Effect:-
    Steel Time
    Shield Pulse
    Entangling Force
    Repel
    Ray of Enfeeblement!! (But in a seriously bugged way, as it looks like it's giving the target a buff, DONT use it)

    So from the looks of it. Elemental Empowerment is AWESOME, specifically for this build.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • bolondronbolondron Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Sorry if this is a dumb question, but why do you say

    > (And in my case +1350def and -1350def, assuming set bonus working/will be working properly, from High Vizier’s set.)

    When High Vizier set bonus is "Your control powers steal 450 Defence from your target, increasing your Defence by that amount."

    It's 450, not 1350. What am I missing?
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    bolondron wrote: »
    Sorry if this is a dumb question, but why do you say

    > (And in my case +1350def and -1350def, assuming set bonus working/will be working properly, from High Vizier’s set.)

    When High Vizier set bonus is "Your control powers steal 450 Defence from your target, increasing your Defence by that amount."

    It's 450, not 1350. What am I missing?

    You will often have 3 stacks of it. Using Shield Pulse for example gives you 3 stacks instantly.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • bolondronbolondron Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    copticone wrote: »
    You will often have 3 stacks of it. Using Shield Pulse for example gives you 3 stacks instantly.

    Ah of course. I had no idea it stacked. That is awesome.
  • ttnugettnuge Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hmmmm, interesting results with the new patch and this build. Thanks for everyone who has contributed.

    I just recently hit 60, picked up a full set of High Viziers (6 pieces) as well as some purple rings and neck pieces. I still need to get a decent belt. I have some glory as well as the PvP weapon and off-hand I could use if I want. Right now I have 3 regular Tene's and 3 Greater Tene's sitting in my inventory trying to decide if I should enchant with them or not. I was thinking of using the 3 Greaters, selling the 3 regular ones and getting some ArPen Rank 7's since the price is similar. I also have the Stone companion so I can gain enchantment bene's there too.

    Thoughts? Tenes? ArPen? Recovery? Crit? A balance of all? What are people finding to be the best balance?
  • bolondronbolondron Member Posts: 11 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    One more question, I was looking at the various feats going into this build and whatnot, and I see a very reoccurring theme of mitigation reduction. So, you say "With this build you don’t need more than 1000 ArP" - I'm thinking, do you actually need *any* ArP at all? Between Assailing Force, Elemental Emp., Plague Fire, plus everyone else's mitigation reduction powers in the party, could you not just ignore armor penetration entirely and put that into crit or recovery? Or is it a matter of diminishing returns so you might as well get some ArP in there even if it's beyond what you need most of the time?
  • copticonecopticone Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    @ttnuge and @bolondron

    My advice is to run some T2s with the current update and see what is happening. Run T2s with just 1DC and you as the only CW. The last thing you should worry about is increasing your damage. With this build, you will be doing a ton of damage regardless. So just see how the run ends. Were you successful in clearing the entire dungeon? Is everything going smoothly? Did you grab a ton of aggro and died often? What could you have contributed more of to make things better?
    After a day or two of running some T2s you'll be able to answer your own questions. If everything was so easy and smooth, then go ahead and add ArP or Greater Tenebs. Why not? If however things were rough, you died often. Astral Shield not being up all the time now forces you to do things differently. etc... then no amount of ArP or Tenebs would make your situation better. Instead you might consider stacking defense. Hec there are some who are seriously considering Enchanting Lifedrinker and stacking Lifesteal. So in other words you would be thinking defensively, since that would be the core of your issues. Adding to your damage wont help the situation.
    With regards to ArP. From my experience and what others are saying, it stacks on top of all the feats that debuff the resistance of mobs. So it is still not useless with all these debuffs.
    Check out my personal Nerf Proof T2 Thaumaturge Build.
  • gallantflamegallantflame Member Posts: 28 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Thank you so much for this, only being playing a month and really need some good advise so I can spend my respec wisely.
  • jalfreyjalfrey Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    What ability stats do you recommend for this build? I currently have 20 int, 13 wis, 15 char with all my points to spend (just respecced).

    Also, wrt to my Ioun stone, I already have Profanes in the Offence slots instead of Eldritch (I was originally building for crit not armor pen) is it ok to put darks in my rings instead, since I really don't want to pay the cost of pulling the profane 8s out of my pet offense slots.

    Also, I am thinking Plague Fire is probably best for my weapon enhancement but what about armor, I can't for the life of me decide which one, I was originally going to go with Fireburst because I figured it might look cool and do a little extra damage but now I don't know.
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