should i respec my CW?

maarghaan979 · January 2014

im reading alot lately that fire CW are useless in PVP comparing to lightning CW... what makes lightning CW better in PVP?

also i would like to know if i respec my CW can i choose other path (change to lightning)?... tnx

EDIT: btw.. which path gives more DPS... i saw in dungeons some lightning CWs with less GS then me that doing much more dmg, even im very dps build with lots of crits)

chaoscourtesan · January 2014

You are asking about effectiveness in PvP and then in PvE in the same post.

I don't do PvP, so I have nothing to say about that.. but I know that what works well there often doesn't work well in PvE and vice versa. I also know that people in PvP are concerned with class balance issues that are often not evident in PvE and again, vice versa.

I am pending respeccing my own CW. I haven't done it because I do not have the gear set I want to end with, and it matters to me.

But really, all I ever wanted from a guide was to tell me which powers work like they say they do and which don't. So- consider that I am talking totally for PvE only.

These are the best two posts I've found.. one for storm and one for fire. Hope it helps in some way, but it's all I have to offer. I am not confident enough to tell you that one thing is better than another.. I can say that my CW is as she was leveled, not from a guide- just what made sense at the time, with a 2/2 gear set that includes two pieces from Shadow Weaver and two from Magelord. She consistently places top or second in executioner and paingiver in dungeons and skirmishes. But I will also say that I always feel like she should have done better- which is why I think I need better gear and a respec.

These two links have good info regards fire and storm. There are others that have good info as well. Take it for what it's worth. I'm sure someone will come along with better info than I am offering.

Storm

Fire

focusman · January 2014

If tou want dps, then Spellstorm is your path. I dont like fire because the damage is very dissappointing. The two links above are very viable, also take a look at Stoxs dps thaum build. For myself I took a bit of both (grimah, stox) which I think gives more dps, but that are such minor differences, you will hardly notice that. I posted my build on my twitch channel, so if curious click the link under my name.

PvP, don't bother with flame path compared to Spellstorm. I somewhat hope they will buff the flane because I do like the spells etc, but the damage is far less.

intoxicatedknigh · January 2014

As far as PVP goes spell storm mage is OP out of the two, Damage over time in PVP isnt that effective when regen & lifesteal is commonly high in pvp, your DOT becomes useless. Now with that said, I have seen a MOF build or two that can hold its own in PVP,, but your not going to win any awards as the ole addage goes. my advice in pvp.

1. if you don't have really decent gear (for now HV set, Perfect vorpal and either barksheild or Soulforge, rank 8 or up enchants) sorry to say its just not gonna be Uber fun in PVP ,,,, this game is very gear dependant) (this is subject to change after the pvp patch when the PVP sets become So much more important in PVP because of the new resistance defense pvp stat on those items)
use your shield as your defense till you get better gear it does help in pvp if you are low Geared)

2. understand its common knowledge that Control Wizards are by their name control oriented, what i use in pvp, people have differently methods but this is what i do when i play on my CW. I use shield (low gear so gotta survive somewhat). depending on the opponent, Entangling force, ICy rays on Tab ( pros and cons to this, pro being HUGE damage result if it crits and lands on someone whose not in that astral sheild of a DC, con the recharge time is longer than say Ray of enfeeblement). and ray of enfeeblement. ill sometimes swap things around on the fly, repel if i see there's no GFs that are tabbing their shield (repel is useless if it cant push), chillstrike if its up against another cw, or maybe sudden storm if I'm fighting say a TR who DOESN'T know what he/she are doing. I personally think sudden storm is too close for comfort combat for a CW, so i wont use it often though.

3. find your own fighting style and if you can , think out side of the box and look at it like a chess game. outsmarting the Foe by doing things that CWs dont normally do. and btw ,,, Utility slots ,, Use rank 7 or up Dark for speed ,, speed can be a life or death savior at times, trust me.

As far as your re-spec, if you re-spec ,, do your research, look at builds, look at the comments on builds, study what effects what, and understand you cant reset your base Roll only the stats afterward, so if you rolled for a certain build you cant change that ( they really need to fix that where you can re-roll). And most of all don't "cookie cutter" because just because a build works for one person, doesn't mean it will for the next guy , everyone has a different play style and works differently, in my opinion you can find your Niche by making something good your own, improving it altering it to your own comfort zone of play style.

deathsremnant · January 2014

Personally I dislike most of the Lighting wizard abilities and generally stick to base class abilities...the only big difference I saw was the passives...Lighting has shock by 10% on atk which is kinda decent, and a small % chance to gain 100% crit for 3 secs...while fire has a + Crit severity passive

Personally ive dont lighting and leveling a new CW to try out fire

Id say its better to try both and see what you prefer because in the end thats all that matters

hiddenfate · January 2014

I don't play PvP much, but I like to use Master of Flame with Critical Conflagration and Swath of Destruction. I didn't sink a single point into any of the other MoF powers and rely solely on those two to create smolder, and it's actually quite reliable (especially when you mix it with Icy Ground, Shard of the Avalanche, and other AoE type attacks). I still think the DPS from fire needs a bit of work though, I was definitely doing more burst damage with Eye of the Storm and I think fire needs to either last longer or have a bit more damage to pay for the damage over time vs. instant gratification.

nathyiel · January 2014

We should start a topic about what to change in MoF for making it more useful.

Like most, I use Critical Conflagration, resulting in 102% Crit Severity (93% on tool-tip + lesser Vorpal). I switch between Swath and Chilling Presence. I use Furious Immolation and FtF but only for daily & Foundry because I need less control.

I see 2 problems :
#1 - Rimefire. It's no working like it should and it require a very specific setup : CoI on tab and Icy Terrain.
#2 - lack of distance AOE. Fanning the Flame is single target so you rely on other spell to do AOE or to slot it on tab (and Chill Strike is better here).

If I do a little coparison on gameplay with SpellStorm :
At-Will : AOE for both
Encounter : AOE with range restriction / Single Target buffed by add near it
Daily : 8 targets / 5 targets
DoT : with feature (lighting) / base line (with Feature most of the time).

My conclusion :
MoF do good damage but can be resumed to a Feature Choice (Critical Conflagration) and most of the Fire's spell have little to no use.

spacejew · January 2014

Yeah, the flame path has some weird issues that I'm not sure are intended.

1) If you crit with Fanning the Flame on tab, every hit and tick of the resulting DoT crits. This results in the original target of FoF being autocrit based on the number of DoT targets nearby, which also crit. If refreshed with any ice spell, it seems to extend the DoT as intended but it also extends the critical. I.E. you can wait until you crit, then refresh with Conduit of Ice and 'carry' your critical DoT.

2) Oppressive Force will proc the DoT on an infinite number of targets. Working as intended?

3) If the flame At-Will crits, the resulting DoT also crits. If the at-will does not crit, the DoT does not crit either. Refreshing the DoT with a critical hit, on a non-critical DoT, does not change the DoT into a crit. Very strange, and very annoying.

It's become pretty obvious that Eye of the Storm is a problem, as not having that one single class ability results in a huge DPS loss and reduced AP generation. The 15% added critical severity that is somewhat comparable (but not really) is a joke given that a widely available weapon enchantment add's 50% critical severity. The 15% crit severity is nice I guess, but for actual gameplay applications is a weak buff. (Although the ability for a renegade Flame mage to obtain a 160% critical severity is...interesting...)

My biggest issue is that the DoT simply doesn't do enough damage, and is finicky about when or if it crits. It really needs to update the DoT to a critical if the ability that proc's it crits. This is because if your first application doesn't crit, it never will if you keep refreshing it.

chemboy613 · February 2014

Looking at the ACTs i've been looking at is that MoF has very good sustained damage. Say you have 10 adds that don't die in 5 seconds, MoF does great there.

Also remember when you look at paingiver, other people get credit when they refresh your smolder ticks, and remember that swath is a debuff, so this adds tremendous value in the right situation.

The problem when people compare numbers they are looking at what does more damage in the first five seconds. There is absolutely no question that spellstorm DPS is better if the fight lasts five seconds. It's not even close.

That said, in PvP, the DoTs of MoF are very verry annoying. I get invited to premades because the DoT drives TRs crazy

As for skill comparison, immolation is better than malestorm for sure, i love immolation, FtF is limited use and doesn't have the DPS of sudden storm, but since i always hated sudden storm, I don't mind this.

If you look at sustained team DPS, critical conflagration is just as good as EotS, but since most people are looking at burst, personal DPS, they conclude spellstorm is better. It is not so much that MoF is underpowered, rather a perception issue.

kharny · February 2014

well to answer your question OP, I respec'd my flame cw yesterday into lightning cw, and I honestly think its up to preference. In terms of dps storm mage will win out in pvp by far but in PvE I think skill has much more to do with it, if you have two evenly geared CW's. for example a MoF will provide much more utility to his team as smoulder gives an 8% debuff to all adds effected by it, which is easy to proc if your using criticial conflagaration, furious immolation or fanning the flames on tab. On the flip side, MoF's sustained aoe damage cannot keep up with the raw burst of spellstorm. Right now im trying to get my hands on an archmage set to see how it fairs but one rotation will deal about as much dps as a rotation and a half of MoF, and if they land eye of the storm they can keep hurting very badly but thats just it, there is a lot of reliance on percentiles on the SSM side, where as MoF's damage is surprisingly consistant. yesterday it took me a good minute and a half to beat the dread ring boss with SSM, today it only took me 2 burst rotations and a half and an ice knife after a singulartiy.

Overall both of them have their merit, MoF tends to have less dps but i find it helps your team more, especially if your running conduit of ice or fanning the flame on tab as a thaumaturge because MoF eats up mitigation.

do you like throwing fireballs or shooting lightning?

should i respec my CW?

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