Artifacts can be an expensive piece. My first advice is to just use whatever you can get your hands on. When you can make a choice, use the stats on the artifacts to balance out the rest of your stats.
For those looking for a very value conscious artifact slate, here's where I'd go:
Leveling up, pick the Lantern of Revelation at level 20. The stats are great: Armor Penetration, Critical Strike and Combat Advantage Damage. Plus, the active power is very good for increasing the damage of a group for a few seconds. And it's free! You can stick with this one your entire career if you like.
Other two "free" artifacts that are amazing are the Sigil of the Devoted and the Sigil of the Great Weapon. The Devoted has an amazing power (quickly fills up AP), and the stats are very good. Power, Defense and Incoming Healing (which also boosts lifesteal) are a welcome defensive addition to any CW. The Great Weapon comes with HP, Power and Armor Penetration, another fantastic stat combo.
The only catch is you have to level up a Cleric and GWF to 60 to get these from the class artifact quest. But again, they're "free" and fantastic. If you have multiple toons, you'll like get a lot of use from these, so consider it if you're thinking of an alt.
Personally, I use the Devoted, Great Weapon and Kessell's Spheres of Annihilation (Power, Armor Pen, Combat Advantage). Kessel's is a great one, but it's expensive on the AH (3 million+)
Otherwise, if you've been lucky with other artifact drops, or have the money to spend, look for Power, Combat Advantage and/or AP gain from your artifacts. Combat Advantage and AP gain are harder to come by, so you'll want at least one artifact with one of these.
Here's the exert from the guide on Artifacts. I picked up Kessell's Sphere a long time ago because it had Power/Arm Pen/CA bonus, which was a super-duper sweet stat combination. But in Module 6, I think Crit Strike might ultimately be more important than power, so I think the Lantern is a fantastic choice, especially since you can get it for free.
But yes, you want to have at least one artifact with a CA damage bonus.
I'm curious if the gain of a free Daily (from Devoted) can be compared to Lantern's effect (damage increase).
In short :
16% of the damage done over 6s >= damage from free daily
If I take a 150k free Ice Knife :
(1.16)*X >= 150000
X >= 129310
In short, if at least 130k can be done during the 6s of the Lantern's effect, then it will do the same damage than the free daily. (for the fixed condition, etc).
There's a lot of condition to take into account to make this quick more real : the number of enemies affected, solo or group, Sigil can used off-combat, etc.
Per example, with my lag, my Ice Knife can land just after the debuff's end.
I think it's an irresolvable debate as both have strong pro and cons.
Sigil of the Devoted : solo, pvp and run on dungeon (trash mob).
Lantern of Revelation : pve in group and donjon boss.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
edited February 2015
The meta could definitely change with the new module. I think the real usefulness of the Sigil came from doing huge pulls where you could Sigil right before an OF, use OF and then be ready to OF again a couple seconds later, thus annihilating huge groups of bad guys.
But if we're not doing mega-pull in Module 6, I could definitely see the Lantern come back into fashion as a primary artifact.
I think it's the trade off between a little more damage vs. a little more utility.
did they change Sigil of the Devoted? i'm working on leveling up a cleric, but it says bind on pick up on the tooltip. will it be stuck on my cleric or is there a trick i should know
In mod6, we will be able to use 5 more points in feat. So I'm curious witch feat will be the most interresting to reach.
In oppressor, only Icy Veins is interesting but very powerful.
In thaumaturge, I think Spell Twisting is really powerful.
In renegade, both are interesting.
As oppressor, Spell Twisting look the more interresting but intermediate feat are underwhelming. Both renegade feat might be good too. Contrary to the other two, oppressor need to look outside for damage increase fear.
As thaumaturge, 10% more crit look difficult to ignore but like renegade most point might be use inside the spec.
As renegade, I think most of the point will be used inside this tree not allowing more than 5 points ouutside of it.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
did they change Sigil of the Devoted? i'm working on leveling up a cleric, but it says bind on pick up on the tooltip. will it be stuck on my cleric or is there a trick i should know
Once you earn it on your cleric, you can reclaim in on all you toons from the vendor in Protector's Enclave.
Right now, I'm thinking 15 Thaum/26 Renegade, adding Spell Twisting to the mix.
I'm thinking to make a MoF Oppressor build with 26 Oppr but I don't know if I go for Spell Twisting (more Encounter = more damage & control) or for Uncertain Allegiance (crit = Smolder).
I don't think Abyss Chaos is that interesting outside of Renegade.
If things remain as they are now on the preview server I will be going to a Spellstorm Oppressor build with some Renegade feats thrown in to up my damage. With how hard enemies hit in the new dungeons controlling them so they don't pummel your party is a lot more important. With proper timing of my spells I can keep most mobs from attacking indefinitely while still doing a fairly healthy amount of DPS myself. I've completed most of the new Heroic Encounters in the new zones solo with an Oppressor setup. Something I have a lot more trouble doing when I just do an all-out DPS Renegade/Thaumaturge hybrid build.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
If things remain as they are now on the preview server I will be going to a Spellstorm Oppressor build with some Renegade feats thrown in to up my damage. With how hard enemies hit in the new dungeons controlling them so they don't pummel your party is a lot more important. With proper timing of my spells I can keep most mobs from attacking indefinitely while still doing a fairly healthy amount of DPS myself. I've completed most of the new Heroic Encounters in the new zones solo with an Oppressor setup. Something I have a lot more trouble doing when I just do an all-out DPS Renegade/Thaumaturge hybrid build.
I have been toying around with a MoF ren, a SS ren and a SS thaum/opp hybrid on preview. The first 2 aren't so interesting and aren't worth mentioning, the 3rd could be a fascinating build though. The idea is, to stack recovery as high as possible and over all get as much cool down reduction as possible, such that you recover AP at ridiculous rates as well as have the ability to spam encounters. The moment you can do back to back OF's such that adds are perma stunned, all content becomes a walk in the path. This build is still early in development though so I won't mention too many details, suffice to say that it will be an interesting one to look into. The premise goes back to the VERY old arcane shield+shield pop spam builds, only using OF instead of arcane sing. Spell twisting creates some interesting possibilities and with good timing, is an extremely powerful tool in the CW's arsenal.
I have been toying around with a MoF ren, a SS ren and a SS thaum/opp hybrid on preview. The first 2 aren't so interesting and aren't worth mentioning, the 3rd could be a fascinating build though. The idea is, to stack recovery as high as possible and over all get as much cool down reduction as possible, such that you recover AP at ridiculous rates as well as have the ability to spam encounters. The moment you can do back to back OF's such that adds are perma stunned, all content becomes a walk in the path. This build is still early in development though so I won't mention too many details, suffice to say that it will be an interesting one to look into. The premise goes back to the VERY old arcane shield+shield pop spam builds, only using OF instead of arcane sing. Spell twisting creates some interesting possibilities and with good timing, is an extremely powerful tool in the CW's arsenal.
If that's a viable build, let's say, end-game, pvpers will QQ it to the ground beyond recognition. Cw's already quite nerfed for PvP control-wise and faster casting of the spells is what would make serious troubles for any melee class.
True Neutral
Left the Game due to heavy Damage Control & Missing Spanish Language
For mod6, control will kinda be mandatory, but I still want that awesome renegade capstone which will be even more awesome with the new stat curves.
But to get Icy veins from Oppressor, I'll have to sacrifice one of the 2 feats between phantasmal destruction and nightmare wizardry, which one should I keep?
I was thinking about keeping nightmare wizardry as 15% crit severity won't be that noticeable with a perfect vorpal and an erinnye.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
edited March 2015
Nightmare Wizardry without a doubt. I also think that after Abyss of Chaos has been toned down that Uncertain Allegiance might be the way to go. Again, with the new stat curves, a 5% buff to the party (and yours) critical strike is pretty significant.
Combat Advantage Rating and AP Gain: I'll mention these both since they scale the same. Both are hard to get, but you don't need a lot. These hit huge diminishing returns right at about 700 points. You can get both from Boons, Artifacts or you power on the Artifact Offhand (and jewelry reinforcement kits for AP gain). Combat Advantage damage is more important that AP, so get that to about 700 first, then go for AP gain.
Do you know if the AP gain diminishing returns (700 points) will change with module 6 ?
“He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
It is why bonus like Valindra set or pet are important. They increase this kind of stat directly by a few %
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
edited March 2015
Updated the powers section to be more user friendly as you level up. I've gotten a ton of feedback that more people than I anticipated are using this guide as they level, too, and not just when they hit 60, so as we kill time until Module 6, I'll be reworking sections to be more friendly for people who are also using the build to level.
"Meanwhile in the moderator's lounge..."
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
It is why bonus like Valindra set or pet are important. They increase this kind of stat directly by a few %
Exactly. From what the dataminers have pulled out, the Valindar's neck is going to be the same +4% AP gain, and the belt is going to be +2 int/+2 CHA, and a set bonus of 15% control duration bonus and a +10% control resist buff.
That's substantial enough that I'll drop the Sash of Charisma to complete the set when Module 6 goes live. Or at least attempt to. I already have the Crown at Legendary, so it was going to be slotted as my 4th Artifact.
Exactly. From what the dataminers have pulled out, the Valindar's neck is going to be the same +4% AP gain, and the belt is going to be +2 int/+2 CHA, and a set bonus of 15% control duration bonus and a +10% control resist buff.
That's substantial enough that I'll drop the Sash of Charisma to complete the set when Module 6 goes live. Or at least attempt to. I already have the Crown at Legendary, so it was going to be slotted as my 4th Artifact.
it's good to know that the Valindra set will be good for control wizard.:)
“He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
I made a Tiefling CW. Working great so far, but I place credit in this guide and my skill level, already having another Sun-Elf CW who I've specced with influence from this guide. It's going to be a hell of a lot different when M6 comes out, so there's a dilemma-
I guess we'll all have to wait until people like you are finished experimenting before making/speccing our CW's.
OK, I'm now testing a MoF renegade build with point leading to Icy Veins
Since I'm solo, I choose to not take Abyss Chaos.
I place point into Energy Recovery for a little heal but it's so little and RNG.
Renegade capstone is a must have simply because of the heal. And just for that, it's far superior to Oppressor and Thaumaturge.
Edit : the heal from Energy Recovery isn't that little after all. To check at bigger level.
I'm back at using Shard as 4th spell. And it help a lot (CoI/ST/IT/Shard)
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
edited March 2015
So I think Uncertain Allegiance is superior to the current state of Abyss of Chaos. The roots of this build are in being the best buff-bot for your group, while still throwing down big damage and control, so that 5% buff for the team is too good to pass up.
Energy Recovery is HAMSTER. But so is Reaper's Touch. With HP pools going up in Module 6 and survivability being an issue, I'll probably switch up to Energy Recovery because if I'm going to get stuck with a crappy feat, might as well pad a little extra temp HP in there.
My other 15 points go in the Oppressor Tree (Bitter Cold/Severe Reaction/Icy Veins). Severe Reaction is a really neat feat because it actually momentarily "stuns" anyone who gets knocked back, so it's awesome for PvP, and really good in dungeons. I'm glad I have points for it now, even if that means Chilling Control is made obsolete by Icy Veins...maybe in the future they'll tweak that.
With the HV set going by the wayside, I'm likely to swap Shard in over ST, keeping CoI but possibly moving IT to tab. I don't know if regularly standing in the middle of groups to cast IT/ST is going to be an effective play-style in Module 6, so I want the option to stand back a bit. To maximize effectiveness, you'll still have to be within 20 feet of bad guys, but there's a big difference between 20 feet and being surrounded.
I'm trying to figure out how I can talk myself out of putting 15 points into Thaum.
Spell Twisting is just so good. It makes COI permanent & alows IT to be stacked for some nonstop fast chill stacking.
The new 70 artifact weapon lets us get any of the at will abilities (60% chance to chill small aoe on every cast of chilling cloud) for even more chill stacking, but encounters come off cooldown so fast you barely have any at will time to spare.
If survivability becomes an issue, I may end up going Thaum with 15 in Oppressor.
I'm trying to figure out how I can talk myself out of putting 15 points into Thaum.
Spell Twisting is just so good. It makes COI permanent & alows IT to be stacked for some nonstop fast chill stacking.
The new 70 artifact weapon lets us get any of the at will abilities (60% chance to chill small aoe on every cast of chilling cloud) for even more chill stacking, but encounters come off cooldown so fast you barely have any at will time to spare.
If survivability becomes an issue, I may end up going Thaum with 15 in Oppressor.
Oppressor with Spell Twisting is fun and you don't need to those point in the feat that reduce IT/EF cooldown. I think it's the best control/less damage build.
We should open a topic list all potential build and what they do.
^^That is correct on test too, the 1st goes away when the 2nd is cast.
Also, they have changed Chill it looks like. Now only Icy Terrain & Ray of Frost actually freeze enemies. The other cold powers only stack chill.
And I'm pretty sure the mobs have had a speed buff, & cc duration reduction in well of dragons.
15points in Oppressor seems to freeze pretty fast though.
Comments
Here's the exert from the guide on Artifacts. I picked up Kessell's Sphere a long time ago because it had Power/Arm Pen/CA bonus, which was a super-duper sweet stat combination. But in Module 6, I think Crit Strike might ultimately be more important than power, so I think the Lantern is a fantastic choice, especially since you can get it for free.
But yes, you want to have at least one artifact with a CA damage bonus.
In short :
16% of the damage done over 6s >= damage from free daily
If I take a 150k free Ice Knife :
(1.16)*X >= 150000
X >= 129310
In short, if at least 130k can be done during the 6s of the Lantern's effect, then it will do the same damage than the free daily. (for the fixed condition, etc).
There's a lot of condition to take into account to make this quick more real : the number of enemies affected, solo or group, Sigil can used off-combat, etc.
Per example, with my lag, my Ice Knife can land just after the debuff's end.
I think it's an irresolvable debate as both have strong pro and cons.
Sigil of the Devoted : solo, pvp and run on dungeon (trash mob).
Lantern of Revelation : pve in group and donjon boss.
But if we're not doing mega-pull in Module 6, I could definitely see the Lantern come back into fashion as a primary artifact.
I think it's the trade off between a little more damage vs. a little more utility.
In oppressor, only Icy Veins is interesting but very powerful.
In thaumaturge, I think Spell Twisting is really powerful.
In renegade, both are interesting.
As oppressor, Spell Twisting look the more interresting but intermediate feat are underwhelming. Both renegade feat might be good too. Contrary to the other two, oppressor need to look outside for damage increase fear.
As thaumaturge, 10% more crit look difficult to ignore but like renegade most point might be use inside the spec.
As renegade, I think most of the point will be used inside this tree not allowing more than 5 points ouutside of it.
Once you earn it on your cleric, you can reclaim in on all you toons from the vendor in Protector's Enclave.
Right now, I'm thinking 15 Thaum/26 Renegade, adding Spell Twisting to the mix.
that, is kinda awesome. thank you
I'm thinking to make a MoF Oppressor build with 26 Oppr but I don't know if I go for Spell Twisting (more Encounter = more damage & control) or for Uncertain Allegiance (crit = Smolder).
I don't think Abyss Chaos is that interesting outside of Renegade.
I have been toying around with a MoF ren, a SS ren and a SS thaum/opp hybrid on preview. The first 2 aren't so interesting and aren't worth mentioning, the 3rd could be a fascinating build though. The idea is, to stack recovery as high as possible and over all get as much cool down reduction as possible, such that you recover AP at ridiculous rates as well as have the ability to spam encounters. The moment you can do back to back OF's such that adds are perma stunned, all content becomes a walk in the path. This build is still early in development though so I won't mention too many details, suffice to say that it will be an interesting one to look into. The premise goes back to the VERY old arcane shield+shield pop spam builds, only using OF instead of arcane sing. Spell twisting creates some interesting possibilities and with good timing, is an extremely powerful tool in the CW's arsenal.
If that's a viable build, let's say, end-game, pvpers will QQ it to the ground beyond recognition. Cw's already quite nerfed for PvP control-wise and faster casting of the spells is what would make serious troubles for any melee class.
But to get Icy veins from Oppressor, I'll have to sacrifice one of the 2 feats between phantasmal destruction and nightmare wizardry, which one should I keep?
I was thinking about keeping nightmare wizardry as 15% crit severity won't be that noticeable with a perfect vorpal and an erinnye.
I guess I have it figured out now concerning feats.
Do you know if the AP gain diminishing returns (700 points) will change with module 6 ?
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Exactly. From what the dataminers have pulled out, the Valindar's neck is going to be the same +4% AP gain, and the belt is going to be +2 int/+2 CHA, and a set bonus of 15% control duration bonus and a +10% control resist buff.
That's substantial enough that I'll drop the Sash of Charisma to complete the set when Module 6 goes live. Or at least attempt to. I already have the Crown at Legendary, so it was going to be slotted as my 4th Artifact.
I needed this info to know what I will choose between the new Major AP gain and Major Stamina regeneration jewel.
it's good to know that the Valindra set will be good for control wizard.:)
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
I guess we'll all have to wait until people like you are finished experimenting before making/speccing our CW's.
Since I'm solo, I choose to not take Abyss Chaos.
I place point into Energy Recovery for a little heal but it's so little and RNG.
Renegade capstone is a must have simply because of the heal. And just for that, it's far superior to Oppressor and Thaumaturge.
Edit : the heal from Energy Recovery isn't that little after all. To check at bigger level.
I'm back at using Shard as 4th spell. And it help a lot (CoI/ST/IT/Shard)
Energy Recovery is HAMSTER. But so is Reaper's Touch. With HP pools going up in Module 6 and survivability being an issue, I'll probably switch up to Energy Recovery because if I'm going to get stuck with a crappy feat, might as well pad a little extra temp HP in there.
My other 15 points go in the Oppressor Tree (Bitter Cold/Severe Reaction/Icy Veins). Severe Reaction is a really neat feat because it actually momentarily "stuns" anyone who gets knocked back, so it's awesome for PvP, and really good in dungeons. I'm glad I have points for it now, even if that means Chilling Control is made obsolete by Icy Veins...maybe in the future they'll tweak that.
With the HV set going by the wayside, I'm likely to swap Shard in over ST, keeping CoI but possibly moving IT to tab. I don't know if regularly standing in the middle of groups to cast IT/ST is going to be an effective play-style in Module 6, so I want the option to stand back a bit. To maximize effectiveness, you'll still have to be within 20 feet of bad guys, but there's a big difference between 20 feet and being surrounded.
Spell Twisting is just so good. It makes COI permanent & alows IT to be stacked for some nonstop fast chill stacking.
The new 70 artifact weapon lets us get any of the at will abilities (60% chance to chill small aoe on every cast of chilling cloud) for even more chill stacking, but encounters come off cooldown so fast you barely have any at will time to spare.
If survivability becomes an issue, I may end up going Thaum with 15 in Oppressor.
We should open a topic list all potential build and what they do.
Also, they have changed Chill it looks like. Now only Icy Terrain & Ray of Frost actually freeze enemies. The other cold powers only stack chill.
And I'm pretty sure the mobs have had a speed buff, & cc duration reduction in well of dragons.
15points in Oppressor seems to freeze pretty fast though.
**Not a change to Chill