Seraphim's PVE-TW Wizard Guide

Seraphim - Dreamweaver
Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
edited August 2011 in Wizard
This is not meant to be a full comprehensive guide on how to build a wizard from scratch. There are other threads to tell you the basics.

Why Wizard

Of all the classes, you're in for one hell of a ride. In unsharded Arcane armor, our Physical defense is about as good as a William Hung's singing. We have the lowest VIT to HP modifier making our HP complete and utter ****. And any good wizzie will tell you, the low levels from 1 to 70 are a pain no matter what build you go. So why wizzie then?

1. You like having more than 1 element (elements are like women after all?)
2. You like seeing big numbers when hitting things. (Or getting hit)
3. You like having good Magic Defense/Physical Defense(Barriers+ Cleric Buffs make our Defense phenomenal)
4. You think you are gutsy but actually just too plain stupid to pick something easy.

And... 5. You're in it for the endgame.

And end game wizard has everything it needs to take down archers, clerics, and even high HP melee classes. Noteably: Undine Strike, a 1 second cast time debuff that reduces Earth/Fire/Water defense by 60%. Soporific Whisper, an instant cast spell that sleeps a target for 4 seconds. Essential Sutra, removes all channel time from your spells for 6 seconds.

With a 100% P. Def buff that stacks (yes stacks like pancakes) with both Aura of Golden Bell and Cleric buffs, we'll have all the P. Def we will ever need as long as we use PDEF SHARDS when wearing Arcane. Not to mention sick elemental defense when grinding too. So what if we have bad HP, we're Chuck Norris in the damage department.

The Builds

Arcane vs Light

Light Armor has moderately elevated HP, slightly elevated Crit, and slightly elevated P.Def

Arcane has moderately elevated Damage, MP, and moderately elevated M. Def.

You can choose to be an Arcane user with additional VIT in which you trade some P. Def for M. Def and HP. but lose a few % in crit compared to Light Armor.

Pandora's PVP wizard guide is focused on a LA wizard, because LA (Light Armor) is what it takes to survive on a PK server. I am an Arcane user and I'll explain why.

In a PVE server, damage = kill speed and therefore you want as much as possible. You level faster and save your HP if you kill in 3 hits, and get hit once vs. 4 hits and get hit twice. Almost all monsters past 60 are magic ranged based that we train on as well, where robe will give you that afforded protection. You get to boast you are able to crit 30k, and not like that loser hybrid who only does 26k -pointlaugh. At low levels the difference between Light and Arcane in terms of magic defense and damage is small but will gradually become more noticeable.

At 9x, with full Immaculate Pdef Shards the defense difference between Arcane and Light is barely noticible. At around 5,000 defense diminishing returns start to happen. The difference between LA and Arcane users in Pdef reduction will gradually drop to below 2%. So for those that think the reason to go Light is for Pdef, they are absolutely wrong. For endgame, Light vs Arcane means Crit + HP vs Damage. And if you rolled a wizard, at least do your damn job. If we wanted to suck as DDs and rely on Crits, we could have rolled archers.

How to gear a pure MAG Wizard

Remember a BIG source of HP is from refining. Refine your gear!

PDEF PDEF PDEF first. Some HP gear to increase survivability and you can get considerable HP bonuses on rings. Look for 3 star gear with all resists and PDef/HP modifiers. Socket up gear to 4 slots with socket stones if you are planning to use them for at least 10 20 levels. This means....
Hat: HP/Pdef Modifiers, HP Shards
Rings: HP/Vitality Rings or -Channel. Endgame Wizards use HP + Crit (Rank Rings are a big plus)
Armor/Boots/Wrists/Pants: Pdef/HP Modifiers, Pdef Shards
Cape: HP Modifier, HP shards
Necklace/Belt: Pdef based with Pdef/HP Modifiers

Light Armor users use ALL HP based Gear as they have plenty of Physical Defense. Necklace/Belt should be Elemental base to make up for lack of Mdef but have channeling bonuses.

TW Strategy

Attacking:

By now you probably realized after spamming Gush for 300 hours that maybe...just maybe, you hit pretty hard against BM and Barbs. That would make sense (duh they have a big bullseye on their armor that says HIT ME WITH MAGIC) as they have pretty crappy Mdef. The problem? They have too much HP for you to solo, and combined with a guardian charm they're next to impossible to take down.
The catch? You don't solo. Your job is not to go out, be a hero, and save your faction from tyranny. Your job is to hit any melee that is stupid enough to try to melee the barbarian or casters you are protecting, and pray that your squad is smart enough to attack the same person. And If you're not going to do your job right, you might as well quit it and star on American Idol.
Nevertheless you will come into situations where you may have to 1v1 with an archer or an attacking cleric, BM, whatnot and this is where your training takes play.

Step 1. Lead with a "poke" skill. (Gush, Pyrogram) Find out how much HP that BM has and just how hard you'll have to hit it. If you somehow tap Gush and their HP drops 85%, laugh.
Step 2. Try to get their HP as close to 50% as possible but not below. Below ticks their guardian charm and they will heal to full. Continue using small fast cast skills to whittle their HP down.
Step 3. Whack them with an Undined + Extreme Poisoned Sandstorm. This is your strongest spell. It wrecks melee accuracy, and does a considerable amount of damage. As a full MAG, you'll be able to take out 50% of a BM's HP no problem (unless they are marrowed and fullbuffed).
Step 4. Judge (if they're still alive). If their HP is too high for you to take down, use slower strong skills like Sandstorm and keep trying. Make sure your party is helping and spam Force of Will to prevent them from attacking back. If they are taking to the skies and running, slow them with Gush.

Now that you built all your Chi by killing people, what do you do with it? Do not, I repeat do NOT waste it on Advanced Spark Eruption (Demonic Spark Eruption is fine). Its slow, its flashy, and it gets you killed. Use it on...

Blade Tempest. This skill will 1 shot most Arcane and Light Armor users. Ask for an Ironheart, move a little towards the fray, and drop a Tempest on their casters or Archers. It WILL 1 shot any crappily geared Cleric, Veno, Archer, Wizard. Remember, Blade Tempest deals DOUBLE base magic attack. Fire + Physical.

Essential Sutra. This is your 2 spark skill against Melee classes. First wait till their Guardian Charm is ticked. You could do the ticking yourself with Sandstorm. Then pop them with a Gush, and immediately Sutra. Drop a Divine Pyrogram, Sandstorm, Stone Rain/Will of the Phoenix, Divine Pyrogram and watch their HP drop (usually to 0). Our burst damage is phenomenal, and this makes taking down an enemy Cata puller very very easy.

Black Ice Dragon. Your 2 spark Skill against BM/Archers/Barbs but should only be used at level 85+ when you mature this skill to at least level 9. Against Low E. Def targets the damage is phenomenal. I would recommend Blade Tempest over Dragon as usually casters are much more problematic than melee in TW, and Blade Tempest is almost a guaranteed kill.
Do not waste Sutra on casters. Blade Tempest is infinitely better.

Staying Alive:

A Wizard's strong suit believe it or not is their balanced Defense. 100% PDef mod from Stone Barrier gives a sharp boost to our Pdef, and especially if we doubled up on HP charms. Needless to say, if you are having troubles surviving TT, or TW. If you are getting 1 shot, you obviously don't have enough Pdef.

1. Always play with a Clerics buffs. BM and Barbarian don't always seem to want to buff you, but there are always plenty of Clerics to annoy to ask for buffs.

2. Don't forget to FrostBlade all the melee in your party and Stone Barrier yourself. (Evidently FrostBladed melee are happy melee and happy melee protect Wizards)

3. If you are getting hit excessively, you are probably too close to the action. Pause, turn hit s on wasd, and Distance Shrink backwards.

4. Force of Will is your friend. Spam it! Use it when your HP is running low and your charm is in cooldown. Use it when you see an archer channeling Arrow Barrage. Use it on a BM rushing up to AoE your party. This skill stops all attacks from a person for 2-5 seconds, and interrupts their attack. How rigged is that? A person unable to attack your party is not killing your party members, nor causing your squad to run away making a combined takedown that much easier.

5. If a Veno's pet is hitting you, knock it back with Will of the Phoenix, Gush it to slow it down and whack it with a Sandstorm. It should be dead unless its a Hercules.

6. Stay alert. Remember TW is 3D. The enemy is not always directly in front. Stay off the main path, and move along the banks of the path. Watch for attackers in the air (Usually Venos with flying pets).

Endgame Wizard

At 79 we inherit two of the best PVP skills in the game. Undine Strike is your lead against everything that doesnt die in 2-3 hits. Cast time is almost instant with a channel just as fast. Lasts 12 seconds with almost no cooldown. The only downside is the HUGE mana cost (600) which makes wizards rethink using it when grinding. Drop an Undine, watch your damage go up 30% (And also for all the Wizards hitting the target). And when your Sandstorm starts hitting 4k + on barbs with Undine, you know you're doing something right.
Soporific Whisper is also nothing short of amazing. As if Force of Will wasn't already good, this skill is your SECOND interrupt. (Yes we have TWO!). Though the duration is only 4 seconds, the channel and cast are both instant, which makes it very very useful to disrupt channeling, disrupt chasing, disrupt just about anything that you don't like.

At 89, the path splits between Sage and Demon, and if you've gotten this far you might as well think twice before what you do.
Sage path's unlocks Chi regeneration, a 30%+ critting Black Ice Dragon (Which will 1 shot most equally geared BMs), and the extra damage from Masteries. For core spammed skills, Sage Pyrogram will build Chi on a successful hit and Stone Rain channel time is decreased to 1.2 seconds.

DemonDemon has it's own bonuses as well.
Demon's Earth barrier adds a phenomenal 150% PDef. The damage is really ramped up on our core skill Sandstorm, and the Crit bonuses help greatly in 1 shotting people.
For our core spammed skills,Pyrogram's channel is shortened 20%. Gush receives additional damage, and Stone Rain receives stun. Distance Shrink range increases an additional 20%. Morning Dew recovers an additional 600 HP over time.

The choice between Demon and Sage is up to personal preference with Sage being a bit more biased towards pro TW, while Demon being a bit better at PK. TW is generally a Chi sapping frenzy with very little rest, whereas you have the comfort of regenning Chi on your own time in PK.


With the additional 4th Spark at level 89, your Sutra combo will change dramatically. Your 4 spark Sutra will now be.
Gush->Mountain's Seize->Sandstorm->Will of the Phoenix->Instant cast Emberstorm.
(40% Slow->95% Stun->Damage->Damage->Instant Damage (as your sutra will have ended)

Wizard Notes

Kiting is something you will need to get used to. Use Gush to slow, Phoenix to knockback, and Distance Shrink to gain distance. Incorporate Force of Will as often as you can during Kiting as it will cause the monster to run.

Essential Sutra allows us to make excellent healers as it removes our Morning Dew's main disadvantage, ridiculously long channel time. You can get 4 Morning Dews off with one Sutra and heal a target around 12k within 6 seconds with level 10 Morning Dew at level 75.

Believe it or not Essential Sutra does NOT costs 2 Sparks after usage. We cast spells in those 6 seconds of channel-less casting and therefore can regenerate 50-60 Chi back. When taking down bosses and you want more DPS, alternate Sutra and Advanced Spark Eruption.

Jump Casting is a must for all PVPing Wizards. As soon as you cast a spell, hit the jump button, and you shall channel the spell in midair (on your screen). On your attacker's screen you cast and then jump. (Melee has a hard time hitting midair targets). This gives you time to let your Distance Shrink recharge, and abuse the slow on Glacial Snare and Gush. If you get stunned after the jump you will be in midair.


Genies


There are a whole slew of Genie skills to choose from. Here are a few popular ones that you may tailor to your favor.
FIRST: Genies need to be Mag and Vit based as you will be putting supportive and healing skills, not damage skills. 80Magic will unlock 5 skills and a decent amount of Energy Regeneration. The rest should go into Vitality for a high energy pool.

Skills:
Absolute Domain - Invicibility for 4 seconds.
Expel = Invicibility for 10 seconds. Use a pot to remove the seal.
Tree of Protection = HP Healing
Extreme Poison = 20% Increased damage *Stacks with AMP*
Fortify = Immunity to Stun
Holy Path = Max movement speed *Amazing for Kiting*
Frenzy = Increase damage by 20% (Great if expelled) but increases damage taken as well.




End Notes


Your Wizard, Genie build, damage, and gear will all be reflective of how well geared you are. Fully geared Wizards with alot of money invested in refines/cash shop will be veritable killing machines with amazingly high HP. The same will go for every class.
This Wizard guide is solely projected for a Wizard to be able to kill a character of equal level and equal gear (and hence skill based, not gear based).

Questions or Comments, feel free to post. Thanks =)
Post edited by Seraphim - Dreamweaver on
«13456711

Comments

  • Divine_Death - Dreamweaver
    Divine_Death - Dreamweaver Posts: 1,491 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Nice =o.
    *Takes notes*, *looks for ways not to get killed by wiz*
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    "Closing this for excess letter Q's" - hawk
  • KallenHapti - Sanctuary
    KallenHapti - Sanctuary Posts: 137 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    As i see you're talking about pure. Have you got any thoughts on vit build. I'm currenttly doing 7/2/1 and i was wondering if i should cap my vit at some point.
    [sigpic][/sigpic]
    Banned TB hairstyle made my Kallen cry b:sad
    Training my new wizzie. Current status lvl5X. b:pleased
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I am firmly opposed to adding Vit. If you are considering upping survivability by adding HP, go LA over Vit Arcane. LA not only has additional HP by being able to shard for HP, but also the extra 4% Crit and the option to use elemental def channel accessories.

    The reason why most Wizards would never even consider Vit is basically summed up with

    10 points per Vit = Fail
    Don't sacrifice damage
    Vit wont matter at all by the time you get +4 refines.
  • Ursa - Dreamweaver
    Ursa - Dreamweaver Posts: 2,634 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    ...

    here is the reason I'm rolling a wizz.

    Thanks Seraphim for making this guide public. You are basically the living proof of how successfull a robe wizz can be if played/geared properly and my model for my char.

    I've met a few LA wizzies on DW that restat after they talked with you b:laugh
    ____________
    I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
    George Carlin

    ~I listen to hardcore FIGHT songs when I visit the forum, just to get into the proper mood~

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I just find it funny how Zeratul only has 100 more HP than me with full Immaculate 4 socket Armor, and his Divine Pyro hits as hard as my Pyro.

    He also only has 200 more Pdef, and 1k less Edef. b:bye
  • Fireblood - Harshlands
    Fireblood - Harshlands Posts: 1,414 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    4. You think you are gutsy but actually just too plain stupid to pick something easy. (Me)

    And... 5. You're in it for the endgame.[/B]

    b:surrender....................
    Quit.
  • Norina - Dreamweaver
    Norina - Dreamweaver Posts: 46 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Thank you so much for this. I feel like I'm talking to a wall when I defend my preference of PDef over Vit/HP to LA mages.

    I'm totally in it for the end game.

    Robes FTW.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] ((AFK from game. bbiab.))
  • Mizuoni - Dreamweaver
    Mizuoni - Dreamweaver Posts: 3,533 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    SERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM
    *HUGGIES*
    dont you shard with all beautiful?
    Sins are Scissors. Psychics are Rocks.
    Archers, Venos, Barbs, Wizards, BMs, Mystics, Seekers are Paper.
    ...and Clerics are Mushrooms.
    Paper beats Rock. Scissors beats Paper. Scissors also happens to beat Rock...until Rock gets 50k+ soulforce at which point Rock becomes an unstoppable killing machine that beats Paper... and would beat Scissors but it can't find Scissors, because Scissors are invisible.
    So Scissors beat Paper and avoids Rock, and that is called BALANCE. -cheze
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Sharded the junky TT70/80 with beautiful/flawless yes. TT90 will be Immaculate Garnets and TT90 Glaive to +8 with Perfect Sapphires ;D. -Looks for Dragon Orb/Socket stone sale and people to farm Belial with-
  • Adroit - Lost City
    Adroit - Lost City Posts: 4,628 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Sharded the junky TT70/80 with beautiful/flawless yes. TT90 will be Immaculate Garnets and TT90 Glaive to +8 with Perfect Sapphires ;D. -Looks for Dragon Orb/Socket stone sale and people to farm Belial with-

    too much cash shop for me :(
    Youtube Channel: youtube.com/user/D2VeT/videos?flow=grid&view=0
    Current gear: pwcalc.com/6ab2893fbfb080a8
    [SIGPIC]http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=684hgk&s=5[/SIGPIC]
  • Phsyco - Lost City
    Phsyco - Lost City Posts: 327 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    nice guide, good job!
  • Ishmah - Sanctuary
    Ishmah - Sanctuary Posts: 192 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Good guide thanks Seraphim. Some good tips in there.
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    too much cash shop for me :(

    Money is alot easier in a new server. I remember selling 30 Tome frags for almost 1m each, and TT70 Soulbanisher Tentacles for 1m each. =P
  • King_Solomon - Heavens Tear
    King_Solomon - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,341 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    soporific sleep? the vast majority of 79+ wizards don't even have undine.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

    If you're willing to join another online game do NOT join any hosted by K2 NETWORK. Want to know why? Check BBB complaints.
  • WitchBurner - Sanctuary
    WitchBurner - Sanctuary Posts: 1,394 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    They need to learn to farm TT's for Apoc pages.

    Also good guide.
    Currently flying internet spaceships around dodixie, moving to amarr soon.

    Send me a mail if you wanna ask/request anything

    Sanctuary's retired king of wizards alongside queen Saintblu.
  • Phsyco - Lost City
    Phsyco - Lost City Posts: 327 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    They need to learn to farm TT's for Apoc pages.

    I don't know for sure but I think that probably takes a **** load of time to do. I know for myself I don't have that much time to farm the pages and it also takes a **** load of money to buy them.
  • WitchBurner - Sanctuary
    WitchBurner - Sanctuary Posts: 1,394 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    doesn't everything take a long time at this level?
    Currently flying internet spaceships around dodixie, moving to amarr soon.

    Send me a mail if you wanna ask/request anything

    Sanctuary's retired king of wizards alongside queen Saintblu.
  • Phsyco - Lost City
    Phsyco - Lost City Posts: 327 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    well leveling does for sure but you don't need to be online for hours on end doing it like you would for TT/HH farming pages. Even one run takes a couple hours minimum.
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Farming 20 pages isnt as hard as you think. On the average TT 2-2 run, I get around 2 pages. The average run I only do the Frenzy Lion and Feng Boss with 2 venos. It takes around an hour, and its fair to say, you guys take the Iron bars/Claws+Mirages, Ill grab pages.

    I believe Undine took me around 8 runs of TT 2-2 to farm or around a week of effort. I did hear that a guildie hit a huge stroke of luck and got 9? pages in one TT 2-2 run.
  • Mizuoni - Dreamweaver
    Mizuoni - Dreamweaver Posts: 3,533 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    im not doing any major sharding until lvl 100
    that crystal set looks soooooooo sexy b:dirty
    but why waste the cash on sharding that stuff with beautiful shards?

    -OMG first post on the next page again! Its the curse >.<
    Sins are Scissors. Psychics are Rocks.
    Archers, Venos, Barbs, Wizards, BMs, Mystics, Seekers are Paper.
    ...and Clerics are Mushrooms.
    Paper beats Rock. Scissors beats Paper. Scissors also happens to beat Rock...until Rock gets 50k+ soulforce at which point Rock becomes an unstoppable killing machine that beats Paper... and would beat Scissors but it can't find Scissors, because Scissors are invisible.
    So Scissors beat Paper and avoids Rock, and that is called BALANCE. -cheze
  • Zeonus - Heavens Tear
    Zeonus - Heavens Tear Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    This is not meant to be a full comprehensive guide on how to build a wizard from scratch. There are other threads to tell you the basics.

    Why Wizard?

    Of all the classes, you're in for one hell of a ride. In unsharded Arcane armor, our Physical defense is about as good as a William Hung's singing. We have the lowest VIT to HP modifier making our HP complete and utter ****. And any good wizzie will tell you, the low levels from 1 to 70 are a pain no matter what build you go. So why wizzie then?
    1. You like having more than 1 element (elements are like women after all?)
    2. You like seeing big numbers when hitting things. (Or getting hit)
    3. You like having good Magic Defense/Physical Defense (Barriers+ Cleric Buffs make our Defense phenomenal)
    4. You think you are gutsy but actually just too plain stupid to pick something easy. (Me)

    And... 5. You're in it for the endgame.

    And end game wizard has everything it needs to take down archers, clerics, and even melee classes. Noteably: Undine Strike, a 1 second cast time debuff that reduces Earth/Fire/Water defense by 60%. Soporific Whisper, a instant cast spell that sleeps a target for 4 seconds. Essential Sutra, removes all channel time from your spells for 6 seconds.

    With a 100% P. Def buff that stacks (yes stacks like pancakes) with both Aura of Golden Bell and Cleric buffs, we'll have all the P. Def we will ever need as long as we use PDEF SHARDS when wearing Arcane. Not to mention sick elemental defense when grinding too. So what if we have bad HP, we're Chuck Norris in the damage department.

    The Builds?

    Arcane vs Light

    Light Armor has moderately elevated HP, slightly elevated Crit, and slightly elevated P.Def

    Arcane has moderately elevated Damage, MP, and moderately elevated M. Def

    You can choose to be an Arcane user with additional VIT in which you trade some P. Def for M. Def. and lose a few % in crit compared to Light Armor.

    Pandora's PVP wizard guide is focused on a LA wizard, because LA (Light Armor) is what it takes to survive on a PK server. I am an Arcane user and I'll explain why.

    In a PVE server, damage = kill speed and therefore you want as much as possible. You level faster and save your HP if you kill in 3 hits, and get hit once vs. 4 hits and get hit twice. Almost all monsters past 60 are magic ranged based that we train on as well, where robe will give you that afforded protection. You get to boast you are able to crit 30k, and not like that loser hybrid who only does 26k -pointlaugh. At low levels the difference between Light and Arcane in terms of magic defense and damage is small but will gradually become more noticiable.
    I would like to add now that I'm approaching 9x, with Pdef Shards the defense difference between Arcane and Light is barely noticible. For those that think the reason to go Light is for Pdef, they are absolutely wrong. Light vs Arcane means Crit+HP vs Damage. And if you rolled a wizard, at least do your damn job. If we wanted to suck as DDs and rely on Crits, we could have rolled archers ;)

    How to gear a pure MAG Wizard?

    Remember a BIG source of HP is from refining. Refine your gear!

    PDEF PDEF PDEF first. Some HP gear to increase survivability and you can get considerable HP bonuses on rings. Look for 3 star gear with all resists and PDef/HP modifiers. Socket up gear to 4 slots with socket stones if you are planning to use them for at least 10 20 levels. This means....
    Hat: HP/Pdef Modifiers, HP Shards
    Rings: HP/Vitality Rings or -Channel. Endgame Wizards use HP + Crit (Rank Rings are a big plus)
    Armor/Boots/Wrists/Pants: Pdef/HP Modifiers, Pdef Shards
    Cape: HP Modifier, HP shards
    Necklace/Belt: Pdef based with Pdef/HP Modifiers

    Light Armor users use ALL HP based Gear as they have plenty of Physical Defense. Necklace/Belt should be Elemental base to make up for lack of Mdef but have channeling bonuses.

    TW Strategy?

    Attacking:

    By now you probably realized after spamming Gush for 300 hours that maybe...just maybe, you hit pretty hard against BM and Barbs. That would make sense (duh they have a big bullseye on their armor that says HIT ME WITH MAGIC) as they have pretty crappy Mdef. The problem? They have too much HP for you to solo, and combined with a guardian charm they're next to impossible to take down.
    The catch? You dont solo. Your job is not to go out, be a hero, and save your faction from tyranny. Your job is to hit any melee that is stupid enough to try to melee the barbarian or casters you are protecting, and pray that your squad is smart enough to attack the same person. And If you're not going to do your job right, you might as well quit it and star on American Idol.
    Nevertheless you will come into situations where you may have to 1v1 with an archer or an attacking cleric, BM, whatnot and this is where your training takes play.

    Step 1. Lead with a "poke" skill. (Gush, Pyrogram) Find out how much HP that BM has and just how hard you'll have to hit it. If you somehow tap Gush and their HP drops 85%, laugh.
    Step 2. Try to get their HP as close to 50% as possible but not below. Below ticks their guardian charm and they will heal to full. Continue using small fast cast skills to whittle their HP down.
    Step 3. Whack them with an undined + Extreme poisoned Sandstorm. This is your strongest spell. It wrecks melee accuracy, and does a considerable amount of damage. As a full MAG, you'll be able to take out 50% of a BM's HP no problem (unless they are marrowed and fullbuffed).
    Step 4. Judge (if they're still alive). If their HP is too high for you to take down, use slower strong skills like Sandstorm and keep trying. Make sure your party is helping and spam Force of Will to prevent them from attacking back. If they are taking to the skies and running, slow them with gush.

    Now that you built all your Chi by killing people, what do you do with it? Do not, I repeat do NOT waste it on Advanced Spark Eruption. Its slow, its flashy, and it gets you killed. Use it on...

    Blade Tempest. This skill will 1 shot most Arcane and Light armor users. Ask for an Ironheart, move a little towards the fray, and drop a Tempest on their casters or Archers. It WILL 1 shot any crappily geared Cleric, Veno, Archer, Wizard. Remember, Blade Tempest deals DOUBLE base magic attack. Fire + Physical.

    Essential Sutra. This is your 2 spark skill against Melee classes. First wait till their Guardian charm is ticked. You could do the ticking yourself with Sandstorm. Then pop them with a Gush, and immediately Sutra. Drop a Divine Pyrogram, Sandstorm, Stone Rain/Will of the Phoenix, Divine Pyrogram and watch their HP drop (usually to 0). Our burst damage is phenomenal, and this makes taking down an enemy Cata puller very very easy.

    Black Ice Dragon. Your 2 spark Skill against BM/Archers/Barbs but should only be used at level 85+ when you mature this skill to at least level 9. Against Low E. Def targets the damage is phenomenal. I would recommend Blade Tempest over Dragon as usually casters are much more problematic than melee in TW, and Blade Tempest is almost a guaranteed kill.
    Do not waste Sutra on casters. Blade Tempest is infinitely better.

    Staying Alive:

    A Wizard's strong suit believe it or not is their balanced Defense. 100% PDef mod from Stone Barrier gives a sharp boost to our Pdef, and especially if we doubled up on HP charms. Needless to say, if you are having troubles surviving TT, or TW. If you are getting 1 shot, you obviously dont have enough Pdef.

    1. Always play with a Clerics buffs. BM and Barbarian don't always seem to want to buff you, but there are always plenty of Clerics to annoy to ask for buffs.

    2. Don't forget to FrostBlade all the melee in your party and Stone Barrier yourself. (Evidently FrostBladed melee are happy melee and happy melee protect Wizards)

    3. If you are getting hit, you are probably too close to the action. Pause, turn hit s on wasd, and Distance Shrink backwards.

    4. Force of Will is your friend. Spam it! Use it when your HP is running low and your charm is in cooldown. Use it when you see an archer channeling Arrow Barrage. Use it on a BM rushing up to AoE your party. This skill stops all attacks from a person for 2-5 seconds, and interrupts their attack. How rigged is that? A person unable to attack your party is not killing your party members, nor causing your squad to run away making a combined takedown that much easier.

    5. If a Veno's pet is hitting you, knock it back with Will of the Phoenix, Gush it to slow it down and whack it with a Sandstorm. It should be dead unless its a Hercules.

    6. Stay alert. Remember TW is 3D. The enemy is not always directly in front. Stay off the main path, and move along the banks of the path. Watch for attackers in the air (Usually Venos with flying pets).

    Endgame Wizard.

    At 79 We inherit two of the best PVP skills in the game. Undine Strike is your lead against everything. Cast time is almost instant with a channel just as fast. Lasts 12 seconds with almost no cooldown. Drop an Undine, watch your damage go up 30% (And also for all the Wizards hitting the target). And when your sandstorm starts hitting 4k + on barbs with Undine, you know you're doing something right.
    Soporific Whisper is also nothing short of amazing. As if Force of Will wasnt already good, this skill is your SECOND interrupt. (Yes we have TWO!). Though the duration is only 4 seconds, the channel and cast are both instant, which makes it very very useful to disrupt channeling, disrupt chasing, disrupt just about anything that you dont like.

    At 89, the path splits between Sage and Demon, and if you've gotten this far you might as well think twice before what you do.
    While the Sage path's Chi regeneration is helpful, and the extra damage from Masteries, nothing compliments a Wizard's job more than the Demon way of life.
    Why?
    Demon's Earth barrier adds a phenomenal 150% PDef. The damage is really ramped up on our core skill Sandstorm, and the Crit bonuses help greatly in 1 shotting people.
    Our core spammed skills, Gush, Pyrogram, and Stone Rain all undergo huge bonuses as Demon. Pyrogram's channel is shortened 20%. Gush recieves additional damage, and Stone Rain recieves stun. Distance Shrink range increases an additional 20%. Morning Dew recovers an additional 600 HP over time. These are our core skills and the Sage bonuses are hardly up to par.
    A talk with three different endgame Wizards (lvl 100+) on PW MY-EN all pushed me towards the same thing. A Sage Wizard (lolPandora) has seriously done something wrong (well he even said he liked trolling and being different).

    With the additional 4th Spark at level 89, your Sutra combo will change dramatically. Your 4 spark Sutra will now be.
    Gush->Mountain's Seize->Sandstorm->Will of the Phoenix->Instant cast Emberstorm.
    (40% Slow->95% Stun->Damage->Damage->Instant Damage (as your sutra will have ended)

    Wizard Notes:

    Kiting is something you will need to get used to. Use Gush to slow, Phoenix to knockback, and Distance shrink to gain distance. Incorporate Force of Will as often as you can during Kiting as it will cause the monster to run.

    Essential Sutra allows us to make excellent healers as it removes our Morning Dew's main disadvantage, ridiculously long channel time. You can get 4 Morning Dews off with one Sutra and heal a target around 12k within 6 seconds with level 10 Morning Dew at level 75.

    Believe it or not Essential Sutra does NOT costs 2 Sparks after usage. We cast spells in those 6 seconds of channel-less casting and therefore can regenerate 50-60 Chi back. When taking down bosses and you want more DPS, alternate Sutra and Advanced Spark Eruption.

    Jump Casting is a must for all PVPing Wizards. As soon as you cast a spell, hit the jump button, and you shall channel the spell in midair (on your screen). On your attacker's screen you cast and then jump. (Melee has a hard time hitting midair targets). This gives you time to let your Distance shrink recharge, and abuse the slow on Glacial Snare and Gush. If you get stunned after the jump you will be in midair.


    Personal Note:

    With the exception of Barbs, every class I fight takes over 50% HP damage from my undined Sandstorm + Extreme poison. For Barbs, undined Dragon will do upwards of 5.5k damage. Full Mag does not need to rely on crit or ticking charms. If you are below 66% HP, there is a very high chance the next hit will drop you to 0%. LA by comparison would need to get you to around 40% HP to drop. 40% means charm tick. 40% means they do not have the damage potential to kill without a crit spike or Sutra.

    This is a very, very great thread. It wasn't anything I don't already know, but I agree with everything that has been said here. I think that with a little more amount of content, this is very sticky-worthy. I know my stuff so far as a Wizard pretty well, and reading this was the best experience of any guide on the Wizard forums so far.
  • Mizorie - Lost City
    Mizorie - Lost City Posts: 598 Arc User
    edited June 2009


    TW Strategy?

    Attacking:

    By now you probably realized after spamming Gush for 300 hours that maybe...just maybe, you hit pretty hard against BM and Barbs. That would make sense (duh they have a big bullseye on their armor that says HIT ME WITH MAGIC) as they have pretty crappy Mdef. The problem? They have too much HP for you to solo, and combined with a guardian charm they're next to impossible to take down.
    The catch? You dont solo. Your job is not to go out, be a hero, and save your faction from tyranny. Your job is to hit any melee that is stupid enough to try to melee the barbarian or casters you are protecting, and pray that your squad is smart enough to attack the same person. And If you're not going to do your job right, you might as well quit it and star on American Idol.
    Nevertheless you will come into situations where you may have to 1v1 with an archer or an attacking cleric, BM, whatnot and this is where your training takes play.

    Step 1. Lead with a "poke" skill. (Gush, Pyrogram) Find out how much HP that BM has and just how hard you'll have to hit it. If you somehow tap Gush and their HP drops 85%, laugh.
    Step 2. Try to get their HP as close to 50% as possible but not below. Below ticks their guardian charm and they will heal to full. Continue using small fast cast skills to whittle their HP down.
    Step 3. Whack them with an undined + Extreme poisoned Sandstorm. This is your strongest spell. It wrecks melee accuracy, and does a considerable amount of damage. As a full MAG, you'll be able to take out 50% of a BM's HP no problem (unless they are marrowed and fullbuffed).
    Step 4. Judge (if they're still alive). If their HP is too high for you to take down, use slower strong skills like Sandstorm and keep trying. Make sure your party is helping and spam Force of Will to prevent them from attacking back. If they are taking to the skies and running, slow them with gush.

    Now that you built all your Chi by killing people, what do you do with it? Do not, I repeat do NOT waste it on Advanced Spark Eruption. Its slow, its flashy, and it gets you killed. Use it on...

    Blade Tempest. This skill will 1 shot most Arcane and Light armor users. Ask for an Ironheart, move a little towards the fray, and drop a Tempest on their casters or Archers. It WILL 1 shot any crappily geared Cleric, Veno, Archer, Wizard. Remember, Blade Tempest deals DOUBLE base magic attack. Fire + Physical.

    Essential Sutra. This is your 2 spark skill against Melee classes. First wait till their Guardian charm is ticked. You could do the ticking yourself with Sandstorm. Then pop them with a Gush, and immediately Sutra. Drop a Divine Pyrogram, Sandstorm, Stone Rain/Will of the Phoenix, Divine Pyrogram and watch their HP drop (usually to 0). Our burst damage is phenomenal, and this makes taking down an enemy Cata puller very very easy.

    Black Ice Dragon. Your 2 spark Skill against BM/Archers/Barbs but should only be used at level 85+ when you mature this skill to at least level 9. Against Low E. Def targets the damage is phenomenal. I would recommend Blade Tempest over Dragon as usually casters are much more problematic than melee in TW, and Blade Tempest is almost a guaranteed kill.
    Do not waste Sutra on casters. Blade Tempest is infinitely better.

    Staying Alive:

    A Wizard's strong suit believe it or not is their balanced Defense. 100% PDef mod from Stone Barrier gives a sharp boost to our Pdef, and especially if we doubled up on HP charms. Needless to say, if you are having troubles surviving TT, or TW. If you are getting 1 shot, you obviously dont have enough Pdef.

    1. Always play with a Clerics buffs. BM and Barbarian don't always seem to want to buff you, but there are always plenty of Clerics to annoy to ask for buffs.

    2. Don't forget to FrostBlade all the melee in your party and Stone Barrier yourself. (Evidently FrostBladed melee are happy melee and happy melee protect Wizards)

    3. If you are getting hit, you are probably too close to the action. Pause, turn hit s on wasd, and Distance Shrink backwards.

    4. Force of Will is your friend. Spam it! Use it when your HP is running low and your charm is in cooldown. Use it when you see an archer channeling Arrow Barrage. Use it on a BM rushing up to AoE your party. This skill stops all attacks from a person for 2-5 seconds, and interrupts their attack. How rigged is that? A person unable to attack your party is not killing your party members, nor causing your squad to run away making a combined takedown that much easier.
    5. If a Veno's pet is hitting you, knock it back with Will of the Phoenix, Gush it to slow it down and whack it with a Sandstorm. It should be dead unless its a Hercules.

    6. Stay alert. Remember TW is 3D. The enemy is not always directly in front. Stay off the main path, and move along the banks of the path. Watch for attackers in the air (Usually Venos with flying pets).

    Endgame Wizard.

    At 79 We inherit two of the best PVP skills in the game. Undine Strike is your lead against everything. Cast time is almost instant with a channel just as fast. Lasts 12 seconds with almost no cooldown. Drop an Undine, watch your damage go up 30% (And also for all the Wizards hitting the target). And when your sandstorm starts hitting 4k + on barbs with Undine, you know you're doing something right.
    Soporific Whisper is also nothing short of amazing. As if Force of Will wasnt already good, this skill is your SECOND interrupt. (Yes we have TWO!). Though the duration is only 4 seconds, the channel and cast are both instant, which makes it very very useful to disrupt channeling, disrupt chasing, disrupt just about anything that you dont like.

    At 89, the path splits between Sage and Demon, and if you've gotten this far you might as well think twice before what you do.
    While the Sage path's Chi regeneration is helpful, and the extra damage from Masteries, nothing compliments a Wizard's job more than the Demon way of life.
    Why?
    Demon's Earth barrier adds a phenomenal 150% PDef. The damage is really ramped up on our core skill Sandstorm, and the Crit bonuses help greatly in 1 shotting people.
    Our core spammed skills, Gush, Pyrogram, and Stone Rain all undergo huge bonuses as Demon. Pyrogram's channel is shortened 20%. Gush recieves additional damage, and Stone Rain recieves stun. Distance Shrink range increases an additional 20%. Morning Dew recovers an additional 600 HP over time. These are our core skills and the Sage bonuses are hardly up to par.
    A talk with three different endgame Wizards (lvl 100+) on PW MY-EN all pushed me towards the same thing. A Sage Wizard (lolPandora) has seriously done something wrong (well he even said he liked trolling and being different).

    With the additional 4th Spark at level 89, your Sutra combo will change dramatically. Your 4 spark Sutra will now be.
    Gush->Mountain's Seize->Sandstorm->Will of the Phoenix->Instant cast Emberstorm.
    (40% Slow->95% Stun->Damage->Damage->Instant Damage (as your sutra will have ended)


    Eh....I think you may have had the wrong idea on sage and hell. I've to about 10 tws, couple serious vs CQ and GZ (lost city main land holding guilds, not much but some experience) and yes stuns and what not are good but, why do i need a stun in tw? That is the bms job, my job in a tw is dealing dmg and killing heavy targets, not protecting the casters as you said...we are the casters that needs protecting.

    I think you may have had biased opinion towards hell so I'm going to give you a few points toward sage.

    First you explained a heavy usage of Force of will, and i agree with you 100% on this, in all the points you made. The sage force of will is a 3m aoe now, that is amazing. I don't think i have to explain the extra benefits this has.

    Another thing is the usage of Chi in TW. You need it for your shield when you die, to blink away when you see a push, bm charging, archer targets you, the situations are endless. And you need it for your big hitting spells.

    So a hell mage has its stuns to proc on some skills in tw, and its hell barrier(which is amazing i might add) but its unreliable, I think one mage in all lost city has it, very rare drop.
    Sage has a +50 Chi skills one 60s cooldown, amazing. Now theres not much we can do about the hell barrier for hell mages, but heavan does go up to 120% pdef compared to the 150% of hell.

    Ok so another thing, take a look at sage ultimate aoe attacks. Like you said when you got them sparks...use em. sage>hell in this perspective, nothing you say will change that fact.

    Black Ice Dragon Strike, is the single hardest hitting spell in the game.
    Now if you look at its heaven stats:
    Sage version gives a 50% chance to increase magic critical hit rate by 30% for 10 seconds.
    That means if you have 13% crit, you now have 43% crit.(I looked on the MY-EN forums) and it has 50% chance to proc. so if it does, that means the Sage Black Ice Dragon Strike you just cast now has a 43% chance to crit...OMG does that rock.

    Now the other two ultimates are good also a 50% chance to use 1 spark. so in theory 89+ mage has 399 chi, you use 2sparks on sutra and you can cast 2 ultimates spells with that if you are lucky, and at 50% chance that is pretty good.

    So no i don't agree with you on hell mage is better for TWs.
    Hell mage is better for world pvp, and pking.

    Sage mage is better for Tws.

    This is my opinion, I think your guide up until this part was very well written.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Dalamaar: Mizorie you have no soul.
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I agree the +50 Chi skill on Sage is amazing but since the release of Genies, Chi is not a factor for me in TW anymore.

    Essence Penetration Lv. 10:

    Raise your Chi by 200 over 15 seconds, then drop it by 300 over 15 seconds. Cooldown 60 seconds.

    If you are able to get your 2 spark out in that 3-4 second timeframe (Even if your Chi drops below 2 spark while channeling), between raise and exhaust, you just basically got yourself an instant AoE. I was able to Blade Tempest around 5 times in a 9 minute TW without Veno support or spark pots.

    We're a sitting duck afterwards while our Chi burns for 15 seconds but hey, when all your enemies are dead who cares ;)

    The 89 Hell/Heaven split was designed to be all inclusive of regular grinding/TW/PK. The 2 spark skills I largely ignored as you get them at Level 99, and by then Sage bonuses may be very good but won't make or break a wizard. +12 refines and Apoth food will by then.
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    As an addendum, the 4 spark Sutra combo is not meant to be geared for TW. Its more geared for PK, 1v1. All sparks would obviously be spent on AoE or sutra independently and not a Sutra combo that involves an additional 2 Spark AoE =P
  • Mizuoni - Dreamweaver
    Mizuoni - Dreamweaver Posts: 3,533 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    ya she has a point sage is more for TW. the damage a sage wizard can do is unrealistic. and pyrogram also has a chance to give chi while being a nuke! with some -channel/crit gear a sage wizard is something to be feared with just +5 on gear and a +7 wep
    Sins are Scissors. Psychics are Rocks.
    Archers, Venos, Barbs, Wizards, BMs, Mystics, Seekers are Paper.
    ...and Clerics are Mushrooms.
    Paper beats Rock. Scissors beats Paper. Scissors also happens to beat Rock...until Rock gets 50k+ soulforce at which point Rock becomes an unstoppable killing machine that beats Paper... and would beat Scissors but it can't find Scissors, because Scissors are invisible.
    So Scissors beat Paper and avoids Rock, and that is called BALANCE. -cheze
  • Seraphim - Dreamweaver
    Seraphim - Dreamweaver Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    ya she has a point sage is more for TW. the damage a sage wizard can do is unrealistic. and pyrogram also has a chance to give chi while being a nuke! with some -channel/crit gear a sage wizard is something to be feared with just +5 on gear and a +7 wep

    Sage does LESS damage in TW with regular skills.

    The only thing a Sage wizard has on a Demon is their double spark which they dont get till level 99. The damage is the same on the double spark, its just the Chi properties are much more useful. However Essence penetration allows for Demons to also build Chi very quickly.
  • Zeonus - Heavens Tear
    Zeonus - Heavens Tear Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    Sage does LESS damage in TW with regular skills.

    The only thing a Sage wizard has on a Demon is their double spark which they dont get till level 99. The damage is the same on the double spark, its just the Chi properties are much more useful. However Essence penetration allows for Demons to also build Chi very quickly.

    I'm not 100% about this, but wouldn't using that limit your other useful genie skills? With enough vit I bet you COULD stack Ex Poison with that which would be nice, but then you lose that attack level from Frenzy too.
  • Forp - Heavens Tear
    Forp - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,445 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    what's with lost city and holy mages? seriously. who told these people it was a good idea?
  • Mizorie - Lost City
    Mizorie - Lost City Posts: 598 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I just looked at the demon skills, and there are really only 2 skills that boost your dmg. now 600 dmg meh in pvp not that much after reduction. 1200dmg yes that is a good amount. But then if you look at wizard, you have skills that lower elemental resistance, that in my opinion is better (I'm not sure if it stacks with undine or not). Now you may have been tlkaing about hell having lower channeling time meaning more dmg, I'm not sure.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Dalamaar: Mizorie you have no soul.
  • Silver - Dreamweaver
    Silver - Dreamweaver Posts: 403 Arc User
    edited June 2009
    I love this thread, this is very nice for Wizards all around, but i do have 2 things 2 say. First of all, Emberstorm is good and all but Black Water Dragon is your best friends. Wizards are natural born Heavy armor killers and....well... Emberstorm just doesnt cut it. In order 2 give Heavy armor Hell, U NEED Black Water Dragon, its your highest hitting MAGIC SPELL *cough cough* . Also as far as Sage/Demon, the Sage is.....AMAZING at TW for the main reason as, Wizards are chi beasts, no chi equals less useful and or instant kill by other classes, Not saying that they are completely useless without chi...but....U need chi, end of story and you get alot as a Sage, period. Also, this simply makes Black Water Dragon even more amazing then it already is, it has a 50% chance 2 increase MAGIC crit rate by 30% for 10 Secs b:dirty ya exactly haha. Also it has a chance to decrease ur lvl 59 skills 2 one spark!!! U kno what a wizard can do with 1 SPARK!!! Well im done speaking 4 now, till next time, Duecez

    ~Silver
    Most Ironic phrase in the English language is Common Sense, its easiest concept to understand yet few people ever grasp it.

    ~Silver
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