Conserving Spirit For Low-Mid Levels?

Kpil - Lost City

Hello everyone, I recently decided to re-roll a Wizard.

I've played Archer, Cleric, and Venomancer before.

Once I got to approximately level 40 or so on those characters, I found myself neglecting certain (useful) skills that I really wanted for other (more useful) skills.

For characters like my venomancer, I made the mistake of leveling (past level 1) some unnecessary skills such as Lucky Scarab or Noxious Gas and as a result, I did not even have enough spirit to get bramble guard to level 10 until I completed my 59 cultivation.

Right now I'm only leveling Pyrogram, Gush, Stone Rain, and Stone Barrier.

Now my questions-

Do I have enough spirit to keep Glacial Embrace on my level without losing some skill levels in the future (or is it even worth it, for that matter)?

Should I level Divine Pyrogram a few times before getting Sandstorm, or should I wait until I can work it into a Sutra combo?

Random questions-

Which should I be using for better survivability around my level, Physical Defense or HP shards?
I don't mind higher potion prices and I'm Pure MAG so my HP and PDef are both really low.

On ecatomb it says Dragon's Breath has range of 12m around you, is this 12m radius or diameter?


Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my question! b:pleased

_DangerouZ_ - Lost City

well, im a lvl 40 LA wiz, just as an example, i have pyrogram, gush, stone rain, and stone barrier max for my lvl, for your glacial embrace question, i hve mine a lvl below max......as a result i have pretty good amount of spirit but still good mp regen. Once u hit lvl 40 spirit will be less of a problem itll be money (if your not good at merchandising etc). For divine pyrogram i have it lvl 1.....saving more lvls of it until i get sutra. As i said, after 40 spirit is less of a prob now days thx to BH/CS etc. For money if u sell high mats you can make great cash fast in cashshops and npc all DQ for more.
As arcane id say go half hp shards half pdef, but thats just my opinion im sure an arcane wizzy will answer that for you.

MagicHamsta - Lost City

wait on divine pyro if getting it means you going to be underleveling teh sandstorm.

Sandstorm be your more used skill.
just focus on maxing out.
Gush/Sandstorm/Stone rain/ Pyrogram/ Stone Barrier/

Glacial embrace (Optional mainly for the mana regen)

And whenever you have spare monies and coins put some levels into Stone Barrier (max it out too actually) xD and force of will. Just don't level up Stone Barrier at say....leveling up gush or something.
Since when gush is high enough you can kite even ranged mobs without them touching you.

Make sure you get at least level 1 Will of the Phoenix. (for the knockback effect. it be really useful when questing alone)

those skills should be the basic "core" skills and be enough to take you to level 80+
<---proof.

(lols personally......me has actually gotten by with less.....me divine pyro is level 1.)

it's......it's over......Four Million~~~~~~
.....now me just need monies so that me could use it up. (>.<)

o and me highly recommend leveling up Dragon's Breath. If you can find a competent BM and a cleric when you reach level 60+ and have stone barrier maxed out by then, you can aoe grind easily.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

Don't lvl DB yet. At low lvls you can't use it anyway cause it's suicide (draw aggro from multiple mobs close by you without being able to run=dead wizzy)
I think it hits anywhere 12m away from you. Eehm, that's diamiter I believe

Regarding shards: Garnets (phys def) are amplified by your stone barrier. Most wizzies prefere garnets.

Glacial embrace is nice for grinding (cause of the mp regen), though it's not vital. Only lvl it for with spare stuf.

That said, you Will be short of spirit nomather what. And if you're not short in spirit, you'll be short in coins to use the spirit. Wizzies have the most expencive skils.

Than I need to say this. Isn't lucky scarab the veno stun skil? How can you call that useless?

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City

Well, I agree with 90% of what the famed hamsta said

As for divine pyro though, I have mine at level 5. It was really useful in most of my lower levels as an opener, but I hardly use it at my current level unless I'm fighting metal mobs. I plan on upgrading it more, but I'm *trying* to save spirit and money for my ulties and sutra next level.

Will of the Phoenix is also a good one to upgrade for a couple of reasons. For one, I have it at level 3 or 4, and it hits almost as hard as my lvl 10 pyrogram. The second reason is that as you level it, the knock bock range increases, as well as the total range of the skill. Also, it's a fast casting spell like gush and pyrogram, so I'd keep up with that one when you have some spare sp and coin.

Glacial embrace is a must have for me. Throughout most of my levels, it was far higher than my stone barrier. It kept me from burning through my mana pots nearly as fast (seeing as how I could keep GE cast on myself and when I started running low on mana, just meditate, and pop a pot to speed it up a bit)

Stone Barrier is amazingly useful, but, I don't use it for anything but pvp. It basically makes the difference between me being a one shot or a two shot >.> lol

Hope that helps some

Magicsaber - Dreamweaver

At my 55 level almost all skills maxed.

For example, all 1 level spells (see skill tree) at 10 level, shields (second level spells at skill tree) at 10 level (just one at 9 yet - Stone Barrier), all DOTs at max 8 and 9 level etc ... even passive skills at max - 6 level, so my Wizard inflict 12% extra damage to mobs.

Fire spells

Pyrogram - 10

Pyroshell - 10

Crown of Flame - 9

Divine Pyrogram - 7 or 8 (max possible for this level of character)

The Dragon's Breath - 4 (I not use this spell)

Will of the Phoenix - (one level less than maximum for this level of character)


Water spells

Gush - 10

Glacial Embrace - 10

Hail Storm - 0 (I not use this spell)

Morning Dew - 6

Frostblade - 2 (I not use this spell)

Wellspring Quaff - 5 (one level less than maximum for this level of character)

Earth Spells

Stone Rain - 10

Stone Barrier - 9 (useless if you have low physical defense)

Pitfall - 8

Sandstorm - (one level less than maximum for this level of character)

Distant Shrink - (one level less than maximum for this level of character)

Kpil - Lost City wrote: »

Do I have enough spirit to keep Glacial Embrace on my level without losing some skill levels in the future (or is it even worth it, for that matter)?

It must be maxed in first place (as I think).
Spirit is always problem in any case.

Kpil - Lost City wrote: »

Should I level Divine Pyrogram a few times before getting Sandstorm, or should I wait until I can work it into a Sutra combo?

Divine Pyrogram is one of the first "fire and forget" spells and it will be better than low - level, short range Sandstorm in any case.

I don't think, that my hero need any of spells, that required cultivation Aware of Coalescence or more (including Sutra) until moment when my hero will learn all available low - level spells.
It will be done near 60 level.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City wrote: »

Will of the Phoenix is also a good one to upgrade for a couple of reasons. For one, I have it at level 3 or 4, and it hits almost as hard as my lvl 10 pyrogram. The second reason is that as you level it, the knock bock range increases, as well as the total range of the skill. Also, it's a fast casting spell like gush and pyrogram, so I'd keep up with that one when you have some spare sp and coin.

There you are wrong. WotP is abit of a strange spel, and always has a range of 10m. Also, the extra dmg and knockback range per lvl aren't that good, so I suggest atleast get lvl 1 (you NEED a knockback), and than lvl it only when you have spare points. This goes to for Distance shrink, 1m extra per lvl is not so much, and it;'s expencive to lvl


@Magicsaber:
OMFG. Don't ever touch pitfal and crown of flame. The DoT is WORTHLESS for wizzies.
Seriusly, if there are spels you can stuff in a far away corner, it's those 2.

Regarding mastery's, try to lvl the mastery of the element you use the most. The first one you will really use is earth, for grinding/question on water mobs in your late 4x/5x

MagicHamsta - Lost City

Magicsaber
must be rich. O.o'
and have a lot....of free time to get teh spirit needed for that.
xD


well yesh don't touch crown of fire and pitfall....only used to make it look like your doing damage when your not. b:sweat

WoTP's knockback range doesn't increase with level.
You can however level it up later...like around level 75+ so that you can have it for RB gamma. (all of your aoe skills come in handy in RB gamma.)
b:pleased

.....also.....me didn't shard any of me gear until me was level 75. (X_x)'
and that was with garnets/citrine combo.
XD

Cheaper - Heavens Tear

here is a link to see skills http://ecatomb.net/skillpwi.php

you guys need to give accurate info about skills -.-


I suggest only maxing what you use and like using a lot

MagicHamsta - Lost City

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

Level 10 crown of flame or level 10 pitfall work great for getting aggro in boss fights.

^this part....confooses me.

there be so many other skills which do 2x or more damage then crown of fire and pitfall.
(>.<)'
sure it might take 1 extra second to cast those skills but....b:sweat

the reason why crown of fire and pitfall both suck so much is they don't get a damage % added from weapon or anything.
just does base magic attack.
b:sweat
and teh actual DoT damage be a nonfactor. b:sweat

me was planning on seeing if DoTs in this game works the same against invisibility in other games.
(prevent or force out of invisi if a dot is cast on them.)

fear mah face melter powah~ b:surrender
it probably would work since me has noticed having poison or other DoTs from mobs counts as "in combat" (either that or it be completely coincidence that the aggro time resets as soon as or shortly after the DoT disappears)
O.o'

Magicsaber - Dreamweaver

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver wrote: »

@Magicsaber:
OMFG. Don't ever touch pitfal and crown of flame. The DoT is WORTHLESS for wizzies.
Seriusly, if there are spels you can stuff in a far away corner, it's those 2.

Seriously ?
I use both and very effectively.
Especially against tough mobs and bosses.

These spells can't be interrupted because of short channel time.

Interesting to see stopped (far from me) by earth DOT mob or how DOTs kill enemy while my character is stunned by mob.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Regarding mastery's, try to lvl the mastery of the element you use the most. The first one you will really use is earth, for grinding/question on water mobs in your late 4x/5x

My character fight against mobs of all types, so he need spells and skills of all types.

MagicHamsta - Lost City

Magicsaber - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Seriously ?
I use both and very effectively.
Especially against tough mobs and bosses.

These spells can't be interrupted because of short channel time.

Interesting to see stopped (far from me) by earth DOT mob or how DOTs kill enemy while my character is stunned by mob.


My character fight against mobs of all types, so he need spells and skills of all types.

.........2 seconds for weak damage is....so....so...not worth it. b:sweat
1 second channeling + 1 second cast for both Crown and pitfall.... me would rather shoot off a gush and a sandstorm (which does more then 2x either crown or pitfall...well mayhaps not at your level since you can't take advantage of weapon modifiers on skills.)
and me seriously hope you don't use those pathetic spells in your sutra combo.

b:shocked

Andross - Dreamweaver

Crown Of Flames and Pitfall are simply only useful for taking aggro on bosses. Because they do damage over time. And bosses take a long time to kill... While fighting mobs it's not useful because the mob will probably die faster from you just using a couple of nukes. But if you constantly spam all your nukes and use DoT skills in between, you start to inflict massive damage and aggro. Why do you think flesh ream helps with aggro so well? Its main effect is that it will always grab aggro back no matter who has it. It's bleed is what helps actually HOLD the aggro.

MagicHamsta - Lost City

b:surrender
last thing you want on a boss is to take the aggro from the tank......
b:surrender
and on regular mobs.....why would you want to reduce your damage output....and no reason to hold aggro.....they already go for you.
xD

the only time me use it is if they have a sliver of life left...and me would rather use like 70 mp instead of 200+ mp to finish them off.

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver wrote: »

There you are wrong. WotP is abit of a strange spel, and always has a range of 10m. Also, the extra dmg and knockback range per lvl aren't that good, so I suggest atleast get lvl 1 (you NEED a knockback), and than lvl it only when you have spare points. This goes to for Distance shrink, 1m extra per lvl is not so much, and it;'s expencive to lvl

Well, actually the range DOES increase. And at level 4, it does close to the damage that my maxed pyrogram does. Admittedly the increase in range isn't much, but I'd say its still worth leveling. But thats just me ^^



EDIT: The circled parts are what increase with each level.

MagicHamsta - Lost City

Cholla - Harshlands wrote: »

Except, sometimes, I am the tank. (And, also, the last thing I want on a boss is a dead cleric.)

And I agree that DoT would be rather useless against regular monsters, but it can be rather decent when I am fighting elites.

hmm....me think either that cleric somehow found out how to use steroids in game or....out levels you by 50+ levels and probably would be better suited to tank if a CLERIC who be HEALING somehow takes aggro away from you....b:surrender

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City wrote: »

Well, actually the range DOES increase. And at level 4, it does close to the damage that my maxed pyrogram does. Admittedly the increase in range isn't much, but I'd say its still worth leveling. But thats just me ^^



EDIT: The circled parts are what increase with each level.

O.o'
so it does....yesh....well go level it up then.
(^.^)
according to ecatomb apparently it increases as well....but me don't trust ecatomb that much.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City wrote: »

Well, actually the range DOES increase. And at level 4, it does close to the damage that my maxed pyrogram does. Admittedly the increase in range isn't much, but I'd say its still worth leveling. But thats just me ^^



EDIT: The circled parts are what increase with each level.

Acutally, that's circled part is not the range. The range is the number that comes after the word 'range' (duh).
It means, you need to be atleast 10m or less to your target to cast. The circled part (the 15), means you will than (after you casted it), hit anything that's less than 15m away from you in a straigt line. But if the target is 14m away from you, you still have to walk 4m to cast the spell in the first place.
The 15m is just the AoE range, like BIDS and such

Andross - Dreamweaver

MagicHamsta - Lost City wrote: »

b:surrender
last thing you want on a boss is to take the aggro from the tank......
b:surrender

Well I never said you wanted to take aggro. Just saying that's all it's useful for b:chuckle

But yeah, as Cholla said, it can be useful if you're the tank. Otherwise they're pretty much useless.

Mumintroll - Heavens Tear

I never took agro with pitfall or crown of flame. NEVER. I'm using it quite often.

Kpil - Lost City

Thanks for everyone's replies.

I have not touched an DoT spell since there's no point in throwing one out when the monster dies before the spell wears off (the damage isn't awesome either).

I can kill all monsters in about 3-4 spells

I'll be using garnet shards in my clothing now.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver wrote: »

That said, you Will be short of spirit nomather what. And if you're not short in spirit, you'll be short in coins to use the spirit. Wizzies have the most expencive skils.

Than I need to say this. Isn't lucky scarab the veno stun skil? How can you call that useless?

Sorry if you misunderstood, I meant it was spirit better spent on other skills at that level.

The venomancer stun at lower levels is not very helpful.

Only giving around 50% success and stunning for 1 second at level 1 so it's better to level it when you can get 3-4 levels at once when you have a lot more spirit.

That paired with the fact that the pet is tanking so you don't really need to stun the monsters when grinding (assuming you are not soloing instances at level 50s b:shocked).

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

Eehm, the reason barb flesh ream works so well for aggro, is because the skil has the extra affect of drawing aggro. Not because of the DoT effect.

Simply said, they fail unles you have them lvled high and are in a fight that lasts long. But this thread is about conserving spirit, and as every wel thinking person can know, at low lvls you have alot better things to spent your rare spirit on

ROFLMAOMFG - Lost City

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Acutally, that's circled part is not the range. The range is the number that comes after the word 'range' (duh).
It means, you need to be atleast 10m or less to your target to cast. The circled part (the 15), means you will than (after you casted it), hit anything that's less than 15m away from you in a straigt line. But if the target is 14m away from you, you still have to walk 4m to cast the spell in the first place.
The 15m is just the AoE range, like BIDS and such

Ooooh okay it seems we misunderstood each other at the start. I was talking about the AoE range increasing, not the casting range (in my first post) Sorry for the mix up b:victory

verybadthings

id say for grinding and questing one thing is working fine for me.

sandstorm and stonerain maxed + I ve put points in earth mastery to get most out of having those ones at max.

Most mobs works fine opening with ss on followed by sr, then depending on mob and your level another ss to kill, fow followed by gush, ss

anyways the ss + sr combo has been and still is the spells that do most of the damaging on almost all types of mobs. hence the points put in earth mastery.

hint is if u r ow on spirit or cash not to max out earth mastery all the levels.

12-14% helps a lot and the last 6% are the expencive ones.