Play styles, Wiz > Barb

DudeLupus - Raging Tide

Let me start by saying I'm fairly new to the game, only been playing for a few weeks. However, during that time I've done extensive reading on the forums and wiki sites so I'm comfortable with terminology and the basic 'lay of the land'.

I started with a BM and played to lvl 12. I enjoy the class, but I wanted to try others. I ended up playing a Barb to lvl 40 but I don't really like the play style of a Barb. Good, but not great damage, and the role of a tank isn't that appealing to me.

So then I decided to try the Wiz. From the get-go I loved this class. It takes a little fancy footwork, especially early on, to make sure you stay alive. But the damage I'm dealing is incredible At lvl 27 I can take down lvl 30 mobs within seconds before they ever reach me.

I like have spells of different elements at my disposal, to get the best matchup against the weaknesses of my opponents. I haven't learned any AoE spells yet, I've heard a Wiz doesn't start using those until later on. And the spirit is better served on d-pyro, pyro, gush, and stone barrier right now.

I know that refines and shards are important for Wiz, the extra HP is welcomed, but I don't want to start wasting celestones until I know I'll be keeping the same armor for a while.

So my question for you seasoned wizards, Is there anything else I should be focused on? Any tips for a fledgling wizard? I'm not having trouble dying, and seem to be dealing great damage, but I don't want to get 10 lvls down the road and realize I should have been saving for something, or collecting something in particular that wizards need.

Just to make sure I'm covering the bases, I'm going the arcane route, with vit currently capped at 15, no pts added to dex, and just enough strength for gear. Glass cannon style.

DudeLupus thanks you b:bye

HarmOwnie - Dreamweaver

Hi,

i'm glad to hear that you enjoy the mechanics of the wizard gameplay so here are some things that might help you on your way to higher lvls

o) be carefull when you fight archer mobs because they can interrupt your spells or mobs with dmg overtime spells because the dmg of this attacks stacks ( for instance poison).

o) if you like grinding lvling wellspring not only to 5 but beyond will be worth it because having a large mana pool is nice and since you follow the glass cannon build with low vit the effect will be even larger

o) since you wear arcane armor look for +phys def modfiers on armors some normal 3* armors can be better than molds so check the auctioneer frequently

o) do your quests for free reputation and save up coins/dragonpoints if you want to go for rank gear --> you dont need r9 which is really expensive but r8 is relatively cheap and a good endgame weapon.

o) since most of the wizards aoes are relatively expensive to lvl choose 1 ulti at 59 and max it first instead of having 3 ultis at lvl 5-6 in the end. Same goes for attack skills only lvl skills you really use especially when you are short of coin and or spirit

o) try to get apo skill up a) because it's the easiest crafting skill to max and b) you will need the items like god's tea ( chi apo) and so on for PvP later anyway

greetz harm0wnie

DudeLupus - Raging Tide

Yeah, I've learned about interrupts when my macro gets stopped, haha.

I have started working on apo skill, and I'm glad you told me that I'll need it later because I wasn't sure if I was wasting my time.

So far my favorite attack spells are divine pyro, pyro, and obviously gush. I can't remember the name of the (stone smash?) spell but I haven't been leveling it regularly because the others are so great. I have some spare spirit but I would imagine I'll need it soon enough so I don't want to waste it on a spell I might not need.

I intend to save up spirit so that once I hit 59 I can start building up an aoe, thanks for that tip.

I have heard some say that +pdef is better, while others have been telling me +hp is better. So far I have a helm with +hp and chest plate with +pdef so I'm still torn on which one is more useful. However, you obviously have a great deal of experience so I'll differ to your judgement.

Thanks for the tips!

Galox - Heavens Tear

Until you get to Endgame and can get Decent Refines and Shards, +PDef will be wayy better. Always go with +PDef over +HP Pre-Endgame. You can get HP easily endgame with Refining and Sharding, but most of your current level gear should have +PDef Adds predominantly, and +HP adds always considered 2nd.

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

It's a shame your not on my server, than I would recruit you for my faction soon as you hit the req lvl b:chuckle

Anyway, your on the exact right track.

Just a few basic things you may not have figured out yet:
If you don't need stone shield (cause the mobs can't hit you anyway), switch over to Glacial Embrace, for that tiny bit extra mana regen. It's not much but it helps.

Your on the right way with saving up spirit, you won't have enough to lvl everything up so pick the skils you want and stick with them (basic spam skills pyro and gush, stone shield, water shield (smal luxary), will of the phoenix, stuf like that)

You probably meant Stone Rain. It's a medium nuke, great as an opener until you learn your other (real) nukes (Dpypro, sandstorm, Glacial snare), but not so good as spam skill cause of the long channeling (exept against a water mob, cause the reduced eath defence).

Ofcourse, always watch the mob's element, and use your elements to your advantage. Don't use fire against a fire mob (higher fire defence), but destroy it with water (lower water defence). For a full list mouse over the element sign next to the mob's name/HPbar/ect

The advantage of phys def for us is that it get's multiplyd by stone shield. However you obviusly need some HP to, so it's best to balance it

DudeLupus - Raging Tide

Sirrobert - thanks, maybe someone on my server will feel the same way

Taking advantage of elemental weakness is my favorite part of playing a Wiz!

Yes, I mean Stone Rain. I paid more attention last night when I logged in. I hit lvl 30 last night, I was going hard for the flyer. I hate walking and teleporting (except the 200 tele to save some time).

I managed to get a couple good pdef shards and finally learned wellspring quaff.

Here's my next question. This probably applies to all classes. I just bought some new armor, which I know I'll be using for the next 10 lvls. I bought it from the auction house for close to the same price as the NPC since this armor had slots and other bonuses.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it definitely seems like a good investment. Otherwise I would have to wait until suitable gear with sockets dropped, and that would take forever.

And about distance shrink, seems like it's not something I would use. After all, I'm usually trying to stretch the distance, not shrink it. So other than getting within range of the enemy, does this skill come in handy at these early levels?

PhantomThief - Archosaur

Distance shrink is actually useful for kiting mobs. Instead of jumping toward them, you hit the S key and jump backward and move further away.

Also, before anyone says "gtfo fishboy", I have a level 50 Wizard, so I'm not just a random fish hanging out here =P

HarmOwnie - Dreamweaver

DudeLupus - Raging Tide wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it definitely seems like a good investment. Otherwise I would have to wait until suitable gear with sockets dropped, and that would take forever.

And about distance shrink, seems like it's not something I would use. After all, I'm usually trying to stretch the distance, not shrink it. So other than getting within range of the enemy, does this skill come in handy at these early levels?

the thing is in the beginning the armor is less important than the weapon because if you deal enough dmg mobs wont hit you and there are hardly bosses with aoes in dungeons below 60
so you also dont need to have a min hp for being able to survive aoe dmg. Moreover the resistances added from lowlvl gear hardly reduce the dmg you take a lot so it is better to avoid the hits than taking them. Of course around 60 things start to change and armor becomes important too especially when you want to be able to work as a magic tank

For the distance shrink issue - i know that it is more convenient to use FoW or will of phoenix knockback instead of using a shrink and i normally also dont use shrink in my mob killing pattern unless i kill multiple mobs where it is really nice to gather approaching mobs without getting dmg and so on. The mentioned kiting abilities are also further required for successfull pvp and the skill can save your *** when your other control skills are on cooldown

greetz harm0wnie

Sirrobert - Dreamweaver

Blink (distance shrink) is actually a kiting skill.
Just turn around and, instead of running away, you blink away.

At lvl 30 you actually get rank1 gear (you need 300 reputation for rank1), which is very nice gear. Though if you already have good Ah stuf, there is no reason to get it XD (rank comes with a pritty decent ring to, you switch it out for each new ring each rank. info on rank stuf here http://pwi-wiki.perfectworld.com/index.php/Rank )

Good gear is usually prity cheap though AH at that lvl yea. It's best to scoop Ah every now and than for nice gear

Fistol - Raging Tide

i think you make a fine wiz, if you haven found a guild yet do pm me in game. I will get you in mine. b:chuckle