LA not viable anymore?

JcZerk - Dreamweaver

I made a wizard awhile ago and he is lvl 66 atm. At the time I made him, LA seemed more viable then it is today. So is a good idea to restat and go for AA rather then LA?

thumbs

LA was never good; it just wasn't as noticeable then. Even the most notoriously stupid LA wiz on our server restatted.

HexOmega - Dreamweaver

it was never viable

you lived a lie

b:victory

Lenestro - Sanctuary

nope

parkinjo

http://pwi.perfectworld.com/gameinfo/class/wizard

As masters of the conjuring arts, Wizards are vulnerable while casting, but once the casting is complete, they deal great damage to enemies. There are two primary stat builds that players use with Wizards: Full intelligence which maximizes magical damage and high magical defense, or a light armor build which sacrifices magical damage and defense in exchange for better physical defense.

pwi website is misleading ):

Nowitsawn - Heavens Tear

It used to be (sort of) viable because mold LA gear between 70-90 is actually pretty good compared to AA in terms of survivability.

Of course there were still enough asshats that would dictate how you should do you build, but at least it had a few benefits: a noticeable increase in crit (crit from gear was quite rare back then), more balanced survivability (weaker against magic, more resistant to physical) and slightly better hp due to the available mold gear.

Nowadays it would probably still work just fine in that level range, but with the leveling speed that is currently the norm, an LA build would only be during very short period of time and not worth the costs of a restat that you'll eventually need for the endgame AA armors which are far superior to LA for wizards.

thumbs

Yep, ****** here. Kill faster = don't need as much def. If you need more def: there's pdef ornaments. Kill faster still better 99% of the time.

VoItaire - Harshlands

I guess it was probably good when end game was around lvl 80-90, where the trade-offs weren't very one-sided and refines weren't as popular and good shards were harder to come by. But not at all viable anymore unless you have a main with high refined end game LA to stash until you can manage a proper set of AA.

HexOmega - Dreamweaver

at lvl90 they finally realized that their build was ****.

HexOmega - Dreamweaver

parkinjo wrote: »

http://pwi.perfectworld.com/gameinfo/class/wizard




pwi website is misleading ):

i just looked at that site.
here is some other things i ve found there


Archer

add claws and fists to those weapons, cuz thats what archers do

Assasins

"Assassins are a terrifying addition to any battlefield."

not really. they are actually pretty useless in big battlefields
they creep you when you are alone


and wtf at that picture

Blademaster

"Finally, Blademasters are the kings of status effects, "

nope, tahts assasins

Clerics

"Clerics are traditionally built with low physical defense, but can also be adjusted statistically to wear light armor and as a result become more durable in the face of physical damage."

i have not seen a LA cleric for years

mystics

no mentioning of them being summonders / pet users
while other classes provide "useful information" there is a story here

-> they are not listed on the statistics below

psychic

wtf at that picture

seeker

same as mystic -summons


Veomancer

solo class applies only to low lvls







.i was bored.

im sure you guys find more ;O

DeadRaven - Sanctuary

I had a LA wizzy in the early days of the game, and it was certainly a viable build at that time given the game content that was available and the general level of the average player. There were numerous hardcore LA wizzy's that could pk as good as any if not better, and it was a highly popular build for particular instances. No one that was around to witness an LA wizzy that was built and played well would ever say that is was "never good" (to quote the resident troll).

However, like I said, that was in the early days when players had no idea how the game would evolve or what the end-game content would look like. With all the numerous game changes and with end-game content coming into play, an LA build for wizards gradually lost its viability.

If there is any doubt, some of the older players will remember how the discourse on the forum about this very issue slowly evolved over the years from being a heated debate with supporters on both sides (because both LA and AA were awesome builds with their own pros and cons) to one-sided support for AA as players slowing hit higher and higher levels, and thus opened up new game content (along with the many game changes) that slowly made LA an obsolete build.

thumbs wrote: »

LA was never good; it just wasn't as noticeable then. Even the most notoriously stupid LA wiz on our server restated.

Either you are:
1. .....too new to the game to know what a good LA wiz could do in the early days of PWI
2. .....suffering from a convenient form of selective memory loss
3. .....trolling as always

In any case, making a universal statement like that is another good example of your unsound logic abilities, particularly as you follow it up with the statement, "it just wasn't as noticeable then." LOL It wasn't noticeable for the very reason that it was a highly competitive build. Certainly it had its disadvantages, just like any build does, but in the early days of PWI it was most definitely a viable a build.

Edit: On a final note, I would also recommend that some people take the time to look up the definition of "viable" before posting.... (hint* viable =/= best)

Flickerfae - Sanctuary

I just restatted my Wizzie because of this very thing.

I made her back in early 2009 as an LA Wiz, and it was fun then. She had good survivability at low levels, and I could walk up and Dragons Breath a group of mobs with far less fear of aggro. I don't regret trying out a build that, at the time, was questionable, but doable.

Mind, this was before BHes and Oracles, during the days when grinding mobs for hours on end was pretty much the only way to level.

But after restatting to AA, the damage difference due to Magic stat gain is noticeable, making her far more useful for what Wizards do best. AA is definitely preferable at higher levels, especially given the squad-heavy gameplay nowadays. By my reckoning, if you need the extra defense that badly for FCC or BHes or whatever you're doing, you're playing the class wrong. AA is far superior. b:thanks

Vindis - Dreamweaver

LA Wizzy was theoretically viable, but certainly not an optimal build at any point in time. Players were just bad and lacking knowledge when the game was new. People thought wizards were squishy, they needed more defense/hp from refines to survive. Basic kiting and proper sharding/refines help alot. +1/2 gear and a mix of garnets and cits w/ p def ornas and Stone Barrier will take care of you until you get around 90, then I would go for +3/4 refines. Wizards are a DD. Nerfing your own damage output is not suggested.


To test this out, create an AA wizzy now and play it with some knowledge. You should barely be getting hit. You should be hitting like a truck. Distance shrink is your friend.

HexOmega - Dreamweaver

just wanna say that i was around in the days before bh.. using arcane armor only

we lvled in aoe "zhen" parties,
as wizzie you would db all the time and as high int with high lvl db you would tank major damage over archers 5+ lvls higher than you

i dont think my gear was refined higher than +2 at that time since mirages was a rare thing with a value of 30k
but it worked out well... no need for la def
that would only nerf damage

had a hard time in gamma. but that made it all more interesting (aggro? run around like a chicken!)

thumbs

Some seem to think I said they weren't viable when what I said was it was never good. Some refer back to those earlier days when leveling towards 100 was an issue, while now just being 100+ is good and common. Mobs that I was killing in 3 hits; they were killing in 4. That not only gave them 1/3 more time in which a mob could have spawned and been hitting them, but also 1/3 more MP cost. Being LA they would have a lower MP pool as well and thus receive far less on eruption especially with Wellspring Quaff factored in. Costs were higher, progression was slower = not good.

Flickerfae - Sanctuary wrote: »

She had good survivability at low levels, and I could walk up and Dragons Breath a group of mobs with far less fear of aggro.

That's like a sin that doesn't attack at all because they're afraid of aggro. -There are many other ways to avoid aggro rather than long term gimping your toon or standing around.

ZetsumieX - Raging Tide

thumbs wrote: »

Some seem to think I said they weren't viable when what I said was it was never good. Some refer back to those earlier days when leveling towards 100 was an issue, while now just being 100+ is good and common. Mobs that I was killing in 3 hits; they were killing in 4. That not only gave them 1/3 more time in which a mob could have spawned and been hitting them, but also 1/3 more MP cost. Being LA they would have a lower MP pool as well and thus receive far less on eruption especially with Wellspring Quaff factored in. Costs were higher, progression was slower = not good.

also making them get roflstomped @ zhen / gamma / fc as soon as they were pulling aggro ijs

VoItaire - Harshlands

Pretty sure the point of LA build was PvP and not tanking mobs.

Shield - Raging Tide

HexOmega - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Clerics

"Clerics are traditionally built with low physical defense, but can also be adjusted statistically to wear light armor and as a result become more durable in the face of physical damage."

i have not seen a LA cleric for years

Edit: DeadRaven said it first XD

bloodking82

LA nowadays is not viable anymore because you can get a ****load of low level molds for cheap, so your hp/pdef is not lacking anymore.

back in the days ( even pre genies ) i started out as an LA wizard because it was just easier to level/PvP with then full arcane. the HP difference is kinda big in instances and when 1v1 PvPing.

At 80 a friend of mine bought me a TT80 gold set and i decided to restat to AA at that point, and i didn't regret it at all. nowadays there is no reason anymore to go LA, you gimp yourself too much.

Also my girlfriend started out as an LA cleric for about the same reasons, being able to withstand more in PvE ( doesn't actually PvP ) and there are countless times where her high Pdef and hp pool saved her life when there were some leroy jenkin bm's in squad or barb didn't properly take aggro on mobs