Seraphim's PVE-TW Wizard Guide

Seraphim - Dreamweaver wrote: »

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.

Seraphim - Dreamweaver wrote: »

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.