05-19-2012, 02:09 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-19-2012, 08:19 AM by Elric of Grans.)
I have really enjoyed the Wizard, right from level two. It has been challenging, and I have had a lot of close calls, but I am now up to Belial and am yet(!) to have a death (EDIT: killed Belial, still no deaths). This has taken using everything in my arsenal, which means a really well designed class in my opinion. Here are my thoughts on what I have used so far:
Primary:
* Magic Missile. Quick, long-range, reliable and very effective. Boring! I think 99% of players will use this, but it is just so boring! Effective, but boring.
* Shock Pulse. I really, really like this one. Not as random as everyone says. There are three pulses (left, centre, right), which each have two possible paths (left and right have outer and inner paths; centre's paths both cross the inner paths of left and right). As such, there are two points with a high probability of getting hit. This makes the skill far more reliable and far easier to use at medium range than Charged Bolt ever was. I sit at approximately 20-30' (guess) from the enemies and spam this out. Combined with Explosive Bolts, it makes for a great Normal difficulty crowd clearer, cleaning up weak, swarmy enemies (eg Fallen) so I can save my Arcane Power for tougher foes.
* Spectral Blade. Seems a defensive skill, and there are plenty of times it would be useful in that regard, but it is not what I want from a Signature Spell. Probably the de facto choice for Tank-Mage builds.
* Electrocute. I am not really sure what this spell adds. We already have a Lightning damage spell, we already have a long-range direct target spell. It seems to fill the crowd control niche of Shock Pulse, but I feel it is less effective (and why have two spells that do the same thing anyway?).
Secondary:
* Ray of Frost. I love this spell. I clear out the trash with Shock Pulse, then use Ray of Frost to finish off the harder enemies. Snow Blast makes it fantastic against really meaty enemies and special opponents (Champions, etc).
* Arcane Orb. I was never fussed on this. If you pick Magic Missile it may be a decent choice, but I feel there are other spells that already fill the same niche, better. Yeah, it does allow kiting, but the slow movement of the projectile compared with the fast moving mobs makes it ineffective for that purpose.
* Arcane Torrent. I hate this spell. The slow, ground-targeting projectiles are a poor choice for a glass cannon. Probably a fantastic option for Tank-Mage builds, however; I would be interested to try that out.
* Disintegrate. Great spell; I think most people will use this. No real weaknesses, other than Arcane Power runs out eventually. It does not fit my personal play-style, but still a fantastic option.
Defensive:
* Frost Nova. I love this spell. It has defensive uses, offensive uses (tried packing enemies tightly together, using this with Shatter, then spamming point-blank Shock Pulse with Explosive Bolts? FUN!). I currently use it with Cold Snap so I can spam the hell out of it. The Freeze duration is short, but it gives you either breathing time or time to set something up.
* Diamond Skin. Another spell I love. I use this in Boss Battles, with Crystal Shell. When I have full Arcane Power, I throw this up, then empty the globe with Ray of Frost/Snow Blast, dealing huge damage while I take none. Also good as a panic button in general, but I find Frost Nova more fun.
* Slow Time. A really solid and entertaining spell. I do not really use it at the moment, because I like Frost Nova and Diamond Skin too much, but it looks to be another useful defensive option. Probably pretty build-specific, however; I cannot see it easily slipping into just any random build.
* Teleport. Teleport... with a cooldown? I think this will be an essential panic button for hardcore, but the fun of Teleport has been drained out for me.
Force:
* Wave of Force. I hated this spell, right from when I first unlocked it, and yet I keep coming back. I do not know why, but it just seems to fit my play-style really well. Impactful Wave and Force Affinity have both been good for me. I do not use it as much as most other spells, but it just seems to suit me better than the other options.
* Energy Twister. Meh? I tried it, I found a few ways to get decent damage out of it, but it just seemed a pretty dull option. Perhaps some of the latter runes may open it up more?
* Hydra. Again, one Hydra? Half the point of this spell in past games was spamming it. For the restriction, the damage seems a little low too. A fair choice, but it just did not suit me.
* Meteor. I have not even bothered using it. 60 Arcane Power and a delay for a mere 200% damage and a 60% DoT? It seems pretty darn under-powered for those limitations.
Conjuration:
* Ice Armour. A solid defensive option that, I believe, will be essential for Hardcore. Even in Softcore, I have given it a pretty good run simply because it is such a good choice.
* Storm Armour. Compared to Ice Armour, I was less fussed. It gives more damage (and you *will* get hit), and triggers far more reliably than Ice Armour, but I never felt it was anything special. Perhaps specific builds could benefit from this, but it does not appeal to me.
* Magic Weapon. Another really solid option, and guaranteed to the the de facto choice for Artillery-Mage builds. More damage = MOAR DAMAGE: a very, very simple equation. Oh, Runes can make it even better? MOAR POWER *grunting*
* Familiar. The base version of this is pretty meh, but the Runes sound interesting. It lacks the defensive benefits of Ice Armour, or the raw offence of Magic Weapon, but it could be a fun utility option.
Mastery:
* Explosive Blast. Wow... talk about lame. You sit through a delayed for a short-range, low-power attack, which then has a cooldown. Are they serious? You can perform other actions during the delay, so you can activate, run in, Frost Nova, explode, then clear space with Wave of Force, but the damage is so poor as to make it essentially pointless. Even the visual effect makes it look like the bomb was a dud! Probably the best choice of the three for a Tank-Mage, but still very, very lame.
* Mirror Image. A solid defensive option that I suspect will be a hardcore standard. It adds little to a softcore Artillery-Mage build, but the defensive benefits in hardcore are beyond measure.
Primary:
* Magic Missile. Quick, long-range, reliable and very effective. Boring! I think 99% of players will use this, but it is just so boring! Effective, but boring.
* Shock Pulse. I really, really like this one. Not as random as everyone says. There are three pulses (left, centre, right), which each have two possible paths (left and right have outer and inner paths; centre's paths both cross the inner paths of left and right). As such, there are two points with a high probability of getting hit. This makes the skill far more reliable and far easier to use at medium range than Charged Bolt ever was. I sit at approximately 20-30' (guess) from the enemies and spam this out. Combined with Explosive Bolts, it makes for a great Normal difficulty crowd clearer, cleaning up weak, swarmy enemies (eg Fallen) so I can save my Arcane Power for tougher foes.
* Spectral Blade. Seems a defensive skill, and there are plenty of times it would be useful in that regard, but it is not what I want from a Signature Spell. Probably the de facto choice for Tank-Mage builds.
* Electrocute. I am not really sure what this spell adds. We already have a Lightning damage spell, we already have a long-range direct target spell. It seems to fill the crowd control niche of Shock Pulse, but I feel it is less effective (and why have two spells that do the same thing anyway?).
Secondary:
* Ray of Frost. I love this spell. I clear out the trash with Shock Pulse, then use Ray of Frost to finish off the harder enemies. Snow Blast makes it fantastic against really meaty enemies and special opponents (Champions, etc).
* Arcane Orb. I was never fussed on this. If you pick Magic Missile it may be a decent choice, but I feel there are other spells that already fill the same niche, better. Yeah, it does allow kiting, but the slow movement of the projectile compared with the fast moving mobs makes it ineffective for that purpose.
* Arcane Torrent. I hate this spell. The slow, ground-targeting projectiles are a poor choice for a glass cannon. Probably a fantastic option for Tank-Mage builds, however; I would be interested to try that out.
* Disintegrate. Great spell; I think most people will use this. No real weaknesses, other than Arcane Power runs out eventually. It does not fit my personal play-style, but still a fantastic option.
Defensive:
* Frost Nova. I love this spell. It has defensive uses, offensive uses (tried packing enemies tightly together, using this with Shatter, then spamming point-blank Shock Pulse with Explosive Bolts? FUN!). I currently use it with Cold Snap so I can spam the hell out of it. The Freeze duration is short, but it gives you either breathing time or time to set something up.
* Diamond Skin. Another spell I love. I use this in Boss Battles, with Crystal Shell. When I have full Arcane Power, I throw this up, then empty the globe with Ray of Frost/Snow Blast, dealing huge damage while I take none. Also good as a panic button in general, but I find Frost Nova more fun.
* Slow Time. A really solid and entertaining spell. I do not really use it at the moment, because I like Frost Nova and Diamond Skin too much, but it looks to be another useful defensive option. Probably pretty build-specific, however; I cannot see it easily slipping into just any random build.
* Teleport. Teleport... with a cooldown? I think this will be an essential panic button for hardcore, but the fun of Teleport has been drained out for me.
Force:
* Wave of Force. I hated this spell, right from when I first unlocked it, and yet I keep coming back. I do not know why, but it just seems to fit my play-style really well. Impactful Wave and Force Affinity have both been good for me. I do not use it as much as most other spells, but it just seems to suit me better than the other options.
* Energy Twister. Meh? I tried it, I found a few ways to get decent damage out of it, but it just seemed a pretty dull option. Perhaps some of the latter runes may open it up more?
* Hydra. Again, one Hydra? Half the point of this spell in past games was spamming it. For the restriction, the damage seems a little low too. A fair choice, but it just did not suit me.
* Meteor. I have not even bothered using it. 60 Arcane Power and a delay for a mere 200% damage and a 60% DoT? It seems pretty darn under-powered for those limitations.
Conjuration:
* Ice Armour. A solid defensive option that, I believe, will be essential for Hardcore. Even in Softcore, I have given it a pretty good run simply because it is such a good choice.
* Storm Armour. Compared to Ice Armour, I was less fussed. It gives more damage (and you *will* get hit), and triggers far more reliably than Ice Armour, but I never felt it was anything special. Perhaps specific builds could benefit from this, but it does not appeal to me.
* Magic Weapon. Another really solid option, and guaranteed to the the de facto choice for Artillery-Mage builds. More damage = MOAR DAMAGE: a very, very simple equation. Oh, Runes can make it even better? MOAR POWER *grunting*
* Familiar. The base version of this is pretty meh, but the Runes sound interesting. It lacks the defensive benefits of Ice Armour, or the raw offence of Magic Weapon, but it could be a fun utility option.
Mastery:
* Explosive Blast. Wow... talk about lame. You sit through a delayed for a short-range, low-power attack, which then has a cooldown. Are they serious? You can perform other actions during the delay, so you can activate, run in, Frost Nova, explode, then clear space with Wave of Force, but the damage is so poor as to make it essentially pointless. Even the visual effect makes it look like the bomb was a dud! Probably the best choice of the three for a Tank-Mage, but still very, very lame.
* Mirror Image. A solid defensive option that I suspect will be a hardcore standard. It adds little to a softcore Artillery-Mage build, but the defensive benefits in hardcore are beyond measure.
May the wind pick up your heels and your sword strike true.