My Wizard Build
#1
After much experimenting, I think my final Wizard build is coming together.

Magic Missle (Split) - Used when out of AP as a way with the Prodigy passive to build AP back up while also doing a little bit of damage. I had been using the Charged Blast rune for the superior damage, but I just ran some tests and am pretty confident in what doppel said -- that the Prodigy passive procs for each of the split magic missles. This is incredibly powerful, and I'm going to switch to Split until Attunement becomes available at level 42.

Arcane Orb (Arcane Nova) - 175% weapon damage to all enemies in a 20-yard radius of the blast. This is the most effective AOE spell imho, and I love it.

Ray of Frost (Snow Blast) - 215% weapon damage ramping quickly up to 280% weapon damage. This is the most powerful single-target spell for the Wizard. I use it whenever I need something to die quickly.

Archon - A truly amazing spell. It just flattens champion and boss packs with ease, and I've broken it out during boss encounters when adds spawn as well. Whenever I pop it and finish off the current group, I run as fast as I can toward the next mob pack to see how long I can keep it going. I suspect that I will end up using the Pure Power rune to reduce the cooldown time.

Frost Nova (Cold Snap) - A great get out of jail free card when you get swarmed, walled, or yanked into the middle of a mob pack. Cold Snap reduces the cooldown time to 9 seconds.

Diamond Skin (Crystal Shell) - With the Crystal Shell rune, Diamond Skin absorbs almost as much damage as my current health bar -- and I don't skimp on the vitality. It's great when I'm swarmed or when I'm getting hit by ranged attacks.

Right now, my passives are all about AP generation:

Power Hungry - Get 30 AP back when a health globe is used. It has been great in many big sustained fights for getting some extra AP to keep up the Arcane Orbs.

Astral Presence - +20 max AP plus 2 AP regen/sec. Lots of extra AP is good.

Prodigy - +4 AP back when (in my case) Magic Missle hits something. This is a good way to regenerate AP.


Later, I may end up swapping one of those for Evocation to reduce the cooldown timer on Diamond Skin, Frost Nova, and Archon.

Overall, I think I have a versitile build. I have a strong aoe attack (Arcane Orb), a strong single-target attack (Ray of Frost), a way to regenerate AP (Magic Missle - Split with Prodigy), and a wtfpwn button to use against champions, bosses, and masses of small mobs in Archon. Diamond skin gives good protection while Frost Nova keeps me from being overwhelmed by mobs. I'm really enjoying playing my Wizard with this build.
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#2
I have been converted! It took a long time to convince me to give up Ray of Frost and to stop using the 20-yard radius version of the Arcane Orb, but gosh darn it, Hydra is just too amazing and the 20-yard radius Arcane Orb is too much of an Arcane Power hog. I knew I had changed to the right build for me, when I started playing it naturally after just a few minutes.

My new build is:

Magic Missle -- Attunement (will change to Seeker when I get back there)
Arcane Orb -- Tap the Source (reduces Arcan Orb cost from 35 to 20 AP)
Hydra -- Venom
Magic Weapon -- Force Weapon (will change to Energy Armor -- Force Armor in late stages of Hell)
Teleport -- Wormhole
Diamond Skin -- Crystal Shell

I was initially worried that this build would lack single target dps, but it really doesn't. I can cast the hydra on top of the target I want to kill first and then spam cheap Arcane Orbs at the target to get nearly the same single target dps that I had with Ray of Frost -- Snow Blast. In the meantime, the ability to spam Arcane Orbs and the way the Venom Hydra lays down poison pools simply destroys aoe packs.

In addition, I like how Arcane Power efficient this build is, which frees up a lot of passives. I used to constantly hear "Not enough Arcane Power," and I had to have every AP generating passive in order to keep shooting in a fight. Now, the only AP generating passive I'm using is Astral Presence, and I'm starting to wonder if I need that anymore.
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#3
This is similar to the build that I have evolved into as well for Inferno. Glad you finally saw the light of Hydra! =D

I've been using:

Arcane Orb - Obliterate
Magic Missle - Seeker
Energy Armor - Energy Tap
Diamond Skin - Crystal Shell
Hydra - Arcane Hydra
Magic Weapon - Force Weapon

With Astral Presence, Galvanizing Ward, and Temporal Flux.

At least for Act 1 of Inferno I don't see the need for Force Armor. Any packs that would kill me without it will still kill me with it so I forgo that and just stack on lots more Arcane Power. This allows me to leave out the cheaper Arcane Orbs and go for more damage on that rune. Either way you build it it's still a very economical build as far as Arcane Power goes so you really only need one Passive dedicated to it, which allowed me to drop Prodigy and add Galvanizing Ward. That passive seems fairly underwhelming, but in Inferno where I'm kiting non stop it is a godsend to be able to regen health along the way and has me looking over items a little more closely specifically for that stat.
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#4
(05-28-2012, 12:38 AM)Chesspiece_face Wrote: At least for Act 1 of Inferno I don't see the need for Force Armor. Any packs that would kill me without it will still kill me with it so I forgo that and just stack on lots more Arcane Power. This allows me to leave out the cheaper Arcane Orbs and go for more damage on that rune.

Very interesting choice. It definitely gives me something to ponder. I just switched into Energy Armor-Force Armor and threw on a shield. My survivability has gone through the roof, but my offense has taken a significant hit. Going with Energy Tap and Obliterate is tempting.

Also, when soloing, I can see the benefits of using Arcane Hydra with Temporal Flux. I think Venom does more damage when in a group, but when you are soloing and kiting a lot, that 30% slow is huge. Thanks for the ideas!
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#5
(05-29-2012, 01:18 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: Very interesting choice. It definitely gives me something to ponder. I just switched into Energy Armor-Force Armor and threw on a shield. My survivability has gone through the roof, but my offense has taken a significant hit. Going with Energy Tap and Obliterate is tempting.

Also, when soloing, I can see the benefits of using Arcane Hydra with Temporal Flux. I think Venom does more damage when in a group, but when you are soloing and kiting a lot, that 30% slow is huge. Thanks for the ideas!

I've actually changed back to the cheap Arcane Orb while still using the maxed out Arcane Power set-up. It's Orb spam central, and I think it ends up as more dps than the extra damage rune.
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#6
(05-29-2012, 03:38 AM)Chesspiece_face Wrote: I've actually changed back to the cheap Arcane Orb while still using the maxed out Arcane Power set-up. It's Orb spam central, and I think it ends up as more dps than the extra damage rune.

Yes, it is. I was just logging in to say this exact same thing. The problem is that increasing one's maximum AP does not increase the rate at which AP replenishes. (I just tested it to be sure). So, the Energy Tap provides for one extra Obliterate Arcane Orb during the initial spam, but it doesn't help you in the long fight and Arcane Orb becomes that AP-sucking problem we discussed earlier. So, yes, I agree, it's back to Tap the Source, and I might use Energy Tap for a while until I start feeling like mobs are starting to hit harder.

Well, when my Wizard gets back to hell difficulty. *sniff*
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#7
(05-29-2012, 08:18 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: Well, when my Wizard gets back to hell difficulty. *sniff*
You'd be alive had you accepted my offer of help, and for that I have only one thing to say:

You are one badass hardcore mother, and I'm proud that you do the bosses yourself!
Hardcore Diablo 1/2/3/4 & Retail/Classic WoW adventurer.
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#8
(05-29-2012, 11:25 PM)Frag Wrote:
(05-29-2012, 08:18 AM)MongoJerry Wrote: Well, when my Wizard gets back to hell difficulty. *sniff*
You'd be alive had you accepted my offer of help, and for that I have only one thing to say:

You are one badass hardcore mother, and I'm proud that you do the bosses yourself!

Thanks. Having some distance from the encounter, I think I know what happened. I think that the Butcher's furious charge attack is wider than I gave it credit for. I had to avoid a fire plate, so I didn't run away from the charge zone as far as I normally would. I still thought I was safely out of the way, but clearly I wasn't. I think I got clipped by the charge and then the fire (whose damage wouldn't have been significant had I been at full life) took the last sliver of health left away.

The really sad part is that I lost two more characters today trying to get her back up again because of two minor power outages in the neighborhood -- so I've lost a lot of my best twinking gear and gems in the process. I still have some, but I'm not going to be able to be as recklessly fast as I had been playing. Oh, well, tomorrow's a new day.
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#9
Arcane orb is neat, though in the end I felt that for it to be truly effective, you have to stand still and face the enemy which if they are fast and teleport really blows.

Which is why seeker is so great, as you can offscreen shot enemies. Piercing orb does it too, but a bit more haphazard in heated fights.

As for spending arcane energy, I went with just Blizzard and hydra; neither spell requires good aim, and aiming tends to be a luxury in fights that matter. :p

I'm also trying to find a way of getting galvanizing ward back in, since it would be amazing in long boss fights or against reflect damage elites.

My other feeling is that Prisim armor will become more and more useful compared to Force Armor, since a lot of the deadliest stuff is damage over time. I'll be scared to death of Azmodan in hell mode, since his fireball does 643635645 dmg and a lag spike would end me. So maybe force armor for that?
With great power comes the great need to blame other people.
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