Build Guide
With a new season starting up, many people may be considering playing a character they have not yet played before, or may have only power levelled that character to max level with help.What I would like to achieve in this thread, with feedback from other wizards, are tips and build options for someone new to wizards, but not new to the game. The goal is not to deliver a cookie cutter build but to let you know what key skills you will be getting as you level up, why they are more useful to levelling than to end game and, finally, what kind of build is good to start T1 rifts at max level.
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For starters, Wizards are a ranged class, and do not get the benefit of 30% damage reduction that Monks, Barbarians and Crusaders get. For this reason some skills which usually are only taken for higher level grifts will make their presence known in levelling builds. Also, min/maxing damage passives (Conflagrate) may be missing in favour of utility passives (Illusionist).
You start out with Magic missile but will quickly get Ray of frost. These 2 spells are great and could, in theory, do you all the way to max level. Magic Missile is a signature spell, which means they are free, but do not generate a resource (without modifications). Ray of Frost is a beam spell, which hits a single target and slows them, it does not pierce, but will do splash damage around the initial target. My personal preference would be to move up as you get them, through the Secondary spells until Arcane torrent (And it’s lightning rune in particular) and then stop. Magic missile and Arcane torrent make a great combination of Free spell + spender, and also great for single target and AoE.
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For levelling, I would recommend your other 4 spells be useful Utility spells.
For defence, frost nova is not very useful, especially at the level you will get it at. In the early game, unless you increase the difficulty lots, you never should be bothered by mobs getting too close to you, and if that happens, Diamond Skin is a much better CD because it will prevent you taking damage even surrounded while trying to reposition. But for levelling, and end game, Teleport is possibly the most useful skill, unlocked at level 22, as it will totally remove you from harm, and break you out of movement impairments (like jailor). It also is great for moving about the map quickly.
I would then pick 3 of the following abilities:
Hydra: This is good for scouting ahead or for leaving behind to finish off mobs. Each rune is useful and can be adapted to your preferred playstyle
Ice Armour: If you like to get close and personal then you will want this to reduce melee damage and to chill and slow enemies.
Storm Armour: I prefer this over Ice armour as it doesn’t require you to get close to your enemies to be useful. It is great at providing an early warning when you happen across mobs, as it will hit mobs even at the edge of the screen. Power of the Storm is a good rue to use here, as you will usually want to avoid taking hits, and you won’t have much crit% levelling up to make the other runes worthwhile.
Familiar: This ability is handy for some extra damage to your attacks, but doesn’t become really useful until level 30, when you get a flat 10% damage increase, or level 50 when it boosts your AP regeneration.
Mirror Image: A great spell, especially as you are also high enough level to have the Illusionist Passive at this time (Mirror Image 25, Illusionist 27) . Combined with Teleport you can have a high uptime of 30% more movement, and protection from mobs.
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Magic weapon is got at level 20, but is not really much use until end game, where it is commonly used to apply Elemental Exposure or for the 20% weapon damage increase which isn’t very useful when all you have are blue and yellow weapons
Energy Armour is not very useful until level 41, when you can get Pinpoint Barrier for 5% critical chance or at 60 when you get Prismatic Armour for 35% to all resistances. Otherwise it reduces your max AP, and/or requires you to take hits to be useful.
Shock pulse is unreliable, Spectral Blades requires melee range and Electrocute is very poor against a single target, making these other Signature Spells not very suitable for levelling.
If you are unsure, I recommend:
- Magic Missile
- Fay of frost -> Arcane Orb -> Arcane Torrent
- Diamond Skin until Teleport
- Storm Armour
- Hydra
- Mirror Images
For passives, I would recommend avoiding damage increases tied to a particular element or skill, as they will require you to do something that is often dependant on other parts of your build that might not suit what I’ve said above.
At level 10 assign your first passive skill, Blur. At 20, take Glass Cannon as second. If you find you are taking too much damage, replace it with Astral Presence at 24. If you are using Teleport and Mirror Images, replace Astral Presence with Illusionist at 27. At 30 Take Astral Presence or Glass Cannon again depending on play-style.
At Max Level, when you are starting rifts, you will want either Unstable Anomaly or Paralysis if you stick with lightning based damage, Unwavering Will is a good third choice.
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Gear shouldn’t be a big problem to pick, with a few provisos:
If you are using Arcane Torrent as your primary spender, Increased attack speed, and/or using a one-hander will increase your use of Arcane Power. Using a 2-hander, a nice slow 2-hander will make you hit harder per AP spent. With Astral Presence and a 2-handed Mace or staff, it is possible to use Arcane torrent continuously. For a while I removed my Signature spell altogether since I never needed a free spell with such a setup.
Cooldown Reduction is not a useful stat, as Teleport is ALWAYS ready when you need it, thanks to Illusionist and Mirror Image is not a make or break skill (also on Illusionist, handy that).
Prioritise Intellect, Critical Hit and Critical Hit Damage and any Toughness/Healing stats.
With Storm Armour, Lightning Hydra and Arcane Torrent – Static Discharge, +Lightning Damage% is also a useful stat.
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