Build Guide
Hey guys! This is the second Wizard build that i've personally tested in and out and prepared for 2.4.2 and also it is absolutely identical for 2.4.3!
It's a lot of fun and quite tanky as well. I've experimented a lot with different skills, stats, gear and FINALLY after almost two weeks of testing i found the perfect combination that works very smooth.
This build utilizes full, reworked 2.4.2 firebird with three fire spenders and absolutely no primary skills. So this is the "all spender" caster build of pure fire and blasting.
Some stats of the builld:
up to 310% damage reduction (Flame Ward, Halo of Arlyse, firebird 6pc, orb of infinite depth, mantle of channelling, Endless Walk set, Safe Passage)
up to 40% increased fire damage (rolls on bracers and Traveller's Pledge) + 200% from Convention of the Elements
up to 170% increased raw damage (Endless Walk set, Mantle of Channelling, Orb of Infinite Depth, Unwavering Will, Magic Weapon), and this is without legendary gems. +~105% from level 100 Bane of the Trapped + Taeguk
How does it work?
1) Etched Sigil casts Explosive Blast for us as well as Apocalypse! The key of this build. This way we maintain 6pc bonus without massive AP drain.
2) No need to manually cast Apocalypse, save AP! Just keep casting Explosive Blast and Flame Ward!
3) Keep channeling Flame Ward at all times to maintain Mantle of Channelling bonuses.
4) Hergbrash's Binding helps A LOT with AP management. Without it, maintaining AP levels is very problematic, especially versus single monsters like RG.
5) Try to maintain at least 50% of CDR from the gear + Evocation passive.
6) Always have your Explosive Blast ready for Fire rotation of COE.
7) Always have elite ignited for full 6pc Firebird bonus.
8) Don't fight small monster packs <15-20. It's not worth Igniting small packs of monsters as it won't provide damage reduction or damage boost via 6pc. ONE lonely Skeleton Archer can easily kill you and a huge pack of 20 Unburied can't
What i like about this build is that it has a lot of options, depending if you want to be more offensive or more defensive:
OFFENSIVE:
1) Witching Hour instead of Hergbrash's Binding. This would require switching from Deflection to Conduit on Magic Weapon.
2) Force Weapon instead of Deflection
3) Glass Cannon instead of Evocation or Unwavering Will
4) Life on Hit on bracers to CHC (safe option)
5) Life on Hit on Wand of Woh to %Damage or %Attack Speed or %CDR (relatively safe option)
DEFENSIVE:
1) Aquilas Cuirass instead of Mantle of Channelling. Works bad versus RG as your AP levels will surely drop below 90%.
2) Gizzard gem instead of Taeguk. DPS drop, but recovery will be insane. I actually did my 77 with this setup and it was super smooth anmd safe. Recommended as the BEST option if you have problem surviving.
3) Gogok instead of Taeguk. This is very solid option and i've played with it a lot, but i realized that i am surviving well in current setup and Taeguk just gives more damage.
4) Unity instead of COE (for Hardcore ONLY). Huge DPS drop, but immortality instead.
5) Blur instead of Evocation, but you will need a lot of CDR on gear. So it will have the same "output".
Thank you!
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I'm wondering if you can't do a hybrid of this and your tal rasha channelling build:[/p]
More focus on flame ward vs EB. Then you could use deathwish instead of WoW, swap out evocation for illusionist. Should still be able to maintain OID stacks, but get more damage out of arcane torrent. May also benefit from using topaz vs diamond in helm. Again, most of my gear already has CDR (from FB Archon build) but this doesn't seem to really benefit from super high CDR.[/p]
I think this would be a good speed-farm swap for those of us running the FB Archon build, which seems to really struggle for speed-farming.[/p]
Thanks![/p]
with something like my old build (leoric's crown there)
http://www.diablofans.com/builds/81378-insane-firebird-speedfarming-gem-levelling-80-67
Awesome build man, I have been rocking this for the last few days I'm not going back to Archon.
Is this still viable in current patch?
did you think its more important the delayed animation and less AOE of meteor Shower than the not stack blizzard??
sorry, my english its not my best skill. blizzard dont stack, its my point. Maybe meteor shower can work better
I came on to post 2 things.
1. This build ROCKS. I used to think I liked archon until I played at length, and then archon builds were no longer enjoyable. This build is just sick, with enough different alternatives to make it fun to try different stuff. I tried the archon firebird build and it is crazy strong, but this build is crazy strong AND crazy fun.
2. I absolutely love your videos, they may be too long for some people, but I am all about clear, comprehensive explanations and yours are perfect. You go into detail about options, about gameplay, about ideas that people might think work but you tried them and they are terrible, and your sense of humor when you are explaining everything is awesome. I am not sure where you are from, but every single time the Pig Sticker drops, I say its name out loud in the same accent as you because when you did the Crusader Invoker build video, you said it a few times and the way you say it just stuck, no pun intended. Crusader is my favorite class and all of your builds and experiments with new and different ideas are excellent. I learn a ton from your pages, and I just wanted you to know that your willingness to share what you create and learn has made the game truly enjoyable for me.
THANK YOU.
This build was made several patches ago during another PTR and it was incredibly fun! I plan to revisit the build, since Firebird set has been buffed as well Explosive Blast!
You are most welcome. I actually figured I would come back on here to let you know I am going to try a variant to this, see if you have tried it. I am a big fan of Disintegrate, and while there isn't a build built around that spell, it can work here despite losing the awesome defensive benefit of flame ward. However, I keep finding that the animation and length of time the spell is taking to land is too long, and explosive blast has gotten a little annoying. I played with the Meteor build for Firebird, but it used the arcane torrent again, and the familiar, and it still felt wrong. So I took the massive buffs for meteor, combined some aspects of this build, and am now using
Disintegrate (fire rune)
Meteor Shower
Blizzard (apocalypse)
and surprisingly, it is going really well, and it is much easier to spread the ignited love, mostly because I can spin around and nail everyone with the disintegrate beam and the reach of blizzard and meteor shower is incredible. I like treating my wizard like a wizard, but it seems like the days of casting awesome spells are gone in place of teleporting around as fast as possible and it just doesn't feel all that impressive anymore. I doubt my build will push very hard, I am hoping I can make some 80s with it, but the key is that it is fun, and that's why I play. If you have messed around with this setup at all and have any tips you would like to give, like accompanying skills I may not have thought of, I am always happy to read up.
Great build, but it can go higher than gr 85.
get rid of wand of woah, replace it for deathwish. 400% overall damage is much better than just buffing EB
Blizzard is too slow. takes a second or two for the channel to go off and then it does MEH over time damage, run meteor instead for more burst and applying buffs quickly.
Evocation passive is pretty much useless with sigil and orb of depth as i mentioned before. you wont need any CDR stats with this build anyways.
unwavering will is not ideal for 1 simple reason. mobility. Channeling makes you tough and do damage...sure..but now ur a sitting duck and when u move ur toughness drops off leaving u vulnerable. my playstyle doesnt let me sit and channel for longer than a 1-3 seconds at a time making any channeled buffs in this build very negligible.
while mantle of channel is the best of both worlds, i would go for magefists 20% to fire damage for more dot damage without me needing to always be channeling. If your having issues with toughness, i would recommend aquila curias just because its better overall for toughness.
after testing this build extensively have found explosive blast doesnt belong here, though it is viable, not ideal.
EB belongs in a tals build or delseres. It works for firebirds, but is less effective overall.