[S10] [2.5.0] GR100+ Hydra Light Wiz Detailed

Rating

by Tboner13 last updated Apr 4, 2017 ( Patch 2.5.0 )

Regular

Hybrid

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Skills

Magic Missile Glacial Spike
- Magic Missile
This is a Signature spell. Signature spells are free to cast.

Launch a missile of magic energy, dealing 230% weapon damage as Arcane.
Glacial Spike

Cast out a shard of ice that explodes on impact, causing enemies within 4.5 yards to take 175% weapon damage as Cold and be Frozen for 1 second.

Enemies cannot be Frozen by Glacial Spike more than once every 5 seconds.
Black Hole Spellsteal
- Black Hole
Cost: 20 Arcane Power
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Conjure a Black Hole at the target location that draws enemies to it and deals 700% weapon damage as Arcane over 2 seconds to all enemies within 15 yards.
Spellsteal

Enemies hit by Black Hole deal 10% reduced damage for 5 seconds. Each enemy hit by Black Hole grants you 3% increased damage for 5 seconds.
Energy Armor Force Armor
- Energy Armor
Cost: 25 Arcane Power

Focus your energies, increasing your Armor by 35% but decreasing your maximum Arcane Power by 20. Lasts 10 minutes.

Only one Armor may be active at a time.
Force Armor

Incoming attacks that would deal more than 35% of your maximum Life are reduced to deal 35% of your maximum Life instead.

The amount absorbed cannot exceed 100% of your maximum Life.
Magic Weapon Deflection
- Magic Weapon
Cost: 25 Arcane Power

Imbue your weapon with magical energy, granting it 10% increased damage. Lasts 10 minutes.
Deflection

When you perform an attack, gain a protective shield for 3 seconds that absorbs 4% of your Life in damage.
Hydra Lightning Hydra
- Hydra
Cost: 15 Arcane Power

Summon a multi-headed Hydra for 15 seconds that attacks enemies with bolts of fire dealing 165% weapon damage as Fire.

Only one Hydra may be active at a time.
Lightning Hydra

Summon a Lightning Hydra that electrocutes enemies for 255% weapon damage as Lightning.
Archon Combustion
- Archon
Cooldown: 120 seconds

Transform into a being of pure arcane energy for 20 seconds. While in Archon form, your normal abilities are replaced by powerful Archon abilities, your damage is increased by 30%, and your Armor and resistances are increased by 150%.

Each enemy killed while in Archon form increases your damage by 6% for the remaining duration of Archon.
Combustion

An explosion erupts around you when you transform, dealing 3680% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 15 yards.

Archon abilities deal Fire damage instead of Arcane.

Evocation
- Evocation
Reduce all cooldowns by 20%.
Power Hungry
- Power Hungry
You deal 30% additional damage to enemies farther than 30 yards.
Unstable Anomaly
- Unstable Anomaly
When you receive fatal damage, you instead gain a shield equal to 400% of your maximum Life for 5 seconds and release a shockwave that knocks enemies back and Stuns them for 3 seconds.

This effect may occur once every 60 seconds.
Paralysis
- Paralysis
Lightning spells have a 15% chance to Stun all targets hit for 1.5 seconds.

Items

Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom

Set Helm

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 4.5–6.0%
+3 Random Magic Properties
Empty Socket
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+330–524 Dexterity

+330–524 Strength

+330–524 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Vyr's Proud Pauldrons

Set Shoulders

59 - 68 Armor

Primary Stats

+51 - 60 Resistance to All Elements

Vyr's Amazing Arcana
Vyr's Astonishing Aura
Vyr's Fantastic Finery
Vyr's Swaggering Stance
Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets
Vyr's Proud Pauldrons
Vyr's Sightless Skull
(2) Set: Archon gains the effect of every rune.
(4) Set: Archon stacks also increase your Attack Speed, Armor, and Resistances by 1%.
(6) Set: You gain 1 Archon stack when you hit with an Archon ability and Archon stacks also reduce damage taken by 0.15% and have their damage bonus increased to 50%.

+ 4 Random Magic Properties
Tal Rasha's Allegiance

Set Amulet

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Damage Increased by 51.0–100.0%
+4 Random Magic Properties
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+330–524 Dexterity

+330–524 Strength

+330–524 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit

Set Chest Armor

Primary Stats

+220–349 Vitality
Attack Speed Increased by 5.0–6.0%
+2 Random Magic Properties
Empty Socket
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+220–349 Dexterity

+220–349 Strength

+220–349 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Ashnagarr's Blood Bracer

Legendary Bracers

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 1.0–2.0%
+3 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Increases the potency of your shields by 75–100%.
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+18–23 Dexterity

+18–23 Strength

+18–23 Intelligence
Tal Rasha's Grasp

Set Gloves

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 6.0–10.0%
+4 Random Magic Properties
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+330–524 Dexterity

+330–524 Strength

+330–524 Intelligence

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
Fazula's Improbable Chain

Legendary Belt

6 - 7 Armor

Secondary Stats

You automatically start with 40 - 50 Archon stacks when entering Archon form.

+ 4 Random Magic Properties
Vyr's Fantastic Finery

Set Pants

33 - 38 Armor

Primary Stats

Sockets (1)

Vyr's Amazing Arcana
Vyr's Astonishing Aura
Vyr's Fantastic Finery
Vyr's Swaggering Stance
Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets
Vyr's Proud Pauldrons
Vyr's Sightless Skull
(2) Set: Archon gains the effect of every rune.
(4) Set: Archon stacks also increase your Attack Speed, Armor, and Resistances by 1%.
(6) Set: You gain 1 Archon stack when you hit with an Archon ability and Archon stacks also reduce damage taken by 0.15% and have their damage bonus increased to 50%.

+ 4 Random Magic Properties
Vyr's Swaggering Stance

Set Boots

Primary Stats

+4 Random Magic Properties
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+416–500 Dexterity

+416–500 Strength

+416–500 Intelligence

One of 33 Magic Properties (varies)

Increases Cluster Arrow Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Multishot Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Elemental Arrow Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Strafe Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Chakram Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Rapid Fire Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Impale Damage by 10–15% (Demon Hunter Only)

Increases Whirlwind Damage by 10–15% (Barbarian Only)

Increases Seismic Slam Damage by 10–15% (Barbarian Only)

Increases Ancient Spear Damage by 10–15% (Barbarian Only)

Increases Hammer of the Ancients Damage by 10–15% (Barbarian Only)

Increases Meteor Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Disintegrate Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Energy Twister Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Arcane Torrent Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Wave of Force Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Arcane Orb Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Ray of Frost Damage by 10–15% (Wizard Only)

Increases Acid Cloud Damage by 10–15% (Witch Doctor Only)

Increases Spirit Barrage Damage by 10–15% (Witch Doctor Only)

Increases Zombie Charger Damage by 10–15% (Witch Doctor Only)

Increases Sacrifice Damage by 10–15% (Witch Doctor Only)

Increases Firebats Damage by 10–15% (Witch Doctor Only)

Increases Tempest Rush Damage by 10–15% (Monk Only)

Increases Exploding Palm Damage by 10–15% (Monk Only)

Increases Wave of Light Damage by 10–15% (Monk Only)

Increases Lashing Tail Kick Damage by 10–15% (Monk Only)

Increases Phalanx Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Increases Blessed Hammer Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Increases Blessed Shield Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Increases Sweep Attack Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Increases Fist of the Heavens Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Increases Shield Bash Damage by 10–15% (Crusader Only)

Vyr's Amazing Arcana
Vyr's Astonishing Aura
Vyr's Fantastic Finery
Vyr's Swaggering Stance
Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets
Vyr's Proud Pauldrons
Vyr's Sightless Skull
(2) Set: Archon gains the effect of every rune.
(4) Set: Archon stacks also increase your Attack Speed, Armor, and Resistances by 1%.
(6) Set: You also gain Archon stacks when you hit with an Archon ability.
Convention of Elements

Legendary Ring

Primary Stats

Critical Hit Chance Increased by 3.5%
Sockets (1)

Secondary Stats

Gain 150 - 200% increased damage to a single element for 4 seconds. This effect rotates through the elements available to your class in the following order: Arcane, Cold, Fire, Holy, Lightning, Physical, Poison.

+ 2 Random Magic Properties
Manald Heal

Legendary Ring

Secondary Stats

Enemies stunned with Paralysis also take 13000 - 14000% weapon damage as Lightning.

+ 4 Random Magic Properties
Serpent's Sparker

Legendary Wand

Primary Stats

+128–163 Intelligence
+3 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

You may have one extra Hydra active at a time.
One of 7 Magic Properties (varies)

+(32–39)–(39–49) Arcane Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Poison Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Lightning Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Holy Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Cold Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Fire Damage

+(32–39)–(39–49) Damage
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare

Set Source

Primary Stats

+(94–118)–(95–142) Damage
+330–524 Intelligence
Critical Hit Chance Increased by 6.0–10.0%
Increases Meteor Damage by 20–25% (Wizard Only)
+3 Random Magic Properties

Tal Rasha's Elements
Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
Tal Rasha's Brace
Tal Rasha's Allegiance
Tal Rasha's Stride
Tal Rasha's Grasp
(2) Set: Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. There is an 8 second cooldown for each damage type.
(4) Set: Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds.
(6) Set: Attacks increase your damage by 750% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.

More Details

Head
- Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom
- Vyr's Sightless Skull
- The Swami
- Stat Priority: Socket CHC Int Vit
Shoulders
- Vyr's Proud Pauldrons
- Stat Priority: CDR Int Vit Life
Amulet
- Tal Rasha's Allegiance
- Stat Priority: CDR Socket CHD CHC
Torso
- Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit
- Vyr's Astonishing Aura
- Stat Priority: Int Vit AS Life
Wrists
- Ashnagarr's Blood Bracer
- Ranslor's Folly
- Lacuni Prowlers
- Stat Priority: Lightning % CHC Int Vit
Hands
- Tal Rasha's Grasp
- Vyr's Grasping Gauntlets
- Stat Priority: CDR CHC CHD Int
Waist
- Fazula's Improbable Chain
- Tal Rasha's Brace
- Stat Priority: Int Vit Life Armor +
Legs
- Vyr's Fantastic Finery
- Tal Rasha's Stride
- Stat Priority: Int Vit Armor + Socket
Feet
- Vyr's Swaggering Stance
- Stat Priority: Int Vit Armor + AR
Rings
- Convention of Elements
- Manald Heal
- Ring of Royal Grandeur
- Stat Priority: CDR Socket CHD CHC
Weapon
- Serpent's Sparker
- Starfire
- Stat Priority: CDR AS Dmg %
Offhand
- Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare
- Stat Priority: CDR CHC Int Elite %

Legendary Gems
- Bane of the Stricken
  Bane of the Stricken
  
  Gem
  
  Secondary Stats
  
  Each attack you make against an enemy increases the damage it takes from your attacks by 0.8%.
- Gogok of Swiftness
  Gogok of Swiftness
  
  Gem
  
  Secondary Stats
  
  Gain Swiftness with every attack, increasing your Attack Speed by 1% and Dodge by 0.5% for 4 seconds. This effect stacks up to 15 times.
- Zei's Stone of Vengeance
  Zei's Stone of Vengeance
  
  Gem
  
  Primary Stats
  
  Damage you deal is increased by 4.00% for every 10 yards between you and the enemy hit. Maximum 20.00% increase at 50 yards.
  20% chance on hit to Stun the enemy for 1 second. (Requires Rank 25)

Kanai's Cube

Starfire

Legendary Wand

Primary Stats

+(6–7)–(8–9) Cold Damage
+27–35 Intelligence
+4 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Lightning damage is increased by 10–15% for every 10 yards you are from the target up to a maximum of 40 yards.
Starfire
The Swami

Legendary Wizard Hat

Primary Stats

+128–163 Intelligence
Critical Hits grant 3–4 Arcane Power (Wizard Only)
+2 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

+7–9 Maximum Arcane Power (Wizard Only)
The bonuses from Archon stacks now last for 15–20 seconds after Archon expires.
The Swami
Ring of Royal Grandeur

Legendary Ring

Primary Stats

Attack Speed Increased by 2.0–3.0%
+27–60 Life per Hit
+2 Random Magic Properties

Secondary Stats

Reduces the number of items needed for set bonuses by 1 (to a minimum of 2).
One of 3 Magic Properties (varies)

+24–29 Dexterity

+24–29 Strength

+24–29 Intelligence
Ring of Royal Grandeur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hldreOS8slw (GR 105 run where I one shot RG)

**For Obsidian version, simply swap CoE for obsidian, change glacial spike to Ray of Frost and I recommend having one source of arcane power on crit**

As long as you hit 3 Vyr's / 5 Tal's pieces you are good to go, recommended to use Tal's armor for the free attack speed roll

You need as much cooldown reduction as possible, the more the better, minimum I recommend playing with is 63% (In your character sheet, BEFORE Gogok stacks) However the build does work with as low as 62.63% (You just hit this with perfect rolls everywhere WITHOUT cdr on amulet, an option if you want to squeeze out extra damage from your amulet)

You can swap blackhole for Teleport-Calamity if you feel you need it outside archon, but it is a huge damage loss during the Rift

You can swap Force Armor for Slow Time - Stretch Time for 20% attack speed for you and WD, but makes you very squishy

*Lightning% does not actually increase our damage, but it is needed on bracer in order to make archon beam do lightning damage to proc Manald Heal, so 16% vs 20% is no difference in damage output*

Rings are interchangeable in cube, use your 2 best rings cube the other

If you find a good useable Swami you can cube Fazulas and use Tal's belt

If you find a good useable Starfire you can use that and cube Serpent Sparker

I highly recommend Ashnagarr's bracer as it doubles the shields from Deflection AND Unstable Anomaly, and you do not need the attack speed from Lacuni's

You do not need Arcane power on crit with this build as you hardly spend any AP, so Vitality or Elite damage% on source is ideal

Attack speed rolls are not important on gear (Besides weapon), the 10 you get from paragon, 7 from armor and 15 from Gogok is more than enough to hit the breakpoints you are aiming for, providing you have attack speed on your weapon that is very important.

how to calculate how much attack speed you will need just follow this formula:

breakpoint you want to hit / base attack speed = attack speed you need-2 (it will be 2.xx , the xx is how much attack speed you need, ASSUMING 50 STACK BELT, 50stacks * 2 = the 2.0 multiplier)

base attack speed is determined by the attack speed roll on your weapon this is why it is very important to have attack speed on weapon

with a 7% attack speed weapon your base attack speed is 1.498 (1.4*1.07) , the game rounds this to 1.5 but you cant use that number for calculations.

so if you want to hit the 3.3334 Archon Disintigrate breakpoint you would need (3.3334/1.498 = 2.225 , this means you need 23% attack speed to hit this breakpoint, you always round up)

for a weapon without attack speed : 3.3334/1.4 = 2.381, this means you need 39% attack speed to hit the same breakpoint.

a properly geared wizard will have a natural base of (7% armor, 10% paragon, 15% gogok = 32% base, so without attack speed on weapon you just need another 7% attack speed roll elsewhere.

Paragon Priorities

Core

Primary Stat
Movement Speed
Vitality
Maximum Resource

Offense

Cooldown Reduction
Attack Speed
Critical Hit Chance
Critical Hit Damage

Defense

Life
Armor
Resist All
Life Regeneration

Utility

Life on Hit
Resource Cost Reduction
Gold Find
Area Damage

This is just the speed rift build, for anything GR 105+ you want to start considering using WD buff version, much squishier and only focused on Hydra damage

You swap blackhole for Teleport: Calamity, Force Armor for Slow Time : Stretch Time(20% attack speed if stacked), Glacial Spike for Energy Twister : Gale Force (15% Fire debuff for WD) this requires a cold% roll on your bracers to proc the cold Tal's stack. Since you only care about Hydra damage you don't care about beam procs, you don't want to steal any trash kills from the WD with this variant and only burst down Elites / Rift Guardians

Build Guide

Meet the new meta Rift Guardian killer.

The damage that this build puts out on a single target is bonkers, you wont even need to use Stricken until i'm guessing GR 103+, Trapped will outperform it before that. That being said it really thrives on a single target, so Rift Guardians that spawn adds are not ideal as your hydras will target the adds.

**HYDRA BUG**

There is a known bug with Hydras right now, unknown if it is intended by blizzard. Essentially while Hydras are proccing Manald Heal your Archon Beam or any other source of light damage WILL NOT proc manald heal, it seems to be the case that Hydras take precedence over other sources of manald procs. The way to play around this is during the rift DO NOT CAST HYDRAS unless you are trying to kill off an elite with not much density around, otherwise the Hydras will be proccing manald on trash mobs and you wont get any procs off your archon beam.

This build takes some time to learn how to play but once you do it's easy, and the more cooldown reduction you have the easier it is to time your Archon with your Lightning CoE phase.

When first entering the rift, wait until Cold CoE cycle starts and pop archon, this is just to get started timing your Archon cycles with the Lightning phase. The reason you have to pop it at the start of cold is because you will not have any Gogok stacks yet, a huge hit to your cooldown reduction. After Archon falls off you drop some hydras and a black hole (preferably to keep some mobs off of you) and then spam glacial spike to keep your Deflection shields up to keep you alive. Then when there is 1/2 of Fire CoE cycle remaining you cast a black hole in the middle of the mob pack you are fighting, cast your Hydras (has to be after blackhole to receive the damage snapshot, and only when you want to be using Hydra due to the bug) and immediately pop Archon. If you do it correctly you have 4 seconds of insane burst damage (Lightning CoE phase) then 4 more seconds of 4 Tal stack and double Archon stack time, after that your damage will fall off significantly so you have to practice making sure both your positioning (Max or near max distance for Zei's, Starfire, Power Hungry multipliers) and aim is very good during this 4-8 second window. If you miss the Elites (As the single target DPS your job is to burst down elite packs, leave the trash mobs to the AoE DPS) then you will do little to no damage during your 4-8 second burst window. Since you have no teleport outside of Archon make sure you are in a good position before Archon falls off (Out of danger, you will be significantly squishier outside of archon.) Once you get rolling and as long as you have 15 Gogok stacks everytime you pop Archon then Lighting CoE will always line up with when Archon comes off cooldown giving you the massive burst window each Archon cycle.

Here is a good read on the mechanics of Hydra / Manald Heal : https://us.battle.net/forums/en/d3/topic/20753695205

Good luck in Season 10, lets fry some Rift Guardians!

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