Hey everyone, this is my first post, but I've been a longtime reader. I wasn't going to share my intended build, but this anxious wait till launch is killing me. Some nuances may change as spells and abilities are updated, but the general framework of the character will stay as this.
+Crit Chance, +Crit Dmg, +AP on Crit, +Attack Speed
The biggest focus is on +Attack Speed, as it has dramatic effects on both types of attacks and +Crit Chance will come predominantly from spells.
Attacks:
The are two general forms of attack with this build:
1) Basic Attack - With Virtuoso and within the SlowTime/StretchTime Bubble. The +30% Attack Speed from the bubble combined with gear upgrades will result in a machine-gun-like rate of fire with +100% damage and AP/Life drain from Virtuoso. This attack is used to clear stragglers, wait for cooldowns, and replenish AP/Life.
2) Death Blossom - The bread and butter attack, it is a series of spells that goes like this:
Approach a mob on foot, teleport towards them and use the wormhole feature to teleport to an ideal location - an open area of the map, in the middle of the mob, next to atleast 5 enemies.
Instantly cast SlowTime. If the teleportation wasn't ideal, wait for slowed melee attackers to approach.
Cast Frost Nova. With any teleportation skill and hesitation in the bubble, this should hit 5 enemies and trigger the +30% Crit Chance.
Instantly cast diamond skin. The absorbing nature of this protection means your casting won't get interrupted by ranged attackers. The key though, is the Prism runestone that reduces Arcane Torrent to 8AP per cast.
Instantly begin spamming Arcane Torrent. The idea is to increase attack speed with StretchTime and gear so as to cast as many Arcane Torrents as possible in the 3 seconds of 60% AP cost reduction (from Diamond Skin). With Death Blossom as it is now, missles will have AOE exploding damage of 312% sent in random directions. The uncontrollable nature of the attack shouldn't matter since you have teleported into the middle of the mob.
Continue casting Arcane Torrent until out of AP (no other need for AP, other than armor), and then clean up ranged attackers and stragglers with Basic Attack. 9 to 10 casts of Arcane Torrent should be feasible without considering AP regen.
In cases where a tougher opponent isn't dead, Illusionist will allow an escape on first contact.
As of writing this, the longest outstanding cooldown will be SlowTime. It should be at around 12 seconds by the time AP is drained, minus any benefits from Critical Mass. Assuming a high rate of crit, a conservative estimate of 6 seconds off cooldowns would allow you to repeat this attack every 5 seconds or so.
The Scoundrel companion looks like the most suitable fit, with all right-side options (except maybe Anatomy). His main purpose will be distracting and cleaning up surrounding ranged attackers.
The major obstacle, as I see it, is the need for Alabaster Runestones.
I hate diamond skin, especially golden diamond skin. How does that thing even make sense? i just cant see it bring all that useful in PvM.
And with this build it really makes no sense at all. Your only offensive spell is the arcane torrent, and its already very cheap. And why are you stacking crit% w/o taking any skills that get additional benefits from crit%?
Sry. but start over.
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One is never hurt by being given additional choices, only by taking them away. A QUADRILLION MAGIC FIND is worthless if you can't kill shit!
@InfamousGK Alabaster runes for all except Diamond Skin, which has a Golden rune.
@jaclashflash Golden Diamond Skin takes an already cheap spell and makes it even cheaper (60% cheaper). The idea is to get cast speed reduced by ~50% so that Arcane Torrent can be cast ~6 times in those three seconds (all based on unsupported casting assumptions). That would only cost 48AP (+15AP for the teleport) to send ~30-40 missles in every direction, each causing 312% explosive damage. With +AP on crit and Critical Mass, there would be little to no delay between opportunities to cast the Death Blossom.
I'd argue that Virtuoso in a Stretch Time Bubble is an offensive spell too.
This build looks really great for most of the game! Unfortunately, I do believe it would have a difficult time defeating single-target bosses, because of it's lack of concentrated damage. It might be more effective to replace energy armor with something more damage-based, like disintegrate. Just my two cents.
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DEATH BLOSSOM WIZARD
Skills:
http://us.battle.net...kZQS!XWb!abaaaa
Gear:
+Crit Chance, +Crit Dmg, +AP on Crit, +Attack Speed
The biggest focus is on +Attack Speed, as it has dramatic effects on both types of attacks and +Crit Chance will come predominantly from spells.
Attacks:
The are two general forms of attack with this build:
1) Basic Attack - With Virtuoso and within the SlowTime/StretchTime Bubble. The +30% Attack Speed from the bubble combined with gear upgrades will result in a machine-gun-like rate of fire with +100% damage and AP/Life drain from Virtuoso. This attack is used to clear stragglers, wait for cooldowns, and replenish AP/Life.
2) Death Blossom - The bread and butter attack, it is a series of spells that goes like this:
As of writing this, the longest outstanding cooldown will be SlowTime. It should be at around 12 seconds by the time AP is drained, minus any benefits from Critical Mass. Assuming a high rate of crit, a conservative estimate of 6 seconds off cooldowns would allow you to repeat this attack every 5 seconds or so.
The Scoundrel companion looks like the most suitable fit, with all right-side options (except maybe Anatomy). His main purpose will be distracting and cleaning up surrounding ranged attackers.
The major obstacle, as I see it, is the need for Alabaster Runestones.
And with this build it really makes no sense at all. Your only offensive spell is the arcane torrent, and its already very cheap. And why are you stacking crit% w/o taking any skills that get additional benefits from crit%?
Sry. but start over.
A QUADRILLION MAGIC FIND is worthless if you can't kill shit!
@jaclashflash Golden Diamond Skin takes an already cheap spell and makes it even cheaper (60% cheaper). The idea is to get cast speed reduced by ~50% so that Arcane Torrent can be cast ~6 times in those three seconds (all based on unsupported casting assumptions). That would only cost 48AP (+15AP for the teleport) to send ~30-40 missles in every direction, each causing 312% explosive damage. With +AP on crit and Critical Mass, there would be little to no delay between opportunities to cast the Death Blossom.
I'd argue that Virtuoso in a Stretch Time Bubble is an offensive spell too.