So I was getting tired of tossing out frost orbs like everyone else, and the endless CC slow time builds don't appeal to me (and annoy my friends, who can't see anything when there are bubbles all over the screen). I read about Heat Wave here, and liked the concept, but couldn't find a decent guide on it. After 20 or so hours of plowing around and trying new things with the build, I've put together my favorite iteration, and added a guide!
--Your Signature Spellcould be almost anything mobile, but you'll get the most mileage out of an ability that uses your fire multipliers or grants Arcane Power. I use Magic Missile - Conflagrate or Electrocute - Surge of power.
--Teleport - I used to recommend Wormhole, but I've tried out Calamity, and I really like it for this build. Shad3slayer recommends Diamond Skin as an alternative for higher Torment levels.
--Familiar is one that I've swapped around a lot in this build. I was running with an Armor spell (storm armor, reduced AP cost rune) and the Glass Cannon passive, but I realized that I could take a slight hit in damage and a big survivability gain if I replaced Glass Cannon with Astral Presence, and my Storm Armor with Familiar. I go with Sparkflint here. I wouldn't suggest Cannoneer, as big groups already melt instantly with Wave of Force.
--Magic Weapon is a great damage multiplier. I like Deflection a lot with this build, it protects against a great deal of damage, as you plan on being fairly close to the mobs at all times. If you aren't having any problems with survivability, you could try a different rune. Ignite will *probably* get you more damage than Force Weapon, but I haven't tested that.
--Black Hole - Blazar is listed as my next ability. I love this ability for this spec. There are a few weak spots to the build - fast moving ranged mobs are the worst. Black hole pretty much fixes those problems, while also providing a way to absolutely destroyelite packs. Pop that sucker in the middle of an Elite pack and they'll be in one convenient area, nice and CC'd for a few Wave of Force hits to melt everything instantly. However, if I'm about to go up against a high HP boss (pretty much the act 5 bosses), I'll swap this out for Hydra - Blazing Hydra, as Black Hole is nearly worthless against bosses.
--Wave of Force - Heat Wave. This is your bread and butter. Get about 15 feet from your target group, and spam that sucker while moving laterally around them. If they're low hp and/or damage, move straight toward them like a boss as you spam this and you'll be jumping on their heads as they melt. This ability means that you are going to be using force move.The great thing about this spell is that you don't need to target anything to kill your enemies. This means your mouse is free to navigate smoothly around and through mobs and area effects as you spam this.
--Passives - Conflagration and Audacity are great with this build. I like Prodigy, as you are going to run out of AP often against elites and bosses, and you'll want to build it back in a hurry. The last passive is your choice. I like more AP generation and Max AP, so I use Astral Presence.
--Alternatives- Diamond Skin, Frost Nova, and Meteor - Molten Impact have all been suggested as possible alternatives that could work well with this build.
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The Playstyle:
--The idea behind the Heat Wave build is simple. Bunch the mobs together with Black Hole, and melt them very quickly. Elite packs will die within secondsif you are able to catch them all together. If your enemies are normal mobs that already bunched up, don't waste Black Hole. This build is highly mobile. If you want to stand and bombard things, this build is not for you. You must be constantly on the move. Moving is how you survive with this build. Again, make sure you have a force move button. You will be using it a lot. Accidentally using Magic Missile on a mob in the direction that you want to move is not good.
--Magic Missile - Conflagrate is very nice against bosses. You can get the stacks very high and bombard them from far away, should the encounter put you far from the target. Swapping Hydra in for Black Hole on bosses is very useful, too.
--As you can see, my gear isn't all that amazing. It's pretty solid for my build, but you can do T1 pretty well with this build in all yellows, as long as you've enchanted them right. I can do T2 with few problems, but I prefer T1 for speed.
Stat priority is generally:
-Crit Chance
-Crit Damage
-Fire damage%
-Wave of Force%
-Int
-Survivability Stats (Vit, ResAll, Life%, Armor)
-Area Damage
-Attack Speed? (I don't think this matters much, still playing with this one)
--The top four are pretty much mandatory for all slots that they're possible in. If you can get a ring, bracers, or helm that doesn't have crit chance, but its multipliers (Fire%, Wave of Force%) and other stats are amazing, or it has great survivability due to legendary ability (high reduced dmg from elites), then you could probably use it, but I like to keep my Crit Chance above 40-45%, and my Crit Damage above 300%.
The multipliers (once again, Fire%, Wave of Force%) are extremely important for this build.
--Important Stats by slot - Remember that Int/Vit/AllRes/Armor is important for all slots, and take advantage of legendaries that offer Fire% on slots they aren't usually in:
Head - Wave of Force damage, Crit Chance, Socket (Still looking at that)
Shoulders - Just get high Int/Vit/AllRes/Life%. You could get Black Hole damage or Area Damage, but it doesn't seem more important than the base stats.
Chest - *3 sockets*! New upgraded gems come with insane stats!
Hands - Crit Chance, Crit Damage, Int. Attack speed is not vital for this build, but it does help recover AP with Prodigy.
Wrists - Fire Skills%, Crit Chance.
Waist - Int/Vit/AllRes/Life%, assuming you don't have a Witching Hour. A good yellow belt *might* be better than a legacy Witching Hour, since attack speed isn't important. I still have to test that. If you get a decent legendary drop on this slot, you'll probably want to use that.
Legs - 2 sockets. You may want to boost your Signature Spell damage on this slot. I'm not sure how useful that will be, but it will likely make bosses die faster.
Amulet - Crit Chance/Damage and Fire Skills damage are pretty much mandatory. Flat damage is nice.
Weapon - Socket is mandatory, put your best green gem in there. Try to get a high damage weapon with lots of Int. Some of the legendaries are really nicefor this build.
Offhand- Crit Chance, Wave of Force damage. Some of the legendaries are nice here as well. I have a solid Triumvirate, but I would *kill* for a good Mirrorball.
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Useful Legendaries (Thanks to snurr):
Cindercoat(chest) - 20% fire skill dmg, 35% reduced fire skill dmg. Best armor in game if you run a fire build.
Warzechian Armguards(bracers) - Can roll with 20% fire skill dmg. Get boost of speed when destroying a wreckable object. This is an amazing bracer to have since the speed boost lets you swap out teleport for travel purposes.
Stone of Jordan- 20% more fire dmg and 30% increased dmg against elites. One ring to rule them all. I have lvl 60 version, and it's so good it can only be swapped out for another Jordan.
Mirror Ball(source) - Lets you spit out 3 magic missiles instead of 1. If you prefer another signature spell, use Firebird's Eye instead.
Firebird's Eye(source) - 20% increased fire skill dmg.
Burning Axe of Sankis(axe) - 20% increased fire skill dmg
Devastator(mace, blacksmith plan) - 20% increased fire skill dmg
Magefist(gloves) - 20% fire skill dmg
Andariel's Visage(helm) - 20% fire skill dmg.
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Paragon Points - Make sure your movement speed is capped. Make sure you max out area damage. Everything else should be based on what you prefer for offense and defense. Critical hit and damage mean a lot to the build, I would avoid Attack Speed for this build. Extra AP wouldn't hurt.
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Feel free to comment and suggest things. This guide is still growing.
Things I still need to test/find out (list will grow with replies/suggestions):
-Area Damage is strong, but situational.
-I'm still swapping around signature spells to find a good fit. Shad3slayer uses Specral Blades - Flame Blades.
-I'm still messing around with passives and buffs to see what fits best.
-Legacy Witching Hour might not be worth it over a good yellow.
Thanks for the replies, definitely been putting some time in to try variations, Shad3slayer. I've been working toward T3 solo, I can do it in a group pretty well at the moment, but you are correct that more toughness stats are required.
Diamond Skin is something I played around with back in T1, when I didn't need it. I'll have to bring it back to T3 and see if it can help. I've switched from Teleport - Wormhole to Teleport - Calamity. This change is great in the higher torment levels, it gives you some more free time to kill your target, and is really nice for when Black Hole is down.
Area Damage I'm finding to be extremely powerful when coupled with Black Hole. I'm not sure if it is more important than survivability stats, but if you are surviving just fine, it will add a great deal of power. Area damage is what can make elite groups melt in seconds, if you can manage the whole group in one black hole. Also, if you are running with a Cyclone Strike Monk, Area Damage is king.
Snurr, thanks for the list! Those are all incredibly powerful items for the build. For the life of me, I can't get a Cindercoat, Magefist, or Visage to drop. But I do have a well rolled Triumvirate, a decent SoJ, and some other good items that help make it work. Blind Faith has been incredible for survivability (though not dependable).
I'm going to try out Molten Impact, it sounds really strong.
If you're going to try Molten Impact... I was doing the build you initially posted, then I felt like seeing how far you could take cooldown reduction. Got it to 49% with:
Helm Diamond 12.5%, Shoulder 7%, Evocation 20%, Firebird gloves 8% (want boots so I can put my magefist back on...), SoJ 6%, Paragon 10%
Currently running 540k dps, 7.5m toughness. It needs far more specific gear, as you need/want cd reduction on top of your other dmg stats, and also need the toughness to stand in melee.
However, that's nearly 100% uptime on MI, 6s Black Hole & 7.5s Meteor. Probably overkill, but I have Frag of Destiny for +30% Spectral too. Attack speed is still somewhat useful to build up the stacks (dynamo and flame, never knew it caps at 50), and constant MI makes up for lack of Force Weapon quite handily by giving you additional CC/distraction/CC escape.
The big difference is that you don't worry about AP without any AP regen (generally, higher torment need not apply). May not be effective at higher tiers, but I can't say I care when I can finally drop Dynamo'd Molten Impacts reliably and fairly often in a spec.
T3 Solo easily, Unity pairing on follower sure helps a ton. An alternative weapon not listed above that I found... Mad Monarch's Scepter. Even with 78% fire dmg and it being poison, I'm getting 18 mil crits, which helps reduce the need to run around for all the lesser trash.
Have a 19% fire dmg, int, crit neck waiting to get black dmg rerolled to chd... Myriam's not cooperating.
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The Build - (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#aQjSNd!iecX!ccacYc)
Build Justification/Flexibility:
--Your Signature Spellcould be almost anything mobile, but you'll get the most mileage out of an ability that uses your fire multipliers or grants Arcane Power. I use Magic Missile - Conflagrate or Electrocute - Surge of power.
--Teleport - I used to recommend Wormhole, but I've tried out Calamity, and I really like it for this build. Shad3slayer recommends Diamond Skin as an alternative for higher Torment levels.
--Familiar is one that I've swapped around a lot in this build. I was running with an Armor spell (storm armor, reduced AP cost rune) and the Glass Cannon passive, but I realized that I could take a slight hit in damage and a big survivability gain if I replaced Glass Cannon with Astral Presence, and my Storm Armor with Familiar. I go with Sparkflint here. I wouldn't suggest Cannoneer, as big groups already melt instantly with Wave of Force.
--Magic Weapon is a great damage multiplier. I like Deflection a lot with this build, it protects against a great deal of damage, as you plan on being fairly close to the mobs at all times. If you aren't having any problems with survivability, you could try a different rune. Ignite will *probably* get you more damage than Force Weapon, but I haven't tested that.
--Black Hole - Blazar is listed as my next ability. I love this ability for this spec. There are a few weak spots to the build - fast moving ranged mobs are the worst. Black hole pretty much fixes those problems, while also providing a way to absolutely destroyelite packs. Pop that sucker in the middle of an Elite pack and they'll be in one convenient area, nice and CC'd for a few Wave of Force hits to melt everything instantly. However, if I'm about to go up against a high HP boss (pretty much the act 5 bosses), I'll swap this out for Hydra - Blazing Hydra, as Black Hole is nearly worthless against bosses.
--Wave of Force - Heat Wave. This is your bread and butter. Get about 15 feet from your target group, and spam that sucker while moving laterally around them. If they're low hp and/or damage, move straight toward them like a boss as you spam this and you'll be jumping on their heads as they melt. This ability means that you are going to be using force move.The great thing about this spell is that you don't need to target anything to kill your enemies. This means your mouse is free to navigate smoothly around and through mobs and area effects as you spam this.
--Passives - Conflagration and Audacity are great with this build. I like Prodigy, as you are going to run out of AP often against elites and bosses, and you'll want to build it back in a hurry. The last passive is your choice. I like more AP generation and Max AP, so I use Astral Presence.
--Alternatives- Diamond Skin, Frost Nova, and Meteor - Molten Impact have all been suggested as possible alternatives that could work well with this build.
----------
The Playstyle:
--The idea behind the Heat Wave build is simple. Bunch the mobs together with Black Hole, and melt them very quickly. Elite packs will die within secondsif you are able to catch them all together. If your enemies are normal mobs that already bunched up, don't waste Black Hole. This build is highly mobile. If you want to stand and bombard things, this build is not for you. You must be constantly on the move. Moving is how you survive with this build. Again, make sure you have a force move button. You will be using it a lot. Accidentally using Magic Missile on a mob in the direction that you want to move is not good.
--Magic Missile - Conflagrate is very nice against bosses. You can get the stacks very high and bombard them from far away, should the encounter put you far from the target. Swapping Hydra in for Black Hole on bosses is very useful, too.
----------
Gearing:
My profile - (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Unprovoked-1845/hero/17909), enchants and some items aren't working right on battle.net profiles, so it's a bit off.
--As you can see, my gear isn't all that amazing. It's pretty solid for my build, but you can do T1 pretty well with this build in all yellows, as long as you've enchanted them right. I can do T2 with few problems, but I prefer T1 for speed.
Stat priority is generally:
-Crit Chance
-Crit Damage
-Fire damage%
-Wave of Force%
-Int
-Survivability Stats (Vit, ResAll, Life%, Armor)
-Area Damage
-Attack Speed? (I don't think this matters much, still playing with this one)
--The top four are pretty much mandatory for all slots that they're possible in. If you can get a ring, bracers, or helm that doesn't have crit chance, but its multipliers (Fire%, Wave of Force%) and other stats are amazing, or it has great survivability due to legendary ability (high reduced dmg from elites), then you could probably use it, but I like to keep my Crit Chance above 40-45%, and my Crit Damage above 300%.
The multipliers (once again, Fire%, Wave of Force%) are extremely important for this build.
--Important Stats by slot - Remember that Int/Vit/AllRes/Armor is important for all slots, and take advantage of legendaries that offer Fire% on slots they aren't usually in:
Head - Wave of Force damage, Crit Chance, Socket (Still looking at that)
Shoulders - Just get high Int/Vit/AllRes/Life%. You could get Black Hole damage or Area Damage, but it doesn't seem more important than the base stats.
Chest - *3 sockets*! New upgraded gems come with insane stats!
Hands - Crit Chance, Crit Damage, Int. Attack speed is not vital for this build, but it does help recover AP with Prodigy.
Wrists - Fire Skills%, Crit Chance.
Waist - Int/Vit/AllRes/Life%, assuming you don't have a Witching Hour. A good yellow belt *might* be better than a legacy Witching Hour, since attack speed isn't important. I still have to test that. If you get a decent legendary drop on this slot, you'll probably want to use that.
Legs - 2 sockets. You may want to boost your Signature Spell damage on this slot. I'm not sure how useful that will be, but it will likely make bosses die faster.
Feet - Wave of Force%, Move speed
Rings - Crit Chance, Crit Damage. Flat damage is nice, too.
Amulet - Crit Chance/Damage and Fire Skills damage are pretty much mandatory. Flat damage is nice.
Weapon - Socket is mandatory, put your best green gem in there. Try to get a high damage weapon with lots of Int. Some of the legendaries are really nicefor this build.
Offhand- Crit Chance, Wave of Force damage. Some of the legendaries are nice here as well. I have a solid Triumvirate, but I would *kill* for a good Mirrorball.
----------
Useful Legendaries (Thanks to snurr):
Cindercoat(chest) - 20% fire skill dmg, 35% reduced fire skill dmg. Best armor in game if you run a fire build.
Warzechian Armguards(bracers) - Can roll with 20% fire skill dmg. Get boost of speed when destroying a wreckable object. This is an amazing bracer to have since the speed boost lets you swap out teleport for travel purposes.
Stone of Jordan- 20% more fire dmg and 30% increased dmg against elites. One ring to rule them all. I have lvl 60 version, and it's so good it can only be swapped out for another Jordan.
Mirror Ball(source) - Lets you spit out 3 magic missiles instead of 1. If you prefer another signature spell, use Firebird's Eye instead.
Firebird's Eye(source) - 20% increased fire skill dmg.
Burning Axe of Sankis(axe) - 20% increased fire skill dmg
Devastator(mace, blacksmith plan) - 20% increased fire skill dmg
Magefist(gloves) - 20% fire skill dmg
Andariel's Visage(helm) - 20% fire skill dmg.
----------
Paragon Points - Make sure your movement speed is capped. Make sure you max out area damage. Everything else should be based on what you prefer for offense and defense. Critical hit and damage mean a lot to the build, I would avoid Attack Speed for this build. Extra AP wouldn't hurt.
----------
Feel free to comment and suggest things. This guide is still growing.
Things I still need to test/find out (list will grow with replies/suggestions):
-Area Damage is strong, but situational.
-I'm still swapping around signature spells to find a good fit. Shad3slayer uses Specral Blades - Flame Blades.
-I'm still messing around with passives and buffs to see what fits best.
-Legacy Witching Hour might not be worth it over a good yellow.
Reddit post - (http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/21ri2h/jump_on_their_heads_with_fire_heat_wave_wizard/)
Diamond Skin is something I played around with back in T1, when I didn't need it. I'll have to bring it back to T3 and see if it can help. I've switched from Teleport - Wormhole to Teleport - Calamity. This change is great in the higher torment levels, it gives you some more free time to kill your target, and is really nice for when Black Hole is down.
Area Damage I'm finding to be extremely powerful when coupled with Black Hole. I'm not sure if it is more important than survivability stats, but if you are surviving just fine, it will add a great deal of power. Area damage is what can make elite groups melt in seconds, if you can manage the whole group in one black hole. Also, if you are running with a Cyclone Strike Monk, Area Damage is king.
Snurr, thanks for the list! Those are all incredibly powerful items for the build. For the life of me, I can't get a Cindercoat, Magefist, or Visage to drop. But I do have a well rolled Triumvirate, a decent SoJ, and some other good items that help make it work. Blind Faith has been incredible for survivability (though not dependable).
I'm going to try out Molten Impact, it sounds really strong.
Helm Diamond 12.5%, Shoulder 7%, Evocation 20%, Firebird gloves 8% (want boots so I can put my magefist back on...), SoJ 6%, Paragon 10%
Exp Blast, Blazar, Mirror Image, Force Armor, Flame Blades, Molten Meteor - Audacity, Dynamo, Blur, Evocation
Currently running 540k dps, 7.5m toughness. It needs far more specific gear, as you need/want cd reduction on top of your other dmg stats, and also need the toughness to stand in melee.
However, that's nearly 100% uptime on MI, 6s Black Hole & 7.5s Meteor. Probably overkill, but I have Frag of Destiny for +30% Spectral too. Attack speed is still somewhat useful to build up the stacks (dynamo and flame, never knew it caps at 50), and constant MI makes up for lack of Force Weapon quite handily by giving you additional CC/distraction/CC escape.
The big difference is that you don't worry about AP without any AP regen (generally, higher torment need not apply). May not be effective at higher tiers, but I can't say I care when I can finally drop Dynamo'd Molten Impacts reliably and fairly often in a spec.
Have a 19% fire dmg, int, crit neck waiting to get black dmg rerolled to chd... Myriam's not cooperating.