I have been messing around for a while now looking for a viable build that would work at the t5/t6 level. I was constantly running into a wall, either too much crowd control to keep enemies at bay (hence not enough damage) or too much damage and way too squishy. Fire build is nice for damage but I don't see how people keep incoming damage down. Ive tried the build in many configs and I die too quick on a tough elite. So I started using my gesture of orpheus with and using time warp (forgot the name of the rune but the one that stuns enemies in and out). with my cool downs and the proc in the gesture I was able to spam the time warp consistently enough to create distance and safety. My only issue was that I was still getting killed once an elite teleports into my bubble or I got surrounded. Granted I could probably use teleport as a means to avoiding this damage, but still I have 2 skills used for defense that don't add to my damage output. So in short the time warp worked, but didn't provide enough damage mitigation to make up for the lost damage output. Even in this game a good offense is better than a good defense.
So I started looking around. My build uses the following gear:
The character Im using is named SLICE, so click that profile.
As you can see I use Vyrs and Tals. I just like the procs from tals and Vyrs too much to get rid of them. I know I can use alternatives for additional damage like on my helm/belt/chest but the truth is that gear is pretty good and I don't think an addition 1-2% paper damage is going to make up for the resource regen/meteor procs. That being sad the Thunderfury is the best weapon to use for tals since I essentially get 2 different elemental damages from one weapon depending on which thunderfury Im using. I am still testing dmg output between it and gesture. I think gesture gives me the added benefit of 16% arcane dmg so I still need to see what numbers pop up consistently between the two. I just don't get the lighting elemental proc.
So on to the good stuff. One of the elements that naturally slows enemies is cold. Its also an element capable of decent damage. So I started out using Frost nova (the rune with the reduced cool down). I noticed I could spam this pretty quick and it made for a good time when I could freeze and enemy and watch meteors rain down. But the main issue here was I had to get too close to enemies to make this a viable countermeasure. I switched to frozen mist and noticed something awesome. I was doing damage and I was slowing down enemies very well. I coupled this with blizzard. I chose snowbound because of the reduced casting cost. Being that I use a main that spends, I needed to keep my AP use low. Blizzard not only does some damage, but does a wonderful job of creating AOE spammable slows. Couple this with the frost nova and I had myself a nice one-two punch for crowd control. After casting FN and blizzard and creating distance I could start my Arcane Torrent cast for some real damage.
I wish I could send a video and I apologize for not having one. All I can say is that I am much more comfortable running solo in t5/t6 with the build than in previous builds. Its not terribly fast, but it works and I feel like given the lack of massive damage outputs the wizard has, using frost nova and blizzard to stack damage on top of my arcane torrent makes for a compelling output sum. Of course in between all of this I cast ARCHON and melt pretty much everything.
While this build isn't as powerful as a single elemental output build or that of the WD, crusader or DH, it does provide nice support in group play and also does its fair share of damage.
Just as a tip my play style does not allow for the player to stand in one place for very long. I get really bored of this style for one and two elemental damage from elites is just too strong for any wiz to take head on. Keep moving, keep kiting through the mists and blizzard. Its a more active style that is fun and rewarding. Let me know if you want me to post screen shots or any additional info. thanks.
Why you don't use Elemental Exposure? It looks like you have spells/effects that proc all 4 Tal's meteors reliably, hence you should have high uptime of +20% damage debuff on multiple targets. Even without meteors you deal Arcane, Frost and Lightning damage all the time, which means nearly 100% uptime of +15% damage debuff from EEon targets you're currently killing. This means you can get at least +5% (and often even +10%)damageby replacing Cold Blooded with EE.
good question. My issue with EE is I cannot tell when its proc'ing, when it has cooled down, and how much of a damage buff I am getting. Blizz needs to add this as an icon so I can readily assess its impact. I agree the numbers should reflect this, but I have no way of reliably telling if this is the case. My numbers look pretty good when using the cold damage buff on my passive and I can easily identify the damage increase. I have swapped between EE and the cold passive but because I know for sure the passive works pretty much throughout the duration of my attack (since Im always casting a cold spell) I know I will get the 10% buff to dmg to my arcane torrent and meteors. I will continue looking into EE, but until I get a solid grasp of its effect I will keep the cold passive.
I agree that EE should have a high uptime it just bothers me that I don't know for sure.
The game is finally changing, and it is not going to be all about offense. You will need to have defensive skills/passives.
I currently have completed Greater Rift level 43, and I must say they will be needed. I play a support class. Most people in the PTR trying G.Rs have not realized this and still try to clear content with an EP monk and 3 dps when they clearly don't have the defensive skills, nor the dps to clear everything fast enough.
At level 44, ONE white mob kills a tank in less than 3-4 hits. I have no idea how a group got to level 56... well, I do. I just ain't sharing the specifics other than needing a dedicated support spec. Might post a video if I can find another decent group.. most people are stuck in between 25-31 which is just slightly harder than T6..which is not very hard at all.
I will look forward to ever making it to level 100
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I have been messing around for a while now looking for a viable build that would work at the t5/t6 level. I was constantly running into a wall, either too much crowd control to keep enemies at bay (hence not enough damage) or too much damage and way too squishy. Fire build is nice for damage but I don't see how people keep incoming damage down. Ive tried the build in many configs and I die too quick on a tough elite. So I started using my gesture of orpheus with and using time warp (forgot the name of the rune but the one that stuns enemies in and out). with my cool downs and the proc in the gesture I was able to spam the time warp consistently enough to create distance and safety. My only issue was that I was still getting killed once an elite teleports into my bubble or I got surrounded. Granted I could probably use teleport as a means to avoiding this damage, but still I have 2 skills used for defense that don't add to my damage output. So in short the time warp worked, but didn't provide enough damage mitigation to make up for the lost damage output. Even in this game a good offense is better than a good defense.
So I started looking around. My build uses the following gear:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/profssrfink-1215/hero/49750234
The character Im using is named SLICE, so click that profile.
As you can see I use Vyrs and Tals. I just like the procs from tals and Vyrs too much to get rid of them. I know I can use alternatives for additional damage like on my helm/belt/chest but the truth is that gear is pretty good and I don't think an addition 1-2% paper damage is going to make up for the resource regen/meteor procs. That being sad the Thunderfury is the best weapon to use for tals since I essentially get 2 different elemental damages from one weapon depending on which thunderfury Im using. I am still testing dmg output between it and gesture. I think gesture gives me the added benefit of 16% arcane dmg so I still need to see what numbers pop up consistently between the two. I just don't get the lighting elemental proc.
So on to the good stuff. One of the elements that naturally slows enemies is cold. Its also an element capable of decent damage. So I started out using Frost nova (the rune with the reduced cool down). I noticed I could spam this pretty quick and it made for a good time when I could freeze and enemy and watch meteors rain down. But the main issue here was I had to get too close to enemies to make this a viable countermeasure. I switched to frozen mist and noticed something awesome. I was doing damage and I was slowing down enemies very well. I coupled this with blizzard. I chose snowbound because of the reduced casting cost. Being that I use a main that spends, I needed to keep my AP use low. Blizzard not only does some damage, but does a wonderful job of creating AOE spammable slows. Couple this with the frost nova and I had myself a nice one-two punch for crowd control. After casting FN and blizzard and creating distance I could start my Arcane Torrent cast for some real damage.
I wish I could send a video and I apologize for not having one. All I can say is that I am much more comfortable running solo in t5/t6 with the build than in previous builds. Its not terribly fast, but it works and I feel like given the lack of massive damage outputs the wizard has, using frost nova and blizzard to stack damage on top of my arcane torrent makes for a compelling output sum. Of course in between all of this I cast ARCHON and melt pretty much everything.
While this build isn't as powerful as a single elemental output build or that of the WD, crusader or DH, it does provide nice support in group play and also does its fair share of damage.
Just as a tip my play style does not allow for the player to stand in one place for very long. I get really bored of this style for one and two elemental damage from elites is just too strong for any wiz to take head on. Keep moving, keep kiting through the mists and blizzard. Its a more active style that is fun and rewarding. Let me know if you want me to post screen shots or any additional info. thanks.
I agree that EE should have a high uptime it just bothers me that I don't know for sure.
I currently have completed Greater Rift level 43, and I must say they will be needed. I play a support class. Most people in the PTR trying G.Rs have not realized this and still try to clear content with an EP monk and 3 dps when they clearly don't have the defensive skills, nor the dps to clear everything fast enough.
At level 44, ONE white mob kills a tank in less than 3-4 hits. I have no idea how a group got to level 56... well, I do. I just ain't sharing the specifics other than needing a dedicated support spec. Might post a video if I can find another decent group.. most people are stuck in between 25-31 which is just slightly harder than T6..which is not very hard at all.
I will look forward to ever making it to level 100