So the point of this thread isn’t to simply ask for buffs on the Wizard class. I have played wizard extensively and have rarely ventured out of the box. I recently started a DH, I also have Monk, and a Barb. So far my favorite is the Wiz, but DH is also really fun to play. So I got to thinking about the similarities between the DH and Wiz and where DH really shines vs the Wiz.
So a lot of what we seem to struggle with when it comes to wiz is the true purpose of the wizard. We are supposed to be elemental Gods, but instead we are cornered into using only one element. We have to do this for damage purposes, and also because the notion of a “Prismatic” build isn’t developed enough in the game to warrant dividing up elemental damage between all 4 main elements. Of course we get the buff from the EE passive, and if you use Tal’s set you have the random meteor shower, but that really isn’t powerful enough to solo in higher T’s, nor does it provide a very compelling group play mechanism other than straight dps buff. That being said, because we have no idea when the damn rune procs or by how much we can’t adjust our gameplay to maintain “EE” which would be cool if could.
So after playing DH for a few I noticed some really cool mechanics. One of which is Sentries. Sentries remind me of Mirror Image. So do pets. Mirrors should be considered pets and should have a much more compelling role in the game. Right now, the only really compelling use of Mirrors is to use Time Warp and Point of No return rune which casts stun bubbles all over the place. the overlapping bubbles can create a very nice buffer between me and mobs. That being said I have never seen Mirror image really provide me much use. The main reason being:
1. They don’t last long enough
2. They don’t aggro mobs
3. They do no worthwhile damage
In my opinion mirror images should be far more powerful. First all images should be buffed in duration flat out. Second, each rune should also deal damage, some more than others of course depending. Even if they are small 100% weapon damage ticks it helps. Third, casting images should create space. Many times I see Images standing still or doing nothing productive. When using teleport as skill, or perhaps a mirror image rune, I should be able to transpose one of my images with myself, essentially switching between the images to avoid damage while the continue running around. This concept can be found in the Mesmer Class in GW2.
So what does this have to do with Sentries? Sentries do an immense amount of damage. DH has natural evasiveness. But in my opinion, the DH doesn’t have to sacrifice greatly to improve mobility while dealing damage. that cannot be said of the Wiz. To create space and mobility for wizard, a great deal of damage must be left on the table.
Lets move on the Time Warp. This is another great concept that isn’t fully developed. Using time warp is fun, but the lack of damage output means in many cases I will forgo the use of Time warp in lieu of a damage skill. My suggestions are as follows:
Each time warp needs to have an elemental damage modifier attached to it. One that will also proc meteors from Tals (see the synergy?)?
Also the damage types are dealt as the mobs walk through and are slowed by the bubble, so fire burns for 3000% damage over 6 seconds or something, lighting stuns and shocks for 350% dmg, and does so with speed and force. Arcane bubbles have arcane orbs that float around and smash into enemies, restoring arcane. Enemies slain by arcane lay a mine at their feet causing 600% damage when armed and explode (this should be a rune on a weapon BTW). Cold Bubbles rain down a blizzard inside the bubble slowing enemies by 80%. Enemies killed in the bubble release a front nova.
the propose of these suggestions isn’t to simply give wiz a ton of dps. its to mitigate crowd control with damage. With simple additions like this I don’t need you to buff my damage on basic skills by much, simply give me a way of stacking my damage.
This plays well with EE passives, but also opens up the possibility of adding additional items and skills that play off a prismatic build. Tals is a great start to this, but it needs more. I want to use my Gesture of Orpheus in my Tals build but I can’t because I need to proc lightning from my Thunderfury.
So lets do one more suggestion here before I close out and that has to do with two main skills that are about useless in the game, and that is Spectral blade and Shock Pulse. Now I love the idea of spectral blade. its badass. But the damage output isn’t commensurate with the proximity of mobs. If I need to get that close to a mob at high T’s, I need something that will do massive damage and play into the healing / shielding mechanisms of a melee class. Some buffing needs to be done on this skill. Ice blades need to proc way more often. If Im going to stand 3 inches away from something that can 2 hit me, I need to freeze him. So what if I can perma freeze him using frost nova. At the higher T’s Im getting mobbed from all directions. SB only hits in front of me. I would still need to kite and use evasive maneuvers to make the build viable. So that being said SB needs to be buffed to 300% weapon damage as a base.
Shock pulse is about as useless as tits on a bull. I have tried using this skill in so many situations, and its downright frustrating and pointless. It literally never hits anything. Compared to DH Strafe using the grenades, this thing is a joke. and the reason Im comparing to strafe is that Random doesn’t seem too random, but in the case of shock pulse, it really is random. This skill needs some serious overhaul, if not downright scrapped and replaced with something else. I don’t really know, all I know here is that the bolts are too random and their range is too short to do legit damage. Given none of the runes provide damage mitigation, you aren’t left with a compelling reason to use this skill. After all fixing this maybe I could go back to using SoH. Remember that weapon? Nobody uses it anymore….make it useful again
Aside from these suggestions you could:
Revamp firebirds again, because the PTR version was still weak. For a 6 piece set, we need more fire damage. The buff should include like +50% fire damage, seriously.
Tals needs to proc more often, like every 4 seconds, seriously.
Add another skill to Archon (number 4). Id like a meteor skill that rains down arcane meteors. Like RAINS down.
OK ENOUGH of that…
As an aside….can you please make the default chat pane PARTY when I’m in a PARTY!!! Not my clan. Mucho gracias
I agree in some of these changes, such as Tals, Firebirds, but the thing that I want the most of all is a melee wizard build that is viable at T5/6 that doesn't not involve MM/Mirrorball or WoW. I think that some of the barriers and skills like spectral blade can be changed to make this work. The biggest issue is the damage output of those skills and survivability.
I don't really think there needs to be another pet class. The classes should be unique, with elemental magic being the Wizard's focus as you said. I don't really see how homogenizing Wizard by making it more like Demon Hunter is the way to accomplish that. That said, your other ideas are interesting. I think it would be best if some of the unique and iconic Wizard elemental spells were buffed. Time Warp is certainly one of those. Shock Pulse and Spectral Blades are fun as well but given what it would take to make someone choose one over MM with Mirrorball makes me think any feasible changes are a lost cause. To see what I think is the primary problem with Wizard one need only to look at the top builds:
Chainpocalypse
MM/Conflag
Archon
All of these builds have one thing in common: they essentially ignore Arcane Power.
The real problem I see here is that our AP spenders are, quite frankly, total shit. We are currently better off simply using Magic Missile as our primary attack or sacrificing whatever necessary for CDR to increase Archon uptime than using an arcane spender. A lot of them are so awful that the AP cost isn't even the reason they are bad; they just aren't as good as MM/Conflag with Mirrorball regardless. This is a pretty sad state of affairs.
I don't think the skills are fundamentally bad. I think most of the Arcane Orb runes are pretty cool, as well as Meteor and the like. The problem is they just don't do enough damage for their cost to be anything more than a colorful addition to a build. Maybe this will improve a bit in 2.1, but personally I was absolutely gutted to see that Arcane Orb wasn't buffed AT ALL considering how utterly useless it is right now.
I agree about doing our best not to homogenize any builds, especially pets. But the point Im trying to make here is that Mirrors should be considered pets and have some damage attached to them. I agree many of the spenders lack in some regard, but the gap would be made pun if wizard could stack damages from MI or even Time Warp. This would play nicely with a kiting themes of sorts and play into the notion that wizard is also a semi-fast mover and must avoid damage just like DH. MI could allow us to avoid damage and deal while kiting, something the DH is absolutely good at. Of course WD is as well, but they are the ultimate pet class.
I've thought about Tals and EE for a while, and I'm wondering how other wizards would feel about the following:
Either change EE or make one of the partial set bonuses for Tals so that you gain some % of your each + elemental damage affix to all of the other ones (similar to how harmony works currently on the PTR for the monk).
By putting that on either a passive or as a set bonus, it would allow a multi-elemental build that can still compete in damage. For instance, if your main damage dealing skill is fire, you can stack fire, and still have a decent +% elemental of arcane/lightning/cold, such that you could use one of those skills without feeling like you are sacking a ton of potential damage.
I've thought about Tals and EE for a while, and I'm wondering how other wizards would feel about the following:
Either change EE or make one of the partial set bonuses for Tals so that you gain some % of your each + elemental damage affix to all of the other ones (similar to how harmony works currently on the PTR for the monk).
By putting that on either a passive or as a set bonus, it would allow a multi-elemental build that can still compete in damage. For instance, if your main damage dealing skill is fire, you can stack fire, and still have a decent +% elemental of arcane/lightning/cold, such that you could use one of those skills without feeling like you are sacking a ton of potential damage.
I've thought about Tals and EE for a while, and I'm wondering how other wizards would feel about the following:
Either change EE or make one of the partial set bonuses for Tals so that you gain some % of your each + elemental damage affix to all of the other ones (similar to how harmony works currently on the PTR for the monk).
By putting that on either a passive or as a set bonus, it would allow a multi-elemental build that can still compete in damage. For instance, if your main damage dealing skill is fire, you can stack fire, and still have a decent +% elemental of arcane/lightning/cold, such that you could use one of those skills without feeling like you are sacking a ton of potential damage.
Thoughts?
I like that recommendation to the set bonus change. In terms of the meteors, I would have the meteors proc like so: proc = 0.5*proc coefficient. This would let them proc more without an internal cool-down. This would make them much more viable in end game, while not punishing single element builds that use this set.
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So the point of this thread isn’t to simply ask for buffs on the Wizard class. I have played wizard extensively and have rarely ventured out of the box. I recently started a DH, I also have Monk, and a Barb. So far my favorite is the Wiz, but DH is also really fun to play. So I got to thinking about the similarities between the DH and Wiz and where DH really shines vs the Wiz.
So a lot of what we seem to struggle with when it comes to wiz is the true purpose of the wizard. We are supposed to be elemental Gods, but instead we are cornered into using only one element. We have to do this for damage purposes, and also because the notion of a “Prismatic” build isn’t developed enough in the game to warrant dividing up elemental damage between all 4 main elements. Of course we get the buff from the EE passive, and if you use Tal’s set you have the random meteor shower, but that really isn’t powerful enough to solo in higher T’s, nor does it provide a very compelling group play mechanism other than straight dps buff. That being said, because we have no idea when the damn rune procs or by how much we can’t adjust our gameplay to maintain “EE” which would be cool if could.
So after playing DH for a few I noticed some really cool mechanics. One of which is Sentries. Sentries remind me of Mirror Image. So do pets. Mirrors should be considered pets and should have a much more compelling role in the game. Right now, the only really compelling use of Mirrors is to use Time Warp and Point of No return rune which casts stun bubbles all over the place. the overlapping bubbles can create a very nice buffer between me and mobs. That being said I have never seen Mirror image really provide me much use. The main reason being:
1. They don’t last long enough
2. They don’t aggro mobs
3. They do no worthwhile damage
In my opinion mirror images should be far more powerful. First all images should be buffed in duration flat out. Second, each rune should also deal damage, some more than others of course depending. Even if they are small 100% weapon damage ticks it helps. Third, casting images should create space. Many times I see Images standing still or doing nothing productive. When using teleport as skill, or perhaps a mirror image rune, I should be able to transpose one of my images with myself, essentially switching between the images to avoid damage while the continue running around. This concept can be found in the Mesmer Class in GW2.
So what does this have to do with Sentries? Sentries do an immense amount of damage. DH has natural evasiveness. But in my opinion, the DH doesn’t have to sacrifice greatly to improve mobility while dealing damage. that cannot be said of the Wiz. To create space and mobility for wizard, a great deal of damage must be left on the table.
Lets move on the Time Warp. This is another great concept that isn’t fully developed. Using time warp is fun, but the lack of damage output means in many cases I will forgo the use of Time warp in lieu of a damage skill. My suggestions are as follows:
Each time warp needs to have an elemental damage modifier attached to it. One that will also proc meteors from Tals (see the synergy?)?
Also the damage types are dealt as the mobs walk through and are slowed by the bubble, so fire burns for 3000% damage over 6 seconds or something, lighting stuns and shocks for 350% dmg, and does so with speed and force. Arcane bubbles have arcane orbs that float around and smash into enemies, restoring arcane. Enemies slain by arcane lay a mine at their feet causing 600% damage when armed and explode (this should be a rune on a weapon BTW). Cold Bubbles rain down a blizzard inside the bubble slowing enemies by 80%. Enemies killed in the bubble release a front nova.
the propose of these suggestions isn’t to simply give wiz a ton of dps. its to mitigate crowd control with damage. With simple additions like this I don’t need you to buff my damage on basic skills by much, simply give me a way of stacking my damage.
This plays well with EE passives, but also opens up the possibility of adding additional items and skills that play off a prismatic build. Tals is a great start to this, but it needs more. I want to use my Gesture of Orpheus in my Tals build but I can’t because I need to proc lightning from my Thunderfury.
So lets do one more suggestion here before I close out and that has to do with two main skills that are about useless in the game, and that is Spectral blade and Shock Pulse. Now I love the idea of spectral blade. its badass. But the damage output isn’t commensurate with the proximity of mobs. If I need to get that close to a mob at high T’s, I need something that will do massive damage and play into the healing / shielding mechanisms of a melee class. Some buffing needs to be done on this skill. Ice blades need to proc way more often. If Im going to stand 3 inches away from something that can 2 hit me, I need to freeze him. So what if I can perma freeze him using frost nova. At the higher T’s Im getting mobbed from all directions. SB only hits in front of me. I would still need to kite and use evasive maneuvers to make the build viable. So that being said SB needs to be buffed to 300% weapon damage as a base.
Shock pulse is about as useless as tits on a bull. I have tried using this skill in so many situations, and its downright frustrating and pointless. It literally never hits anything. Compared to DH Strafe using the grenades, this thing is a joke. and the reason Im comparing to strafe is that Random doesn’t seem too random, but in the case of shock pulse, it really is random. This skill needs some serious overhaul, if not downright scrapped and replaced with something else. I don’t really know, all I know here is that the bolts are too random and their range is too short to do legit damage. Given none of the runes provide damage mitigation, you aren’t left with a compelling reason to use this skill. After all fixing this maybe I could go back to using SoH. Remember that weapon? Nobody uses it anymore….make it useful again
Aside from these suggestions you could:
Revamp firebirds again, because the PTR version was still weak. For a 6 piece set, we need more fire damage. The buff should include like +50% fire damage, seriously.
Tals needs to proc more often, like every 4 seconds, seriously.
Add another skill to Archon (number 4). Id like a meteor skill that rains down arcane meteors. Like RAINS down.
OK ENOUGH of that…
As an aside….can you please make the default chat pane PARTY when I’m in a PARTY!!! Not my clan. Mucho gracias
Very good ideas though.
WD Season 8 https://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/Kildare/84509816
Monk season 7 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/MojoJoJo/42225505
DH season 6 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/DeadShot/75655606
Angry Chicken http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/WhoDoVooDoo/68187610
What? Me worry?
Chainpocalypse
MM/Conflag
Archon
All of these builds have one thing in common: they essentially ignore Arcane Power.
The real problem I see here is that our AP spenders are, quite frankly, total shit. We are currently better off simply using Magic Missile as our primary attack or sacrificing whatever necessary for CDR to increase Archon uptime than using an arcane spender. A lot of them are so awful that the AP cost isn't even the reason they are bad; they just aren't as good as MM/Conflag with Mirrorball regardless. This is a pretty sad state of affairs.
I don't think the skills are fundamentally bad. I think most of the Arcane Orb runes are pretty cool, as well as Meteor and the like. The problem is they just don't do enough damage for their cost to be anything more than a colorful addition to a build. Maybe this will improve a bit in 2.1, but personally I was absolutely gutted to see that Arcane Orb wasn't buffed AT ALL considering how utterly useless it is right now.
WD Season 8 https://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/Kildare/84509816
Monk season 7 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/MojoJoJo/42225505
DH season 6 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/DeadShot/75655606
Angry Chicken http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/WhoDoVooDoo/68187610
What? Me worry?
I agree about doing our best not to homogenize any builds, especially pets. But the point Im trying to make here is that Mirrors should be considered pets and have some damage attached to them. I agree many of the spenders lack in some regard, but the gap would be made pun if wizard could stack damages from MI or even Time Warp. This would play nicely with a kiting themes of sorts and play into the notion that wizard is also a semi-fast mover and must avoid damage just like DH. MI could allow us to avoid damage and deal while kiting, something the DH is absolutely good at. Of course WD is as well, but they are the ultimate pet class.
Either change EE or make one of the partial set bonuses for Tals so that you gain some % of your each + elemental damage affix to all of the other ones (similar to how harmony works currently on the PTR for the monk).
By putting that on either a passive or as a set bonus, it would allow a multi-elemental build that can still compete in damage. For instance, if your main damage dealing skill is fire, you can stack fire, and still have a decent +% elemental of arcane/lightning/cold, such that you could use one of those skills without feeling like you are sacking a ton of potential damage.
Thoughts?
WD Season 8 https://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/Kildare/84509816
Monk season 7 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/MojoJoJo/42225505
DH season 6 http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/DeadShot/75655606
Angry Chicken http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/finiar-1655/WhoDoVooDoo/68187610
What? Me worry?