Build Guide
The reason I'm writing this article is that I noticed very little is written about the Arcane Torrent skill, which I think is a very cool skill. Ever since the Arcane Torrent has been reworked in Patch 2.1 (could be earlier but I'm not sure when), it has become a very easy and powerful skill to use. What's more, this build does NOT depend on any special gear. It can be used as a starting to mid-level build for a Wizard. In other words, even if you are just starting out fresh, once you've reached Level 49 (to use the essential skills in this build) you can clear Torment 1 without much hassle, assuming you are wearing decent gear (but no need to be fancy).Note: From here on, I will use the word Mana in place of Arcane Power for short.
There are only 2 key essential skills that you need to use for this build: Arcane Torrent: Static Discharge and Magic Weapon: Conduit. Everything else is just icing on top. Now a bit about these two skills...
Arcane Torrent is a channeling skill, similar to Disintegrate and Ray of Frost. However, unlike the other two, Arcane Torrent does not immediately 'hit' the enemy when you fire it, as its missiles take time to fly through the air to reach its the enemies. But fortunately any missiles that are still flying in the air can be 'redirected' to other enemies once the current target is killed, by simply moving your mouse pointer to the new target. This can be done without breaking off your channeling. Also, since Arcane Torrent shoots off missiles at a fast rate, and each missile discharge 2 electrical bolts when it hits the enemy, you will get tons of electrical bolts crawling around on the floor in no time. Groups of enemies can be annihilated quickly this way.
Furthermore, since Arcane Torrent can hit multiple monsters multiple times at a rapid rate, it can quickly replendish any Mana spent with this skill and any other skills that you may have used - via the Magic Weapon: Conduit skill, which is effectively a Mana on Hit skill. And this is why I prefer Arcane Torrent over Disintegrate and Ray of Frost. Arcane Torrent can regenerate Mana much faster than the other two skills, so much so that you can (and should) use Arcane Torrent as your primary skill.
Note: Arcane Torrent - Static Discharge is a Level 49 skill, whereas Magic Weapon: Conduit is a Level 38 skill. Between Level 38 and 49, you may consider using Disintegrate - Entropy (a Level 39 skill), which I think is still pretty powerful. It's not as efficient as Arcane Torrent in regenerating Mana, but you may consider using Storm Armor - Power of the Storm and Astral Presence passive skill to compensate.
Now let's have a quick look at all the skills in the build:
Primary: Arcane Torrent - Static Discharge: In conjunction with the Magic Weapon: Conduit skill, you can spam this skill continuously. Works best with groups of monsters.
Secondary: Blizzard - Frozen Solid: For freezing groups of enemies. It has a 100% chance of activation (even on bosses) similar to Frost Nova. But unlike Frost Nova, it has no cool-down period, and you can use it on monsters anywhere on the screen, not just at close range. You can effectively put elites and bosses on permafrost with this skill.
Skill 1: Black Hole - Supermassive: Used for crowd control. I choose Supermassive because it can crowd control a greater area. I'm not too worried about its damage or any other effects. Also, I have this skill assigned to the middle button on my mouse, effectively making this my tertiary skill.
Skill 2: Familiar - Sparkflint: Bonus damage. Used as passive skill.
Skill 3: Magic Weapon - Conduit: Bonus damage + Mana leech (aka. Mana on Hit). Used as passive skill.
Skill 4: Ice Armor - Ice Reflect: Extra melee defense + Frost Nova on being hit. Used as passive skill.
Passive 1: Astral Presence: Bonus Mana + Mana Regeneration. I find that this is still useful since sometimes there are less monsters available to fight with, and hence less mana regeneration. This is especially true when you are fighting bosses, such as Diablo and Matthael.
Passive 2: Galvanizing Ward: A Shield, and a very big one at that. And it automatically replendish itself if you can keep yourself from being hit for 5 seconds.
Passive 3: Unwavering Will: Bonus defense + Bonus damage, if you can stand still for 1.5 seconds. Since you will be channeling Arcane Torrent most of the time, you will be standing still pretty often.
Passive 4: Audacity: Bonus damage at close range.
Alternative skills:
Disintegrate - Entropy: This can be used before Level 49, when Arcane Torrent - Static Discharge is not yet available.
Frost Nova - Cold Snap: This can be used before Level 42, when Blizzard - Frozen Solid is not yet available.
Storm Armor - Power of the Storm: This can be used instead of Ice Armor - Ice Reflect If you need more Mana Regeneration.
Energy Armor - Prismatic Armor: This can be used instead of Ice Armor - Ice Reflect If you need even more defense. However, I won't recommend this unless you run out of other options.
Magic Weapon - Deflection: This can be used in place of Magic Weapon: Conduit if you already have a very high Mana Regeneration capability. It offers extra shield on every hit, a really cool feature to have.
Magic Weapon - Force Weapon: This can be used in place of Magic Weapon: Conduit if you already have a very high Mana Regeneration capability, and you need even more damage capability. However, I won't recommend this unless you run out of other options. This is because Magic Weapon - Deflection is just too cool to pass!
Familiar - Arcanot: This can be used in place of Familiar - Sparkflint if you need more Mana Regeneration, and you are willing to forgo the bonus damage that Sparkflint offers.
Passive - Paralysis: Since your Arcane Torrent and Black Hole are both Lightning elemental, adding this Chance to Stun is a cool thing to have.
Passive - Blur: Extra defense
Passive - Elemental Exposure: An alternative to Audacity for adding extra damage. You need to use Arcane Torrent + Blizzard + Sparkflint Attack to maximize this effect.
In summary, this is an easy build to setup without spending much time on finding gear. It's also easy to use and play. Only the first 3 active skills are skills that you will constantly use, so you can play mainly with just one hand (assuming you tie the 3rd skill to your middle button). and your second hand is only needed for pressing the Shift key (for attacking without moving) and the Space key for closing chests and dialogs.
Signing Off,
NukeWpn
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