Here's a build I came up with trying to plan a duelist flavored wizard that uses mobility and illusions to evade attacks while darting in and out of melee to confound both melee and ranged enemies.
This idea was inspired from the Illusionist passive. The idea is that my major defensive/evasion skills will recharge when I come under pressure and start taking damage. Wormhole is so that I can choose the place on the battlefield that will give me the most advantage and move fast. Blur, Temporal Flux, and Healing Blades give additional survival boons/cc I'll probably need in melee, while Meteor Shower and Disintegrate will be my main ranged damage dealers of different damage types. A weapon that does at least some Arcane damage is a must, too for Temporal Flux.
I may switch out Meteor Shower for Liquefy as that may create a more dangerous zone for enemies while I'm in melee than the shower, but I don't want anything to compel me to restrict my mobility. It does also have good synergy with my move debuffs, though. I also thought of switching Disintegrate for Armor of Ice with Ice Reflect, but that leaves only the AP hungry Meteor and long CD Archon for ranged attacks.
I may also swap Meteor for Wave of Force to repel enemies when things get tight or if Meteor is too AP hungry, but I have TP to get out of dodge. Maybe Explosive Blast if Meteor's costs are too high, but survival is good and my weapon does arcane as opposed to physical. I could also switch Blur for Power Hungry, Prodigy, or Astral Presence in situation, too.
Archon w/ Slow Time, for when I need to change things up, and its awesome in general.
My first reaction to the build is that its hard to imagine a Mele build without one of the Armor skills - but perhaps - as you say - if your main goal is to dart around and avoid being hit all togheter, it may work?
Beyond that - I would be tempted to take Evocation (since alot of your skills have CDs) over Temporal Flux, as it doesn't do too much good to slow movement speed by 30% for 2 seconds when your hitting somthing with a mele attack (the enemy is already to you).
I really like your concept. My first reaction to the build is that its hard to imagine a Mele build without one of the Armor skills - but perhaps - as you say - if your main goal is to dart around and avoid being hit all togheter, it may work? Beyond that - I would be tempted to take Evocation (since alot of your skills have CDs) over Temporal Flux, as it doesn't do too much good to slow movement speed by 30% for 2 seconds when your hitting somthing with a mele attack (the enemy is already to you).
My first build was similar and indeed it did have an armor spell and Evocation, but the only 2 spells on the build besides Archon with CDs get instantly recharged when needed with Illusionist. I didn't even have Mirror Images on this build before I noticed that. Putting Evocation wouldn't be as fast as Illusionist, so it would just be better for Archon and worse for my mainstays. Illusionist and Evocation seems like overkill, and Temporal Flux increases my relative mobility/evasion on command.
1. Super overkill to have both disintegrate and meteor. Settle down and pick one! They do the same thing (aoe stuff at the cost of ap), so just make a choice.
2. Why would you prefer Duplicates on mirror image and not Simulacrum? Duplicate-rune adds 75% life to the total amount of illusions. Simulacrum adds 150% life to the total amount of illusions. The risk with duplicate is that once a single mob does a single AoE attack you'll loose all your illusions. Duplicate rune is much better for PvP as most players will use single target spells there.
3. Temportal Flux? That's not a very good choice. You're a melee Wizard with one arcane spell. I think you'll be fine without the movement speed slow it provides.
4. Archon? Doesn't fit the build at all. If you remove this spell and disintegrate/meteor you could pick up shield and familiar/magic weapon. That would be a much better choice according to me.
5. Don't like the teleport rune. It's more appropriate for ranged wizards who want to get a really good position when escaping/lining up mobs. A melee Wizard should focus on surviving. Why not go for fracture instead?
Yeah... I'd drop dis/meteor + archon and pick up energy armor + arcane orb - arcane orbit or ray of frost - sleet storm
Emmm... interesting build ElectricEel but with only Spectral Blades as an attack, it might take forever to kill anything.
I recommend this one. Keeping Meteor instead of Disintegrate cos this way you can keep hitting while still doing dmg to those around you.
Time Warp and Mocking Demise runes because they will help you deal more damage since your build is mainly to try and have them up as much as possible. Prismatic Armor cos I think all melee wizards need some kind of armor and this one seems to rock.
And I know the thought was to slow every thing you hit with Blades, but having 3 skills with cooldowns really benefits from Evocation.
Emmm... interesting build ElectricEel but with only Spectral Blades as an attack, it might take forever to kill anything.
I recommend this one. Keeping Meteor instead of Disintegrate cos this way you can keep hitting while still doing dmg to those around you.
Time Warp and Mocking Demise runes because they will help you deal more damage since your build is mainly to try and have them up as much as possible. Prismatic Armor cos I think all melee wizards need some kind of armor and this one seems to rock.
And I know the thought was to slow every thing you hit with Blades, but having 3 skills with cooldowns really benefits from Evocation.
I really love the idea of the melee illusionist. Whats gonna be the trick is to balance defense vs the illusionist passive. This is primarily a funbuild im looking at, but it would be awesome to see it in action at least:
Lots of twisters (and +40 energy from skills to be able to cast many at one time to take advantage of the rune)
Illusions from teleport and mirror image to tank up some damage while spectral blade is used while twisters roam (Simulacrum probably better than Duplicates but 7 illusions looks to good to pass up). If i get hit i will hopefully be able to blink back and get plenty of distraction up to rinse and repeat.
All this with electrify to add more chaos to the battle.
Whats wrong with Spectral blade? SB does a good sized AOE damage... with 135% WD, 170%WD with rune (and bleed).
There's nothing wrong with SB, but in the build that Eel had, that was the only attack spell out of the 6 slots. I'm just saying I'm not sure if that one attaack spell will be enough for every situation.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Some of them look really good, but of course since I know next to nothing about end game mob stats, or much beyond level 13 ;), I'll certainly have to play with the runes to optimize the skills, and even some of the skills.
I also think I stepped into a fog of confusion when saying this was a "melee illusionist." It's not really intended to be so dedicated to melee range. My focus was to use high mobility and decoys to jump around the field in and out of melee to choose the best position possible on the battlefield at any time. So I can evade and operate at range when my enemies are big slow melee brutes (Disintegrate/Temp Flux combo + TP), and jump into melee when my foes are optimized for ranged (SB + MS and defense spells). Hence my Wormhole selection, plus a personal preference for travel and evading combat. Yes, I am sacrificing a little overall skill synergy and hitting harder to take advantage of always being able to hit where it hurts most. But, maybe I am placing too much importance on tactical positioning for this game (I have been following GW2 a lot so it may have rubbed off here).
Yeah, I realized Meteor and Disintegrate may be overkill, but I'm not sure how necessary having different damage types will be end game. Certainly not needed before then. I also thought SB was arcane, too. What it is it? Physical? Alts I made for this build took out Dis and just used that when in Archon form in exchange for an armor spell, but that left me feeling a bit too defensive and melee focused with not enough ranged firepower. I think Meteor and similar spells are way too AP hungry to maintain at range, but with AP regen items Dis looks manageable, while MS really packs a punch and I can move around in melee as it falls. And no other primary looks as viable for melee as SB with its extra D/healing. We'll see.
I chose Duplicates because I have no idea how long Sims would actually last end game (if they only last a hit or 2 anyway, then 5 hits is better than 3-4, or if they last longer than 7s then I waste some of their health), and I assumed (hoped) that the 5 clones would not spawn right on top of each other, but be spread out a bit to protect from AOE and help drag more mobs off me in melee. I also looked at Mocking Demise if Dupes or Sims are underwhelming. Without knowing how they will actually operate, I just went with my preferred flavor for now.
SB does almost comparable damage as disintegrate, what situation would it be bad for ? Ranged ? use Slow time and or enduring skin, (go up to them with enduring, then ST, then kill ?) more than one melee enemy use slow time, enduring skin, and simulacrum. It is a lot of defense but with those 3 defenses and cold armor you could survive almost as long as it takes to kill something with SB.If slow time is enough I think I would prefer Scramble (electric armor) that lets you run fast when hit, and does more damage than chilling aura mentioned above, also never underestimate the usefulness of running fast ) and also if the healing is enough I might go to extended range on blades instead of healing ones, it isn't like you will crit all the time....
Just taking enduring skin and slow time with perpetuity into account, enduring skin lasts 8 seconds, cool down of 15 (without critical mass counting) slow time lasts 8 seconds, put them both together and you have one of them up all the time, add simulacrum and you got plenty of ways to stay alive. You wouldn't even need illusionist passive, change it out for evocation or blur and become immortal
Yeah, I decided to make a build that used the original post's title in mind...
Imagine if you will, taking out archers with maybe Scramble as armor.. You take a hit, run 25% faster, run up to them cast enduring skin, and SB a lot, then cast slow time, after a few seconds, and keep SBing, and or shatter too, before you know it they are all dead, and you are standing there looking like a total bada@#$ because you killed a group of ranged without your ap globe dropping 1 point... The End.
SB does almost comparable damage as disintegrate, what situation would it be bad for ? Ranged ? use Slow time, or enduring skin, more than one melee enemy use slow time, enduring skin, and simulacrum. It is a lot of defense but with those 3 defenses and cold armor you could survive almost as long as it takes to kill something with SB.If slow time is enough I think I would prefer Scramble (electric armor) that lets you run fast when hit, and does more damage than chilling aura mentioned above, also never underestimate the usefulness of running fast )
Yeah, I decided to make a build that used the original posts title in mind...
Disintegrate blows SB damage away after Volatility starts hitting, plus SB is useless at range. Your build is definitely better in melee for sure (and I'll probably try that one too ;)), but I'm just not comfortable dedicating myself to always being that close to mobs as a wiz, especially when they are specialized for it and I'm not. I need a good ranged damage dealer for this to work the way I intend. I'm still struggling with what to do for my primary damage dealer (dis/MS/other), but SB looks like just a backup for putting up some damage numbers when AP is low and for life steal/slow with Temp Flux when my weapon has +arcane damage - unless I intend to tank. I don't.
35 % chance of volatility hitting... Thrown Blade would help on the range, they are going to get to you at some point with all that defense I'd use this build, if enduring skin isn't enough, I will go Crystal Shell with evocation. I've been pro-volatility for a very long long time This is my volatility build so far...
It is a balance of damage and defense, I am still on the fence whether to do Death Blossom, Slow Time or Arcanot (for extra ap) but I'm leaning toward slow time at the moment (due to the aforementioned weaving of ST with Enduring Skin so that one of them is up all the time).
Yeah, I was really interested in Death Blossom for a close-range wiz, too, but I'd have to see it in action before I trust it.
Not sure you need both Power of the Storm and Astral Presence in that build with only one AP spender, but I do love the synergy with PotS and fast ticking AP spenders like Dis. You can probably swap Astral presence for Evocation since you have a lot of CDs and still be manageable with decent AP regen items and PotS.
The reason I have astral presence with PoTS is to lower the total ap used per second of disintegrate, with those two and natural regen of 10 ap a second, the total ap used is 5 meaning you cast it a long time and probably don't need Arcanot which would drop it down 3 a second hehehe
I just want to say that this class will be so much fun.
Sure, he cant smash someone's face in and shower the place in blood like the Barbarian can, but who cares when your zipping in and out of combat leaving, leaving clones behind to confuse the enemy and peppering the battlefield with flaming meteorites?
On Topic. I really like this idea and I'm so stealing it haha.
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http://us.battle.net...kQPm!aUd!YbbZZY
This idea was inspired from the Illusionist passive. The idea is that my major defensive/evasion skills will recharge when I come under pressure and start taking damage. Wormhole is so that I can choose the place on the battlefield that will give me the most advantage and move fast. Blur, Temporal Flux, and Healing Blades give additional survival boons/cc I'll probably need in melee, while Meteor Shower and Disintegrate will be my main ranged damage dealers of different damage types. A weapon that does at least some Arcane damage is a must, too for Temporal Flux.
I may switch out Meteor Shower for Liquefy as that may create a more dangerous zone for enemies while I'm in melee than the shower, but I don't want anything to compel me to restrict my mobility. It does also have good synergy with my move debuffs, though. I also thought of switching Disintegrate for Armor of Ice with Ice Reflect, but that leaves only the AP hungry Meteor and long CD Archon for ranged attacks.
I may also swap Meteor for Wave of Force to repel enemies when things get tight or if Meteor is too AP hungry, but I have TP to get out of dodge. Maybe Explosive Blast if Meteor's costs are too high, but survival is good and my weapon does arcane as opposed to physical. I could also switch Blur for Power Hungry, Prodigy, or Astral Presence in situation, too.
Archon w/ Slow Time, for when I need to change things up, and its awesome in general.
My first reaction to the build is that its hard to imagine a Mele build without one of the Armor skills - but perhaps - as you say - if your main goal is to dart around and avoid being hit all togheter, it may work?
Beyond that - I would be tempted to take Evocation (since alot of your skills have CDs) over Temporal Flux, as it doesn't do too much good to slow movement speed by 30% for 2 seconds when your hitting somthing with a mele attack (the enemy is already to you).
My first build was similar and indeed it did have an armor spell and Evocation, but the only 2 spells on the build besides Archon with CDs get instantly recharged when needed with Illusionist. I didn't even have Mirror Images on this build before I noticed that. Putting Evocation wouldn't be as fast as Illusionist, so it would just be better for Archon and worse for my mainstays. Illusionist and Evocation seems like overkill, and Temporal Flux increases my relative mobility/evasion on command.
Yeah... I'd drop dis/meteor + archon and pick up energy armor + arcane orb - arcane orbit or ray of frost - sleet storm
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#WgXQPf!fgd!YYYZaa
Huge amount of defensive skills, because you'll need it
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#WgXYPf!fgd!YYYaaa
I recommend this one. Keeping Meteor instead of Disintegrate cos this way you can keep hitting while still doing dmg to those around you.
Time Warp and Mocking Demise runes because they will help you deal more damage since your build is mainly to try and have them up as much as possible. Prismatic Armor cos I think all melee wizards need some kind of armor and this one seems to rock.
And I know the thought was to slow every thing you hit with Blades, but having 3 skills with cooldowns really benefits from Evocation.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#WkgQPO!abd!YbZZbc
Whats wrong with Spectral blade? SB does a good sized AOE damage... with 135% WD, 170%WD with rune (and bleed).
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#WVQPSO!dhX!ccYZab
Lots of twisters (and +40 energy from skills to be able to cast many at one time to take advantage of the rune)
Illusions from teleport and mirror image to tank up some damage while spectral blade is used while twisters roam (Simulacrum probably better than Duplicates but 7 illusions looks to good to pass up). If i get hit i will hopefully be able to blink back and get plenty of distraction up to rinse and repeat.
All this with electrify to add more chaos to the battle.
There's nothing wrong with SB, but in the build that Eel had, that was the only attack spell out of the 6 slots. I'm just saying I'm not sure if that one attaack spell will be enough for every situation.
I also think I stepped into a fog of confusion when saying this was a "melee illusionist." It's not really intended to be so dedicated to melee range. My focus was to use high mobility and decoys to jump around the field in and out of melee to choose the best position possible on the battlefield at any time. So I can evade and operate at range when my enemies are big slow melee brutes (Disintegrate/Temp Flux combo + TP), and jump into melee when my foes are optimized for ranged (SB + MS and defense spells). Hence my Wormhole selection, plus a personal preference for travel and evading combat. Yes, I am sacrificing a little overall skill synergy and hitting harder to take advantage of always being able to hit where it hurts most. But, maybe I am placing too much importance on tactical positioning for this game (I have been following GW2 a lot so it may have rubbed off here).
Yeah, I realized Meteor and Disintegrate may be overkill, but I'm not sure how necessary having different damage types will be end game. Certainly not needed before then. I also thought SB was arcane, too. What it is it? Physical? Alts I made for this build took out Dis and just used that when in Archon form in exchange for an armor spell, but that left me feeling a bit too defensive and melee focused with not enough ranged firepower. I think Meteor and similar spells are way too AP hungry to maintain at range, but with AP regen items Dis looks manageable, while MS really packs a punch and I can move around in melee as it falls. And no other primary looks as viable for melee as SB with its extra D/healing. We'll see.
I chose Duplicates because I have no idea how long Sims would actually last end game (if they only last a hit or 2 anyway, then 5 hits is better than 3-4, or if they last longer than 7s then I waste some of their health), and I assumed (hoped) that the 5 clones would not spawn right on top of each other, but be spread out a bit to protect from AOE and help drag more mobs off me in melee. I also looked at Mocking Demise if Dupes or Sims are underwhelming. Without knowing how they will actually operate, I just went with my preferred flavor for now.
Just taking enduring skin and slow time with perpetuity into account, enduring skin lasts 8 seconds, cool down of 15 (without critical mass counting) slow time lasts 8 seconds, put them both together and you have one of them up all the time, add simulacrum and you got plenty of ways to stay alive. You wouldn't even need illusionist passive, change it out for evocation or blur and become immortal
Yeah, I decided to make a build that used the original post's title in mind...
Imagine if you will, taking out archers with maybe Scramble as armor.. You take a hit, run 25% faster, run up to them cast enduring skin, and SB a lot, then cast slow time, after a few seconds, and keep SBing, and or shatter too, before you know it they are all dead, and you are standing there looking like a total bada@#$ because you killed a group of ranged without your ap globe dropping 1 point... The End.
Disintegrate blows SB damage away after Volatility starts hitting, plus SB is useless at range. Your build is definitely better in melee for sure (and I'll probably try that one too ;)), but I'm just not comfortable dedicating myself to always being that close to mobs as a wiz, especially when they are specialized for it and I'm not. I need a good ranged damage dealer for this to work the way I intend. I'm still struggling with what to do for my primary damage dealer (dis/MS/other), but SB looks like just a backup for putting up some damage numbers when AP is low and for life steal/slow with Temp Flux when my weapon has +arcane damage - unless I intend to tank. I don't.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#bigYXT!XgV!abYaYZ
It is a balance of damage and defense, I am still on the fence whether to do Death Blossom, Slow Time or Arcanot (for extra ap) but I'm leaning toward slow time at the moment (due to the aforementioned weaving of ST with Enduring Skin so that one of them is up all the time).
Not sure you need both Power of the Storm and Astral Presence in that build with only one AP spender, but I do love the synergy with PotS and fast ticking AP spenders like Dis. You can probably swap Astral presence for Evocation since you have a lot of CDs and still be manageable with decent AP regen items and PotS.
Sure, he cant smash someone's face in and shower the place in blood like the Barbarian can, but who cares when your zipping in and out of combat leaving, leaving clones behind to confuse the enemy and peppering the battlefield with flaming meteorites?
On Topic. I really like this idea and I'm so stealing it haha.