This is the result of round one of brainstorming the new rune/passive info
Any other Wizard build ideas?
Electrocute: Chain Lightning Rune
This is the academic attack for the build. Spamming Chain lightening is why i took Arcane Dynamo as a passive
Exlosive Blast: Time Bomb
This rune allows you to place the blast where yo ucast it, rather then it following you. Combines great with the rebound rune on teleport
Arcane Torrent: Mines
Agin, combines nicely with rebound and also does massive damage when used with 5 stacks of arcane dynamo flashes.
Ice Armor: Crystalize
Since you will be doing alot of teleporting in, and out, having a powerfull armor spell is important. Crystalize makes it even more powerfull each time you get hit. Great for getting in and waiting an extra second or two before you drop your blast or mines.
Teleport: Rebound
The rune allows you to teleport back to where you were if you use it with in X seconds. The build focuses on this mechanic.
Mirror Image: Mocking Demise
Not only is this a helpfull spell to have in general, but with mocking demise, you add another "plant" ability to you rebound arsenal. Teleport in, drop your images first so they will be deystroyed and add to the damage.
Passives:
Arcane Dynamo-makes your electrocute generate flashes. Once you have 5 flashes, your next Mines or Blast will do much more damage. Awesome passive!
Glass Cannon-The negative effects of this will be somewhat offset by the fact you will be using Ice Armor. Grab this for the damage boost!
Galvanzing Ward-Increases the duraction of your Ice Armor and also gives you life regen while its active.
It's never too early! .. or if it is I'm in trouble cause I've already been doing it for months.
You can always theorycraft (although I think that's a WoW term) but in this case it's almost 100% theory, 0% craft. We just don't know enough about how any of the skills work, certainly any of them past level 13 we know almost nothing about, so it seems a little early to try to make a build.
I agree on this all being theory, however, if we only limit it to the actual skills we have already seen in action, then its theorycraft .
Frost Nova
An explosion of ice freezes nearby enemies for X seconds, dealing Cold damage.
- Super impressed with this spell and its snare ability. Have not seen mobs resist it.
- So I think Crimson Rune cos doing more dmg is always good.
- Or Golden Rune cos the cooldown on this is pretty long Crimson Rune - Chill to the Bone
Enemies take X% more damage while frozen or chilled by Frost Nova . Golden Rune - Cold Snap
Reduce cooldown to {Script Formula 3} seconds.
Magic Missile
Fires a missile of energy, causing Arcane damage.
- The beta testers I've seen don't seem to like using Magic Missle once other abilities are avilable. But the AP drain on this is very low and its spamable
- Alabaster Rune is the only option for me. Guided Arrow!! So now I can Spam and running like a chicken avoiding mobs Alabaster Rune - Seeker
Missiles track the nearest target and damage is increased to {Script Formula 3} - [{Script Formula 3} + {Script Formula 2}] Arcane damage.
Shock Pulse
- ok not super impressed with this skill. I thought it would act more like Charged Bolt but then again no videos I've seen use this skill by spamming
- Because of this I think might as well make it more an Orb Indigo Rune - Lightning Orb
Turn the bolts into a floating orb of static lightning that drifts directly forward, zapping up to X nearby enemies for X Lightning damage.
Wave of Force
Summons a wave of pure force that deals Physical damage and knocks nearby enemies back and repels projectiles.
- Super impressed with this spell, and from all the videos I've seen this and Frost Nova allows the wizard to do AoE better than any other class till lvl 13.
- Alabaster Rune cos more knock back and stuns rock for someone who only wears Cloth Alabaster Rune - Impactful Wave
Increases the distance enemies are knocked back and stuns all affected enemies for X seconds.
Spectral blade
Summons a Spectral Blade that strikes enemies in front of the Wizard, causing Physical damage with each hit.
- I was so not interested in this spell. But then the graphics and its 'range' is much much better than I expected
- Indigo rune - Cos I still think Wizards should not be in melee range Indigo Rune - Thrown Blade
Extends the blades out to reach everything within X yards dealing X% weapon damage.
Electrocute
Lightning arcs from the Wizard's fingertips towards an enemy, dealing Lightning damage.
- Man is this spell impressive. If you've seen the videos, nuff said. Although spamming it is a AP drain
- Golden rune to offset the AP drain or Indigo Rune to hit even more mobs! Golden Rune - Power Surge
Gain {Script Formula 6} Arcane Power for every target hit by Electrocute. Indigo Rune - Chain Lightning
Increases the maximum number of jumps to {Script Formula 9} enemies.
Arcane Orb
Conjures an orb of pure energy that explodes on contact with enemies, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies in the blast area.
- On the fence on this one. I like Arcane Orb in idea, but spamming this is like HUGE AP drain. Looked like almost 20-25% of your AP per cast
- Naturally Golden run to reduce AP cost, or Obsidian rune so it's now more of a protective spell Golden Rune - Fusion
Reduce casting cost to {Resource Cost} Arcane Power. Obsidian Rune - Arcane Orbit
Create X Arcane Orb(s) that orbit you, exploding for X Arcane damage when enemies get close.
Diamond Skin
Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for X seconds absorbing damage from incoming attacks.
- I saw this being for 5 sec only. Seriously?!? Might get better as we level up but until then, I'd rather not use it
- Indigo Rune to increase the duration.
- But if the duration does increase decently at higher levels, Golden Rune so we can conserve mana and blast away even more, or Obsidian Rune to up the dmg absorption Indigo Rune - Lasting Impression
Increase duration to {Script Formula 5} seconds. Golden Rune - Prism
Reduce Arcane Power cost of all spells by {Script Formula 4} while Diamond Skin is active. Obsidian Rune - Rock Solid
Increase the maximum absorption amount to {Script Formula 0} damage.
Disintegrate
Emanate a beam of pure energy, dealing Arcane damage per second and disintegrating enemies it kills.
- Holy cow. If you've seen the video, you'll understand - Holy Cow.
- Alabaster Rune for sure - Add explosions to Disintegrate's already awesome power? Sign me up. Alabaster Rune - Volatility
Enemies killed by the beam have a X% chance to explode causing x Arcane damage to all enemies within X yards
It's never too early! .. or if it is I'm in trouble cause I've already been doing it for months.
You can always theorycraft (although I think that's a WoW term) but in this case it's almost 100% theory, 0% craft. We just don't know enough about how any of the skills work, certainly any of them past level 13 we know almost nothing about, so it seems a little early to try to make a build.
Theorycraft is not a wow term, its a term people use in wow.. but its not exclusive.
Also, how could you say this is 100% theory 0% craft? Now, if you read the "for fun" stuff I made some months ago, that was 100% theory. PURE speculation. This is based on tool tip numbers (which we have seen for every skill) and rune effects from the data mining.
I mean I'm not arguing with you that theres a bunch of speculation going on, but since when did we decide it was too early to make builds? Like I said, people have been doing it for years and now we have as close to complete data as we are likely going to get before release.
So, no, I reject your feeling that making/thinking about builds before release is too early. What else are we going to do?
@Emlyn
Totally agree with you about Disintegrate! It looks absolutley amazing. That level 13 wizard video was awesome. It'll be awesome once the game goes live to try to find a good meledoy of skills to complement it. I'm thinking Blizzard (large area of effect) to slow a screen down, than melt away!
Something else to consider is skills paired together. For example, on my Mage, I really enjoyed doing a Frost Nova/Wave of Force combo. The Frost Nova would freeze everything, then Wave of Force would throw them back if it didn't outright kill them. This worked great at taking out sometimes up to 15 enemies at once, if they clustered well for me.
Now consider adding Crimson Rune to the Frost Nova so that all enemies take more damage once they're frozen for the followup, then adding a Crimson Rune as well to the Wave of Force so they take even MORE damage. It'll be a pretty destructive combo.
@Revith
Thats exactly what I'm talking about! Thinking of skills / rune effects that combine well is a blast! Now that we have a good idea of what they all are especially.
@Revith
Thats exactly what I'm talking about! Thinking of skills / rune effects that combine well is a blast! Now that we have a good idea of what they all are especially.
Part of it will take some experience in using the skills to determine their usefulness, though. For example, when pairing some ae skills, would Blizzard with Obsidian/White Out to slow enemies followed by Meteor with Crimson Rune for damage, or do you want Indigo on the Meteor for Meteor Shower to cover more area (ie, how do their areas of effect compare?). Or do you want to go Slow Time with Crimson (making enemies take more damage) then drop a Crimson or Alabaster Meteor on them?
Chilling aura on Ice armor and Rebound on Teleport will make it possible to teleport into a group of enemies, at which point your aura will slow them all, then immediately teleport back out to your starting position. Good way to slow a crowd so you can wail on them safer from a distance.
Ok, I won't know for sure until I've played with all the abilities and see how they work, and their runestones (that look interesting) work. But I have a fairly good idea of where I want to go, in a namely pvp build that could be used (with high skillcap) in pvM.
Electrocute
Requires Level: 6
Lightning arcs from the Wizard's fingertips towards an enemy, dealing Lightning damage.
Runes: Crimson, Obsidian, or Golden
Creates a streak of lightning that pierces targets, hitting all enemies in its path for X Lightning damage.
Blast a cone of lightning that causes X Lightning damage to all affected targets.
Gain some Arcane Power for every target hit by Electrocute.
Disintegrate
Requires Level: 12
Emanate a beam of pure energy, dealing Arcane damage per second and disintegrating enemies it kills.
Runes: Crimson or Indigo
Damage increases slowly over time to inflict a maximum of X Arcane damage per second.
Increase the width of the beam allowing it to hit more enemies for X Arcane damage per second.
Frost Nova
An explosion of ice freezes nearby enemies for X seconds, dealing Cold damage.
Runes: Crimson or Golden
Enemies take more damage while frozen or chilled by Frost Nova.
Reduce cooldown to X seconds.
Ice Armor
Surrounds the Wizard in a barrier of ice that increases armor by a percentage, freezes attackers, and causes Cold damage. You can only be affected by one armor spell at a time.
Runes: Crimson or Indigo
Attackers take Cold damage and are chilled for X seconds.
Lower the temperature of the air around you. Nearby enemies are chilled, slowing their movement and attack speed, for X seconds.
Teleport
Requires Level: 18
Teleport instantly to the selected location.Teleport instantly to the selected location.
Runes: All
Casts a low power Wave of Force on arrival dealing physical damage to all enemies nearby.
Summon X mirror images for Y seconds on arrival.
For X seconds after you appear you will take Y% less damage.
Casting Teleport again within X seconds will instantly bring you back to your original location.
After casting Teleport there is a X second delay before the cooldown begins.
Archon
Requires Level: 29
Transform into a being of pure arcane energy for 15 seconds. While in archon form your normal abilities are replaced by powerful archon abilities and your armor and resistances are increased by 40%. Every enemy killed while in archon form adds 1 second to the duration.
Runes: Crimson, Indigo, Obsidian, Golden
Increase damage of all Archon abilities by X%.
Archon form can now cast a Slow Time that lasts for X seconds.
Archon form can now cast Teleport with a cooldown of X seconds.
Decrease the cooldown of Archon to X seconds.
Passive Ideas, needs testing:
**Temporal Shift
Required level: 26
Reduces cooldowns of skills by 10%.
**Piercing Attacks
Required level: 25
Reduces the magical resistances of enemies by 20%.
*Quickening
Required level: 10
Increase casting speed by 10%
or Aggression
Required level: 15
Increases attack by 20%.
(though if this doesn't increase spell power damage, nevermind)
or Astral Presence
Required level: 20
Increases maximum Arcane Power by 20%.
or Blur
Required level: 10
Reduces melee damage taken by 20%.
or even
Black Ice
Required level: 20
Damage dealt to frozen targets is increased by 20%.
(archon-> frost nova-> pew pew?)
However I think going with passive that will *always* help you would be the best idea, unless the build has specific weaknesses that you'd need to tailor specifically to. Faster cast, ignore resistance and lower cooldowns all sound amazing to me, initially
Will note however that some of these are subject to change. Instead of one offensive ability I might be picking up frozen meteor, or diamond skin in place of a utility like say frost nova. No idea how archon works, or hydra and it's different types and many other abilities as well, but this seems like a pretty sick pvp build to me right now. I think electrocute would be used as an aoe and the mobility/utility spells would allow you to maximize damage of disintegrate.I chose the offensive/spam skills I did for AOE and reliability in pvp purposes. I don't think it's realistic to run up and start spamming close ranged attacks with a long ranged cooldown build, so I chose attacks that travel far distances quickly and are guaranteed to hit so long as I do them properly. I was kinda missing a ranged snare in here, admittedly, but with frost nova and ice armor a ranged snare seems almost redundant considering it'd eat up a damage or arcane power granting skill, or another utility. Meteor with Obsidian rune looks like it'd fit well in this build if there were a 7th active skill, or with testing it could replace another ability, but I dunno. However I think playing with a build tailored to pvp in PvM would make one a better player anyways, though it may not be optional. I think you'd get quicker on the draw, have to think more, and do more than smash the hardest hitting AOE's.
Side attacks
Wave of Force/Frost Nova/Explosive Blast.
Meteor/Blizard.
Passives
Prodigy - AP regen to keep Energy Armor up and cast Blizard/Meteor every so often
Blur - Defense enhancement
Arcane Dynamo/Glass Cannon/Galvanizing Wizard - Extra damage or extra defense
Basically, I'll be walking around with a giant weapon, increasing it's damage with Magic Weapon, and spamming Spectral Blade to spam large amounts of damage while building up AP. Once AP builds up I'll mix in some Meteor and Blizzard. Diamond Skin, Teleport, Wave of Force, and Frost Nova would mostly be used for defense when my health starts getting low. Either knock some guys back, GTFO, or Diamond Skin to save myself until I can kill some more guys for some health orbs. Explosive Blast is there because I am intrigued by the combo with Teleport. Arcane Dynamo can be used to build up charges so that Blizard/Meteor do 50% more damage. Glass Cannon adds more to the Spectral Blade damage. Galvanizing Wizard might be useful only for the health regen.
Side attacks
Wave of Force/Frost Nova/Explosive Blast.
Meteor/Blizard.
Passives
Prodigy - AP regen to keep Energy Armor up and cast Blizard/Meteor every so often
Blur - Defense enhancement
Arcane Dynamo/Glass Cannon/Galvanizing Wizard - Extra damage or extra defense
I was thinking similar for a melee Wizard, except:
Magic Weapon: not sure how some of the rune effects here will play with Spectral Blade. Most of them specifically indicate "melee hits..." and it's unclear whether or not Spectral Blade attacks qualify. Assuming they do, I'd rune Alabaster for life leech; if not, Obsidian for increased damage and knockback.
Spectral Blade: Obviously the primary attack, runed with Golden for AP regen or, if that's not really needed, Obsidian for knockback and slow.
Frost Nova: Crimson rune for increased damage.
Ice Armor or Energy Armor: I assume Ice will have a lesser defense bonus, but with the addition of slowing enemies, it might be better...we'll have to wait and see I suppose. Runed with either Indigo (slowing aura) or Golden (stacking defense bonus when hit). If Energy winds up being better, rune it with Indigo for the AP boost.
Diamond Skin: More damage absorption, probably runed with Alabaster for AoE when it wears off.
Energy Twister, Arcane Orb, Explosive Blast, or Meteor: Not really sure which of these I'd use, but all are (or have rune effects to become) character-centered AoE, so any would probably be good, based on personal preference.
Passives: I think all the passives for this build are kind of a given...not really any wiggle room from my perspective. Arcane Dynamo: Spectral Blade casts make other skills stronger. Blur: Melee Wizard will be getting hit with plenty of melee attacks, reducing that damage by a percentage is a good thing. Galvanizing Ward: Life regen and less upkeep on armor spells.
Magic Weapon: not sure how some of the rune effects here will play with Spectral Blade. Most of them specifically indicate "melee hits..." and it's unclear whether or not Spectral Blade attacks qualify. Assuming they do, I'd rune Alabaster for life leech; if not, Obsidian for increased damage and knockback.
Spectral Blade: Obviously the primary attack, runed with Golden for AP regen or, if that's not really needed, Obsidian for knockback and slow.
Frost Nova: Crimson rune for increased damage.
Ice Armor or Energy Armor: I assume Ice will have a lesser defense bonus, but with the addition of slowing enemies, it might be better...we'll have to wait and see I suppose. Runed with either Indigo (slowing aura) or Golden (stacking defense bonus when hit). If Energy winds up being better, rune it with Indigo for the AP boost.
Diamond Skin: More damage absorption, probably runed with Alabaster for AoE when it wears off.
Energy Twister, Arcane Orb, Explosive Blast, or Meteor: Not really sure which of these I'd use, but all are (or have rune effects to become) character-centered AoE, so any would probably be good, based on personal preference.
Passives: I think all the passives for this build are kind of a given...not really any wiggle room from my perspective. Arcane Dynamo: Spectral Blade casts make other skills stronger. Blur: Melee Wizard will be getting hit with plenty of melee attacks, reducing that damage by a percentage is a good thing. Galvanizing Ward: Life regen and less upkeep on armor spells.
The only way you'll be going dry on AP is if you spam your ranged backup. You'll be using Spectral Blade most of the time to get the most out of Arcane Dynamo and since you're taking Magic Weapon that only furthers the reason to go Indigo or maybe Obsidian if you need more control.
:edit: Eh... dislexia
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Any other Wizard build ideas?
Electrocute: Chain Lightning Rune
This is the academic attack for the build. Spamming Chain lightening is why i took Arcane Dynamo as a passive
Exlosive Blast: Time Bomb
This rune allows you to place the blast where yo ucast it, rather then it following you. Combines great with the rebound rune on teleport
Arcane Torrent: Mines
Agin, combines nicely with rebound and also does massive damage when used with 5 stacks of arcane dynamo flashes.
Ice Armor: Crystalize
Since you will be doing alot of teleporting in, and out, having a powerfull armor spell is important. Crystalize makes it even more powerfull each time you get hit. Great for getting in and waiting an extra second or two before you drop your blast or mines.
Teleport: Rebound
The rune allows you to teleport back to where you were if you use it with in X seconds. The build focuses on this mechanic.
Mirror Image: Mocking Demise
Not only is this a helpfull spell to have in general, but with mocking demise, you add another "plant" ability to you rebound arsenal. Teleport in, drop your images first so they will be deystroyed and add to the damage.
Passives:
Arcane Dynamo-makes your electrocute generate flashes. Once you have 5 flashes, your next Mines or Blast will do much more damage. Awesome passive!
Glass Cannon-The negative effects of this will be somewhat offset by the fact you will be using Ice Armor. Grab this for the damage boost!
Galvanzing Ward-Increases the duraction of your Ice Armor and also gives you life regen while its active.
You can always theorycraft (although I think that's a WoW term) but in this case it's almost 100% theory, 0% craft. We just don't know enough about how any of the skills work, certainly any of them past level 13 we know almost nothing about, so it seems a little early to try to make a build.
Frost Nova
An explosion of ice freezes nearby enemies for X seconds, dealing Cold damage.
- Super impressed with this spell and its snare ability. Have not seen mobs resist it.
- So I think Crimson Rune cos doing more dmg is always good.
- Or Golden Rune cos the cooldown on this is pretty long
Crimson Rune - Chill to the Bone
Enemies take X% more damage while frozen or chilled by Frost Nova .
Golden Rune - Cold Snap
Reduce cooldown to {Script Formula 3} seconds.
Magic Missile
Fires a missile of energy, causing Arcane damage.
- The beta testers I've seen don't seem to like using Magic Missle once other abilities are avilable. But the AP drain on this is very low and its spamable
- Alabaster Rune is the only option for me. Guided Arrow!! So now I can Spam and running like a chicken avoiding mobs
Alabaster Rune - Seeker
Missiles track the nearest target and damage is increased to {Script Formula 3} - [{Script Formula 3} + {Script Formula 2}] Arcane damage.
Shock Pulse
- ok not super impressed with this skill. I thought it would act more like Charged Bolt but then again no videos I've seen use this skill by spamming
- Because of this I think might as well make it more an Orb
Indigo Rune - Lightning Orb
Turn the bolts into a floating orb of static lightning that drifts directly forward, zapping up to X nearby enemies for X Lightning damage.
Wave of Force
Summons a wave of pure force that deals Physical damage and knocks nearby enemies back and repels projectiles.
- Super impressed with this spell, and from all the videos I've seen this and Frost Nova allows the wizard to do AoE better than any other class till lvl 13.
- Alabaster Rune cos more knock back and stuns rock for someone who only wears Cloth
Alabaster Rune - Impactful Wave
Increases the distance enemies are knocked back and stuns all affected enemies for X seconds.
Spectral blade
Summons a Spectral Blade that strikes enemies in front of the Wizard, causing Physical damage with each hit.
- I was so not interested in this spell. But then the graphics and its 'range' is much much better than I expected
- Indigo rune - Cos I still think Wizards should not be in melee range
Indigo Rune - Thrown Blade
Extends the blades out to reach everything within X yards dealing X% weapon damage.
Electrocute
Lightning arcs from the Wizard's fingertips towards an enemy, dealing Lightning damage.
- Man is this spell impressive. If you've seen the videos, nuff said. Although spamming it is a AP drain
- Golden rune to offset the AP drain or Indigo Rune to hit even more mobs!
Golden Rune - Power Surge
Gain {Script Formula 6} Arcane Power for every target hit by Electrocute.
Indigo Rune - Chain Lightning
Increases the maximum number of jumps to {Script Formula 9} enemies.
Arcane Orb
Conjures an orb of pure energy that explodes on contact with enemies, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies in the blast area.
- On the fence on this one. I like Arcane Orb in idea, but spamming this is like HUGE AP drain. Looked like almost 20-25% of your AP per cast
- Naturally Golden run to reduce AP cost, or Obsidian rune so it's now more of a protective spell
Golden Rune - Fusion
Reduce casting cost to {Resource Cost} Arcane Power.
Obsidian Rune - Arcane Orbit
Create X Arcane Orb(s) that orbit you, exploding for X Arcane damage when enemies get close.
Diamond Skin
Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for X seconds absorbing damage from incoming attacks.
- I saw this being for 5 sec only. Seriously?!? Might get better as we level up but until then, I'd rather not use it
- Indigo Rune to increase the duration.
- But if the duration does increase decently at higher levels, Golden Rune so we can conserve mana and blast away even more, or Obsidian Rune to up the dmg absorption
Indigo Rune - Lasting Impression
Increase duration to {Script Formula 5} seconds.
Golden Rune - Prism
Reduce Arcane Power cost of all spells by {Script Formula 4} while Diamond Skin is active.
Obsidian Rune - Rock Solid
Increase the maximum absorption amount to {Script Formula 0} damage.
Disintegrate
Emanate a beam of pure energy, dealing Arcane damage per second and disintegrating enemies it kills.
- Holy cow. If you've seen the video, you'll understand - Holy Cow.
- Alabaster Rune for sure - Add explosions to Disintegrate's already awesome power? Sign me up.
Alabaster Rune - Volatility
Enemies killed by the beam have a X% chance to explode causing x Arcane damage to all enemies within X yards
Theorycraft is not a wow term, its a term people use in wow.. but its not exclusive.
Also, how could you say this is 100% theory 0% craft? Now, if you read the "for fun" stuff I made some months ago, that was 100% theory. PURE speculation. This is based on tool tip numbers (which we have seen for every skill) and rune effects from the data mining.
I mean I'm not arguing with you that theres a bunch of speculation going on, but since when did we decide it was too early to make builds? Like I said, people have been doing it for years and now we have as close to complete data as we are likely going to get before release.
So, no, I reject your feeling that making/thinking about builds before release is too early. What else are we going to do?
@Emlyn
Totally agree with you about Disintegrate! It looks absolutley amazing. That level 13 wizard video was awesome. It'll be awesome once the game goes live to try to find a good meledoy of skills to complement it. I'm thinking Blizzard (large area of effect) to slow a screen down, than melt away!
Now consider adding Crimson Rune to the Frost Nova so that all enemies take more damage once they're frozen for the followup, then adding a Crimson Rune as well to the Wave of Force so they take even MORE damage. It'll be a pretty destructive combo.
Thats exactly what I'm talking about! Thinking of skills / rune effects that combine well is a blast! Now that we have a good idea of what they all are especially.
Part of it will take some experience in using the skills to determine their usefulness, though. For example, when pairing some ae skills, would Blizzard with Obsidian/White Out to slow enemies followed by Meteor with Crimson Rune for damage, or do you want Indigo on the Meteor for Meteor Shower to cover more area (ie, how do their areas of effect compare?). Or do you want to go Slow Time with Crimson (making enemies take more damage) then drop a Crimson or Alabaster Meteor on them?
Chilling aura on Ice armor and Rebound on Teleport will make it possible to teleport into a group of enemies, at which point your aura will slow them all, then immediately teleport back out to your starting position. Good way to slow a crowd so you can wail on them safer from a distance.
Electrocute
Requires Level: 6
Lightning arcs from the Wizard's fingertips towards an enemy, dealing Lightning damage.
Runes: Crimson, Obsidian, or Golden
Blast a cone of lightning that causes X Lightning damage to all affected targets.
Gain some Arcane Power for every target hit by Electrocute.
Disintegrate
Requires Level: 12
Emanate a beam of pure energy, dealing Arcane damage per second and disintegrating enemies it kills.
Runes: Crimson or Indigo
Increase the width of the beam allowing it to hit more enemies for X Arcane damage per second.
Frost Nova
An explosion of ice freezes nearby enemies for X seconds, dealing Cold damage.
Runes: Crimson or Golden
Reduce cooldown to X seconds.
Ice Armor
Surrounds the Wizard in a barrier of ice that increases armor by a percentage, freezes attackers, and causes Cold damage. You can only be affected by one armor spell at a time.
Runes: Crimson or Indigo
Lower the temperature of the air around you. Nearby enemies are chilled, slowing their movement and attack speed, for X seconds.
Teleport
Requires Level: 18
Teleport instantly to the selected location.Teleport instantly to the selected location.
Runes: All
Summon X mirror images for Y seconds on arrival.
For X seconds after you appear you will take Y% less damage.
Casting Teleport again within X seconds will instantly bring you back to your original location.
After casting Teleport there is a X second delay before the cooldown begins.
Archon
Requires Level: 29
Transform into a being of pure arcane energy for 15 seconds. While in archon form your normal abilities are replaced by powerful archon abilities and your armor and resistances are increased by 40%. Every enemy killed while in archon form adds 1 second to the duration.
Runes: Crimson, Indigo, Obsidian, Golden
Archon form can now cast a Slow Time that lasts for X seconds.
Archon form can now cast Teleport with a cooldown of X seconds.
Decrease the cooldown of Archon to X seconds.
Passive Ideas, needs testing:
Required level: 26
Reduces cooldowns of skills by 10%.
**Piercing Attacks
Required level: 25
Reduces the magical resistances of enemies by 20%.
*Quickening
Required level: 10
Increase casting speed by 10%
or
Aggression
Required level: 15
Increases attack by 20%.
(though if this doesn't increase spell power damage, nevermind)
or
Astral Presence
Required level: 20
Increases maximum Arcane Power by 20%.
or
Blur
Required level: 10
Reduces melee damage taken by 20%.
or even
Black Ice
Required level: 20
Damage dealt to frozen targets is increased by 20%.
(archon-> frost nova-> pew pew?)
However I think going with passive that will *always* help you would be the best idea, unless the build has specific weaknesses that you'd need to tailor specifically to. Faster cast, ignore resistance and lower cooldowns all sound amazing to me, initially
Will note however that some of these are subject to change. Instead of one offensive ability I might be picking up frozen meteor, or diamond skin in place of a utility like say frost nova. No idea how archon works, or hydra and it's different types and many other abilities as well, but this seems like a pretty sick pvp build to me right now. I think electrocute would be used as an aoe and the mobility/utility spells would allow you to maximize damage of disintegrate. I chose the offensive/spam skills I did for AOE and reliability in pvp purposes. I don't think it's realistic to run up and start spamming close ranged attacks with a long ranged cooldown build, so I chose attacks that travel far distances quickly and are guaranteed to hit so long as I do them properly. I was kinda missing a ranged snare in here, admittedly, but with frost nova and ice armor a ranged snare seems almost redundant considering it'd eat up a damage or arcane power granting skill, or another utility. Meteor with Obsidian rune looks like it'd fit well in this build if there were a 7th active skill, or with testing it could replace another ability, but I dunno. However I think playing with a build tailored to pvp in PvM would make one a better player anyways, though it may not be optional. I think you'd get quicker on the draw, have to think more, and do more than smash the hardest hitting AOE's.
Thoughts, Opinions?
Magic Weapon.
Spectral Blade.
Defense Enhancement
Ice/Energy Armor.
Diamond Skin/Teleport.
Side attacks
Wave of Force/Frost Nova/Explosive Blast.
Meteor/Blizard.
Passives
Prodigy - AP regen to keep Energy Armor up and cast Blizard/Meteor every so often
Blur - Defense enhancement
Arcane Dynamo/Glass Cannon/Galvanizing Wizard - Extra damage or extra defense
Basically, I'll be walking around with a giant weapon, increasing it's damage with Magic Weapon, and spamming Spectral Blade to spam large amounts of damage while building up AP. Once AP builds up I'll mix in some Meteor and Blizzard. Diamond Skin, Teleport, Wave of Force, and Frost Nova would mostly be used for defense when my health starts getting low. Either knock some guys back, GTFO, or Diamond Skin to save myself until I can kill some more guys for some health orbs. Explosive Blast is there because I am intrigued by the combo with Teleport. Arcane Dynamo can be used to build up charges so that Blizard/Meteor do 50% more damage. Glass Cannon adds more to the Spectral Blade damage. Galvanizing Wizard might be useful only for the health regen.
I was thinking similar for a melee Wizard, except:
Magic Weapon: not sure how some of the rune effects here will play with Spectral Blade. Most of them specifically indicate "melee hits..." and it's unclear whether or not Spectral Blade attacks qualify. Assuming they do, I'd rune Alabaster for life leech; if not, Obsidian for increased damage and knockback.
Spectral Blade: Obviously the primary attack, runed with Golden for AP regen or, if that's not really needed, Obsidian for knockback and slow.
Frost Nova: Crimson rune for increased damage.
Ice Armor or Energy Armor: I assume Ice will have a lesser defense bonus, but with the addition of slowing enemies, it might be better...we'll have to wait and see I suppose. Runed with either Indigo (slowing aura) or Golden (stacking defense bonus when hit). If Energy winds up being better, rune it with Indigo for the AP boost.
Diamond Skin: More damage absorption, probably runed with Alabaster for AoE when it wears off.
Energy Twister, Arcane Orb, Explosive Blast, or Meteor: Not really sure which of these I'd use, but all are (or have rune effects to become) character-centered AoE, so any would probably be good, based on personal preference.
Passives: I think all the passives for this build are kind of a given...not really any wiggle room from my perspective.
Arcane Dynamo: Spectral Blade casts make other skills stronger.
Blur: Melee Wizard will be getting hit with plenty of melee attacks, reducing that damage by a percentage is a good thing.
Galvanizing Ward: Life regen and less upkeep on armor spells.
EDIT: Since they oh-so-conveniently added a skill calculator while I was typing this up...
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#XWabVf!Wef!baZbaa
The only way you'll be going dry on AP is if you spam your ranged backup. You'll be using Spectral Blade most of the time to get the most out of Arcane Dynamo and since you're taking Magic Weapon that only furthers the reason to go Indigo or maybe Obsidian if you need more control.
:edit: Eh... dislexia