Every time I make a wizard build now I always find myself with my mouse pointer over energy armor. Given that armor reduces all dmg taken it just seems way way too good, and the other armors seem to pale in comparison.
Then again, a shield would do nearly the same thing as energy armor without losing a skill slot, but losing the orb. Of course that also means that you can't really nerf energy armor, or using a shield becomes an infinitely better choice.
Then there is the possibility of using both a shield and energy armor. Which the more I think about it, seems like the best option for a difficulty like inferno.
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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
I really think its a preference thing. Have to admit that I have very little love for the 3 armor spells and I almost always dump the shield for my wizard the minute I find a orb.
But all that may change drastically when we get into the higher difficulty levels. But if its an option I will probably always forgo shields and armor spells.
Back to your point, I agree. Energy Armor with the Prismatic Armor rune seems very powerful compared to the other 2. Not sure about the too powerful part. I'd have to see at higher levels how much less armor a wizard would have compared to a Barb or Monk.
i dont really like energy armor, to defensive for me, its like all wiz are gonna be slightly tanky... why :I people go around saying that its like a "must" for a wiz, i don't see that... as i wrote in a different thread:
A wiz whit Energy armor is not "normal" while one without it is a "noob" A wiz whit Energy armor is "slightly tanky" while one without is a "normal" one.
but most people have trouble understanding this and does the classic "shake head, idon'tunderstandsoiwilljustignoreit" ignorance move.
(i REALLY got beaten down hard on my wiz build thread, everyone was in love whit energy shield and saw nothing else then energy shield)
im really into "ice armor" whit the "Chilling aura" rune
combo that whit "cold blooded" passive and i got a winner
slow aura+more damage (whit ice attaks)+freeze on attacked. i like that more.
team that up whit a shield and you still have lots of armor and good damage (+slow/freeze stuff)
whit energy armor you dont have slow or freeze stuff, and you gain a bit more then same amount of armor (shield is almost like an +50%) but you cna use a 2h/1h+offhand if you desire.
you remember how awesome that holy freeze aura really was, it was kinda nice.
i dont really like energy armor, to defensive for me, its like all wiz are gonna be slightly tanky... why :I people go around saying that its like a "must" for a wiz, i don't see that... as i wrote in a different thread:
A wiz whit Energy armor is not "normal" while one without it is a "noob" A wiz whit Energy armor is "slightly tanky" while one without is a "normal" one.
but most people have trouble understanding this and does the classic "shake head, idon'tunderstandsoiwilljustignoreit" ignorance move.
(i REALLY got beaten down hard on my wiz build thread, everyone was in love whit energy shield and saw nothing else then energy shield)
im really into "ice armor" whit the "Chilling aura" rune
combo that whit "cold blooded" passive and i got a winner
slow aura+more damage (whit ice attaks)+freeze on attacked. i like that more.
team that up whit a shield and you still have lots of armor and good damage (+slow/freeze stuff)
whit energy armor you dont have slow or freeze stuff, and you gain a bit more then same amount of armor (shield is almost like an +50%) but you cna use a 2h/1h+offhand if you desire.
you remember how awesome that holy freeze aura really was, it was kinda nice.
Yah it was nice, but it was nice because the melee merc had it and he was in the face of all the mobs.
I would rather avoid letting them get that close, and if they do then I have alot of tools to slow/stun them near me anyways.
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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
Energy armor is great, but it's not the end all, be all.
Ice Armor chills and/or freezes melee attackers which combos nicely with the cold blooded passive. The jagged ice rune also makes melee attackers take 100% weapon damage which is no joke. The ice reflect rune could be really interesting. 25% chance on being hit by melee to cast a 75% damage frost nova centered on the attacker. The crystallize rune gives 15% armor bonus per hit stacking 3x and lasting 30 seconds each refresh. This is in my mind probably comparable to prismatic armors 40% resistance. Granted it's not as good because you aren't at 45% armor bonus all the time, but it's still solid.
Storm armor is solid all around. Right off the bat it shocks melee and/or ranged attackers. We don't know how frequently this is, but it's probably at least once every second or 2. This is basically free damage. The power of the storm rune reduces all skill costs by 3, not bad. Strike back increases the shock damage to 91%. Free 91% weapon damage. Scramble looks REALLY good imo. 25% movespeed for 3 seconds whenever hit by melee OR ranged attacks.
Honestly I think each armor has some really good reasons for using it.
I plan on being no where near mobs, so I would never need the armor skill, but guess what, neither build is WRONG and both builds are VIABLE and BALANCED. YAY BLIZZARD
Then again, a shield would do nearly the same thing as energy armor without losing a skill slot, but losing the orb. Of course that also means that you can't really nerf energy armor, or using a shield becomes an infinitely better choice.
Then there is the possibility of using both a shield and energy armor. Which the more I think about it, seems like the best option for a difficulty like inferno.
Epicurus
But all that may change drastically when we get into the higher difficulty levels. But if its an option I will probably always forgo shields and armor spells.
Back to your point, I agree. Energy Armor with the Prismatic Armor rune seems very powerful compared to the other 2. Not sure about the too powerful part. I'd have to see at higher levels how much less armor a wizard would have compared to a Barb or Monk.
A wiz whit Energy armor is not "normal" while one without it is a "noob"
A wiz whit Energy armor is "slightly tanky" while one without is a "normal" one.
but most people have trouble understanding this and does the classic "shake head, idon'tunderstandsoiwilljustignoreit" ignorance move.
(i REALLY got beaten down hard on my wiz build thread, everyone was in love whit energy shield and saw nothing else then energy shield)
im really into "ice armor" whit the "Chilling aura" rune
combo that whit "cold blooded" passive and i got a winner
slow aura+more damage (whit ice attaks)+freeze on attacked. i like that more.
team that up whit a shield and you still have lots of armor and good damage (+slow/freeze stuff)
whit energy armor you dont have slow or freeze stuff, and you gain a bit more then same amount of armor (shield is almost like an +50%) but you cna use a 2h/1h+offhand if you desire.
you remember how awesome that holy freeze aura really was, it was kinda nice.
I would rather avoid letting them get that close, and if they do then I have alot of tools to slow/stun them near me anyways.
Epicurus
I just feel dirty when I don't have it.
A QUADRILLION MAGIC FIND is worthless if you can't kill shit!
Ice Armor chills and/or freezes melee attackers which combos nicely with the cold blooded passive. The jagged ice rune also makes melee attackers take 100% weapon damage which is no joke. The ice reflect rune could be really interesting. 25% chance on being hit by melee to cast a 75% damage frost nova centered on the attacker. The crystallize rune gives 15% armor bonus per hit stacking 3x and lasting 30 seconds each refresh. This is in my mind probably comparable to prismatic armors 40% resistance. Granted it's not as good because you aren't at 45% armor bonus all the time, but it's still solid.
Storm armor is solid all around. Right off the bat it shocks melee and/or ranged attackers. We don't know how frequently this is, but it's probably at least once every second or 2. This is basically free damage. The power of the storm rune reduces all skill costs by 3, not bad. Strike back increases the shock damage to 91%. Free 91% weapon damage. Scramble looks REALLY good imo. 25% movespeed for 3 seconds whenever hit by melee OR ranged attacks.
Honestly I think each armor has some really good reasons for using it.
Like, magic missile split.
"Just google "diablo 3 gold guide" and magical rainbow covered demons will assault your eyes."
CC is just as good as armour or better in some cases.
"Just google "diablo 3 gold guide" and magical rainbow covered demons will assault your eyes."