Wow, that's even better than the one I got a while back for a couple mil. Guess that means I won't be able to sell mine if I were to try. It's about the only piece of gear I have left from my SNS set.
I am idly wondering, depending on whether they nerf CM, could Disintegrate run the build? You could probably make a few modest switches, like Disintegrate instead of WW, and maybe some minor tweaks here and there. You could probably switch all the IAS for +crit % and crit chance and EHP stats, because I think IAS is counterproductive for channeled spells?
You won't be able to just replace WW with Disintegrate. WW procs CM and LoH A LOT! Disintegrate doesn't proc nearly as well. Instead, you have to build around disintegrate. Also, high APS is a bad idea unless you have like 30 APoC and 2 pieces of -ap cost, otherwise you will drain your AP pool very fast against 1-2 mobs. If anything I would think disintegrate would be more likely to replace Archon.
You won't be able to just replace WW with Disintegrate.
I tried a bit of this today. I didn't switch any gear around, but simply swapped WW with Disintegrate. My observations:
VS a large group of mobs, Disintegrate DOES work almost identically to CM - perhaps even better because you can choose a Disintegrate rune such as Volatility. However, you are right the build simply does not work vs one target. The build is simply unsuitable for Ubers, and that's probably a stake through it's heart.
You could try swapping all the IAS to Crit/Crit %, and going up to 30 APoC, but I'd say it probably wouldn't make a difference.
It would suck all the IAS gear painstakingly squirreled away was suddenly useless in 1.09, but I agree there seems to be no substitute for WW if it's overnerfed.
I'd definitely look at a non-APoC OH. 19 should be sufficient with your high crit. If you drop too much crit, like swapping from nats to rare ring with only 3-4% crit, you might lose the ability to sustain against single target. If you mainly solo farm with scoundrel then you probably don't have to worry about that as long as you're still above 50% CC. In that case IC+rare ring will probably give you more dps. You'll lose a little crit but it won't be too bad since you don't have a crit nat's ring. I prefer the IC combo because I prefer the higher dps.
Also, you can probably get better BT pants for cheap since the AR on those is kind of low and the bonus roll is mostly useless for wiz. I'm fond of AR+armor BT pants but those are probably more than your budget, so it might not be worth worrying about for now.
I'd also look into crafting bracers and just buying a VW. I like VW for SNS, crafted for Archon. If you feel comfortable dropping the vit on your shoulders, then you can probably get 250 int, 100-150str VWs for a couple mil. At least you can on the US AH, or could the last I looked. You can make up the vit loss on your new OH. You'll also gain some life with IC if you go that route.
Thanks for the detailed reply, Loroese, your insight is greatly appreciated!
I bought a lot of my stuff with cheap bids, hence the often crappy secondaries like on my BT pants. Got a pair of IC yesterday evening, it's not a dps gain over Nat's, mainly because I don't have a good 9% IAS ring to replace Nat's. The IC are still gonna be nice for alternate builds like disintegrate, though.
As far as shoulders go, I upgraded them with another craft, 202 int, 93 vit, 72 res all and 7% life, but only 353 armor. I'll look into high int VW if I can grab a pair, the higher mitigation would be a good thing, and I probably can grab some more mitigation on BT pants as well.
I'll have to consider switching to the scoundrel, still running enchantress with a Grand Vizier.
For the rest, it's time to gamble and craft bracers then gloves
First of all, great guide! I'm currently in the process of lvling a wizard to try this exact build in hardcore after taking a long break from the game. Do you have any advice for me in regards to gearing/stat priority when playing hardcore? Obviously defensive stats are alot more desirable, but to what extent? What is the correct balance between survivability and kill speed?
The other question I would have to ask would be skill choices, would they change much from SC to HC?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Oh and btw I have a budget of close to 1 billion at the moment so I dont have to be stingy on the gear
I don't have any experience in HC. Otherwise, if I were planning to run a build like this I'd use Crystal Shell over shards, UA over cold blooded, and stack as much armor, AR, hp, and LoH as I could. I'd probably stick to lower MP for safety. I'd say at least 50k hp, preferably more, 800 resists, preferably more like 900-1000, and 5k armor with at least 1000 LoH, preferably more like 1500. Those stats are more than enough for MP10 now, but I'd probably keep with MP5-7 or so just to be safe, since I'd be paranoid.
I don't have any experience in HC. Otherwise, if I were planning to run a build like this I'd use Crystal Shell over shards, UA over cold blooded, and stack as much armor, AR, hp, and LoH as I could. I'd probably stick to lower MP for safety. I'd say at least 50k hp, preferably more, 800 resists, preferably more like 900-1000, and 5k armor with at least 1000 LoH, preferably more like 1500. Those stats are more than enough for MP10 now, but I'd probably keep with MP5-7 or so just to be safe, since I'd be paranoid.
Thanks a bunch for the quick reply.
Any ideas on which gearset I should go for? Should I just go for the ones listed in your guide or change it up a bit?
You probably want to go the IAS 2.73 route, but otherwise most of the pieces listed in the guide are what you'll aim for, just get AR+armor on everything. I'd say Ice Climbers for the huge EHP, but lack of movement speed might be annoying. Otherwise nats boots and ring if you want movement speed, get a vit roll on the boots, AR+CC on ring if you can.
You probably want to go the IAS 2.73 route, but otherwise most of the pieces listed in the guide are what you'll aim for, just get AR+armor on everything. I'd say Ice Climbers for the huge EHP, but lack of movement speed might be annoying. Otherwise nats boots and ring if you want movement speed, get a vit roll on the boots, AR+CC on ring if you can.
With gold not being too much of a problem, which weapon/offhand route do you think would suit best?
With gold not being too much of a problem, which weapon/offhand route do you think would suit best?
I've been running CMWW in HC for a long time. Chanto's set is very, very nice for wand/off-hand because not only do you get a boat load of IAS, but the set bonus of -7% elite dmg taken can be often better than a shield. It can be very cheap on HC too.
Other than getting the 2.73aps, as Loroes said, just put more emphasis on armor, AR, vit and LoH. I've never actually used Unstable Anomaly, so I can't comment on whether it's more useful.
The build I tend to use is this. Teleport with Safe Passage is the life saver for me. Not only can you get out of things, but you don't have to be too selective where you end up - and if you have enough APoC you can spam it too to maintain the 30% DR in tough packs.
The main problem with this spec in HC is trying to maintain decent EHP, but also keeping your IAS bp and high crit. It gets very expensive on some items.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
And may the odds be ever in your favour. Emmo#2406
With gold not being too much of a problem, which weapon/offhand route do you think would suit best?
I've been running CMWW in HC for a long time. Chanto's set is very, very nice for wand/off-hand because not only do you get a boat load of IAS, but the set bonus of -7% elite dmg taken can be often better than a shield. It can be very cheap on HC too.
Other than getting the 2.73aps, as Loroes said, just put more emphasis on armor, AR, vit and LoH. I've never actually used Unstable Anomaly, so I can't comment on whether it's more useful.
The build I tend to use is this. Teleport with Safe Passage is the life saver for me. Not only can you get out of things, but you don't have to be too selective where you end up - and if you have enough APoC you can spam it too to maintain the 30% DR in tough packs.
The main problem with this spec in HC is trying to maintain decent EHP, but also keeping your IAS bp and high crit. It gets very expensive on some items.
Thanks for the reply mate, yea I figured it would all be about the balance between EHP and DPS. Any chance you could link me to your armory?
Is this build any more dangerous than others in HC?
Thanks for the reply mate, yea I figured it would all be about the balance between EHP and DPS. Any chance you could link me to your armory?
Is this build any more dangerous than others in HC?
Sure, but I'm still recovering from my previous death, so my gear is all bottom of the barrel stuff for the time being. http://eu.battle.net...6/hero/28128151
For me, this build is the only way. Every single time I try Archon, I die. Hence why I'm building a new character. ^^
Other builds like Black Ice, or Arcane Mines are just too iffy for me. CMWW gives an unparalleled level of control over the packs you fight with spammable FN that's just too good to pass up.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
And may the odds be ever in your favour. Emmo#2406
I could use some advice on what to upgrade. I didnt want to make a new topic since there are so many in existence and figured I could easily get some help here. I know none of my gear is great, heck most of its probably pure trash. I have about a 100mil to spend right now for upgrades. Right now I can safely run MP5 with little death and fairly effectively. But I'm not sure what I should upgrade first. Also not sure if I should go big and spend the 100mil for a single upgrade or for several. I am loving the 2.73 APS compared to the 2.5 APS so I would like to keep that. I am thinking upgrading to a Chanto with Increased AS so that I can replace the Lucani bracers with something better. Any suggestions on what I should upgrade first would be greatly appreciated (if you know a general idea of price) that would be awesome that way I don't go wasting money, paying more then what an items worth.
Could use some insight again as I finally grinded my way to a better lollipop stick which was cheaper than I expected it to be, so I have a small amount of gold left.
I was considering getting a litany with AS for my next upgrade, but I am not really sure because I will lose ehp but as I understand that %DR against elites is a massive mitigation and ehp boost?
Litany is a beastly EHP ring against elites. The DR% against elites is worth like 60-100 AR, roughly. They're lower dps than rare rings but really hard to beat in terms of EHP+DPS combination. I have a column in my recent DPS/EHP spreadsheet that includes elite damage reduction if you want to get an idea of how much your mitigation changes with a litany.
Some are considered melee damage, so it applies to some of those. Specifically molten explosions and arcane are considered melee. There's a post on the official forums somewhere with more specifics that you should be able to search for. Otherwise blur is a decent option, and it feels like savage beast charge is considered melee, so if you get enough EHP to survive a molten explosion, or it puts you over the EHP needed to survive a charge, then it's a viable option. Some still prefer to use Evocation though, so maybe that's worth considering (assuming CM+CB for other slots).
How important is the Crit Hit % on Storm Crow?
Is it possible to go for a Storm Crow with an OS so I can use a Ruby for levelling Paragon level instead?
Crit is pretty important. IMO it's the most important stat since higher crit gives higher effective dps (not just char sheet dps) and gives better survivability in the form of more DS refreshes and better freeze uptime on elites. Also, since SNS can run high MP, the use of a ruby for paragon is largely outweighed by the bonus XP due to the MP level. That means you might get increased farming efficiency with the crit roll than the bonus xp from ruby, in addition to the survivability gains.
In short, I wouldn't get anything except crit if you're going the SC route.
EDIT: Added image for reference.
Wizard | Demon Hunter
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Don't think anything else will be able to fill WW's niche, then?
I tried a bit of this today. I didn't switch any gear around, but simply swapped WW with Disintegrate. My observations:
VS a large group of mobs, Disintegrate DOES work almost identically to CM - perhaps even better because you can choose a Disintegrate rune such as Volatility. However, you are right the build simply does not work vs one target. The build is simply unsuitable for Ubers, and that's probably a stake through it's heart.
You could try swapping all the IAS to Crit/Crit %, and going up to 30 APoC, but I'd say it probably wouldn't make a difference.
It would suck all the IAS gear painstakingly squirreled away was suddenly useless in 1.09, but I agree there seems to be no substitute for WW if it's overnerfed.
I bought a lot of my stuff with cheap bids, hence the often crappy secondaries like on my BT pants. Got a pair of IC yesterday evening, it's not a dps gain over Nat's, mainly because I don't have a good 9% IAS ring to replace Nat's. The IC are still gonna be nice for alternate builds like disintegrate, though.
As far as shoulders go, I upgraded them with another craft, 202 int, 93 vit, 72 res all and 7% life, but only 353 armor. I'll look into high int VW if I can grab a pair, the higher mitigation would be a good thing, and I probably can grab some more mitigation on BT pants as well.
I'll have to consider switching to the scoundrel, still running enchantress with a Grand Vizier.
For the rest, it's time to gamble and craft bracers then gloves
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Taliesyn-2517/hero/66020932
First of all, great guide! I'm currently in the process of lvling a wizard to try this exact build in hardcore after taking a long break from the game. Do you have any advice for me in regards to gearing/stat priority when playing hardcore? Obviously defensive stats are alot more desirable, but to what extent? What is the correct balance between survivability and kill speed?
The other question I would have to ask would be skill choices, would they change much from SC to HC?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Oh and btw I have a budget of close to 1 billion at the moment so I dont have to be stingy on the gear
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Thanks a bunch for the quick reply.
Any ideas on which gearset I should go for? Should I just go for the ones listed in your guide or change it up a bit?
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
With gold not being too much of a problem, which weapon/offhand route do you think would suit best?
I've been running CMWW in HC for a long time. Chanto's set is very, very nice for wand/off-hand because not only do you get a boat load of IAS, but the set bonus of -7% elite dmg taken can be often better than a shield. It can be very cheap on HC too.
Other than getting the 2.73aps, as Loroes said, just put more emphasis on armor, AR, vit and LoH. I've never actually used Unstable Anomaly, so I can't comment on whether it's more useful.
The build I tend to use is this. Teleport with Safe Passage is the life saver for me. Not only can you get out of things, but you don't have to be too selective where you end up - and if you have enough APoC you can spam it too to maintain the 30% DR in tough packs.
The main problem with this spec in HC is trying to maintain decent EHP, but also keeping your IAS bp and high crit. It gets very expensive on some items.
And may the odds be ever in your favour.
Emmo#2406
Thanks for the reply mate, yea I figured it would all be about the balance between EHP and DPS. Any chance you could link me to your armory?
Is this build any more dangerous than others in HC?
Sure, but I'm still recovering from my previous death, so my gear is all bottom of the barrel stuff for the time being.
http://eu.battle.net...6/hero/28128151
For me, this build is the only way. Every single time I try Archon, I die. Hence why I'm building a new character. ^^
Other builds like Black Ice, or Arcane Mines are just too iffy for me. CMWW gives an unparalleled level of control over the packs you fight with spammable FN that's just too good to pass up.
And may the odds be ever in your favour.
Emmo#2406
I could use some advice on what to upgrade. I didnt want to make a new topic since there are so many in existence and figured I could easily get some help here. I know none of my gear is great, heck most of its probably pure trash. I have about a 100mil to spend right now for upgrades. Right now I can safely run MP5 with little death and fairly effectively. But I'm not sure what I should upgrade first. Also not sure if I should go big and spend the 100mil for a single upgrade or for several. I am loving the 2.73 APS compared to the 2.5 APS so I would like to keep that. I am thinking upgrading to a Chanto with Increased AS so that I can replace the Lucani bracers with something better. Any suggestions on what I should upgrade first would be greatly appreciated (if you know a general idea of price) that would be awesome that way I don't go wasting money, paying more then what an items worth.
Profile: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Latura-1946/hero/13421093
Litany is a beastly EHP ring against elites. The DR% against elites is worth like 60-100 AR, roughly. They're lower dps than rare rings but really hard to beat in terms of EHP+DPS combination. I have a column in my recent DPS/EHP spreadsheet that includes elite damage reduction if you want to get an idea of how much your mitigation changes with a litany.
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Is it possible to go for a Storm Crow with an OS so I can use a Ruby for levelling Paragon level instead?
In short, I wouldn't get anything except crit if you're going the SC route.
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard