Any Archon user probably went nutty when Patch 2.0.5 launched. Now Archon users have the option of making a traditional Arcane Archon, or a Cold Archon, Lightning Archon, or Fire Archon.
In this video, I moved some of my gear around and set up a Fire Archon. This is a work in progress, but results have been promising so far.
Rift took about 8.5 minutes, including one death (stuck between walls and Frozen). I used Nemesis Bracers to spawn more elites to fight and used Trag'Oul Coils to reduce Archon's cooldown every time I used a Healing Well.
Gear used in video on 5/14/14: Core Stats: 1.38M+ standing sheet DPS
1.59M+ DPS (0-stack Archon)
59% Fire bonus
40% Elite bonus
70% Area damage
98%+ standing damage reduc. (self-buffed outside Archon form - 2500 average resist, 10.6K+ armor, 15% elite reduction, 13.5%+ range reduction, 7% melee reduction)
48% cooldown reduc.
Improvements I could make (if I'm lucky):
- Fire Tal Rasha's Allegiance, then I could run the 4-piece Tal's bonus as well.
- Enchant Thunderfury damage roll to cold and switch Audacity to Elemental Exposure.
- Better stats across the board (especially Ring of Royal Grandeur and Stone of Jordan).
Again, work in progress. I'm also working on a Cold Archon (missing cold SoJ) centered around Azurewrath,Winter Flurry, and Crimson's, along with better CDR rolls for more Archon uptime. Not freezing quite as much as I'd like it to, also much more suited for a utility role in party play than outright DPS, but we'll see what happens in the long run.
Can't watch the video right now. But doesn't really matter, lots of textual information as usual. (To all the other people putting up videos right now: this is how you do it ;-))
Thank you for testing this! Usually here would come my usual "but I don't have any of those sets" rant right now, but I believe with the recent Kadala change a Vyr set is in reach for everyone in reasonable time. Sooooo looking forward to gambling for gloves tonight!
Just one thing I was thinking in terms of your "improvements": Since you're running full fire and quite a lot of cooldown reduction, do you think a Wand of Woh would be an option for this build as well? To replace Spellsteal with EB, or maybe even the Mirrorball with Triumvirate and then use EB instead of MM? Just a thought for "the perfect endgame wizard".
Also, could you split up your reduction (allres/armor/elite/...), as these numbers are often asked for and might be good guidance for other wizards? Thank you! :-)
Quote from Bagstone Just one thing I was thinking in terms of your "improvements": Since you're running full fire and quite a lot of cooldown reduction, do you think a Wand of Woh would be an option for this build as well? To replace Spellsteal with EB, or maybe even the Mirrorball with Triumvirate and then use EB instead of MM? Just a thought for "the perfect endgame wizard".
Yeah, this has been discussed extensively before, even prior to Archon getting different elemental runes (using Arcane EB and weapon swapping to Gesture of Orpheus in Archon form). I think it's a viable option. Probably keep Black Hole and sub out Sparkflint for Chain Reaction/Short Fuse. Use Wand of Woh while outside of Archon form, pop Archon and weapon swap to something else (e.g. Thunderfury or anything with high DPS) until Archon wears off.
Yeah, it has been discussed before, I remember this; but I think I've never seen a build/gear combination that was reasonable to justify swapping TF for WoW like yours now. Well, it's all theory anyways, but let's keep fingers crossed for all of us that we'll get our hands on one. Thanks for adding mitigation stats and everything. +1, of course!
I am waiting for patch to go live on EU so i can run a similar build.
Good job on the video and everything. Why do you think that an andariel's visage is not alternative to Tal's helm?
Also, do you think that this build could make the firebird's 6p bonus work better? Especially on lower torments, combined with Archon stuff will jsut melt. Or is the 300% wpn dmg dot just useless no matter what?
The build i thought i'd use is thishttp://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#adQmSO!XiRe!cccaZc
But that's mainly because i don't have a +2 mirror ball so i kinda need a better damage dealer therefore the heat wave. Also, i never use blackhole and find Calamity to be the best defensive skill in game, what do you think about that? I can see how with strongarm bracers blackhole is just crazy though...
Basically, i switched out sparkflint for the archon, that's all that has changed from my former fire build. If i get a +2 MB, then i can probably get rid of the heat wave and put in sparkflint instead... I can then also get rid of astral presence and use blur for extra toughness.
Glad to see our Wizard leader has gotten this video out before others! Good job!
I would almost switch the TFury to a burning axe of sankis for the extra 20% dmg and the proc of "ignore pain," that is of course if your not trying a Tal/Vyrs spec for the extra elem proc. I have played with the TF, WoW, and Sankis and found that having the WoW has been the best in group T6 play because of the crowd control effects of frost nova/33% dmg, tele calam/stun, and blackhole/spellsteal + damage from strongarms being pulled into my EB - seemed to be the most damage inbetween archon form since you are already leveraging the CDR. I am going to try more with switching the weapons as i enter Archon, but its a hassle as stated above (guess I gotta do it tho).
I would also definitely use Magefist.
I've also tried a cindercoat build using meteors, lets just say that didn't work as intended.
Still interested in a well rounded Tal/Vyrs combo. It is too bad that Archon simply picks the elem% thats highest, wanted the tals to proc on full vyrs
Why do you think that an andariel's visage is not alternative to Tal's helm?
Also, do you think that this build could make the firebird's 6p bonus work better? Especially on lower torments, combined with Archon stuff will jsut melt. Or is the 300% wpn dmg dot just useless no matter what?
I thought about Andariel's. It's just too glassy for my liking on higher Torment levels. There are absolutely no EHP stats on that helm whatsoever.
As for Firebird... the 6-piece is just way, way, way too weak to justify taking up so many gear slots. That's 60% weapon damage per second if and only if you land the killing blow with fire damage, making it more or less worthless to look at in party games. Also, you can't run 6-piece Firebird with 4-piece Vyr. Firebird requires 5 with RoRG can take its own slots in helm, chest, shoulders, pants, gloves, boots, source and Vyr will overlap in one of those spots.
I thought I was done with T6 solo, but seeing this made me try it again.
Our gear and build is very similar, I use Born instead of Tal and WH instead of Harrington. More CDR but quit a bit less damage. Took me 13.5 mins without any gear swapping.
What do people think about alternative weapons? I have a thunderfury, a sunkeeper with 2100 dps and 28% dmg to elites, and a burning axe with just over 2k dps and 16% fire damage. I can't decide which one is best. Sunkeeper obviously hits way harder on elites, but does the proc on tf and it's faster attack speed applying the dot from magic missile faster make up for doing less damage per hit?
Great video. I was inspired to make a fire Archon build as well and i did slightly different than you. I went with a wand of woh, mirror ball, archon set up. My item setup is in my armory (see sig) and the skill set up i used was:
Just curious, but based on your tests, what gear configuration performed better? The one with Captain's Belt + Boots, or the one with Tal Rasha Chest + Harrington's?
Did the extra 10% CDR matter? Was it worth losing the Harrington mod and the extra elem damage?
Congrats on the Wand of Woh. It looks pretty sick!
What do you think is the best item combination regarding the Vyr set?
You can have both Vyr and Cpt. Crimson, which means gloves, chest, belt, legs and feet need to be those set items. So no Magefist, no Cindercoat/Tal chest and no Harrington/String of Ears.
Without Cpt. Crimson we could keep the belt and either the gloves or chest I mentioned. I doubt that 10% cdr is worth that tradeoff. What's your take on this?
I finally completed Vyr's and Tal's set, so I could test out a build similar to the one you're running, but still waiting for that wand.
I'm looking forward to your "test results". In particular, I'm wondering if arcane WoW builds are still viable or it's just "go fire or die". I'd really prefer running with a sick Moonlight Ward and arcane rather than fire build, once I get the WoW... but seems like every WoW wizard is running fire right now. Will you test this? Would be awesome ;-)
What do you think is the best item combination regarding the Vyr set?
You can have both Vyr and Cpt. Crimson, which means gloves, chest, belt, legs and feet need to be those set items. So no Magefist, no Cindercoat/Tal chest and no Harrington/String of Ears.
Without Cpt. Crimson we could keep the belt and either the gloves or chest I mentioned. I doubt that 10% cdr is worth that tradeoff. What's your take on this?
Right now I really think it depends on what you have available at hand. I will try some stuff out with Magefist at some point, but right now everything's a work in progress. There are a lot of other players messing around with similar items and skills so I'm sure we'll figure something out soon.
I just love the Archaon and Im so happy Blizz finally changed the damage types
Thank you in advance!
Greetz UNF
PS: I dont have another Tal Set left so I dont know about replacing the offhand for a Mirrorball (got 3 from kadala, each had 1 additional missile ) and Im using double Unity unkillable Templar instead of SoJ.
All right, I'll get some WoW Fire Archon stuff started this weekend.
I generally don't like talking about things I'm unsure of, but I think I can get started on this. I'm still waiting for that Tal Rasha's Allegiance... It'll be a pure upgrade in every sense of the word if I can get a good fire one to drop.
In this video, I moved some of my gear around and set up a Fire Archon. This is a work in progress, but results have been promising so far.
Rift took about 8.5 minutes, including one death (stuck between walls and Frozen). I used Nemesis Bracers to spawn more elites to fight and used Trag'Oul Coils to reduce Archon's cooldown every time I used a Healing Well.
Spec: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#amNjSO!ZbSi!cacacc
Gear used in video on 5/14/14:
Core Stats:
1.38M+ standing sheet DPS
1.59M+ DPS (0-stack Archon)
59% Fire bonus
40% Elite bonus
70% Area damage
98%+ standing damage reduc. (self-buffed outside Archon form - 2500 average resist, 10.6K+ armor, 15% elite reduction, 13.5%+ range reduction, 7% melee reduction)
48% cooldown reduc.
Improvements I could make (if I'm lucky):
- Fire Tal Rasha's Allegiance, then I could run the 4-piece Tal's bonus as well.
- Enchant Thunderfury damage roll to cold and switch Audacity to Elemental Exposure.
- Better stats across the board (especially Ring of Royal Grandeur and Stone of Jordan).
Alternate gearing paths:
- Substitute Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom with Aughild's Spike, switch Aughild's Search to Strongarm Bracers (knockback bonus triggered from Black Hole).
- Substitute Tal Rasha's Relentless Pursuit with Vyr's Astonishing Aura, switch Vyr's Swaggering Stance with Capt. Crimson's Waders and switch Harrington Waistguard with Capt. Crimson's Silk Girdle for improved cooldown reduction.
Again, work in progress. I'm also working on a Cold Archon (missing cold SoJ) centered around Azurewrath, Winter Flurry, and Crimson's, along with better CDR rolls for more Archon uptime. Not freezing quite as much as I'd like it to, also much more suited for a utility role in party play than outright DPS, but we'll see what happens in the long run.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Thank you for testing this! Usually here would come my usual "but I don't have any of those sets" rant right now, but I believe with the recent Kadala change a Vyr set is in reach for everyone in reasonable time. Sooooo looking forward to gambling for gloves tonight!
Just one thing I was thinking in terms of your "improvements": Since you're running full fire and quite a lot of cooldown reduction, do you think a Wand of Woh would be an option for this build as well? To replace Spellsteal with EB, or maybe even the Mirrorball with Triumvirate and then use EB instead of MM? Just a thought for "the perfect endgame wizard".
Also, could you split up your reduction (allres/armor/elite/...), as these numbers are often asked for and might be good guidance for other wizards? Thank you! :-)
Yeah, this has been discussed extensively before, even prior to Archon getting different elemental runes (using Arcane EB and weapon swapping to Gesture of Orpheus in Archon form). I think it's a viable option. Probably keep Black Hole and sub out Sparkflint for Chain Reaction/Short Fuse. Use Wand of Woh while outside of Archon form, pop Archon and weapon swap to something else (e.g. Thunderfury or anything with high DPS) until Archon wears off.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Yeah, it has been discussed before, I remember this; but I think I've never seen a build/gear combination that was reasonable to justify swapping TF for WoW like yours now. Well, it's all theory anyways, but let's keep fingers crossed for all of us that we'll get our hands on one. Thanks for adding mitigation stats and everything. +1, of course!
I am waiting for patch to go live on EU so i can run a similar build.
Good job on the video and everything. Why do you think that an andariel's visage is not alternative to Tal's helm?
Also, do you think that this build could make the firebird's 6p bonus work better? Especially on lower torments, combined with Archon stuff will jsut melt. Or is the 300% wpn dmg dot just useless no matter what?
The build i thought i'd use is thishttp://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#adQmSO!XiRe!cccaZc
But that's mainly because i don't have a +2 mirror ball so i kinda need a better damage dealer therefore the heat wave. Also, i never use blackhole and find Calamity to be the best defensive skill in game, what do you think about that? I can see how with strongarm bracers blackhole is just crazy though...
Basically, i switched out sparkflint for the archon, that's all that has changed from my former fire build. If i get a +2 MB, then i can probably get rid of the heat wave and put in sparkflint instead... I can then also get rid of astral presence and use blur for extra toughness.
Edit: My wizard atm http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Jamoose-2376/hero/11404596
I would almost switch the TFury to a burning axe of sankis for the extra 20% dmg and the proc of "ignore pain," that is of course if your not trying a Tal/Vyrs spec for the extra elem proc. I have played with the TF, WoW, and Sankis and found that having the WoW has been the best in group T6 play because of the crowd control effects of frost nova/33% dmg, tele calam/stun, and blackhole/spellsteal + damage from strongarms being pulled into my EB - seemed to be the most damage inbetween archon form since you are already leveraging the CDR. I am going to try more with switching the weapons as i enter Archon, but its a hassle as stated above (guess I gotta do it tho).
I would also definitely use Magefist.
I've also tried a cindercoat build using meteors, lets just say that didn't work as intended.
Still interested in a well rounded Tal/Vyrs combo. It is too bad that Archon simply picks the elem% thats highest, wanted the tals to proc on full vyrs
setup if you wish to see it:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/fryloq-1435/hero/41886385
As for Firebird... the 6-piece is just way, way, way too weak to justify taking up so many gear slots. That's 60% weapon damage per second if and only if you land the killing blow with fire damage, making it more or less worthless to look at in party games. Also, you can't run 6-piece Firebird with 4-piece Vyr. Firebird requires 5 with RoRG can take its own slots in helm, chest, shoulders, pants, gloves, boots, source and Vyr will overlap in one of those spots.
I'll be streaming tomorrow with the Diablo III team for D3's second birthday celebration. twitch.tv/jaetch
+550 int (110 pts)
+13% MS (26 pts)
+7.2% IAS (36 pts)
+10% CDR (50 pts)
+5% CHC (50 pts)
+18% armor (36 pts)
+250 resist (50 pts)
+8,256 regen (50 pts)
+50% area dam (50 pts)
+4,126 LOH (50 pts)
+35% gold (35 pts)
543 points total
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
I thought I was done with T6 solo, but seeing this made me try it again.
Our gear and build is very similar, I use Born instead of Tal and WH instead of Harrington. More CDR but quit a bit less damage. Took me 13.5 mins without any gear swapping.
http://www.diabloprogress.com/hero/rognar-1625/Mystryl/19028573
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#amhSOY!ZSib!cacZcZ
Happy birthday, Diablo ;D
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Just curious, but based on your tests, what gear configuration performed better? The one with Captain's Belt + Boots, or the one with Tal Rasha Chest + Harrington's?
Did the extra 10% CDR matter? Was it worth losing the Harrington mod and the extra elem damage?
Congrats on the Wand of Woh. It looks pretty sick!
You can have both Vyr and Cpt. Crimson, which means gloves, chest, belt, legs and feet need to be those set items. So no Magefist, no Cindercoat/Tal chest and no Harrington/String of Ears.
Without Cpt. Crimson we could keep the belt and either the gloves or chest I mentioned. I doubt that 10% cdr is worth that tradeoff. What's your take on this?
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Sol77-2972/hero/66110450
I finally completed Vyr's and Tal's set, so I could test out a build similar to the one you're running, but still waiting for that wand.
I'm looking forward to your "test results". In particular, I'm wondering if arcane WoW builds are still viable or it's just "go fire or die". I'd really prefer running with a sick Moonlight Ward and arcane rather than fire build, once I get the WoW... but seems like every WoW wizard is running fire right now. Will you test this? Would be awesome ;-)
Right now I really think it depends on what you have available at hand. I will try some stuff out with Magefist at some point, but right now everything's a work in progress. There are a lot of other players messing around with similar items and skills so I'm sure we'll figure something out soon.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Gambled for decent magefists ever since and a few hours after the patch I got these sweet Vyr gloves so Magefists are off the table right now.
Could you give me any advice on what item I should gamble after I get the pants?
My Wiz: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Voice-2337/hero/9929183
I just love the Archaon and Im so happy Blizz finally changed the damage types
Thank you in advance!
Greetz UNF
PS: I dont have another Tal Set left so I dont know about replacing the offhand for a Mirrorball (got 3 from kadala, each had 1 additional missile ) and Im using double Unity unkillable Templar instead of SoJ.
I generally don't like talking about things I'm unsure of, but I think I can get started on this. I'm still waiting for that Tal Rasha's Allegiance... It'll be a pure upgrade in every sense of the word if I can get a good fire one to drop.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site