If you were not using DI before it is still unclear why your dps would be less after the patch, as nothing really should have changed. Unless you can describe in more details with specific numbers what changed it is hard to figure out though and more likely to be dismissed as a fluke.
How does Wizards kill bosses and other monsters that can't be killed by insta kill?
- Thread starter RobShow
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BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
I have not tried arcane pulse this patch, but it's not the worst thing for solo boss fights. You lack spell crit multi, this thing alone is huge damage. I believe you and I feel the same way about the patch. Really dig your post, I'm stuck in caster build limbo after this stupid patch. Carrion swarm DC is awful, and I want to violate every posting rule to express my feelings about it. Also force damage not scaling with debuffs is another knife in the back from the eternal butthole decision makers.
BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
Lazuli
Well-known member
I just played solo trial of the triceratops on r8 with my wizard. Honestly, I don't notice any difference in the ruins compared to before the update. I finished the quest normally, it took me a little longer than before the patch, but it's not a spectacular difference either.
My advice: go back to the ruins, and play normally. You probably had bad luck with your rolls in your previous WPM run.
It was possible solo on high reaper with the wizard before the update and it can be done now, just like any other class. Don't listen to what those who believe that the wizard can only solo on R1. The wizard needs more love from the devs, the wizard's dps leaves a lot to be desired and has received one unjustified nerf after another. But it's not unplayable at all.
My advice: go back to the ruins, and play normally. You probably had bad luck with your rolls in your previous WPM run.
It was possible solo on high reaper with the wizard before the update and it can be done now, just like any other class. Don't listen to what those who believe that the wizard can only solo on R1. The wizard needs more love from the devs, the wizard's dps leaves a lot to be desired and has received one unjustified nerf after another. But it's not unplayable at all.
BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
What's your ruin load out like? Crit/multi/destinies?
BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
Can you give us an input output kind of example for wizard ruin/gruin use? I'm really looking for this type of info to help my builds.
Lazuli
Well-known member
Yes, when I can get into the game and have time to do a quest I will take some screenshots. But don't expect big numbers in the case of the wizard. It is the class with the least dps. Currently the best ones to achieve solo fast completion times in high reaper are melee builds (not all melee builds are good for this, but heh, not all caster builds are good for this either - and among the builds that are worth it, the melee ones win). And a wizard is nowhere near the dps of an A+ nuker.
What I'm saying is that any class can play solo on high difficulty if you build for it. That includes the wizard, and I can guarantee it because I do it with my wizard. But don't expect the fastest completion times, or big numbers, or anything like that. The nerf to spellcasting in r7+ is pure troll on the part of the devs. It has done a lot of damage to the spellcasters to the point that the melees stand out grotesquely, and of all the spellcasters, the most affected have been, as always, those with the least dps, among which is the wizard.
That said, you will be able to finish the quest. I'll take some screenshots when I can. Yesterday I was seeing Ruin damage around 3K with Ruin Intensified's elemental damage being a bit higher. I saw 10K damage under the effects of arcane supremacy (R8 quest). Normally elemental damage is always a little higher than force, since although I have more spellpower and critical force multiplier than elemental, you already know that it is not affected by debuffs and such.
My equipment is not optimized right now. For my own survival when solo play, I have not wanted to give up the % hps that the winter set gives. When devs introduced the chronoscope augment set I would have changed all my equipment if it weren't for the fact that the expansion is so close that it is not worth making the investment now. So yes, improvements are possible in terms of crit and multiplier than the ones I have on the gear.
I also have to say that although I consider the ruins important for the wizard, since it does not have an immunity bypass like the authentic nukers, I do not depend on these spells. I use iceberg extensively (Thunderstroke in quests with a lot of cold immunity), acid well, MS, polar ray, necrotic ray, arcane pulse, arcane tempest and icestorm (use dots and clouds like icestorm, they proc the mantle a lot). Add DFB on some occasions. Before the nerf to dragonbreath I also used this strike, but now I hardly use strikes. They all suck, plain and simple. I have the 3 strikes of the 3 EDs I have, but I only use them as fillers exceptionally. Many thanks to the devs for making them all useless!
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that with the wizard it is better to use a wide selection of spells than to focus on a single element as you do with authentic nukers. This allows me to do the work, but again, don't expect to have the same numbers. As a DC caster, I usually quickly finish trash with IK using spell damage only on immune targets. Only against bosses and reapers I obviously focus on spell damage.
My ED setup is draconic tier 5-primal avatar tier 4-magus tier 3. This is my preferred setup, but in some quests draconic tier 5-shadowdancer 3-EA is better, due to the rapid mobility of the wings. My parter, who plays builds designed by me (but he is a better player than me lol), is a fantastic kiter and always prefers to go with wings. I'm clumsier at kiting, so the wings are more of an accessory, because if I have to kite for a long time I'll most likely end up dead (things about being clumsy!)
My partner can also do quests on difficulties in which I can fail, due to his superior playing skills. Keep in mind that when we talk generically about playing in high reaper, not all quests have the same difficulty and not all are possible in a specific build and in the hands of a specific player. By this I mean that the build works, not only because it works for me, but because I have seen even better results from these same builds in the hands of a better player than myself.
When I can I will post some screenshots, I will explain the pros and cons of the two sets up (I use both, resetting the EDs as needed when I solo play, for group play use the one you like the most, because you don't need to do all the dps). I also have to say that sometimes you have to reset the mantle to put it on another element, due to immunities. The mantles are another troll from the devs to the casters that does not have a bypass: they are all designed for casters with a bypass.
My mantle is draconic mantle. This is because it activates with any spell, which is important for my build. The only mantle that can compete with the draconic is the PA (option force-acid-poison). But in my experience it is less dps than the draconic. However, it is not a bad option. You can also obtain good results with this mantle. The problem is that it has fewer procs and it activates with a much more limited range of spells. Inevitable is also very good. The advantage of the AP mantle, if you are never going to change yout ED setup, is that it allows you to bypass some immunities and has procs that give you spell points, which is appreciated with a wizard.
Now, I repeat: mine is a DC caster build with spell dps to be able to finish the quests alone. It's not a nuker. Don't expect the numbers of a nuker. If you want a real nuker, take one of the three A+ caster classes. This build has enough dps to finish quests on high difficulty, but it is not good for maintaining sustained dps in raids, it quickly runs out of spell points. It annoys me when people say that the wizard can't solo play above r1. This is not true. But the wizard is what it is. Not even a 100% dedicated nuker wizard build is going to match an A+ caster in nuking, and my build is not a 100% nuker. That must be clear.
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When they obliterated caster strikes they created a void that has to be filled by spells
Spell timers and falcon are almost mandatory now and procs procs procs
DI 35 SD 13 xx and 4 dragon soul filigrees
And cap is going up again with no solutions so mana management gets worse
Spell timers and falcon are almost mandatory now and procs procs procs
DI 35 SD 13 xx and 4 dragon soul filigrees
And cap is going up again with no solutions so mana management gets worse
Lazuli
Well-known member
Falconry for a wizard? why? Helpless damage is for trash, and a wizard should kill trash with Iks primarily. It's not worth spending so many points for that with a wizard. The minibosses are also not that difficult to kill with spell damage. Better AM + PM, way better.
Spell timers are important, but not that much. The wizard has many spells. It is difficult to have them all on cooldown. SD spell reduction is nice but not mandatory. In fact, yesterday I did my quest in PA as a second ED instead of SD. PA gives many more things than SD, sadly.
I'm not using dragon soul filigrees. DC for the win.
Spell timers are important, but not that much. The wizard has many spells. It is difficult to have them all on cooldown. SD spell reduction is nice but not mandatory. In fact, yesterday I did my quest in PA as a second ED instead of SD. PA gives many more things than SD, sadly.
I'm not using dragon soul filigrees. DC for the win.
You'll zerg infinitely faster on a team with melee dps and raid slogs
I get quite alot on an Alch not great but it works better then any other options
Now that reborn got gutted trying to maximize every source of heal amp i can find too i stack enough it will work again
I get quite alot on an Alch not great but it works better then any other options
Now that reborn got gutted trying to maximize every source of heal amp i can find too i stack enough it will work again
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BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
Thank you very much for yhe replies Lazuli! My current build is 10 monk 6 wiz 4 fighter. I am using ruin/gruin. I only have quicken and maximize. My force crit is right over 50%, with force spell power in the mid 700s, force crit multi is in the 65-75 range. I typically use gruin to delete a fresh enemy in r4-r6, I will select a first target with a different spell to apply my draconic mantle, swap target and fire off the gruin. My gruin hits for 7-10k, and crits from 22k up to a little over 30k. The ruin intensified is all over the place, from 4k-20k. If my numbers seem all over the place, that is because they are accurate to my current tardMonk build. I have done some r8s and r10s but not so many I can fairly recall the ruin based damage.
I post this to help ruin/gruin understanding. Truly, ruin/gruin take little investment beyond the 2 feats. I think ruins are a reasonable benefit to wizard solo damage.
I post this to help ruin/gruin understanding. Truly, ruin/gruin take little investment beyond the 2 feats. I think ruins are a reasonable benefit to wizard solo damage.
BiggerTrolls
Well-known member
Lazuli
Well-known member
The damage of the ruins drops a lot in high reaper. For a wizard or a warlock I still think that these feats are the best option, but their damage is not spectacular. Elemental casters with bypass have equally or more powerful options.
Now, for a DC wizard: there are many times where you need fast burst damage (for those pesky dooms for example!), and this build is not going to have the damage that a true nuker has, so its burst damage consists of casting ruins + lv 9 spells. Add to this that you are going to encounter enemies, such as golems, who are going to eat all your elemental damage (and they are plain immune to negative). So ruins are really lifesavers in these cases.
The feats are ok, but honestly they should be better because of the investment of two epic feats and forcing you to go to a specific tier 5 ED. But with some classes you have other options. With other classes like warlock or wizzie, you really don't have options. What do you do with enemies like golems if not?