Spitt-Balln ideas for an Archmage revamp

[Smokewolf]

After some input from others and some fleshing out...
(Last updated 24 August 2026)

Summary: This revamp transforms Archmage from a collection of passive bonuses and Spell-Like Abilities into a cohesive tree built around generalist magic, metamagic mastery, and sustained offensive spellcasting.

Core Abilities​

Archmage (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 1): All cores, including this one, provide +1 Evocation DC, +1 Spell Penetration, +5 Universal Spell Power.

Arcane Bolt (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 3): SLA: (SP Cost: 4, Cooldown: 4 seconds.) You fire a bolt of raw energy from your finger that deals 1d6+2 (3 to 8) points of Force Damage per caster level to a single target. A successful Reflex save reduces the damage by half. This ability counts as a level 2 Wizard spell, with no MCL. This damage scales with 100% Force Spell Power. Allowed Metamagic: Maximize, Empower, Quicken, Heighten, Embolden, Intensify.

Tactical Bond (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 6): SLA: (Activation Cost: 5 SP. Cooldown: 12 seconds.) You form an arcane bond with a willing ally. While active, 33% of the threat you generate is transferred to your bonded ally. This effect ends if either character dies, rests, or moves too far away. Only one bond may be active at a time.

Arcane Blast (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 12): SLA: (SP Cost: 6, Cooldown: 6 seconds.) You fire a ball of raw energy from your hand that explodes on contact with its target, dealing 1d6+5 (5 to 11) points of Force Damage per caster level to all within its radius. A successful Reflex save reduces the damage by half. This ability counts as a level 4 Wizard spell, with no MCL. This damage scales with 100% Force Spell Power. Allowed Metamagic: Maximize, Empower, Quicken, Heighten, Embolden, Intensify.

Forceful Magic (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 18): Spell Imbue Toggle: Your direct-damage spells and SLAs gain one 1d6 Force Spell Imbue Die for each Metamagic feat you possess. This effect may trigger once per target, per spell or SLA cast. This damage scales with 100% Force Spell Power.

Master of Magic (AP 1, Requires Wizard Level 20): Gain +4 Intelligence, +20 Universal Spell Power, and reduce the Spell Point cost of all Metamagic feats by 1. (Heighten Spell costs 1 fewer Spell Point per level of heightening.) Additionally, Tactical Bond now transfers 66% of the threat you generate to your bonded ally.

Tier One (Wizard Level 1)​

Energy of the Scholar (AP 1, Ranks 3): Your studies have increased your maximum Spell Points by an additional [30/60/100]. Rank 3: You gain the Mobile Spellcasting feat.

Inertia (AP 1, Ranks 3): Whenever you cast a damaging spell or SLA, gain +3 to your Universal Spell Power for 6 seconds. This stacks up to [1/3/5] times.

Somatic Mastery (AP 1, Ranks 3): You have mastered the gestures required for spellcasting, reducing the chance of Arcane Spell Failure by 5%/10%/15%.

Subtle Spellcasting (AP 1, Ranks 3): Toggle: Your damaging spells generate [10/20/30]% less hate than they normally would, making enemies less likely to attack you.

Traditionalist Caster (AP 2, Ranks 1): Your Wizard can now wield a Staff in one hand simultaneously with an Orb in the other. Passive: +3% Spell Critical Chance while wielding both a Staff and an Orb.

Tier Two (Wizard Level 2, 5 APs spent on tree)​

Deep Thought (AP 1, Ranks 3): You slowly regenerate your spell points at a rate of 1 every 2 seconds, for 30/60/120 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds, 5 Charges per rest. Each spell or SLA cast has a 2% chance to restore one charge. Passive: You gain +1 Spell Point Regeneration for each Mental Toughness feat you possess.

Efficient Metamagic (AP 1, Ranks 3): Choose one of the following Metamagic feats. Reduce the spell point cost of using that Metamagic.

• Efficient Empower: Using the Empower Spell Metamagic costs you [2/4/6] fewer Spell Points.
• Efficient Enlarge: Using the Enlarge Spell Metamagic costs you [1/2/4] fewer Spell Points.
• Efficient Maximize: Using the Maximize Spell Metamagic costs you [3/6/9] fewer Spell Points.
• Efficient Quicken: Using the Quicken Spell Metamagic costs you [1/2/4] fewer Spell Points.

Efficient Metamagic (AP 1, Ranks 3): Choose another Metamagic feat. Reduce the spell point cost of using that Metamagic.

Efficient Metamagic (AP 1, Ranks 3): Choose another Metamagic feat. Reduce the spell point cost of using that Metamagic.

Spell Expertise I (AP 2, Ranks 1): Gain +1% Spell Critical Chance. Your Evocation spells gain +1 Caster Level and +1 Maximum Caster Level.

Tier Three (Wizard Level 3, 10 APs spent on tree)​

Elemental Convergence (AP 2, Ranks 1): Your Acid, Cold, Electric, and Fire spells use your highest Spell Power and Spell Critical Chance. Spell-Like Abilities do not benefit from this Convergence.

Intelligence (AP 2, Ranks 1): +1 Intelligence.

Spell Expertise II (AP 2, Ranks 1, Requires Spell Expertise I): Gain +1% Spell Critical Chance. Your Evocation spells gain +1 Caster Level and +1 Maximum Caster Level.

Spell Penetration (AP 1, Ranks 3): You add +1 to your Caster Level check to overcome an enemy's Spell Resistance. Rank 3: Your spells automatically dispel Nightshield and Shield spell effects.

Velocity Squared (AP 2, Ranks 1): While holding a Staff or Orb, you can run 1% faster for each of your Heroic Wizard levels.

Tier Four (Wizard Level 4, 20 APs spent on tree)​

Efficient Heighten (AP 1, Ranks 2): Using the Heighten Spell Metamagic costs you [1/2] fewer Spell Points per heightened level.

Intelligence (AP 2, Ranks 1): +1 Intelligence.

Spell Expertise III (AP 2, Ranks 1, Requires Spell Expertise II): Gain +1% Spell Critical Chance. Your Evocation spells gain +1 Caster Level and +1 Maximum Caster Level.

Spell Mastery I (AP 2, Ranks 1): You have attained a higher mastery of magic. The DCs of spells you cast are increased by 1.

Tier Five (Requires Wizard Level 5, Character Level 12, 30 APs spent in tree )​

Arcane Supremacy (AP 2, Ranks 1): Clickable effect, +25% Spell Critical Chance, +100% Spell Critical Damage. 15 seconds duration, with 60 second cooldown.

Spell Expertise IV (AP 2, Ranks 1, Requires Spell Expertise III): Gain +1% Spell Critical Chance. Your Evocation spells gain +1 Caster Level and +1 Maximum Caster Level.

Spell Mastery II (AP 2, Ranks 1, Requires Spell Mastery I): You have attained a greater mastery of magic. The DCs of spells you cast are increased by 2.

Unified Theory (AP 2, Ranks 1): Choose one:

• Blast Wave: SLA: SP Cost: 12, Cooldown: 18 seconds. Release a wave of compressed force that travels forward from you, dealing 1d6+6 (7 to 12) Force Damage per caster level to enemies caught in its path. Enemies that fail a Reflex save are knocked prone. This damage scales with 100% Force Spell Power, with no MCL. Allowed Metamagic: Maximize, Empower, Quicken, Embolden, Intensify.
• Chain Reaction: Enemies slain by your spells or SLAs erupt in an explosion of magical force, dealing 1d6 Force Damage per caster level to nearby enemies. This damage scales with 100% Force Spell Power.
• Shear Force: Repeated Force impacts strain a creature's physical structure, increasing the Force Damage it takes by 2% for 10 seconds. This effect stacks up to 10 times.

@Tonquin

Constructive comments are welcome.

-Smoke

 

[Bravgji]

Meanwhile Sorcs, Druids and just about every Martial DPS in the game is doing at least 3 to 6 times your damge, with none of the mana endurance issues you have as a Wizard.

Well, and which classes/trees does the video put archmage against?
Because I don't think that the video had any focus on sorcerer, druid and martial DPS.

 

[Smokewolf]

Well, and which classes/trees does the video put archmage against?
Because I don't think that the video had any focus on sorcerer, druid and martial DPS.

Yes It doesn't, but be aware that they 're who you'll be competing against, if not a Martial.

Just remember that the game isn't played in a vaccum and that at some point grouping is a necessary evil. When often your build will be harshly judged as Raid / Reaper spots are being filled. Keep in mind that most high Reaper and Raid groups may (if your lucky) reserve only 1 spot for a caster, as basicly any Martial could easily replace you and have better DPS.

 

[Grimscore_Riffstorm]

There are some ideas here that I think would genuinely help Archmage, but I also think this proposal goes way beyond "modernizing" the tree and ends up replacing its identity.

I agree with a few things:

• The Archmage SLAs definitely feel dated. Power creep has left them behind and they were never really amazing anyway. They could use a redesign instead of just numerical buffs.
• Arcane Bolt and Arcane Blast shouldn't effectively stop scaling once you get into Epic levels. That's a long-standing complaint.
• School Mastery is expensive for what it gives. Spending multiple AP for +1 DC feels bad compared to newer enhancement trees.
• Arcane Supremacy being a random proc has never felt particularly satisfying. An activation (with an appropriate cooldown) would be much more interesting.

Where I don't like is the imbue discussion (that can go to Eldritch Knight) and all that other damage engine stuff changes the entire thing. Now we're just talkin' about passive proc damage and spam. The idea of a staff and orb is wild and I'd give that one a hard no--also a hard no for a spellpower trance. The only SP regen out of combat that should pretty much exist should be from bard song. SP management is key; however, regenerative SP is not. The aggro transfer is interesting; but to interject, the context of "willing player" would imply a <Yes or No> window prompt and doesn't really seem like something a Wizard should have as a class mechanic. Maybe something that allows you to diplo with Int?

What I'd really rather see for Archmage:

• Better SLAs and SLA options with modern scaling.
• Interactions and utilities between spell schools.
• Far more meaningful DC and Spell Pen choices.
• More unique mechanics (other than pets and imbues) like having an immunity bypass for spells that have a DC check like Web, Hypnotism or Hold Monster allowing you to CC otherwise difficult situations.
• I also would like to see Master of Knowledge have a unique impact on Archmage as it is the only 'Master of' feat that does not increase MCL.

 

[jrazumich]

Actually, Arcane Supremacy as a trance could work pretty well. I've not noticed much of a problem with the proc rate, but it doesn't last as long as it should.

 

[Smokewolf]

Actually, Arcane Supremacy as a trance could work pretty well. I've not noticed much of a problem with the proc rate, but it doesn't last as long as it should.

But the problem is that it never proc's when you want it. Besides, the Dev's would never allow AS to be used as a trance.

 

[jrazumich]

But the problem is that it never proc's when you want it. Besides, the Dev's would never allow AS to be used as a trance.

I had typed out a counter-argument about Wellspring of Power, but deleted it because I think you're probably right.

Which is stupid, because all of the other Trances give 1/2 of the stat modifier to attack, damage, and DCs for two minutes. A Wizard Trance that would give a CHANCE for a crit and extra crit damage for a set period of time (and, yes, I understand that 12 seconds is a set period of time, but it's not exactly comparable) doesn't seem overpowering by comparison.

 

[Smokewolf]

I had typed out a counter-argument about Wellspring of Power, but deleted it because I think you're probably right.

Which is stupid, because all of the other Trances give 1/2 of the stat modifier to attack, damage, and DCs for two minutes. A Wizard Trance that would give a CHANCE for a crit and extra crit damage for a set period of time (and, yes, I understand that 12 seconds is a set period of time, but it's not exactly comparable) doesn't seem overpowering by comparison.

Problem is that the Dev's dont know how to balance the spell system so their not likely to add anything that would be strong. Fearing that Martials would be outclasses by a handful of caster abilities.

 

[norriskwondo]

Note: If not mentioned below, then its assumed that it the ability would remain unchanged.


Cores: The Archmage SLA's are badly out of date and should be completely scrapped. (Nuked from orbit if possible. It's the only way to be sure.)

-1st Core, all cores including this one provide +1DC, +1 Spell Penetration, +5 Universal Spell Power.

-2nd Core, You gain +1 bonus Imbue Dice (Toggles Force, or Cold) every 3 Wizard levels (at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18).

-3rd core, Place Arcane Bolt here instead of Tier three. (Force, or Cold, based on active imbue toggle selected)

-4th Core, The Archmages imbue dice can now be applied to the casters spells / SLA's. Scaling using 50% of the Wizards spell-power.

-5th Core, Place Arcane Blast here instead of Tier Five. (Force, or Cold, based on active imbue toggle selected)

-The Capstone, add Imbue scaling is now 100% of spell power.

Note: Arcane Bolt / Blast MCL's should be unrestricted to allow for their use into Epics.

Tier One

-Traditionalist Caster is pretty much useless with its high AP cost and low Spell-Power gain. Instead change it so that a Wizard can wield a Staff in one hand simultaneously with an Orb in the other. (2AP cost, +6 Universal Spell-Power)

-Spell Critical: Elemental and Force (1), should be raised to 2% chance. Including all similar tiers after this one.

-Wand and Scroll Mastery, this is useless and should be deleted. In its place add a Trance like ability that enhances Spell-Power.


Tier Two

-Add an ability where the Wizard can share a portion of their aggro to a willing player. (Such as a tank) Effectively, this would allow the Wizard to aid in Aggro control by simply doing more damage.

-Add the ability: Summon Arcane Sentinel. Indestructible Magical Orb, stays near the caster and and attacks nearby enemies with Force, or Cold bolts. (1d2 Force, or Cold damage per caster lvl, every 2 seconds) Note (1): Should be exclusive from the PM summoned Skelly. (2) Should benefit from the casters imbue dice once core 4 is taken.


Tier Three

-Arcane Bolt, should be moved to the 3nd core.

-Add new ability that allows the Wizard to slowly regenerate spell points when not in combat.


Tier four

-School Mastery, is very over cost for the +1 to DC. This abilities cost should either be lowered to 1 AP, or the DC gain doubled.


Tier Five

-Arcane Blast, should be moved to the 5th core.

-Adding new ability providing extra imbue dice equal to the number of Meta-magic feats the Wizard posses.

-Arcane Supremacy, should be a clickable effect, not a random chance of activation.

-Secondary School Mastery, is pretty much a pointless thing to have. Delete it.



Constructive comments are welcome.

-Smoke

I played that tree a few months ago and really liked it. Maybe expectations are too high for most people on the class as a whole. Only tweak I would add in is buffs to generalized magic types and keep the ones for force. I only say this since wizard is more of a general caster instead of a specific caster like sorcerer and alchemist. Isn't that why they can add as many spells as they can get scrolls to add?! And that arcane blast is pretty lethal and effective.

 

[Phaedra]

Note: If not mentioned below, then its assumed that it the ability would remain unchanged.


Cores: The Archmage SLA's are badly out of date and should be completely scrapped. (Nuked from orbit if possible. It's the only way to be sure.)

-1st Core, all cores including this one provide +1DC, +1 Spell Penetration, +5 Universal Spell Power.

-2nd Core, You gain +1 bonus Imbue Dice (Toggles Force, or Cold) every 3 Wizard levels (at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18).

-3rd core, Place Arcane Bolt here instead of Tier three. (Force, or Cold, based on active imbue toggle selected)

-4th Core, The Archmages imbue dice can now be applied to the casters spells / SLA's. Scaling using 50% of the Wizards spell-power.

-5th Core, Place Arcane Blast here instead of Tier Five. (Force, or Cold, based on active imbue toggle selected)

-The Capstone, add Imbue scaling is now 100% of spell power.

Note: Arcane Bolt / Blast MCL's should be unrestricted to allow for their use into Epics.

Tier One

-Traditionalist Caster is pretty much useless with its high AP cost and low Spell-Power gain. Instead change it so that a Wizard can wield a Staff in one hand simultaneously with an Orb in the other. (2AP cost, +6 Universal Spell-Power)

-Spell Critical: Elemental and Force (1), should be raised to 2% chance. Including all similar tiers after this one.

-Wand and Scroll Mastery, this is useless and should be deleted. In its place add a Trance like ability that enhances Spell-Power.


Tier Two

-Add an ability where the Wizard can share a portion of their aggro to a willing player. (Such as a tank) Effectively, this would allow the Wizard to aid in Aggro control by simply doing more damage.

-Add the ability: Summon Arcane Sentinel. Indestructible Magical Orb, stays near the caster and and attacks nearby enemies with Force, or Cold bolts. (1d2 Force, or Cold damage per caster lvl, every 2 seconds) Note (1): Should be exclusive from the PM summoned Skelly. (2) Should benefit from the casters imbue dice once core 4 is taken.


Tier Three

-Arcane Bolt, should be moved to the 3nd core.

-Add new ability that allows the Wizard to slowly regenerate spell points when not in combat.


Tier four

-School Mastery, is very over cost for the +1 to DC. This abilities cost should either be lowered to 1 AP, or the DC gain doubled.


Tier Five

-Arcane Blast, should be moved to the 5th core.

-Adding new ability providing extra imbue dice equal to the number of Meta-magic feats the Wizard posses.

-Arcane Supremacy, should be a clickable effect, not a random chance of activation.

-Secondary School Mastery, is pretty much a pointless thing to have. Delete it.



Constructive comments are welcome.

-Smoke

This isn't an Archmage. It's not even a Specialist Wizard, it's an Evoker
Archmage should be a Universalist, or at least multi-school caster, the only thing you've given this that isn't evocation specific is universal DC.

 

[Smokewolf]

This isn't an Archmage. It's not even a Specialist Wizard, it's an Evoker
Archmage should be a Universalist, or at least multi-school caster, the only thing you've given this that isn't evocation specific is universal DC.

So how is a Specialist tree supposed to work on a class that's intended to be a Generalist ?

 

[Contessor]

after a bit more thinking, id like you guys to explain every point you disagree with in my video, why you think it is wrong, and why wizard really is the worse caster. i will happily admit i am wrong if proven so, and you guys seem to really believe what you think.

the more details, the better

Spellpower is the least of worries mentioned for wizards. MCL is totally unsupported, which is largely the biggest issue for casters. Sorcs and other casters have instant casting, which is a huge DPS and spell point management aspect, since you cannot spam SLAs as the majority of your spell damage cycle. And there is no good complimentary tree for wizard at all. They are all horrible. Hybrid melee casters are a joke currently. And if you look at arty, they are just better at being a hybrid since xbow repeaters are just going to make any class good. Sure you could make a worse arty out of archmage and inquisitor and mimic what they do with a dual crossbow, but that is just building a more terrible option than what arty already gives.

Wizard is just in a terrible place at end game. The overall class is just unsupported once you hit legendary levels. Other caster at least have a chance of doing something.

But you did get me to watch the video, I will give you that. Maybe I helped your catnip budget .

 

[LunaCee]

How about this instead. For the cores at 1/3/6/12/18 get +5 USP, +2 wand and scroll DC, and +1 to spell penetration checks. The regular wand and scroll mastery is removed from this tree.
For the core at 3 the Archmage may use their Wizard caster level in the place of an arcane wand or scroll's caster level if higher.
Then at 6 the Archmage may apply half of their matching spell power to the casts of wands and scrolls.
At the fourth core (12) the Archmage gets a special meta-magic that for 15 SP applies the effects of Heighten to wands and scroll casting.
At the penultimate core (18) the Archmage now applies their full applicable spellpower and lore bonuses to wand and scroll casts.
The capstone effect is that in addition to the +4 INT the Archmage now can applies the full bonuses of their highest spell school DC (with INT bonuses included) to all wand and scroll casts.

End result? Wizards end up being the generalist by virtue of being able to lean on a pile of platinum funded options. And they still have some weaknesses in that the spells not coming from the limited blue bar cannot be quickened. But being able to just slap things in the face with wands of scorching ray or scrolls of frost lance for semi-competitive damage? Hmm! Oh, not to mention its actually a decent platinum sink since to fully capitalize on this power the player is going to probably have an entire backpack tab full of consumables. Heck it would give Wizards a reason to really value Eschew Materials in heroic because it lets them stuff in more arcane paraphernalia and the modest SP surcharge is nothing in comparison to packing along entire stacks of offensive spell scrolls and some choice wands.

 

[Dalsheel]

Wow! This is such a comprehensive overhaul suggestion! I am guessing there's a lot of time and thought that went into this and I happen to agree with almost all of it! I do like scroll mastery for healing in heroics, though, not everything has to be endgame focused.

Like some others have said I wouldn't want (all) the SLAs gone from cores, as some of them are core mechanics of certain builds (such as PK for Illusionist), I can see them reduced and keep only the good ones for each school. For example, they could keep the SLAs for cores 2 and 4 alongside the Arcane Bolt/Blast on cores 3 and 5.

I don't like favoring cold over the other elements for Imbue. I understand you want the synergy with Magus of the Moon, it just doesn't seem right from a lore perspective to me. I would keep the imbue and the Arcane SLAs to force from a flavor perspective alone.

I would put the Imbue toggle on tier3 and make it work exclusively with Wizard spells and Archmage SLAs. No proc from melee/ranged attacks or spells from other classes... otherwise I can already think of a couple builds that could abuse this imbue.

The critical chance enhancement should give a slight bonus to Force over Elemental, as Elemental damage has the Epic Past life stance for +9% critical chance. I would like to see 2% Elemental Spell critical chance per tier and 3% / 3% / 4% / 4% Force spell critical chance, for a total of 6% more than Elemental. I would also like to see a tier5 enhancement linked to the tier4 Spell Critical enhancement.
Multiselector: Spell Critical: Elemental and Force V

• 15% Force spell critical damage.
• Elemental immunity break similar to Sorcerer's capstone one

Imagine Archmage coming back into the META... I do not dare speak the words aloud! The angry crowds would go crazy... this is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Smokewolf]

How about this instead. For the cores at 1/3/6/12/18 get +5 USP, +2 wand and scroll DC, and +1 to spell penetration checks. The regular wand and scroll mastery is removed from this tree.
For the core at 3 the Archmage may use their Wizard caster level in the place of an arcane wand or scroll's caster level if higher.
Then at 6 the Archmage may apply half of their matching spell power to the casts of wands and scrolls.
At the fourth core (12) the Archmage gets a special meta-magic that for 15 SP applies the effects of Heighten to wands and scroll casting.
At the penultimate core (18) the Archmage now applies their full applicable spellpower and lore bonuses to wand and scroll casts.
The capstone effect is that in addition to the +4 INT the Archmage now can applies the full bonuses of their highest spell school DC (with INT bonuses included) to all wand and scroll casts.

End result? Wizards end up being the generalist by virtue of being able to lean on a pile of platinum funded options. And they still have some weaknesses in that the spells not coming from the limited blue bar cannot be quickened. But being able to just slap things in the face with wands of scorching ray or scrolls of frost lance for semi-competitive damage? Hmm! Oh, not to mention its actually a decent platinum sink since to fully capitalize on this power the player is going to probably have an entire backpack tab full of consumables. Heck it would give Wizards a reason to really value Eschew Materials in heroic because it lets them stuff in more arcane paraphernalia and the modest SP surcharge is nothing in comparison to packing along entire stacks of offensive spell scrolls and some choice wands.

Wands are dead in DDO and Scrolls are for rezing. No additions to a tree will change this.

 

[Smokewolf]

This isn't an Archmage. It's not even a Specialist Wizard, it's an Evoker
Archmage should be a Universalist, or at least multi-school caster, the only thing you've given this that isn't evocation specific is universal DC.

So if a Wizards greatest problem is the lack of DPS, shouldn't they specialize in evocation then?

Besides whens the last time you've seen someone specialize in Abjuration, Conjuration, or Transmutation. (If at all) Then manage to take it to cap ?

 

[Smokewolf]

Wow! This is such a comprehensive overhaul suggestion! I am guessing there's a lot of time and thought that went into this and I happen to agree with almost all of it! I do like scroll mastery for healing in heroics, though, not everything has to be endgame focused.

Like some others have said I wouldn't want (all) the SLAs gone from cores, as some of them are core mechanics of certain builds (such as PK for Illusionist), I can see them reduced and keep only the good ones for each school. For example, they could keep the SLAs for cores 2 and 4 alongside the Arcane Bolt/Blast on cores 3 and 5.

I don't like favoring cold over the other elements for Imbue. I understand you want the synergy with Magus of the Moon, it just doesn't seem right from a lore perspective to me. I would keep the imbue and the Arcane SLAs to force from a flavor perspective alone.

I would put the Imbue toggle on tier3 and make it work exclusively with Wizard spells and Archmage SLAs. No proc from melee/ranged attacks or spells from other classes... otherwise I can already think of a couple builds that could abuse this imbue.

The critical chance enhancement should give a slight bonus to Force over Elemental, as Elemental damage has the Epic Past life stance for +9% critical chance. I would like to see 2% Elemental Spell critical chance per tier and 3% / 3% / 4% / 4% Force spell critical chance, for a total of 6% more than Elemental. I would also like to see a tier5 enhancement linked to the tier4 Spell Critical enhancement.
Multiselector: Spell Critical: Elemental and Force V

• 15% Force spell critical damage.
• Elemental immunity break similar to Sorcerer's capstone one

Imagine Archmage coming back into the META... I do not dare speak the words aloud! The angry crowds would go crazy... this is why we can't have nice things.

There are at best a hand-full of SLA's that are even worth having. Even then, they don't scale into Epics making them somewhat useless past 20th level. This is why I'd not keep them, as they are only viable in Heroics. Just like with how many caster spells become hot-garbage past a specific level. Which if I'm being honest is a bad design to have for a Caster. Meanwhile, Martial abilities somehow are still viable to max level, which partially explains the DPS gulf between Martials and Casters.

Cold Imbue... Yeah, your right, will remove it.

The imbue toggle will be adjusted and the force SLA's redistributed. While possibly adding another force SLA as well.

Spell Critical: Elemental and Force V, will look into this.

 

[Phaedra]

So if a Wizards greatest problem is the lack of DPS, shouldn't they specialize in evocation then?

Besides whens the last time you've seen someone specialize in Abjuration, Conjuration, or Transmutation. (If at all) Then manage to take it to cap ?

An Archmage is not a specialist of any kind, it denotes a mastery of magic that transcends traditional schools of magic.

One way I would implement that is to grant Archmages access to non-wizard spells, either through SLAs or expanded spell books (like tainted scholar)

I did a whole write-up previously, but there are two problems with that.
1) SSG likely won't use anything developed by players in order to avoid any questions of attribution/copyright, where they might take a general concept or idea as a starting point for their own work.
2) It's an exercise in frustration to do SSG's job for them, better, without pay, and see it ignored.

 

[Smokewolf]

An Archmage is not a specialist of any kind, it denotes a mastery of magic that transcends traditional schools of magic.

This !!!

 

[justin credible]

after a bit more thinking, id like you guys to explain every point you disagree with in my video, why you think it is wrong, and why wizard really is the worse caster. i will happily admit i am wrong if proven so, and you guys seem to really believe what you think.

the more details, the better

in your video you keep conflating the archmage tree with wizard class abilities, "wizards get bonus feets this means the archmage tree is good..."
even here in the post I'm replying to, your video is about how archamge isnt as bad as people say, but now you are asking why wizard is the worst caster based on refuting your video

casters in general are in a bad place, there are no good casters at end game
archmage dps is worse than arcane trickster, sorc, druid, cleric, fvs, stormsinger, but better than warlock
cleric fvs and stormsinger do better dps if build as inquisitives
druids are better off as a bear tank
and sorcs are ok to farm gear on r1

main problem wizards have is they are the dc specialists, instakills and crowd control, (barbarians are better at instakills and dragonlords are better at crowd control.) so what roll is there for wizard, and how do you kill a redname???

 

[Smokewolf]

Updated the original post after spending some time working on this today. Your constructive comments and creative suggestions are always welcome.

-Smoke