Soloing Wiz ?? 18Wiz/2Rogue or Pure ??

[pappo]

I read builds about 18Wiz/2Rogue and 18Wiz/2Monk...etc..etc... and I have watched the video's and read the threads from Ghoste and Mr. Cow for pure builds.

Are traps nothing to worry about? I see Mr. Cow and Ghoste just jumping over them. If that's what they do, then why would you want to multi-class Rogue or Monk into a Wizard build.

I just wanted to hear some of the experienced Wiz's on their thoughts about what would be the best build for a soloing Wizard.

Just wanted to hear from some veteran players who have soloed a Wizard up to 20.

[Beld]

Pure is stuck at 18.7 cause I'm lazy and don't play him very ofter :)

Wiz/Rogue is at 15 and climbing, cause I do play him :)

The splash is more survivable with evasion IMO, so I get away with being a little careless sometimes, but the splash is also WF while the pure is my first drow toon, so self heals and immunities also make for a relatively easy experience.

More to your playstyle I would think, they both excel at very nearly the same things (the pure will have little better Spell Pen and DC while the splash will have evasion +UMD or extra feats) I just like my splash cause I can do several jobs in a party if needed.

Also, I have found, even with max'd intel there are a couple of doors/chests that I can't knock except on a 20, and I have the same disease my wife has in that I never leave an unopened chest behind ;)

[bashemgud]

Sadly the only real advantage of rog splash is evasion, as disabling traps solo is useless unless running elite. Faster to zerg the quest, if you take dmg just reconstruct.

I believe pure is highly easier and faster, if only for extra sp, dmg and DC. But like I said, evasion is real nice sometimes, just rarely when running normal, which happens a lot more often then elite if you plan to solo most quests.

Sorc is even better ^^

[ArloOne]

I have a Warforged Wizard/Rogue. I chose to go 18 Wiz and 2 Rogue(1st level and 9th level). I really enjoy him a lot. He is quite capable of soloing just about all content. Insightful Reflexes is a must for this type of character build. Reconstruct makes you pretty much immune to death if you are quick enough to catch your self before taking to much damage. Evasion is really nice. The bonus IMO is that not only is crowd control excellent, elemental spell casting potent as needed, insta-kill spells easily landed etc..I can also fill the rogue spot for disabling nasty traps as to lighten the load on the healer. In fact, I fill the rogue roll (disabling,opening) just as good if not better then most rogues I have come across. Oh yes, another nice thing about the build...UMD(Use Magical Device)..I am capable of no fail heal scrolls and raise dead scrolls. Basically all around a self sufficient build capable of aiding a party while being end game viable.

Just my opinion. Good Luck and Have fun.

[pappo]

I have a Warforged Wizard/Rogue. I chose to go 18 Wiz and 2 Rogue(1st level and 9th level). I really enjoy him a lot. He is quite capable of soloing just about all content. Insightful Reflexes is a must for this type of character build. Reconstruct makes you pretty much immune to death if you are quick enough to catch your self before taking to much damage. Evasion is really nice. The bonus IMO is that not only is crowd control excellent, elemental spell casting potent as needed, insta-kill spells easily landed etc..I can also fill the rogue spot for disabling nasty traps as to lighten the load on the healer. In fact, I fill the rogue roll (disabling,opening) just as good if not better then most rogues I have come across. Oh yes, another nice thing about the build...UMD(Use Magical Device)..I am capable of no fail heal scrolls and raise dead scrolls. Basically all around a self sufficient build capable of aiding a party while being end game viable.

Just my opinion. Good Luck and Have fun.

I appreciate the comments. Good points to think about.

[wolfy42]

I have not solo'd a wizard to 20 but I will say it's MUCH easier to start off with a pure wizard then multiclassing since you don't really get much use out of evasion till much later. With resists/flameshield etc you won't really need evasion till late game or on elite (and you'll probably not be soloing elite that much)

Evasion is nice......and if your meleeing early on haste boost can be nice as well (nice later even with DP clickies).

I'd suggest either going 17 wiz/2 rogue/1 barbarian or pure though.


For your first high level wizard I'd go pure.....otherwise it's going to seem like your getting too little for your wizard levels early on...especially if you take 2 rogue levels before wizard level 7.

A pure wizard can solo easily through level 7 even without meleeing if he or she wants. Having Vet status does help a ton along the process though. Grab 2 Archiviests necklaces to help your mana pool (nets you an extra 100 spell points basically) and you should be able to do Korthos/harbor quests on elite solo pretty well at level 4-5, then move on to Marketplace quests for 6-7 on normal/hard pretty easy as well.

Once you get haste at level 5 you can Zerg through some of the quests by yourself especially in combo with invisibility and a decent + move siliently item. That is one of the nice advantages of the wizard, you can alter spells for each quest...and solo you'll know exactly what you need.

Solo post level 8 or so starts to bog down a bit if you don't have a decent firewall etc....you can still melee your way through with masters touch, bulls strength etc...but honestly it's going to be a pain in the neck compared to melee characters solo at that point. You really want to be killing with your spells mostly by level 7-8...and that is much easier to do as a pure wizard then a 2/18 split (or 18/2/1).

Gotta love the pure speed of a halfling 17/2/1 wiz/rogue/barb though....with haste, barb 10% nat move speed and sprint boost you can fly through many quests....it's about 25% faster then pure haste (even though it should be 45% faster it doesn't work that way), but that is still a significant increase and reduction in time to finish many quests because of that.

Not getting firewall for 2 more levels (9) and losing 3 caster levels does hurt though...alot. If your going the melee wizard route (which is quite effective solo) that isn't as big of a deal.

[pappo]

For your first high level wizard I'd go pure.....otherwise it's going to seem like your getting too little for your wizard levels early on...especially if you take 2 rogue levels before wizard level 7.
.
wolfy42 - great comments, thanks.

I have a pure WF wizard now (http://my.ddo.com/character/khyber/shdwwiz/) currently level 12 but I have never done any solo work. He is specced for nuking fire/cold/acid...etc, and I carry potency/lore scepters for the element types. I did not put any AP's into move silent, hide, or spot skills. I do not run with my guild much any longer and wanted to run more solo quests.

I can reset his enhancements/AP's with a lesser reincarnation. I have a heart of wood in the bank. Would that be a good idea ? If yes, what would you recommend for enhancements / AP's for a solo build?

[Wyrmnax]

wolfy42 - great comments, thanks.

I have a pure WF wizard now (http://my.ddo.com/character/khyber/shdwwiz/) currently level 12 but I have never done any solo work. He is specced for nuking fire/cold/acid...etc, and I carry potency/lore scepters for the element types. I did not put any AP's into move silent, hide, or spot skills. I do not run with my guild much any longer and wanted to run more solo quests.

I can reset his enhancements/AP's with a lesser reincarnation. I have a heart of wood in the bank. Would that be a good idea ? If yes, what would you recommend for enhancements / AP's for a solo build?

You CAN nuke whole quests. Its how i got my wiz to 20.

You just have to take sp conservation in mind - do not waste sp killing a single creature, do not try to kill everything in the quest. FW is VERY effective at this too - sp efficiency of that spell is absurdly good.

[Bunker]

I have personally played a 18/2 Wizard/Monk and a few capped pure Wizards including my present lvl 20 Wizard. You have to ask yourself what you want out of yor character, and also how you play.

If you notice you tend to get in the middle taking more dmg, drawing more aggro, and getting htit more often, I would go with a 18/2 wizard monk. Now that is not to say a pre lvl 20 wizard cannot handle being hit, but simply that through 1 extra feat, and higher saves, imo, the wiz/mnk can be a serious thorn for any foe to destroy.

If you want your caster to have the highest possible spell casting abilities, then go pure. The last 2 levels of wizard and the wizard capstone will separate you from good casters and great casters. Some might say that a small adjustment such as this will not make a difference in your casters abilities, I say toward the end game, those small adjustments are the difference.

[Tiemmothi]

My wizard is progressing well and I am liking the splash of thief. I didn't take my 2nd level of thief till after I had reconstruct tho. I am also toying with a 6 ranger/2 thief(monk)/12 wizard build. I have seen a few builds like it and I think it would be some work but a lot of fun. Like it was stated in a previous post it all really depends n how you like to play.

[DreamSlinger]

Not getting firewall for 2 more levels (9) and losing 3 caster levels does hurt though...alot.

To get the most out of your skill points you don't want to take your Rogue levels at 1 and 2. You'd be better off taking your second Rogue level at 9. This way you are only getting firewall 1 level behind a pure Wizard and you can dump all of your extra Rogue skill points into just one or two skills that you've had to neglect in on your Wizard levels.

[wolfy42]

To get the most out of your skill points you don't want to take your Rogue levels at 1 and 2. You'd be better off taking your second Rogue level at 9. This way you are only getting firewall 1 level behind a pure Wizard and you can dump all of your extra Rogue skill points into just one or two skills that you've had to neglect in on your Wizard levels.

Dreamslinger,

That comment was for the 17/2/1 build and includes 1 rogue level at 1 and usually 1 barbarian level at 2....so it does take 2 more levels to get firewall.

On the other hand you get barbarian 10% haste and sprint boost at level 2 (if veteran right away) which makes leveling up MUCH faster....possibly letting you get to level 9 in the time it would take someone else to get to 7.

Above in the post for the 18/2 split I did mention that you should wait for the second rogue, but that some players actually take the 2 rogue levels before 7 which is really bad.

Personally I don't think 2 rogue levels by themselves are worth giving up the advantages of a pure....but the rogue/barbarian build is (thats just personal taste though).

A pure wizard gets the capstone bonus, spells 2 levels faster, higher SP, more spell points etc. It hurts not having evasion it's true, but honestly it's not that bad for most of the game (especially if WF).

Spells and caster level are so important for a wizard it just hurts to sacrifice any without a big return. I don't find myself actually needing rogue skills as a wizard (knock deals with most chests for me and I don't care about the bonus exp for disarming traps anymore now that so much exp is available).

Honestly I'd probably go either 2 rogue/1 barb/17 wiz or 17 wiz/3 monk if I was going to multiclass my wizard at all. The rogue/barb build for the massive speed and the monk build for the 25% spell point reduction.

Not really sure why people stop at 2 monk when they splash.