New wizard looking for advice

[mobrien316]

I am still fairly new to DDO after playing PnP for thirty years or more. I am having a great time playing, even though my skills at role playing D&D don’t translate all that well to DDO.

I have read with tremendous envy many posts that describe taking a new 4th level character and soloing through the Waterworks or the Steam Tunnels (or other Harbor or Marketplace quests) several times on elite in order to amass XP and useful loot. I envy those people because I can barely manage those quests on hard (sometimes!) with melee characters and I can’t even attempt them yet with my 4th level wizard.

I’m doing much better with my melee characters than I was when I started, but I am still struggling mightily with my wizard. I have human wizard (4th level), but I was considering scrapping him and starting an elven wizard instead so I can use a longbow (the crossbow my current wizard has seems to be extremely slow).

In PnP I always used to love playing wizards – I loved amassing spell scrolls and learning new spells so I could expand my spell book even when I wasn’t leveling up. But, and I think this is the big difference, I always played in groups when playing PnP. The whole group knew that a wizard was less than helpful when starting out (especially back in the days when you’d get ONE d4 for hit points!), and would have to be protected during virtually every adventure early on. Everyone also knew that by the time the party was at level five or so the wizard would be like an on-call airstrike for the party, rationing out minor spells regularly but saving some heavy hitters for those climactic or unexpected difficult battles.

Anyway, I am looking for some advice for a solo wizard. I am hoping that once I get to level 9 or so I’ll be able to solo much more easily, but at the moment I am despairing of ever getting enough XP to even get to level 5.

I have been trying to play my DDO wizard the same way I would a PnP wizard, which is to say that I use ranged weapons as often as I’m able to, with offensive spells being saved for emergencies or for bosses. My crossbow (currently a +3 light crossbow) seems awfully slow and weak. Even on normal it takes two or three hits to take out a kobold… My eternal fire wand is just as weak, so I hardly ever use it. I have amassed a number of scrolls and wands, but I’m already running out of room in my inventory.

Any help on tactics would be much appreciated!

[somenewnoob]

Wizards are pretty challenging to solo with sometimes.

Do you ever group with people? That might be a good way to gain some xp, most parties would welcome a spellcaster. (And if you're on Cannith I have a couple lower level guys I'd run with you)

I think at lower levels the masters touch/great axe strategy is what most people use, cast the spell and you're proficient with a greataxe that you have equipped, swing away. Also take advantage of summoned pets at lower levels, they aren't great but they help keep some aggro off you.

[Jaid314]

at lower levels, useful AC is very possible. use mage armor, cat's grace, and the shield spell to get you an easy 19. consider wearing any protection items you may have (there's an easy ring in korthos wilderness chests for +1 AC), and if you can afford it, drink barkskin potions. alternate options include stability items, or casting protection from evil. this should net you an easy ~23 AC, which will make you nigh invulnerable to harm. in fact, speaking of invulnerability... up until about level 9, that's an extremely useful ability to have on your robes. see if you can find a reasonably priced one in the AH.

now that we've got your defense covered (and on a side note, i hope you already figured out that resist elements is another important spell to have), it's time for offense. what should you use for offense, you ask? oddly enough... forget about the crossbow. forget about the bow too. get yourself a melee weapon. greataxe is a popular choice (if you were an established player, carnifex out of delera's is an excellent option), but most any two-hander will do adequately. you may wish to supplement with the two eternal wands you should already have (finger of fire and acid spray) when you need ranged, or when facing a high AC target that you may have trouble hitting. use bull's strength to improve your attack and damage, and use master's touch to grant proficiency.

that should last you a fair while. good luck :)

[Jubbers]

The low levels of wizard are just like in PnP you need to be carried by your party till you gain some power.

Wizards don't really have enough SP to nuke everything in a quest, but if you have a WF fighter buddy with you he can run in pull the agro, drag um all to 1 spot and burning hands dose wonders on 6 enemies attacking your buddy.

The early wat to run a wiz in DDO is to get bull str, masters touch and a great axe/sword playing like a fighter.

After you get fire wall at level 7 the game changes for you greatly, but till then web, is great CC and run with buddies.

If your on Cannith shoot me a PM and I'll grab a lowbe and run with ya

Varkaran

[Alektronic]

You can use your offensive spells (seemingly ineffective at lower lvls) to great effect with the proper spell boosting equipment (superior combustion, glacier, etc...). Your offensive charms/control/utility spells also are good for "stealthing"/cheating certain sections of dungeons, once you know the quest objectives and map well.

I love wizards, but I've noticed that to get the most mileage from ur caster, you have to be a bit more risque in strategy, esp at lower lvls, to effectively solo lower lvl content quickly. A great place to acclimate urself to some arcane tricks of the trade is in MrCow's diaries (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=226992). He's playing on an OP character, but you get the feel of how mroe experienced player play arcanes.

As always, have fun. Hopefully, you'll warm up to the arcane class. It certainly is a steep learning curve that I'm still climbing:D.

[tihocan]

As mentioned above, use bull's strength + mage armor + shield + master's touch with a two-handed weapon (I'd recommend a greatsword for the highest base damage) to solo at early levels.
Note that soloing is much easier once you can self-heal, so you'll probably want to follow the pale master enhancement line on a non-warforged (starting at L6). You can also bring a cleric or FvS hireling who can fight with you, it will make it easier.

[Therigar]

Many different approaches to solving the same problem.

Most game play strategy in DDO defaults to brute force. So advice to pick up a two-handed weapon and just go to town on monsters is inevitable.

An alternative is to take advantage of the many feats you get as a wizard and take up the repeating crossbow. This is a thinking man's alternative but fits better with the soloing strategy of range combat being a preferred method.

One thing to work on is the desire of monsters to return to their base of operations. They do not like being far away from their spawn point and will go back if pulled too far away.

Use this to pull just a few at a time, in managable quantities. The faster shooting of the repeater will help with the killing. Pay particular attention to body pulling rather than ranged pulls. When you range pull you tend to draw more monsters.

Also, learn to use summons. Monsters don't seem to like pets. Maybe that's why they have so few of them.

[Bobthesponge]

OP, what are your stats? What are your spells? What is your build? All of these will help answer your questions.

One thing not mentioned so far is crowd control. My sorc is currently lvl 4 (yes, a TR, but no real twink gear yet - just wait until lvl 11 and 13...) and he usually spams Hypnotism and then grabs a greataxe and goes to town. Usually I manage to get more than half of the mobs hypno'd and the rest i can deal with almost individually. He won't be grouping up with anyone probably until lvl 8 or 9.

OP, there are techniques that you will need to learn to do this effectively and it takes practice. I try to run around until I get a group of mobs together (at level 4 you have access to haste pots - USE THEM) and then hit them with the hypno to get as many as possible with one go. This helps save SP which you won't have much yet on a wizard. On normal and even hard you should hit more often than not - elite at level you will get more saves than hits.

You now need to be careful how you go in for the kill. If using a greataxe (master's touch spell is useful at this time if you are pure wiz) then if you go in swinging your glancing blows will "wake up" all the nearby monsters and you will be back where you started - fighting 4 or 5 at once. Try to pick one at a time off from the side of the group. If they are too tightly packed then I select the nearest one, stand back a buit and hit him with a magic missle. This will wake him up and he will charge and you can deal with him at your leisure.

Note that red name bosses will be immune to this so you will have to beat them down in other ways. Once again, a few MM and a greataxe should do you fine.

Just remember that 1) this is one technique among many and 2) SP conservation is the biggest hurdle for young wizards and 3) no matter how miserly you hoard your SP you won't be able to nuke your way through quests until you get firewall. (even with the U9 changes).

[mobrien316]

OP, what are your stats? What are your spells? What is your build? All of these will help answer your questions.

My stats are:
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 21
WIS 10
CHA 8

My spells are:
Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil, Niac's Cold Ray, Blur, Electric Loop, and Scorching Ray.

I used one of the available programs to plot out my build for an Archmage focused on Evocation.


I appreciate all the suggestions so far. I had not thought of using a melee weapon and Master's Touch - that sounds like it will work well to get up to level until I can get some better spells.

[Bobthesponge]

My stats are:
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 21
WIS 10
CHA 8

My spells are:
Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Protection from Evil, Niac's Cold Ray, Blur, Electric Loop, and Scorching Ray.

I used one of the available programs to plot out my build for an Archmage focused on Evocation.


I appreciate all the suggestions so far. I had not thought of using a melee weapon and Master's Touch - that sounds like it will work well to get up to level until I can get some better spells.

very workable stats, although i would have put more into STR and CON and less into dex, but meh, that's just me.

the beauty of a wizard is that you can swap spells out any time you rest or are in a tavern. try out as many as you like but the program i outlined above is very common. as a general rule casters are pretty gimp spell wise and SP wise at the beginning of the game and, unless you are in a party and feel like spending much of your time watching the fighters beat on stuff, you gotta wade in as a melee. kobolds don't hit all that hard anyway.

just be patient. once you hit the mid levels you start to become a force. you come into your own in gianthold and dominate in the orchard of the macabre. after that melee starts to catch up and the game rebalances.