Please help me fix my Wizard

[awesomekill]

Hi all,

I have a level 18 Palemaster Wizard, TRed once, and in level 16 elites misses a lot on instakills, as well as holds and dances. Here is a link:

http://my.ddo.com/character/sarlona/palemiss

I don't have lich form yet, still need another action point, then I will. For some reason, it's not showing my shield but I am weilding a "light and darkness" in my offhand.

My DC on FOD is 34 I believe and 32 for PWK. I don't remember for wail. I am downloading the patch right now so I'll update some more specifics once I can look at my character. I know I have taken greater necro feat as well as improved spell pen and int enhancements. I also have my first "past life" wiz feat. I don't have any +2 DC items, exceptional int, or rep enabled pots yet.

[Paryan]

Always good to see someone looking for advice. A few quick thought's...

A +2 necro focus is essential. They can be crafted and added to many places in the build.

Also this item may help clear a few others out for you by consolidating if you have access to House C quests/area.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Magewright%27s_Spectacles

As spaces clear up, you can add +2 spell focus shards for other schools, etc. as well.

[squishwizzy]

Hi all,

I have a level 18 Palemaster Wizard, TRed once, and in level 16 elites misses a lot on instakills, as well as holds and dances. Here is a link:

http://my.ddo.com/character/sarlona/palemiss

I don't have lich form yet, still need another action point, then I will. For some reason, it's not showing my shield but I am weilding a "light and darkness" in my offhand.

My DC on FOD is 34 I believe and 32 for PWK. I don't remember for wail. I am downloading the patch right now so I'll update some more specifics once I can look at my character. I know I have taken greater necro feat as well as improved spell pen and int enhancements. I also have my first "past life" wiz feat. I don't have any +2 DC items, exceptional int, or rep enabled pots yet.

Do you have Greater Spell Pen? You'll need that as a enhancement / feat, and possibly a spell pen item, Major / Greater Void Lore item, Nullification IX clicky. I'm not sure what Light and Darkness does as far as any of these.

Dances and holds are from the Enchantment school. So you'll need a Greater Spell Focus in enchantment as well.

Also turn on maximize, heighten, and enlarge to get as much punch out of each spell as you can. Yeah, you're burning mana, but if you're looking for a guaranteed kill, these are what will get you there.

All this being said, the best baseline test of your abilities is to run Gianthold Tor on norm, and use FoD and the disco ball to see how many giants you can dance / kill to see if you're being effective.

[squishwizzy]

Also, if you're having trouble with FoD, try hitting a target with Eveneration (?) to knock it down a level or two before going in with the Finger of Death.

[awesomekill]

Always good to see someone looking for advice. A few quick thought's...

A +2 necro focus is essential. They can be crafted and added to many places in the build.

Also this item may help clear a few others out for you by consolidating if you have access to House C quests/area.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Magewright%27s_Spectacles

As spaces clear up, you can add +2 spell focus shards for other schools, etc. as well.

I don't own the House C stuff. Am trying to avoid buying any content until I see what 20+ level content will be for sale. Nice set though. :)

I'll look into a +2 necro item. Currently I have just +1/all.

[awesomekill]

Do you have Greater Spell Pen? You'll need that as a enhancement / feat, and possibly a spell pen item, Major / Greater Void Lore item, Nullification IX clicky. I'm not sure what Light and Darkness does as far as any of these.

Dances and holds are from the Enchantment school. So you'll need a Greater Spell Focus in enchantment as well.

Also turn on maximize, heighten, and enlarge to get as much punch out of each spell as you can. Yeah, you're burning mana, but if you're looking for a guaranteed kill, these are what will get you there.

All this being said, the best baseline test of your abilities is to run Gianthold Tor on norm, and use FoD and the disco ball to see how many giants you can dance / kill to see if you're being effective.

I have greater pen feats and improved pen iii enhancements. I looked again at my DC and its 32 for FOD/PWK/Wail, and 34 for FOD/wail when heightened. I guess it will be 36 after Lich.

My int is 33 and I have not yet taken human adaptability, so that will bring int up to 34. My dancing ball is only 30 and Hold monster mass just 32 ><. I don't know if I can squeeze in a enchantment spell focus feat without losing something I need. Maybe I could trade insightful reflexes or extend spell.

[bibimbap]

I have greater pen feats and improved pen iii enhancements. I looked again at my DC and its 32 for FOD/PWK/Wail, and 34 for FOD/wail when heightened. I guess it will be 36 after Lich.

My int is 33 and I have not yet taken human adaptability, so that will bring int up to 34. My dancing ball is only 30 and Hold monster mass just 32 ><. I don't know if I can squeeze in a enchantment spell focus feat without losing something I need. Maybe I could trade insightful reflexes or extend spell.

Could you post your feats?

Where are your finding hold / dance fails? specific quests?

*edit* have you got + spell penn items also?

[Ryiah]

Also turn on maximize, heighten, and enlarge to get as much punch out of each spell as you can. Yeah, you're burning mana, but if you're looking for a guaranteed kill, these are what will get you there.

Enlarge does nothing for increasing the chances of a kill. What it does is increase the range of some spells. Occasionally it was taken in the past by some who wanted increased range for their DPS spells, but a few updates ago ray spells had their range doubled making Enlarge almost completely ignored.

Also Maximize is primarily for damage spells but the OP is asking about instakill spells. While I do recommend using Maximize for Firewall and the like, having it on won't do anything for Finger of Death, Phantasmal Killer, or Wail of the Banshee which the OP explicitly mentions.

Out of everything you listed, Heighten is the only spell that is an absolute must. Maximize is highly recommended. Enlarge is only if you don't mind wasting a feat slot.

[awesomekill]

Update:

I have redone my enhancements. I got rid of wraith and now have added human adaptability int as well as lich. My new int is 34/36 in lich. heightened FOD dc is now at 37. That's gotta help a lot compared to the heightened 34 it was. I forget, but I think pwk and wail are at 35.

What's left for me is to get some +2DC focus items for enchant and necro, get exceptional int item, and learn how the new expansion stuff impacts wiz I guess. I can't get yugo pots as I don't own that expansion... I'm saving my TP for level 21+ content (hopefully)

[awesomekill]

Could you post your feats?

Where are your finding hold / dance fails? specific quests?

*edit* have you got + spell penn items also?

I have the updated stormreavers napkin. I have been seeing the fails on elite level 14 - 16 content, sometimes in Orchard quests, but mostly in the Lords of Dust trilogy and in Vale quests. I haven't done that much in Gianthold this life as I'm sort of burned out on it and can't bring myself to run Crucible. lol

I think my feats all what you'd expect. I have maximize, extend, heighten, and quicken. I have toughness, past life wiz, mental toughness, spell penetration x2, necro and greater necro. Umm... I think that's it. I'll have to fire up the game.

[BigSlugger]

...I think pwk and wail are at 35...(hopefully)

Power Word spells don't have a DC, despite listing one. Wail is necromancy just like Finger of Death, so they should be equal assuming FoD is heightened.

[Ryiah]

I have maximize, extend, heighten, and quicken. I have toughness, past life wiz, mental toughness, spell penetration x2, necro and greater necro.

This is more or less the same as my Wizard (or will be once I'm done TRing him yet again). Though mine has two Rogue levels for trapping skills and UMD, so I took Insightful Reflexes over Mental Toughness. I would recommend it even if you lack Evasion because a high enough Reflex score means reduced damage from a good number of sources.

[squishwizzy]

Enlarge does nothing for increasing the chances of a kill. What it does is increase the range of some spells. Occasionally it was taken in the past by some who wanted increased range for their DPS spells, but a few updates ago ray spells had their range doubled making Enlarge almost completely ignored.

Also Maximize is primarily for damage spells but the OP is asking about instakill spells. While I do recommend using Maximize for Firewall and the like, having it on won't do anything for Finger of Death, Phantasmal Killer, or Wail of the Banshee which the OP explicitly mentions.

Out of everything you listed, Heighten is the only spell that is an absolute must. Maximize is highly recommended. Enlarge is only if you don't mind wasting a feat slot.

Yeah, you're right for the most part. I'm AM, and I throw those on as habit after I buff (always keep extend on). Yeah, you only need Heighten for FoD, Otto's, ans so on. However, if you're having problems doing instakills, one way to rectify that is to hit an opponent with something like Necrotic Ray, Enevaration, Circle of Death, and then hitting them with FoD. While not a 100% solution, knocking down their levels is generally helpful getting the kill.

And Necrotic Ray can be both heightened and maximized.

I didn't know about the extended range of Enlarge, however. I guess you learn something new every day. So that's about to be shut off when running PuGs...

[awesomekill]

This is more or less the same as my Wizard (or will be once I'm done TRing him yet again). Though mine has two Rogue levels for trapping skills and UMD, so I took Insightful Reflexes over Mental Toughness. I would recommend it even if you lack Evasion because a high enough Reflex score means reduced damage from a good number of sources.

That was one I forgot. I do have insightful reflexes... one of my favorite feats. :) Game opened to verify all:

Extend, Heighten, Max, and Quicken
Focus and greater focus necro
Spell pen and greater spell pen
Insightful reflexes
Mental toughness
past life: arcane initiate / past life: wizard (looks like 2 feats but I only remember taking one
and last toughness

My spell points are only at 1539 or 1666 when lich... so it's tough to give any up. I'd probably rather lose extend over mental toughness. Not sure if thats a bad idea though with shorter haste/rage buffs.

[Ryiah]

However, if you're having problems doing instakills, one way to rectify that is to hit an opponent with something like Necrotic Ray, Enevaration, Circle of Death, and then hitting them with FoD. While not a 100% solution, knocking down their levels is generally helpful getting the kill.

One spell you didn't mention that I use quite often is Symbol of Death. It only lasts 20 seconds once it activates but it also allows me to more easily land negative levels on enemies that I've grouped up but which are hard to get Circle to land on properly.

Necrotic Ray I didn't realize had a negative level it applied. It is also nice to know that it applies the negative level regardless of whether the enemy saves or not and doesn't have a Spell Resistance check whereas the others do.




My spell points are only at 1539 or 1666 when lich... so it's tough to give any up. I'd probably rather lose extend over mental toughness. Not sure if thats a bad idea though with shorter haste/rage buffs.

Mental Toughness only gives you a little over 100 SP whereas Extend Spell can save a tremendous amount of SP if you frequently cast short-term buffs. Also eventually you can get SP returning items like Concordant Opposition from Shroud and Transform Kinetic Energy from the DQ2 Torc. Both will give you back SP when you are hit.