Some advice on my old PM please

[Aurora1979]

I been back in the game for a little while now but had been away for a couple of years. I have been working on my other two mains recently but have just dusted of my original character.

He is a third life that I had TR'd just before leaving. Currently sitting at level 8.

As I say, he used to be my main, always been a wizard. I have some good items for him, as of the date I was last on. 2 Con cord's, litany of the dead, RoSS, greenblade, ornamental dagger etc.

He was a hold monster/ dreamspitter beat-downer in the original epics then was a pale master before I left.

I had just TR'd him to get the last DC, if I remember there used to be a time when the max DC for a PM was well defined.... I think it was 43 or something. I TR'd into an elf (actually maybe it was for spell pen thinking about it, I cant remember....)to get that last point, then got bored, shelved him and eventually left.

Anyhow, sorry for the long story but point is, I never played him as a nuker. Although did have a drow sorc (lol) back when 16 was the cap.

So, now I have been thinking about what to do with this guy. I have 2x LR 20's and a TR heart.

My other two mains I have been playing recently are my bard, was always a bard and my FVS who I LR'd into a Pally. So since I have been back its been mostly melee, although before I left I played mostly casters.

I would like to give a warlock a go, unless people would suggest staying with wiz?

Im stuck looking for a build though, as I say, I'm elf, which seems sub optimal.

Any ideas/ inspirations I could borrow?

[cru121]

I would not use the +20 hearts. Just bring the wizard to 20, third wizard PL is always nice to have. Then TR into a different race.

If I had to do a heroic wizard life, I'd probably try archmage force evoker (nuker spamming full-meta SLAs) - maximize, empower, quicken, SF:Evo, GSF, PL:Wiz.

[Aurora1979]

I would not use the +20 hearts. Just bring the wizard to 20, third wizard PL is always nice to have. Then TR into a different race.

If I had to do a heroic wizard life, I'd probably try archmage force evoker (nuker spamming full-meta SLAs) - maximize, empower, quicken, SF:Evo, GSF, PL:Wiz.

Sorry, I made that sound wrong. He has 3 past lifes, so actually he is a forth life.

Im really not sure I can stomach the grind he will take to get back up to 20 for the TR.

[KoobTheProud]

Sorry, I made that sound wrong. He has 3 past lifes, so actually he is a forth life.

Im really not sure I can stomach the grind he will take to get back up to 20 for the TR.

Just go with Archmage Force SLA's and grind it out to 20 like cru121 suggested. You'll be there in no time flat and you can TR into a Drowlock or maybe an Iconic PDKlock if you're just planning to go to cap at that point and stay there.

The Archmage is going to have Empower, Maximize and all 3 SLA's plus un-meta'd Chain Missiles by level 12 and everything is going to go by so quickly at that point. You're 4th life so you're going to be opening everything up on Elite the first time you open it and your BB is going to add a huge amount of XP and really there's no non-raid content in the game right now that can stand up to a well-geared Archmage with a player who really understands how Wizards play versus the packs.

The difference between an Archmage and an ES Warlock at this point is that the Archmage actually has to think about how they approach each pack they're going to slaughter. The ES Warlock just runs into the middle of them jumping around and hits a few buttons until they're all dead.

[slarden]

It sounds like you want to try warlock and don't want to TR so I would say go for it. The link in my sig is a very simple build and although I have completionist feat in there it isn't needed and doesn't add much. I would keep it simple and go with a blasting build.

I've run with fey, fiend and great old one. You can't go wrong with any of them. fiend is great for legendary shroud because you can one-shot the crystal with hurl through hell. Some groups won't even start until they have at least one warlock with hurl.

Good luck and have fun!

[Aurora1979]

Just go with Archmage Force SLA's and grind it out to 20 like cru121 suggested. You'll be there in no time flat and you can TR into a Drowlock or maybe an Iconic PDKlock if you're just planning to go to cap at that point and stay there.

The Archmage is going to have Empower, Maximize and all 3 SLA's plus un-meta'd Chain Missiles by level 12 and everything is going to go by so quickly at that point. You're 4th life so you're going to be opening everything up on Elite the first time you open it and your BB is going to add a huge amount of XP and really there's no non-raid content in the game right now that can stand up to a well-geared Archmage with a player who really understands how Wizards play versus the packs.

The difference between an Archmage and an ES Warlock at this point is that the Archmage actually has to think about how they approach each pack they're going to slaughter. The ES Warlock just runs into the middle of them jumping around and hits a few buttons until they're all dead.


It sounds like you want to try warlock and don't want to TR so I would say go for it. The link in my sig is a very simple build and although I have completionist feat in there it isn't needed and doesn't add much. I would keep it simple and go with a blasting build.

I've run with fey, fiend and great old one. You can't go wrong with any of them. fiend is great for legendary shroud because you can one-shot the crystal with hurl through hell. Some groups won't even start until they have at least one warlock with hurl.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the advice guys.

I do appreciate what your saying Koob. It does make sense, I do know AM's quite well so I guess it would be ok. The thing that "worries" me is if I get bored quickly and leave again.

I think I will just give the warlock a go as is and see how I get on with that to 20. Thing is, it might be a waste of a +20 heart, but then again those have been in my invt since before I left. I cant even remember where I got them, so not using them seems a bit..... unnecessary.

I think Ill just suck up the Elf factor and just see how it goes. Hopefully with the gear/ game knowledge I have the gap just from race shouldn't be too bad.

[slarden]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I do appreciate what your saying Koob. It does make sense, I do know AM's quite well so I guess it would be ok. The thing that "worries" me is if I get bored quickly and leave again.

I think I will just give the warlock a go as is and see how I get on with that to 20. Thing is, it might be a waste of a +20 heart, but then again those have been in my invt since before I left. I cant even remember where I got them, so not using them seems a bit..... unnecessary.

I think Ill just suck up the Elf factor and just see how it goes. Hopefully with the gear/ game knowledge I have the gap just from race shouldn't be too bad.

I hope you enjoy warlock as much as I did.

For heroic leveling soul eater / enlightened spirit combo worked really good for me. The cone is great as you won't have enough SLAs until epic levels to fully burst all the time. Tier 5 ES gives you better self healing. Tier 5 SE gives you better dps at heroic levels.

[KoobTheProud]

Playing a Warlock to 20 isn't going to be any more satisfying than playing an Archmage to 20. It'll be faster, especially after you figure out how to never die, and you'll figure that out pretty quickly is my guess, but it's going to be like a 3 button show all the way to your TR and doing other things for variety or because you think you need too will just slow things down.

The only mobs in heroic content that cause me to stop and think for a second are a few elite bosses (the guy who summons packs of Howlers in Wheloon and the epic Beholder in Through a Mirror darkly) and packs of elite beholders elsewhere. There is literally nothing else in heroic content outside of raids that will not die to a solo Warlock without much risk involved. The only reason that any of the mobs anywhere in heroic are a challenge is because a few of them can make you stop and stand in your tracks or de-level you after stripping deathward or bounce you around like a ping-pong ball, moving your bursts out of range in the process.

I understand the boredom thing and it's a real risk but if that's what's at issue here then the Warlock is going to bore the **** out of you in no time flat. The Wizard at least you are going to have to be constantly re-thinking your tactics to stay alive against elite content while you kill it. You're an Elf so it will be challenging at times. Playing a Warlock is going to be like playing a Warforged Wizard except it's much easier.