Build: Battle Mage help.

[mThree]

I need help. I understand the higher the armor type the harder it is to land spells. I am trying to figure out SOME way to counter it. I understand it wont be as 100% as a normal wizard but I want to be close.

Basically what I am trying to do is make a plate wearing two-hand wielding battle wizard(or sorc). I want to be able to smack someone for good damage and also cast spells.

Any suggestions?

[efreet5]

You could make a battle cleric. They are automatically proficient in heavy armor and they gain blade barrier at lvl 11, which is one of the most damaging spells in the entire game.

As for being a wizard and wearing fullplate while wielding a two handed weapon...As a new player, this is suicide. Gear for a toon like this is going to be very difficult to find and with the way ac works in this game, even if you find that gear (twilight mithril fullplate) it is very likely that it will be obsolete when you do. That's not to say their aren't builds like this out there, but wearing fullplate really doesn't do much for you.

I would advise you to drop the fullplate aspect of your idea, if you want to for sure be a wizard or sorc, and make your character warforged for self healing. After that you will want to decide whether you want your melee or your casting to be your second option. You will be able to do both, but a strict focus on being a self-buffing force of melee destruction will result in difficulty landing many spells later on; likewise, going more strictly for casting with secondary melee abilities will render your melee contributions as less and less beneficial the further you get into the game.

My advice is not meant to discourage you. A character like this is very difficult to make work in this game unless you have good enough equipment. At some point during the mid levels you'll find yourself at a crossroads where you will be forced to choose either your melee or spell casting as your primary concern. Choosing a middle ground will result in mediocre results for both as this game seems to reward min-maxing over balancing a characters abilities.

[sirgog]

Warforged Wiz19/Ftr1 or Wiz17/Rog2/Ftr1 or Sor16/Rog2/Pal2 builds exist and are OK, but one of their greatest strengths (being able to melee while inside a firewall) isn't that useful at current endgame as so many monsters are immune to fire.

[Vaeliorin]

Warforged Wiz19/Ftr1 or Wiz17/Rog2/Ftr1 or Sor16/Rog2/Pal2 builds exist and are OK, but one of their greatest strengths (being able to melee while inside a firewall) isn't that useful at current endgame as so many monsters are immune to fire.

Out of curiosity, if you were to go with acid fog instead of wall of fire (I realize wall of fire does more damage), would that make it more viable?

I'd personally much rather go with an acid/electricity build than cold/fire (cold/fire is overdone in MMOs/games in general, imo, and I'm kind of bored with it), and if that would help with making a melee mage more viable, I'd be rather pleased.

[Roland_D'Arabel]

This is one of the best threads for what you are thinking of doing. Like others have suggested though, these are challenging, build and equipment demanding characters to play. They are also a total blast. Firewall is not useful at endgame and acid is not that great either but being able to run around permanently stoneskinned, hasted and displaced and swing a great axe is definitely worth the effort of the build.

http://http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=116254