Wizard with light armor and other questions

[Eldebryn]

Hey guys I just started DDO, although i have played pnp with 3.5 rules before and the MMO looks quite good, so i just rolled up my drow wizard with stats:
str 8
dex 16
con 10
int 20
wis 10
cha 10

The reason for 16 dex is that although i want a pure caster i find it important for AC and ranged touch attacks which are quite common in spells, such as Disintegrate .

Now, I have been thinking of taking the light armor feat so that i earn 2-4 armor more since i might as well take the -10% ASF wizard enhancement. So, do you think it's worth it?

Also I consider taking every metamagic feat in game though I'm not sure which ones are worth taking for this game.

Based on experience, which metamagics would you consider worth taking and which not, eg is extend, quicken or enlarge good enough? Also, I am not going to take any spell focus feats, but I am open to suggestions for other feats that I might find usefull.

One more thing: is crafting/enchanting available in DDO? so that if I take light armor for example, will I be able to make a mithral chain shirt with bonuses for wizards?

Thanks in advance for all the info.

[Monkey_Archer]

Hey guys I just started DDO, although i have played pnp with 3.5 rules before and the MMO looks quite good, so i just rolled up my drow wizard with stats:
str 8
dex 16
con 10
int 20
wis 10
cha 10

Constitution is important for casters... especially at endgame.

The reason for 16 dex is that although i want a pure caster i find it important for AC and ranged touch attacks which are quite common in spells, such as Disintegrate .

Dexterity does not affect ranged touch attacks, this was never implemented in DDO.

Now, I have been thinking of taking the light armor feat so that i earn 2-4 armor more since i might as well take the -10% ASF wizard enhancement. So, do you think it's worth it?

There are many oppinions on this... I have 3 high level casters and non of them wear armor. At end game it is almost impossible for a caster to get ac high enough to matter. Wearing armor can be helpful for low levels though

Also I consider taking every metamagic feat in game though I'm not sure which ones are worth taking for this game.

Based on experience, which metamagics would you consider worth taking and which not, eg is extend, quicken or enlarge good enough? Also, I am not going to take any spell focus feats, but I am open to suggestions for other feats that I might find usefull.

A wizard eventually gets 5 free meta magics (at levels 1,5,10,15,20). I would suggest taking Extend, Maximise, Heighten, Empower and Quicken.. in that order. Enlarge can be handy sometimes, but is generally not needed.

One more thing: is crafting/enchanting available in DDO? so that if I take light armor for example, will I be able to make a mithral chain shirt with bonuses for wizards?

Armor crafting can be done in the reavers refuge (level 13+) and the armor is minimum level 16.

[Eldebryn]

Hmm i think ranged touch attacks did use DEX in pnp but since this is not the case here i will lower it to 14 or even 12.

How come most people recommend maximize before empower? I'd think empower is better at first levels since the average bonus damage is the same and emp costs 10 SP less.

[Vormaerin]

Because at low levels you can't afford to use either one regularly..you just don't have the spell points. So most folks take maximize because when you are going to just burn spell points like that, you really want to do a lot of damage.

[Monkey_Archer]

Because at low levels you can't afford to use either one regularly..you just don't have the spell points. So most folks take maximize because when you are going to just burn spell points like that, you really want to do a lot of damage.

That, and maximise is more efficient...
25 sp for double damage is only really worth it for level 4 spells or higher.
15 sp for 50% more is only worth it for level 5 spells or higher.

[RTN]

Forget about armor. Your ac will never be high enough for it to help at end game.

Take all that extra you put into Dex and put it into Con. I forget if you can drop Drow Dex to 8, but if you can, add those 2 pts to STR for carrying capacity since getting encumbered is no fun unless you play a very slow and cautious style. Then take the Insightful Reflexes feat to get a great Reflex save based on your Int.

[Eldebryn]

I see, in this case I will reroll my character with DEX10 and CON14. Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

[dv8maker123]

i honestly think for a drow wizard dex is fine over con. Your build is pretty much where I started mine at (now level 16), and while I think every wizard would agree more hit points would be great...I'm very happy with my increased reflex saving throws (and for lower levels the increased ac). I'd rather rely on avoiding the traps than hoping I have enough hitpoints to survive them. Besides, with all the buffs you get, and the use of healing pots, not the biggest deal in the world to be short a handful of hitpoints at end game. I keep stone skin up all the time, along with blur and a boat load of resists, so I seldom worry too much about 20 hit points. That said, I also made a WF wizzie with low dex but really high con...they both will play a little bit differently, but in the end, they will both do the job well.

[Eldebryn]

I see, this is a different point view which i will consider. I know this is gonna be a really noob question, but how is a wizard supposed to cast his spells? i mean, are you supposed to drag a spell in the hotbar every single time you change your prepared spells? this would take like 45 slots for all spells.

In NWN 2 there was a quickcast menu when you pressed F which had all of your prepared spells, is there something similar in DDO, or its a design flaw?

[Phidius]

Forget about armor. Your ac will never be high enough for it to help at end game.

Take all that extra you put into Dex and put it into Con. I forget if you can drop Drow Dex to 8, but if you can, add those 2 pts to STR for carrying capacity since getting encumbered is no fun unless you play a very slow and cautious style. Then take the Insightful Reflexes feat to get a great Reflex save based on your Int.

I wonder if this is still true with the Grazing Hits implemented - there was talk about maybe lowering the to-hit, and it sure feels different to me.

I see, this is a different point view which i will consider. I know this is gonna be a really noob question, but how is a wizard supposed to cast his spells? i mean, are you supposed to drag a spell in the hotbar every single time you change your prepared spells? this would take like 45 slots for all spells.

In NWN 2 there was a quickcast menu when you pressed F which had all of your prepared spells, is there something similar in DDO, or its a design flaw?

My casters have 12 hotbars up, and I swap out the spells on the hotbar when I change 'em - doesn't happen that much, though.

[Eldebryn]

I guess it's inevitable so i have to ask: what are grazing hits?

[ninjaeli]

try this
10str
14 dex
14con
20intell
8widsom
10char

[Phidius]

I guess it's inevitable so i have to ask: what are grazing hits?

It's a new combat mechanic added with the latest Mod.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...t=Grazing+Hits

Basically, it helps hit high ACs - ours and the mobs.

[dv8maker123]

as far as hot bars go, I have the max number available on my screen for each toon, which is really required for casters. I like to set them up consistently across all my toons, so for example my buffs will always be on say the middle two bars to the right, while my direct damage spells will be the top two bars on the left. Weapons will be the bottom bars, and all my clickies will be on the top of my UI. One way of saying, use all your hot bars and configure for consistency for ease of use. We get a TON of spells, more than any MMO you will find, so we need to make good use of the slots available to us. And yes, ther will be occassions where you will need to drag and drop hot slots to update to a bigger an better spell, I think you will find that eventually you will find a really good set of go to spells that you simply keep on the bar at all times.

So with that, yes, a few spells will be swapped out between quests, but normally the majority of your hot bars will remain the same once you find your favorite spells to use.

[transtemporal]

The people telling you not to put the points into con are wrong OP. With a low con in the current endgame, you will be dying constantly and a burden on the healer, as well as constantly losing your buffs and breaking your gear (deaths damage gear).

I grouped with some casters in one of the new quests the other night. The one with 192hp died 18 times and the 240hp died 9 times. The 192hp guy was a reasonable player and its a tough quest, but those mobs pump out damage like crazy. If I were you, I would be aiming for high 200's or mid 300s ideally.

[oberon131313]

I wonder if this is still true with the Grazing Hits implemented - there was talk about maybe lowering the to-hit, and it sure feels different to me.

My wf caster can self buff to 59 (iirc?) AC currently, and has DR at that point from the hound shield. It helps quite a bit in the vale quests on normal, and I havn't taken him out *too* much in the new stuff, but I can tell the difference between him and my 40 AC ranger...

[Uska]

For a caster CON>dex most casters wont ever have enough ac to really matter and if you take insightful reflexes you will improve your reflex save so you wont miss you dex for that, Keep you dex at base on your drow 10 is fine.

[Taluron]

Now, I have been thinking of taking the light armor feat so that i earn 2-4 armor more since i might as well take the -10% ASF wizard enhancement. So, do you think it's worth it?

They're rare but you can find Twilight Mithril Chain Shirts at the AH (or in a chest).
0 spell failure
0 armor check penalty

No need to be proficient as the minus is 0. You just have to put up with the non-prof indicator on your screen.

There are also Robe/Outfits which give about as much armor class.

[Ivid]

With the adjustments from Mod 9 particularly on finding dragonshard fragments, it is easier now to start off with a battle-mage build and gradually transition to a traditional caster.

On both Korthos and in the Harbor, on Solo - Hard, your +To Hit does not matter a whole bunch. This is magnified by the ability to get what I consider op/uber equipment very easily:

+4 To Hit from: +1 to Hit Goggles, Bracers with Aid, +2 Anger set bonus
+1 BAB as Wizard Level 2
+2 To Hit/Damage from +2 Weapon from AH

+2 To Hit/Damage from Bull's Strength as Wizard Level 3

So, starting with a Strength of 10, within about an hour or two, your weakling wizard will be running with +9 to Hit and +4 Damage on any martial weapon via Master's Touch. That can be boosted a good bit higher, too - say if you start with a Strength of 12 or 14, pick up a Ring of Rage from the 3rd part of the Baudry Cartamon series. Almost makes it overkill. Pick up a greatsword and swing it with wild abandon like an insane mage for 2d6+5 with better than a 50% chance of hitting anything before it gets close enough to hit you (again, solo/normal, sometimes hard).

I experimented heavily with the Elven Arcane Fluidity coupled with Mithril Chain and even a Mithril Shield, so as to free up slots that might go to Mage Armor and Shield. Even with just a 5% chance of spell failure, it sure seemed like spells were failing much more frequently - four in a row on one occasion. I liked it up through about 4th/5th level - mainly focusing on buffs like Master's Touch, Prot/Evil, Nightshield, Blur, Bull's Strength - where you can refresh outside of combat. Once you start grouping more around 5th - 7th, any chance of spell failure is unbearable. "Why's that caster taking so long to get that spell off?"

On Ghallanda, I've fought thousands of kobolds experimenting with different builds - accumulated well over 1,500 prayer beads...heh. Having grouped many, many times, I've seen lots of low level casters get eaten alive for relying principally on their spell points to take care of everything. I had little success myself trying it, too. The second I started as a battlemage, solo-leveling difficulty dropped off radically and low level grouping also became more efficient.

This is only a temporary role though... depending upon how you go about leveling it may be for an hour or two to a week; either way those first few levels come pretty fast compared to the rest of the climb to cap.

It's expensive, but the Light Armor Proficiency + 12 AP for Arcane Fluidity as an Elf/Drow + Mithril Armor and Buckler, seems to become viable again around 10th/11th level, as long as spell failure chance is at 0% for going into defensive stance while standing in your Walls of Fire.

Either way CON/HP are more important than Dex/AC. Can't address every situation - but in the end, I'd say having 100% confidence in your spells beat just about everything else.