My look on Pale Master

[Rothos]

Ok, most people complain about how Pale Master is hard to use, with no distance neg spells. Ive decided to take a new approach with a battle wizard pale master, the build will be up as soon as i get the character builder working.

[Rothos]

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.18
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Mortarion the Death Lord
Level 6 True Neutral Human Male
(6 Wizard) 
Hit Points: 74
Spell Points: 340 
BAB: 3\3
Fortitude: 4
Reflex: 5
Will: 4

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 6)
Strength             16                    18
Dexterity            16                    16
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence         14                    15
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma              8                     8

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 6)
Balance               5                     7.5
Bluff                -1                    -1
Concentration         6                    12
Diplomacy             0                     2.5
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle               -1                    -1
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  3                     3
Intimidate           -1                    -1
Jump                  3                     4
Listen               -1                    -1
Move Silently         3                     3
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform              n/a                   n/a
Repair                2                     2
Search                2                     2
Spot                  1                     3.5
Swim                  3                     4
Tumble                4                     4
Use Magic Device      1                     3.5

Level 1 (Wizard)
Feat: (Wizard Bonus) Extend Spell
Feat: (Human Bonus) Toughness
Feat: (Selected) Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Wizard Elemental Manipulation I
Enhancement: Wizard Energy of the Scholar I


Level 2 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Wizard Concentration I
Enhancement: Wizard Intelligence I
Enhancement: Wizard Wand Mastery I


Level 3 (Wizard)
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Focus: Slashing Weapons
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Wizard Lineage of Elements I


Level 4 (Wizard)
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Wizard Elemental Manipulation II


Level 5 (Wizard)
Feat: (Wizard Bonus) Spell Focus: Necromancy
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Wizard Energy of the Scholar II


Level 6 (Wizard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration

this is as far as ive gotten
Questions comments and concerns plz

[Sylvurdragon]

+1

Great work! I look forward to seeing your ideas. Honestly I haven't thought about a battle wizzie...although the thought of spashing monk to a lawful neutral pale master could be interesting. :-D

[Visty]

you have a starting int of 14 means you ignore what this pre is about: necro dc

[Rothos]

changed my stats alittle, uped int to 16, lowered str to 14, with the 16 and enhancements i can hit 19 w/o items.

I know the DC is a big thing, but my wiz is gonna be a buffer and he will end up using 2 death's touchs, and before someone complains about proficieny Masters touch will be on all the time.

The idea is a wizz that fights in front, and uses chill touch and necortic touch to do dmg along with the weapons, im also lookin into form of the wraith and seeing if it is like a norm with with the -50% hit, and also if blur/displacement stacks with it. Time will tell

[Visty]

you dont need palemaster to be a buffer
the point of palemaster is the DC
not going for that is a waste
chill touch and the necro touch wont do much damage, rather revert your stat change again and ditch palemaster and you do about the same damage as with those spells just while meeleing

[Roziel_Longblade]

chill touch and the necro touch wont do much damage, rather revert your stat change again and ditch palemaster and you do about the same damage as with those spells just while meeleing

What is the casting time or animation time for necro touch?

[Visty]

What is the casting time or animation time for necro touch?

the same as a lvl1 spell i suppose and with hitting for 40dmg in the time you can bring in 3-4 attacks, its just gimping yourself

[Rothos]

on the test server, i had heard people getting 400+ dmg from chil touch, can't verifiy.
And while it may gimp me, this is a test character to try and make the most of the PrC.
it isnt all about the DC

[Roziel_Longblade]

on the test server, i had heard people getting 400+ dmg from chil touch, can't verifiy.
And while it may gimp me, this is a test character to try and make the most of the PrC.
it isnt all about the DC

People where reporting 300+ hits when empower and maximize worked on N.Touch. Last I heard people where making out at 130ish if the save was failed. 60ish on successful saves. Not quite gimping but no real dps increase

[oweieie]

You're better off with a repeating crossbow than necro touch. So... make a ranger.

[Daehawk]

People where reporting 300+ hits when empower and maximize worked on N.Touch. Last I heard people where making out at 130ish if the save was failed. 60ish on successful saves. Not quite gimping but no real dps increase

My wizard pre-nerf was getting up to 500-600 Necro touches with Emp + Max. But your second numbers are correct about it being basicly 100-130 at level 20 now with 50-60 on a save.

As for cast time it's instant touch with a 3 sec CD last I saw on Lam last night when I was testing if the Healing was still bugged for Negative energy =( which it was.

Necrotic Touch doesn't have a Spell Failure chance. That's something I tested earlier yesterday as well but didn't post was just curious. Threw on Marilith Chain + Madstone Shield on my wizard and was able to cast it without a spell failure roll. The Undead Minion summons also don't have Spell Failure. Incase you were wondering. So yes you can make a battle mage pale master that wears like Full plate and a shield and just likes to touch people. Use your buffs with a robe and no shield on and then put it on to go fight with or something.

[Roziel_Longblade]

I have not tested the ability yet but most of the lamana posts were in the 300 to 400 range. Just reporting what I saw reported. Of course it is a moot point since those big numbers have gone bye bye.

Very happy to hear it is an instant cast.

[Visty]

I have not tested the ability yet but most of the lamana posts were in the 300 to 400 range. Just reporting what I saw reported. Of course it is a moot point since those big numbers have gone bye bye.

Very happy to hear it is an instant cast.

that was as metas still worked on it
but as now they dont, this PrE is useless

[Kriogen]

You're better off with a repeating crossbow than necro touch. So... make a ranger.

Lol. I actually have feat for repeater on my Wiz/rog.

Was usefull at low levels and I planed to swap it for pre-req for PM. I will not visit Fred now. Repeater is long range, totally mana/HP free and it can do damage, debuff, even insta-destroy golems or undead. OK, potency doesn't work on repeater, but Haste does. And if Bard is in the group, repeater goes nuclear, well compared to that Necro touch, it does. It even has 'elemental substitution' builtin. If its Lifeshield type, it even heals me, sort of.

My wizard pre-nerf was getting up to 500-600 Necro touches with Emp + Max. But your second numbers are correct about it being basicly 100-130 at level 20 now with 50-60 on a save.

As for cast time it's instant touch with a 3 sec CD last I saw on Lam last night when I was testing if the Healing was still bugged for Negative energy =( which it was.

Necrotic Touch doesn't have a Spell Failure chance. That's something I tested earlier yesterday as well but didn't post was just curious. Threw on Marilith Chain + Madstone Shield on my wizard and was able to cast it without a spell failure roll. The Undead Minion summons also don't have Spell Failure. Incase you were wondering. So yes you can make a battle mage pale master that wears like Full plate and a shield and just likes to touch people. Use your buffs with a robe and no shield on and then put it on to go fight with or something.

If NT is 130 damage per hit, then 130/3 sec = 43 DPS. I don't think thats DPS.

Even original was only around 100 DPS. So 4-6 times less then warrior type builds/classes can get. I think 'bow' is many times better then 100 DPS.

[Daehawk]

I have not tested the ability yet but most of the lamana posts were in the 300 to 400 range. Just reporting what I saw reported. Of course it is a moot point since those big numbers have gone bye bye.

Very happy to hear it is an instant cast.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=226768

That has my review of Pale master if you want to look over it. It goes over the power of the summons that you get. And a few different things. One thing has changed vs when I did the review which is in the release notes. The summons last 10 minutes not till death.

One thing I haven't tested yet, which I might do later to see if it would work for your build is if Tenser's Transformation limits Necrotic Touch from casting. Since Necro Touch isn't effected by Spell Failure, I kinda doubt Tenser's will effect it. Thus making it seem like just another Battle Mage ability. Buff yourself up fully, pop Tenser's, put on your battle armor and weapons, go to town with Necro Touch in your rotation of attacks.


Edit:

If NT is 130 damage per hit, then 130/3 sec = 43 DPS. I don't think thats DPS.

Even original was only around 100 DPS. So 4-6 times less then warrior type builds/classes can get. I think 'bow' is many times better then 100 DPS.

If that's the only thing you're doing yes it wouldn't count really as any form of dps. But he's building a battle mage, thus one that is in close range fighting with a weapon while using this ability. He's not just standing there beside the enemy going la la la la it's up NT. la la la NT again. Think of it like a Smite for Paladins or Divine Sacrifice. It's not the only thing they are using when they are fighting. They aren't sitting there beside the enemy not doing anything when Exalted Smite or Divine Sacrifice is cooling down.

Edit 2: I'm not saying it's extremely zomg this is the best dps every. My wizard isn't going to use Pale Master in it's current state. With hardly any Negative energy spells for arcane they should of released like Archmage or Wild Mage before Pale Master while they work on getting us more negative energy spells. Just giving him the numbers he was looking for.

[Nyhm]

Making a build around two bad abilities (necro touch and chill touch) will make you very sad at end game.

I don't use it much at all. If something happens to run up and I happen to not have something better. Ya, that is very rare. It's damage is kind of worthless, basically 1 force missile with no range. It's a free ability, so you can't expect much, which it isn't.

[Bunker]

Ok, most people complain about how Pale Master is hard to use, with no distance neg spells. Ive decided to take a new approach with a battle wizard pale master, the build will be up as soon as i get the character builder working.

OP: I think most players are complaining about the strength of Pale Master, and not so much the difficulty of the PrC. I like the idea of making a character based on Pale Master, but this new class needs some work. Early on, this class might seem good, but towards higher lvls, keeping to this theme of 2 negative energy spells speaks volumes of doom. (imho)

[Braed]

I'm really not seeing the battlemage, but I don't have experience making one (or even planning one). I can tell you know what you're doing though, so I'm betting you'll do just fine.

My take is on the PM itself. I realize people aren't impressed with it, but if you were making a necro-focused Wizard, how is anything you get with PM bad? And if you were expecting something other than a cherry on top for a necro-focus, I'd like to understand what I'm missing.

[Kriogen]

... I don't use it much at all. If something happens to run up and I happen to not have something better. Ya, that is very rare. It's damage is kind of worthless, basically 1 force missile with no range. It's a free ability, so you can't expect much, which it isn't.

It is not free ability. It costs feat, APs and 1 HP and 1 spell point per use.

Stunning blow for example costs 1 feat and after that it has no additional cost. Cooldown, save and thats it. And it counts as insta-kill. Auto critical is death.

You can say that Stunning Blow is at-will Touch of Death that costs 1 feat vs Necro Touch that costs 1 feat, lots of APs, HP/SP per use and does only low damage.

You are right about Force Missile wands