Gruesome Gerti - A Necromancy Focused Air Savant Build

[Ridag]

I'm enjoying Update 9 so far, and feel it has breathed a bit of new life into casters, and while I'm not overly thrilled about the Elemental Savant PRE I think I'm finding my way to make the get the most fun out of it for my playstyle. I also tested out this build with Water Savant, but feel that Air supports it better. I enjoy having damage types from 3 strong elements as well as untyped and feel that Air offers the best benefits with the fewest penalties in the current game.

So here is Gruesome Gerti -

Level 20 Human Sorcerer - True Neutral - 36 point build (3x Sorcerer past life, 1x Wizard past life)

Stats -

Str - 10 (+2 tome, +6 can be slotted in if you feel it is necessary = 12 or 18)
Dex - 8 (+2 tome, +6 item = 18)
Con - 18 (+2 tome, +6 item, +3 Exceptional, +1 Human Greater Adaptability = 30)
Int - 9 (+3 tome = 12) because I have the tome and like the skill points
Wis - 9 (+3 tome, +6 item = 18)
Cha - 18 (+5 Levels, +6 item, +2 tome, +3 Sorc Enhancements, +1 Human Adaptability, +3 Exceptional = 38)

I have access to +2 ship buffs as well, but not Yugo pots (at least not for a little while). I also am without a +7 Charisma item and a Litany, so there is room for growth.

Feats (order is not terribly important) -

1 - Toughness
1 - Maximize
3 - Past Life: Arcane Initiate
6 - Spell focus Evocation
9 - Empower
12 - Spell Focus: Necromancy
15 - Heighten
18 - Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy

Necromancy is king in epics now, even with the cooldowns. If you can deal with lower DCs you can fit in Extend if you don't like to re-haste often.

Spell Pen has not been as much of a problem as I thought it might be in U9 so far and I have been able to find other ways to handle high SR targets. So I don't miss the feats much at all.

Spell List -

Level 1 - Jump, Nightshield, Protection from Evil, Ray of Enfeeblement

Level 2 - Resist Energy, Web, Knock, Scorching Ray

Level 3 - Haste, Rage, Displacement, Halt Undead

Level 4 - Enervation, Dimension Door, Crushing Despair, Wall of Fire

Level 5 - Eladars Electric Surge, Protection from Elements, Cloud Kill, Ball Lightning

Level 6 - Chain Lightning, Circle of Death, Disintegrate (Symbol of Persuasion is an option here if you need a charm and can live without untyped damage)

Level 7 - Finger of Death, Waves of Exhaustion, Otto's Sphere of Dancing (Symbol of Stunning is an option here as well)

Level 8 - Polar Ray, Symbol of Death, Otto's Irresistible Dance (PW:Stun is not working as advertised the duration is >5 seconds in epics)

Level 9 - Wail of the Banshee, Power Word: Kill, Mass Hold Monster

Insta-kill is the new power in epics, plain and simple. This spell list offers the best instant target removal abilities, 3 different types of elemental damage (two rays that have no save) and maintains a respectable Wall of Fire as well as Disintegrate for untyped damage.

On the CC side you have web, stuns and hold, if you prefer to have a charm and dance you can swap out for any combination of Mass Charm, Symbol of Persuasion, Symbol of Stunning. Air Savant Tier 2 SLA also has a great daze effect that is a very handy short duration hypno like (breaks on damage) CC.

For debuffing you have Crushing Despair with it's guaranteed -5 will save for 15 seconds, Waves of Exhaustion which is still a great debuff (but can be swapped for other level 7 CC or even DBF), Enervation and Symbol of Death for AoE level draining.

For survivability you have the usual buffs: resists, protection, haste/rage/displacement and the Air Savant knockdown immunity to keep you out of trouble, and Wind Dance as an emergency exit, with Dimension Door available in extreme emergencies or for convenience.

For single target DPS you have Eladars Electric Surge, Polar Ray, Scorching Ray and all manner of lightning to throw around, which also bring heavy AoE DPS to the build

Enhancements - I'm still tweaking these... more to come.

There are many threads about gear, use the best you have. Strive for the best you can get.

Hope you enjoyed, the most important build is the one that you have fun playing!

[Dark-Star]

While I don't disagree with your premise, a Pale Master will do a better job at insta-kill.

The issue with the new Savants is here:

Enhancements - I'm still tweaking these... more to come.

The action points become super tight now, and we will have a hard time maxing more than about 1.5-2 lines, and still have spell pene, etc. We are now going to be forced to specialize, like it or not.

[Ridag]

While I don't disagree with your premise, a Pale Master will do a better job at insta-kill.

The issue with the new Savants is here:



The action points become super tight now, and we will have a hard time maxing more than about 1.5-2 lines, and still have spell pene, etc. We are now going to be forced to specialize, like it or not.

I've been duo'ing with a PM in epics since the patch went live, and I've been amazed at just how well my DC (38-40 depending on buffs) has been performing, and the shorter cooldowns and larger SP pool really do make a difference. Most of the insta-kill spells are spells that you would want to take anyway as there are few elemental damage spells after level 6. By knowing your target and attacking their weak save this build can eliminate anything in the game.

As for action points - there is no need to max more than one line. With the front loading of the enhancement lines you can max electric and then decide which you want stronger your Wall of Fire for general utility or your Polar Ray for added raid boss DPS. Whichever you want stronger put 2-3 ranks in each, and the other just take the first tier. Damage will be acceptable and you will still have room for spell pen enhancements. The only reason I haven't posted mine yet is because I went with a secondary in Force first and I'm not happy with it, but the AP are there. Fire and Ice spells are really tertiary in this build and mostly used to round it out and not being stuck with any way to handle death/lightning immune foes.

Thank you for your input, I'll have the enhancements listed on Saturday when I can respec again!