Evocation Spec?

[articwarrior]

anyone have a decent build for a force(splash fire/cold) specced Archmage? been wanting to know if it's worthwhile for end game, including epics. I was also thinking of splashing a little necromancy for epics.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Nothing particularly unusual needed for this.

My own evocation force archmage is 18wiz/2monk, max int (+ levelups), max con & rest in str, took both evocation focus feats, insightful reflexes, maximise, empower, quicken, extend, heighten & enlarge (monk bonus feats both went to toughness)... for enhancements i took the entire evocation line & its prereqs (basic line plus all evocation SLAs & arcane bolt), maxed out the force/kinetic lines (damage, crit chance & crit multiplier) then put a few points into fire/ice plus their crit chance ones, plus naturally the 1st tier healers friend, inscribed body & racial toughness.

You lose an extra 300 sp from your maximum for the whole SLA line vs. just 3rd tier for chain missiles, but if you like a more pew-pew magic style rather than control, wail etc. evocation is the most efficient line IMO for max sp sacrificed vs. what you get for SLA sp cost.. normally with all those metas cyclonic blast costs 100ish SP a go vs. 15sp a pop from SLA meaning its effectively paid for itself in a couple of fights (take time to get used to targetting through lines of enemies for even more fun.. with enlarge especially you can do some nice damage to an entire corridor) & typically crits for approx 800 & disintegrate crits for over 2k (yay for including untyped spells in the force line now!) - and i dont have an eardweller to boost it even higher. Horrid wilting is another decent AoE spell now that its boosted too.

Equipment-wise, i've got the crystal cove dagger (level 20 tier 3 version) in my off hand & main hand is an improved shattermantle scimmy that i found.. not as good as having spell pen feats admittedly but still makes a noticeable difference to smack em with that first (i have a couple of 5/rest divine power clickies plus use masters touch to help with to-hit) then cast any resistable spells that you need.

[Montegue]

Currently, my human mage is running around as an Evocation archmage, although I keep finding myself relying on my secondary enchantment spec quite a bit. It's hard to argue with a 1sp Hypno followed by a massively successful Mass Hold Monster.

Then again, it's infuriating to see spells get resisted or saved against, and with the exception of immunities evocation is almost a guaranteed gain per cast. I could grind out all the gear to get a 40DC on my enchantment spells, but I really don't relish the idea of a thousand ToD runs, etc.

I haven't bought past chain missiles yet in any build, although I am considering just going whole hog with Evocation today just to see if it winds up working better than crowd control. I'm level 18 currently, so my tune may change drastically in Epic runs. We shall see.

By the way - VoD *sucks* as a force-specced Wizard. You can't hit the boss with magic missile or chain missile, so you're stuck with Meteor Swarm, and that only does half it's normal damage from impact. I didn't test horrid wilting on that one and I probably should.

[FuzzyDuck81]

By the way - VoD *sucks* as a force-specced Wizard. You can't hit the boss with magic missile or chain missile, so you're stuck with Meteor Swarm, and that only does half it's normal damage from impact. I didn't test horrid wilting on that one and I probably should.

True - that invulnerability thingy he's got renders the vast majority of your spells next to useless...polar ray is a better option than meteor swarm though IMO, cheaper now too & havent tried with the new eladars surge yet but if hes only immune to 4 & below (cant remember ATM) even without enhancements it'll do some damage nicely. My tactic in those runs on my archmage is to either act as healer if its a WF tank, or if not i switch to a bossbeater & contribute on beating from behind.. not amazing but every little bit helps Web plus chain missiles rocks against those bats though & with blue fireshield (plus evasion in my case) you hardly have to worry about yourself & can just concentrate on taking them out before they fry your party.

[Kyln]

I too was interested in an evocation AM, but I felt from the forums that there was a general consensus that the spec starts to turn lack luster at lvl 20 and in epics.

If you do a search for evocation and archmage a lot of builds will pop up. There is Shade's fast leveling build, a wiz/rog farming build by Keplih and others.

[voodoogroves]

It may not be "teh best" but if you're smart, it's far from "teh worst". We're not talking about a CON 6 Deepwood Sniper.


You can (and should) have a secondary speciality. Conjuration (super webs) wouldn't be bad; neither would (honestly) Transmutation (flesh to stone). You don't need to take the Transmutation SLAs, but I'd consider it.

For instance ... 32 point WF.

INT 18
CON 18
STR 14

Normal (7): SF Evocation, GSF Evocation, SF (secondary), GSF (secondary), Toughness, Mental Toughness, Insightful Reflexes
Wizard (5): Maximize, Empower, Extend, Quicken, Heighten

That's not the feat order, but that's a good start.


Enhancements ...

I'd go Force Spec all the way, then one pip at least into the others since you'll carry some of them anyway. Transmutation works for Flesh to Stone and Disintegrate - and that's amped by your force damage too. A couple pips of the repair line. Couple WF toughness, Wizard INT, WF CON, etc. - the usual suspects.

SLAs ... I'd take Evocation to 3 for Force Missiles.
If you go Conjuration take up to the Web SLA
I probably wouldn't bother with any Transmutation SLAs if you go that route.

[Montegue]

I whipped out disintigrate again in IQ runs today. While it's frequently saved against, when it's not it kicks like a mule - I had an 1800pt crit on the boss in Mindsunder, which was amusing as all heck.

Untyped damage seems to modify enough attack spells to make Force spec the best call, overall. Ive been thinking about trying cold out, to see if I can get more damage off polar ray and even frost lance.

Then again, with the number of times my disintegrate gets resisted, the initial impact from Chain Missiles seems to actually average out to better overall damage. That would probably shift if I doubled down on Transmutation and used my Master Transmuter stick, though. Maybe I'll try it out. Don't have the feats right now to support it though...hmmm..

[voodoogroves]

I whipped out disintigrate again in IQ runs today. While it's frequently saved against, when it's not it kicks like a mule - I had an 1800pt crit on the boss in Mindsunder, which was amusing as all heck.

Untyped damage seems to modify enough attack spells to make Force spec the best call, overall. Ive been thinking about trying cold out, to see if I can get more damage off polar ray and even frost lance.

Then again, with the number of times my disintegrate gets resisted, the initial impact from Chain Missiles seems to actually average out to better overall damage. That would probably shift if I doubled down on Transmutation and used my Master Transmuter stick, though. Maybe I'll try it out. Don't have the feats right now to support it though...hmmm..

That's where my head is exactly. W/ the AP lines being more difficult to multi-spec, focus on force and use it for Ice Storm, Meteor Swarm, typical force spells, etc.

Could be fun. Yeah, AM got some hits, but the changes to more spells being amped by the force line means that a force archmage also got some options they didn't previously.