Seeking assistance

[Hyperian]

Here is my wizard I've been playing:

http://my.ddo.com/character/sarlona/magesteel/

I normally duo with a pure ranger who is 11 almost 12, and we both have a hireling. We've been doing at or below content and seem to not be able to complete it anymore. When our characters were smaller, it was easier. I realize in part this is because the quests are easier in general. Ultimately, I am trying to get some assistance with how to get stronger at this level range so I can play in the end game. He is currently AM, with evoc/abju, I currently have extend, quicken, heighten for metas, and use the MM SLA and shield and resist energy. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[FlyingTurtle]

Builds look fine (unless your partner is an AA with a bow glued to his hands. I hope not). What's the main issue?

Hireling deaths? Traps? SP management? Tactics?

If you describe in detail your last 5 wipes, you'll get much better help.

[Hyperian]

Actually my partner (my wife no less ^.^) is a tempest ranger. She likes it simple so nothing to click on, just go in dual-wielding rock splitters and kick butt. Not exactly optimal, but she does very well for herself.

I don't remember the last 5 wipes, so won't really be able to give that much detail. Last one we wiped on was Claw of Vulcuur in Red Fens. It's a 9 med, we did on hard, so 10, at level for us. We pretty much breezed past the fire giants and got into the scorpions. We were going in guns blazing, so no stealth, just running it. She got caught up on one side of the bridge by the shrines with a guardian and ambushers. I got across the bridge with another guardian and ambushers. I had firewall and acid rain going, my hireling was with me, but I ran out of SP just as my last firewall faded, still had 6 of them on me, and they quickly dropped my hireling, then me. She didn't have any more luck on her side, with the same issue of the hireling went crunch, then she got dropped. As they were fighting on the shrine, she couldn't ress without immediately dying again. after about 30 or so deaths of her hireling, we finally just gave up for the night. I am constantly running myself down to echos, I don't have the cash or gold to stock up on mana pots, so I'm really kinda frustrated and not sure how to make it so I don't have to cast as much to kill things.

[Aradaine]

I levelled to 20 almost exclusively with a Rogue partner.

One of the biggest changes we made to our hunting routine to be more successful was always picking a pair of hirelings that BOTH had Divine Vitality. Also, I took the Archmage Evocation SLAs for Magic Missile and Chain Missiles, which can be maximized and empowered at no extra cost. I believe you get Arcane Bolt at level 12, which is super handy as well. Magic Missile, Arcane Bolt and Chain Missiles make an excellent mid-level attack chain.

For the bulk of the mid-levels, we would run dungeons with Firewall, and those aforementioned SLAs (Max'd, Emp'd Chain Missiles hit hard). In the upper levels we changed tactics. I feat respecced out of Greater Evo focus (and thus lost the Chain Missile SLA), and picked up Greater Enchant focus. From that point, I would Mass Hold and Otto's Irresistable Dance things, while I turned my Rogue into a walking death machine with Haste, Blur, Displacement, Stoneskin and Greater Heroism.

[MindCake]

Drop abjuration and pick enchantment. Hypnotism SLA, while not as powerful as before, is very good.

She got caught up on one side of the bridge by the shrines with a guardian and ambushers. I got across the bridge with another guardian and ambushers.

I don't know that quest, is splitting like that required?

I believe you get Arcane Bolt at level 12

Actually it's level 9.

[Rusty_Can]

I don't remember the last 5 wipes

Crowd Control goes a long way: Enchantment spells, Web, Flesh to Stone can disable your foes and let you dispatching them nicely and easily.

Last one we wiped on was Claw of Vulcuur in Red Fens.

In some quests, you need to prioritize your engagements: as for Claw of Vulkoor, take down asap healing scorpions, then focus on others.

[Aradaine]

Actually it's level 9.

Ah, so it is.

[Hyperian]

So.. switch abjuration to conjuration for the web SLA. I don't have flesh to stone yet, that's lvl 11 for 6th lvl spells. I didn't realize there were healing scorpions. I think part of my problem is my enhancements. I haven't really taken a line as far as I can. I'm going to focus on force and fire until a bit higher. Should work well with my MM SLA and chain missile casting. No max/emp, atm, although I plan on taking them later.

[Aradaine]

So.. switch abjuration to conjuration for the web SLA. I don't have flesh to stone yet, that's lvl 11 for 6th lvl spells. I didn't realize there were healing scorpions. I think part of my problem is my enhancements. I haven't really taken a line as far as I can. I'm going to focus on force and fire until a bit higher. Should work well with my MM SLA and chain missile casting. No max/emp, atm, although I plan on taking them later.

I know that not taking either Empower or Maximize is acceptable for Wizards nowadays, though for an Evocation Archmage rocking MM and Chain Missile SLAs I would strongly recommend it ASAP.

Good luck!

[Hyperian]

Thank you for the assist. I don't get the chain missile SLA until 12 with AM 3, so I'm just having to actual cast the chain. That's part of why I don't use emp/max when I had them. I still feel like I don't have enough SPs for anything other then short term, or a LOT of shrines. I do realize that with running the sands stuff, i'm close to getting the neck piece that can give me back mana. However, I still need to get a little higher to get there. I'm going to make the recommended tweaks and I think I'll be good to go. Thanks again for your help.

[aristarchus1000]

Hmm, I'm soloing Claw right now without too much trouble (TRing a wizard), you really shouldn't be struggling so much, so let's see what I can do to help.

Are you using clickies/potency items? They add quite a bit at this level, nearly doubling your firewalls or Ice Storm outputs. Inferno/Freeze are the big ones.

I really like Maximize for leveling (you don't need both Max and Empower for leveling, in general), especially when facing mobs that heal themselves. Maximize essentially doubles your damage again, so you are essentially doing 4 times the damage you (might) be doing now, without potency or clickie enhancements. In Claw, the healing scorpions can really cause problems if you are not doing enough damage. I found the clickie is enough on normal, but I turn on Maximize if I'm doing on Hard.

Since update 9, I honestly feel like Evocation AM was nerfed badly, but it was never that useful unless you had both Maximize and Empower running. The major advantage of SLAs were the free metamagic enhancements. I personally found leveling a Archmage wizard is the easiest with Conjuration. Being able to spam webs everywhere is really powerful, and mobs generally have pretty low reflex saves, even before using Heighten. I mention this because I generally drop a Web on a caster, and when they get tangled up they can't heal themselves anymore, and they die pretty quickly thereafter, even if all I'm using is Arcane Bolt.

Anyway, hope this helps. Enjoy your Wizard!