What would be a good way to get a second wiz past life?

[Anneliese]

Hi all,

I have a first life drow PM wizard, which I used to like a lot, but with the current trend of the game, I want to rack up another (or 2) past life to make him a wizard with 2 or 3 past lives wizard.

In other words, I am looking for a build that gives me PL:wizard when reincarnating - and has the goal of getting to 20 as easy as possible.

MrCow has a great writeup of course (Diaries.. http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=226992 ), but his writeup was before bravery bonus and PM/AM.

Any suggestions? Thanks

[Mrmorphling]

Atm it's quite easy to lvl up a wizard so you can freely choose among PM (human suggested) and AM (WF strongly suggested).

For what concern specific builds you can search the forum and you'll find plenty but the basics are:

INT MAX
CON 17/18 depending on gear/tomes for human and 19/20 for WF
DEX dump
WIS dump
CHA or STR put the remaining pts here for either UMD bonus or some more load capacity and low lvl help vs helplessnes

Suggested feat layout for 2nd life human PM (if lvl 20 isn't significant to you, aka TR right away, you might consider getting quicken earlier dropping perhaps GSF ench)
LVL 1: Tough
LVL 1h: Max
LVL 1m: Extend

LVL 3: PL:Wiz

LVL 5m: SF: Necro

LVL 6: Emp

LVL 9: I.R.

LVL 10m: SF: Ench

LVL 12: GSF: Necro

LVL 15m: Heighten
LVL 15: Spell pen

LVL 18: GSF: ench

LVL 20m: Quicken

[Jaid314]

if you're not staying capped anyways, i would consider an 18/2 wiz/rogue build (if you want trap skills) or an 18/2 wiz/monk build (if you don't want trap skills). evasion can be a very nice toy to play with

[Anneliese]

@Mrmorphling: Thank you for the suggestion!

if you're not staying capped anyways, i would consider an 18/2 wiz/rogue build (if you want trap skills) or an 18/2 wiz/monk build (if you don't want trap skills). evasion can be a very nice toy to play with

This looks interesting, but especially the not capped part could play against that.

If I dont go beyond level 18 (to bank xp due to TRing..and 1xp at the end to get to 20), I will be at most a 16/2 or a 17/1 split.

I suspect the later levels could be harder than the first levels with the XP curve, and Wail might help more than trap skills there. I could be wrong tho.

[wax_on_wax_off]

@Mrmorphling: Thank you for the suggestion!



This looks interesting, but especially the not capped part could play against that.

If I dont go beyond level 18 (to bank xp due to TRing..and 1xp at the end to get to 20), I will be at most a 16/2 or a 17/1 split.

I suspect the later levels could be harder than the first levels with the XP curve, and Wail might help more than trap skills there. I could be wrong tho.

You're dead right. Getting spells like firewall, circle of death, disintegrate, finger of death and wail of the banshee 1 or 2 levels sooner makes a huge difference to leveling.

For the purposes of getting a PL I'd suggest that WF AM is superior to PM as there are quite a few mobs that do significant amounts of light damage.

GSF: Necro (for DCs) and SF enchant and conjuration (for SLAs) is a solid way to go. Evocation is an options if you don't want to melee and don't want DA (as otherwise you need to round up large mobs to get enough SP efficiency).

[Kriogen]

Warforged race. Because you can self-repair from start.

If you want to nuke/charm/finger/wail your way to 20: pure wizard.
If you want more battle-ish, melee version: splash rog2 or monk2. Maybe even 1 level of Fighter or Barbarian.

Prestige: at low levels cheap Magic Missile is nice (Evoc AM). At higher levels insta-kill has an advantage.

Archmage vs Pale Master:
-if caster-ish: I'd start as Evoc AM and when MM gets weak swap a feat and go Pale Master.
- if battle-ish: Enchant + Conjur AM. Depending on situation, CC + chop with a big axe, nuke/insta-kill with mana.

[Cardtrick]

You're dead right. Getting spells like firewall, circle of death, disintegrate, finger of death and wail of the banshee 1 or 2 levels sooner makes a huge difference to leveling.

For the purposes of getting a PL I'd suggest that WF AM is superior to PM as there are quite a few mobs that do significant amounts of light damage.

Completely agree with this. I'm leveling an 18/2 pale master/monk life at the moment (currently 11/1, I think). The monk level has its advantages (melee dps is surprisingly decent with the +3 die steps from mountain stance/jidz and zombie form, even with low strength and no melee feats), and evasion will be nice (waiting until pale master 2 for the second monk level) but I have no doubt I would be leveling faster as a warforged pure archmage.

I'm trying to run everything with an elite bravery bonus, and it is absolutely incredible how much light damage a pale master takes on elite. My character is fairly well geared, with almost 300 HP at level 12, and I can still be taken down by two consecutive searing light critical hits if my aura doesn't tick in between. I don't think some people realize that the increased light damage pale masters is a genuine hindrance, not just flavor.

[smallstones]

What would be a good way to get a second wiz past life?

TR into a Wizard?

(Lol, sorry, not what you wanted, but had to be said.)

[Anneliese]

Thanks a lot for the responses! (and lol @smallstones)

Ill guess I will go pure WF Wizard Archmage (and smash things at lower to mid levels with an Axe..)- with the intent of switching to palemaster later on.


Probably

chaotic neutral WF (no damage from evil/anarchic/chaos, tho orders wrath could get nasty, but its a will save..)

14 STR
14 Dex (for stealth skills)
16 Con
18 Int+levelups (Concentration, Move Silently, Hide, Diplo, Balance, 1 tumble, jump to hit 40 with spell, remainder spot..)
6 Wis
6 Cha

Feats:
1: Maximize, mental toughness(to use for wraith form and for archmage, swap to spell pen at 18..)
3: PL.Wizard (thanks for pointing out the ML MsEricka)
5: Empower
6: SF: Evo (for Archmage - later swap to SF: necro for PM)
9: extend
10: quicken
12: toughness (maybe swap it in earlier, not sure..)
15: GSF: Necro (switch to PM), Insight. Reflexes
18: heighten
20: TR

.. but before I need to finish some raids to x20

[DaSawks]

Stealth skills on a wizard? Try Invisability and Shadow walk. No need to "waist" skill points in Hide or Move Silently. I would max UMD and add points into CHA instead of DEX. Race and alignment restriced gear has lower ML along with wands and scrolls at earlier levels make grinding easier.

[MsEricka]

Feats:
1: Past Life: Wizard, mental toughness(to use for wraith form and for archmage, swap to spell pen at 18..)

Active past life feats require a minimum level of 3

[gloopygloop]

Hi all,

I have a first life drow PM wizard, which I used to like a lot, but with the current trend of the game, I want to rack up another (or 2) past life to make him a wizard with 2 or 3 past lives wizard.

In other words, I am looking for a build that gives me PL:wizard when reincarnating - and has the goal of getting to 20 as easy as possible.

MrCow has a great writeup of course (Diaries.. http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=226992 ), but his writeup was before bravery bonus and PM/AM.

Any suggestions? Thanks

My suggestion would be Warforged Pale Master or Archmage Wizard 20.

You can solo a tremendous number of quests even on Hard or Elite and you can self heal like a ******-****.

Int 18 +level ups
Con 16 or 18
remaining stat points wherever you feel like. I like putting a point or two into Str so that Ray of Enfeeblement doesn't make me helpless.

Feats already listed in this thread (order is up to you)

Some gear to collect before you TR
Torc
Superior Inferno 3 clicky (for use at level 5)
Superior Inferno 4 clicky (for use at level 7)
Superior Nihil 3 clicky (if Pale Master)
Superior Nihil V clicky (if Pale Master)
Amrath superior [all 4 elements] clicky belts
ToD ring
Torc
Concordant Opposition GS gear
+HP GS gear (could be the same item as your Concordant Opposition if you want)
Blademark's Docent
Greater [spell school] focus Cannith crafted item
ML 0 Feather Fall item (Cannith Crafting or Sharn Syndicate)
Greater False Life item
+6 Int Cannith Crafted item (ML 9 with 50 House C favor)
Abishai gear from Chronoscope for low level fun
Raise Dead Greensteel weapon clicky
Sigil piece from Inferno of the Damned so you can run it the number of times *you* choose next life instead of waiting for it to drop for you before you outlevel Litany.

Also, you have a bajillion skill points coming. Don't be afraid to "waste" skill points on hide and move silently. Both of those will improve your stealth as you sprint through quests with an Invisibility scroll and Expeditious Retreat.

Last thought: Insightful Reflexes is very nice even if you don't have Evasion. Half damage is better than full damage and close-to-immunity to many effects like Earthgrab is also nice.

[Anneliese]

Stealth skills on a wizard? Try Invisability and Shadow walk. No need to "waist" skill points in Hide or Move Silently. I would max UMD and add points into CHA instead of DEX. Race and alignment restriced gear has lower ML along with wands and scrolls at earlier levels make grinding easier.

For many quests invis is enough, but even if you are invisible mobs can still hear you - and mobs with true seeing can see you. Its a different playstyle, but can be fun from time to time. Here is a great video as an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UqSHCIJ1jo

Tho you are right, if one doesnt use those skills, the stat/skill-points are wasted.

UMD is an interesting point - but personally I feel I dont need it on a TR designed for leveling. The earliest I will hit 20 UMD will probably be around level 12, and then I got all the GS and quest items hanging around, +cannith crafted stuff - on a final build I would most def. consider it.

Active past life feats require a minimum level of 3

Good point, updated the build



@gloopygloop

Thanks for the list of items, most appreciated

[Enoach]

Stealth skills on a wizard? Try Invisability and Shadow walk. No need to "waist" skill points in Hide or Move Silently. I would max UMD and add points into CHA instead of DEX. Race and alignment restriced gear has lower ML along with wands and scrolls at earlier levels make grinding easier.

Hide I agree - no need to put points here, Move Silently - I would say is a good investment.

People might be very surprised at how many dungeons from level 12+ could be run faster if you don't stop and kill every mob, it's cousin and their family dog. Basically look at the quest objectives and move accordingly.

Hide can be replaced with Invisibility with Shadow walk replacing the following when you get it (Even scrolled it lasts 10 min)

Displacement & Haste (movement) - Still use Invisibility.
=============================================
As a PM using Wraith Form I have been able to sneak by Spiders (Tremor Sense) and the bonus to move silent from this form as well as it not taking the 4x Damage Vampire does, makes sneaking through a dungeon fast loads of fun.

[Darknark]

In other words, I am looking for a build that gives me PL:wizard when reincarnating - and has the goal of getting to 20 as easy as possible.

So, no screwing around at level 20?

WF, high int, high con
1 rogue, X wizard, 1 barbarian (+10% base run speed, and a ~30% speed boost enhancement) taken at some point after firewall, rest wizard/ splash one more rogue if needed for evasion/trapskills maxing.

Max trapskills, get trapskills items +5 thieves tools, do whatever you want with the rest of the skill points.

Max/Emp/Quicken/Toughness ASAP.

It has faster movement for more zerging, trapskills so you can do all the 'rogue mandatory' quests on elite and get % xp bonuses when it is efficient, firewall + acid rain + reconstruct, evasion later if wanted.

AM wise, either take the first few tiers on Evoc for sla's to spam + FW DC -OR- take conj for web spamming + Acid rain DC -OR- nothing at all and just use the extra SP (if you don't have a torc / conc-opp this might be rather helpful).

Recommendations Gear wise:
Skyvault shield for turtleing up in a FW/Acidrain
Lorriks shield + 5% ASF gloves and 10% ASF sigil docent for better Turtleing up in a FW/Acidrain
Shield of Reflecting + Above ASF for CC (effective 5% chance of flesh to stoning mobs that hit you) and the helpless dmg boost in your FW/Acidrain

Torc, Skyvault shield and Docent of Defiance (and quicken) if you want to reliably/easily solo DQ1/2 elite (and anything else with high damage on elite) at level.

75% damage clickies for Reconstructs, Fire, Acid, and Cold.

[gloopygloop]

So, no screwing around at level 20?

WF, high int, high con
1 rogue, X wizard, 1 barbarian (+10% base run speed, and a ~30% speed boost enhancement) taken at some point after firewall, rest wizard/ splash one more rogue if needed for evasion/trapskills maxing.

A lot of people would look at this build and think that it's stupid. Barbarian splash on a Wizard? OBVIOUSLY stupid!

...but I can say from experience that a single level splash of Barbarian really does make a huge difference while leveling because of the extra run speed. I have a Barbarian splash on my Bard and my Bard has used the extra speed to get into and out of trouble more often than you would believe. I didn't bother hitting Rage until I was probably level 10, but that extra run speed is outstanding.

It's an odd choice, but certainly not a bad one if you're going to TR again as soon as you hit 20.

[Darknark]

A lot of people would look at this build and think that it's stupid. Barbarian splash on a Wizard? OBVIOUSLY stupid!

...but I can say from experience that a single level splash of Barbarian really does make a huge difference while leveling because of the extra run speed. I have a Barbarian splash on my Bard and my Bard has used the extra speed to get into and out of trouble more often than you would believe. I didn't bother hitting Rage until I was probably level 10, but that extra run speed is outstanding.

It's an odd choice, but certainly not a bad one if you're going to TR again as soon as you hit 20.

Yea,the "wandering" time period gets more noticeable if you multi-box the TR... the sheer amount of time spent running around was insane (and I only dual boxed)... if I wasn't planning on keeping both characters at cap for a while, I would have splashed barb on both.

[Anneliese]

Hmm, Barbarian seems to make a lot of sense for the movement speed and the sprint boost.

There are many situations where being ahead helps a ton, especially when zerging and pulling levers/opening doors.

I will probably hate myself for getting all the cool stuff 1 level later, but I guess it could be worth it.

Also +18HP (D12 vs D4 and Toughness I enhancement), tho thats minor I guess.


The Shield of Reflecting also looks interesting, never thought about that one. Might farm it before I TR...


----

Again, thank you all for your great help!

[Darknark]

Also +18HP (D12 vs D4 and Toughness I enhancement), tho thats minor I guess.


The Shield of Reflecting also looks interesting, never thought about that one. Might farm it before I TR...
!

- 18hp is a fair bit.

- Shield of Reflecting - Im going to restate what I said above, because I realized that it could be taken the wrong way.

It is not a 5% proc rate of Flesh to stone, and then a save. <-- that wouldn't be very useful.

It is a 100% proc rate (I think.. I see the word "save" above a mob every time I get hit, so I'm assuming 100%), and then a 17DC [yea sounds terrible . also i'm guessing at 17.. can't remember the exact right now] fort save (so the 5% chance is just the mobs rolling a 1, rather than a 5% proc rate with a save .. so its actually better than a 5% proc rate item - I guess it technically beats things like earth grab guard.)

[Faent]

Sigil piece from Inferno of the Damned so you can run it the number of times *you* choose next life instead of waiting for it to drop for you before you outlevel Litany.

That's one of the best XP farms out there. Learn it and farm the heck out of it for the XP, not the sigil.