All Spell Casters, Help Wanted

[Darkstar1996]

Hello Everyone!

You may know me in game as TheInfernalKi I am a (So Far) 2 Monk/5 Wizard and i am loving my Melee Caster. Usally i dont perfer just normal PURES. I like to mix it up! And i am wondering are there any other Combo's Like this? Or is it possible to go Pure wizard (Perferbly Sorc)? Cause i know till level 4 but i mean at endgame. Usally they have a Staff in hard or Scepter. Which is good to add Extra's. Ive been hopeing to do a Pure Wizard and Str. But they way this is going on how games are build they hate Hybrid. So is it Possible to Do a Pure Wizard (Perferbly Sorc) Caster Melee, You know running down a Hallway casting all these spells like Wall of Fire, Scoarching Ray, and all that stuff and then do and hit them with a weapon to KO them. Or is it just my build my Monk/Wizard.

Thank you for Dealing with me!

[Rodomonte]

Melee fighting with a level 20 arcane is sort of like entering a brand new Lexus in a demolition derby. Such a waste...

[junta74]

Why not go out on a limb and try..

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...light=bardcher

[aradelothion]

I agree with Rodomonte in that it's a waste to melee on a *pure* arcane. Splashes on the other hand... I've played several variants of battle arcanes in the past (all warforged of course):
- 17 wiz/2 rog/1 fighter Phidius variant archmage
- 18 wiz/2 rog pale master
- 18 wiz/2 monk
- 16 sorc/2 paladin/2 monk tukaw variant

My personal favorite is the 17/2/1 but this was before lich form was moved to wizard level 18; I've since TR'd him to an 18/2 rogue. I use, situationally, a min2 greataxe (crafted back when holds = autocrit because I was too cheap to make 2x heavy picks - and I'm glad I was), an epic Antique Greataxe, or cannith crafted greater bane falchions/mauls (still working on getting that dang sword from VoN). They're all a blast to play, I (like you) can't fathom playing pures much. BUT! Let's be honest, you won't be as effective as a pure melee or pure caster in those respective roles: the 18/2 is just 1 DC behind a pure assuming similar gear and spell foci, but is 2 behind in spell penetration. And best case scenario, you're doing 50%-70% the DPS of a true melee DPS class. You more than make up for these in having OPTIONS: evasion, melee option, self healing, trapskills (sometimes), usually better survivability, offensive casting, debuffs, buffs, UMD... there's a lot of versatility there. While not really rewarded by DDO because it's such a min-max environment, I've found that being somewhat of a generalist fits my playstyle best.

Best thing I can tell you, farm 2 sets of gear for melee mode and caster mode, and know when to switch. Key gear would be a Docent of Defiance, a Torc of Prince Raiiyum-de, and a concordant opposition greensteel accessory, and get your crafting levels up for those holy burst of greater banes.

[psi0nix]

Well, using my Green steel (3rd tier) long sword and masters touch, I can deal some damage, but at level 15 and up, it's really just so I can feel like I'm helping, the damage dealt is fairly low.

For levels 7 up to 14 though, you can melee, but don't try it without alot of heals / party to take the main agro. Level 1 to 7 it's easy to do and you'll even kill things ! but again you will need some heals because most things will hit you, hard.

I'm a pure sorc, built for DPS casting, but I like to hit things with my green steel from time to time, usually if you play a quest that is about 5 levels below your level you will be almost as good as a melee character of that level.

but to be effective endgame as a sorc / wiz using melee, I think it would be almost impossible to not just get insta-ganked.

[ArcaneMelee]

Here, check out this guy's experience with a fisticuffs wizard/monk.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=353732

As aradelothion mentioned, you will be slightly behind a pure caster, but you can take solace in the fact that the anything that consistently resists your spells will be making it difficult for the pure too... provided that you build and gear it right.

I mentioned looking forward to seeing your build in your other thread... best to get feedback on it sooner rather than later.

[Jeromio]

I'm on my 3rd life on my old WF FVS, now tinkering as a rogue/wizard (currently lvl 14). It's a very pleasant journey with my old green steel arsenal, a nice raid loot collection and cannith twink gear.
Melee still works nicely at lvl 14 (rarely miss trash on a 2) as spell backup or in conjunction with AOE dots. I'm using a large bunch of 75% clickies instead of a potency weapon.
I thought I'd give up my 2-handers at lvl 8, but they still makes things go much smoother... and it's fun to whack at things.
Looking forward trying out to see if Terror is worthwile using at lvl 18.... not sure if the to-hit will be viable at those levels without having to become a DP-junkie.

To the OP, the most important thing is to have fun, but you will probably have to expect some rejections from non-openminded pug leaders at higher levels.

[Darkstar1996]

I agree with Rodomonte in that it's a waste to melee on a *pure* arcane. Splashes on the other hand... I've played several variants of battle arcanes in the past (all warforged of course):
- 17 wiz/2 rog/1 fighter Phidius variant archmage
- 18 wiz/2 rog pale master
- 18 wiz/2 monk
- 16 sorc/2 paladin/2 monk tukaw variant

My personal favorite is the 17/2/1 but this was before lich form was moved to wizard level 18; I've since TR'd him to an 18/2 rogue. I use, situationally, a min2 greataxe (crafted back when holds = autocrit because I was too cheap to make 2x heavy picks - and I'm glad I was), an epic Antique Greataxe, or cannith crafted greater bane falchions/mauls (still working on getting that dang sword from VoN). They're all a blast to play, I (like you) can't fathom playing pures much. BUT! Let's be honest, you won't be as effective as a pure melee or pure caster in those respective roles: the 18/2 is just 1 DC behind a pure assuming similar gear and spell foci, but is 2 behind in spell penetration. And best case scenario, you're doing 50%-70% the DPS of a true melee DPS class. You more than make up for these in having OPTIONS: evasion, melee option, self healing, trapskills (sometimes), usually better survivability, offensive casting, debuffs, buffs, UMD... there's a lot of versatility there. While not really rewarded by DDO because it's such a min-max environment, I've found that being somewhat of a generalist fits my playstyle best.

Best thing I can tell you, farm 2 sets of gear for melee mode and caster mode, and know when to switch. Key gear would be a Docent of Defiance, a Torc of Prince Raiiyum-de, and a concordant opposition greensteel accessory, and get your crafting levels up for those holy burst of greater banes.

Send me some builds Please to try? Thanks

[aradelothion]

Send me some builds Please to try? Thanks

This is an old post by Phidius, who I don't think is playing anymore, but it still has lots of useful stuff: http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...4&postcount=13
What I did different as to level as an archmage until I hit 20, then switched to pale master with lich form.

Tukaw's is http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=181901, for the sorc/paly/(rog/monk) template.

The thread ArcaneMelee posted has some great stuff too, with a wiz/monk.

One thing I may have neglected to mention is that these kinds of builds really needs some gear to work well; DoD, conc opp, torc, a really good two-hander (eSoS is generally the thing you'd go for eventually, but epic Antique Greataxe, epic elemental greataxe, min2's, lit2's, even Terror)