Leveling build for Wizard with Past Life as the goal.

[MuinainenKoski]

Hay,

I am currently leveling an arty to TR it into a wizard for a few run throughs, to get wizard Past Lives to boost up my artis wands etc. So what I am looking for is a build thats effective to level with.

I mostly play either solo or in a group of 2-3 + hirelings.

What I am looking for is:

A build that will net me wizard past life that is as effective in the leveling as possible. I've been thinking of a wizard 18 / rogue 2 split, though would a full wizard be more effective in the leveling? Bearing in mind, that I have no interest for the capstone as I would most likely be TR:ing it as soon as its done. Speed is of the essence, since I guess I would have to do it 3 times

The build must not be race dependant (I think I will go as dwarf, which generally is not that suggested I guess). I have no interest in drows or WF (even with the self healing).

I've been reading the forums about using force line, but are force spells not less effective than the elemental counterparts, at least during leveling phases? If you ignore the fact that most force spells don't have a save.

There is also the debate between AM and PM, from which I guess PM aims for max necro and Instagib spells? Is it valid for leveling, or is that mostly for high level play where you aim to get mad gear to max DCs? For pure leveling purpose, which line would be more effective?

Any suggestions, ready builds or advice is welcome. I did look through a few but none of them really tells me if they are really effective or not.

I will also accept any suggestions on multiclass combos, that net me the past life feats. So anything with majority of wizard is okay with me

[Uska]

Wiz/rogue isnt bad but if you have it available I would say pure wf wizard max int and con remainder in str. good damage and self healing do AM for pre most traps can be avoided so its not really needed. I know you said your not interested in WF but they are really some of the best for solo play and group play but if not that then human is the way to go. and no dwarf isnt an ideal race for wizard by any means.

[Mackem]

A build that will net me wizard past life that is as effective in the leveling as possible.

If this is the case, I agree with Uska and suggest going pure. 18/2 split will add some utility and possibly some trap EXP but this will be at a cost of getting essential wiz spells 1-2 levels later. And having levelled my arcane through his 3 wiz lives as both 18/2 and pure I found that getting spells earlier makes you level faster.

You can choose any flavor race to make a wiz but if you "really" want the fastest and most efficient levelling, make it WF. I would definitely go WF for the levelling build to get a fast PL only. If WF is unavailable for whatever reason, I'd make it human and for a char without previous wiz past lives I'd go with something like this:

1 w Maximize
1 Extend
1 h Toughness

3 mental toughness to level 17. Swap to SF: Enchant before taking lvl 18

5 w SF:Necro

6 Spell Pen
9 GSpell Pen

10 w Empower

12 GSF:Necro

15 w Quicken
15 Heighten / Insightful Ref / ??

18 GSF: Ench

20 Does not matter, it's TR time.

[MuinainenKoski]

You can choose any flavor race to make a wiz but if you "really" want the fastest and most efficient levelling, make it WF. I would definitely go WF for the levelling build to get a fast PL only. If WF is unavailable for whatever reason, I'd make it human and for a char without previous wiz past lives I'd go with something like this:

Yeah fast for me will still take multiple days, as my playtime is limited, but its nice to be able to look at your character during your playing. I dislike the bulky frames of WF. Though I guess I could try it the first time around or something.

1 w Maximize
1 Extend
1 h Toughness

3 mental toughness to level 17. Swap to SF: Enchant before taking lvl 18

5 w SF:Necro

6 Spell Pen
9 GSpell Pen

10 w Empower

12 GSF:Necro

15 w Quicken
15 Heighten / Insightful Ref / ??

18 GSF: Ench

20 Does not matter, it's TR time.

Seeing all the SF necros and ench, do you suggest going PM for leveling? I didnt encounter too much SR on lvl 9~ content, any reason why you suggest to take spell pen on those levels? Why not later?

Would you suggest instagib spells? Or necrotic damage spells?

[DDOisFree]

If you just want to level to 20 and TR, I agree that 2 Rogue / 18 Wiz is the way to go as you wont be needing the capstone. If you eventually decide to stick to your Wizard for any content past level 20 (epics and raids), you should keep it pure.

2 Monk / 18 Wizard also has some amazing solo and levelling capability and with the right stats can melee very effectively (18 INT, 16 CON, rest in STR).

PM is best for levelling past level 12, up to level 12 conjuration AM is better advised because Zombie form is rubbish.

[MuinainenKoski]

If you just want to level to 20 and TR, I agree that 2 Rogue / 18 Wiz is the way to go as you wont be needing the capstone. If you eventually decide to stick to your Wizard for any content past level 20 (epics and raids), you should keep it pure.

2 Monk / 18 Wizard also has some amazing solo and levelling capability and with the right stats can melee very effectively (18 INT, 16 CON, rest in STR).

PM is best for levelling past level 12, up to level 12 conjuration AM is better advised because Zombie form is rubbish.

Whats your viewpoint on rogue levels? Is it for the trap exp? How do you feel about the point of getting spells later stand?

Isn't PM a bit useless for WF wizard, seeing as you lose repair benefits by being undead? Or does repair work for WF in undead forms also?

[themoonbreaker]

I only took 1 level of rogue on my wiz. It was plenty for.doing traps and I was only.1 level behind on spells. 2 rogue gives you evasion but without the reflex.saved.to.make.evasion more reliable, I didn't find.it was worthwhile to take.the second rogue level.

[Bart_D]

I usually hold level 18 until cap - a pure wizard gets Wail and Mass Hold at that level while a splash does not.

[Uska]

You will go faster as a pure wizzie and for WF I like AM better than PM and I really dont like PM at all until lvl 12+

[Mackem]

Seeing all the SF necros and ench, do you suggest going PM for leveling?

The feat layout I listed will let you try both AM and PM with the same build by changing enhancements on the go for a bit of plat. Mental Toughness taken early lets you qualify for wraith form (PM) and AM PrE.

However you don't have to go PM, you'll be OK with say ench/conj AM or something else, it all depends on your play style.

I usually hold level 18 until cap - a pure wizard gets Wail and Mass Hold at that level while a splash does not.

This is exactly the reason why pure build will level up faster. With 18/2 you get VERY important spells later by 1 or 2 levels. And not having the staple levelling spells at 18+ will slow your down.

You will go faster as a pure wizzie and for WF I like AM better than PM and I really dont like PM at all until lvl 12+

Yes. What I normally do when getting a wiz past life is I go AM till 12-14 and switch to PM after.

[voxson5]

Try 1 barb/19 wiz WF:

Melee at low levels without wasting spell slots
Barb run speed + sprint boost for herding mobs or getting to the boss
Can go archmage or pm without loosing self healing, out of form for devils or other light spam quests

[sirgog]

Strongly agree with Wiz19/Bbn1 (if you have gear to help with spellpoint shortages early) or Wiz20 (if you don't have an unsuppressed Vibrant Purple Ioun Stone and Shroud SP item, and a Mantle of the Worldshaper so you can wear the VPIS without having to hotswap Voice for every optional and quest completion).

Definitely ignore trapskills. If you are Elite streaking you are getting ~330% of base XP. The 15% additional XP for traps is less than 5% of the total quest XP and the ~12 seconds to disarm JUST ONE trap is often more than 5% of the quest completion time. There's only a few quests where trapsmithing really matters and most of those are in the level 8-10 range where there is no shortage of amazing XP quests.

Even if you Hard streak, the 15% bonus is still only ~6-8% of the total XP awarded and almost always adds at least 10% to completion times.

[Zachski]

I only took 1 level of rogue on my wiz. It was plenty for.doing traps and I was only.1 level behind on spells. 2 rogue gives you evasion but without the reflex.saved.to.make.evasion more reliable, I didn't find.it was worthwhile to take.the second rogue level.

Why the random periods? Space bar broken?

Also, that's why you take Insightful Reflexes - wizards can get some pretty awesome reflex saves with that feat :P

@TC: I'd recommend pure Wizard, too.

[Inferno346]

Try 1 barb/19 wiz WF

This, if your playstyle is zergish.

[Carpone]

Warforged 19 Wiz/1 Rog Archmage with both Necromancy enhancements and feats is the way I've done numerous Wizard past lives. It destroys heroic content, and you don't have the drawback of Light vulnerability in Lich form. Rogue level is for Disarm and Open Locks, and I take it at level 7 (after Fireball and the first AM enhancement). If you want Evasion, you'll forego level 9 spells (typically players hold level 18 until XP capped).

See my sig for more TR info you may find useful.

This, if your playstyle is zergish.

Wizards blow stuff up and instakill well. Why wouldn't they zerg?

[GlassJaw]

Don't want to side-track the thread too much but I wanted to discuss leveling wizards briefly.

I just stoned my 2nd life Wizard but will probably TR again because I want to give sorc a try. Anyway, my build will be WF Wiz 20 AM, necro primary, conj secondary.

So far, my results with the solo zerg/nuke playstyle have been mixed. I have trouble with spell point management and when things start to go bad, they really go bad.

What is most important for this type of leveling playstyle? Gear? Guild buffs? Player skill?

Also, should I try to stick to an elite BB or drop to hard or just run quests at whatever difficultly I can complete? Thanks!