Necromancer / Archmage Final Endgame Items - Post Update 15 (At least 1 tr needed)

[gphysalis]

Ring1: Static Ring - +8 Int random gen ring (If someone knows a good additional stat, please share.)

This gear list looks nice, much better than before.

The only suggestion that I have is that for you lootgen ring, try and find one with a guild augment slot, so that you can put something extra in it.
If you managed to get something with a large slot, that could be 20 Hp or 80 Sp

For the suffix for your ring, if you can get something new, that would be great, otherwise, just +8 int is fine if it has a guild slot.

[thx.janus]

Item Build Summary
Head: Supreme Tyrant Helm of Vaccuum
Goggles: lawngreenSteel Min - II goggles.
Neck: Epic Torc of Raiyum
Trinket: Planar Focus Erudition +3 insight - Planar Conflux
Cloak: Mabar's Epic Night Cloak (Ghostly + Displacement grants 55% miss (1-0.5*0.9 = 0.55). )
Armor: Mabar's Epic Robe of Shadows
Belt: Epic Lion headed Belt Buckle
Boots: Epic Rock boots T3
Gloves: Supreme Tyrant Gloves of Concordant Opposition
Bracers: Epic Bracers of the Demon Consort
2-hand Weapon: Twilight, Element of Magic - Planar Conflux
Ring1: Static Ring - +8 Int random gen ring (If someone knows a good additional stat, please share.)
Ring2: Epic Ring of the Buccaneer T3

Versus.

Head: lawngreensteel Helm with 45 HP and Concordant opposition How are you getting 45 hp? what is your negative stat here?
It's Tier 1 Neg/Esc/Mat, strength skills +1, a pretty common combination
Goggles: Epic spectacles of spirit sight (sure, twilight makes this obsolete, but read on pls) will likely be dropped for Magewrights Spectacles
Neck: Epic Torc
Trinket: Planar Focus of Erudition with +3 insight to int No planar conflux
Cloak: Epic envenomed cloak slotted with toughness Slotted for heavy fort. True, i confused something in my initial post
Armor: Epic Robe of Shadows slotted with heavy fort No epic slot. Again, true.
Belt: Epic Lion Headed Belt Buckle / Eerie Belt
Boots: Epic Boots of Corrosion Slotted with -15% Arcane Spell Failure
Gloves: GS Gloves with Wizardry VI + 150SP and AshII (enervation Guard)
Bracers: Epic Bracers of the Demon Consort
Offhand: Alchemical Large Shield, Admantine, t1 mystical earth, t2 martial earth, t3 mystical fire
Main Hand: Swap to whatever is needed, like Nullification of Necromancy Mastery, Corrosion of Acid Mastery, etc.)
Ring 1: Epic Shamans Band (not quite happy with that one)
Ring 2: Sanuras Band slotted with exc. con 2

With respect to wearing 2nd build instead of first.

Gain
Alchemcial Con +2 (Alchemical Earth Martial shield)
Constitution +7 (Envenomed cloak) +1 more con than Lion head belt
Insightful Con +2 slotted on Sanuras Band
Efficient Metamagic Maximize II (Alchemical Fire Mystical shield)
Conjuration Focus +1 (epic shaman's band) As i said, will likely be dropped for random +8 int ring
Disintegration Guard (Epic Corrosion boots)
Greater Acid Resistance (Epic Corrosion boots) Not useful. Can be replaced with Resist element spell or guild ship acid shrine.
Greater Poison Guard DC 28 (Envenomed cloak) Not useful

Loss and stats that were overlapped.
+8 int (rand gen Ring - Int Stat +6 from Sanura's band. You lose 2 int.) See above
+250 sp (planar Conflux overlaps your +150 from GS) The Eere Belt has Archmagi, which can be swapped after initial buffing or kept for +60 stacking Nullification Spell Power
Toughness (Ring of the Buccaneer green slot. Both builds about the same Aug slots. I have 1 yellow from stone boots, whereas u have 1 green from Envenomed cloak. However, you lose one more green slot (corrosion boots) because you need the -15% ASF for the alchemical shield.)Its true, I'm lacking Toughness, which is sad. On the other hand, I gain a total of +5 Con, which equals to 50 to 75 Hitpoints.
Greater Arcane Lore (Twilight, Element of Magic) While true, this is bypassed by using different mainhand weapons with the appropriate lore type.
Potency +80 (Twilight, Element of Magic) Not needed with the correct mainhand weapons for the spell at hand.
Impulse +120 (Twilight, Element of Magic) This would only affect the bludgeoning damage part of ice storm and meteorswarm, disintegrate and magic missles. Since I'm acid specced, the only loss is for disintegrate, a very situational spell.
Spellcasting Implement +21 (Twilight, Element of Magic) Id get +18 from a min lvl 25 +6 <Element> scepter of <Element> Mastery
+15 psionic universal Spell power (planar Conflux) see above
Major Evocation focus (Twilight staff - overlaps Alchemical fire mystical) by using Mainhand weapons like ".. of Acid Mastery" you get the major focus anyway
Major Enchantment Focus (Twilight, Element of Magic - overlaps Epic Spirit sights) same like evocation focus, you get it from a main hand weapon
Dexterity +7 (Epic Ring of the Buccaneer T3, Necessary for some trip saves.) Necessary is a really strong term here. Nice to have, ok, but its really not necessary.
Underwater Action (Epic Ring of the Buccaneer T3) Palemasters dont breathe
Ghostly (Mabar's Epic Night Cloak) I really want to get hit, cause soo many effects only go off on being hit. so why should i try to avoid getting hit, as long as i can survive the hits? And i CAN survive a bunch of mobs beating on me in epic hard content for all eternity, if need be. Though usualy they dont live that long
Good Luck +2 Saves/Skills (Epic Ring of the Buccaneer T3) True, but the saves are partly offset by getting +1 more resistance from epic envenomed cloak.
Slippery Surface Immunity (Epic Rock boots T3) Again, thats more like nice to have.
DR 5/Good (Mabar's Epic Night Cloak) I can get DR 19/- by shieldblocking with divine power clickies
Dodge Bonus 2% (Mabar's Epic Night Cloak) see Ghostly
Inherent (10) Acid Resistance (Epic rock boots T3) again, nice to have, but not that great.
Trap the Soul Guard on-hit 1% chance, Trap the Soul 30 HD version, will save DC 30 (lawngreen Steel Vaccum helm) Thats a nice guard, true. On the other hand, I favor enervation guard (which has a way higher proc chance) because it combines well with demonic curse and shaken effect from lion headed. All of them lower my enemies saves, so i can instant kill them myself.
Invisibility Guard (Mabar's Epic Night Cloak) I want to get hit
Nightmare Guard (Mabar's Epic Night Cloak) A nice instant kill guard, no doubt. Though in high level content, a DC 35 will save with a 5% proc chance is not too great. Enervation guard has no save, and my instant kill DCs are >50.
Stone Prison Guard - Chance to Flesh to Stone (DC 17) (Epic Rock boots T3) a nice CC guard

GS loss:
T1 CHA (UMD) IMO, UMD is generally needed on a palemaster only for ressurection scrolls. I can use an epic flameward or a single shard cha skill GS item to get to the needed UMD
T1 &T3 DEX (balance)
4 Immunities (Poison, blindness, Disease, Fear) None of these are necessary in any way, thats what pots are sold for.
T2 & T3 Con (Concentration) I do get that

lawngreen Steel Loss
I am assuming your two gs are.

Helm: Neg +10 hp +1 str, + 15 hp + 2 CHA, + 20 hp + 3 CHA
Gloves: T1-3 Int skills, For the Wizardry (+150), and the +150 SP.

INT skill does nothing for wizards. True

Possible Additional Stat Overlap
Superior Nullification IX (+120? Need Confirmation - (Mabar's Epic Robe of Shadow))
Superior Void Lore (Mabar's Epic Robe of Shadow)
Superior Corrosion IX (+120? Need Confirmation - Epic Rock boots T3)
Superior Acid Lore (Epic Rock boots T3)

If you're saying.. you will swap a 1-hand rand gen for these. I can't consider that static to your build.

Well, thats a bit strange, i consider swap items as party of my layout, because i have the desred effects when i need them.

Notes:
You have a lot of Acid / Neg lawngreenundancies/Overlap. 1-hand Null/Acd. Ash Gloves. Epic boots of Corrosion.
You do not have a set superior acid / void lore. You do not have an arcane lore to cover this lack as well.
You do not have a potency item.

I dont really understand that part. Ash gloves have no spell power or spell critical in any form. Superior void lore is on the epic robe of shadow, and superior acid lore is party of a corrosion of acid mastery item. Again, arcane lore is not needed if you choose the right weapon for the situation at hand. Same is true for potency

A major loss on int comparison is you lose 2 more int than my suggested build. +2 insightful (Sanura's band) does not stack with +3 insightful (Planar Erudition). This means, you only have a +6 int enchantment item (Sanura's band) whereas, my build uses a +8 int rand ring). Mayhap take out Sanura's for a simple +8 int rand ring will solve this.
See this post and my 2nd post

comments in lawngreen

[DynaTheCat]

The builds are very similar but I have a few main concerns about its stability...

1. Spell Pen 9
2. Spell school focus
3. Solid Spell power
4. Solid Void Power.

Yeah, I get that you can swap off hands and such for your needs, but; if you do so, you may always be lacking 1 set.

Go Acid/acid mastery lose void / necro mastery etc.

Also, once again. I gripe about using a whole google slot for magewrights simply for Spell Pen 9.

I get it. You're losing spell pen from Shaman band ring then making up for it with Magewright goggles. I just feel it's such a waste of a goggle slot.

Your Shaman Band then goes for +8 int rand gen? Then your Sanura's band is there for the +2 con only.

Also, the Palemaster TOD set's Neg dmg bonus does not stack. It simply acts as a Null 9 enchantment item (read TOD item). And, keep the Lion headed belt as static.

I suggest you get rid of the TOD sets. They are really underpowered and useless atm (cept maybe archmage set for the extra +6 stacking crit). I still run TOD when it cools... but if I miss running it for a day or so, I don't feel as if I missed much (since the stat +4 tomes drop even lower in TOD atm than in higher MOTU.)

[DynaTheCat]

This gear list looks nice, much better than before.

The only suggestion that I have is that for you lootgen ring, try and find one with a guild augment slot, so that you can put something extra in it.
If you managed to get something with a large slot, that could be 20 Hp or 80 Sp

For the suffix for your ring, if you can get something new, that would be great, otherwise, just +8 int is fine if it has a guild slot.

Agreed, but need confirmation that a +8 int rand gen ring can come with a small guild slot and not go over the CL item limit.

Or, the best additional (non-redundant) stat with a +8 int rand gen ring.

If there is such a confirmation, will change on first post.

[DynaTheCat]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would post my current end game gear set up. I would like some advice on it as well. This is my gear goals for epic elite as heroic elite I find is quite easy for me.

First off I am a warforged PM specked for cold, lightning, acid.

Head: Open
Goggles: GS 45 hp con-opp
Neck: Torc
Trinket: +3 int trinket
Cloak: Tough cloak of +7 resistance
Armor: epic docent of shadow
Belt: +8 con +13 balance
Boots: epic rock boots with +1 int and +1 con
Gloves: Canith crafted large slot (hp) with heavy fort and +2 conjuration DC
Bracers: bracers of sun soul (+4 to saves and +2 con)
Ring 1: random gen +8 int
Ring 2: Epic ring of the mire

I'd think it's pretty much the same build we are saying at this time except you use an epic docent of shadow instead of an epic robe of shadow.

Also, I don't suggest an elemental wizard..... It's just not a wizard's strong suit. Evocation and elements are a sorc's game. You should be in the necromancy/enchantment/spellschool (DC/Spell Pen) game.

[sephiroth1084]

The builds are very similar but I have a few main concerns about its stability...

Yeah, I get that you can swap off hands and such for your needs, but; if you do so, you may always be lacking 1 set.

Go Acid/acid mastery lose void / necro mastery etc.

If you're nuking, you probably don't need Necro for anything but refreshing Death Aura. Sure, it's nice to have the spell power on your Necrotic Bolt and Blast, but it's not necessary. By the way, this is one of the reasons that I like having at least some Nullification and Lore on full-time. Still, if you have Potency 72-80 that's almost as good as one of the mediocre passive Null 90 items you could be using, so not a big deal.

Also, once again. I gripe about using a whole google slot for magewrights simply for Spell Pen 9.

Why? You're wasting slots on even more minor abilities.

Also, the Palemaster TOD set's Neg dmg bonus does not stack. It simply acts as a Null 9 enchantment item (read TOD item). And, keep the Lion headed belt as static.

True and true. the PM set went from pretty poor to completely useless. Still, if you're just wearing the ring for the +1 exceptional and +2 insight, then it doesn't matter what the set bonus is. Truthfully, I'd think you would be better off with the Assassin ring for +6 Dex, +1 Int, +2 whatever. At least then the first part of the ring is doing something for you. Personally, I don't find +2 Con to be a necessity, and as I mentioned earlier, I'd want a +2 Int ToD ring for a swappable item for those times that I'm not wearing +3 Insightful Int.

(cept maybe archmage set for the extra +6 stacking crit).

It doesn't stack. If you're using Greater Arcane Lore, it overlaps, changing your crit damage from .25 to .5, which is nice, but hardly worth equipping the set most of the time. I have the set, and occasionally swap to it when I'm doing nothing but nuking, but most of the time I forget to do so. If I had slotted my Epic Lion-Head, I would be even less inclined to swap items.

Agreed, but need confirmation that a +8 int rand gen ring can come with a small guild slot and not go over the CL item limit.

Pretty sure guild slots don't change the ML of items at all.

Also, I don't suggest an elemental wizard..... It's just not a wizard's strong suit. Evocation and elements are a sorc's game. You should be in the necromancy/enchantment/spellschool (DC/Spell Pen) game.

This is a mistake. Just because sorcerers are better at it doesn't mean you should dismiss it. There are plenty of times where Necromancy and Enchantments won't do a **** thing for you, and where nuking is what's important. To that end, the goal should be somewhere along the lines of
7/1/1 enhancements in one element
7/1/1 enhancements in another element
(cold and electric were the front-runners before all the MotU content with electric-immune enemies...now acid and cold are at the fore. Thankfully, those are easily changed with an enhancement reset; force is okay, but I wouldn't rate it as being spectacular).
At least a spell power 90 item for Necro, element 1, element 2; ideally SP 120.
At least Greater Arcane Lore; better to have Major Lore in your elements; ideally Superior.
Maximize.
Maybe Empower (if you can spare the feat).
Greater Evocation Focus item; ideally a Major Evocation Focus item. I know, I didn't list any Evocations with Reflex saves, but that's only because I tend not to use them very often, because they are A) inefficient in boss fights, and B) I'm lazy. For bosses with less HP, or that you want dead now, or for trash that are immune to many of your better spells (like Animated Armors), it's worth using real nukes. I use Ice Storm, Otiluke's, and sometimes Chain Lightning and/or Meteor Swarm. Acid specced wizards will care more about their saves, and will want Conjuration focus items (you should have that anyway for Web, at least situationally).

My PM can grab and hold aggro vs. a group of pretty exceptional melees in EH Chronoscope on the final boss spamming Eladar's, Niac's, Necro Bolt, Necro Blast, and Ice Storm, and changing elements when appropriate to the Abishai color, and can keep herself healed throughout the fight. While not a primary goal, or the strategy I'm looking to go with most of the time, it's worth being able to do that.

It's even more worth being able to be counted as a DPS contributor in big boss fights, rather than dead weight. The reason we only used to ever take 1 or 2 casters along for Shroud, VoD and ToD was that their DPS was rather poor. Now, we have the ability to contribute DPS comparable to a pretty decent melee over short periods of time (about 5 minutes). That's worth focusing on.

[AtomicMew]

If you're nuking, you probably don't need Necro for anything but refreshing Death Aura. Sure, it's nice to have the spell power on your Necrotic Bolt and Blast, but it's not necessary. By the way, this is one of the reasons that I like having at least some Nullification and Lore on full-time. Still, if you have Potency 72-80 that's almost as good as one of the mediocre passive Null 90 items you could be using, so not a big deal.

Nullification SP and lore are pretty important on a pale master. Not only for SLAs and self heal, but for necrotic ray, which can one hit crit mobs on EH. SLA spamming itself is equivalent to niac's or eladar's, except for free, so it's definitely worth having on gear.

I'm hoping that mabar robes will get a nice boost this october. Definitely, they should try to make spidersilk have at least some competition.

[Pilgrim1]

I think there are 2 overarching things that should be considered in this discussion regardless of differences in builds.

1) How effective are guards in epic elite - EHard is not an issue for this. And which guards are still useful.
Torc for example returns ~3.75 spell points per hit, which means you need to be hit ~100 times for this to be the same returns as bauble. Is getting hit 100 times in elite feasible or is there something more useful?

What about the other guards - which ones are useful and which ones can be cut? lion belt, demon bracers, rock boots, boon of undeath, ring of the mire?

2) Does the changes to spell power allow us to focus on 3 elements and negative? Do we go 120, 120, 108 (ring/hat), and 90; or do we just go for +80 potency? Is there some better mix?

I think being able to answer those questions will really focus what gear/slots are even available to be modified.

[Barazon]

The Epic Ring of the Buccaneer is pretty meh for a caster, other than the +2 luck and green slot. If you've got a green slot elsewhere, slot +2 luck in it!

I use the Epic Ring of the Mire, which has greater spearblock (10 DR against piercing), and Earthen Guard (chance to cast stoneskin when hit). The spearblock is ok, but the stoneskin triggers very often, giving you 10 DR/adamantine most of the time. Stoneskin is a hard spell to memorize; being level 4 it competes with Death Aura, Negative Energy Burst, Dimension Door, Fire Shield, etc.

[EllisDee37]

Dyna, love this thread, and am liniking to it from my "Pale Trapper" build for new players. Is the OP gearset current, or should I direct link them further in the thread? Any comments like "gear in first post, start reading in page 4" appreciated to help direct the newcomers.

EDIT: Nevermind, you spelled it out clearly in the OP, I was just too lazy to look before I asked. Well, consider this a free bump, heh.

[sephiroth1084]

I think there are 2 overarching things that should be considered in this discussion regardless of differences in builds.

1) How effective are guards in epic elite - EHard is not an issue for this. And which guards are still useful.
Torc for example returns ~3.75 spell points per hit, which means you need to be hit ~100 times for this to be the same returns as bauble. Is getting hit 100 times in elite feasible or is there something more useful?

What about the other guards - which ones are useful and which ones can be cut? lion belt, demon bracers, rock boots, boon of undeath, ring of the mire?

I'm not necessarily sold on the point, but I'd say that the guards that enhance your survivability would possibly still be worth wearing, if only to lessen the impact of the blows you sustain to hopefully within Death Aura healing range--Conc-Opp, DQ bracers, Boon of Undeath.

That said, far more important (I'd think) is getting your spells to land, which may mean swapping Boon for +3 Int on Spidersilks, but keeping both Lion-Head and DQ bracer. My assumption is that if you are getting hit, it means that you haven't insta-killed or CCed the thing hitting you, likely due to their making a save against whatever spell(s) you have already thrown their way, so stacking penalties on their saves seems likely to be helpful.

I think that going out of your way to get hit in EE is probably a poor strategy, making the Torc less attractive, but I also feel like getting tagged is more likely (than you would normally) when monsters are making more of their saves, so it's not entirely unreasonable as a passive, small boost--just probably not as solid as some other options at that point.

[DynaTheCat]

Dyna, love this thread, and am liniking to it from my "Pale Trapper" build for new players. Is the OP gearset current, or should I direct link them further in the thread? Any comments like "gear in first post, start reading in page 4" appreciated to help direct the newcomers.

EDIT: Nevermind, you spelled it out clearly in the OP, I was just too lazy to look before I asked. Well, consider this a free bump, heh.

Thanks for the sentiment, link, and heads up. I will take that "current equip notice" and make it more noticeable in first post.

Once mabar's night equipment comes around. Will check on the new upgrades and update soon.

Current item build mostly for pale masters atm.

If player is archmage, will have to make a few changes:

Demon's consort Bracers -> epic bracers of the claw

This will solve the heavy fort problem as well and open the mineral goggles slot.

Also, epic robe of shadows may no longer be viable. This means we will lose both boon of undeath, superior/spellpower neg, and Greater necro Focus (+2).

This means and epic spirit sights may be needed in the goggles slot to fill the +2 necromancy.

Epic Mabar Shadow robes swap to +8 int spider silk robes and this will open up the +8 rand gen ring slot.

As well as the blue slot in Bucaneer ring (no longer need toughness as spider silk already has).

Overall Changes
Demon's consort Bracers -> epic bracers of the claw (Solve heavy fort and also gives +2 con insight to make up partially for the +4 con loss from not having undead form)

Mabar's epic Robe of Shadow -> Spider Silk Robe +8 (Solves +8)

+8 rand gen ring -> Open ring slot

Min Goggles -> Epic Spirit sights (solves +2 necromancy gap)

Bucaneer ring slot open -> ?

Overall, I don't like how much overlap/redundant/lost abilities Archmages may get with this item set. However, I guess this can't be helped with the loss of undead form (i.e. losing demon consorts, losing boon of undeath, etc)

If there is a better alternative, please check.

I have been thinking about a way to add demon shield to an archmage successfully and thought about this:

Pre-requisites
Must be an elf.
Must have arcane fluidity (-10% asf for full plates).
Must have -15 ASF blue slot.

Demon shield solved by: Epic Calvary Plate

I believe having both arcane fluidity and blue slot ASF you can solve the asf for calvary plate.

You would then have to solve problems with your robe stats. Maybe possible? Not sure.

All I know is you will get a demon shield and also a lotta AC....

[Erruun]

Just a word of caution I am pretty sure that you cannot get 3insight off anything but the robe or trinket. I am going 3 into robe with litany and 8int ring for max int.

Another nice bit of info, you can now get 3 pen 1handers (greater pen 9) on trash gear.

[Such755]

What about +2 exceptional int from ToD ring? Seems a better replacement for that cove ring... Can put your +1 excep and +2 excep there

[EllisDee37]

I think the new ML24 Robe of Shadow has major necro focus (+3 dc) and 114 nullification. Everything else is unchanged from the ML20 version.

(Could be wrong; I read the stats a week or so ago in passing.)

[DynaTheCat]

What about +2 exceptional int from ToD ring? Seems a better replacement for that cove ring... Can put your +1 excep and +2 excep there

+2 insight (TOD) does not stack with +3 insight (Erudition)

+1 insight (colorless slot) stacks with either +2 or +3 insight

[DynaTheCat]

I think the new ML24 Robe of Shadow has major necro focus (+3 dc) and 114 nullification. Everything else is unchanged from the ML20 version.

(Could be wrong; I read the stats a week or so ago in passing.)

Thanks for the info. Will be looking forward to it. And.. that would be great and solve our Major necromancy problem for this build.

[DynaTheCat]

Just a word of caution I am pretty sure that you cannot get 3insight off anything but the robe or trinket. I am going 3 into robe with litany and 8int ring for max int.

Another nice bit of info, you can now get 3 pen 1handers (greater pen 9) on trash gear.

You are correct. And, once again, if I could fit a profane +1 int bonus (litany) into this build I would.

Please check what you would lose and gain if you put litany in and use 1 handers instead of twilight... you can make your own decision on that.

I do not recommend litany as you will be losing too many stats in my opinion.

[DynaTheCat]

I need a reconfirmation on there being a +8 int random generation ring.

Been searching for it, but have not seen one (ring of any stat type +8) either in elite runs or on AH.

Has anyone actually gotten one?

[dynahawk]

I need a reconfirmation on there being a +8 int random generation ring.

No picture because I am at work but I have a +8 Int ring of disable device +13 sitting in the bank for when I hit level 24