WF AM EE setup?

[jortann]

So, I am curious as to what other people are doing with their AMs for running EE content.

I have seen a lot of AMs making Draconic their final destiny and twisting in stuff from Magistar. And also, I am seeing a lot more disco balls, is that due to Epic Death Ward in EE content making necro kind of useless?

I was getting ready to run my wizard through his Epic Levels and Destinies and just wanted to get a little information on what is working out there.

Thanks.

[Deathdefy]

You'll probably know a good portion of this, so I hope it doesn't come across as too patronizing :P

Insta-kills still work; it's just that fort saves are very high. Like so high that DC 55 or 56 against some EE mobs' fort saves isn't reliable (without debuffing first). Orange and Red names are also flat-out immune to instakills on EH and EE (so just go to town neg levelling oranges - web or dance or discoball or hold as optional, and DoT reds).

Also, some mobs have high reflex saves too, so web doesn't always do the job (but coupled with solid fog it's a reliable and marginally cheaper option than discoball + mindfog where you can get away with it).

My personal take on will saves is that discoball lasts longer than mass hold, and you can run them back through it if they save so yay. Mindfog also effectively adds another persistent 'must-make it or be CCed' save if you put it in the discoball.

You've probably seen Faent's giant Magister Le Suck thread. It's worth the read as it canvasses both sides of the magister v draconic debate reasonably well - some posts even consider Archmages!

I'm firmly in the Draconic camp, especially for AM's given we can't spam PM SLAs in the hope of getting the fort debuff proc. That said, I think there's a unique opportunity for AM's taking SF: Evocation to be able to spam Magic Missiles to an even greater extent than PMs in order to proc null magic strikes, so Magister's less awful for Archmages in that regard.

I'm doing: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=398520 - which is a mammoth thread I don't expect anyone to read the entirety of, but suffice to say, I think in both Magister and Draconic you want to max INT (and therefore DCs). I went Illusion Fleshie AM too, so it's not super relevant, but I give a full breakdown of what I take in each of the EDs.

[danlan]

Past Lives: 3 wiz 3 cleric 3 fvs

Tomes Consumed: 4 int 4 con 4 wis

Feats: Maximise, empower, toughness, necro focus*2, conjuration focus, heighten, quicken, mental toughness, spell penetration*3, past life:wiz, insightful reflex

Twist: Echo of the ancestor, int*2

Gears:
Head: Superior False Life+15 Balance CC Hat
Neck: Epic Torc(slotted exp int+1)
Trinket: Litany
Goggles: GS extra sp - 8 int after buff
Docent: Epic Diabolist ( slotted: good luck + exp con+1)
Cloak: Tough cloak of resistance +7
bracer: bracer of the sun soul
belt: health+8 belt
ring 1: seal of house szind (insight int+2, wizardry ix, potency 68)
ring 2: ominiscience
boots: gs min2 45 hp
glove: crafting greater enchantment focus glove

weapon set:
1. 120 reconstruct/3 necro dc + lob 90 glaciation/2 alchemical wis/arcane augmentation

2. 120 12% glaciation + 120 12% magnetism

Sustainable DC (with yug and shipbuff ONLY)
Necro 54 Conju 52 (3sp web sla ) Enchant 47(can use enchant focus+3 single hand to boost 1 to 48)

Spell Pen: 54 for lv 1-8, 53 for lv 9

Sustainable HP:
682 naked
25 shipbuff
25 rage
45 yug
=777 sustainable
(potentially another 20 if taking 4 toughness enchancement instead of 2, but AP is quite tight)

Sustainable Saves
Fort: About 47
Reflex: Over 54
Will: 47

Enhancement: make sure 7/7/7 in ice and probably 7/5/5 in electric

Main Destiny: Magister
6 int
3 necro dc
3 spell pen
6 will save
10% sp reduction

[Nitesco]

I'm just waiting for a feat swap to start taking mine into EE. I'm just level 24 with only Magister unlocked. I'm looking at something like this for my gear setup. It's far from optimal but until Crystal Cove comes around again, I won't get a chace to make a Balance/Concentration +15 of Superior False Life pirate hat, which may be a better choice.

Head: Insightful Intelligence +2 of Inner Focus +13 (medium guild slot(large guild slot and Inner Focus +15 would be ideal))
Eyes: GS +45 HP ConOp (can put Int +8 goggles here, but would have to relocate HP item)
Neck: Epic Torc/GS SP, Cha skills +6/Silver Flame Necklace (missing cleansing essence and base item)
Trinket: Litany of the Dead
Back: Cloak of the Dragon (any level)
Wrists: Epic Bracers of the Claw
Hands: Nether Grasp's (was going to put SP item here, but neck is probably better)/Vile Blasphemy (upgraded)
Ring: Epic Ring of Master Artifice (convenient for now, until I bother farming Epic Ring of Elemental Essence seal)
Ring: Fortifying 25% ring of Resistance +6 (suits my current setup, might be better with a guild slot)
Belt: Epic Lion-Headed Belt Buckle (Greater False Life, Exceptional Con +1)
Boots: Treads of Falling Shadow
Body: Epic Diabolist's Docent (Toughness, Intelligence +7, Exceptional Int +1)
Weapon: Element of Elemental Mastery/Reconstruct scrolls & wands/Staff of the Necromancer
Weapon: Reconstruction of School Mastery, Staff of the Necromancer, Light and Darkness

Missing the base item for the Torc, haven't bought any of the new boots of the AH yet, don't run Shroud any more so kind of giving up on ever having an SP item and aquiring +3 DC sticks will be a long-term project. I will still only be at 100% fortification after Yugo pot, while I don't like the vulnerability to spike damage, it's not so bad on a caster in groups until I grind out further ED's for twists to fort.

[jortann]

You'll probably know a good portion of this, so I hope it doesn't come across as too patronizing :P

Insta-kills still work; it's just that fort saves are very high. Like so high that DC 55 or 56 against some EE mobs' fort saves isn't reliable (without debuffing first). Orange and Red names are also flat-out immune to instakills on EH and EE (so just go to town neg levelling oranges - web or dance or discoball or hold as optional, and DoT reds).

Also, some mobs have high reflex saves too, so web doesn't always do the job (but coupled with solid fog it's a reliable and marginally cheaper option than discoball + mindfog where you can get away with it).

My personal take on will saves is that discoball lasts longer than mass hold, and you can run them back through it if they save so yay. Mindfog also effectively adds another persistent 'must-make it or be CCed' save if you put it in the discoball.

You've probably seen Faent's giant Magister Le Suck thread. It's worth the read as it canvasses both sides of the magister v draconic debate reasonably well - some posts even consider Archmages!

I'm firmly in the Draconic camp, especially for AM's given we can't spam PM SLAs in the hope of getting the fort debuff proc. That said, I think there's a unique opportunity for AM's taking SF: Evocation to be able to spam Magic Missiles to an even greater extent than PMs in order to proc null magic strikes, so Magister's less awful for Archmages in that regard.

I'm doing: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=398520 - which is a mammoth thread I don't expect anyone to read the entirety of, but suffice to say, I think in both Magister and Draconic you want to max INT (and therefore DCs). I went Illusion Fleshie AM too, so it's not super relevant, but I give a full breakdown of what I take in each of the EDs.

Thanks Death!

That thread helped a lot. I think I will try out Draconic and twist in stuff from Magistar to pump up my enchantment and see how that works.

And not to start the whole argument over.... but I think the real fail with Magistar is the lack of a 'real' Epic moment. If we had something on par with EiN then I think it would be a total win. I feel like they they took WoB away from the wizards, made it better (albeit with a longer cooldown) and gave it to the monks.

I do feel that with the expansion, there was an attempt to 'balance' the classes, unfortunately it seems that wizzies got the shaft and everyone else got cool toys. Not that I am complaining. I don't want to seem like a spoiled kid on Christmas. I was just wishing the wizard epic moment was... well... say... Epic?

[squishwizzy]

And also, I am seeing a lot more disco balls, is that due to Epic Death Ward in EE content making necro kind of useless?

Everything and its brother in epic content gets Deathward when they spawn - even the rats. And no, I'm not kidding. It is not limited to EE. So it makes instakills almost completely useless.

It, however, does not make necro useless. Deathward does not prevent neg leveling or other negative energy damage.

So that's why you see lots of webs and disco balls in epic content.

[mikarddo]

How about using Shiradi on an AM? Is that still good for EE or did something change to make that worse?

[moops]

How about using Shiradi on an AM? Is that still good for EE or did something change to make that worse?

I think that this is going to depend on past lives, and on which EEs you intend to run. I will be using my twists for Spell Pen and +3 Enchantment, and INT most likely.

I do not have any past lives, and pretty much suck against Drow because of my spell pen--but, I really only want to run the new EE. Right now I have 49 Enchant and 41 Spell pen can expand to 44 once I get the twist points--my CC works in the new EE but it takes some debuffing for some of it. For some of the mobs it is my DC that is too low, in others it is my spell pen without debuffs, and some quests simply aren't as easy to set up debuffs as others--archer heavy ones. Oh she is an old school AM enchantment focused. I thought about switching to PM or a different AM school, but I would lose some DC in enchantment, and CC is the most important thing to me now, so we will see.

This character is not my main, but I did decide that I would most likely TR tho, so I wouldn't be limited just a couple chains with her, and be able to help my guild out more.

[Deathdefy]

Everything and its brother in epic content gets Deathward when they spawn - even the rats. And no, I'm not kidding. It is not limited to EE. So it makes instakills almost completely useless.

It, however, does not make necro useless. Deathward does not prevent neg leveling or other negative energy damage.

So that's why you see lots of webs and disco balls in epic content.

That's 'epic ward' not death ward. Same icon though and I agree confusing. It just does weird stuff like make them 90% resistant to stat damage, break out of charm faster, and recover 1 neg level per 10 seconds. http://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Ward

You can definitely still insta-kill everything not orange or red named that is usually affected by insta-kills even on EE.

[Faent]

I'll make some general remarks here since it's hard to be very specific given that there's so much content out there and so many different ways of running it. For example, if you read through my Le Suck thread, you'll notice that a lot of people just right off a lot of content as not being worth running, and so don't care about a setup that lets them run that content well. Other folks run in groups, while some run solo (I do a lot of EE soloing), and this adds further complications. There are so many variables that it's hard to defend a general position. My general position is that WF Archmages have been shafted royally by Turbine, and that Magister is a pretty lame destiny (and especially lame for WF Archmages), but you know that by now, so I won't mention it again.

If you're willing to do a lot of swapping around depending on the content you want to run at the time, it will help a lot. I know this is a pain. I've spent around 1m plat doing it recently (and I don't intend to do it in the long run), but it will make a difference.

You'll see both Epic Ward and Deathward Spam in EE content, depending on what you're running. Epic Ward sucks (I was under the impression this junk was supposed to be gone, Turbine?) Deathward spam is more easily avoided by playing carefully and pulling wisely.

Magister is currently borked. The Fort Save Debuff (among other things) does not currently work, and a fix is not in the 16.1 Patch Notes. This debuff is also pretty lame for Archmages, although Pale Master's will love it when it returns to working status. (Thanks Turbine.) To compensate, I suggest picking up Tier IV of the Archmage Prestige for the Enervation SLA. This nerfs your SP into the ground, but I think it's probably worth it. You'll also get Command Undead and Halt Undead enroute, and there is a fair bit of content in which that works nicely. (While it's true that scroll-casting Halt Undead works well on a lot of Undead, there's something to be said for not having to swap an item.)

As a side note, the Enervation SLA has very long range and readily permits stealth pulling. The noise it makes is centered on the mob that is Enervated, and other mobs will usually go investigate the mob you have Enervated while the one you Enervated comes to you. You will rarely be seen by other mobs when Enervating from range. It works great when soloing EE content.

Web + Solid Fog is fantastic. I recommend pumping your Conjuration DC's as much as possible. Take the +2 boost from Draconic and wear an Epic Docent of the Diabolist. Take Conjuration Focus to gain access to the 3 SP Web SLA. Web + Solid Fog can be a great prep for Energy Burst while keeping mobs in your Acid Rain or Ice Storm AoE's. And with a solid Web DC, you can even score a lot of damage off Energy Vortex if you're sitting in Draconic.

I don't like speccing for Enchantment. I find I Enchant just fine with the Hypno SLA + Mind Fog + Discoball in EE content. And I prefer cheap spammable Webs to Discoballs. But your mileage may vary.

When you can safely kite mobs safely a Symbol of Death, do so. Then lock them down and kill them off.

Make heavy use of Otto's Irresistible Dance and Energy Drains. The Enervation SLA works well here, especially in conjunction with real Energy Drains.

If you don't have Spell Penetration problems, and want to be in Magister, I recommend the following twists (you can figure out Magister on your own):

Twist in a Maxxed Draconic Energy Burst (Tier 4)
Twist in Maxxed Draconic Precise Conjuration (Tier 2)
Twist in +1 INT or Endless Faith (Tier 1)

Notice how much you're twisting in from Draconic? Yeah.

For a Draconic Setup, I'd do the following:

Take Energy Burst up to two ranks, and pick up Energy Vortex. Max Precise Conjuration and Piercing Spellcraft. Then take 5 Tiers of Intelligence.

Twist in Magister (Necromancy/Whatever) School Specialist (Tier II).
Twist in Fatesinger Echoes of Ancestors: Magister (Tier III).
Twist in +1 INT, Endless Faith, Unearthly Reactions, or Fey Form.

The latter is preferable for a WF Archmage, IMO. It sacrifices a maxxed Energy Burst, but that's alright. It also gains Energy Vortex and Go Out with A Bang. And it has more Universal Spell Pen. (Please, please don't tell me you're maxxing out that ugly, goddawful abomination of a Magister Tree for Spell Pen in a single school.)

[Faent]

Everything and its brother in epic content gets Deathward when they spawn - even the rats. And no, I'm not kidding. It is not limited to EE. So it makes instakills almost completely useless.

It, however, does not make necro useless. Deathward does not prevent neg leveling or other negative energy damage.

Deathward does prevent neg-leveling. Epic Ward does not, although it makes it pretty much worthless. Don't confuse Deathward spam with Epic Ward. Try to avoid the Deathward spam with smart tactics. As for the Epic Ward, this had better be a bug.