Human Archmage 32pt Build - suggestions please

[HalfORCastrator]

I never put much trust in insightful reflexes without splashing of 2 rogue or monk. By end-game, those few reflexes won't matter against stronger spellcasters like drow priestesses and the wizards in the high road. You can get it early-mid game, but once you hit 20, I think the feat is better exchanged and spent elsewhere. Even with high intelligence, you still won't be evading excessively like rogues or monks, and the feat is better used on a spell focus, spell penetration, or metamagic.

This post is horrendously wrong. Newbies, don't listen to this at all.


EDIT:
AHHHH, it's a necroed thread!

EDIT:
Though even back then it was wrong...

[squishwizzy]

I've played a few warforged characters, but to be honest, I don't care for them - I like having hair and I don't want to look like a linebacker (nod to Daydream). Playing a fleshy Archmage *IS* a different playstyle than, say, a warforged sorcerer or a drow pale master, mainly because you DON'T want to be hit. You move. You disable and kill from a distance. You drink potions or wand whip, but you survive. In fact, I'd argue that this sort of playstyle is an excellent way to prepare for running Epic Elites - relying on your torc and con opp items in those quests is a fool's errand when most enemies will hit for ~250+ per attack.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but the tren here when it cones to ConOpp and Torc seems to have changed. Before these were "mandatory" items to have. Nowadays they barely get mentioned.

And I'm one for fleshy AMs as well.

Now, web has a funny aspect to it - if you cast web on a group of enemies, they will frequently walk right through it - although it casts instantly, it doesn't seem to 'stick' to them immediately - I remedy this by tossing a cheap Hypnotize SLA at them first - Hypno affects them right away, meaning (if they're hypnotized) you can toss a web on them and watch as they get stuck without having to kite them through and get your hands dirty. From there, you can more effectively use your Circle of Death or AOE DPS spells, as appropriate. Speaking of elemental lines, I tend to work almost exclusively with a hypno (SLA) --> web (SLA) --> acid rain --> ice storm combination to make short work of groups of enemies. Hypnotize stuns your group, web keeps them in there, acid rain supplies burst damage while ice storm finishes them off - three different types of damage (acid/cold/force) mean you're VERY unlikely to encounter an enemy that will resist ALL of it. Tharashk hounds and their cyclonic blasts tend to be the only annoyance when using this tactic, but you can still dance them as appropriate.

With the appropriate prep, you can cast Web without targeting a mob to do it (pick a spot between you and the mobs), then pull them to the webs. Generally, you need a decent Spot skill, which I always have for my wizzies. I like being able to see the enemy long before they can see me.

Although I've found that at higher levels, going full-out spell pen and dropping disco balls covers about 75% of the mobs you want to ensnare all the way to EH. Then again, this is a matter of preference. Though if you go Necro or Enchantment, it is always advisable to have a healthy spell pen as oth of those lines are subject to SR.

Let's face it, until the Enhancement Pass comes through, Enhancement Points will continue to be incredibly tight for Archmages. Because of that, I've frequently found that I was either forced to (very dangerously, in my opinion) focus exclusively on only one element, or share the wealth between two or more elements. I'm looking for the damage types that are least likely to be resisted, and as stated earlier, I've found acid and cold to be quite effective because it's several different damage types at once. Fire + Acid can work just as well for clearing large groups, but i prefer the additional force damage ice storm offers. With a single pip in force, you get a healthy boost to your magic missile damage in the early game, then supplement your ice storm damage if you don't have the points to put in there while working on Archmage prerequisites.

I've TR-ed my main wizzy from a fleshy AM to a PM. And honestly, when it comes to higher amounts of damage over extended periods of casting the AM sorta wins out. With all gear being pretty much the same, an AM has more SP, and the PM ends up buring more SP while keeping their auras going. Plus, when you start hitting elite content at level, you start dropping NEBs as emergency healing which reduces your SP pool even further.

Yeah, a fleshy AM has no decent self-healing. However, I've found that in a PUG environment, this was never that big of a deal. As you pointed out, staying in the back ranks and killing stuff from afar, and kiting when need be was probably not as bad as some make it out to be.