Pale Master Guide

[Panzermeyer]

The loss is due to gearing requirements to keep an even intelligence. As you you need to run litany, which forces you to use spidersilk for the +3 insightful int. Human's with adaptability would be at an odd number with litany (which makes no sense), allowing you to run Robe of Shadow.

I will make that more clear in the original post.

I know I am coming a bit late to the game.

Shroud of the Abbot or Robe of Shadows.

Seems you are saying as a human and being able to add a +1 to int robe of shadows is the way to go.

Otherwise the Shroud of the Abbot is the way to go.

Both actually look pretty good. The light damage reduction seems worthwhile being in form and all from the Abbot.

[SirValentine]

I was also disappointed to realize that the Gloves are a +5 to DC's of Illusion. PK being the only beneficial spell =/

One of the CC spells is Illusion, too, isn't it? Ah, here it is: Hypnotic Pattern.

Is there anything else that is dropping that is a Int +11 from the new content?

High level random lootgen stuff. It's pretty rare, but possible.

[Panzermeyer]

High level random lootgen stuff. It's pretty rare, but possible.

I did pull a sweet random loot gen for a quesr reward for my arti. +10 Int Spellcraft +30 I think.

[Andoris]

I know I am coming a bit late to the game.

Shroud of the Abbot or Robe of Shadows.

Seems you are saying as a human and being able to add a +1 to int robe of shadows is the way to go.

Otherwise the Shroud of the Abbot is the way to go.

Both actually look pretty good. The light damage reduction seems worthwhile being in form and all from the Abbot.

The text you quoted is pre-U19 and is no longer relevant.

To answer your question, I much prefer the Shroud of the Abbot at end game over the Robe of Shadow. The Shroud of the Abbot gives your Arcane Augmentation, Light resistance, lightning lore over the robe of shadow which only gives you nullification spell power (which is easily slotted in a red slot). The necromancy focus on the robe of shadows is easily surpassed by random loot gen now.

[Andoris]

Ah right I read that further as I was going back to the very beginning of this thread and reading everything. Thanks.

I was also disappointed to realize that the Gloves are a +5 to DC's of Illusion. PK being the only beneficial spell =/

Is there anything else that is dropping that is a Int +11 from the new content?

PK is useful through EE gianthold. It is not as good as the other death spells, but with the DC's you are pumping out, it land often enough to use when everything else is on cooldown.

[Panzermeyer]

In the quest to continually expand upon the guide I decided to do an in-depth review of some of the spells that a Wizard may want to use. I avoided a review of spells that have the primary purpose of dealing damage as they are self-explanatory (and quite boring imo). The review below is intended to help players realize that one of the greatest strengths of the Wizard is their large and flexible spell selection, allowing them to fill an invaluable role in any party. As always, I welcome feedback and suggestions. It is likely I missed something, but with your help, we can make this an amazing resource.

This is an excellent guide and I thank you for this, and the full discussion in here.

My first casters were all Sorcs. I got use to just dealing damage.

My first time playing a wizzy and PM to boot was in grinding out past lives. I must admit that I still default to dealing damage. Running with a guildie who loves bards and is honestly super super bad ass with them, I am seeing the value of mass crowd control. I think the main thing I am going to struggle with learning is the debuffing spells. This will be quite a shift for me in tactics as I build my pale master.

[Caprice]

I think Elf is viable, and even superior if you are running primarily EH content, but I can't recommend it for a EE focused build. The lost casting time is a killer.

As far as starting a new PM... I am looking at rolling a first lifer and would not be targeting EEs. Would you then recommend going Elf for that first life, since I won't be hitting reasonable EE-level DCs anyway without the PLs and gear you've accumulated? I have enough Mabar motes & scales to build myself a level 20 Robe so I am looking to at least roll a character before the event ends in the near future. Drow, WF, 32-pt builds, and a Vet2 start are all on the table here. I could definitely see going WF AM for a first life and keeping the Robe in the wings for later, but I thought that I would at least ask for opinions from those more experienced than I am. Thanks in advance!

[Andoris]

As far as starting a new PM... I am looking at rolling a first lifer and would not be targeting EEs. Would you then recommend going Elf for that first life, since I won't be hitting reasonable EE-level DCs anyway without the PLs and gear you've accumulated? I have enough Mabar motes & scales to build myself a level 20 Robe so I am looking to at least roll a character before the event ends in the near future. Drow, WF, 32-pt builds, and a Vet2 start are all on the table here. I could definitely see going WF AM for a first life and keeping the Robe in the wings for later, but I thought that I would at least ask for opinions from those more experienced than I am. Thanks in advance!

For a first lifer I would personally go human (click here for reasoning), although WF Archmage is fine as well -- either will work as you are really just looking to get to 20 and then TR.

Elf also works (spell pen is helpful if you are doing MOTU content), but unless you are planning on spending a lot of time at 20+, I would go human (extra HP & SP) hit lvl 20, then TR again (you want at least 1 wizard PL). As for Mabar robes, I would craft a lvl 12 and a lvl 20 version, they will be very helpful while leveling.

[Devachan]

Guys, I note that Andoris has Waves of Exhaustion in his lvl 7 spell line-up.

When is this spell useful? I know it used to be for debuffing red names. Does it still work? Is the effect worthwhile given mob stat inflation in the last 4 updates or so? I am thinking of going with banishment instead, but interested to hear your thoughts.

[EllisDee37]

I noticed in the recently linked post (where you recommend human for new players instead of drow) that you mention using cure pots for 1-11.

I've recently rolled up a drow pure wizard to use as an epic challenge farmer. He's stalled at level 8 while I do other things, but I've been using zombie form on him and I like it quite a bit. Notably because I'm also using the pet (he's gonna be a challenge farmer, remember) and keeping death aura up to heal both me and the pet has a nice synergy.

For a new player I'd recommend zombie form + aggressively pursuing the pet line for levels 1-11, at which point maybe dump the pet when you get wraith form. Still, it's nice to have a lever puller without needing a hire.

[Andoris]

I noticed in the recently linked post (where you recommend human for new players instead of drow) that you mention using cure pots for 1-11.

I've recently rolled up a drow pure wizard to use as an epic challenge farmer. He's stalled at level 8 while I do other things, but I've been using zombie form on him and I like it quite a bit. Notably because I'm also using the pet (he's gonna be a challenge farmer, remember) and keeping death aura up to heal both me and the pet has a nice synergy.

For a new player I'd recommend zombie form + aggressively pursuing the pet line for levels 1-11, at which point maybe dump the pet when you get wraith form. Still, it's nice to have a lever puller without needing a hire.

I primarily recommended human over Drow due to the HP issue. A first life drow in seriously gimped in the HP department if they choose to max out Int (and if they are not maxing out Int -- then why bother). In addition, most first lifers are not going to have access to Twink gear or large quantities of currency to overcome that issue. Hence the recommendation for Human -- it is just easier while leveling a first lifer (also assuming a fairly new player as well).

As for using the pet to pull levers -- that is a great use for them and good if you solo a lot. I suppose they could be useful at the very low levels, but at low levels, fireball clears rooms anyways. If you find value in them go with what works for you. I personally don't use Zombie form as it is too slow and I can heal myself fine with pots, its not a bad form in principle, but the slow movement speed kills it for me. If you can stand the incredibly slow movement, then it is not a bad tool to use from 6-11. For my personal play style, it would never work though.

If you are looking for a challenge farmer, I have always found that pure arties completely dominate the Cannith challenges (blade barrier for the win).

[Andoris]

Guys, I note that Andoris has Waves of Exhaustion in his lvl 7 spell line-up.

When is this spell useful? I know it used to be for debuffing red names. Does it still work? Is the effect worthwhile given mob stat inflation in the last 4 updates or so? I am thinking of going with banishment instead, but interested to hear your thoughts.

Wave's of Exhaustion is mostly there because it was never taken off (a bit of inertia at play here). I honestly can't think of the last time I cast that spell. Might do some testing and see if the slow effect still works, if so I'll likely use it a bit more, otherwise; banishment is a decent choice or I might stop carrying scrolls of Greater Teleport and just slot it as a spell instead.

[EllisDee37]

I primarily recommended human over Drow due to the HP issue.
[...]
I personally don't use Zombie form as it is too slow and I can heal myself fine with pots, its not a bad form in principle, but the slow movement speed kills it for me. If you can stand the incredibly slow movement, then it is not a bad tool to use from 6-11. For my personal play style, it would never work though.

Zombie form has no movement penalty. It does get a "staggering walk" animation for movement, which is pretty funny to watch while using the phiarlan pendant of time. It's like Benny Hill zombies. But in terms of walking around, zombies move just as fast as vampires, wraiths, liches, and non-undead wizards.

It does have a penalty on melee attack speed, which is comically painful if you ever break barrels with your hands. Luckily we get sonic blast for breakables.

The best feature of zombie form (apart from the innate self-healing) is that it also helps the new player HP issues quite a bit by giving +2 con and DR 5/slashing. Plus 100% fort and undead immunities, of course. What makes it bad for wizards in general is the -2 int penalty, but for levels 1-11 your int will be way OP anyway, especially if drow.

If you are looking for a challenge farmer, I have always found that pure arties completely dominate the Cannith challenges (blade barrier for the win).

Artie doesn't appeal to me for either a heroic or epic challenge farmer. For heroic levels it moves way too slow compared to a monk. For epic I wouldn't want to solo sunset ritual without dball under any circumstances.

The biggest drawback for an artie challenge farmer is the lack of DDoor, which I use extensively. Of course artie can work, and work well, but in terms of using a hcaracter slot for a dedicated challenge farmer, artie would be a sub-optimal choice.

[Andoris]

Zombie form has no movement penalty. It does get a "staggering walk" animation for movement, which is pretty funny to watch while using the phiarlan pendant of time. It's like Benny Hill zombies. But in terms of walking around, zombies move just as fast as vampires, wraiths, liches, and non-undead wizards.

It does have a penalty on melee attack speed, which is comically painful if you ever break barrels with your hands. Luckily we get sonic blast for breakables.

The best feature of zombie form (apart from the innate self-healing) is that it also helps the new player HP issues quite a bit by giving +2 con and DR 5/slashing. Plus 100% fort and undead immunities, of course. What makes it bad for wizards in general is the -2 int penalty, but for levels 1-11 your int will be way OP anyway, especially if drow.

Good info, I personally haven't gone into zombie form since a first rolled up a PM (quite a few years ago). I still don't think I would use it, but for a new player (not a lot of plat for pots), it could be an option for levels 7-11. I wouldn't recommend using it without NEB and death aura, but afterwards it could work. You just need to be very careful with the light damage. At that level (if you are a new player) your unlikely to have the HP and Neg spell power to deal well with searing light, which is spammed a lot at those levels (Delera's for example).

[ChiefJustice]

Hi Andoris. Great guide!

I am looking for cheap crowd control on my shortmen-group pale trapper.
Will the web sla work in epic elites decently well?
If so, I am thinking about taking conjuration instead of enchantment for my secondary focus.
Feedback from you or others would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Andoris]

Hi Andoris. Great guide!

I am looking for cheap crowd control on my shortmen-group pale trapper.
Will the web sla work in epic elites decently well?
If so, I am thinking about taking conjuration instead of enchantment for my secondary focus.
Feedback from you or others would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Personally I rarely use web, not due to any particular reason, mostly just due to play style. So, my answer will rest more on theory than actual practice.

Web:

• Conjuration spell school allows for max DC 70
• Unique Save mechanics (Reflex save, then Str check) -- Better against casters
• Persistent (30 sec) and requires multiple saves during that time
• Removed by careless AOE (Friend or Foe)
• Cheap Spell point cost if using Archmage SLA, however; that would remove the cheap enervation sla (far more valuable imo)

Holds:

• Enchantment spell -- max DC 67
• Targets will save - typically better against non-caster mobs
• Places affected mobs into a "helpless" state, granting +25% to 95% damage (depending on twists & enhancements) as well as Sneak Attack damage
• Easy visual cue to which mobs are affected (blue circles are hard to miss)
• Fairly expensive to cast (~56 sp)

Looking at the above, I stand by my decision to go with holds over web as my primary CC tool. First, with enchantment I have multiple options of CC (mass hold person & monster + Ottos) and multiple debuffs (hypno, Crushing Dispair, Mind Fog etc); where with conjuration I only have web (spl & spell) with no dedicated debuffs. Second, the helpless state is a major increase to party damage which vastly speeds up the quest. The third major reason is that some of the most dangerous mobs (shadow kai assassins) have fairly high reflex saves, and fairly low will saves. If I see them, I want to throw CC instantly and know that it is going to stop them.

All that being said, if you have three cleric PL's and want to play with web as your primary CC tool, go for it, and let us know how it works. As for me, it stays in the spell list, but mostly fills out a niche role with how I play.

I would love to hear from someone that has more practical experience throwing webs around in U19 EE's -- I will likely play around more with it in the next few days myself.

[Andoris]

I am debating on swapping my U19 EE destiny option from Magister to Draconic. The move will cost me 1 point on all my DC's, which is effectively a 5% loss in spell success and the equivalent of ~300 sp (SP savings from Arcane Adept). Draconic gets me Energy Burst and Dragon Breath, which when coupled with mass hold and sense weakness pushes 6k-10k in damage to 15+ mobs when you can hold a pack. Typically, an energy burst + dragon breath doesn't kill all of them (~14k or so combined damage to each mob), but it does greatly weaken them, allowing the other party members to mop up the mobs quickly.

I played around with it last night in EE WGU and my holds were still mostly effective, although I did notice a few more than usual get through the CC, requiring a recast. The loss of Arcane Adept cost me a SP pot at the end, but I am more than willing to spend a pot here or there to greatly speed up a quest, which the change accomplished.

I will say that as a player I was slightly less effective at making sure everything was controlled, due to my greater focus in rounding up large groups in a hold to energy burst. A few assassins slipped past my notice, but as long as the rest of the party is paying attention it isn't too big of a deal. Finger of Death still had a high enough DC to kill casters/assassins after a enervation, so I don't think the DC loss is a big deal there.

Revised DCs: Enchantment: 65, Necromancy: 62, Conj/Illusion - 57, Evocation - 54

Destiny – Draconic:
Intelligence (6), Energy Sheath [Electric] (2), Go out with a bang (2), Energy Burst: Electric (2), Dragon Heritage: Electric (3), Draconic Knowledge (2), Dragon Breath (1)
Twists: Fury of the Wild: Sense Weakness (4), Magister: Enchantment Specialist (2), Shadow Dancer: Intelligence (1)

I am going to play with it some more over the next few days before I make a decision on which direction I want to go.

As always, I would love to get your feedback and thoughts

[Panzermeyer]

Typically, an energy burst + dragon breath doesn't kill all of them (~14k or so combined damage to each mob), but it does greatly weaken them, allowing the other party members to mop up the mobs quickly.

As always, I would love to get your feedback and thoughts

Personally the biggest thing I really don't like or care for about the newest quests on EE is the amount of time and resources that are required to get the quests complete. It is a big turn off in doing the quests on EE.

If the sad change makes for an EE quest ending quicker and thus ultimately saving everyone resources, then I personally am all for that kind of change.

The only thing I would really comment on your layout of the destiny.

If you are often mainly looking for CC on EE, would it make sense to try and switch it up a bit to get one of the CC effects on your breath, like Paralying or something. It seems to be a straight up percentage rather than a DC check. And extra 15% for paralyzing, or slow or sleep seems like it would be worth it and might mitigate what you are missing by the decrease in your DCs.

[Andoris]

Personally the biggest thing I really don't like or care for about the newest quests on EE is the amount of time and resources that are required to get the quests complete. It is a big turn off in doing the quests on EE.

If the sad change makes for an EE quest ending quicker and thus ultimately saving everyone resources, then I personally am all for that kind of change.

The only thing I would really comment on your layout of the destiny.

If you are often mainly looking for CC on EE, would it make sense to try and switch it up a bit to get one of the CC effects on your breath, like Paralying or something. It seems to be a straight up percentage rather than a DC check. And extra 15% for paralyzing, or slow or sleep seems like it would be worth it and might mitigate what you are missing by the decrease in your DCs.

The only time I would use dragon breath is after I already have all the mobs held, and then use it in conjunction with Energy Burst (I want the extra damage from sense weakness). I haven't personally played with the breath effects, but unless the percentage chance is above 95% I can't see it worth it. I would prefer to just throw a mass hold and get the extra helpless damage.

Resource usage actually goes up with this change, but time goes down. That is a trade I am good with, but wanted to clarify -- I am trading resources (SP pots) for Time.

[Panzermeyer]

Resource usage actually goes up with this change, but time goes down. That is a trade I am good with, but wanted to clarify -- I am trading resources (SP pots) for Time.

By resources I was referring to the resources of a party as whole. I would suspect completing an EE quest in quicker time would allow the whole party to save more resources overall, overtime, even if it requires a pot or two that I would not have used previously.