PrE & gear advice needed

[undercover69]

Hello folks!

I'm about to TR for the 1st time ever. I already have my true druidic heart of wood and made a hp + conc-op googles.
My plan is to just get to 20 and TR again. I am/was sorc and going to TR into a WF wiz.

First question is, which is better to level up, an archmage (evo or ench?) or a PM?
And what gear should I go for? I already have the GS googles, blademark's docent (need a better one for levels 13+, was thinking of a DT so I could slot greater false life and some nice guard), and in the process of acquiring a ring of the master artificer.

Thank you!

[Sarzor]

On my WF casters, I'm partial to:
Gloves of Titan's Grip (unsupressed)
Quorforged Docent of Battle (unsupressed)
Infused Chaos docent

Other pieces of gear, which you should already have:
Torc - Makes a huge difference in long quests
ConOp (which I saw)
SP GS item - I tend to do head or gloves on wizards, but think what you plan to sear and go from there
ToD rings - I have a STR +3CON and INT +3INT as they worked best for me
Stormreacer's napkin - Nice until you get to your ToD ring or fill out your specialized DCs
Bracers of the Glacier - archmagi and spell pen 8 at level 13 is pretty nice
Some weapons for whatever spell types you plan to focus in. I tend to go fire and acid on my wizards, but personal pref
Carnifex as you'll be melee-ing up to about level 10
Abishai set for the same reason
Fill in the blanks with tomes you need, particularly INT and CON on a wiz

That being said, if you're set on doing WF, then go archmage. You lose alot of the WF abilities if you go PM, namely the ability to heal yourself with repair spells. PM is kinda borked, but as a human PM, you can wear the upgraded Abbott robe or the Robe of Shadows, both of which help massively. And as a PM, you're immune to the demon consort bracers, which also help massively with survivability.

[undercover69]

On my WF casters, I'm partial to:
Gloves of Titan's Grip (unsupressed)
Quorforged Docent of Battle (unsupressed)
Infused Chaos docent

Other pieces of gear, which you should already have:
Torc - Makes a huge difference in long quests
ConOp (which I saw)
SP GS item - I tend to do head or gloves on wizards, but think what you plan to sear and go from there
ToD rings - I have a STR +3CON and INT +3INT as they worked best for me
Stormreacer's napkin - Nice until you get to your ToD ring or fill out your specialized DCs
Bracers of the Glacier - archmagi and spell pen 8 at level 13 is pretty nice
Some weapons for whatever spell types you plan to focus in. I tend to go fire and acid on my wizards, but personal pref
Carnifex as you'll be melee-ing up to about level 10
Abishai set for the same reason
Fill in the blanks with tomes you need, particularly INT and CON on a wiz

That being said, if you're set on doing WF, then go archmage. You lose alot of the WF abilities if you go PM, namely the ability to heal yourself with repair spells. PM is kinda borked, but as a human PM, you can wear the upgraded Abbott robe or the Robe of Shadows, both of which help massively. And as a PM, you're immune to the demon consort bracers, which also help massively with survivability.

Thanks a lot! Very informative, +1!
I'm not dead set on WF but the ability to heal myself whenever I want is hard to pass by.

[Kinerd]

Either PM or AM are fine, you can self-heal as both.

I would say AM is easier to level because you pick up your DCs as you go rather than in a lump at 18. You also have less conflict over level 4 spell slots: a serious PM needs Death Aura and Negative Energy Burst, but every caster at level 7 wants Wall of Fire, and there are plenty of other good level 4 spells. They're both very strong characters, though, leveling and at cap.

I would say if you never tried WF as a sorc, try WF AM (Necro / Conj). If you were WF sorc, try WF PM. Maybe you'll like it.

[DynaTheCat]

If you roll a WF, go AM.

If you roll a human / drow, go PM.

[undercover69]

Either PM or AM are fine, you can self-heal as both.

I would say AM is easier to level because you pick up your DCs as you go rather than in a lump at 18. You also have less conflict over level 4 spell slots: a serious PM needs Death Aura and Negative Energy Burst, but every caster at level 7 wants Wall of Fire, and there are plenty of other good level 4 spells. They're both very strong characters, though, leveling and at cap.

I would say if you never tried WF as a sorc, try WF AM (Necro / Conj). If you were WF sorc, try WF PM. Maybe you'll like it.

Very good insights, thank you!
About the specs, are you sure about Necro/Conj? I was thinking Evo/Conj was the best to level up althought never tried.

[Xandos]

Sarzor gave you a good list if you want to invest a lot of time farming raids, but for me that is a big time investment in items I won't wear for very long.

I TR multiple characters that are all on various lives so try to prepare things that are crafted or BtA so I can pass them around as needed. But a lot of the gear is very good even if you only intend to play one character.


Challenge gear, all BtA:
Ring of the Master Artifice (lvl 8, lvl 16 t2) Good for any caster WF lives
Rock boots (lvl 12, lvl 16 t2) (i'm a fan of acid, and the slippery surfance immunity is nice to carry on melee lives as well)
Bracers of Wind (lvl 4 for perm blur, lvl 16 t2 for 3% dodge and lvl 20 lightning bonus)
Cloak of Flames (lvl 4) I'll be running more fire spells early

BtA Quest Items:
Belashyrra's Cleansed Scepter (I have a cold version, which is nice as a WF given you can't use the frozen tunic).
Infused Chaos Docent (As mentioned by Sarzor - slot this with +10 reflex saves)
Cannith Boots (Striding + jumping to levers in Devils)
Fabricator's Gauntlets (The +5 to all saves is nice)

Some crafted items can be very nice e.g.:
+6 Dexterity ring of Persuasion with a yellow slot (slot in +5 to some stat or something else)

BtC Items that can be a bit of a grind are also the Skiver, Blue Dragonscale Docent

Must have BtC Item is the Unsurpassed Vibrant Purple Ioun Stone for the 200 sp and +2 spell pen.

[undercover69]

Sarzor gave you a good list if you want to invest a lot of time farming raids, but for me that is a big time investment in items I won't wear for very long.

I TR multiple characters that are all on various lives so try to prepare things that are crafted or BtA so I can pass them around as needed. But a lot of the gear is very good even if you only intend to play one character.


Challenge gear, all BtA:
Ring of the Master Artifice (lvl 8, lvl 16 t2) Good for any caster WF lives
Rock boots (lvl 12, lvl 16 t2) (i'm a fan of acid, and the slippery surfance immunity is nice to carry on melee lives as well)
Bracers of Wind (lvl 4 for perm blur, lvl 16 t2 for 3% dodge and lvl 20 lightning bonus)
Cloak of Flames (lvl 4) I'll be running more fire spells early

BtA Quest Items:
Belashyrra's Cleansed Scepter (I have a cold version, which is nice as a WF given you can't use the frozen tunic).
Infused Chaos Docent (As mentioned by Sarzor - slot this with +10 reflex saves)
Cannith Boots (Striding + jumping to levers in Devils)
Fabricator's Gauntlets (The +5 to all saves is nice)

Some crafted items can be very nice e.g.:
+6 Dexterity ring of Persuasion with a yellow slot (slot in +5 to some stat or something else)

BtC Items that can be a bit of a grind are also the Skiver, Blue Dragonscale Docent

Must have BtC Item is the Unsurpassed Vibrant Purple Ioun Stone for the 200 sp and +2 spell pen.

Thank you! That helps a lot

[jbleargh]

Hello folks!

I'm about to TR for the 1st time ever. I already have my true druidic heart of wood and made a hp + conc-op googles.
My plan is to just get to 20 and TR again. I am/was sorc and going to TR into a WF wiz.

First question is, which is better to level up, an archmage (evo or ench?) or a PM?
And what gear should I go for? I already have the GS googles, blademark's docent (need a better one for levels 13+, was thinking of a DT so I could slot greater false life and some nice guard), and in the process of acquiring a ring of the master artificer.

Thank you!

I recently TRed a first life Human Pale Master to a WF Archmage (Evo/conj for web and magic/chain missiles slas).

Pale master feels more powerful at heroic lvls where finger/wail/circle works well and the aura and burst are enough to keep the red bar in good shape.

My WF AM could only hope to land a finger with a generous dose of energy drain and circle/wail (not sure if it is only lack of DC...maybe the nerf or new bug) were not reliable enough to be safe to use.

The WF AM upside in heroic lvls, IME, is the free Web sla and quickened reconstruct.

Lvl 20+ things change with epic destinies and mob damage are numbers higher than the aura can cope, but if your plan is to TR immediately, IMHO, the easier path is human/drow PM.

Dragontouch is too much work for something that is not very useful at lvl20+... and you will probably be lvl 20 before make one.

Gear... The single best thing to farm before TR with blue bar is a Vibrant Purple Ion Stone... 200 extra SP at lvl 5 makes a huge difference.

As others said Infused Chaos robe and Belashira Sceptre are nice... but you probably will want to get a Sustaining Symbiont to get rid of the negative effects that come with these items.

You can also make a cheap Elfcrafted docent before the Infused Chaos Docent or a more expensive Blue Scale that is useful from lvl 14 till lvl 20.

[DynaTheCat]

I suggest you make a good wizard.

Hope that helps.

[Apoxia]

If you plan on TRing at 20 again it doesn't really matter what PrE you go, but the general rule of thumb is:
Fleshie -> PM
Robot Master Race - AM

[-Zephyr-]

The PrE you will choose doesn't really matter for leveling.
On my wiz lives done just for past lives, I sometimes didn't take any PrE at all till 18 (where I took Lich Form). It may help getting more important feats sooner.

Remember, you can go 7-17 using just wall of fire/acid rain. PrEs barely do anything for those.

[undercover69]

I recently TRed a first life Human Pale Master to a WF Archmage (Evo/conj for web and magic/chain missiles slas).

Pale master feels more powerful at heroic lvls where finger/wail/circle works well and the aura and burst are enough to keep the red bar in good shape.

My WF AM could only hope to land a finger with a generous dose of energy drain and circle/wail (not sure if it is only lack of DC...maybe the nerf or new bug) were not reliable enough to be safe to use.

The WF AM upside in heroic lvls, IME, is the free Web sla and quickened reconstruct.

Lvl 20+ things change with epic destinies and mob damage are numbers higher than the aura can cope, but if your plan is to TR immediately, IMHO, the easier path is human/drow PM.

Dragontouch is too much work for something that is not very useful at lvl20+... and you will probably be lvl 20 before make one.

Gear... The single best thing to farm before TR with blue bar is a Vibrant Purple Ion Stone... 200 extra SP at lvl 5 makes a huge difference.

As others said Infused Chaos robe and Belashira Sceptre are nice... but you probably will want to get a Sustaining Symbiont to get rid of the negative effects that come with these items.

You can also make a cheap Elfcrafted docent before the Infused Chaos Docent or a more expensive Blue Scale that is useful from lvl 14 till lvl 20.

Thanks a lot! Good to know about the symbiont. Very informative!

If you plan on TRing at 20 again it doesn't really matter what PrE you go, but the general rule of thumb is:
Fleshie -> PM
Robot Master Race - AM

The PrE you will choose doesn't really matter for leveling.
On my wiz lives done just for past lives, I sometimes didn't take any PrE at all till 18 (where I took Lich Form). It may help getting more important feats sooner.

Remember, you can go 7-17 using just wall of fire/acid rain. PrEs barely do anything for those.

Thanks guys! Rings true to me, enough worrying about PrE!

[psykopeta]

sorc pl + wf = am evoker imho

u get +1 dc on evo (yay!! well, at least is something rofl)

like they pointed wall of fire, get it asap, then you can splash(if you wish lol)
gear? bluescale is nice, before you can use it the ml10 stuff in gh(bartender relics) is useful too
VPIS is a must, w/o that 200 sp you will suffer when soloing, not much with groups if you manage your sp wisely

btw, wiz isn't a sorc, don't expect to erase mobs, it take more time and/or sp, so park on your wall of fire and wait for em to die XDDDD

beholder's plate with +2 dc's crafted is quite nice for a WF if you don't wanna craft a bluescale

and as evoker you will have pretty cheap SLA's spam em like mad!!XD

[Kinerd]

Very good insights, thank you!
About the specs, are you sure about Necro/Conj? I was thinking Evo/Conj was the best to level up althought never tried.

Welcome!

The thing about Evo is you really don't have the SP or palette to nuke well anyway as a low level wizard, and because Evasion types at low levels are few and far between a point or two of DC here and there doesn't really help you, especially when some of your best DD spells don't have Evo saves at all: Niac's Cold Ray is Conjuration, Scorching Ray has no save, Acid Blast is Conjuration, and once you get to the level 4 persistent AoEs saves are totally meaningless. By 15, our slower cooldowns relative to sorcs make it hard to use no-save DD spells of any kind against most (though not all) targets: both DoTs, Polar Ray, and BDB leave room for about one spell.

By going Conj first and then switching to Necky/Conj, you get SLA Web which lets you CC with SP-impunity. You switch at level 12, which also happens to be when you've started building up your Necro arsenal, right between Circle and Finger.

That's how I see it, anyway.