"Strimtom's Forceful Hand" a self limiting wizard challenge build guide.

[Strimtom]

Disclaimer: This is a self limiting challenge build. If you are playing this build and finding it worse than a build which isn't limiting, that is the point. This build is also VERY OLD. The updated and better and more fun version can be found here.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Strimtom, author of Strimtom's Acid Arrow and I am here to share my two time emmy nomination winning build for the wizard class. The idea was to build a wizard using the newly revamped Arch-mage enhancement tree. Not only that, this build aims to focus 100% on force damage and spells that scale off force damage. If you are looking for a guide That will teach you how to play wizard well, or give you an easy time leveling through wizard, just stop reading. This is a self limiting challenge. Also, don't play this unless you are a masochist.

Lets start with the pros and cons:

Pros

• Early levels will require a lot of thinking and strategy if you wish to play solo, providing more depth to the gameplay.
• Force spells look really cool, especially Arcane Blast.
• Almost no creatures are immune to force damage allowing you to keep blasting away without fear.
• People will message you asking what spell you are casting when you cast Arcane Blast because nobody has seen it before.
• Will'o'wisps are very easy to kill with such high force damage.
• Any employer seeing this challenge on a resume will instantly hire you.
• My mom thinks this build is pretty cool.

Cons

• It's really hard until level 12.
• Like seriously, you do almost no damage until level 12 with spells.
• Not having access to instant death spells will force you to use crowd control if you didn't before.
• This build still can't make Elminster talk faster.

Rules

1. Cannot use damage spells that do not scale using Force Spellpower. Spells like Ice Storm that scale off force spell power are allowed. Spells that are excluded include Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Polar Ray, Cone of Cold. (You know, the good spells)
2. Must be a pure wizard and not multi-class.
3. Cannot put points into the Pale Master Enhancement Tree.
4. Cannot use any spells from the necromancy school.
5. Extreme challenge: Play this build without being a warforged. Doing this will give you 1000000 challenge points.

The Meat

This build is challenging. Most of your damage spells will have decent cooldowns, meaning your single target spells will not keep up with the damage that almost any other player will be pumping out, especially before you hit level 12. The damage output is low, and you have almost no area of effect until you get arcane blast.

Starting Race
Play a warforged. Warforged can heal themselves and are able to have a much higher life total that other races. Free fortification is also fantastic. Wizards get so many bonus feats that if you take adamantine plating at level 15, you can use a -10% arcane spell failure sapphire and some points in the warforged/eldritch knight tree to get 0% spell failure and some good PRR and Armor.

If you go for ultimate super challenge of not playing warforged, I recommend Drow. Better DC's, built in spell resistance is good, and bonus intelligence from the tree. Not as tanky, but still versatile.

Starting Stats
Strength - This only affects carrying capacity. I like having 16 by end game, so starting with an 8, +2 from ship buff, and a +6 or better item is plenty. Strength has no other purpose.
Dexterity - I don't even know what this does. Avoid this stat.
Constitution - Gives you more life. The more life the better, so get this as high as possible.
Intelligence - Spell DC, mana, skill points. Also gives you more languages, but this ain't no pen and paper game, son. Max this for days.
Wisdom - This gives will saves so it's kinda good?
Charisma - Robots aren't nice, so this stat being low helps you RP. Just remember to chat entirely in grunts with your score of 6.
Ideal stats are as follows:


Skills
You're so smart you get a billion skill points. Lets talk about how to spend them.

1. Spellcraft - Gives Damages. You need the damages.
2. Repair - Heals yourself and your warforged friends. What's not to like?
3. Concentration - You will likely quicken every spell you cast, but just in case you should max this. Good for early levels.
4. Use Magic Device - Being able to raise teammates from the dead is awesome. They will most likely be raising you from the dead but that's not the point.
5. Balance - Wolves trip you, and that is bad. Use this to get up.
6. Swim - No cap on this skill, so maxing this and using merfolks blessing gives hilarious speeds that are faster than walking. I mean, why not swim super fast?
7. Haggle - Gotta get the best deal amirite

If you have extra points, put em anywhere. I used Diplomacy for being able to talk to guys in the crucible.
Feats
These are the feats I took as a warforged.
Level 1 - Mental Toughness, Maximize Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 3 - Quicken Spell
Level 5 - Empower Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 6 - Insightful Reflexes
Level 9 - Spell Focus Evocation
Level 10 - Greater Spell Focus Evocation (Bonus Feat)
Level 12 - Heighten Spell
Level 15 - Adamantine Plating, Extend Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 18 - Improved Mental Toughness
Level 20 - Spell Focus Enchantment (Bonus Feat)

These feats give you the best options for damage, crowd control, and survivablity. Regardless as to whether you are warforged or not, take Insightful Reflexes. It's too good to pass up.

Enhancements
This is what defines the build.
46 Points

The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
All Core Enhancements - Awesome Spell-like abilities that can be enhanced by all your meta magic feats with no additional cost. Chain missiles, Fire Shield, and Cyclonic blast are amazing spells.
Arcane Blast and Arcane Bolt - Most of your damage comes from here. Now that they scale with 100% spell power and they are affected by all meta magic feats these two abilities become very potent and integral to your ability to deal huge amounts of damage.
Efficient Metamagic - You don't need to take all of these, but I highly recommend efficient quicken as you should always have quicken spell on.
Spell Critical:Elemental and Force - So much crit, you super need this. Elemental crit doesn't matter, what matters is the 6% force critical that you get.

22 Points

This tree is almost exclusively about survivability.
The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
Construct Toughness - Gives you life, what's not to love?
Inscribed Armor - Needed for being able to cast spells with adamantine plating.
Improved Body: Adamantine Durability - 10 PRR is almost 10% less physical damage taken, very useful to have.

12 Points

This tree is almost exclusively about allowing the use of adamantine plating without sacrificing spellcasting.
The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
Spellsword - This gives you -5% Arcane Spell Failure from both your armor and shield, allowing you to reliable equip a shield.
Toughness - You should already know how I feel about more life.
Shield Training - -5% Arcane Spell Failure when using a shield. This is fantastic since with this you can get away with a 5% spell failure and still hold a shield.
Light Armor Proficiency - -5% Spell failure with your armor. Even though it says light armor proficiency, it still helps with adamantine plating spell failure. Keep in mind, this does not affect the spell failure of shields.

With these trees, the path is simple.

1. Put all your points into Arch-mage Tree
2. Put Warforged Tree once you have extra points.
3. Fill out your Arcane spell failure from Eldritch Knight and Warforged Tree before level 15
4. Spend the rest of your points on Life in the Warforged tree.

If you follow this build, you will certainly feel bad for not playing a better and more helpful character/

Items
I just used loot gen for this character. Anything that gives Impulse, Insightful Impulse, Kinetic Lore, Reconstruction, Insightful Reconstruction, and intelligence is what you should look for. If you are trying a challenge build you should already be aware to get items that give you constitution, saving throws, and false life. I can't think of any named items that really really helped aside from Voice of the Master.

The Gameplay

This character has a very slow ramp up time to becoming playable. You will want to be melee for a little while, since using only magic missile for damage from level 1 until 5 is quite the test of patience. Spells you might not have normally used, like Web, Hold Monster, Hypnotic Pattern, Gust of Wind, Power-word Stun become significantly more useful once you realize that killing monsters is very infrequently the best option for a long time.

Time to focus on the level by level information.
Level 1
Start out by buying the barbarian hireling Byron Swordscout. He will solo all quests that are level 1 and 2 for you on elite. You don't do damage. You don't do anything. In fact, just join groups and let people kill stuff for you. If you are with other warforged, heal them and keep them topped up. Being helpful is something you can't do until level 3, so just wait.

Level 2
Are you having fun playing a Byron Swordscout waterboy? I hope so, because you will keep doing that. Let Byron kill everyone and everything, and just walk behind him keeping his ass together. Maximized Magic Missile Spell like ability will only do like 6 damage on a 15 second cooldown, so get ready to patiently wait for enemies to get killed by hirelings.

Level 3
I hope you liked helping Byron Swordscout, because now you can start helping Frenzy who will continue to solo all of the quests in the game for you. Take web, web some stuff, and stand around while the game is played without you. Wizards are so darn strong, huh? No scorch, no scorching ray. You'll wonder why you are even playing this game at this point. Will it ever become fun? Probably not. Not for another 40 hours or so. You can get arcane bolt here and start to help, which feels nice, but still deals low damage and has too high of a cool down.

Level 4
Oh boy, still using Frenzy to kill monsters for you. At least you have arcane bolt? You don't get anything as a wizard, so just keep helping Frenzy. He's pretty good at killing monsters. He's mad you are taking all the loot while you watch him do the quests, but that's just the hireling life.

Level 5
Holy cow chain missiles! It costs way too much mana for you to spam so don't even think about it. Keep using frenzy (or any hireling at this point) and just keep them hasted. Melee with haste will do more damage than you could ever even dream of. I mean, it's melee. They do all the damage in every game.

Level 6
This is the first time it will feel kinda good to play this build. The Chain Missiles Spell like ability is super strong. 15 spell points for a maximized empowered quickened fast damage semi-AOE spell? Way better than doing 0 damage with spells. When using this, always try to target the lowest health creature in a group, since the initial hit does much less damage than the missiles that chain off of the first target. You can now begin to help with damage, but don't forget to keep the group hasted if possible.

Level 7
ICE STORM. GET ICE STORM. Now make sure you always quicken and maximize ice storm. You do this because it is too efficient not too, since the damage over time is actually really good. Now you can run to the ends of hallways, dragging about 7 dungeons worth of monsters with you, and let everyone die in your super pumped up ice storm.

Level 8-11
You just keep playing the same way as you have been at level 7. You now have more mana, more damage spells (Magic Missile and SLA, Chain Missile and SLA, Ice Storm, Arcane Bolt) and can sort of keep up in damage. If another wizard joins the group, you will find them killing monsters with good spells like acid blast and fireball before you can even do anything. You get disintegrate at level 11, but unless you have an item that gives you + to transmutation DC's you will find the spell pretty unreliable.

Level 12
This is what you have been training for. This is what your whole life has amounted to. The last 40 hours have probably been terrible while you have suffered and fought and crawled over broken glass to finally achieve this point. Arcane Blast is now in your possession. "But Strimtom", you might utter, "It's just one ability and it's just like fireball. I don't get how this would be much easier." Don't worry, my simple minded friend, you will be rewarded with the best experience you have ever had. Arcane Blast does so much damage, cost only 6 spellpoints, has a 6 second cool down, and looks amazing. You will go from doing less damage than the healer cleric build your friend is running to doing almost as much damage as a poorly optimized barbarian. That's right, I'm talking about clearing groups of monsters in like 8-10 seconds instead of waiting for your team to kill everything for you! It's so amazing, you will never forget this feeling. Similar to skipping lunch and then eating dinner when you get home, it's that perfect level of satisfying. Sure, you're eating a bowl of ramen with some mixed vegetables and a twinkie for desert, but after that long day of eating nothing at all, it's the most satisfying feeling in the world. That's what challenges are about; overcoming them and feeling good about it.

JK it's about bragging that you did something that someone else didn't.

I don't really have any more to tell since the build just takes practice at this point. I do have some pro tips however.

• Spread out enemies are your nightmare. Because you are cool down based you really want to clump enemies so you can hit them all with your arcane blast. Try to use corners to keep enemies clumped together at all times.
• Try more spells! Mass hold person, Power-word stun, Otto's Irresistible dance, summon monster I-IX, Solid fog. There are so many good spells that most people don't end up using.
• Always focus champs first, and prioritize using Crowd Control Effects on the ASAP.

FAQ

Why did you write this?
Like 8 people asked me to make a guide since I was playing it on Stream. this build isn't good, but apparently people wanna play it themselves just to FEEL how bad it is.

Why did you play this?
When I saw the changes to the Archmage tree with update 29 I had to give it a shot. Especially since Master of Knowledge was added to the game I really wanted to try it.

You know, this would be better if you were a pale master.
Get out

Conclusion

Congratulations on leveling to level 20. You have proven that you have no life, don't know what joy feels like, and have no desire to succeed at anything. You are now a masochist, good job. You get 1500 challenge points. What I learned from playing this build is that the archmage enhancements are really strong and would supplement a standard build very nicely. Being able to weave in cheap SLA's that are almost impossible to resist/dodge while doing full damage with other spells is an awesome thing. I feel like many people will swap out of pale master in favor of being a warforged evocation wizard again.

Epic Edit
So I played this build until about level 26, when I TR'd out of excitement for my new arti build. However, I did learn a few things:

• Master of Knowledge is very strong. The extra crit damage is insane. Not so good when only using arcane blast for damage, but it would be bonkers when combined with Draconic Incarnation
• I tried Shiradi and Magister (I avoided Draconic incarnation because of elemental damage). Shiradi was underwhelming since magic missle is less important than just straight damage for this build. Arcane Blast/Bolt don't benefit too much from Shiradi champion. Magister was fun, and I really liked using nullmagic strike/arcane tempest, but Draconic incarnation would be extremely strong with this build.
• Definitly playable up until level 30, I was able to do epic hard right out of the gate (using leveled magister of course). Get a thunderforged weapon for force and go to town.

Try it out as your next life and let me know what you think!

[Maelodic]

I essentially did this until 18- except on a halfling with dragonmarks. So I suppose, the extreme challenge bit counts.

Also damage early isn't ALL that bad. The MM SLA with maximize/empower really helps.

This was back before the enhancement pass and Wizard was really the only class with SLAs. I loved the idea of no save high damage abilities so I built it around that. Ended up switching to PM at level 18 since I tried my brother's a really enjoyed it.

[unbongwah]

BTW, does anyone else read Strimtom's threads in Strong Bad's voice?

"Strimtom's Cool Builds for Attractive People"

[longjohnz]

I saw a bit of your leveling in heroics and can agree that it was quite tedious. But, how did the epic levels go or did you just TR (I missed that part)?

I'm thinking that running in Shiradi with all the force damage and the new feats would be pretty decent. Maybe not the best build ever, but still good.

[Strimtom]

I saw a bit of your leveling in heroics and can agree that it was quite tedious. But, how did the epic levels go or did you just TR (I missed that part)?

I'm thinking that running in Shiradi with all the force damage and the new feats would be pretty decent. Maybe not the best build ever, but still good.

I played until about level 26. Master of Knowledge is super OP. I was having fun critting with Arcane blast for over 6k in magister.

The big issue is that you hit big with Arcane Blast/Bolt, then you wait on damage. If you play this build, but instead of limiting yourself to force spells but instead use all spells it would be extremely strong. Very high DC's, high universal spellpower and +60% Spell crit damage? Splashing in a delayed blast fireball/polar ray everyone once in a while would really glue it together.

Tried shiradi, but the burst was better in magister and I personally like the antimagic strike. Shiradi would also be better for single target if you have Wizard past life, which I did not when I played this. The issue is that if you really want to go Shiradi, you need MM cast speed, not so much actual force damage. Draconic incarnation is probably the best if I was to do this again using elemental spells.

BTW, does anyone else read Strimtom's threads in Strong Bad's voice?

"Strimtom's Cool Builds for Attractive People"

I now hear this when I read over my own builds now. Thank you

[ShadowLordVegas]

I just recently started playing this game in January. Was looking around for info on stuff about my class to fine tune it and came across this post. I know it's rather old but felt like responding. I ran this type of build without warforged or palemaster 1-20 without any issue honestly. Of course I'm a first lifer and still haven't TRed yet. I think my force spell power is around 283 currently. Not greatly geared and no thunderforged or greensteel items as I'm free to play. But a good combination I've found is using master of magic or whatever the epic feat is called. Build it to the full stacks while in draconic epic Destiny and then roar to stun targets and then dragonbreath the group. With my lack of gear and being first lifer so no bonuses I was getting 30k crits on entire groups from 1 dragons breath.

[Liquid_Pyramid]

I absolutely love silly but great builds like these in games and I have decided I'll take your build and take it all the way to 30, for my next life!
Came back to DDO from 6 years ago and used your ranger build to get to my first ever level 20, which really helped me fall in love with the game all over again.

What I would beg you to do for little ol' me and anyone else who stumbles upon this sacred thread:
a list of 20-30 epic feats you'd take
a list of all the slotted epic destiny points that you'd take if you were trying to take this as far as it could go

I understand that these things might be a little bit more straightforward for people who played this game a whole bunch but this will be only my third life and things aren't so obvious to me yet to be able to rely purely on myself for build optimization and such.
I love following builds with everything written down like that so pretty please, whenever you can - it would mean a lot!
Thank you for being awesome~

[cultofthefish]

I remember when archmage first came out (old enhancements) I TR'd my first life human sorcerer into a drow archmage enchanter/evoker.

Ran around and cast 1 sp hypnotism on a room (back when hypno duration was about a minute instead of 6 seconds) then slowly otto's resistable dance them one by one as I plinked away with force damage from arcane bolt and later blast.

I couldn't heal myself beyond a barely useful set of greensteel bracers I made with greater regeneration - man was I disappointed when I finished those!

There was no way to boost arcane bolt/blast damage, but I rocked the Epic Illusionist's Garb, trolling every so often w/ hypnotic pattern and found that disintegrate was surprisingly effective, if costly.

Memories!

[xenon211]

Old thread but nice nostalgia. A challenge that would been extremely easy to complete "within the rules" as written (at the time). Helf, arti dilly, harper int to hit/dmg/kta, elf-AA for bugged imbues. Cheesy way to get around the "intent" of the challenge, but I didn't write the rules.

Wait, come to think of it, other than a rogue splash for traps, that's exactly how I did my wizard life, lol. That was probably one of the easiest lives I ever played, massive damage from AA imbues on a repeater, combo'd with the cc and buffs of a wizard. I miss bugged imbues, ah well. I guess it would still "work" with a bow, but in heroics bows are such crud dps (outside of MS) it'd be faster to kill everything with spells.

[Wanker]

Disclaimer: This is a self limiting challenge build. If you are playing this build and finding it worse than a build which isn't limiting, that is the point.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Strimtom, author of Strimtom's Acid Arrow and I am here to share my two time emmy nomination winning build for the wizard class. The idea was to build a wizard using the newly revamped Arch-mage enhancement tree. Not only that, this build aims to focus 100% on force damage and spells that scale off force damage. If you are looking for a guide That will teach you how to play wizard well, or give you an easy time leveling through wizard, just stop reading. This is a self limiting challenge. Also, don't play this unless you are a masochist.

Lets start with the pros and cons:

Pros

• Early levels will require a lot of thinking and strategy if you wish to play solo, providing more depth to the gameplay.
• Force spells look really cool, especially Arcane Blast.
• Almost no creatures are immune to force damage allowing you to keep blasting away without fear.
• People will message you asking what spell you are casting when you cast Arcane Blast because nobody has seen it before.
• Will'o'wisps are very easy to kill with such high force damage.
• Any employer seeing this challenge on a resume will instantly hire you.
• My mom thinks this build is pretty cool.

Cons

• It's really hard until level 12.
• Like seriously, you do almost no damage until level 12 with spells.
• Not having access to instant death spells will force you to use crowd control if you didn't before.
• This build still can't make Elminster talk faster.

Rules

1. Cannot use damage spells that do not scale using Force Spellpower. Spells like Ice Storm that scale off force spell power are allowed. Spells that are excluded include Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Polar Ray, Cone of Cold. (You know, the good spells)
2. Must be a pure wizard and not multi-class.
3. Cannot put points into the Pale Master Enhancement Tree.
4. Cannot use any spells from the necromancy school.
5. Extreme challenge: Play this build without being a warforged. Doing this will give you 1000000 challenge points.

The Meat

This build is challenging. Most of your damage spells will have decent cooldowns, meaning your single target spells will not keep up with the damage that almost any other player will be pumping out, especially before you hit level 12. The damage output is low, and you have almost no area of effect until you get arcane blast.

Starting Race
Play a warforged. Warforged can heal themselves and are able to have a much higher life total that other races. Free fortification is also fantastic. Wizards get so many bonus feats that if you take adamantine plating at level 15, you can use a -10% arcane spell failure sapphire and some points in the warforged/eldritch knight tree to get 0% spell failure and some good PRR and Armor.

If you go for ultimate super challenge of not playing warforged, I recommend Drow. Better DC's, built in spell resistance is good, and bonus intelligence from the tree. Not as tanky, but still versatile.

Starting Stats
Strength - This only affects carrying capacity. I like having 16 by end game, so starting with an 8, +2 from ship buff, and a +6 or better item is plenty. Strength has no other purpose.
Dexterity - I don't even know what this does. Avoid this stat.
Constitution - Gives you more life. The more life the better, so get this as high as possible.
Intelligence - Spell DC, mana, skill points. Also gives you more languages, but this ain't no pen and paper game, son. Max this for days.
Wisdom - This gives will saves so it's kinda good?
Charisma - Robots aren't nice, so this stat being low helps you RP. Just remember to chat entirely in grunts with your score of 6.
Ideal stats are as follows:


Skills
You're so smart you get a billion skill points. Lets talk about how to spend them.

1. Spellcraft - Gives Damages. You need the damages.
2. Repair - Heals yourself and your warforged friends. What's not to like?
3. Concentration - You will likely quicken every spell you cast, but just in case you should max this. Good for early levels.
4. Use Magic Device - Being able to raise teammates from the dead is awesome. They will most likely be raising you from the dead but that's not the point.
5. Balance - Wolves trip you, and that is bad. Use this to get up.
6. Swim - No cap on this skill, so maxing this and using merfolks blessing gives hilarious speeds that are faster than walking. I mean, why not swim super fast?
7. Haggle - Gotta get the best deal amirite

If you have extra points, put em anywhere. I used Diplomacy for being able to talk to guys in the crucible.
Feats
These are the feats I took as a warforged.
Level 1 - Mental Toughness, Maximize Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 3 - Quicken Spell
Level 5 - Empower Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 6 - Insightful Reflexes
Level 9 - Spell Focus Evocation
Level 10 - Greater Spell Focus Evocation (Bonus Feat)
Level 12 - Heighten Spell
Level 15 - Adamantine Plating, Extend Spell (Bonus Feat)
Level 18 - Improved Mental Toughness
Level 20 - Spell Focus Enchantment (Bonus Feat)

These feats give you the best options for damage, crowd control, and survivablity. Regardless as to whether you are warforged or not, take Insightful Reflexes. It's too good to pass up.

Enhancements
This is what defines the build.
46 Points

The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
All Core Enhancements - Awesome Spell-like abilities that can be enhanced by all your meta magic feats with no additional cost. Chain missiles, Fire Shield, and Cyclonic blast are amazing spells.
Arcane Blast and Arcane Bolt - Most of your damage comes from here. Now that they scale with 100% spell power and they are affected by all meta magic feats these two abilities become very potent and integral to your ability to deal huge amounts of damage.
Efficient Metamagic - You don't need to take all of these, but I highly recommend efficient quicken as you should always have quicken spell on.
Spell Critical:Elemental and Force - So much crit, you super need this. Elemental crit doesn't matter, what matters is the 6% force critical that you get.

22 Points

This tree is almost exclusively about survivability.
The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
Construct Toughness - Gives you life, what's not to love?
Inscribed Armor - Needed for being able to cast spells with adamantine plating.
Improved Body: Adamantine Durability - 10 PRR is almost 10% less physical damage taken, very useful to have.

12 Points

This tree is almost exclusively about allowing the use of adamantine plating without sacrificing spellcasting.
The super important enhancements in this tree are as follows:
Spellsword - This gives you -5% Arcane Spell Failure from both your armor and shield, allowing you to reliable equip a shield.
Toughness - You should already know how I feel about more life.
Shield Training - -5% Arcane Spell Failure when using a shield. This is fantastic since with this you can get away with a 5% spell failure and still hold a shield.
Light Armor Proficiency - -5% Spell failure with your armor. Even though it says light armor proficiency, it still helps with adamantine plating spell failure. Keep in mind, this does not affect the spell failure of shields.

With these trees, the path is simple.

1. Put all your points into Arch-mage Tree
2. Put Warforged Tree once you have extra points.
3. Fill out your Arcane spell failure from Eldritch Knight and Warforged Tree before level 15
4. Spend the rest of your points on Life in the Warforged tree.

If you follow this build, you will certainly feel bad for not playing a better and more helpful character/

Items
I just used loot gen for this character. Anything that gives Impulse, Insightful Impulse, Kinetic Lore, Reconstruction, Insightful Reconstruction, and intelligence is what you should look for. If you are trying a challenge build you should already be aware to get items that give you constitution, saving throws, and false life. I can't think of any named items that really really helped aside from Voice of the Master.

The Gameplay

This character has a very slow ramp up time to becoming playable. You will want to be melee for a little while, since using only magic missile for damage from level 1 until 5 is quite the test of patience. Spells you might not have normally used, like Web, Hold Monster, Hypnotic Pattern, Gust of Wind, Power-word Stun become significantly more useful once you realize that killing monsters is very infrequently the best option for a long time.

Time to focus on the level by level information.
Level 1
Start out by buying the barbarian hireling Byron Swordscout. He will solo all quests that are level 1 and 2 for you on elite. You don't do damage. You don't do anything. In fact, just join groups and let people kill stuff for you. If you are with other warforged, heal them and keep them topped up. Being helpful is something you can't do until level 3, so just wait.

Level 2
Are you having fun playing a Byron Swordscout waterboy? I hope so, because you will keep doing that. Let Byron kill everyone and everything, and just walk behind him keeping his ass together. Maximized Magic Missile Spell like ability will only do like 6 damage on a 15 second cooldown, so get ready to patiently wait for enemies to get killed by hirelings.

Level 3
I hope you liked helping Byron Swordscout, because now you can start helping Frenzy who will continue to solo all of the quests in the game for you. Take web, web some stuff, and stand around while the game is played without you. Wizards are so darn strong, huh? No scorch, no scorching ray. You'll wonder why you are even playing this game at this point. Will it ever become fun? Probably not. Not for another 40 hours or so. You can get arcane bolt here and start to help, which feels nice, but still deals low damage and has too high of a cool down.

Level 4
Oh boy, still using Frenzy to kill monsters for you. At least you have arcane bolt? You don't get anything as a wizard, so just keep helping Frenzy. He's pretty good at killing monsters. He's mad you are taking all the loot while you watch him do the quests, but that's just the hireling life.

Level 5
Holy cow chain missiles! It costs way too much mana for you to spam so don't even think about it. Keep using frenzy (or any hireling at this point) and just keep them hasted. Melee with haste will do more damage than you could ever even dream of. I mean, it's melee. They do all the damage in every game.

Level 6
This is the first time it will feel kinda good to play this build. The Chain Missiles Spell like ability is super strong. 15 spell points for a maximized empowered quickened fast damage semi-AOE spell? Way better than doing 0 damage with spells. When using this, always try to target the lowest health creature in a group, since the initial hit does much less damage than the missiles that chain off of the first target. You can now begin to help with damage, but don't forget to keep the group hasted if possible.

Level 7
ICE STORM. GET ICE STORM. Now make sure you always quicken and maximize ice storm. You do this because it is too efficient not too, since the damage over time is actually really good. Now you can run to the ends of hallways, dragging about 7 dungeons worth of monsters with you, and let everyone die in your super pumped up ice storm.

Level 8-11
You just keep playing the same way as you have been at level 7. You now have more mana, more damage spells (Magic Missile and SLA, Chain Missile and SLA, Ice Storm, Arcane Bolt) and can sort of keep up in damage. If another wizard joins the group, you will find them killing monsters with good spells like acid blast and fireball before you can even do anything. You get disintegrate at level 11, but unless you have an item that gives you + to transmutation DC's you will find the spell pretty unreliable.

Level 12
This is what you have been training for. This is what your whole life has amounted to. The last 40 hours have probably been terrible while you have suffered and fought and crawled over broken glass to finally achieve this point. Arcane Blast is now in your possession. "But Strimtom", you might utter, "It's just one ability and it's just like fireball. I don't get how this would be much easier." Don't worry, my simple minded friend, you will be rewarded with the best experience you have ever had. Arcane Blast does so much damage, cost only 6 spellpoints, has a 6 second cool down, and looks amazing. You will go from doing less damage than the healer cleric build your friend is running to doing almost as much damage as a poorly optimized barbarian. That's right, I'm talking about clearing groups of monsters in like 8-10 seconds instead of waiting for your team to kill everything for you! It's so amazing, you will never forget this feeling. Similar to skipping lunch and then eating dinner when you get home, it's that perfect level of satisfying. Sure, you're eating a bowl of ramen with some mixed vegetables and a twinkie for desert, but after that long day of eating nothing at all, it's the most satisfying feeling in the world. That's what challenges are about; overcoming them and feeling good about it.

JK it's about bragging that you did something that someone else didn't.

I don't really have any more to tell since the build just takes practice at this point. I do have some pro tips however.

• Spread out enemies are your nightmare. Because you are cool down based you really want to clump enemies so you can hit them all with your arcane blast. Try to use corners to keep enemies clumped together at all times.
• Try more spells! Mass hold person, Power-word stun, Otto's Irresistible dance, summon monster I-IX, Solid fog. There are so many good spells that most people don't end up using.
• Always focus champs first, and prioritize using Crowd Control Effects on the ASAP.

FAQ

Why did you write this?
Like 8 people asked me to make a guide since I was playing it on Stream. this build isn't good, but apparently people wanna play it themselves just to FEEL how bad it is.

Why did you play this?
When I saw the changes to the Archmage tree with update 29 I had to give it a shot. Especially since Master of Knowledge was added to the game I really wanted to try it.

You know, this would be better if you were a pale master.
Get out

Conclusion

Congratulations on leveling to level 20. You have proven that you have no life, don't know what joy feels like, and have no desire to succeed at anything. You are now a masochist, good job. You get 1500 challenge points. What I learned from playing this build is that the archmage enhancements are really strong and would supplement a standard build very nicely. Being able to weave in cheap SLA's that are almost impossible to resist/dodge while doing full damage with other spells is an awesome thing. I feel like many people will swap out of pale master in favor of being a warforged evocation wizard again.

Epic Edit
So I played this build until about level 26, when I TR'd out of excitement for my new arti build. However, I did learn a few things:

• Master of Knowledge is very strong. The extra crit damage is insane. Not so good when only using arcane blast for damage, but it would be bonkers when combined with Draconic Incarnation
• I tried Shiradi and Magister (I avoided Draconic incarnation because of elemental damage). Shiradi was underwhelming since magic missle is less important than just straight damage for this build. Arcane Blast/Bolt don't benefit too much from Shiradi champion. Magister was fun, and I really liked using nullmagic strike/arcane tempest, but Draconic incarnation would be extremely strong with this build.
• Definitly playable up until level 30, I was able to do epic hard right out of the gate (using leveled magister of course). Get a thunderforged weapon for force and go to town.

Try it out as your next life and let me know what you think!

@Strimtom I’ve been playing this build (lvl 14 now) and enjoying it. With the new Feywild illusionist tree, you could pick up two more force SLAs giving you six between magic middle, chain middles, arcane bolt, arcane blast, and the two shadow spells. Do you think that makes this build more viable and worth the action point investment?

[Xgya]

This build feels forced.

That is all.

I came around for that single pun. Because I could.

[Strimtom]

Hello everyone. I am Strimtom and I bring a new version of the forceful hand, using MODERN technology to make incredible force scaling and damage. This build has better damage, better sustain, and also was really really fun to play. But enough about words, let me show you with this fun video



Convinced? No? Ok well here is the build anyway.


Character name:
Classes: 17 Wizard, 10 Epic, 3 Rogue
Race: Deep Gnome· · · · · ·Alignment: Neutral

· · ·Start Tome Final · · ·Incorp:· · 10% · · ·Displacement:· ·70%
Str:· · 12· · 0 · ·18 · · ·HP:· · · ·1188 · · ·AC:· · 74
Dex:· · ·8· · 0 · ·12 · · ·PRR: · · · 110
Con:· · 16· · 0 · ·46 · · ·MRR: · · 69/50 · · ·+Healing Amp:· · 70
Int:· · 20· · 2 · ·73 · · ·Dodge: · 13/25 · · ·-Healing Amp:· ·193
Wis:· · 10· · 0 · ·16 · · ·Fort:· · ·242% · · ·Repair Amp:· · · 30
Cha:· · ·6· · 0 · ·12 · · ·SR:· · · · ·44 · · ·BAB: · · · · · · 15
DR:
Immunities: Magic Missiles, Fear, Energy Drain, Freedome of Movement, Magic Missiles, Magic Missiles, Fear, Feather Fall, Magic Missiles, Magic Missiles, Fear

Class and Feat Selection
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Class · · · · · ·Feats
1 · · Wizard(1) · · · ·Standard: Insightful Reflexes
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Metamagic: Maximize Spell
2 · · Rogue(1)· · · · ·
3 · · Wizard(2) · · · ·Standard: Quicken Spell
4 · · Wizard(3) · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
5 · · Wizard(4) · · · ·
6 · · Wizard(5) · · · ·Standard: Spell Focus: Illusion
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Metamagic: Empower Spell
7 · · Wizard(6) · · · ·
8 · · Wizard(7) · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
9 · · Rogue(2)· · · · ·Standard: Toughness
10· · Wizard(8) · · · ·
11· · Wizard(9) · · · ·
12· · Wizard(10)· · · ·Standard: Greater Spell Focus: Illusion
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Metamagic: Extend Spell
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
13· · Wizard(11)· · · ·
14· · Wizard(12)· · · ·
15· · Wizard(13)· · · ·Standard: Toughness
16· · Wizard(14)· · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
17· · Wizard(15)· · · ·Metamagic: Heighten Spell
18· · Wizard(16)· · · ·Standard: Augment Summoning
19· · Wizard(17)· · · ·
20· · Rogue(3)· · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
21· · Epic(1) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Wellspring of Power
22· · Epic(2) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Epic Spell Power: Force
23· · Epic(3) · · · · ·
24· · Epic(4) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Master of Shadowblades
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
25· · Epic(5) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: First Blood
26· · Epic(6) · · · · ·
27· · Epic(7) · · · · ·Epic Feat: Ruin
28· · Epic(8) · · · · ·Epic Destiny Feat: Deific Warding
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Intelligence: +1 Level up
29· · Epic(9) · · · · ·
30· · Epic(10)· · · · ·Epic Feat: Greater Ruin
· · · · · · · · · · · ·Legendary: Scion of the Feywild

Skills
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skill Points· · ·28 14· 8 ·8· 8 ·8· 8 ·9 15 ·9· 9 ·9· 9 ·9· 9 10 10 10 10 16
Skill Name· · · ·01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20· Total Buffed
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Balance · · · · · 2 · · · · · · · · · · · 2 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·2· · 6.0 · 21.0
Bluff · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 23.0
Concentration · · 4 · · · ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·2· · ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 · · ·20.0 · 62.0
Diplomacy · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 18.0
Disable Device· · · ·5· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· ·23.0 · 94.0
Haggle· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 8 ·½· ½ ·½· ½ ·½· ½ ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·5· ·20.0 · 40.0
Heal· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·2· · 2.0 · 19.0
Hide· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 24.0
Intimidate· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 14.0
Jump· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 48.0
Listen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 20.0
Move Silently · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 20.0
Open Lock · · · · · ·5· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· ·23.0 · 64.0
Perform · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 15.0
Repair· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 45.0
Search· · · · · · 2 ·3· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· ·23.0 · 96.0
Spell Craft · · · 4 · · 2 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· 1 ·1· ·23.0 · 74.0
Spot· · · · · · · 2 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 2.0 · 47.0
Swim· · · · · · · 2 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 2.0 · 50.0
Tumble· · · · · · 2 ·1· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 3.0 · 18.0
Use Magic Device· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 0.0 · 20.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Available Points· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0· 0 ·0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enhancements: 80 APs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arch-Mage - Points spent: 23
Core1 Specialization I: Illusion I: Invisibility
Tier1 Spell Critical: Elemental and Force I
Tier1 Subtle Spellcasting - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Efficient Metamagic: Efficient Quicken - 3 Ranks
Core2 Specialization II: Illusion II: Blur
Tier2 Spell Critical: Elemental and Force II
Tier3 Spell Critical: Elemental and Force III
Tier3 Intelligence I
Core3 Specialization III: Illusion III: Displacement
Tier4 Spell Critical: Elemental and Force IV
Core4 Specialization IV: Illusion IV: Phantasmal Killer
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feydark Illusionist - Points spent: 41
Core1 Find Familiar: Fox
Tier1 Twist Reality
Tier1 Study the Arcane - 3 Ranks
Tier2 You've Got My Back
Tier2 Reality Bulwark - 3 Ranks
Core2 Ability I: Intelligence
Tier2 Shadowblade - 3 Ranks
Core3 Greater Color Spray
Tier3 Ability I: Intelligence
Tier3 Magical Attunement I
Tier3 Spell Penetration - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Magical Attunement II
Tier4 Fan of Shadowblades - 3 Ranks
Core4 Ability II: Intelligence
Tier4 Ability II: Intelligence
Tier5 Magical Attunement III
Tier5 Ring of Shadowblades - 3 Ranks
Tier5 Force in Tandem
Tier5 Illusory Augmentation
Core5 Familiar's Reach
Core6 Master Illusionist
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pale Master - Points spent: 16
Core1 Dark Reaping
Tier1 Skeletal Knight - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Negative Energy Conduit - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Spell Critical: Negative Energy I
Core2 Pale Shroud: Shroud of the Lich
Tier2 Spell Critical: Negative Energy II
Core3 Undead Augmentation I: Undead Shock
Tier3 Ability I: +1 Intelligence
Tier3 Negative Energy Adept - 3 Ranks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epic Destinies: 40 APs + 12 permanent Destiny Points
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadowdancer - Points spent: 37
Core1 The Darkest Luck I
Tier1 Well of Darkness - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Technician - 3 Ranks
Core2 The Darkest Luck II
Tier2 Dance in the Dark - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Lithe - 3 Ranks
Tier2 Epic Strike: Nightmare Lance
Core3 The Darkest Luck III
Tier3 Epic Strike Upgrade: Paranoia
Tier3 Spell Focus: Illusion - 3 Ranks
Tier3 Shadowcaster: Shadowcaster
Tier3 Grim Precision - 3 Ranks
Tier4 Bring Darkness
Tier4 Epic Strike Upgrade: Improved Paranoia
Tier5 Shadow Mastery
Tier5 Greater Shadowdancer Spell Focus - 3 Ranks
Tier5 Weird: Weird
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draconic Incarnation - Points spent: 14
Core1 Draconic Bloodline: Draconic Bloodline: Shadow
Tier1 Attune the Arcane
Tier1 Dragonhide - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Arcane Studies - 3 Ranks
Tier1 Draconic Perception - 3 Ranks
Core2 Draconic Heritage
Core3 Elemental Blood
Tier3 Inevitable
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unyielding Sentinel - Points spent: 1
Core1 Ever Watchful
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spell Power · · · · · · ·Base · ·Critical Chance· · Critical Multiplier.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acid· · · · · · · · · · · 638 · · ·26%· · · · · · · · 15
Light/Alignment · · · · · 618 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Cold· · · · · · · · · · · 638 · · ·26%· · · · · · · · 15
Electric· · · · · · · · · 638 · · ·26%· · · · · · · · 15
Evil· · · · · · · · · · · 603 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Fire· · · · · · · · · · · 638 · · ·26%· · · · · · · · 15
Force/Untyped · · · · · · 956 · · ·53%· · · · · · · · 40
Negative· · · · · · · · · 831 · · ·58%· · · · · · · · 15
Physical· · · · · · · · · 603 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Poison· · · · · · · · · · 886 · · ·58%· · · · · · · · 15
Positive· · · · · · · · · 548 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Repair· · · · · · · · · · 574 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Rust· · · · · · · · · · · 574 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 15
Sonic · · · · · · · · · · 569 · · ·20%· · · · · · · · 30
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spells· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · School· · · · ·DC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wizard Spells
L1: Feather Fall· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L1: Jump· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L1: Merfolk's Blessing· · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L1: Nightshield · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L1: Shield· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L2: Gust of Wind· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L2: Hypnotic Pattern· · · · · · · · · · · · Illusion· · · · 85
L2: Knock · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L2: Lesser Death Aura · · · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
L2: Spawn Screen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
L3: Chain Missiles· · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L3: Displacement· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Illusion· · · · 85
L3: Haste · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L3: Magic Circle Against Evil · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L3: Rage· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Enchantment · · 75
L4: Death Aura· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
L4: Dimension Door· · · · · · · · · · · · · Conjuration · · 73
L4: Fire Shield · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L4: Negative Energy Burst · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
L4: Phantasmal Killer · · · · · · · · · · · Illusion· · · · 85
L5: Break Enchantment · · · · · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L5: Cyclonic Blast· · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L5: Eladar's Electric Surge · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L5: Protection from Elements· · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L5: Teleport· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Conjuration · · 73
L6: Disintegrate· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L6: Globe of Invulnerability· · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L6: Greater Dispel Magic· · · · · · · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L6: Greater Heroism · · · · · · · · · · · · Enchantment · · 75
L6: Reconstruct · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Transmutation · 73
L7: Finger of Death · · · · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
L7: Greater Teleport· · · · · · · · · · · · Conjuration · · 73
L7: Otto's Sphere of Dancing· · · · · · · · Enchantment · · 75
L7: Protection from Elements, Mass· · · · · Abjuration· · · 73
L8: Arcane Tempest· · · · · · · · · · · · · Unknown · · · · ·0
L8: Greater Shout · · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L8: Sunburst· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Evocation · · · 74
L9: Weird · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Unknown · · · · ·0
L9: Hold Monster, Mass· · · · · · · · · · · Enchantment · · 75
L9: Wail of the Banshee · · · · · · · · · · Necromancy· · · 73
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spell Like / Special Abilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dismiss Charm · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Ruin· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Greater Ruin· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Greater Color Spray · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Invisibility· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Blur· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Displacement· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Phantasmal Killer · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Dimension Door· · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equipped Gear Set: Standard
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armor · · · · Legendary Robes of the Dreadkeeper· ·Drops in: Quest: Underlane Assignment
· · · · · · · +15 Enhancement Bonus
· · · · · · · Fortification +142%
· · · · · · · Physical Sheltering +33
· · · · · · · Exceptional Universal Spell Power +15
· · · · · · · Exceptional Universal Spell Lore +5%
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Legendary Dreadkeeper
Belt· · · · · Strap of Autumn Leaves· ·Drops in: U48 Any Feywild Quest
· · · · · · · Intelligence +14
· · · · · · · Magical Sheltering +36
· · · · · · · Natural Armor Bonus +14
· · · · · · · Magical Efficiency 10%
· · · · · · · Blue: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Yellow: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Autumn
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
· · · · · · · Filigree 1: Eye of the Beholder: Intelligence
· · · · · · · Filigree 2: Otto's Irrevocable Power: Intelligence
· · · · · · · Filigree 3: Otto's Irrevocable Power: Spell Power
Boots · · · · Legendary Deepsnow Boots· ·Drops in: U48 Quest: A Frosty Reception
· · · · · · · Insightful Constitution +6
· · · · · · · Quality Constitution +3
· · · · · · · Freedom of Movement
· · · · · · · Fortitude Save +10
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Bracers · · · Legendary Necromancer's Bracers · Drops in: Quest: Members Only
· · · · · · · Nullification +142
· · · · · · · Void Lore +21%
· · · · · · · Parrying +6
· · · · · · · Insightful Physical Sheltering +16
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Legendary Dreadkeeper
Cloak · · · · Legendary Cloak of Autumn · Drops in: U48 Quest: The Knight who Cried Windmill
· · · · · · · Acid Absorption +34%
· · · · · · · Insightful Constitution +6
· · · · · · · Feat
· · · · · · · Lesser Displacement
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Autumn
Gloves· · · · Legendary Skin-tight Gloves · Drops in: Quest: Offshore Account
· · · · · · · Protection +10
· · · · · · · Vitality +44
· · · · · · · Spell Resistance +38
· · · · · · · Quality Physical Sheltering +8
· · · · · · · Blue: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Legendary Dreadkeeper
Goggles · · · Legendary Experimenter's Goggles· ·Drops in: Quest: Underlane Assignment
· · · · · · · Search +20
· · · · · · · Spot +20
· · · · · · · Open Lock +20
· · · · · · · Disable Device +20
· · · · · · · Blue: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Legendary Profane Experiment
Helmet· · · · Legendary Crown of Snow · Drops in: U48 Quest: Legend of the Lost Locket
· · · · · · · Fire Shield (Cold)
· · · · · · · Paragon Cerulean Wave
· · · · · · · Spell Focus Mastery +4
· · · · · · · Insightful Spell Focus Mastery +2
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Necklace· · · Legendary Winter Court Necklace · Drops in: U48 Quest: A Frosty Reception
· · · · · · · Greater Boon of Undeath
· · · · · · · Negative Healing Amplification +53
· · · · · · · Profane Spell Focus II
· · · · · · · Profane Lifeforce +44
· · · · · · · Green: +261 Topaz of Wizardry
· · · · · · · Eminence of Winter
Ring1 · · · · Legendary Duskbone Ring · Drops in: U48 Quest: Combatting Corruption
· · · · · · · Vertigo +15
· · · · · · · Ghostly
· · · · · · · Profane Lifeforce +44
· · · · · · · Hardened Exterior 2
· · · · · · · Green: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Eminence of Autumn
Ring2 · · · · Legendary Celestial Sapphire Ring · Drops in: Quest: Best Laid Plans
· · · · · · · Improved Deception
· · · · · · · Dodge Bonus +13%
· · · · · · · Profane Well Rounded
· · · · · · · Nearly Finished (DIC): +13 Constitution
· · · · · · · Yellow: Empty augment slot
Trinket · · · Legendary Deep Promise Onyx · Drops in: U46: Quest: Rosemary's Ballad
· · · · · · · Quality Intelligence +3
· · · · · · · Insightful Negative Healing Amplification +27
· · · · · · · Quality Negative Healing Amplification +14
· · · · · · · False Life +50
· · · · · · · Blue: +10 Sapphire of Resistance
Weapon1 · · · Legendary Fusible Sceptre of Impulse· ·Drops in: U49: Quest: Beautiful Nightmares
· · · · · · · Damage and Type 5[1d6+2] + 15 Bludgeon, Magic
· · · · · · · Critical Threat Range 20 x2
· · · · · · · +15 Enhancement Bonus
· · · · · · · Spellcasting Implement +29
· · · · · · · Kinetic Lore +21%
· · · · · · · Impulse +142
· · · · · · · Insightful Impulse +71
· · · · · · · Evocation Focus +5
· · · · · · · Fusible
· · · · · · · Red: Empty augment slot
· · · · · · · Sentient Weapon Personality: Sentient Jewel of Wave
· · · · · · · Filigree 1: Eye of the Beholder: Intelligence
· · · · · · · Filigree 2: Eye of the Beholder: MRR
· · · · · · · Filigree 3: Eye of the Beholder: Spellpower
· · · · · · · Filigree 4: Otto's Irrevocable Power: Intelligence
· · · · · · · Filigree 5: Otto's Irrevocable Power: PRR
Weapon2 · · · Legendary Stygian Wrath · Drops in: Quest: The Same Old Song
· · · · · · · Spellcasting Implement +29
· · · · · · · +15 Orb Bonus
· · · · · · · Insightful Nullification +71
· · · · · · · Insightful Negative Lore +13%
· · · · · · · Sinister Chill
· · · · · · · Nearly Finished (Ins IWC): +6 Insightful Intelligence
· · · · · · · Purple: Empty augment slot
Trinket2· · · Restricted by another item in this gear set
Trinket3· · · Restricted by another item in this gear set

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Raijin]

Feydark Illusionist - Points spent: 41

Imma Newb but I think there are 44 points in Feydark Illusionist in the latest post?? Love your builds Strimtom.

[voxson5]

Nice to see the old builds getting updated.

Btw, love the layout of the OP - much nicer to read through than the data dump off the planner.

[Credinus]

Great build idea Strim, recently TR'd into it to try it out since it plays similarly enough to my usual Shiradi force blaster that I enjoy but is different enough to try some new strategies. I'm leveling it right now and have a ways to go, but I thought I'd post some of the alternative feat/ED options I'm going to try out when I get to epics in case anyone else might be interested in trying the same. So here is a list of the alternatives I'm planning to try with explanations!


Feats
Level 21. Replacing Wellspring of Power: This mostly if you have quite a few bonus permanent destiny points and solo often, in which case it might be worth taking Arcane Insight here instead. With the ED changes I'll be suggesting, there's an opportunity here for a useful benefit that I will detail in the ED suggestions. But otherwise, WoP is going to be a better option.
Level 28, Replacing Deific Warding: While Deific Warding adds substantial survivability against burst damage, one of a major weaknesses of this build, there are a couple damage options here that can be taken if you want to boost your damage output instead. These are the two options I am considering, and why.
1) Crush Weakness - Since this build is great at making enemies helpless, an extra 15% damage against those helpless enemies is pretty solid. The downsides here are that it might be overkill in many scenarios, and against bosses it will do nothing (outside of situations where someone drops an epic moment that makes the boss count as helpless). Using an epic destiny feat on something that will literally do nothing against bosses 95% of the time is a tough sale, but it will make clearing the way to the bosses a lot smoother in theory.
2) Spirit Blades - This gives you another strong damaging SLA scaling off of your force power, with the added bonus of not breaking stealth/invisibility. There are some synergies to explore here, but the biggest problem is that this SLA can't be quickened and has a rather lengthy cast time. I don't think it's a better option than Crush Weakness, but if you wanted to do some stealth shenanigans, it's worth considering.

Epic Destiny Change
I'm looking to try Magus of the Eclipse instead of Draconic Incarnation as the secondary tree, as it adds some additional illusion DC's and allows you to drop a lot of passive DoT on the field with the shared mantle. It gets even better if you have additional permanent destiny AP's, but I will post up where I would put 14 points from it to match the original build.
Core1 - Necessary to proceed with the build, but the spellpower bonuses are nice here. Negative obviously helps your aura, but cold also helps with some useful spells for the build in Ice Storm and Polar Ray.
Tier 1 - Grand Summoner: Boosts your summons a bit, which is okay, but mostly it's just a decent option for 2 points needed to progress to the next tier.
Tier 1 - Frostlight Mantle: Further reduced damaged from light spells while you're rocking lich form, and the foundation of our passive AoE damage in later tiers.
Core2- Arguably, bonus spell points are better on this build than spell cost reductions, so this is a nice boost. Since we don't benefit tremendously from reduced spell cost as we're mostly just blasting SLA's, having extra spell points to cast more SLA's is good!
Tier 2 - Cull Upon Lich: Another body to run around, gets healed by your aura, and will be another source of passive damage with the later mantle upgrade. A great investment for the two points here.
Tier 2 - Chill Aura: Now your mantle gets cold and negative damage procs, no need to say any more here!
Tier 3 - Share the Light: Now your summons get your mantle, as well... Stack up on a group and go have a sandwich!
Tier 3 - Partial Eclipse Illusion: One extra illusion DC, nice way to top it off.
Now for some areas I would recommend putting additional points you may have!
Tier 2 - Lunar Insight: If you do solo often and opt to take Arcane Insight instead of Wellspring of Power, as mentioned in the feats portion of this post, this little 2-point investment basically lets you do your buffing at the start of a quest and re-buffing when they run out for free, and lets you keep your death aura up for free. The spell point savings will be pretty noticeable in those lengthy quests!
Tier 2 - Moonlight Dark Light of the Moon: A decent little negative energy AoE.
Tier 2 - Moontouched: More DC's on fear-based spells, which many of this build's SLA's are boosted by.
Tier 3 - Partial Eclipse Illusion: More illusion DC is always welcome in this build!
Tier 3 - Starlight Rank 3: More damage at the end of your negative energy AoE, not bad at all.
Tier 4 - Nullmagic Strike: This is a really solid effect, as it was in the Magister tree. One enemy type that this build is a little less effective against is enemy casters, due to their higher will saves and frequent protection from magic missiles; nullmagic strike can not only render them unable to cast, but also strip that magic missile immunity from them so you can blast a few missiles at them when needed. Highly recommended if you have the points!

[yasz73]

Assuming you want to go Heroic and use Gnome instead of Deep Gnome, what changes would you make overall?

How would you kill at lower levels? The first offensive spell included isn't until Chain Missiles, Wiz level 5, level 6 overall, which is fine if you're starting at level 15 as an Iconic.

Thanks!

[Kodwraith]

Assuming you want to go Heroic and use Gnome instead of Deep Gnome, what changes would you make overall?

How would you kill at lower levels? The first offensive spell included isn't until Chain Missiles, Wiz level 5, level 6 overall, which is fine if you're starting at level 15 as an Iconic.

Thanks!

Played from level 1 the build would be similar to the standard 2rogue / 18 wiz spell thief that Slarden posted and popularized in another thread. Basically you take the rogue level at 1 and 9 (after you get level 4 spells). From levels 1 through about 7 you just AXE stuff to death with all your points in EK. Ignore that you're a caster, grab a big 2H weapon and wail away. You will need a hire for self healing as the undead healing aura won't really kick in until level 10 or so. Don't take any of the 2h fighting feats unless you plan on doing a full LR at some point.

Once you hit around 9 to 12 someplace, respec into mostly caster. One good hybrid approach is to leave points in EK past level 9, but start also putting enough into PM to get wraith form. Once you can keep yourself alive in wraith form, THEN pull out of EK and plow into feydark and start killing stuff with magic. It is helpful to pick an element (probably elec) and takes those spells for when illusion insta kills don't work.. Note: 2 rogue is the more normal split as you are giving up your most powerful caster levels at 18,19,20. Yo delay the rogue level to catch up on skil points when your int is higher once tomes kick in. Also you want level 4 spells (notably death aura and firewall ASAP).

Featwise you'll want extend MUCH sooner in heroic since you're continually running haste and death aura and the other death aura. Quicken and heighten can be put off until much later.