Gnumber 17 and Nocturne, two EK builds

[Vish]

Gnumber 17
20 gnome wizard ek
Neutral
Whelm and orb?

Str 8 2
Dex 12 4
Con 16 10
Int 20 16 +7
Wis 10 2
Cha 10 2
+6 tomes
+2 complete

3 Completionist
6 Insightful reflexes
18 Ic blunt for whelm bab8 w16
1 Swf
12 Iswf bab6 w12
24 Gswf bab11?
26 Pswf
29 arcane warrior
9 Precision
15 Sf enchant
21 oc
27 master of knowledge
28 elusive tgt
30 fire
30 Wellspring

Bonus
5 Quicken
1 Maximize
15 Empower
10 Extend
20 Sf evocation


Ap
41 ek core6 tier5
26 am
1 (5) gnome
12 Harper

Notes
Haha, it's a hot mess
Don't know if this thing will work
Don't know how the damage will fare
Has lotta synergy arcane warrior
Blasting and swinging
And can use defensive fighting too
All spells at touch
Does that mean aoe on you?
Tempest and aoe blast
I really have no idea how this will perform.
I don't usually play wizard. But I do know melee.
When I build I start with end game gear set. That's biggest determiner of building something unknown.?*



Nocturne, song of the night
Staff build
18/2 wizard monk ek am
Deep gnome
Lawful Neutral

Str 13 8
Dex 8 0
Con 14 6
Int 20 16 +7
Wis 14 6
Cha 8 0
+6 tomes
+2 complete

1 wiz insightful reflexes
Maximize
2-3 wiz completionist
4 monk pa
5 monk thf evasion
6 wiz precision
7 wiz quicken
8-9 wiz extend
10-12 wiz ithf
Empower
13-15 wiz sf evocation
16 wiz
17 wiz heighten
18 wiz ic blunt
19-20 wiz
21 wellspring
24 bogw
26 pthf
27 ruin
28 elusive tgt
29 arcane warrior
30 fire
Greater ruin


Ap
41 ek
1 (5) deep gnome
12 Harper
3 henshin
23 am

Nocturne, the Song of Night Quarterstaff 5[1d6+6]+15, 20/x2, Quality Impulse +51, Kinetic Lore +30, Impulse +208, Insightful Impulse +104, Quality Evocation Focus +1, Evocation Focus +8, Empty Orange Augment Slot , Empty Red Augment Slot

There is also third build, vkf

[Kriogen]

You should use weapon style that is fast. SWF is good, but 18/2 q-staff is better with Rogue.

How will you stay alive?

Past Life:Wizard is the best.

[Vish]

Well having reaper points helps
My last life as an assassin,
I started with 14 con,
And at 30 in reaper I had 2000hp
So on a wiz with 40 less hp,
I should be fine

As to how it plays,
That will be the experiment

[Vish]

Gnumber 17
20 gnome wizard ek
Neutral
Whelm and orb?

Str 8 2
Dex 12 4
Con 16 10
Int 20 16 +7
Wis 12 4
Cha 8 0
+6 tomes
+2 complete

Umd, balance, Spellcraft

1 Swf
3 exotic khopesh
6 Insightful reflexes
9 Completionist
12 Iswf bab6 w12
15 Sf evocation
18 Ic blunt for whelm bab8 w16

21 gswf
24 Bogw
26 Pswf
27 wellspring
28 elusive tgt
29 arcane warrior
30 fire
30 Oc

Bonus
1 Maximize
5 Quicken
10 Extend
15 Empower
20 Heighten


Ap
41 ek core6 tier5
26 am
1 (5) gnome
12 Harper

Notes2
Ok gonna go with this build
Don't know several things, so it's gonna be a test bed
Gonna test different weapons, khopesh, daggers, whelm, and then decide on a ic.
Also epics are slated, unless I hate the build. So master of knowledge is just an idea. Don't know if I can proc it enough off arcane bolt to make it worthwhile. Also want to test new arcane warrior. Running an orb, so electric or acid should be pretty high.
Again, no numbers on this build yet. Just gonna test it.

Inn other notes
Just got done running a barb dwarf life
Went 2 lock 2 cleric on it for almost max str build.
It had most hp I seen, 1200 reaper at 18. But it was squishy, so having lotta hp was kinda defense, but aoe blasts were killing me. No evasion and poor mrr. Man I'm not used to this kinda pain.
But it had good dps. Using SOS and saw 15-20 x5. When raging I had like 60 str and was doing good damage.
I'd run it again, but swap rogue for lock and go evasion.
So I knocked out a 30 halfling life and a dwarf life before this update. Didn't make a reaper point this life. Mostly just running r1 and maxxing xp. Who cares, the 55 carries me. I get my rxp at cap anyways. So easy cruising heroics. That's why I'm not worried the ek. It will overperforming in reaper I'm sure. Plus it's the new toy.
Haven't figured spells yet. Will gather and build as I go.
This will be first gnome life, and maybe arcane epic.

[Vish]

Lvl 4
Initial impressions
It's awkward casting and melee
Got like acid spray, mm, and one of the bolts
Running harbor r2 with vet group, didn't see much play at 3. Didn't have the imbue yet. Took pts in Harper for int attack. But did get in some attacks. I can see it doing point blank range dps. I'll likely take fireball, and acid blast.
Took elders surge and blur. At level 4 I had almost 350hp reaper, and a 38 AC. I have done all 9 martials now. So now I'll be able to test it more.
Ran ww and stk, again with vets zerging r1. It was all I could do to keep up. But the problem is traps. No evasion on this build. And just like the last barb life, aoe or traps can kill you. Even with 300 hp.
So I took pts in Harper, and points in ek. To pick up the core2 with imbues. That's slightly more damage. I was using a cc ml2 ghostouch quarter staff. At 4 I get a mabar dagger, and I got to check mule for khopeshes. But I got more chest space now that I'm 75, so I can stash that stuff in normal coffers and not need to mule it.
Ya I need 12 pts into Harper to get weapon damage. That will prob be the biggest gain. But I also got 1 min kta, so some extra there too. But as ek I took the melee cleave core1. It's actually got a long cooldown on it. And I took the attack that generates 30 usp.
Ya that's right? That all evocation spells scale? So at low levels the 30 is like doubling your dps. Because I was seeing like 30s and 40s in my spell power.
But this will be another build where 12 pts into Harper is first thing you do. For the one stat wonder builds. Like wisdom monk.
Oh and there's orbs now. I have found a few. Nothing with augment yet. But I wonder how they rate compared to named orbs. At least the elementals in dragonborn prophecy? Anyways I may craft one. Just to see what I can put on it.
For heroic runs if I did, I would definitely splash 2 rogue.
I would post stats, but I have no gear. Just a fort robe, trapblast, runic trinket and quarter staff. I don't really gear until 5-7. That's where I have rng. Then slavers at 8. You know that last life I wore slavers set all the way to 20. I had cc at 13. But kept the set until prowess at 17. First time I did that.
But I imagine this will be an unwieldy beast. Not sure how the touch range will work out. And I kinda plan on wearing robes, or light armor, all the way through. No evasion is gonna get me killed tho. I run most my builds with evasion, and now I know why. Who cares 50 mrr. Save for no damage? Much better deal.
Ya just using the staff so far. It's ghost touch, so reaper killer. Same with mabar dagger it's ghostly. I think I have a ghost khopesh too. But that's the only essential gear for reaper.
Ok post again some more insight as I play it out.

[Vish]

Level6
Ok put points into Harper. Dps went up. Using a vorpal khopesh.
Also think I'm gonna craft a corrosion ring, and look for my acid sphere. Maybe also lightning ring. Maybe ml6 or 7? I gotta look the breaks.
So 6, gotta run some more 3bc, then 7 for gwylands and tear and deleras. Then 8 for slavers gear. And I may craft new items? I'm getting my int from a cloak. Could make a slaver ring of int. set it with might? Maybe better for sorc as ek, but might at low levels since most of dps comes off the sword.
So plays like blur shield and displacement. All extended.
Gotta cc with web or elders. Then got acid blast for aoe. And then charge in and melee and cast close range spells. But really, best mode so far is ranged casting and close. I guess this changes at tier4 with knights transformation. But I would think the strength of the build is ranged aoe and cc then melee. But it likely won't play that way. Ya orbs at 10.
Also, very nice, the imbues grant ghostly. So no slotting ghostly on this build. That's reaper friendly.
But it's playing ok at low levels. It's got defenses, cc, dps. I have like 8 dodge too. But no hamp. Need more paladin lives. But that'll prob not happen anytime soon.
But trying to consolidate spellpower will be the main thing. Taking the right spells. Not sure what I will settle on. Fire or electric or acid or cold. But the imbues are toggles, so elemental bypass. So some minor offensive add.
So 12 pts into Harper, and now all points into ek.
Can you craft a force ring?
Ya and no improved Mage armor yet. But AC is pretty good as is. All those epic lives. But I'm thinking of taking CE, or precision? I don't know I may get to 90 int? And prob using legendary prowess for accuracy. So my to hit should be good. ?*So I generally run CE for improved CE in ld. +20 prr is nice on melee, and AC. Plus Mage armor. But idk what AC I will end up in just robes. I have both light and medium armor at 10. Maybe I'll test it and see the prr off bab. If it matters over losing dodge. Since I won't be able to max dodge anyway.
And at 6 I took insightful reflexes. Because dex here is just for AC, and that depends armor. I don't think I'm gearing for dex? Maybe as third stat.
So the build doesn't have much synergy yet. Just took the 30 usp boost. And will get the mp boost in tier4. So by 8 I should be doing pretty good. But easy so far. Just r1 with 350hp. That many hp really gives you an idea how well the build performs. Because I can stand and toe and test defense. And melee for dps and test dps. But so far it's all melee. Tho having some cc is a lifesaver. Haven't worried DCs yet, running max int.
Ok so post some stats at 8.

[SocratesBastardSon]

Thank you for doing this. I'm very interested in how your efforts turn out.

[Vish]

Level 9
Reaper
Blur, shield, Mage armor
Knights transformation
Str 24
Dex 26
Con 33
Int 40
Wis 28
Cha 22
Hp 471
Hamp 10
Sp 800
Pos 152
Others 80-90
AC 52
Dodge 10/25
Fort 21
Reflex 28
Will 24
Bab 4/9
Doublestrike 18
Melee speed 14
Melee power 14
Sr 0
Fort 105
Prr 21
Mrr 25

Ap
(5) gnome
24 ek
12 Harper

Spells
Mm, retreat, shocking bolt, jump, shield
Invis, web, blur, electric loop
Displacement, haste, lightning bolt, acid blast
Acid rain, ddoor, pk
Cone of cold, ball lightning

Gear
Helm executioners might
Neck slavers con might
Eyes trapblast
Trinket slavers symbol might
Body robe fort71
Cloak rng int4 dodge4
Bracers slavers str might
Belt cc doublestrike5 natarmor5
Ring1 rng cha5
Ring2 slavers wis might
Boots rng ff speed4
Gloves rng dex4

Notes
Ok gonna start with ap
At 8 no knights transformation
So I took 9 and xform and +1 int. 40 int.
And tried casting. Well, you lose your versatility. Now you're danger close, with displacement, nuking. Very in your face blasting. Dangerous. Doesn't feel right.
But so far I've mostly been melee. The vorpal khopesh does some good damage. Plus the imbues. Like 20-30+10. And swf is fast, and decent doublestrike. Tho 9 comes from epic. So my melee is good. Plus I have couple special melee attack, and usp boost and reaper boost. So I melee good, and I have like 450 hp. So I can stand. And blast.
Tho I haven't played it enough to get it to max out. I'm going to 10 next, where I get ravenloft gear. And orb. I've been juking the orb so far. It's a cold orb I found early and just equipped. It's bugged. It's on my forearm. Just an rng. But I got a bolt sphere, so I'll probably emphasise electric. Tho I'll check the mules for other spheres. May have to farm.
But at 10 I'll also have enough for forces point. Which is like arcane warrior. And I'll test out the synergy of blasting and melee. And see how stacks do. And see if I can tell the difference, or if it's just gonna be fluff. So much stuff for heroics just doesn't matter in epics. A 5 or a 20 stacks is nothing when talking 800. So the playstyle may be something different. Idk tho, there is some new 9 lvl spells. So something for epics. Long cooldowns so you're gonna need a big cycle to cover 12 seconds. I know with es you get the bursts, and draconic burst. So three aoe. But wizard you're gonna have to cycle 9 and then some lower stuff. Maybe even spamming mm just to keep stacks up. Idk it's gonna take some testing.
But it melees and blasts ok so far. Web or loop for cc, acid blast lightning bolt, and the mm or baby bolt for filler. Then melee it to death. Mostly just melee. The only good attack so far is loop to stun, and acid blast to aoe. But they don't do lotta damage. Like quarter hp? But everything squishy until about 13, so melee is better option. Just cast displacement for bigger fight. And kta. They both last a min. But I'm generally disappointed the caster side. If I had to nuke to kill stuff, I prob be dead a lot. Tho I do plan for arcane bolt from arch mage. That was gonna be my buffer for mok stacks. Again, I may not be able to get it too work, where it would be useful. I think I got a cooldown issue. Can't just spam it. Anyways I'm gonna look at it.
Also weapons. Now I'm 9, can test whelm. Didnt try the dagger. I had no ap for vkf. The khopesh has been tearing it up. But I'll keep whelm on me for skeles at least. Still using a muck too.
Gear wise. Need new googles. Get gs at 11. Get rl at 10. Maybe the belt. Disciple or the light armor. Barovian khopesh. Wearing a slaver 5 oc might. And got in some runs on 1 and 2, and pulled 3 blank rings. So instead of a wis might, I may craft a int might. I'm still getting my dodge off the cloak, but I got a ml12 cloak of night I usually wear. Idk, I'll have to look my mule rl gear. And see what's up. I may slot some caster gear. I know i pulled a phase cloak. And I have both belts maybe? I'll look. Funny tho that I'm still wearing trapblast. Definetly would have splashed 2 rogue by now for trapping and evasion. Ok I'll go look.
I would say its a strong defensive build at low levels with displacement extended. I have low prr mrr, but decent AC and a little dodge. But I don't take too much damage melee, it's mostly spells. No evasion, tho my reflex save is decent. So prob getting half damage. I have soloed a couple quests with cleric hire, and I do fine. But I have just got to teleport and raise dead. How stupid is it that wizards don't get Umd. The class that most likely would ever get it, gets it at half str. Yes makes no sense. So no scrolling heals for me. At least not until teens likely. I wear a cha ring, but that will prob be replaced. Oh well, I've been lucky to run with lotta fvs this life.
And the versatility of casting or melee until 8 has actually been a sweet spot. But I just ran tear and gwylands at 9 and I found I couldn't tgt my web in front of me for cc. It was saying out of range. That's kinda like a softener for charging mobs. There goes that playstyle. Idk I may not like touch range blasting. Because I'm sure as hell not toggling all the time.
Ok didn't post numbers for the khopesh. I'll test whelm too.
Maybe post at 13.
Or some new gear layout.

[Vish]

Level 12
Ok, gear
Replaced goggles with gs wisdom hp. Tested disciple over mist laden. The dodge diff is about 5, the AC diff is about 5-6? But prr in light, with bab, is about 20. So I went with the light armor, going with max 10 dodge. It's mythic2. Also got mythic4 medium, may test it. Lose dex and dodge but gain prr. I prefer dodge and evasion tho. So may yet go back to disciple at higher levels, as I can max out 25 dodge.
Also, added mantle of fury. +1 con over slavers, covers 6 dodge and 6 doublestrike. So that will free up the belt, so I can go lightning. Because at 10 bolt sphere, my electric like 250+ now? Others are around 100. Also spectral gloves. For the dex and attack. Normally those goto for ghostly, but not needed on this build. So maybe some rl, but really I haven't found anything better. Oh ya, also crafted a 5/1 int slaver might ring. To replace the wis ring. I have also pulled the new int goggles from new quest, but those 15. Also got some other gear, but most likely only prowess.
That's one thing. I decide on electric, since there are lot of electric spells. And I like shooting lightning bolts
And at 10 I got got knights transformation and force point. Idk this build is growing on me. For heroics at least, this is the solution to wizards having no free dps. So far in mostly all my questing, I rarely go below half bar at end. But I do shrine, and I don't run maximize, not ever usually. I'm waiting for ap into am for efficient meta. Maybe not till 15? So some extra bulge in the upper levels. But really wizards grow pretty good. They just suck having to use sp to dps. So going sword fixes that.
Ok so this build is growing on me. At 10 I didn't like losing the range of spells. But I found the toggle is pretty fast. So you can toggle it off salvo, turn it on and go in. But it's not so bad at touch range either. It's about 20? Feet? So pike range. But it's a dance. Something I haven't ?*really done before. Because nuking is normally at a safe range. But it's easy to proc the usp from melee, but not as easy to nuke close up. Just turned 12 and took improved xform. And haven't really noticed mobile spell casting? Idk I'll look it some more. I took quicken at 10, but don't have it meta on anything, so maybe I'll test that too, just on my electric spells.
But so far the khopesh dps has been good enough to handle any r1. The blasting is only good if you can match it to purple damage. So like acid for trolls and cold for fire else. Stuff like that. Tho lightning seems to do decent. But I'm not getting any one shot kills.
I guess I would if I went max and empower? Idk not getting empower to 15 either. And heighten at 20.
But at 10 get next tier of reaper points. So I got 55 but not 64, or it would be max too. But pretty close. The next at 16 or 17? I'm getting close to another reaper point. But anyways,,now I got like 750 hp at 12. So op to run r1. But tested some r5 gh tonite, and I did pretty good. So it's a reaper build. I mean what can I say, best gear, reaper points and solid build. It's op so far. For r1. But I'm enjoying the fruits of my labors. I like cruising through quests without dying. I mostly prefer the not dying part. But the other side of running an op build is the pug scene I run. Because you can't always get a group together. Or ppl aren't running what you prefer. Usual imm pretty easy to pug. But like tonite I put up a 9-12 black and blue r1, soloed da waiting, and still nobody filled. It's like that some days. Many many run guilded. And don't open their lfm. So it's not really very healthy scene, I think most vets are done with racials, so they're out of heroics now. But it's also a come and go thing. Ppl take breaks, and stop playing. So you see diff ppl leading all the time. Then there is occasional lfm for normal or casual. Nobody joins those. It's pretty much reaper or go home.
Oh ya, so elderitch tempest. This is super melee attack. When I was running that da I was testing it out. And it was wiping out whole mobs of trolls that mobbed me. Very sweet melee attack.
But I got to farm wrath of earth to get the lightning belt. I'm already 12 holding 13. So it's like I'm gonna over level both wrath and black blue. Ya did ravenloft c1 c2 so far. Running with a group leveling same as me. So I been catching them regular. Should friend them. Knights of the ancient dragons. They good players, I've run good higher reaper runs in heroics with them. But that makes all the diff, running with vets. Then you can turn up the heat.
But this build is kinda fun so far. It would be better without the touch range. But again you can toggle off to blast. Maybe could become part of the playstyle. That what I like about it the most so far. Good versatility. Get lotta spells, and I just been choosing off the 2 you get each level. Haven't inscribed any scrolls yet.
I'll post some numbers at 13. I don't know if gear will change with cc. I'll have to look it. Oh and you can craft force rings. Not sure? If I got one. May craft at 13 to replace the charisma.
But is so funny having 750 hp on a wizard at 12.

Other notes
+8 supreme on sale for like 3750. So I didn't have the flow when double points dropped, so I may have to spen 20 to cover it. Got over 2000 pts right now. So that will empty me out. But I plan on heroics until Sharn. And it will be my Christmas present.

[Vish]

Level 15
Reaper
Str 26
Dex 35
Con 39
Int 54
Wis 31
Cha 30
Hp 853
Hamp 37
Sp 1523
Electric 247
Pos 191
Others 120-130
AC 88
Dodge 11/11
Fort 25
Reflex 39
Will 32
Bab 7/15
Doublestrike 18
Melee speed 26
Melee power 37
Sr 0
Fort 110
Prr 64
Mrr 26

Spells
Polar ray, mass charm
Dbf, fod
Greater hero, chain lightning, undeath to death
Cone of cold, prismatic ray, ball lightning, eldars
Acid rain, ddoor, pk, ice storm, wall of fire
Displacement, fireball, haste, lightning bolt, acid blast
Invis, web, blur, knock, electric loop
Mm, retreat, shocking bolt, jump, shield

Ap
1 (5) gnome
40 ek
19 Harper

Barovian khopesh
1.5w 19-20 x4 +53 +45

Gear
Helm executioners
Neck cc 10con falselife20
Eyes gs wis hp goggles
Trinket slavers symbol might
Body mist laden mythic2
Cloak cc 10int dodge7 blindness immune
Bracers slavers str might heavy fort
Belt cc natarmor7 dodge7 prot4
Ring1 cc 10cha
Ring2 slavers int might
Boots rng ff speed6
Gloves cc 10dex hamp27

Notes
Ok getting ahead of myself on this build
I've got too many spells to hotbar. And the last 4 levels I haven't even put the 7 and 8 on the hotbar.
Also I'm not really maxxed out. I'm running lightning orb, and I haven't farmed the belt, so I'm short 77. But the cc belt I have is pretty good for melee. Mostly AC.
I've got lot to look at now at 15. Haven't swapped gear up yet. I got planar compass and new int goggles. And could craft a force item, ring?, and a new gloves, fire? Idk I got to see what spells I take for 9, and see what I need to switch to. But I've specced for lightning so far, and may add cold, acid or fire. Idk what is going to be best damage. But so far lightning spells have carried me, and what I spam.
But the melee dps has been solid, and it is still a chore to build stacks off spells. Because I do spam them, but they are mostly aoe, and I try to use them on mobs, clusters. But I nuke some then melee some, then nuke some more. But it is easier to melee, build 10 stacks, then hit boost and nuke. Definately a tricky playstyle.
But AC is good, dodge is decent, and I run displacement for fights. So good defenses. And what can you say about 850 hp? I can hang for quite a while. But I've been fortunate this life and been running with a fvs, and so I can dps full ******, and get healed up afterward. That's big diff in play, knowing a healer has your back. We been running r3-4.
Yes the melee side is solid. Good doublestrike, good speed, and some melee power. Khopesh is good. Maybe a improved vorpal at 16? I'll have to look.
But there is also ap. 40 into ek, got most all the tier5. Haven't tested medium armor yet, maybe will. And ap into Harper, aliittle over stated, as it has int adds. I was planning on efficient meta maximize, but I still have 20 ap between 16-20. So I'm pretty maxxed so far, will likely go into arch mage next.
But really, the nuking is not a big part of this build. Tempest attack is much better mob killer. But I cycle them in. And I quickened all my lightning spells. Seems to help? Idk, can't tell if mobile spell casting is a thing either. I haven't noticed the difference. So far I'm mostly melee. The elementals are doing good extra damage. I'm actually impressed by this builds fighting ability. But will get 9s at 17, so I will see how my routines change.
If I ran solo and tested it, I could see the diff. But I been lucky running with vets this life, and just going with the flow. But I'm impressed I got melee and nuking. This build works great in heroics. I also modified the epic feats. At 15 took empower, and sf evocation, for the twist in epics. But I don't think I'm going with arcane bolt, because even at max, it's a 5 sec cooldown, and mok stacks remove at 6 sec. So I don't think I'll be able to stack it up. So I moved oc to 30, took bogw at 24, gswf at 21, and wellspring at 27. Because I think the boost more needed for the nuke part.
But I've got some things to look at. May have to craft to get more nuke power. Like I said I got ring and glove spot. Prob craft at 13? Since I don't gear for upper heroics. But I got to see my 9s and what my rotation may be. I also got like fod and pk, and got some ml13 cc necro goggles. But I've got to do inventory Tetris. Like I have a cc int cloak on now, and may just keep the gs goggles on for wis and hp. But goggles is another spot I could craft. Lot of options to look at here, since I don't normally run casters, or if I run, it's like one elemental type. Not multiples. But I may need all three, or 4. And I did find one orb with augment, so craft a new orb too? Idk if I want to invest that much into this build.
But I've got a 54 int in reaper at 15, so just going off base DCs. Has carried me fine so far.
But overall I've been impressed by this build. Having melee means the nuking doesn't have to carry, so it's like gravy. The only hard part is the playstyle. You gotta nuke and jive, and there are so many options. But I have good sp now, and can go into efficient meta for the upper heroics. Plus some different gear choices. But so far, other than quicken, i run with no metas on. I still have half a bar most of the time, but that's how I play, kinda conservative on the caster side. I guess I could turn on maximize and test out some nuke dps. Usually after 15, mob hp bloat starts to show, and melee dps slacks off. Since I have no better khopesh than maybe an improved vorpal.
Ya gear will change up between here and 17. But it's nice having so many options this build has been a refreshing change. May be a very good build for racials, other than lack of healing. But I got heal scrolls now, even tho Umd still isn't 100%. But it's good for between battles. Man, it is so much easier running with a healer.
Ok, so this build has been fun it's got melee and ranged and both work good. I've got lot of things to look at now when I get 9s. And max out gear. Don't know if I'm taking it epic yet, but I should. Get an epic arcane out of it. Oh ya, forgot my crit past lives. Have to put that on hotbar. Because I rarely run casters. Totally forgot. But arcane epics what I need most, only have 3.
Ok that's enough for now. Maybe another post at 18 with gear changes and lvl9 spell test.

Other notes
Bought the +8 supreme tome. Cost me 20 bucks. So I guess I have to go epics to test it. Oy vey. Merry Xmas to me.

[Vish]

Level 18
I'm gonna call this my Thor build
Throwing lightning and swinging a hammer
The khopesh is better dps, but I have a epic whelm, and only barovian khopesh.
But the theme works. I find it pretty easy to spam chain lightning and lightning ball, along with new 9 thunderstrike. That's high single tgt dps. Got it maximized. So that's like 450 electric. Highest I seen yet is 8k hit.
Ok gear. Put on the new int goggles. Those are 8/3. With insightful wizardry. And wearing the phasecloak. That's qual int and wizardry. So my sp over 2000 now at 18. Put on the cc bracers. They have fort. Because I'm running drow outrunner armor. Best mdb. So like running 15/22 dodge. So room to give there. But that's best light armor. Put prowess on took off slavers int. using planar compass. Haven't crafted any spell gear. Going mostly off electric. Tho I've got the room to do it.
Mostly has to do with rotation of spells. Set my hotbar with quickened electric, and thunderstrike. Usually I'll charge in hit chain lightning or loop, and then they mob and do tempest. Then another chain, with maybe ball. And then just chop anything else up. Thunderstrike for like champs. It's pretty high cost with maximize. Even tho I have -6 on efficient. But I don't get in a lot of spells. The melee dps on this is pretty good. And the spell dice is as much as the base damage. I run electric too. So it scales.
So most of the time running 10 stacks usp. But now with prowess I saw my accuracy at 75. So to hit is awesome. Harder to stack off spells, but not really needed. There is also 30 boost and 45 reaper boost. I do those against bosses. And cycle in thunderstrike.
And radiant force field is cool. The oh ***** moment. When your taking too much damage, or you gotta blaze against a boss. Good emergency button.
But cruised to 18. I'm impressed by all the spells. On a melee build. So it's like different playstyle. Kinda awkward, but that's mostly just from not running it, and trying to work it off spells and melee. But quickened with quick draw and mobile spell casting makes it a pretty good arcane warrior. My only other tries have been built off warlocks. The capstone arcane warrior will tell the diff. If the boost from its worth taking.
But I'm taking all the new 9 spells, and putting them to use.
The only drawback to this build is it has no healing and poor Umd to scroll heal. I've been fortunate this life and ran with healers. So my normal self reliance wasn't need so much. But always when building I try to factor in self heals. And easiest way to do that is Umd.

But I don't know. I've got some more heroic lives lined up. I really want to test this build to 30, but that likely means crafting, which is investment. I've got investment into monks, clerics and warlock builds. It's really hard to support a strong 30 build if you don't have the right gear. I mean I was putting together a set for this build, I have a mantle of Escher, and was gonna build the beacon set. But it's lotta resources to slot and reslot sentients, and craft slavers pieces, and farm anything you don't have. Over a hybrid build? Those are even worse to gear. So I don't have an end plan on this build. Don't know if I care at this time to goto 30. The raid scene is dead on Sarlona. I rarely see raids pugging anymore. Even with u41.?*
So I'm thinking tr. it's like I have more gnome lives to do, and this has been fun and easy one. Maybe craft for next time around, now that I've seen it.
I really want to run an elven tempest, and a henshin again. Look for variety, but looking at builds I haven't run. And knocking out racials,
Till Sharn.

[Vish]

Level 20
Final notes
Ok got to 20 this morn
Took my last two levels, a point into ek capstone and rest into archmage. Like 17ap, with 42?ek, about 19 Harper and 2(5) gnome.
Got the efficient maximize. Got int adds. Could see rerouting ap into vkf and going dagger, but the khopesh and whelm were doing a good job.
Reset magister. See here's where the prob is. There isn't a good Ed for hybrid. Magister for int adds, some sp, and caster levels. So it covers caster side of build. Which really has only been about 25% of play time. Realistically I need to go ld, for melee adds. Then you lose int and caster levels. So epics would suck.
I looked at it, 64 int at 20. Figured I could get it up to 90. That's decent. But melee side of build would suffer. And so many choices for sentient. And I don't have a 20 or 21 weapon even to sentient. So another obstacle.
And defenses kinda weak. AC under 100, prr around 75 and mrr around 50? But dodge would be decent, and of course displacement. I figure I would be more of a nuker in epics, and prob not have maxxed DCs. Even tho I don't know how much DCs matter for evocation.
And I looked again at the 30 gear. I could hodgepodge something together, but I keep seeing too many conflicts. It's really hard to build hybrid. Usually you gotta choose melee or caster, and try to go max to be of any use in epics. Idk I've thought it over, and I don't want to struggle with a build going into epics. Even tho I built it like an epic. It's 20 wiz with all ek capstone. But the eds don't support. I lose too much going one way or another.
So I would say this has been pretty kick ass build for heroics. The melee dps has kept up, the caster side has complemented, and it is a tricky but enjoyable playstyle. I would run it again for my other 2 gnome lives, tho just splash 2 rogue, gain trapping and evasion, and lose the 9s at 18. Even tho u could take 19 and play them. But I never take 19.
So I'm leaving it up to others on this one. I don't see it as a test worthy of another weeks play. Sure the dailys would be gravy, but any reaper runs may be too much challenge. Even tho at the end there I was using the new 9s, they were doing pretty good damage, but they also drain your sp. I was running maximize on full time there at end, since I had full efficient, and I was cycling in my electric attacks. It's a fun playstyle, I'm glad they revamped ek. But I think it would be better to go caster mode, then maybe your necro spells would be good too.
Ya I'm just not seeing enough synergy for me to test epic waters on this build. Of course I would like too, but I've got itchin for some other builds. I just wanted to see ek. Ya had 600 hp there at 20. Prob 1k for reaper. But I don't get a warm fuzzy out of this. Maybe the devs will build some hybrid gear. That's only way out of this solution. Also maybe some new eds, like for artificer and warlock.
At any rate, I'm gonna pass this time. I may run it to 30 in the future. If there's any feedback they worth anything. But it's been pretty cool for heroics, performed way better than I expected.
So I'm gonna leave this up other pioneers. I may revisit it further down the road when there's more feedback, but my gut tells me a rogue or monk splash will be better served.
Good luck everyone, this has been a fun build. Just not top shelf.

[Zretch]

But I'm thinking of taking CE, or precision?

CE triples your spell cooldowns. Did that on a wolf build and did NOT like it at all. Also, if you grazing hit, you don't get your imbue damage, so precision may be better.

[Zretch]

Level 20
Reset magister. See here's where the prob is. There isn't a good Ed for hybrid. Magister for int adds, some sp, and caster levels.

Give shadowdancer a try with magistar twists. Int up the tree, immunity to neg levels, incorporeal toggle to add to your displacement and dodge, and 60 melee power in the cores. Also a dodge oh **** button to go with your forcefield oh **** button.

[ValariusK]

Vish, I'm running a pure wizard ek right now (at 17th now), as a Warforged with THF. That solves my self-healing issue pretty neatly, which makes for less squishiness. I agree though that scaling into epic would be pretty tricky. If I was a sorc instead of a wizard, fatesinger might be an adequate compromise destiny. Shadowdancer might be acceptable. If adrenaline worked on cleaves, Fury of the wild might be interesting with tempest.

[Vish]

Ya,
You know when I hit 20 I was in shadowdancer
From an assassin build life
But I reset magister and looked at it
Some sp, caster levels, -10% spell cost, and +6 int
But no melee power

Others have said shadowdancer might be better.
But that's what prompted my general discussion on Ed
Maybe if warlock and artificer had new Ed there might be better match
Or a new third tree

Anyways,
I didn't really have a 30 gear set for it,
And I usually start with the end in mind
And I'm not willing to craft yet,
Tho I could have ran the beacon set
I don't really have int gear, except a slavers ring
It was a great build for heroics
Just running r1 I owned pretty good on it
Melee 75, casting 25
But with great casting options
Basically a avg? Or pretty good with imbues, fighter
On a wizard frame
So you get max spells and melee too
Ya, op for heroics
But I had issues taking it to 30
Have 2 more gnomes lives
Oh ya, and I got a savior
So maybe some more racial for adds
I'll run it again,
But right now I've been looking over top dps builds
Looking at trees
Frankly,
Nothing beats a wisdom monk

[Vish]

Ok,
I got to take a build to 30
Because I'm out of tokens
Need to farm tokens so I can continue my racials

This will be a war forged 18/2 build
I don't plan on staying at cap
Maybe farm an arcane epic life out of it

Too bad not humanoid, I have mantle of Escher
I may have to farm the ravenloft docents
But it will be 3rd wf life, so 1 ap

[Vish]

Scooby the ek rogue
18/2 wizard rogue
Neutral wf

Str 8 0
Dex 14 6
Con 18 10
Int 18 16 +5
Wis 8 2
Cha 8 2
+8 tomes
+2 complete

Balance, Umd, disable, search, spot, jump, Spellcraft

1 rogue swf
2 wiz extend
3 wiz khopesh
4-6 wiz empower
Feat completionist
7 rogue evasion
8-9 wiz quicken
10-12 wiz maximize
Feat Iswf
13-15 wiz sf evoc
16-17 wiz heighten
18 wiz ic slash
19-20 wiz tr

21 gswf
24 bogw
26 pswf
27 wellspring
28 elusive tgt
29 arcane warrior
30 fire
30 oc

Ap
40 ek
12 Harper
12 (5) wf
16 am

Notes on 30 build
This build posted in my book of the dead.
I was just doing heroic, but ran out of tokens. So I'll juke this to 30 and farm for tokens on my dailys.
Enough for a few lives. Want to build something to 30 for Sharn.
I'm not sure the final ap split, maybe am or maybe more Harper. I'll look at as I level. Will get to test out arcane warrior.

[Vish]

Level 5
Ok, 6 ap into ek for ghost touch and imbues. Then 12 into Harper for int to damage. Take 3 Harper for int to hit early, then the 6 into ek. Because at 3 running harbor r1 you need the ghost touch for reapers. That's sage advice.
Having issue making my skill points. Mostly Spellcraft, disable, search and Umd. Oh and balance. Missing out on open and spot. But I know where most traps are, so moot. Taking rogue at 7? Will shore up some points. But balance, Spellcraft, disable, search. Missing jump, but I can spell it.
Just been dps so far. 350 hp reaper is fine to just melee. Spells kinda take you out of auto attack mode. Took blur, web, electric loop. And weapons. Have a ml4 vorpal khopesh I'm using, and a ml2 vorpal mace for skeles. Found a corrosion orb random, so I'm using acid imbues for now. May craft a ml6/7 ring of electric. Have electric orb and electric belt at 10.
Again only prob is healing. Took healer side of it. Will ap into repair and look reconstruction items when I get reconstruct. That should be level 13. I found that a decent self heal in r1. And for other wf too. So mid late heroic going.
I do enjoy the versatility of Mage spells. Too bad no tentacles. Get displace at lvl 6. Decide on empower first, since you can't afford maximize anyways. Prob just on the electric spells.
Been easy going so far. But it is easy until about 10. But I'll have Bookoo gear by then.

[Vish]

Level 13
Ok used the bonus weekend to make some xp. Basically this is an awesome fighter build, what with near max reaper points. Really reaper points make all the difference. Leveled pretty fast through to 10 and then to 13. Have the bolt sphere and belt, so my electric is like 350. What with force point, sp boost and reaper sp boost, ways to hit 450 temp. But all I've had is lightning bolt. Now I'm 13, so I have lvl5 and 6 spells, so that's where I just picked up some new electric spells. Just have bolt empowered and quickened. Haven't really been casting, the melee is so strong. But this is a wonderful build, maybe my new favorite. Melee dps with utility of wizard spells. It's a real wining combo. But truth is, most passes are op for about a year, and this is just the most recent flavor. Tho I miss the potion healing from being an artificer.
?*But that's where I'm at at 13, juked hard to get here and take reconstruct. It's like a 100 hp heal in r1. So better than **** normal heals from cleric. Even with healers friend. And like I said, I just use spell pool to cast buffs and so now I can use it for heals. And Mage tempest attack is op. especially with a high electric score. And more reaper hp at 10, and it's all so gravy for a racial tr. like 800 hp now at 13. That goes a long way for carrying the group.
And taking evasion is also very nice. Likes can just disregard aoe damage. I'm so happy I built it this way. Will still have 2 lvl9 spells. But this build feels op. I got more spells than I use, and they are all useful. Now I'm coming into more casting and melee type fighting style. Took maximize at 12. May not need it. But it's good to turn on for boss fights, then I can just unload my spell bar.
But so far this is gravy train. I like melee and this is a good fighter. Just no healing until 13, at least on war forge. Don't know what I'd do if fleshie. Probably be op on an aasimar. But I'm liking war forge for melee, and I've gotten used to no level drains and not worrying about underwater swimming. I guess even tho I like artificer, I prob won't run one again. May do a warlock soon, just to compare ease in heroics. God you see lots of warlocks in heroics. Some ppl that's all they play on their tr train. I couldnt do that, just too boring. Thing I like about this game is the great build diversity. And doing 30 lives as one build would kill me. Don't see how ppl do it.
Ok, one other thing. Lots of new ppl playing on Sarlona. Seems the vets are mostly few and far between. But I encounter names and first lifers I've never seen before. So it seems there is healthy pug scene, just not any running like r3s, like there used to be. But that seems coincided with no raid scene on Sarlona ATM. I keep an eye on lfm when I'm on, and there are just no raids being run. Feel kinda sad and sorry about that situation. I guess guilds are short manning instead of opening to pug. I even don't think Sarlona has the pop to run raids, even tho the 30 scene seems the most pop. It's the dead time between raid expansion.