12:19 pm, September 10, 2016
390
Wizard Questions
My situation: One of my two main characters is a Human Wizard (Pure) Arch-mage and I intend to keep her so. As of today she has 4 Epic Past Life Feats, one in each sphere, and she will soon acquire her fifth. All her Epic Destinies are fully filled. I own almost all game content and will spend as much time and money as needed to 'finish' my Wizard. I am not seeking a 'Legendary Raid' capable character but rather a character I can use when questing by myself in Epic Normal or even Epic Hard Quests. One caveat: I absolutely refuse to use the 'Pale Master' trait tree.
Unfortunately, for all my efforts to advance her, my Wizard cannot hit very hard and has a very difficult time in Epic Quests. Her Magic Missiles, Fireballs, Lightning Bolts, Disintegration Rays, and even Meteor Swarms often inflict very little damage. She burns through spell points extremely rapidly.
I have not played Dungeon and Dragons in a couple decades and find the modern rules Byzantine, overly complicated, and vague. Therein lies my problem. When I played, a high level Wizard easily smashed whole groups of enemies. As it stands today, my Thief (Rogue Assassin) kills far more effectively than my Wizard and I would like to fix that. :)
I am not looking for a specific Wizard 'Build'. Rather, I am hoping someone can help me understand how Wizards work so I can fashion my Wizard to my liking. I have read the DDO Wiki pages on things like Spell Penetration and Difficulty Checks but cannot seem to find an explanation for the exact procedure a Wizard follows from casting to inflicting damage.
Spells seem to fall into two major categories--direct damage energy (e.g., Fireball) and everything else (e.g., Finger of *****).
When casting a direct damage energy spell like Lightning Bolt, some combination of Caster Level and Spell Power seem to affect damage. The target gets a Reflex(?) save for all or half damage, or half or no damage with Evasion(?). I do not really understand how some of the Meta-Magic Feats affect this. Is this a form of 'DC Casting'? If I read correctly, Magic Resistance does not affect this kind of spell. Or does it? How does 'Spell Penetration' affect this? Protective wards fit in here as well. What Feats combine so that a Wizard actually does some damage? :)
The other kind of spell usually affects the 'mind' of the target. If I understand correctly the target may evade the spell via a Protective Ward, Magic Resistance, or a Saving Throw. I am not sure how 'Spell Penetration' and 'DC Casting' work into this. This sort of casting does not appear to use 'Spell Power'. Again, I wish to understand how to build a Wizard so that these sorts of spells actually work. In my experience, spells like Finger of ***** mostly bounce off, Otto's Sphere of Dancing works pretty good, and Power Word, **** works very well.
Is it possible to build a Wizard such that all her spells actually work or is specialization absolutely required? Can a Wizard with three Wizard and three Sorcerer Past Life Feats successfully cast all spells? The Eldritch Knight trait tree seems to trade offense for defense. Can some combination of Arch-mage and Eldritch Knight yield a Wizard with both good offense and good defense?
Please forgive me if I meander or ask the wrong questions. To paraphrase an old expression, give a Wizard a fish and she is fed for a day. Teach a Wizard to fish and she is fed for life. I wish to teach my Wizard to fish.
Unfortunately, for all my efforts to advance her, my Wizard cannot hit very hard and has a very difficult time in Epic Quests. Her Magic Missiles, Fireballs, Lightning Bolts, Disintegration Rays, and even Meteor Swarms often inflict very little damage. She burns through spell points extremely rapidly.
I have not played Dungeon and Dragons in a couple decades and find the modern rules Byzantine, overly complicated, and vague. Therein lies my problem. When I played, a high level Wizard easily smashed whole groups of enemies. As it stands today, my Thief (Rogue Assassin) kills far more effectively than my Wizard and I would like to fix that. :)
I am not looking for a specific Wizard 'Build'. Rather, I am hoping someone can help me understand how Wizards work so I can fashion my Wizard to my liking. I have read the DDO Wiki pages on things like Spell Penetration and Difficulty Checks but cannot seem to find an explanation for the exact procedure a Wizard follows from casting to inflicting damage.
Spells seem to fall into two major categories--direct damage energy (e.g., Fireball) and everything else (e.g., Finger of *****).
When casting a direct damage energy spell like Lightning Bolt, some combination of Caster Level and Spell Power seem to affect damage. The target gets a Reflex(?) save for all or half damage, or half or no damage with Evasion(?). I do not really understand how some of the Meta-Magic Feats affect this. Is this a form of 'DC Casting'? If I read correctly, Magic Resistance does not affect this kind of spell. Or does it? How does 'Spell Penetration' affect this? Protective wards fit in here as well. What Feats combine so that a Wizard actually does some damage? :)
The other kind of spell usually affects the 'mind' of the target. If I understand correctly the target may evade the spell via a Protective Ward, Magic Resistance, or a Saving Throw. I am not sure how 'Spell Penetration' and 'DC Casting' work into this. This sort of casting does not appear to use 'Spell Power'. Again, I wish to understand how to build a Wizard so that these sorts of spells actually work. In my experience, spells like Finger of ***** mostly bounce off, Otto's Sphere of Dancing works pretty good, and Power Word, **** works very well.
Is it possible to build a Wizard such that all her spells actually work or is specialization absolutely required? Can a Wizard with three Wizard and three Sorcerer Past Life Feats successfully cast all spells? The Eldritch Knight trait tree seems to trade offense for defense. Can some combination of Arch-mage and Eldritch Knight yield a Wizard with both good offense and good defense?
Please forgive me if I meander or ask the wrong questions. To paraphrase an old expression, give a Wizard a fish and she is fed for a day. Teach a Wizard to fish and she is fed for life. I wish to teach my Wizard to fish.