AOE Damage Skills

[FluffNStuff]

What skills do AOE damage, and what upgrades to I need to achieve it, and does it require charging?

So far, all I have figured out for not charging is fireball and 15% chance on lightning.

[katish]

Fireball has AOE uncharge by default

Frost has AOE if charged 20% of the times with the 1st upgrade

Clock has AOE uncharged.

Curse has AOE uncharged.

Light can go AOE if it kills an enemy with the 2nd upgrade.

[jb57542]

Gale force is also AOE and heal is technically AOE.

[FluffNStuff]

Gale force is also AOE and heal is technically AOE.

Does Gale force require charge to be AOE? And does it need a specific upgrade?

[jb57542]

Does Gale force require charge to be AOE? And does it need a specific upgrade?

To answer you're question yes and no :). No because Gale will do aoe knock down for all enemies in front of you with no upgrades or charge. You can extended the durations to these effects as well.

Yes because there is an upgrade to gale "outward squall" that turns gale into a true aoe skill with u at the center with a charge. This also adds a push effect onto gale but from my understanding disables the knock down effect. If I used gale I personally wouldn't use this upgrade for that reason. Plus this effect should be used wisley because you can scatter the mobs with it if you are in the middle of them.

[FluffNStuff]

To answer you're question yes and no :). No because Gale will do aoe knock down for all enemies in front of you with no upgrades or charge. You can extended the durations to these effects as well.

Yes because there is an upgrade to gale "outward squall" that turns gale into a true aoe skill with u at the center with a charge. This also adds a push effect onto gale but from my understanding disables the knock down effect. If I used gale I personally wouldn't use this upgrade for that reason. Plus this effect should be used wisley because you can scatter the mobs with it if you are in the middle of them.

NICE! So I can NOT charge it and it will damage multiple mobs in front of me? Thanks!

[drgrimmy]

To answer you're question yes and no :). No because Gale will do aoe knock down for all enemies in front of you with no upgrades or charge. You can extended the durations to these effects as well.

Yes because there is an upgrade to gale "outward squall" that turns gale into a true aoe skill with u at the center with a charge. This also adds a push effect onto gale but from my understanding disables the knock down effect. If I used gale I personally wouldn't use this upgrade for that reason. Plus this effect should be used wisley because you can scatter the mobs with it if you are in the middle of them.

Uncharged gale still has a push effect and can be helpfull if used carefully to position mobs. Kinda confusing as it does not always work. You have to have the enemies in a sweet spot at a certain distance from you (not too close, but not to far, lol) and it does not appear to work if they are stunned by fireball.

In terms of frost, if you charge it, it is semi aoe without the aoe upgrade. It will freeze/slow mobs adjacent to your main target and cause DOT to them. I believe you just don't get the initial damage to those adjacent mobs, only to the main target.

[FluffNStuff]

OK, I got Fireball with the first two upgrades. Lightning with the first 3 upgrades. Gale Force with no upgrades (might get the last one). and Time Shift with the first two upgrades. That makes the skill portion of my 'Bulldozer Sorcerer'. Guess the rest will go into passive. Too bad there is not another real AOE or I could ditch Lightning.

[keikali]

I followed Gaieje's build: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?98946-Level-by-Level-Skill-Guide

Its so good for PvE. I love it. I've tried alot of respecs already which cost me tons of plat and this one seems to give me alot of dmg output without dying as much. Only issue I have is soloing specific big bosses which I don't think are meant to be solo'd.

[drgrimmy]

OK, I got Fireball with the first two upgrades. Lightning with the first 3 upgrades. Gale Force with no upgrades (might get the last one). and Time Shift with the first two upgrades. That makes the skill portion of my 'Bulldozer Sorcerer'. Guess the rest will go into passive. Too bad there is not another real AOE or I could ditch Lightning.

Ditch lightning and get frost instead. With the jagged ice and shiver upgrades the charged skill will slow and do damage over time to the enemies next to your main target every time (not 20% like the lame aoe upgrade). Pretty much an a skill you cant really do without when fighting mobs in my opinion. If you instead want better single target damage, then go with lightning.

In terms of time shift, I would get all upgrades. The beauty of time is rooting a mob in place so you can do aoe damage to a large concentrated mob. In my opinion a waste of a skill if you dont get the freeze time upgrade. And as long as you have the freeze time upgrade you should also get the countdown of pain upgrade which will do damage over time to the whole mob rooted by the clock.

I am probably just a little biased as my aoe damage build for mobs and elite farming is fire 4/5, gale 4/5, frost 3/5, and time 5/5 with 5/5 int, 5/5 str and 4/5 damage.

[FluffNStuff]

Ditch lightning and get frost instead. With the jagged ice and shiver upgrades the charged skill will slow and do damage over time to the enemies next to your main target every time (not 20% like the lame aoe upgrade). Pretty much an a skill you cant really do without when fighting mobs in my opinion. If you instead want better single target damage, then go with lightning.

In terms of time shift, I would get all upgrades. The beauty of time is rooting a mob in place so you can do aoe damage to a large concentrated mob. In my opinion a waste of a skill if you dont get the freeze time upgrade. And as long as you have the freeze time upgrade you should also get the countdown of pain upgrade which will do damage over time to the whole mob rooted by the clock.

I am probably just a little biased as my aoe damage build for mobs and elite farming is fire 4/5, gale 4/5, frost 3/5, and time 5/5 with 5/5 int, 5/5 str and 4/5 damage.

The key to my bulldozer is that it puts out as much damage as possible with the sacrifice that it gets about 5 miles to the gallon (Mana button is a 5th skill). To that end, I refuse to charge ANYTHING so I can keep a steady firing rotation as fast as I can. That is the reason I have no ice and the reason I have NONE of the charge related skill upgrades.

[Drearivev]

Actually, Time Shift has to be charged to do damage to mobs. If you leave it uncharged and let it drop, it won't do any damage even if you have the Countdown of Pain upgrade. The upgrade's description says if it is charged, then it will do damage to all mobs inside it. So if you want AoE damage with evrything uncharged, then Time Shift doesn't fall into that category.

[jb57542]

Actually, Time Shift has to be charged to do damage to mobs. If you leave it uncharged and let it drop, it won't do any damage even if you have the Countdown of Pain upgrade. The upgrade's description says if it is charged, then it will do damage to all mobs inside it. So if you want AoE damage with evrything uncharged, then Time Shift doesn't fall into that category.

Not true, time shifts initial drop damages all enemies within it uncharged. You just loose the other benefits such as the DOT.

[Drearivev]

Not true, time shifts initial drop damages all enemies within it uncharged. You just loose the other benefits such as the DOT.Right, the DOT was what I was talking about. Thanks.

[drgrimmy]

The key to my bulldozer is that it puts out as much damage as possible with the sacrifice that it gets about 5 miles to the gallon (Mana button is a 5th skill). To that end, I refuse to charge ANYTHING so I can keep a steady firing rotation as fast as I can. That is the reason I have no ice and the reason I have NONE of the charge related skill upgrades.

Your build and skill selection makes a lot more sense now that you mention you don't want to charge
any skills. What are you going to be using it for? Would probably be best for low level maps and tombs
in which it does not take much to kill the enemies. In elite I don't know it it would work as well as you
need the crowd control to keep the mobs together and to keep them away from you and your teammates
and/or in permastun... Let us know how it works out and how much you like it :)

[FluffNStuff]

Your build and skill selection makes a lot more sense now that you mention you don't want to charge
any skills. What are you going to be using it for? Would probably be best for low level maps and tombs
in which it does not take much to kill the enemies. In elite I don't know it it would work as well as you
need the crowd control to keep the mobs together and to keep them away from you and your teammates
and/or in permastun... Let us know how it works out and how much you like it :)

Really not sure yet, will see when I get there. Only 15 now, just started the sorc. This is mostly an experiment to see how much total damage output per second I can generate, taking into account number of targets.

[falmear]

Charged time shift & ice work well in combination with pulling mobs into a single spot by a warrior or if a rogue uses ensnaring trap. Once the mobs are in a tight group, I will charge time shift and/or ice to hold them there. This way they aren't going anywhere and the entire party can beat on the mobs in a single spot as opposed to being scattered or having them move away. If you look at these skills from a party aspect instead of a pure damage output aspect, they are much more useful. If you are looking at completing maps as fast as possible, then pulling mobs into tight spaces and holding them there is the most effective. This is where skills like time shift and ice shine because you can hold the mobs there if you do your job right. This is probably the most over looked and under appreciated job of a mage.

[drgrimmy]

Charged time shift & ice work well in combination with pulling mobs into a single spot by a warrior or if a rogue uses ensnaring trap. Once the mobs are in a tight group, I will charge time shift and/or ice to hold them there. This way they aren't going anywhere and the entire party can beat on the mobs in a single spot as opposed to being scattered or having them move away. If you look at these skills from a party aspect instead of a pure damage output aspect, they are much more useful. If you are looking at completing maps as fast as possible, then pulling mobs into tight spaces and holding them there is the most effective. This is where skills like time shift and ice shine because you can hold the mobs there if you do your job right. This is probably the most over looked and under appreciated job of a mage.

So true. I think a big part of our job in elite runs is mob control. Runs go so much faster and smoother with good crowd control, and even if you don't have lifegiver you will save your tank a lot of pots with good crowd control. Nevertheless, for low level maps and low level tombs runs where mobs die quick with one or two hits, this is a good build.

[FluffNStuff]

I have relented on part and started charging Time Shift entering the skirmish because as you have both pointed out freezing those mobs is a huge benefit. Luckily at this level if I need to drop another clock on em that is the end of em so I don't charge that one. Also been having fun playing with Ribbit, since his skill works well with the Charge drop, BURP, Fireball wind, Zap. Quite sure I will move over to a real Mage pet in the future but only 17 now so at that really easy stage of the game.

[FluffNStuff]

Just discovered something cool regarding skills. Apparently crit is determined at the moment of impact, not casting. This means you can charge time shift, release for attack, THEN activate ribbit and it will have the high crit chance. Not sure about other skills since time shift has a long delay.

[jb57542]

Just discovered something cool regarding skills. Apparently crit is determined at the moment of impact, not casting. This means you can charge time shift, release for attack, THEN activate ribbit and it will have the high crit chance. Not sure about other skills since time shift has a long delay.

You are correct and this does apply to all skills. This is a common tactic used by crit mages especially in PvP. Also time DOT with high crit is a beautiful thing to behold on mobs.