List Your Effective Sorcerer Build Here!

[iPoseidon]

I'm having trouble finding a good build for my level 21 Sorcerer. I've searched the forums and haven't really seen any guides on a build.

So, what I'm asking is for you guys to post your WHOLE build please. :) I just want to see your opinions and what works best for you guys!

[CosmoxKramer]

fireball 5/5
Lightning Strike + Empowered Bolt and Electrical Discharge (because my crit is low so i don't use Positive charge)
Frost Bolt + Ice Wielder for chance at aoe free (nice for elite trash mobs) and Jagged Ice for a bit of extra damage
Time Shift + Time Bomb and Countdown of Pain (for aoe trash only, don't charge for boss)
5/5 int
1/5 damage

[Royce]

I currently use the exact same build as above except I have the extended freeze subskill and no damage passive. It's working quite well for me. I was previously using the same with curse in place of time shift and that also worked well, but was less effective with poor teams.

Edit: actually I forgot I dropped the hit debuff from fireball and got the root for time shift. I'm still toying around with different configurations.

[CosmoxKramer]

I like the -hit because when I end up tanking Jarl or someone I seem to avoid hits about 25% more :p

[iPoseidon]

Nice Build! Are you pure Int?

[CosmoxKramer]

I went pure int and have Colten, but I picked up the demonlord(sp?) gear for the 25-26 STR, 12-13 INT and bonus armor. I don't spend money on max item, just try to shop efficiently. I could be at like 315+ int if I went with clever amor, and the lvl 21 rings/amulet, but I just wanted to save money. Told myself I'd only spend huge gold on weapons, since that is the majority of ur damage

[yuriramos]

The -hit on fireball for a few sec is useless because by the time u hit them with fb, theyre still knocked out and not hitting u anyway. Not sure if it works for boss tho

[CosmoxKramer]

The -hit seems to work on Jarl when the knock down/stun doesn't.

[Royce]

I could be at like 315+ int if I went with clever amor, and the lvl 21 rings/amulet, but I just wanted to save money.

305 is the unbuffed max. Edit: My bad, that's actually with Malison. 285 is the unbuffed, no pet max.


The -hit seems to work on Jarl when the knock down/stun doesn't.

Yeah the hit debuff is useful against bosses but less so against mobs affected by the knockdown.

[CosmoxKramer]

ok, ya i was just looking at gear i could buy and trying to add a bunch of + deltas to my current in lol. you are right 315 is max with Colten, 285 is max from gear and stat/skill attribution

[Arcana]

Fireball+engulf+impact+scorch(4/5)
Gale force+outward squall+Protective current+speed of wind(4/5)
Frost bolt+ice weilder+jagged ice+shiver(4/5)
Lifegiver+empower+recharge mana(3/5)
and 5/5 knowledge passive skill
I have respec around 10 times and find build is the best for my play style.My combo is charge fireball > charge frost bolt > use gale force(sometime i charged it too) and clean the rest of the mobs then begin from the first.Use charged lifegiver after all mobs gone to bring back your lost mana.With this build I rarely use potions.I usually using mana regen pet to cover my mana.Hope this help:smile:

[Yakiniku]

The -hit seems to work on Jarl when the knock down/stun doesn't.

Yup. It's also useful for other mobs that don't knock down or stun. Gray skeletons in WT4, big punching demon guys in Tower, undead warrior and rogue mobs in Grounds. I'm sure there's more, but those are the first ones that come to my mind.

You guys are going to ream me for my build, but here goes:

Fireball 5/5
Frost Bolt 4/5 - Ice Wielder, Jagged Ice, Shiver
Time Shift 3/5 - Countdown of Pain, Freeze Time
Lifegiver 4/5 - Increased Range, Empower, Recharge Mana
Knowledge 4/5

Build is DoT heavy because they all stack with themselves and add up to quite a bit of damage. Particularly useful for bosses or large Elite groups. Lifegiver is there because I enjoy adding some utility to the group and nobody else seems to take it these days. Still on the fence with Recharge Mana. I mainly use it to kick off my natural mana regen manually, rather than waiting for it to kick in after a pause in casting, but it really does help me a lot. I don't know quite how to explain it, but after adding this talent my mana pot consumption has gone way down. Yes, I'm poor and cheap like that. :) Knowledge is +4 because I simply ran out of points. :(

Build focus is on crowd control and support for Elites, with DoTs augmenting the damage output. Having 270+ dps does help I guess, but a half decent rogue will still out damage me easily.

[Royce]

Still on the fence with Recharge Mana. I mainly use it to kick off my natural mana regen manually, rather than waiting for it to kick in after a pause in casting, but it really does help me a lot. I don't know quite how to explain it, but after adding this talent my mana pot consumption has gone way down.

You're imagining things, drop that subskill unless you specifically intend for it to be a party booster that does nothing for you (because it is). It gives you 50 more mana every 16s at most, meaning you can cast almost 1 extra skill every 32s without spending mana. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you think anyone would ream you for your build. If you like using Lifegiver, that's great.

[Yakiniku]

You're imagining things, drop that subskill unless you specifically intend for it to be a party booster that does nothing for you (because it is). It gives you 50 more mana every 16s at most, meaning you can cast almost 1 extra skill every 32s without spending mana. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you think anyone would ream you for your build. If you likeusing Lifegiver, that's great.

Well let me explain my rationale a little better.

I don't use it for the mana gain numbers specifically. I use it to patch that long period of time where we get no regen after we stop casting.

But like I said, I'm still experimenting. I'm going to keep it for a while just to get a baseline, then drop it at the next free respec for comparison. Or if I get impatient, I'll just do a free plat offer or two.

Oh yea I figured I'd be reamed because I didn't follow the max damage template. It's an internet forum. Always expect the worst. :p

/edit after much spam casting and healing, I think you're right. The small gain and short regen probably isn't worth the skill point.

[Linkincena]

By using this config.. I found it more effective... for lvl21
My dodge chance increased 25% from scorch and 25 % from gale force
+45% damage reduction from shield...and double knockdown from fire and gale... i tested it and found practically good for solo run and team run mob kill strategy ... sometimes critical damage boosts the effect of killing fast...22859
What do you say Royce? What u say everyone?
Anybody tested this?

[Linkincena]

22863

[CosmoxKramer]

I would do 1 point in lightning strike > life giver because I can pot for about 33% health and at 1800 on my age it heals more than LG. the LS then is another 200-300 damage every few seconds. Just my opinion but it sounds like u have excellent survivability with ur build

[Linkincena]

Yep..survivability definitely increased

[Linkincena]

22865

[TheStoic]

fireball 5/5
Lightning Strike + Empowered Bolt and Electrical Discharge (because my crit is low so i don't use Positive charge)
Frost Bolt + Ice Wielder for chance at aoe free (nice for elite trash mobs) and Jagged Ice for a bit of extra damage
Time Shift + Time Bomb and Countdown of Pain (for aoe trash only, don't charge for boss)
5/5 int
1/5 damage

I followed these distribution of points and my elite Jarl farming has never been the same. Plus, I lead the pack, 95% of the time.

Yes, I still die, but far too less than previous build. The reason I die is because after the bridge, I strike fireball, knockdown mobs, freeze, lightning and fireball...the back-up acts late to help.

[CosmoxKramer]

Yea, I love it. Usually the only time I die now from the pack just before Jarl is because the group gets spread out (so fireball doesn't knock em all down) or the freeze doesn't get the archers...

[azefekie]

some pretty interesting builds..looks like people are wasting a lot of skill points.

Fireball-3, first and third
light-first and third
Ice-first
Time- third and fourth (third helps in stealing some kills in big mobs ;P)

Passives:
Critical shot-4
Knowledge-5
you need to get your crit as high as possible being a mage, without destroying the build you're looking for. nuke mage



And as we say in PL "PURE INT FTW!!!"

[azefekie]

Passive dmg doesn't make a difference .5 on your dps? doesn't add to dmg. try passive crit shot for a bit you'll enjoy it
fireball 5/5
Lightning Strike + Empowered Bolt and Electrical Discharge (because my crit is low so i don't use Positive charge)
Frost Bolt + Ice Wielder for chance at aoe free (nice for elite trash mobs) and Jagged Ice for a bit of extra damage
Time Shift + Time Bomb and Countdown of Pain (for aoe trash only, don't charge for boss)
5/5 int
1/5 damage

[Royce]

Passive dmg doesn't make a difference .5 on your dps? doesn't add to dmg. try passive crit shot for a bit you'll enjoy it

Passive Crit seems to increase overall DPS considerably less than passive damage, though neither does very much. When I get to the point where I have nothing better to spend SP on, I will definitely take damage passive over Crit passive. Crits seem to average less than 200% damage which means 1% Crit is less than 1% Dmg for overall damage output.

[azefekie]

Passive Crit seems to increase overall DPS considerably less than passive damage, though neither does very much. When I get to the point where I have nothing better to spend SP on, I will definitely take damage passive over Crit passive. Crits seem to average less than 200% damage which means 1% Crit is less than 1% Dmg for overall damage output.I'd rather have 200% more dmg then have low crit and not do it at all

[Royce]

I'd rather have 200% more dmg then have low crit and not do it at all

Your preference is your preference but the math shows passive damage is better for damage in the long run. If crits are 200% damage then 1% damage and 1% Crit have the same effect on overall damage output. If Crit damage is over 200% then Crit is better. If Crits are under 200% damage on average, which seems to be the case, then 1% damage will increase your overall DPS more than 1% Crit. Some people just like to see the big spike damage, which is fine. At the end of the day, neither one provides a tremendous increase in DPS.

[azefekie]

I see what you're saying, what i enjoy is hitting big crits which happens often especially lightning the more i can crit 1300dmg the better. dps isn't my build i want the highest dmg i can for my nuke mage. i've read a lot of your posts i tend to agree with you more then others who act like they know how to build a mage.
Your preference is your preference but the math shows passive damage is better for damage in the long run. If crits are 200% damage then 1% damage and 1% Crit have the same effect on overall damage output. If Crit damage is over 200% then Crit is better. If Crits are under 200% damage on average, which seems to be the case, then 1% damage will increase your overall DPS more than 1% Crit. Some people just like to see the big spike damage, which is fine. At the end of the day, neither one provides a tremendous increase in DPS.

[CosmoxKramer]

i don't think crits hit for 200% damage. If you go test it out skills and AA seems to hit for about 125%. this seems to be the case for fireball and frost bolt. I havent' finished testing the others. But 125% damage boost on a crit is pretty sad and week. Go Damage =)

[wawawa64]

You're imagining things, drop that subskill unless you specifically intend for it to be a party booster that does nothing for you (because it is). It gives you 50 more mana every 16s at most, meaning you can cast almost 1 extra skill every 32s without spending mana. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you think anyone would ream you for your build. If you like using Lifegiver, that's great.

I think it gives more than 50 mana (it scales with INT i think). I am getting consistently +14~+15 mana every tick (for 10 seconds) and I max out INT, so the total is around +150 mana for every 16s. It is still not that useful though.

CORRECTION... I've done a little bit more test, it actually scales with your damage. I unequipped my weapon and, it drops to just +2 mana every tick. Also, there were only 5 ticks during the 10 seconds span, so it's more like +75 mana every 16s at max damage (I am using Watch Rifle at the moment)

[CosmoxKramer]

thanks for sharing this Wawawa64. I don't have heal at the moment, but i have wanted to test if the mana changes by skill damage ratio or int. The other mana restore skill restore about 9.5% of you mana, i just never tested out the other one.

[Royce]

Interesting, I was just going by the skill description and my limited experience with it when I tested it out at the 16 cap, and it seemed worthless. It shouldn't really scale with Int since its not a mana restore per se but a flat regen boost, but if it does that should definitely be reflected in the skill description. There seems to be very little understanding of regen in general. Maybe there's an overall regen multiplier of some sort. Unfortunately regen in this game is so weak, it's hardly worth testing. Maybe when PvP comes out I'll give it another try.

[wawawa64]

Interesting, I was just going by the skill description and my limited experience with it when I tested it out at the 16 cap, and it seemed worthless. It shouldn't really scale with Int since its not a mana restore per se but a flat regen boost, but I'd it does that should definitely be reflected in the skill description. There seems to be very little understanding of regen in general. Maybe there's an overall regen multiplier of some sort. Unfortunately regen in this game is so weak, it's hardly worth testing. Maybe when PvP comes out I'll give it another try.

Agree. I think it is still weak, and the skill description is misleading.

[azefekie]

A lot of them seem to be like this.
Agree. I think it is still weak, and the skill description is misleading.



Looking forward to some more tests done on this, i found it pretty useless.

As for PvP and CTF coming i can see a lot of players sacrificing a power skill for LG. depending on how it goes i myself might be. Just really hoping it isn't too screwed up and we have to use shield also....4 skill spots doesn't give room for much

[CosmoxKramer]

at level 16 i was testing the OOC (out of combat regen) and it appears that after about 7-8s OOC kicks in. it regened at about 20 m/s. this was true on my Warrior and Sorcerer. I'll have to test it again now at 21, but considering the long regen time, it must be pretty close to 20 m/s still. I really wish instead of a flat 20 m/s it did something more like 5-10% / second in OOC. This may cause Warriors to have to pot every once in a while and maybe sorcerers to not need to do it as much.

[Royce]

As for PvP and CTF coming i can see a lot of players sacrificing a power skill for LG. depending on how it goes i myself might be. Just really hoping it isn't too screwed up and we have to use shield also....4 skill spots doesn't give room for much

This is my greatest fear with the forthcoming PvP update, that sorcerers will all have to nerf themselves for PvE by adding shield and heal, which are both pretty useless in PvE, shield in particular being a total waste.

[azefekie]

yeah me too, if you had 5 spots i could see it working good for a mage but no so much for the other classes
This is my greatest fear with the forthcoming PvP update, that sorcerers will all have to nerf themselves for PvE by adding shield and heal, which are both pretty useless in PvE, shield in particular being a total waste.

[CosmoxKramer]

Make a 2nd mage =)

[Valsacar]

Here's what I'm testing right now.

Pure int, with EQ and wrathjaw I have 303 with 147.9 dmg and 266.2 dps. Health is 1595 and mana at 3180.

Fireball - Engulf, Ignite, Impact
Lightning - Empowered
Frost Bolt - Jagged, Shiver
Time - Bomb, Pain, Freeze

Passive Knowledge 5/5, Damage 2/5 (not sure if this is doing anything, nothing appeared to change on my screens, but I think I remember reading something about that being glitched atm).

Compared to my last build I am using more health and mana pots atm, but at this point that doesn't matter. Mainly just need to get used to having to do that.

Idea is decent AOE control (charged fireball, run to middle and drop charged clock, move back) and boss damage. Crit is low so didn't take that effect from lightning, don't want to sit and charge every shot so I didn't take that aspect of frost. If the dmg passive isn't helping much I might add those two in later.

[hdz123]

I followed these distribution of points and my elite Jarl farming has never been the same. Plus, I lead the pack, 95% of the time.

Yes, I still die, but far too less than previous build. The reason I die is because after the bridge, I strike fireball, knockdown mobs, freeze, lightning and fireball...the back-up acts late to help.where is the gale

[yuriramos]

Im thinking of respeccing and adding heal for pvp, altho im not sure if its worth it. Can somone tell me how much hp lifegiver provides?

[CosmoxKramer]

Livegiver average heal gives 3.6 times our Damage +/- about 9%. So if your damage was 100 Damage then your Lifegiver would average 360 heal or probably close to 326-394 heals.