Are you better off using no armor at all?

[Adept]

Ive noticed as a wizard with gear you are slow as crap. Is it better to just run in naked? Whats the point of armor if you die in 3 hits anyways?

[johns1015]

of you stack will you can make spells like ice bolt do like 90 head shot also you need to stack movespeed on your wizard with some agility rings and lightfoot boots if you fork out some change like 2k you can get a nice kit with like 310 move speed and 35+ will

[Kangaroo Salesman]

That depends. A melee wizard with staff master is better in leather armour, while a spell slinging wizard is preferably as fast as can be.

[Adept]

Originally posted by johns1015:

of you stack will you can make spells like ice bolt do like 90 head shot also you need to stack movespeed on your wizard with some agility rings and lightfoot boots if you fork out some change like 2k you can get a nice kit with like 310 move speed and 35+ will

Ouch i only have like 2k saved up unfortunately. So a base wizard is just awful? How would you run a base wizard?

[Adept]

Originally posted by Kangaroo Salesman:

That depends. A melee wizard with staff master is better in leather armour, while a spell slinging wizard is preferably as fast as can be.

I prefer to use spells. Ive been using lightfoot boots with no armor of any kind. I also die to 9/10 engagements.

[Kangaroo Salesman]

Originally posted by Adept:

Originally posted by Kangaroo Salesman:

That depends. A melee wizard with staff master is better in leather armour, while a spell slinging wizard is preferably as fast as can be.

I prefer to use spells. Ive been using lightfoot boots with no armor of any kind. I also die to 9/10 engagements.

Have you tried bonk wizard? You still sling spells but are a melee threat and hard to kill.

[Adept]

Originally posted by Kangaroo Salesman:

Originally posted by Adept:

I prefer to use spells. Ive been using lightfoot boots with no armor of any kind. I also die to 9/10 engagements.

Have you tried bonk wizard? You still sling spells but are a melee threat and hard to kill.

I have not tried it yet can you give me a suggestion for a >25 build?

[Keven]

Originally posted by Adept:

Originally posted by Kangaroo Salesman:

That depends. A melee wizard with staff master is better in leather armour, while a spell slinging wizard is preferably as fast as can be.

I prefer to use spells. Ive been using lightfoot boots with no armor of any kind. I also die to 9/10 engagements.

In my experience as a spell slinging wizard dont bother with leather armor, equip the base gear robe or shirt (if you upgraded tailor affinity use the upgraded options). For melee opponents use haste and/or invisibility to keep distance and soften your target with fireballs. Finish them with zap or or my favorite trick: point blank magic missiles (risky).
VS ranged its a bit trickier but try to get them into tight corridors where fireballs can do their job with splash dmg. I find frostbolts hard to use but I realize that is probably a skill issue on my end.

[Adept]

Originally posted by Keven:

Originally posted by Adept:

I prefer to use spells. Ive been using lightfoot boots with no armor of any kind. I also die to 9/10 engagements.

In my experience as a spell slinging wizard dont bother with leather armor, equip the base gear robe or shirt (if you upgraded tailor affinity use the upgraded options). For melee opponents use haste and/or invisibility to keep distance and soften your target with fireballs. Finish them with zap or or my favorite trick: point blank magic missiles (risky).
VS ranged its a bit trickier but try to get them into tight corridors where fireballs can do their job with splash dmg. I find frostbolts hard to use but I realize that is probably a skill issue on my end.

Good advice, thanks.

[effusivemind]

so, it's a bit complex.

at first it's much better not to wear a robe at all cuz the default (Frock) is pretty useless on wiz as it gives dex yet reduces move speed by 6 which is a lot. that's why you see many wizs without chest armor.

however, once you get affinity 25 through the Tailor from completing his quests you unlock Mystic Vestments at the Squire, which are actually worth using and only reduce move speed by 3. and once you get affinity 75 with him you unlock the upgraded common version of Mystic Vestments that you can wear as starting gear.

this is why your priority after every wipe as wiz should be completing quests with the Leathersmith, Tailor, and Alchemist. wizs rly need gear to be strong, even in <25 GS.

to give you an idea of what base gear you should focus on as a spellcasting centric wiz the most common builds have Mystic Vestments, Leather Chausses, Rawhide Gloves, and either Occultist Boots or Lightfoot Boots, and either Wizard Hat or Leather Cap. the last two kinda vary depending on which stats you prefer and which game mode you're playing.

if you have any other questions about gear let us know. there's no better time to play wiz as a new player, you can get up to ~75% spell casting speed* in just base gear right now as a wiz and that's massive compared to what other casters can get.

edited for clarity*

[Aldain]

Originally posted by effusivemind:

however, once you get affinity 25 through the Tailor from completing his quests you unlock Mystic Vestments at the Squire, which are actually worth using and only reduce move speed by 3. and once you get affinity 75 with him you unlock the upgraded common version of Mystic Vestments that you can wear as starting gear.

...Can we talk about why the Frock is somehow 3 MS penalty heavier than the Vestments?

Especially when it has 4 less Armor Rating than them at poor quality? How is something lighter also stronger in terms of defense?

Is it just me or is the Frock quite truly the single worst chest armor in the game at the moment now that I'm looking at the wiki? Most other -6 MS chest equipment has either more AR, better/more stats or both.

I can't be the only one wonder why the Frock is just so damn bad right?

[effusivemind]

Originally posted by Aldain:

...Can we talk about why the Frock is somehow 3 MS penalty heavier than the Vestments?

Especially when it has 4 less Armor Rating than them at poor quality? How is something lighter also stronger in terms of defense?

Is it just me or is the Frock quite truly the single worst chest armor in the game at the moment now that I'm looking at the wiki? Most other -6 MS chest equipment has either more AR, better/more stats or both.

I can't be the only one wonder why the Frock is just so damn bad right?

defintiely had a lot of moments where I think to myself, "Why is this even in the game in it's current state?"

I genuinely think part of the reason new players were driven away from wiz is not just cuz it's a very technically demanding class but you have starting gear that's not only bad but actually significantly contributes to your death...

we can't expect new players to understand mechanics enough to recognize this. and they shouldn't have to, either. bad game design

[Aldain]

Originally posted by effusivemind:

defintiely had a lot of moments where I think to myself, "Why is this even in the game in it's current state?"

I genuinely think part of the reason new players were driven away from wiz is not just cuz it's a very technically demanding class but you have starting gear that's not only bad but actually significantly contributes to your death...

we can't expect new players to understand mechanics enough to recognize this. and they shouldn't have to, either. bad game design

Honestly looking over the wiki there is probably a lot of incredibly "Who would actually use this?" armor options.

Like why would I use the Hounskull helmet for an extra point or so of Vigor when the Topfhelm edges it out in AR without an MR penalty?

Why do Heavy Gauntlets give Dex/Vigor at the cost of -1MS while Light ones give Agi/Str?

And don't get me started on Boots being basically "Pick Lightfoots or GTFO" in most situations (especially in regards to Plate Boots, good lord poor Plate Boots...).

Seriously, the more I look the more I think armor as a whole needs a review.

[effusivemind]

Originally posted by Aldain:

Honestly looking over the wiki there is probably a lot of incredibly "Who would actually use this?" armor options.

Like why would I use the Hounskull helmet for an extra point or so of Vigor when the Topfhelm edges it out in AR without an MR penalty?

Why do Heavy Gauntlets give Dex/Vigor at the cost of -1MS while Light ones give Agi/Str?

And don't get me started on Boots being basically "Pick Lightfoots or GTFO" in most situations (especially in regards to Plate Boots, good lord poor Plate Boots...).

Seriously, the more I look the more I think armor as a whole needs a review.

precisely. many options range from being trap picks (like Frock) to just being overshadowed by others.

I'd like to see a rebalancing of all gear soon. next season would great since they're already planning to replace rolled stats with gem sockets anyway. maybe that's too optimistic of a timeline given everything that's happening.

I think this should be a priority, though. it's important. the current gear situation is not good for the game and new players in particular

[Aldain]

Originally posted by effusivemind:

precisely. many options range from being trap picks (like Frock) to just being overshadowed by others.

I'd like to see a rebalancing of all gear soon. next season would great since they're already planning to replace rolled stats with gem sockets anyway. maybe that's too optimistic of a timeline given everything that's happening.

I think this should be a priority, though. it's important. the current gear situation is not good for the game and new players in particular

Absolutely and 100% agreed.

I still hold that if they obliterated Lightfoot Boots out of the game the overall health of the game would increase by a large margin, and I know there's plenty of people who go "Oh people will just use the next best pair of boots so why bother" while completely ignoring that it gives about 10~11 Agi worth of move speed even at the worst quality (and only gets more obnoxious as the quality climbs) and that's more than any one piece of armor gives in equivalent stats.

[effusivemind]

Originally posted by Aldain:

Absolutely and 100% agreed.

I still hold that if they obliterated Lightfoot Boots out of the game the overall health of the game would increase by a large margin, and I know there's plenty of people who go "Oh people will just use the next best pair of boots so why bother" while completely ignoring that it gives about 10~11 Agi worth of move speed even at the worst quality (and only gets more obnoxious as the quality climbs) and that's more than any one piece of armor gives in equivalent stats.

it would help a lot. in many of my <25 GS builds I run all common gear except Lightfoots which I run uncommon with 5 additional move speed rolled on top.

and it's not cuz I want to, but if I don't and someone else does I'm at a significant disadvantage. and yet I can imagine a melee fighting any ranged using them feels like it's one of the most toxic things in the game. it's not fun for anyone.

in all of my solo builds Lightfoots are mandatory regardless of GS.

it would just be better if they got rid of most added MS on gear in general and maybe even reworked agility. then they can focus on balancing the classes as they are