Mage build?

[DjWiTT]

Hey guys,

does any1 came up with some mage build that is viable in veteran 4+??

For me spell scaling is so weak, crits do like 1k dmg at most while on melee got 25k easily.

If you have any good way to build a spellcasting character plz post :)

[Tekk]

My preference is to Annihilation with spell life leech, +3% damage per % resist and all attributes put into Toughness
Here's an example of it running Veteran +7 against normal group, elite group and boss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o_HcKO2I-A
I can screenshot the build later if you're interested.

Some people also swear by a Ice Spear build, but i haven't been able to make it work.

[DjWiTT]

So its basically same build as for melee? :) Only with little twist?

If you would be so kind please screenshot of your items and build.

I wanna make mage great again :)

[Tekk]

Originally posted by DjWiTT:

So its basically same build as for melee? :) Only with little twist?

If you would be so kind please screenshot of your items and build.

I wanna make mage great again :)

Practically speaking yeah :p
https://imgur.com/a/WeBo6Td

The items indicated has made a big difference for me, but i used the same build before getting those as well, only difference being that i used a staff, since artifact+ weapon is only better because the artifact is legendary with 3 slots.
With the weapon + artifact setup i have to dump rage using a attack skill, i use Chaos Orb.

Anyhow; I dumped all my passives into Toughness and i prioritize gear with high All Resistance and Material Resistance, since that gives extra damage.

Spell casting speed score is useless since it doesn't affect Annihilation.

For rings i prioritize + x-y damage to spells, and Occult damage.

+ Crit chance, + crit damage, +ferocity and + agility are also nice.

For gems i only use +occult damage for Offensive slots, and + material resistance score for defensive.

Annihilation is my main damage ability, the runes on it are "Pressure of time" and "Puncturing Gaze" for 2 beams (Double damage on single target) and 100% piercing.

I use Aether Jump with "March of time devourers" and "Time Paradox" for mobility

[DjWiTT]

Thanks man :)

I will try to build this way. Got some powerful stuff from farming with my melee character.

I hope in release there will be more ways to play as mage that "tank" build^^

[Tekk]

Originally posted by DjWiTT:

Thanks man :)

I will try to build this way. Got some powerful stuff from farming with my melee character.

I hope in release there will be more ways to play as mage that "tank" build^^

No problem :)

Yeah, the passive tree really needs some work, building anything but a tank is ineffective at the moment, but at the same time it would be really hard, and slow, to play if they simply disabled the retaliator passive.
I really hope they spent some time on the passive tree when the next beta patch comes out :p

[Elna]

2 things that made mage feel alot better for me was the -30% willpower conversion in the tree and adding willpower regen gems in the staff. With that it takes like 2 secs from zero to full willpower.

[Nokzen]

and here i thought willpower stat was the way to go for mage.

[DjWiTT]

Originally posted by Nokzen:

and here i thought willpower stat was the way to go for mage.

Yeaaa....I thought the same at the very beginning :P

Defense build with that 3% dmg increase is also good for ranged character. Basically it is a got-to build for every class :(

[Tekk]

Originally posted by DjWiTT:

Originally posted by Nokzen:

and here i thought willpower stat was the way to go for mage.

Yeaaa....I thought the same at the very beginning :P

Defense build with that 3% dmg increase is also good for ranged character. Basically it is a got-to build for every class :(

Yep, Any class not building that way will be less effective than any class that does.

Let's just hope that they buff the rest of the tree, instead of nerfing the Retaliator passive.

[Kaiser Conner]

Originally posted by Tekk:

Originally posted by DjWiTT:

Yeaaa....I thought the same at the very beginning :P

Defense build with that 3% dmg increase is also good for ranged character. Basically it is a got-to build for every class :(

Yep, Any class not building that way will be less effective than any class that does.

Let's just hope that they buff the rest of the tree, instead of nerfing the Retaliator passive.

yes plz nerf to 10% ^^

[Kotli]

Really I say the problem is Toughness is king for defence I mean it gives health and resistance.
Then on top of that it gives the same amount of damage as willpower.
Then Retaliator node takes your resistances and converts it into damage making it better than anything else in game for damage as well.

Ok Cabalist gives a chance of an extra status effect but only a chance it makes willpower a bit stronger but not enough.

[Xrystus]

I think three things need to happen: 1: increase the amount of damage your secondary and tertiary stats give you, so you don't lose too much damage by going hybrid and gear with additional stats. 2: nerf the retaliator node. As a tank, I do not wish to do the most damage, just enough to remain relevant, and I understand this node is what helps with that. and 3: make ALL the stats increase your damage, not just the top 3. This should give everyone a psuedo but healthy damage bump.

[sureshwindrider]

Mages are very poorly designed in this game . I was able to use my Dual wield Melee charater to complete lvl 30 quest with relative ease and much faster . My Mage on the other hand ,even with very good uniques still can't cross level 23 . The damge is low and I pretty much need to teleporting and moving here and there and my hands literally gets broken when I play has a mage . They should boost the Mage

[DistantFluxSA]

I did the following with a mage to unlock Vet +4:

- Toughness/Retaliator/all-resist passives
- Heavy armor
- Willpower regen passives (including two gems on staff)
- Spell life leech passive (helps a lot)
- Thirst amulet (only unique I'm wearing, and it's only level 7)
- Annihilation for bosses, fireball for crowd control, teleport for mobility

I don't think I'm getting much farther, though. At the same time, I'm not seeing any reason to go farther (other than bragging rights, I guess).