Arcane school very weak.

[Samseng Yik]

Tried mage. Play the Dwarf story first.
Picked the lower path with a lot heavily armored enemies.
I am using the default card set then equip the fire shield defense set.
Didn't replace the starting book with Book Of Storm because it don't have much arcane generation.
Gameplay is slow and hard versus the heavy armored enemies.
Suddenly level 4, unlocked the Pyromancy school.

Real game changer and the point of this topic is not about Pyromancy school too good, but it is Arcane school too weak.
1) Lighting Charge
First, 5 stamina is usually a 50% of full Wizard stamina. 5 stamina can accomplish so much so much with other set of card.
Effect is complete garbage compare relatively to Pyromancy.
Second, Player On Touch damage cannot bypass enemy armor. But enemy on touch damage bypass player armor.
Third, if you ask me, to double cast Lighting Charge with 10 stamina, or any other thing with 10 stamina. I would choose spend 10 stamina at every other thing.
Lighting Charge set the low standard record for useless card. Yeah, is superb VS revenant/rat/spiderling. but if stronger enemy are in the mix then quite useless.

2) Blink
Blink is by no way bad effect. Just the stamina cost.
IF you save so much stamina just to activate blink for defense. I am not too sure you should do something else for better result. If you only has blink card without other card. Then fine.
Blink give break even stamina effect if you use in chain and there is only melee enemies.

This school need some overhaul to be reliable in late game. It don't cover most of the Wizard weaknesses.
Pyromancy give AOE stun, armor bypassing burn damage, hide that give you breathing moment if you know when to use. Card that increase your damage is a damn good combo starter, plus also generate stamina.
Pyromancy is still a dangerous school if no manage properly. But in the hand of skilled player, Arcane school is just garbage. It really need some buff.

Everything I said is only personal opinions. Maybe it is just wrong.

[Gwim]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback!

All schools have pros and cons and armor in particular is one the main weaknesses for the arcane school. You can still beat the dwarven path with it but it's harder. The book of Lightning is probably the worst one against armor, while the Book of storms is a little better and the Book of Arcana is probably the best arcane one when it comes to fighting armored enemies.

Both the Blink and the Lightning Charge are expensive but very useful cards that work specially well once you manage to master cycling and resource management with your deck. However, I do see how they can initially appear overpriced.
Keep in mind that blink is a great special/dodge that can get most enemies out of action for 2 turns and Lightning charge can be used to easily dispatch weaker enemies and deal lots of damage with AoE attacks. And the fact that you can stack it makes it specially powerful. :)

Just so you know the game can be beaten with all schools and all spellbooks so for now I think it remains a matter of choice. :)

[FlyingPinkPony]

I've also had a hard time with Wizard personally and I think a lot of it has to do with the difficulty of early unlocks. I'm not very far on Wizard (been mostly doing rogue and warrior) but the early unlocks tend to get part of a school (here's one fire piece) that don't synergize well with other schools. Additionally, I don't have a familiar or robe yet so I'm fighting through most of these levels half naked and most of my early unlocks don't help much (except you Storm Ring... my precious...). The familiar especially is soooooo powerful it's a crazy boost to the class. Honestly, the familiar slot feel pretty overloaded in regards to how much power they offer the character versus other slots.

Frankly, I know the wizard is super powerful, probably the most powerful class from what I've seen but the ramp up is really, really painful. I would strongly consider maybe shuffling some unlocks around (an early robe would be lovely). This may also explain some of the disconnect seen between trying to start playing the wizard and how more experienced & "unlocked" players view the class.

[Samseng Yik]

Agree on the Robe and Familiar.
For Wizard, this almost only get unlocked after Key level.

[Gwim]

As you know item positions are very far from final. I have many new books and scrolls coming for the Wizard so I wan't to postpone any new item rearrangement until then.

If you're having trouble with the wizard guys i recommend going with the following build:
Pyromancy School, Book of Storm, Scrolls of the Damned.
It's a very straight forward cheap build that should take you quite far as long as you avoid high armor areas (dwarven path, castle, etc...) . You should have no problem getting a familiar with that. (crow or salamander for example) ;)

[Tariff Sheriff]

I beat the game with Arcane School and kept using it because I felt it was the most powerful, weird.

I struggle with the other classes and even some other wizard builds, but I can't get enough of Arcane spec, so this thread seemed a bit strange to me, haha.

[Gwim]

Yeah, people usually have very opposite experiences with the wizard. :P
By the way, which arcane build did you use to beat the game, if you don't mind me asking?

[Tariff Sheriff]

I couldn't decide if the Book of Arcana (Forcebolt build) or Book of Storms (Chain Lightning/Storm Pulse) build was superior but I used Arcana-- both are great though. I used Lightning Scrolls (for the slightly cheaper stamina cost) and Arcane Robe, and Blink Stone as a trinket because it's a safety net.

The only thing slightly unconventional was using the Crow Familiar over the Dragon, because it puts all the enemies out at once to be AoE'd, and there are no hidden surprises that require you to dodge or block more than you expect.

The strategy is pretty straightforward, keep drawing cards and blasting away, no need to manage a heat or soul meter.

[Gwim]

Nice. Thanks for the info! :)

[Haywire]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/128998069
I believe this will suffice as counterargument to any claims that arcane wizard is weak.

[Samseng Yik]

That is really an impressive showing.
I actually only think "Arcane School" weak. Not the Book Of Arcane.
Only my opinion think Pyromancy School replace Arcane school is good.

[Gwim]

That is indeed a good argument Haywire. XD

[heretikeen]

Having a hard time with the wonderful wizard as well ... Finally beat two bosses, only to get splinters of other schools that I can't really combine with the stuff I already have.

[DoubleByte]

Wizard is currently driving me bonkers haha. I can't get the defense game down- somehow damage keeps leaking through, or I burn my own face off chaining fire walls. Soul shields are probably my favorites, but I might go back to a fully arcane stack just because the items are so versitile and it's more reliable than the pyro spells.

[Sepulchurz]

Stop it Samuel. Arcane is one of the best builds in the game. Necromancer is nice but difficult to manage once the -2 souls (Soul Mastery) run out. Pyromancer is far worse. +1 fire overcharge = 2 - 3 damage (havent played it in a while) , and most of the awesome fire cards charge up so much that i cant put out the flames with Cooling Stance no matter how much I cycle. Overall, arcane is the most usable. You only just don't know how to use it.

Also, I've beat all the areas, and both maps with my Wizard. I'm struggling with every other class though. Maybe our playstyle are a bit different.

My game beating build happens to be almost the same as the one to unlock Storm Master, but with Shield Scroll instead of Lightning Scroll.

[Sepulchurz]

Originally posted by DoubleByte:

Wizard is currently driving me bonkers haha. I can't get the defense game down- somehow damage keeps leaking through, or I burn my own face off chaining fire walls. Soul shields are probably my favorites, but I might go back to a fully arcane stack just because the items are so versitile and it's more reliable than the pyro spells.

If you want defence, there is an easy way to get it. Two words, Shield Scrolls. Why? Blocks for 4 damage, draws a card at the cost of 2 energy and 1 arcane. If chained, it can stop bosses at 6 damage shield, draw TWO cards, and reduce cost from energy with 1 energy and 1 arcane.

Here's a tip to make use of shield scroll on boss fights. Kill enemy supporting units but make sure to have at least 1 enemy to the left of the boss that doesnt immediately die from any contact damage you made. Also, make sure you have at least 2 shields. Block the first enemy, then block the boss with the op chained shield.