Chronomancer Help e500-e600 mana, e272 mysteries

[GonzoDog]

I just finished a pretty nice run on Alchemist and was able to push from about e250 to 272 mysteries. I'm trying to give Chronomancer another go (i only have 3.45% of my time spent with the class). I'm currently 1d29minutes into played real time and 6y320d of "played game time"

I seem to be stuck , I'm not really sure if I'm doing the burst spell set incorrectly, or if I've reached the maximum potential of this class. I've been running this mainly : https://i.postimg.cc/L67y0PTY/stuck-on-chrono.jpg but I've jumped in Stablize the Flow and Time Helix, but I haven't noticed any bursting when I switch them in, even with a 10.0 time distortion. Actually in the picture, I just switched up pets as I was going to give Interrogator a try. I previously had Risen Giant up to about level 140 when I hit a wall

Any advice? I feel like if I just let it run for days, it's not going to make a difference. I'm trying to get to e280 mysteries on this run but I'm currrently at 8e540 mana (total mana at 2.77e556).

[Firefrye]

Here is the basic Chronomancer guide from the wiki.
https://idle-wizard.fandom.com/wiki/Chronomancer_Guide_Updated

You are missing two different spells from your burst set and I'm going to assume your gear is also not set correctly as you should be able to see at least SOME profits in that range after only a few min, and after a full DAY you should be doing quite well. You just unlocked weapons and if you want to try to use Chronomancer, you will want to craft weapons until you get their signature weapon "Temporal Stabilizer" because it will MASSIVELY boost the amount of skipped time you are capable of. You should be skipping multiple years on every single cast of your wormhole (I am mid to late game and my wormholes on the Temporalist tier 2 class are over 100 years per cast).

You are pretty close to unlocking tier 2 classes so I have a few suggestions
1. Read the descriptions of the Tier 2 classes and pick on you want to try to learn.
2. Start crafting and upgrading the gear for that class based on a wiki guide or by asking around on the discord (the official one is pinned here on the steam discussions and the devs themselves are very active in the discord)
3. Pick one of the 2 subclasses for your chosen T2 class to try to push the rest of the way up to e300 mysts (or a bit further) before fully committing to the switch to the T2.
4. The base classes will share a lot of the gear and spells of the T2 class and will make the "learning curve" and playstyle transition a lot easier.
- For example: Chronomancer will use a lot of the same gear as it's "upgraded" version Temporalist, but you could also run Prodigy instead.
- Another example: if you liked Alchemist (I don't but some people really do) then you could continue using it while crafting and upgrading gear to try and transition to the T2 Desolator which combines Alch and Umbra.

5. Set up your spell and item sets based on those guides and learn the hotkeys to switch between them automatically. This will let you start doing proper "phases"
6. Learn the timings for different phases. The most basic 3 steps for any class are "buildup" where you collect experience and spell casts, "Void Mana" where you collect as much VM as you can at once, and then "Burst" where you switch to your best profit spells and gear while STILL HAVING that large pool of void mana. Many classes will tweak these phases or might even require a few extra steps (like re-leveling a pet if you have to switch pets between phases), but every class will have 3-5 phases to run every exile.

[phenir]

That picture is your build up? What's your skipped time, which scales your character ability, at? Do you have temporal stabilizer weapon? Do you have chrono set shoulders and cloak, for better timeskip and stabilize? Are you "snapping" gem resonance and/or stabilize the flow with an incantation focused gearset? What about void mana?

[GonzoDog]

I have all equipment unlocked for the most part. And a lot of it on legendary. I was using most equipment that would increase idle bonus/character ability/profit, efficiency of evocations (profits and time skips -skips went from 15 mins to 25). I was referring to that guide, but I think it's on the low end of my mysteries and that's why I'm not making progress. I'll try and post some more pictures. I decided to do some more challenges (i've only completed 50 so far), and then I'll jump back on.

Based on the guide, I have a better build up spell set, as they are firing at full speed and I'm not using spell focus or synthetic entity (which really isn't helpful for this). My skipped time was in the 3 year range and time distortion in 10x before I tried to burst with Stabilize the Flow , but I still wasn't getting any gains once I hit that wall. All the spell that had gains based on numbers of times cast, had been cast for over 24 hrs as fast as possible, so it feels like I should have been getting gains. I'll try and take another run at it again but I think I might have to go back to Ironsoul or maybe my trusty Necromancer to push to e280 mysteries. I didn't think Risen Giant was really giving me much progress with Chronomancer.
I'll post some more updates if I figure it out. The class is a little confusing to me considering I "skipped" 6 years of time and yet wasn't making any progress.

[PseudonymousBosh]

The spell set in the screenshot looks like it's intended for buildup, but converge timelines isn't accumulated - you should leave that for burst. Spell focus would be a better choice, and you should make some use of synthetic entity for a healthier entity count. As already mentioned, you'll also get much more time skipped using the temporal stabiliser as your weapon.

[phenir]

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

I didn't think Risen Giant was really giving me much progress with Chronomancer.
I'll post some more updates if I figure it out. The class is a little confusing to me considering I "skipped" 6 years of time and yet wasn't making any progress.

Try voidterror. The profit bonus is less maybe but you get significantly more void mana. Unless you're really stacking idle bonus.
You should have tens or even hundreds of thousands of years skipped, not a measly 6. Is your temporal stabilizer at legendary? Also, the amount of time skipped from wormhole really benefits from the shoulder and cape from the chronomancer set. Those two pieces give increased max time distortion. That'll also boost your stabilize the flow bonus.

[Firefrye]

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

I have all equipment unlocked for the most part. And a lot of it on legendary. I was using most equipment that would increase idle bonus/character ability/profit, efficiency of evocations (profits and time skips -skips went from 15 mins to 25). I was referring to that guide, but I think it's on the low end of my mysteries and that's why I'm not making progress. I'll try and post some more pictures. I decided to do some more challenges (i've only completed 50 so far), and then I'll jump back on.

Based on the guide, I have a better build up spell set, as they are firing at full speed and I'm not using spell focus or synthetic entity (which really isn't helpful for this). My skipped time was in the 3 year range and time distortion in 10x before I tried to burst with Stabilize the Flow , but I still wasn't getting any gains once I hit that wall. All the spell that had gains based on numbers of times cast, had been cast for over 24 hrs as fast as possible, so it feels like I should have been getting gains. I'll try and take another run at it again but I think I might have to go back to Ironsoul or maybe my trusty Necromancer to push to e280 mysteries. I didn't think Risen Giant was really giving me much progress with Chronomancer.
I'll post some more updates if I figure it out. The class is a little confusing to me considering I "skipped" 6 years of time and yet wasn't making any progress.

As a reminder, 6 years is VERY low. you should be hitting scientific notation for skipped years by the end of a dedicated time skip phase. I don't expect you to reach the same values I can with my higher meta progression, but your numbers should be higher.

I'm not sure why you think spell focus and Synthetic are not important for spell buildup. You might be confusing the fact that there are multiple different types of buildup for a Chronomancer.
1. Spell buildup using the Scryball weapon: this is for stacking your accumulated spells and wants every single slot on your spell bar other than your accumulated spells to be evocations. This will ramp your cast rate FAR beyond the normal 60 cast/sec rate. Synthetic is an evocation that is charged by your wormhole time skips and gives you a LOT of character exp through void entities. You should also be fitting as much incantation duration reduction gear as you can to further improve the accumulated spell cast rate. (You should have the Frosty Ring and perfected kata bracers at your level)
2. Time Helix buildup: because this does not have a duration, it will not receive an improvement to cast time from scryball, so you use the normal evocation and time set gear. You do this phase AFTER an initial "fast burst" to buy upgrades but BEFORE your main time skip and leveling phase. This is because Helix will reset your clicks, void entities, and skipped time for a small permanent bonus for the remainder of the exile. You sit here for a while until your Helix casts are at a point you're happy with.
3. AFTER the Helix phase, you do your "real" leveling phase with Pixi + Synthetic + wormhole to build clicks and void entities (both stack well with skipped time). Because skipped time is more important here than the cast rate of your accumulated spells, you use the full time traveler set rather than Scryball. At this point, if you can maintain 60 casts/sec without Spell focus, feel free to replace it with temporal distortion. But Synthetic should be left on because it will slowly build your character exp.
4. After you get your autoclicks, you switch Pixi for Risen Giant and just build skipped time and more spell casts (spend more time here than on any other buildup phase. you should end up with MANY YEARS of skipped time on the Giant by the end). With decent gear you should be able to reach thousands or millions of years. With late game gear, your character will be "older" than the known universe.
5. Do a void mana phase (1-3min), but DON'T switch your pet. Risen giant scales too well with skipped time for the extra void mana of Void Terror to be worth a switch
6. Burst

[GonzoDog]

Originally posted by phenir:

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

I didn't think Risen Giant was really giving me much progress with Chronomancer.
I'll post some more updates if I figure it out. The class is a little confusing to me considering I "skipped" 6 years of time and yet wasn't making any progress.

Try voidterror. The profit bonus is less maybe but you get significantly more void mana. Unless you're really stacking idle bonus.
You should have tens or even hundreds of thousands of years skipped, not a measly 6. Is your temporal stabilizer at legendary? Also, the amount of time skipped from wormhole really benefits from the shoulder and cape from the chronomancer set. Those two pieces give increased max time distortion. That'll also boost your stabilize the flow bonus.

10s of thousands??? Dang okay, that doesn't seem possible unless I run the game for like a month. Using Singularity Beam, I was able to have Wormhole constantly firing over and over (it was giving 25+ minutes per fire) and my Time Distortion was at 10x . Is there a better way to skip time? I am going to start another run now.

[GonzoDog]

Originally posted by Firefrye:

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

I have all equipment unlocked for the most part. And a lot of it on legendary. I was using most equipment that would increase idle bonus/character ability/profit, efficiency of evocations (profits and time skips -skips went from 15 mins to 25). I was referring to that guide, but I think it's on the low end of my mysteries and that's why I'm not making progress. I'll try and post some more pictures. I decided to do some more challenges (i've only completed 50 so far), and then I'll jump back on.

Based on the guide, I have a better build up spell set, as they are firing at full speed and I'm not using spell focus or synthetic entity (which really isn't helpful for this). My skipped time was in the 3 year range and time distortion in 10x before I tried to burst with Stabilize the Flow , but I still wasn't getting any gains once I hit that wall. All the spell that had gains based on numbers of times cast, had been cast for over 24 hrs as fast as possible, so it feels like I should have been getting gains. I'll try and take another run at it again but I think I might have to go back to Ironsoul or maybe my trusty Necromancer to push to e280 mysteries. I didn't think Risen Giant was really giving me much progress with Chronomancer.
I'll post some more updates if I figure it out. The class is a little confusing to me considering I "skipped" 6 years of time and yet wasn't making any progress.

As a reminder, 6 years is VERY low. you should be hitting scientific notation for skipped years by the end of a dedicated time skip phase. I don't expect you to reach the same values I can with my higher meta progression, but your numbers should be higher.

I'm not sure why you think spell focus and Synthetic are not important for spell buildup. You might be confusing the fact that there are multiple different types of buildup for a Chronomancer.
1. Spell buildup using the Scryball weapon: this is for stacking your accumulated spells and wants every single slot on your spell bar other than your accumulated spells to be evocations. This will ramp your cast rate FAR beyond the normal 60 cast/sec rate. Synthetic is an evocation that is charged by your wormhole time skips and gives you a LOT of character exp through void entities. You should also be fitting as much incantation duration reduction gear as you can to further improve the accumulated spell cast rate. (You should have the Frosty Ring and perfected kata bracers at your level)
2. Time Helix buildup: because this does not have a duration, it will not receive an improvement to cast time from scryball, so you use the normal evocation and time set gear. You do this phase AFTER an initial "fast burst" to buy upgrades but BEFORE your main time skip and leveling phase. This is because Helix will reset your clicks, void entities, and skipped time for a small permanent bonus for the remainder of the exile. You sit here for a while until your Helix casts are at a point you're happy with.
3. AFTER the Helix phase, you do your "real" leveling phase with Pixi + Synthetic + wormhole to build clicks and void entities (both stack well with skipped time). Because skipped time is more important here than the cast rate of your accumulated spells, you use the full time traveler set rather than Scryball. At this point, if you can maintain 60 casts/sec without Spell focus, feel free to replace it with temporal distortion. But Synthetic should be left on because it will slowly build your character exp.
4. After you get your autoclicks, you switch Pixi for Risen Giant and just build skipped time and more spell casts (spend more time here than on any other buildup phase. you should end up with MANY YEARS of skipped time on the Giant by the end). With decent gear you should be able to reach thousands or millions of years. With late game gear, your character will be "older" than the known universe.
5. Do a void mana phase (1-3min), but DON'T switch your pet. Risen giant scales too well with skipped time for the extra void mana of Void Terror to be worth a switch
6. Burst

I haven't figured out how to properly get Synthetic to charge so that it is actually useful. The charging seems SOOO slow that I never seem to get gains from it.

Thank you, I'm going to start another run and see if I can figure it all out. This seems very helpful

[GonzoDog]

Also, I was putting all my catalyst shards into the Nexus . I hope this is correct.

And, I have 634 character points. Any advice on where the best place to put them is?

[Delreich]

Catalyst shard income is effectively based on average catalyst levels, and higher levels cost more than lower ones, so you'll want to keep all of them roughly equal. Getting more shards is more important than boosting a particular source.

[GonzoDog]

Originally posted by Delreich:

Catalyst shard income is effectively based on average catalyst levels, and higher levels cost more than lower ones, so you'll want to keep all of them roughly equal. Getting more shards is more important than boosting a particular source.

Okay, thank you I did not know this

[Firefrye]

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

Originally posted by Delreich:

Catalyst shard income is effectively based on average catalyst levels, and higher levels cost more than lower ones, so you'll want to keep all of them roughly equal. Getting more shards is more important than boosting a particular source.

Okay, thank you I did not know this

slightly more info here: whenever you receive a catalyst reward from anywhere, it chooses a random source and bases how many catalysts you receive on what the catalyst level of that source ALREADY is.
Example: you have 10 red cat levels on every source and get a red cat reward -> the reward randomly selected mana gems -> you get red catalysts based on having 10 red cat levels in mana gems
Ex 2: you have 50 levels in nexus and 0 in all the others and get a red cat reward -> it again chooses mana gems -> you get rewards based on 0 mana gem levels rather than the 50 you had in nexus

LATE game you might spend null cores to temporarily put all your cats into your best profit source JUST LONG ENOUGH to do a really strong burst after a long buildup (multiple days or weeks potentially)... but this is micromanagement you won't want to deal with for a very very long time

TLDR: spread your cats evenly for best results over time

[PseudonymousBosh]

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

Originally posted by phenir:

Try voidterror. The profit bonus is less maybe but you get significantly more void mana. Unless you're really stacking idle bonus.
You should have tens or even hundreds of thousands of years skipped, not a measly 6. Is your temporal stabilizer at legendary? Also, the amount of time skipped from wormhole really benefits from the shoulder and cape from the chronomancer set. Those two pieces give increased max time distortion. That'll also boost your stabilize the flow bonus.

10s of thousands??? Dang okay, that doesn't seem possible unless I run the game for like a month. Using Singularity Beam, I was able to have Wormhole constantly firing over and over (it was giving 25+ minutes per fire) and my Time Distortion was at 10x . Is there a better way to skip time? I am going to start another run now.

For more skipped time, you really need that temporal stabiliser. It's not as important to have it at legendary as it used to be, though the benefit is still significant.

[GonzoDog]

Originally posted by PseudonymousBosh:

Originally posted by GonzoDog:

10s of thousands??? Dang okay, that doesn't seem possible unless I run the game for like a month. Using Singularity Beam, I was able to have Wormhole constantly firing over and over (it was giving 25+ minutes per fire) and my Time Distortion was at 10x . Is there a better way to skip time? I am going to start another run now.

For more skipped time, you really need that temporal stabiliser. It's not as important to have it at legendary as it used to be, though the benefit is still significant.

Thanks for the tip, I went from like 20 minutes to 29d22hrs skipped per Wormhole!!! I'm gaining multiple years a second now...

[Delreich]

The shoulder piece (Stabilizing Pauldrons) would be very useful too, even without upgrades. Increasing TD from 10 to 15 is (slightly) more than double the skipped time when you've got TempoStab.