Critical Mass Melee Wizard

[Eric Xanthu]

I'm actually very close to your defensive stats, which makes it obvious that I'm just not that good at this build. I did switch to force armor for Belial but I didn't think to switch back to it for an entire act. Do you use force armor for Diablo himself, too? I've failed in my 4-5 attempts at him using prismatic.

I wonder if I should try force armor for A3 farming. I've gotten so addicted to 1k resists that it will be hard to switch back to the old ways!

[magicrectangle]

I'm actually very close to your defensive stats, which makes it obvious that I'm just not that good at this build. I did switch to force armor for Belial but I didn't think to switch back to it for an entire act. Do you use force armor for Diablo himself, too? I've failed in my 4-5 attempts at him using prismatic.

I use force armor for all of act 4, including Diablo. You have to be more cautious of arcane, desecrate, electrified, etc, but even trash mobs can put a serious hurt on you in A4 without force armor. Too many of them just hit too hard.

I wonder if I should try force armor for A3 farming. I've gotten so addicted to 1k resists that it will be hard to switch back to the old ways!

Not much really hits hard enough in A3 to worry about it. Malachors and tremors I guess, but as melee enemies they tend to be very easy to lock down. Shielding packs of those enemy types it might help, but it is already pretty rare to find elite packs of those two enemy types, finding one that is also shielding is rare enough that you might as well just skip it if it gives too much trouble, and certainly shouldn't choose your spec just around that. Prismatic makes all the ground effects so much easier to deal with, it is definitely the better choice for farming, as it will make 95% of the packs you fight much easier than force would.

[MrNajsman]

As a reference I have 17-18k life, 850 all res and 5,7k armor (with prismatic). Its certainly not overgeared for act 3 but I can farm it without too much trouble in coop.

In preparation for 1.0.4, which skill would be best to switch to if the wicked wind-nerf is too severe? I guess Meteor - Star Pact or Spectral Blade - Deep Cuts?

[raveharu]

As a reference I have 17-18k life, 850 all res and 5,7k armor (with prismatic). Its certainly not overgeared for act 3 but I can farm it without too much trouble in coop.

In preparation for 1.0.4, which skill would be best to switch to if the wicked wind-nerf is too severe? I guess Meteor - Star Pact or Spectral Blade - Deep Cuts?

I wouldn't just bring the choices down to just these two spells since everything else is getting buffed.

Also, we have no idea what the new legend/set items have to offer.

[MrNajsman]

I wouldn't just bring the choices down to just these two spells since everything else is getting buffed.

Also, we have no idea what the new legend/set items have to offer.

Good point. Right now its sad my favourite build gets nerfed but its still gonna be a bit exciting to see all the changes.

[iThinman]

Testing Shock Pulse | Living Lightning as a direct replacement for WW and have been very happy with the results so far. It procs crits like crazy but is directional, so you need to do a bit more work, but it also has great reach.

I really do not enjoy the delay of Star Pack. Hopefully Shock Pulse will get a nice damage bump with the patch as well.

give it a try and posst your experience please.



update: meh, once you hit a nasty pack....sighhhh...

[Eric Xanthu]

I started fiddling with Star Pact/Deep Cuts. Any tips from the guys out there that have run it? A1 was trivial but I was very inefficient. I can't hit the balance of dropping Meteors, keeping defensives going, and mixing in Deep Cuts. Is there a rotation, or at least a vague idea of one, that I'm trying to get? I'm still trying to break myself of the WW spam-habits and it's holding me back.

[magicrectangle]

Farmed my way to paragon level 1 in act 3 just now as wicked wind. Elite packs can be locked down in ideal circumstances, but usually aren't locked down. However, they do a lot less damage now, so the lack of complete lockdown isn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Some pack types have to be stutter-kited (fought an electrified horde that put out too much damage for my now half-rate diamond skin spam, for example), but it is all farily doable.

I think LoH has moved from "nice" to "mandatory" for this build. I have 424 and it is not enough. I'd guess that around ~1000 LoH is going to put you in a good place for act 3 farming.

[Proxims]

Just curious, how long did it take you to get to Paragon Level 1? Does the XP bar indicate your progress toward the next Paragon Level? Just wondering cause I'm at work right now and can't play until much later.

[magicrectangle]

XP bar indicates progress, and battlements + depths got me level 1 (I skipped some trash, killed the larger packs of trash).