I do not have much time nowadays to play which is why i decided to ask your opinion on a several things regarding the game.
I really enjoy fire spells in this game and currently I’m running a fire nova clvl 26 mage as I found this low level circlec that grants almost 100% boost to fire damage.
But I played a few RPGs and learned the hard way that what I like and what is kind of end game viable are sometimes two completely different things.
On nova - I took the nodes that allow me to channel it, cast at chosen location and disabled lightning nova.
On my Focus I took mana regen and ward nodes.
And on Flame Ward I use more ward, longer ward retention nodes. A freind found this unique armour that grants ward on missing life - if i can farm it somehow I will get the nodes that grant ward based on missing life too.
TLDR: I have a few questiuons:
for a single target dps what fire skill shall I choose? and what ar the must-have nodes?
fireball, volcanic orb, meteor?
on my Flame Ward - is the node that gives additional 6% damage reduction per point worth it? the base dmg reduction is 30% so with a few points i could bump it up to 50ish.
shall i gamble for this armour that grants ward based on missing life? or gambling is a waste of money and its better just to farm? 4. pure fire sorcerer- nova + fireball or volcanic orb or meteor will make it possible for me to reach Arena wave 60ish…and farm monolith for about 10-15+ consecutive timelines?
spell critical hit chance - is it worth it? i have it now at 17% and when the nova crits i do see th difference
shall i wear a shield and go for block % and block armour? ? or some mage-specific off hand?
what defensive stats shall i stack - glancing blow, dodge, all res?
I really like fire in this game so I would like to squeeze most out of it…if it is possible…
Firenova defenitely is a descent skill. Channeling may be a bit of a struggle on higher endgame runs, because you lose a lot of mobility. Active dodging via moving/ teleporting is one of the best defensive skills you have.
You can mod fireball to be a decent skill, too. Go for homing on the bottom right side and top left for adding projectiles and firing in a line. Also max piercing. This way you create a “fireworm” that hits the first target with all fireballs and spreads to seek new targets. Also Looks really nice.
With Cinder Song you get 2 additional fireballs and fire damage.
Meteor is not that viable imho. It has a lot of damage potential. I have a mage specced into this with going for the right side for mana efficiency and fall speed. In the end the meteors come down like an air strike and hit really hard. I can fire 4-5 air strikes in a row before I need to regain mana with focus. But the delay between cast and impact makes aiming a bit hard. Also the range is limited. So you are very near to your targets and have a high risk of getting hit.
The skill with the highest damage potential is volcanic orb, imho. I haven’t played that skill specced into fire, but I use it with cold conversion on my ice sorc. And it hits very hard when you place the orb on top of an enemy directly. There are also idols that massively increase volcanic orb damage in exchange for travel speed (makes it not travelling at all).
For defence:
Ward is an easy to build and very effective mechanic. Flame ward build into the top right to maximize ward gain. Ecanguinous and Barbute are very strong items for ward builds. Gambling for those items though I wont recommend. They are not that hard to find on monolith and gambling can get very boring, expensive and frustrating.
As offhand I’d a catalyst instead of a shield. They also grand ward gain and a lot if int. Stacking int is good for ward retention (so your ward fades slower) and scales with your skills.
Glancing blow, crit avoidance and dodge also are good for defense with ward. Protections you can ignore with high ward.
No. Damage potential is best with channeling. And the channeled nova is perfect for clearing trashmobs before thy can reach you. But you definetly need something for high hp enemis later. Because they aproach and hit you when you just stand there to channel. It’s risky. At some point in arena you just can’t do that anymore.
Whats very nice also ist to trigger the channeled nova with your teleport (buttom right side of teleport skilltree). But its not for high arena also.
But if you enjoy the nova you should use them as long as you can.
I GRABBED lIATH’S SIGnet ring, for 100% gb while channeling, and stacked a ton of ignite chance and duration def helped also grabbed ice nova with a little more freeze chance for bit more survivability the occasional freeze helps alot.
With 200% ignite you will apply 2 stacks with 1 hit. With 150% you will apply 1 stack for sure and have a 50% chance to apply a second stack.
The downside is that freeze and ignite compete with each other in terms of affixes. When you are going to specc into both the outcome is weaker than specialisation in one element. Because freeze rate is not only dependent on your own stats, but also on enemy hp (the higher enemy hp, the lower the chance to freeze) the chances of freezing enemies is getting lower and lower the further you progress. So if you only rely on the freeze rate bonus of the nova tree it won’t be enough to freeze enemies at higher levels, at a descent rate.
I specced nova into Lightning and Frost and had exactly that problem. First it’s rng to proc the frost nova instead of fire (or lightning) and than the rng for freeze rate adds on top. Was not that impressive.
Cool! Thank you for the clarification! I cannot wait to come back home tomorrow and start playing again this game makes me feel as if was a teenager again
So i will try to get ignite chance to 200% and ignite duration…on paper it looks like they are gonna stack quite nicely.
And spell crit chance? now I have it at 16% but when I do crit the numbers are way bigger, i guess its now the base crit damage of 200%.
this game makes me feel as if was a teenager again