Wizard Spec Differences (Theurg Specs)

Which specs will be most viable in pve and pvp? Strengths, weaknesses, synergies with other classes, etc.

Ice and fire are a bit more strait forward than earth but still, i haven't played a caster in alb so just wondering people's thoughts.

Sat 10 Nov 2018 5:18 PM by defiasbandit

Hey there.

For PvE you will likely want to play Ice and rely on PBAE if you are grouping. Otherwise fire can work as well.

For PvP fire is the go to spec. Using double bolt + fire delve spam. Using Sorc heat debuff will boost damage a lot. Ice and Earth are severely lacking in PvP.

Earth is a terrible spec that I recommend not bothering with.

Wizard damage really isn't all that good here. Most players have full temp resists and run with resist buffs, so Wizard damage is only slightly better than other casters.

RA wise I would suggest getting purge, wild power, then Aug Acuity or MoM. Volcanic Pillar is a steep investment at 34 points on a 15 minute cd.

Wizards are weak here on Phoenix, more so than they were back during SI. Wizards need some help after the recent new new RA change.

Possible changes would be buffs to the Ice line, such as 179 to 219 on Ice Blast. Higher debuff % than 10% on the Ice debuff spell. An Ice bolt would be cool too.

There isn't really that much that can be tweaked with fire apart from adding more utility like bolt range root or a debuff on the DD.

Lower spec costs on MoC and Volcanic Pillar from 30 to 20 could help the class as well. Removing the cast timer on VP could also work.

Good luck, but realize that Wizards are perhaps the weakest class on the server.

Sat 10 Nov 2018 6:02 PM by Losse

Wow, thats way more info than i thought id get. Its exactly what i needed to know. I really appreciate it.

I am really not into 8v8, although i can play it, so i may still go wiz for fun in pve and zerg. I really dont like the lack of ae spells on theurgist although i like the rest of its assets.

If anyone has the time to explain the same info about theurgist spec lines that would be great

What color PBT do people usually run with? Do they usually go earth/ice?

What are the strong points and weak points of theurg. I know they are master rupters and have the pbt.

Sat 10 Nov 2018 8:03 PM by relvinian

Nearsight would help wizards in the earth line.

Maybe some other cc, like single target disease or an ra like aoe snare or something.

With purge every fight, wizards are bags of points for stealthers.

In a dedicated group they could bomb or nuke with debuff.

Theurgist is actually kind of strong, but as the poster said lack of aoe dps.

I think you should try thurg on beta while u don't have to level one to test it.

Try 41 ice 35 earth. Try out the snare pets, which are quite effective on ice and the earth pets and pbt from earth line.

Resist gets checked twice for nuke snare so get mof2 at least to increase base level of ur snare nuke.

Sat 10 Nov 2018 8:33 PM by Turtle006

I quite enjoyed playing an Air Theurgist on live, plays more like a nuker, but Air pets can mess up someone's day with chain stuns. I think you can go 45 Air and 25 Ice (its been a while), for Stunning and Snaring pets, and the strong Air DD. Probably not the strongest Theurg spec, but it was fun.

Mon 12 Nov 2018 11:11 PM by Armsmancer

The utility of any wizard spec is greatly outshined by their peers and counterparts in other realms. The slightly stronger Spec DD and spec bolt does not make up for things like caster speed, active pet, pet spam, casted stun, realm castable haste, mez, pbt, etc.

At best ice wiz is a great choice to get into exp groups but you will find at 50 you will be further down the list except for meme groups like team wizzy or something like that.

Plus they patched so LOS is required on PBAE so now they even lose relic/keep defense strategies for an ice wizard, so two thumbs down in my personal opinion and I think the above is objective enough to show all that you give up for a slightly harder bolt and nuke, which have misses and resists, heat is one of the most capped resists across all realms so, just all around bad later on.

Mon 12 Nov 2018 11:31 PM by defiasbandit

Armsmancer wrote: ↑
Mon 12 Nov 2018 11:11 PM
The utility of any wizard spec is greatly outshined by their peers and counterparts in other realms. The slightly stronger Spec DD and spec bolt does not make up for things like caster speed, active pet, pet spam, casted stun, realm castable haste, mez, pbt, etc.

At best ice wiz is a great choice to get into exp groups but you will find at 50 you will be further down the list except for meme groups like team wizzy or something like that.

Plus they patched so LOS is required on PBAE so now they even lose relic/keep defense strategies for an ice wizard, so two thumbs down in my personal opinion and I think the above is objective enough to show all that you give up for a slightly harder bolt and nuke, which have misses and resists, heat is one of the most capped resists across all realms so, just all around bad later on.

Lots of good points. The LoS pbae change should be reverted.

Tue 13 Nov 2018 7:57 AM by Koljar

What about the GTAE? Does that also need los?

Tue 13 Nov 2018 5:23 PM by Mura

Gtaoe should not need LOS

Tue 20 Nov 2018 3:33 PM by Seigmoraig

Wow that pbae change is pretty massive, i had not seen that one go though. Not sure I hate it though, was pretty dumb when 2-3 bombers could keep 10 groups at bay on top of a keep

Tue 20 Nov 2018 4:00 PM by poisonclover

Earth is by far the best wizard spec and ive always been partial to it, with these new additions, It so versatile. That DoT hits like a Dump truck and when it crits.. omg..

Tue 20 Nov 2018 9:45 PM by Losse

Your serious about the earth spec? i thought fire bolts were the dump trucks

Or ice pbae. I do like the options of earth and I always liked dots, someone needs to talk me into it though since most say go ice or fire.

Tue 20 Nov 2018 10:21 PM by Renork

Losse wrote: ↑
Tue 20 Nov 2018 9:45 PM
Your serious about the earth spec? i thought fire bolts were the dump trucks Or ice pbae. I do like the options of earth and I always liked dots, someone needs to talk me into it though since most say go ice or fire.

You get a 50% heat, cold, and matter debuff by going earth. They also added 65% nearsight to the line. So, in total you get a spec bolt (that you can debuff), an aoe dd (that you can debuff), aoe root, best nearsight, you can debuff heat and use your base fire bolt and/or dd. There is no reason to spec fire or ice really.

Fri 23 Nov 2018 11:41 PM by relvinian

50% matter debuff for 15 seconds in earth line is a win, hands down. As a matter of fact it is so game changing that 8 man groups should be created around earth wizards. Add in nearsight, why play any other caster?

Wed 5 Dec 2018 2:48 PM by Darkden

So wizzard pbae sucks now? it was somethings hugggge a long time ago... Sadly it was the class I wanna play.. ;'( ;'(

Thu 6 Dec 2018 6:44 PM by Kralin

Darkden wrote: ↑
Wed 5 Dec 2018 2:48 PM
So wizzard pbae sucks now? it was somethings hugggge a long time ago... Sadly it was the class I wanna play.. ;'( ;'(

For RvR, yes sadly PBAE is not all it used to be. The main reason is most people are too smart to fall for the OG tactics . There will be less opportunities to get in good bombs with 5 minute purges available to all. Also PBAE doesn't go through keep walls and doors any more (I think?) so there's even less opportunity to get off bombing. You can still defend chokepoints and lord rooms well though and in open field fights it still helps to "stack" on a melee train to get them to split off. Unfortunately the Ice wizard is not the best at that due to the lack of utility when compared with the other three pbae classes.

You can still have fun with that spec though and if you intend to do keep fights at all, pbae will be welcome. It's also going to be very welcome in pve and possibly raid content.

I challenge a good alb group to use 2- 3 ice wizards in RvR and see if it can be done!

Thu 6 Dec 2018 8:15 PM by Darkden

hehe few pbae could make something huge maybe in specific case. We'll see

THanks !

Fri 7 Dec 2018 7:28 AM by Koljar

Kralin wrote: ↑
Thu 6 Dec 2018 6:44 PM
I challenge a good alb group to use 2- 3 ice wizards in RvR and see if it can be done!

Team wizzy (spelling?!) anyone?