RvR Wizard - Ice or Earth?

[the_smurflord]

At the moment I have a lvl 40 Ice wizard (with 40 in cold magic - surprisingly). Now we have the respec and the new spells in the earth line, I am seriously considering moving over to a full earth spec. Obviously my mine goal will be to be effective in RvR, especially in keep takes.
As the hibbies have demonstrated, PBAE is awesome in keep defence, but not so great in general RvR skirmishing. GTAE and the AE DD/snare and AE root make earth look attractive for general RvR as well as keep attacking.
So what do people think of the choice between PBAE and GTAE?


Currently plan is to use the lvl 40 single line repecc to move to full earth tomorrow, then I have 2 levels to evaluate the earth line, leaving the full respecc still available to go back to ice should I decide to do so (providing I do this before 43).

PS: fire is boring

 

[SFXman]

/emote puts hand up
"I want to know as well.... some day I will level my ice wiz more and would like to know if to respec to earth or not."

 

[old.mattshanes]

48 ice 24 earth or 50 ice 20 earth,ice seems to be the reason we aren't defending keeps as good as hibs due to lacking it.

 

[Taggart]

It really comes down to what you will most enjoy using matey, i really liked the sound of the Earth wiz after patch, although im a big fan of pbaeo and if its anywhere near as good as that of the enchanters then it would be damn good.When you were talking about in open rvr, on my enchanter i just ran into crowds of albs that had half health etc and pbaeod the arse outa em.

Both sound as good as the other, i also think a fire wiz is plain BORING hehe but thats just me.

Whatever one you choose to pick im sure ya will do well.

 

[old.Bubble]

EARTH SPEC bolts also bit harder than firespec bolts

through i'd play fire myself

 

[the_smurflord]

Bolts are too easily blocked from now on, they dont really figure in my thinking.

 

[liste]

well, ice wiz pbaoe has the same damage chart as a chanter, but is slightly slower casting time. a high dex will cancel this out though.

ice pb is cold damage where chanter is energy. people tend to have more cold resist, i think, so thats the main difference i think.

GTAOE is good for keep RvR yes, but the damage cannot compare to pbaoe. it seem good fun though

 

[SFXman]

Interesting thread;
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=39185440&replies=23
,suggests that earth is good for the state of the US servers now... new patch you get RP for the snare and aoe root (in the US).
Has some logs of damage done etc... interesting to read. You could spec for the future or spec for now... don't know really.
I'd like to see more opinions.

 

[Meatballs]

gtaoe is going to be a counter to pbaoe, so pbaoe will be a lot easier to interrupt.

 

[Meatballs]

P.S. If you are already 40, i dont think you get the level40 single line respec, just the respec all. If you were 39 when patch hit, and then hit 40, then you'd get both I believe.

 

[old.Bubble]

why the hell are you bolting a tank

you should only target Mages and Rogues with bolts

in 1.53 bolts get fixed and are harder to block

 

[Roalith]

After playing my earth wizzie up to 26 (so far) I can say that the earth line isn't the easiest of levelling lines.

Currently, you have a semi-decent spec bolt (actually does slightly less damage than spec fire bolt), an AOE DD/snare - great fun in a group with another AOEer (matter cabby sends pet in on a group of mobs with dmg shield, pet dies, cabby starts running in circles, you start snaring and the cabby never gets touched ) but pants for soloing, and you also get a spec damage shield . Post-patch, you get a single target DOT, an AOE root, and of course GTAOE.

Note that this gives you NO specialised single target direct damage spells. The DOT admittedly could be nice, but the earth wizzie is still gimped in PvE post-patch, having none of the major damage dealing capacity of his fire and ice cousins.

However, in PvE... you are God in keep defense. AOE dd/snaring enemies that are on the door, does superb damage and slows them down while running away, so you can get a few more of those aoe DDs in. GTAOE... ground target just in front of the doors where 30+ people are crammed in hitting it, and the RPs will soon start rolling in. GTAOE also superb for interrupting lord room PBAOErs. And also the AOE root... AOE is the earth wizzies' game, and in RvR situations when a lot of people can be crammed into a small area, you will beat other wizard spec lines hands down.

 

[SFXman]

So in other words if you have an Ice/Fire spec wiz that is still a lowbie (like me) you should level with those until around 40 to 42 when you then use your single line respec to get earth which makes you ready for RvR.
If you are already L40 you should respec to earth before L43 so that you will be having bucket loads of fun in RvR. L48+ can level with fire/ice to 50 when they can still use the full respec and get earth...
That's the idea I get from Roalith's post.

 

[the_smurflord]

Well, I think I'll go RvR tonight with my current ice spec, then try the single line respec (assuming I get it) then go RvR again and make a comparison.

 

[old.Bubble]

i'd just like to say that GTAOE has a delay between recasts and doesn't do very much damage

they added GTAOE mainly to combat PBAOE lord room hibs

 

[shani]

Originally posted by SFXman
So in other words if you have an Ice/Fire spec wiz that is still a lowbie (like me) you should level with those until around 40 to 42 when you then use your single line respec to get earth which makes you ready for RvR.
If you are already L40 you should respec to earth before L43 so that you will be having bucket loads of fun in RvR. L48+ can level with fire/ice to 50 when they can still use the full respec and get earth...
That's the idea I get from Roalith's post.

When you are 48 when 1.52 goes live you can't respec at 50 !! You need to be 49 to keep your respec

 

[old.Krusha]

Meatballs is correct, if you already is 40 you get the full respecc but no single line respecc. So bear that in mind . and it must be used -within- 2 lvls 42 is to late... 41.99999999999999 is the latest you respecc for you.

 

[SFXman]

Originally posted by shani
When you are 48 when 1.52 goes live you can't respec at 50 !! You need to be 49 to keep your respec

Doh, went by GOA's incorrect knowledge on their older version of the news...

 

[the_smurflord]

Just re-read other other threads on the respecs and my plan is in ruins.

a) You get the lvl 40 single line respec in the act of going from lvl 39 to 40. As I'm level 40 already, I won't get one.

b) As I'm a pre-existing character, I get a full respec and as such this overrides the single line specs. The single line specs are only for characters created after 1.52 or though that have already used their full respec before hitting lvl 20 or 40.

I'm now tempted to go delete my lvl 14 scout (500 fletching) and make an fire wiz who'll respec to earth at 40.

 

[liste]

i still think its bad karma to level a character with a spec, with the sole purpose or respeccing.

Stick to your plans from the start folks, that is the idea of the game....

thats just me though

 

[Meatballs]

earth spec has changed drastically in 1.52 patch, many people started their wizards before those changes came on in the US. Some earth wizzies started before (brave souls ) , but everyone knew it was a line which needed some serious help (hence the additions). So I reckon its ok to change to it now.

However starting up new wizzies levelling with fire/ice after 1.52, and then changing to earth at level40 would be a dislike of mine

 

[Psy|:m00:]

Originally posted by liste


Stick to your plans from the start folks, that is the idea of the game....

thats just me though

What if your plans are to Level to 40 then become earth/ice/fire

 

[old.Cyric]

originally posted by liste
i still think its bad karma to level a character with a spec, with the sole purpose or respeccing.

Then I think that point applies in that case

 

[liste]

agree Meatballs. the idea of respec, is just that. to give someone a chance to either get rid of a nerfed line, or get the one with the new and improved stuff. not to give PvE gimps a chance to level faster, and then get the RvR spec afterwards.

Just my view

 

[old.linnet]

Originally posted by liste
agree Meatballs. the idea of respec, is just that. to give someone a chance to either get rid of a nerfed line, or get the one with the new and improved stuff. not to give PvE gimps a chance to level faster, and then get the RvR spec afterwards.

Just my view

Well, yes, but in that case why give a full line respec at 20 and 40? That just seems designed to encourage people to do that ...

 

[-yoda-]

after being on recieving end of Gtae on usa servers imo if u are gonna choose either ice or earth imo earth is the way to go . especially if its a lot of keep sieges u go to .

ive been in a alb army of 3-4 grps attacking an enemy keep and with 1-2 gate enemys we couldnt take the keep . im pretty sure just 1 Gtae wizzy can kill 1fg of mids/hibs easy if they are attacking keep and he is defending it solo .. also some awesome stuff u can do with Gtae which i wont post here because we dont want hibs and mids using it seen it done on use servers no bug abusing involved . wizzy = safe . enemy = probably dead is all i'll say ive been in a keep defending with 5+ fg's of mids attacking once they eventually got through 2nd door and rushed to lord everybody but the Gtae wizzy died and when the mids were bashing lord the Gtae wizzy keeled them and keep was safe again :0

 

[the_smurflord]

After killing a few mids this evening, I'm staying with ice

 

[old.SadonTheGrey]

Ice is definitely NOT how I'm staying.

For all the problems with bolts, you still need them to compete with enemy casters, but that is something I just can't do without a spec bolt.

 

[old.Kladen]

i think earth because they are more versitle, quickcast aoe root could save your butt alot of the time.

 

[Rumble]

Speaking from experience here, Earth is a very hard line to level up and the lack of spec DD really slows levelling. However after reaching the dizzy heights of lvl 50 I took my wizzy into the big bad world of RvR and im now ranked 2nd top just behind Walker. If I can do it pre 1.52 without a DoT, GTAoE and AE Root then anyone can. Im looking forward to my new toys and can see myself doing a few more tricks. Just make sure you have dex buffs because casting is really slow for Earth.

One problem is the lack of a dual focus staff and switching is a major pain. Also im Earth/Ice specced and theres not many staffs fitting that description. Fire and Ice dont really need dual focus because the majority of spells they cast are in their lines. Im stuck with using base Ice for my single DD damage and its not really that effective.

We need more Ice wizzys, look at Meepthor hes always the last man standing and can clear up in the lords room with PBAoE. Overlapping Earth GTAoE will do a lot of damage to door attackers though so at the end of the day its all down to how you want to play.