Vengeance

Some people have been asking about talent builds, so here's a list of some:

~~~~~Rogue~~~~~~

Assassination/Combat Dagger Build
Breakdown: 30(31) Assassination, 21(20) Combat
Key Talents: Malice, Lethality, Cold Blood, Seal Fate, Imp. Backstab, Dagger Specialization
Good Inclusions: Imp. Gouge, Imp. Sinister Strike, Ruthlessness, Relentless Strikes, Imp. Kidney Shot, Vigor, Blade Flurry, Lightning Reflexes, Deflection, Riposte, Precision
Description: This is similar to the Assassination Dagger Build, except it drops Subtlety entirely, and instead gets the Dagger Specialization for more chance to crit. It also picks up a few other Combat talents to help survive when outnumbered or overmatched.

Assassination/Subtlety Split Dagger Build
Breakdown: 21(22) Assassination, 22(21) Subtlety, 8 Combat
Key Talents: Imp. Backstab, Cold Blood, Preparation
Good Inclusions: Imp. Gouge, Imp. Sinister Strike, Ruthlessness, Relentless Strikes, Opportunity, Imp. Ambush, Intiative, Camouflage, Imp. Sap
Description: This is another Backstab dagger build, but instead of getting the CP generation boost of Seal Fate, it opts to get Preparation. Generally the decision to get Preparation is more of a PvP one.

Heavy Combat Sword/Mace Build
Breakdown: 31+ Combat, rest in a combination of Assassination/Subtlety
Key Talents: Imp. Sinister Strike, Mace or Sword Spec, Blade Flurry, Adrenaline Rush
Good Inclusions: Lightning Reflexes, Precision, Deflection, Dual Wield Spec, Aggression, Malice, Lethality, Ruthlessness, Relentless Strikes, Master of Deception, Camouflage
Description: This build tends to have much more "even" damage than an Assassination build. Your individual hits are not as high as an Assassination dagger build, but the DPS still can be roughly the same. A distinct advantage of this build is that Sinister Strike does not require you to be behind an enemy, so you can spam it all the time. Also, because of the lower energy cost of Sinister Strike, you can generate Combo Points at a fairly effective rate.

Subtlety/DoT Build
Breakdown: 31+ Subtlety, rest in a combination of Combat/Assassination
Key Talents: Premeditation, Preparation, Hemmorhage, Imp. Rupture, Opportunity
Good Inclusions: Master of Deception, Camouflage, Imp. Sap, Imp. Cheap Shot, Ghostly Strike, Setup, Imp. Slice and Dice, Imp. Garrote, Imp. Sinister Strike
Description: This is probably the least common of the builds listed. It involves using Garrote, Rupture, and Hemmorhage to literally bleed your target to death. This can work well if played properly, but is a difficult style to figure, and in some cases lags a little behind a build which concentrates more on Assassination or Combat. Also, Setup is not really that great of a combo point generator.

Lo-Jack
Assassination Talents (23 points)
Improved Eviscerate - 3/3 points
Malice - 5/5 points
Ruthlessness - 3/3 points
Relentless Strikes - 1/1 point
Lethality - 5/5 points
Improved Instant Poison - 5/5 points
Cold Blood - 1/1 point

Combat Talents (2 points)
Improved Sinister Strike - 2/2 points

Subtlety Talents (26 points)
Master of Deception - 5/5 points
Camouflage - 5/5 points
Elusiveness - 4/5 points
Initiative - 5/5 points
Ghostly Strike - 1/1 point
Improved Sap - 3/3 points
Improved Cheap Shot - 1/2 point
Preparation - 1/1 point
Hemorrhage - 1/1 point

~~~~~~Druid~~~~~~

Build 1
Restoration Mastery
Improved Mark of the Wild Rank 5
Furor Rank 5
Gift of Nature Rank 1
Nature's Focus Rank 5
Combat Endurance Rank 2
Improved Healing Touch Rank 5
Subtlety Rank 1
Improved Tranquility Rank 2
Reflection Rank 5
Innervate Rank 1
Restoration Total: 32

Feral Combat Mastery
Improved Demoralizing Roar Rank 5
Sharpened Claws Rank 5
Feral Charge Rank 1

Feral Combat Total: 11

Balance Mastery
Nature's Grasp Rank 1
Improved Nature's Grasp Rank 4
Swiftshifting Rank 3

Balance Talents (0 points)
None

Build 2
Feral Combat Talents (31 points)
Ferocity - 5/5 points
Sharpened Claws - 5/5 points
Feral Charge - 1/1 point
Improved Prowl - 5/5 points
Faerie Fire (Cat) - 1/1 point
Predatory Strikes - 5/5 points
Improved Shred - 2/2 points
Feline Swiftness - 1/1 point
Strength of the Wild - 4/4 points
Improved Ravage - 2/2 points

Restoration Talents (20 points)
Improved Mark of the Wild - 5/5 points
Improved Healing Touch - 5/5 points
Nature's Focus - 5/5 points
Gift of Nature - 1/1 point
Improved Rejuvenation - 4/5 points

~~~~~Hunter~~~~~

Build 1
Beast Mastery Talents (20 points)
Improved Aspect of the Hawk - 5/5 points
Endurance Training - 5/5 points
Bestial Swiftness - 1/1 point
Unleashed Fury - 4/5 points
Thick Hide - 5/5 points

Marksmanship Talents (31 points)
Improved Concussive Shot - 5/5 points
Efficiency - 3/5 points
Improved Hunter's Mark - 5/5 points
Lethal Shots - 5/5 points
Aimed Shot - 1/1 point
Barrage - 2/2 points
Mortal Shots - 5/5 points
Hawk Eye - 3/3 points
Scatter Shot - 1/1 point
Trueshot Aura - 1/1 point

Survival Talents (0 points)
None

Build 2
Beast Mastery Talents (19 points)
Improved Aspect of the Hawk - 5/5 points
Improved Aspect of the Monkey - 3/3 points
Bestial Discipline - 2/5 points
Unleashed Fury - 5/5 points
Bestial Swiftness - 1/1 point
Ferocity - 3/5 points

Marksmanship Talents (11 points)
Improved Concussive Shot - 5/5 points
Lethal Shots - 5/5 points
Aimed Shot - 1/1 point

Survival Talents (21 points)
Precision - 5/5 points
Lightning Reflexes - 3/3 points
Improved Wing Clip - 5/5 points
Entrapment - 1/5 point
Deterrence - 1/1 point
Deflection - 5/5 points
Counterattack - 1/1 point

Build 3
Beast Mastery Talents (0 points)
None

Marksmanship Talents (24 points)
Improved Concussive Shot - 5/5 points
Efficiency - 4/5 points
Lethal Shots - 5/5 points
Aimed Shot - 1/1 point
Mortal Shots - 5/5 points
Hawk Eye - 3/3 points
Scatter Shot - 1/1 point

Survival Talents (27 points)
Precision - 5/5 points
Lightning Reflexes - 3/3 points
Improved Wing Clip - 5/5 points
Entrapment - 5/5 points
Deterrence - 1/1 point
Deflection - 5/5 points
Counterattack - 1/1 point
Improved Frost Trap - 1/2 point
Melee Specialization - 1/5 point

~~~~~Mage~~~~~

Build 1
Arcane Talents (21 points)
Improved Arcane Missiles - 5/5 points
Arcane Concentration - 5/5 points
Improved Arcane Explosion - 5/5 points
Evocation - 1/1 point
Improved Counterspell - 2/2 points
Improved Mana Shield - 2/2 points
Presence of Mind - 1/1 point

Frost Talents (0 points)
None

Fire Talents (30 points)
Impact - 5/5 points
Improved Fireball - 5/5 points
Flame Throwing - 2/2 points
Ignite - 5/5 points
Burning Soul - 3/3 points
Incinerate - 2/2 points
Critical Mass - 3/3 points
Fire Power - 5/5 points

Build 2
Arcane Talents (20 points)
• Arcane Subtlety - 3/3 points
• Improved Arcane Missiles - 5/5 points
• Arcane Focus - 1/5 point
• Arcane Concentration - 5/5 points
• Evocation - 1/1 point
• Arcane Meditation - 5/5 points

Frost Talents (31 points)
• Permafrost - 5/5 points
• Improved Frostbolt - 5/5 points
• Ice Shards - 4/5 points
• Winter's Chill - 3/3 points
• Cold Snap - 1/1 point
• Piercing Ice - 3/3 points
• Frost Channeling - 3/3 points
• Ice Block - 1/1 point
• Frostbite - 5/5 points
• Ice Barrier - 1/1 point

Fire Talents (0 points)
• None

Build 3
Arcane Talents (28 points)
Improved Arcane Missiles - 5/5 points
Arcane Concentration - 5/5 points
Evocation - 1/1 point
Improved Arcane Explosion - 5/5 points
Improved Counterspell - 2/2 points
Improved Mana Shield - 2/2 points
Presence of Mind - 1/1 point
Arcane Mind - 4/4 points
Arcane Instability - 3/3 points

Fire Talents (23 points)
Improved Fireball - 5/5 points
Impact - 5/5 points
Flame Throwing - 2/2 points
Ignite - 5/5 points
Improved Fire Blast - 2/5 points
Pyroblast - 1/1 point
Critical Mass - 3/3 points

~~~~~Shaman~~~~~~

Build 1
Elemental Combat Talents (23 points)
Concussion - 5/5 points
Convection - 5/5 points
Reverberation - 5/5 points
Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Improved Fire Nova Totem - 2/2 points
Elemental Fury - 1/1 point

Enhancement Talents (7 points)
Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points

Restoration Talents (21 points)
Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point

Build 2
Elemental Combat Talents (22 points)
# Concussion - 5/5 points
# Convection - 5/5 points
# Reverberation - 5/5 points
# Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
# Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
# Elemental Fury - 1/1 point

Enhancement Talents (7 points)
# Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
# Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points

Restoration Talents (22 points)
# Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
# Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
# Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
# Combat Endurance - 1/1 point
# Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
# Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point

Build 3
Elemental Combat Talents (30 points)
Concussion - 5/5 points
Convection - 5/5 points
Call of Flame - 1/5 point
Reverberation - 5/5 points
Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Improved Fire Nova Totem - 2/2 points
Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Lightning Mastery - 5/5 points

Enhancement Talents (0 points)
None

Restoration Talents (21 points)
Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Ancestral Healing - 5/5 points
Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point

Build 4
Elemental Combat Talents (20 points)
Concussion - 5/5 points
Improved Lightning Bolt - 4/5 points
Convection - 5/5 points
Reverberation - 5/5 points
Elemental Focus - 1/1 point

Enhancement Talents (10 points)
Shield Specialization - 5/5 points
Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3 points

Restoration Talents (21 points)
Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Improved Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point

~~~~~Priest~~~~~

Build 1
Discipline Talents (23 points)
Unbreakable Will - 5/5 points
Silent Resolve - 5/5 points
Improved Power Word: Shield - 3/3 points
Improved Power Word: Fortitude - 2/2 points
Mental Agility - 5/5 points
Improved Inner Fire - 3/3 points

Holy Talents (25 points)
Improved Renew - 5/5 points
Spiritual Healing - 5/5 points
Subtlety - 5/5 points
Improved Healing - 5/5 points
Improved Flash Heal - 2/2 points
Spirit of Redemption - 1/1 point
Improved Prayer of Healing - 2/2 points

Shadow Talents (3 points)
Blackout - 3/5 points

Build 2
Discipline Talents (20 points)
# Unbreakable Will - 5/5 points
# Improved Power Word: Shield - 3/3 points
# Martyrdom - 2/2 points
# Mental Agility - 4/5 points
# Focused Casting - 1/1 point
# Improved Inner Fire - 3/3 points
# Improved Mana Burn - 2/2 points

Holy Talents (0 points)

Shadow Talents (31 points)
# Spirit Tap - 5/5 points
# Blackout - 5/5 points
# Improved Shadow Word: Pain - 2/2 points
# Mind Flay - 1/1 point
# Improved Psychic Scream - 2/2 points
# Improved Mind Blast - 2/5 points
# Shadow Reach - 3/3 points
# Vampiric Embrace - 1/1 point
# Shadow Weaving - 5/5 points
# Silence - 1/1 point
# Darkness - 4/5 points

Build 3
Discipline Talents (22 points)
# Unbreakable Will - 5/5 points
# Improved Power Word: Shield - 3/3 points
# Improved Power Word: Fortitude - 2/2 points
# Mental Agility - 5/5 points
# Mental Strength - 5/5 points
# Improved Mana Burn - 2/2 points

Holy Talents (29 points)
# Improved Renew - 5/5 points
# Spiritual Healing - 5/5 points
# Subtlety - 5/5 points
# Improved Healing - 5/5 points
# Improved Flash Heal - 2/2 points
# Spirit of Redemption - 1/1 point
# Improved Prayer of Healing - 2/2 points
# Master Healer - 4/5 points

Shadow Talents (0 points)
# None

~~~~~Warlock~~~~~

Build 1
Affliction Talents (21 points)
Improved Corruption - 5/5 points
Suppression - 5/5 points
Improved Drain Soul - 2/2 points
Improved Curse of Agony - 3/3 points
Amplify Curse - 1/1 point
Nightfall - 2/2 points
Grim Reach - 2/2 points
Siphon Life - 1/1 point

Demonology Talents (17 points)
Improved Healthstone - 2/2 points
Improved Imp - 3/3 points
Demonic Embrace - 5/5 points
Improved Health Funnel - 2/2 points
Fel Intellect - 2/5 points
Fel Domination - 1/1 point
Master Summoner - 2/2 points

Destruction Talents (13 points)
Improved Shadow Bolt - 5/5 points
Aftermath - 5/5 points
Shadowburn - 1/1 point
Improved Firebolt - 2/2 points

Build 2
Affliction Talents (34 points)
Improved Corruption - 5/5 points
Improved Life Tap - 2/2 points
Improved Drain Life - 5/5 points
Improved Drain Soul - 1/2 point
Fel Concentration - 3/5 points
Amplify Curse - 1/1 point
Improved Curse of Agony - 2/3 points
Nightfall - 2/2 points
Grim Reach - 1/2 point
Curse of Exhaustion - 1/1 point
Improved Curse of Exhaustion - 4/4 points
Siphon Life - 1/1 point
Shadow Mastery - 5/5 points
Dark Pact - 1/1 point

Demonology Talents (17 points)
Demonic Embrace - 5/5 points
Improved Voidwalker - 2/3 points
Fel Intellect - 5/5 points
Fel Stamina - 5/5 points

Destruction Talents (0 points)
None

Build 3
Affliction Talents (30 points)
Improved Corruption - 5/5 points
Improved Drain Life - 5/5 points
Improved Drain Soul - 2/2 points
Fel Concentration - 5/5 points
Amplify Curse - 1/1 point
Improved Curse of Agony - 3/3 points
Grim Reach - 2/2 points
Curse of Exhaustion - 1/1 point
Siphon Life - 1/1 point
Shadow Mastery - 5/5 points

Demonology Talents (5 points)
Demonic Embrace - 5/5 points

Destruction Talents (16 points)
Improved Shadow Bolt - 5/5 points
Aftermath - 5/5 points
Bane - 3/5 points
Improved Firebolt - 2/2 points
Shadowburn - 1/1 point

~~~~~Warrior~~~~~

Build 1
Arms Talents (0 points)
None

Fury Talents (11 points)
Cruelty - 5/5 points
Improved Demoralizing Shout - 5/5 points
Piercing Howl - 1/1 point

Protection Talents (40 points)
Shield Specialization - 5/5 points
Anticipation - 5/5 points
Toughness - 5/5 points
Improved Bloodrage - 2/2 points
Improved Revenge - 3/3 points
Defiance - 5/5 points
Improved Shield Block - 3/3 points
Last Stand - 1/1 point
Improved Taunt - 2/2 points
Improved Shield Bash - 2/2 points
Concussion Blow - 1/1 point
One-Handed Weapon Specialization - 5/5 points
Shield Discipline - 1/1 point

Build 2
Arms Talents (31 points)
Deflection - 5/5 points
Improved Rend - 3/3 points
Tactical Mastery - 5/5 points
Anger Management - 1/1 point
Deep Wounds - 3/3 points
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - 5/5 points
Axe Specialization - 5/5 points
Sweeping Strikes - 1/1 point
Improved Hamstring - 2/2 points
Mortal Strike - 1/1 point

Fury Talents (10 points)
Cruelty - 5/5 points
Unbridled Wrath - 5/5 points

Protection Talents (10 points)
Anticipation - 5/5 points
Toughness - 5/5 points

Build 3
Arms Talents (36 points)
Improved Heroic Strike - 3/3 points
Deflection - 5/5 points
Improved Rend - 3/3 points
Tactical Mastery - 5/5 points
Improved Charge - 2/2 points
Anger Management - 1/1 point
Deep Wounds - 3/3 points
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - 5/5 points
Impale - 2/2 points
Sword Specialization - 5/5 points
Sweeping Strikes - 1/1 point
Mortal Strike - 1/1 point

Fury Talents (5 points)
Cruelty - 5/5 points

Protection Talents (10 points)
Anticipation - 5/5 points
Toughness - 5/5 points

(Edited by Zutroy at 4:45 pm on Dec. 11, 2004)

(Edited by Zutroy at 11:26 am on Dec. 13, 2004)

thanks for that zut.

You didnt put Yojacks flavour of the year spec

added

Okay, so my alt is an undead mage. I decided that I'd like to concentrate on Frost spells, for 2 reasons:
1) Everybody else is going Fire
2) Lots of Frost drops out there (related to #1)

Any suggestions? The templates Zut posted seem to spend a lot of points in Arcane: are the Arcane spells really that good? I figure that if you're going to spec in a line, you should get talents that improve all the spells in that line. Here's a spec I threw together in 5 minutes:

Arcane Talents (17 points)

Improved Arcane Missiles - 5/5 points
Gives you a 100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Arcane Missiles.

Arcane Concentration - 5/5 points
Gives you a 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.

Wand Specialization - 4/5 points
Increases your damage with Wands by 20%.

Evocation - 1/1 point
While channeling this spell, your mana regeneration is active and increased by 1500%. Lasts 8 seconds.

Improved Mana Shield - 2/2 points
Increases the damage absorbed by your Mana Shield by 75%.

Frost Talents (34 points)

Permafrost - 5/5 points
Increases the duration of your chill effects by 3 seconds.

Ice Shards - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%.

Improved Frost Nova - 2/2 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by ?.

Winter's Chill - 3/3 points
Increases the power of your chill effects by slowing the target's movement by an additional 10%.

Piercing Ice - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your frost spells by 6%.

Cold Snap - 1/1 point
When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all of your cold spells.

Frost Channeling - 3/3 points
Reduces the mana cost of your frost spells by 15%.

Shatter - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your frost spells against frozen targets by 50%.

Ice Block - 1/1 point
You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 seconds, but during that time you cannot attack, move, or cast spells.

Frostbite - 5/5 points
Gives your chill effects a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds.

Ice Barrier - 1/1 point
Instantly shields you, absorbing 455 damage. Lasts 1 minute. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted.

in my experience so far, the nice thing about arcane (aside from talents like Evocation that are awesome even if they don't do damage) is the ability to make your channel-based Arcane Missiles impossible to interrupt due to damage (and that's intelligently included in your template).  Not that it's advisable, but you can stand toe-to-toe w/ a mob and just chain cast that while they beat on you.  The key is that you're always dishing damage, not just hoping that your fireball doesn't get delayed 4 times while you cast it (although you can make that one difficult to interrupt w/ a fire talent).

It should be noted that stuff like silence, stun, etc. still affects Arcane Missiles even if you have all the points into this talent.

frost has some very cool aspects, but I got the impression that is was less efficient from a damage perspective in exchange for gaining much better CC abilities.  I pretty much use frostbolt against fire-immune enemies, and frost nova either as an escape mechanism or to kite more easily.  Fireball just does too much damage for me to ignore.

I do like the second point you make, though, there do seem to be lots of frost drops available.

Not just frost drops -- there's a ton of crafted +frost items available. Just that nobody wants them. I've got an enchant I can put on your weapon (that mages never use) that improves casted frost damage too.

I wouldn't spend points in wand spec. It does OK damage if you keep skill high, but it's a pain to keep clicking the wand shoot key.

Reading the priest boards now, it seems all the high level priests are advocating a heavy discipline build for the end game. They're split on whether to take disc/holy or disc/shadow. One thing they agree on is the last spirit buff is not very useful for priests (nice for other classes you're hanging out with) because of the hard cap of 300 on spirit.

Apparently if you get over 300 spirit (I am at around 180 now, and with spirit tap that goes to 360) you don't regen any more mana. There's a cap of 100 mana/s (.33 mana per spirit point) now due to some heavy spirit builds in beta that made discipline priests unkillable. This was apparently before the 5 second cooldown rule and some folks are asking that they reconsider the cap.

I think my plan will be to get as much int (and therefore as deep a mana pool as possible) as I can, then try to get spirit up close to 300 as I level. That might change if my playstyle changes, but right now fast regen is pretty pwn with the way I fight, and it helps tons in the instances.

I thought about that (fast regen) myself, but it seems that pretty much no matter what a mage does, he's going to be the king of downtime compared to others in a group.  I guess it's okay, but in instances I'm starting to adapt to more of a style where I'm sitting and medding during the beginning of fights (the tanks/rogues seem to run off to the next mobs immediately regardless of what anyone else says), which has the added benefit of building up hate for them... allowing me to use bigger damage fire spells instead of the lower hate arcane missiles.  As long as people don't mind me sitting on my tail for the first 15-20 secs of the fight, I don't mind doing it.  

I mind

i've got some tailoring patterns with nice frost dmg bonuses--tell me what slots you want to upgrade & I'll tell you what i can make.

QuoteQuote: from Axecleaver on 9:23 am on Jan. 4, 2005
I wouldn't spend points in wand spec. It does OK damage if you keep skill high, but it's a pain to keep clicking the wand shoot key.

How do wands work, anyways? Are they like a gun, in that there's a cooldown time between attacks and a minimum range? Or are they more like a spell with a casting time and somewhat interruptable?

I figured Wands would be a decent addition to the template because you can use that to branch into different damage types. Mages can use a dagger in one hand a wand in the other, right?

wands are main-hand, so no dagger+wand combos.  You can hold one of the off-hand objects that give you better stats.

There is a cooldown time (very short, just long enough to not let you chain-fire it) between attacks, but I'm pretty sure there's no minimum range.  

I've skilled up wands to a decent level (160-ish?), but they're still not useful against enemies around my level, I'll have to go pick on some grays to level it up.  The issue with wands (in my opinion) is that they typically don't give you great stats, not like a good staff, and the damage is woefully less than what I can do with basic spells.  I can see them being somewhat useful when you're out of mana, or if you have a wand that does a certain type of damage (or several different wands) so that you can use them when you encounter a mob that's immune to your main damage type(s).  I just don't see them being a huge part of my repertoire unless there are some super uber wands out there.

Wands are like a gun with a cooldown timer, but no minimum range. You can actually fire the wand in melee in between your swings. Some people on the boards claim that if you use a low-delay dagger, you can shoot the wand in between dagger strikes without delaying your attacks, effectively doubling your damage output.

I tried it with staff and it seems to delay my next staff swing no matter what time i hit the wand key, significantly lowering my dps. So I call BS on that one.

You can wield a wand and a dagger/offhand at the same time, so if you use a wand, be sure to get a dagger/offhand with focus on stat bonuses instead of damage.  Likewise get a wand with nice stats if you use melee.

Quotethe tanks/rogues seem to run off to the next mobs immediately regardless of what anyone else says), which has the added benefit of building up hate for them...

when I read that the first time it sounded like you were saying you hated that they did that... I dont really mind, since they don't need much heal support until halfway through the fight. So I med when I need to. With the level of spirit I got, if I need to regen mana I just don't throw any damage spells for a while and melee. I like that I regen mana just as fast meleeing as sitting down.

nope, I don't hate that now that I'm used to it.  the only time it gets on my nerves is when my mana bar is empty and the puller takes off and pulls, then screams because the add doesn't get sheeped.  at that point we need to have a discussion.  :)

I wasn't aware that you could wield a dagger and a wand at the same time, I thought they were both mainhand weapons.  Would be interesting to try, but for a mage at least it seems to make more sense to just stick w/ your spells unless you're horribly OOM and your wand skill is up to par to avoid the massive resists.

edit:  obviously, wands are ranged weapons, not mainhand.  I guess a better way to state that would be that when you fire your wand, doesn't it "put away" your melee weapon?  Do you basically have to keep clicking to alternate between them?

(Edited by Rosslyn at 2:22 pm on Jan. 4, 2005)

It puts it away on the display, but you can have both equipped, and melee continues regardless. You just have to click the wand to shoot it and melee attacks happen whenever.

gratuitous bump

can i play?

/bump again.....

^^ newb

<< needs coffee

VV useless post

by the way, i believe either now or next patch, wands will be auto-fire, like melee