Caster Gear Help?

[DirewolfX]

I'm playing a Conjurer and I'm having trouble figuring out how to balance my defenses with offensive gear. None of the caster gear that drops for me seems to have any good resistances without sacrificing a lot of offensive power. What sort of gear is best for casters to aim for?

Currently using the following build:
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Conjurer&master1=1&master2=2&sa=12&m1=32-12-0-1-1-0-12-1-1-0-1-3-0-1-0-1-0-12-12-8-4-0&m2=32-1-0-12-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-6-1-1-0-0-0-0-1-1-0-0

Gear is (roughly):
Head: Battlemage Circlet
Neck: Eye of Flame
Chest: Robes of Calchas
Arms: The Frail (for the reduced resist)
Legs: Battlemage Leggings
Ring: Star Stone
Ring: Plato's Ring (w/ Epic Hecate's Crescent)

also have these rings available:
Jewel of Fire (w/ Normal Code of Hammurabi)
Chiron's Loop (just dropped, but probably going to give to a defensive character)

Fire Resist is pretty high; Lightning is positive; rest are negative. Secondary resists are 0. Health is around 2800; DA is around 400.

Overall my progress isn't terrible, but I'm concerned about how I'll fare in epic Hades, because Typhon can still one shot me with a normal melee hit, and I spend a lot of time kiting him. Is this normal for casters?

[Tyr]

I'd swap Battlemage's Circlet for "Hallowed" headgear (green item, rare, check mage merchants). "Hallowed" gives you +1 to skills and vitality resist. If you don't mind not getting the +1 to skills from the Crystal of Erebus charm then its standard completion bonus (enemy attack speed penalty) should be invaluable to you. Use that on your helm.

Eye of Flame can be swapped for a Plato/Socrates/Spellbound Amulet of Augury/Divination. You can use a Monkey King's Trickery on that for -resist (which is basically +%total damage) and elemental resists, or you can use Dionysus Wineskins (+HP and physical resist, the physical resist stacks with your Earth skills). These relics have +DA standard completion bonuses.

Robe of Calchas' armor would help explain why Typhon can potentially 1-hit you. 96 armor is very low for an Epic character in Act 3, and since its the torso that gets hit most of the time expect a lot of pain in Act 4.
I'd swap it for an Honor Guard's armor of X (any other useful suffix). Honor Guard's comes with +armor and grants pierce/stun resists. You can then use a Pristine Plummage or some other relic/charm on it. Alternatively you can just use some yellow with the "Impenetrable" (pierce resists) prefix.

The Frail is very useful against bosses, but I wouldn't use it for general killing. You're better off with a Plato's/Socrates' armlet or an armlet of the Gryphon. You can use a Pristine Plummage on these. Go with the Standard Completion bonus (+DA).

Of the Pegasus with Pristine Plummage can replace Battlemage Leggings, though those are very, very rare.

Star Stone can be replaced by another Plato's/Socrates. Try getting ones with +DA/+HP suffixes (Mastery/Immortality). Use Monkey King's Trickery or Dionysus on those.

I wouldn't worry too much about casting speed, it basically only affects your Volcanic Orb. Ternion is only affected by +attack speed btw.

If you find any good purples (the good ones grant lots of resists) use them to replace your armlets/leggings/torso armor. Caster-wise there are very few purple helms/rings/amulets that can outshine a good green + relic.

[DirewolfX]

Thanks for the tips.

Question about the armor on Calchas robes vs. getting 100 more armor from something else. The armor only protects up to 66% of its value, so wouldn't having an extra 100 more armor, only save me from 66 damage on one of Typhon's attacks? If he's one shotting me from ~2800 health to 0, there must be something else I can fix? I'm guessing those were crits and more defensive ability can help.

I managed to find a hallowed of permanence helm, but I still need the battlemage's helm for now, because the set bonus is a nice 37% pierce resist. I actually swapped to Chiron's Loop and an Impenetrable of the Glade chest (dropped randomly, and the pierce resist and ranged avoidance seemed attractive, since I was having trouble with archers). Once I go back and farm a Monkey King's relic, I'll socket it in a green Socrates of Immortality ring I just found and replace the Frail with something else.

Up to the Labyrinth on Legendary now... so things are going pretty decently, but I'm still super fragile (any special attack from the Hydra would one shot me and Talos nearly did with his fire thing, but they're easy to avoid luckily).

[Tyr]

DA does help lower the frequency of crits but you'll need around 600+ for Epic. To get that much DA you'll need to rely on green items + relic completion bonuses. And you'd need far more DA than that to match Typhon's OA (which is sky-high even at normal, iirc).
66 less damage may not mean much but once other damage mitigation skills come to play (Heat Shield, Ravages of Time, resistances, extra damage absorption, etc) that much may just save your character from getting 1-shotted. Several of Typhon's attacks also do %HP reduction damage, which is what makes them lethal.

I'd suggest keeping the Frail in your backpack somewhere. It's very useful for fast-killing bosses, use to it when you're farming.

Surviving the Hydra is mostly about getting maxed Poison Resist. Try that + Ravages of Time (only works with the fanpatch BTW) and you should have no trouble tanking him point-blank. Beware of his ranged breath attacks.

Talos, on the other hand, is about getting good fire resist at range or lightning resist at melee.
If you're curious what damage types bosses do you might wanna visit this (http://www.titanquest.net/tq-forum/threads/26681-Bosses-and-Damage-Types?highlight=barmanu+meteor) guide by Poinas.

Your skill build can be tweaked a bit to increase your survivability. Leave Volativity at level 1 - you can max it later when you have something like 1k Int in Legendary, for now you should focus on developing your character's survivability. With those points you can do this (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Conjurer&master1=1&master2=2&sa=12&m1=32-12-0-1-1-0-12-1-2-0-1-1-0-1-0-1-0-12-1-8-4-0-0&m2=32-1-0-12-1-6-0-0-0-5-0-6-1-1-1-0-0-0-1-1-0-0-0).

Vision of Death is a great crowd control spell. It causes fumble (causes skills/attacks to miss, AoE's are cast wayyy off mark, works on everything) and fear (mobs only). Spam it when dealing with dangerous mobs. The level 5+ Liche King has a skill called Soul Blight, which reduces enemy resistances. It can very significantly improve your DPS. I'd suggest alternating points between the Liche King and Core Dweller (main skill, other synergies besides Metamorphosis are low priority for this character).

Turn off your level 1 Deathchill if mobs keep focusing on you, it's an aggro magnet. Like Plague maxed Deathchill/Necrosis (and Ravages of Time with fanpatch) is extremely powerful, but at low skill levels it can get you killed.

[DirewolfX]

http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Conjurer&master1=1&master2=2&sa=17&m1=32-12-0-1-1-0-12-1-0-0-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-12-12-0-5-0-0-0&m2=32-6-0-12-8-0-1-0-0-5-1-6-4-1-1-0-12-0-1-1-0-0-0-0

That's my current build. I haven't gotten vision of death, because melee enemies aren't my biggest issue with maxed Deathchill + Ravages. Ranged and Casters are my biggest problem now, since my resistances are low. I'm looking for an Honor's Guard robe and collecting some resistance charms and relics to use.

Anyway, making reasonably good progress in Legendary. Up to Manticore and the Scorpion-man boss in Fayum.

BTW, I liked your Nature FAQ... I've been playing with a Nature toon a bit at low levels.