Caster Suggestions

[Moridin63]

So, I got to the third part of act I with my harbringer, and I like the harbringer, and I think hes gonna be awesome later.

But I was thinking, I may as well level up a caster class along side him, instead of just vendoring all the caster gear I get, and vice versa, when I find melee gear on my caster I can use it for my harbringer.

So, I was looking at the build list guides, and going back and forth between titan calc and the lists to see which masteries the builds used and lol -.-

So I'm here to ask for some help.

I do not want a battle mage melee type caster, I want an actual caster.
Pets are alright, but I don't want to play nature or hunting.
I want full caster, not something + defense.

Also, I'm a fairly new player, played a bit a while back then stopped, and now just getting back into the game, so suggestions for a picky nooby if you please :lol:

[Darklightr]

I guess Elementalist would be viable.. High magic damage output from spells like Squall and Eruption, two weapons enchantments (Earth Enchantment and Storm Nimbus), along with very high INT.. Though mana costs and reserves would be through the roof
Also Spirit + Earth/ Storm
Also lots of nice magic damage (Ternion + Life Leech + Earth/ Nimbus + Squall/ Eruption + Lich King + Core Dweller, though you said no pets?)
Of course, this is something that I'm not totally familiar with, I've just used Storm and Earth along with melee classes (I'm not very good with Caster in TQ)

[Moridin63]

Oh I don't mind pets, I just don't want to play nature lol =)

EDIT: I know spirit and earth have great pets, and that dream has a good pet to go with any other pets you have, I'm just sorta looking for what people think are the top few casters and why.

And then I'll take a look at them and their guides (if there are any), and ask some questions about why some skills are taken over others, and stuff :)

[silenttales]

Like some of the guys said, Elementalist would probably be your best bet.

Heaps of spell buffs that amplify spells, powerful spammable nukes, a pet that boosts spell damage by up to 100% along with another one that grabs enemy aggro. Pretty much everything yoi wanted in a pure spell caster (perfect for a first time spell caster player)

[Medea Fleecestealer]

You could go Spirit/Dream for a Diviner. Have a look at Poinas' Pwning with Spirit guide which is awesome.

Don't forget you can use your caravan to swop items between toons to make use of the good caster/melee stuff you find and you should also download the TQVault for storing items.

[Kalam]

the problem with all spirit casters is: they nuke everything with their staff.
the elemenatlist is, imo, the only real spellcaster

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Yes, Elementalist would definitely have more spell skills available. Almost too many really as it's difficult to make use of all of them. I can never fit them all on the hot keys so tend to use Earth skills mostly with some Storm backup.

[Moridin63]

Hmm, I was looking around, how well does dream / spirit fair with all the pets and the boosts from the dream pet, and then casting skills.

[silenttales]

The pets from a Diviner wouldn't be really affected much from the Mastermind skill, only a bit though. If you want to utilize the Dreams pet bonuses (as well as auras well) then the Dream+Nature is what is affected most as it got tons of pets, meaning greater damage (and auras like ToC affects them too!).

The Diviner is a can be a Ternion staff caster or an DoT "auramancer" caster. Mainly uses -vitality debuffs + Harrowing + %damageTOhealth for survivability and killing. I'm guessing you read the Spirit Pwning guide? Follow that religeously and you got yourself a very strong staff casting character.

[Irma2]

If you want a first caster to try out the play style, Evoker or Prophet would probably be easiest. The Dream casters get by far the easiest run through Act IV Normal.

The problem with Spirit/Ternion/...of Harrowing casters is that you have to twink them because ...of Harrowing only drops in Epic and beyond. So unless you know what you're doing, a Spirit toon will die a LOT in Act IV Normal.

[Moridin63]

Hmm, thanks Irma2 that was pretty much exactly the sort of comment I was looking for lol. So I was looking into evoker and prophet, and after looking over the guides I could find, here's what I came up with as an Prophet endgame build.
Stuffs (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=21&m1=32-0-1-0-12-8-0-0-12-0-12-8-6-12-0-0-1-1-1-8-0-0-0-0&m2=32-0-12-0-1-8-0-6-16-1-0-0-12-8-1-1-6-0-1-1-12-0-0-0)
Just looking for a general caster suggestion thingy for gear right now :D

EDIT: Said Evoker rather than Prophet -.-

[Irma2]

Well, that's a build for Prophet, not Evoker. And it's not the route I'd go. If I can summarise:

Evoker: kills bosses and mobs very easily throughout Normal but still has to be a bit wary of projectile attacks.
Prophet: doesn't need to worry about projectile attacks and kills mobs with equal ease, but is less powerful against bosses.

Prophet build for end Normal (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Prophet&master1=8&master2=9&sa=7&m1=32-0-1-0-0-1-0-0-12-0-1-0-1-12-0-0-0-0-7-0-0-0&m2=32-0-1-1-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-5-0-1-1-0-12-0-0-5-0)

Evoker build for end Normal (http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Evoker&master1=1&master2=9&sa=7&m1=32-12-0-4-1-0-0-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-12-0&m2=32-0-1-1-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-6-0-1-1-1-12-0-0-6-0).

Gear is really easy - Lightning staff for Prophet, Fire staff for Evoker. The rest of your gear should add +% Int, +% Lightning damage (Prophet) or +% Fire damage (Evoker) or +skills if you can find it. Neither build has to worry about resistances in Normal.

Play style is very similar for both builds: Distortion Wave/Psionic Immolation goes on your RMB, LMB is Standard Weapon Attack. At the start of the session, you fire up your auras (Storm Nimbus and ToC for Prophet, Earth Enchantment, ToC and Heat Shield for Evoker). Prophet initiates combat by casting Squall on whichever monsters you come across, followed by Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning. If anything gets close to you, use your RMB to nuke it with DW/PI and finish it off with staff shots. For bosses, cast Squall and LB/CL on them, circling around them and using staff shots and DW/PI casts as well.

Evoker is quite similar. Cast Eruption slightly in front of every mob you meet (so that they have to run through the radius to get to you) and nuke anything that makes it past Eruption by RMB casting DW/PI on it. For bosses, cast Eruption underneath them and circle them, shooting with staff.

If you want, you can add Volcanic Orb to the Evoker, just one point in the base skill and one point in Fragmentation. The stun of VO keeps monsters in Eruption's radius and makes it more effective. But it's quite tricky to use Eruption and VO well together, so it will take some practice.

In either case, you have all the tools you need. Both builds get a means to deal with distant foes (Squall, LB/CL, Eruption) and with close-up foes (DW/PI). And, seeing as you only get these two types of foes in the game (distant or close-up), you don't need anything else. DW/PI is so strong that it kills all but one or two trash mob types throughout Normal. Squall or Eruption + DW/PI kills every trash mob. So it's just bosses. And these skills kill them all too, it just takes a few repeat casts and a bit longer.

These simple builds are all you need to get your first caster through Normal very easily and quickly with no deaths. Once you've done that, you will have an idea of how the class plays and can then add the pets in early Epic. The pets make it easier although Prophet can struggle later on. Evoker gets Core Dweller so is much easier throughout.

[Moridin63]

Hmm, cause looking at the builds I found on the build list stickies, Prophet feels like more my playstyle than Evoker does..
I think I'd probably add the pets in earlier, even if it is just a point in each with 1 in confusion thingy.
Also, the lightning bolt synergy, I was under the impression that was bad?

[Moridin63]

Note: I realize all this talk is hypothetical, and I could end up not liking whatever class I chose, and then I'd just have to chose another class and move on lol. But I figure that you guys that have played half of all of the classes into epic (at least) have a pretty good idea of whats fun and fairly easy, so I'm just trying to match that with what I think my playstyle is :)

[Irma2]

Chain Lightning isn't great in Legendary unless you have really good gear. But it sure nukes mobs in Normal. Make that your first priority - getting through Normal. If the skill isn't doing enough for you later, you can always buy the points back and invest somewhere else.

[Moridin63]

I actually have a question about the skill resetting, I checked on my harbringer and the cost of 1 skill point is like 250, then 500, and it just goes up and up.
So, if I buy 1 skill point reset, and then leave and come back, does the second still cost 250, or does it carry over to 500?
And is there a max cost for skill point resetting?

EDIT: I have no idea what energy reserved means.

[LMunhoz]

Don't worry about money, you'll be a millionaire soon hehe

Energy reserved is the amount of your mana which will not be used while that skill is active, it will be reserved. If you have 500 energy and the skills reserves 150, your mana pool is actually 500 - 150 = 350.

[Moridin63]

wondered mostly cause of the skill with 150 energy reserved, even though it doesn't seem to have an energy cost.