[Guide] Electric burn DOT mage

[1cec0ld]

Just wondering, instead of using sleep, would it be viable to use DR and just stand there while using ToW while TR keeps them petrified? It seems safer, since each pulse of the trance wouldnt wake up everything, and you could even use Spirit's Necrosis to reduce resists farther...In addition to finding staves to increase energy regen and -recharge, using Spirit's Dark Covenant for more energy, and the Nightmare can benefit from the -vitality resists. Plus its a focused mage build, making gear and Int more specialized. Or am I missing an element somewhere?

Edit: Forgot about the Lich's reducing resists as well

[Violos]

This is a focused mage build. Actually, it had the most radical int-focus of all the chars I played.
You're just holding a shield because you can. And because two items giving boni are better than one.

Keeping everyone petrified with DR is of course viable, but only works in its rather small range. An undisturbed sleep helps you position yourself for this, and silences those further away. So the skills complement each other.

Necrosis only helps the Vitality part of DR, but not the burn. And while the Lich is good at reducing resists, he is a bit unreliable.
That is why Spirit, while having other qualities, doesn't support the EBD focus quite as well.

[1cec0ld]

Thanks for that, you answered in time for me to not set her second mastery yet. I guess Haruspex it is...

But how do you recover energy fast enough to keep using all of the spells? I'd think only a staff could do it fast enough...

[Dark_Rak3r]

Well, you can max ToC, which helps a lot. I would think though that this build requires a lot of pots to keep your energy up and/or some very energy-oriented gear.

[Violos]

Not so many, actually. Since you are wearing mostly mage gear your regeneration should be OK with ToC maxed. But the real trick is not to spam your spells, but herd first and then hit for maximum effect.

If you are still having problems you may also try gear that reduces energy cost, which effectively raises your max mana and regeneration.

[1cec0ld]

Ok, thanks, I just started work on my ToC, so I'll see how that works soon. Side note, Maenads don't herd well...

[Dark_Rak3r]

Hey Violos, I was wondering about how much int should you have at around level 27? I kinda went for a ebd build with a primary focus on melee though, and with some nice drops my level 27 seer has 380 str, 218 int and 120 dex. I can also swap my equipment around to get 256 str, 293 int and 93 dex, though I have no mage-specific gear besides rings and a necklace. How do I compare to a focused mage build? I'm using Psionic Immolation and kiting around, then mopping up anything left with my melee or another PI. I know it's strength-heavy, though I tried to balance it out a little. Do you think it's still viable to try for some EBD play?

[Violos]

In normal, and with that kind of gear, anything is viable. The question is where you want to go in the long run, and how many hard points you invested (or not). Because that difference is later multiplied by +% gear.

With Dream maxed a focused mage would have about 220 base int at your level, and 114 strength.

100 more or less won't make that much of a difference if you commit to int from now on, but it would be a shame if you "lost" it for nothing. So since you have the strength, you might put it to good use by choosing a Templar and getting some nice shield and armor. If you reduce requirements enough to hold Sapros, the huge resistance reduction should make up for the lower EBD if you manage to hit monsters first.

[Dark_Rak3r]

Well, defiler lists my raw stats as 86 str, 142 int and 58 dex before applying the maxed dream mastery points. Without any equipment equipped, I get 150 str, 198 int and 58 dex.
I may go templar, since that's melee focused.

EDIT: Well huh, I just learned that my attribute points are way off what they should be. According to defiler my base stats are equivalent to those of a level 18 character.

EDIT2: Fixed with defiler. Set my level to 1, my exp to 0, and set my str/int/dex to the default of 50 and used the level up function (I did not add my points from completed sidequests yet). Geared for strength, my stats are: 362 str, 295 int, and 97 dex. Geared for int, my stats are: 256 str, 418 int, and 85 dex. And for my base stats (before mastery), that's 86 str, 222 int, and 50 dex. After mastery, I have 150 str, 278 int, and 50 dex without any equipment equipped.
Wow, that's a lot of numbers. But yeah, after getting those extra points, my stats sure did shoot up.

[roguext77]

what about attributes, how much to put into str, dex for gear to be able to carry.