Vyr Archon Wizard

[Guest StarGazer]

Can anyone confirm that this is still viable for end game in 2.5? Because I've acquired all the items necessary (with a few ancient legendaries) and I can only push to GR50 for now. Is my problem just a matter of time until I find more ancient gear? Thanks. 

[Deadset 108]

Can anyone confirm that this is still viable for end game in 2.5? Because I've acquired all the items necessary (with a few ancient legendaries) and I can only push to GR50 for now. Is my problem just a matter of time until I find more ancient gear? Thanks. 

 

The build has been weakened by certain changes in legendary gems (removal of exploitative mechanics on Bane of the Stricken, etc.), but I'm still certain it can reach in the 75-80 range. You should be able to reach higher as you get more ancients, higher gem levels and paragon points.

[Guest StarGazer]

 

Can anyone confirm that this is still viable for end game in 2.5? Because I've acquired all the items necessary (with a few ancient legendaries) and I can only push to GR50 for now. Is my problem just a matter of time until I find more ancient gear? Thanks. 

 

The build has been weakened by certain changes in legendary gems (removal of exploitative mechanics on Bane of the Stricken, etc.), but I'm still certain it can reach in the 75-80 range. You should be able to reach higher as you get more ancients, higher gem levels and paragon points.

 

Thanks very much for the reply! I was reading some Reddit threads, and apparently it's also a good idea to have LoH on the weapon for survivability. 

Also, it took me a while to start playing the build the way I was supposed to, as before I was pretty much teleporting from one elite pack to another and wondering why I'm not doing as much damage as guides like yours say I should be doing. 

 

Keep up the great work Deadset, this site has really been invaluable to me in progressing through the season. 

[Deadset 108]

Keep up the great work Deadset, this site has really been invaluable to me in progressing through the season. 

 

 

Thank you for the kind words dude! By the way you might do well to keep your good Vyr pieces, as its shaping up to be back at the top, at least these are my current impressions in the 2.4.1 PTR.

[Guest StarGazer]

 

Keep up the great work Deadset, this site has really been invaluable to me in progressing through the season. 

 

 

Thank you for the kind words dude! By the way you might do well to keep your good Vyr pieces, as its shaping up to be back at the top, at least these are my current impressions in the 2.4.1 PTR.

 

 

Good to know, hopefully it won't get nerfed by the time it goes live. Cheers!

[Rupio 0]

Hmm, im just wondering how important Aether Walker is for the weapon cube.

Teleport only has a 3 sec cd in archon (under 2sec with cdr) and out of archon you dont want to use it.

Pushing for damage with a lightning based buff, Scourge or The Furnace might be better?

 

Really loving teleporting around, especialy when you end up in dead ends and stuff, but the 2sec cd should be enough to get around?

[Deadset 108]

The two major considerations are definitely Aether Walker or Furnace. I'm leaning strongly towards Furnace for the upcoming patch, Aether was part of a meta that emphasized skipping unfavorable mobs/levels a lot more. I will edit the guide soon to reflect that.

[Guest Thomas]

You write "Elemental Damage (Fire if Firebird variation)"

So if NOT firebird,, does it not matter what kind of elemental damage?

[Deadset 108]

You write "Elemental Damage (Fire if Firebird variation)"

So if NOT firebird,, does it not matter what kind of elemental damage?

 

Nope, just pick one and stick to it :)

[Guest huldu]

I'm really surprised at how people are playing with this build or similar versions of it and reaching GR90+(even 100 as I write this). It's like a super glass cannon. I can just barely make it past TX, while you're in Archon everything is great but once it drops you're so weak, I literally got one shot by a grotesque exploding(lol)! It's fine tho since that first set bonus is amazing and saves you - and if you die again within that minute you maybe got the skill to keep you alive a bit longer.

 

I'm running firebird set with most pieces from this guide but with a few changes, basically what the top tier wizards are currently using. I don't see myself hitting GR75 any time soon and I don't see how, currently I only have around 700-800k dps so I really need better gear(ie good ancient rolls). 

[Guest DarkShadow]

I can handle TX rift with this build(I stacked some cooldown) without dying or getting close to dying but I can't handle GR50. I die even in archon for with 100 stack in GR50. No idea how some people get to GR100 with this bould without full ancient set.

[Guest Znjot]

Me neither it's really weak although i only have 1 ancient and paragon 550 already, blizzard probly hates me or something.

think 68 is my max if i go any higher i run out of time because i die so much and have to wait on timers.

using firebird archon with explosive blast and got furnace.

thinking of swapping compass rose and travelers pledge out for something more defensive (thinking unity and neck I dunno something)

[Guest gimp]

I feel its wierd that This question have been mentioned yet. 

When using this build with Firebird shoulden't you use the combustion rune on Archon Instead of Teleportation? As the set is firebased, or what would be the difference. I tried give it a test, but i coulden't tell, with combustion rune the mobs might been easier to ignite?

Second with the firebird set, should you aim for weapons with firedmg, or does it not make a difference? or(as followup on the first question, would firedmg on the weapon work as an alternativ for the combustion rune on the archon ability)?

Last. If it apears that you won't need the combustion rune to get the full benifit from the firebird set, Woulden't Improved Archon Rune for its 50% dmg ability boost also be an alternative worth considering?

 

[Deadset 108]

On 6/5/2016 at 1:30 AM, Guest gimp said:

I feel its wierd that This question have been mentioned yet. 

When using this build with Firebird shoulden't you use the combustion rune on Archon Instead of Teleportation? As the set is firebased, or what would be the difference. I tried give it a test, but i coulden't tell, with combustion rune the mobs might been easier to ignite?

Second with the firebird set, should you aim for weapons with firedmg, or does it not make a difference? or(as followup on the first question, would firedmg on the weapon work as an alternativ for the combustion rune on the archon ability)?

Last. If it apears that you won't need the combustion rune to get the full benifit from the firebird set, Woulden't Improved Archon Rune for its 50% dmg ability boost also be an alternative worth considering?

 

Heya, the reason for Teleport rune is that the mobility is vital in high Greater Rifts to a point that makes the remaining runes obsolete. Your Chantodo pulses will do Fire damage and set enemies burning for the Firebird set, as long as the highest Elemental bonus on your gear is Fire. On the other hand, the Archon abilities do Arcane damage with the Teleport rune, so the common "trick" is to split the 2 slots for Elemental damage (amulet and bracer) between Fire and Arcane, and have the Fire roll be slightly higher than the Arcane (i.e. 20% Fire on the amulet, 19% Arcane on the bracer). This allows you to get the best out of both worlds.

The weapon elemental damage makes no difference, it's a leftover from an early development stage of Diablo 3 and never got removed.

[Zadina 923]

I decided to pick Wizard this Season since it was so OP in the previous season and the current one. I don't know, maybe I am too used to the playstyle of the other classes, but it has been an extremely frustrating experience for me. To make things worse, gearing up in this Season felt incredibly slow compared to the previous one... I am Paragon 209 (yeah I know it's low, but I don't play too much) and I am still missing the bracers and arlo ring, as well as ancients obviously.

Part of my frustration is that I can't seem to get Wizard and this build. I have been running the Firebird version (with Explosive Blast instead of frost nova) and I don't see anything exceptional. I am at 616k damage (yeah I know, it's low again). I have some questions:

1) Do I build 20 Chantodo's stacks before casting Archon or not?

2) Am I supposed to be outside of Archon form that long or am I doing something wrong? Everytime it is around 70 seconds I have to wait.

3) When does Ignite proc? How long do I have to hit a mob for it to proc?

4) Totally noob question but I can't find where my maximum elemental damage is. It's not under Details > Offence (which probably means it's incredibly low or something).

I know that I sound like a total noob, but it's the first time I play Wizard seriously (I have only mastered Monk, DH and WD). I hopped along the wizard hype train this Season, but tbh I don't get how they can be so powerful.

[VYRMAN 1]

1) Yes, it is highly recommended that you have 20 Chantodo Stacks as that gives you a very high attack damage (up to 7000% weapon damage).

Stacks go up faster when you have a high Attack Speed.  With that in mind, you will not have that high attack speed starting a Rift/GR.  So what you can do is start it, apply your buffs, activate Archon - attack as much as you can as it will build up your Attack Speed.  Once you go back out of Archon form - your Chantodo Stacks should go up faster.  (If it doesn't, it's because of a bug - activate a potion (any kind) then it should kick in.)

2)NO!  You want a high CDR (From your gear and the Evocation ability) to get back into Archon asap.  The Swami helps you out during this period.  Some say around 50%, but I like it close to 60% - I can even get as high as 65% but you trade off a lot of attack damage.  So you have to find a balance - what % gets you into Archon form, with 20 Chantodo stacks at the same time.   Also having the  Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac cubed will help.  Each attack will reduced the cooldown by one second.

3) Magic Weapon - Ignite...  It has a chance to when attacking.  So just attack - in and out of Archon it will happen. You will see it when the enemies get a flame on them.

As for those who say you die so quickly - you need to build up the Archon Stacks!  They will increase your defense as well as your attack.  Having the Swami lets you keep those stacks outside of Archon.  And having all those defensive buffs is a must.  They all synergize together so you should try to use all of those recommended by Deadset.  Don't go replacing one, thinking this has higher stats.  It doesn't matter - it's about one ability helping the other out and proccing off each other.  Remember to move move move!  The Traveler's Pledge and Compass Rose combo - gives you more defense the more you move.  Having Teleport with the Safe Passage rune gives you 25% damage reduction.

All the little things add up alot!

Edited June 16, 2016 by VYRMAN
added 3)

[Guest Tiggo]

Amazing guide and video!  Thanks so much for it.

 

Some questions:

 

1. Could you show your full Detail stats? (Already learned a lot from the short part you can see in the video ^^)

2. Whats the reason for not using swiftness leg. gem? Sounds like its made for archon?

 

cheers!

Tiggo.

[Deadset 108]

On 9/4/2016 at 1:10 PM, Guest Tiggo said:

1. Could you show your full Detail stats? (Already learned a lot from the short part you can see in the video ^^)

2. Whats the reason for not using swiftness leg. gem? Sounds like its made for archon?

Hey - you can see all the detailed stats from the vid by using the build page linked below it: http://www.d3planner.com/670057601 (The right side of the page especially is a more extensive 'Details' breakdown of ingame stats anyway)

Swiftness gem can be used (i,e, instead of Bane of the Powerful) to ease CDR management, it's usually dropped in Vyr Archon setups when compared to Firebird Archon setups because Vyr 2 piece nets you the Pure Power rune for free, easing Archon resets by a whole lot. If you feel more comfortable using it though (to get back into Archon even faster), replacing BotP for it is your least DPS loss.

[Tiggo 1]

Great Link thanks!

[kenhzu 0]

hey deadset, why you use frost damage on bracers and amulet.
do you roll other stats than elemental dmg?
 

[Valks 2,375]

On 11/12/2016 at 2:23 AM, kenhzu said:

hey deadset, why you use frost damage on bracers and amulet.
do you roll other stats than elemental dmg?
 

You can choose whatever Element you want, as long as you maintain it through all your pieces and you set your Archon rune to that element.

As for the second question, what do you mean? Intelligence and CHC are above ED on wrists, for example.

[briala 6]

In the planner/detail view, the shoulders have int, vit, area and CDR. The article has int, vit, life, and CDR.

[Valks 2,375]

21 hours ago, briala said:

In the planner/detail view, the shoulders have int, vit, area and CDR. The article has int, vit, life, and CDR.

Do you mean the comment from Deadset above? That comment is about 2.5 months old, whereas the guide was updated for Season 8. I would follow the guide on the site. 

[Guest test]

Useless build without any ancients. My Tal Rasha set does GR60 in no time and I never die. This build has almost no survivability at all.

[Valks 2,375]

On 12/1/2016 at 9:32 PM, Guest test said:

Useless build without any ancients. My Tal Rasha set does GR60 in no time and I never die. This build has almost no survivability at all.

I'm sorry to hear that it's not working out for you! I wouldn't say the build is useless, it can definitely reach GR 80+. I would say that most builds require ancients to do that. 

Personally, I haven't noticed many issues with it until around GR70. When are you having issues? Outside of Archon?