D3 Male Wizard (complete) by beargeist

CONCEPT
The Wizard is very difficult to put away with burst dmg, due to the Anomaly system.
Delaying damage dealt allows him to pick out severe threat with Energy Tap, but it also drains his ability to poke back. And due to its very Short decay, it can be easy to continually bait out and isn't ideal for defending against sustained attacks.

Thankfully Energy is a very expendable resource; with both attack spells and a fickle shield always accessible, your able to burn through your energy in about 10s.. while recovering half of it back in the same time frame. But with no blink or escapes, the efficiency of your attack is entirely dependent on modest use of Energy tap.

MECHANICAL NOTES

There are a lot of simple spells with amazing features under the hood, like corpse spiders and hungering arrow. Making Arcane torrent in that vain is important to its interaction with Ray of Frost; it's in the sticky aim that the character will find a lot of its fun factor and disparity.

Arcane Torrent: semi-homing missiles like the old hungering arrow, can be vaulted/blinked out of.
Will not chase great distances outside of basic range. Splash dmg always hits the ground.
Has slight ability to re-prioritize target, if the target is lost early enough and another is close enough.

Ray of Frost: renders you immobile, pivot mechanic.

Anomaly: Always delays the damage that triggered it.
If an Unstable anomaly is active then temporal will extend the duration for the full amount.
Unstable will not trigger if Temporal Anomaly is already active.
Unstable will only trigger if the damage is dealt to his life bar.

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Importance and application of Flux mechanic.

an Energy system seems like an easy port at first, but this game's pacing and resource/cd management provides obstacles that you wouldn't see in other ARPGS. Because of the many healing models, Having to make management decisions from poke to brawl is essential; even simple things like needing to hit multiple targets to justify cost efficiency. An over dependence on basic attacks or something like a signature spell, may force a sense of "task/farm" management that will never suit the role. The first alternate option is to go to an extremely quick recovery system, which also places large restrictions on abilities that often define the mage class. The second option is to create something resembling mana and use large cooldowns to create the restrictions; may as well use mana, may as well **** out another mage.

Torrent 12 energy a second avg = 7 loss = 14s before 0%
ray 15 = 10 loss = 10s before 0%
These numbers are suitable in terms of cost efficiency, over a sustain poke.But there are still multiple problems

ray + torrent = 4.5s... and what happens after 4.5s?
how do we give ray a low enough cost and arcane a high enough cost?
so that they can be used together and arcane still has a cost on poke.
without giving them poke/cost equivalency?
to provide a better reason to use both, then burning energy faster.
so that we can keep desirable range/utility for Ray of frost, and make distinctions between the dmg spells.

The third option is to use a mechanic like "FLUX", to create a different regeneration rate while engaged in brawls with burst and threat. "ANOMALY" is designed to activate for those reasons, packaging multiple threat responses to temporary Energy gains is how to balance from sustain to poke.. while still maintaining ability structures that represent a Mage's place in the game.

ray + torrent = 6s, and gives you management after you've burned energy. Provides a better reason to use both
It keeps cost equivalency at bay. Prevents Ray from being unanimously favored on poke.


TALENT DIRECTION

The balance of energy is fragile; base stat solutions are best for any trade or any buff
additional powers have to be very careful about using energy.

Dmg spells cannot be favored by build, talents need situational options that are unique to the talent.


TALENTS
T1 & T2 - pick 2 talents in any order

Death Blossom (Q) - Arcane torrent lets out stray missiles that strike nearby enemies.

Combustion (Q) - Arcane missiles stick slightly less but have a higher projectile speed, and deals 100% splash dmg (Fire FX).

Disruption (Q) Arcane bolts slows enemy CD recharge rate by 10% for 1.5s, stacking up to 30%.

Ice Orb (W) - When Ray of frost hits an enemy hero, it spits out ice shards from the target's position, shards deal 0(+4%) dps.

Glacial spike (W) - Ray of frost shoots a spike at targets in close proximity, dealing 0(+4%). can happen once after 3s of activity.

Numbing blast (W) - Decreases enemy attack speed 15% for every second they are slowed, increasing up to 45%.


T3

Blur (1/E) - Block 50% of basic attack dmg during Anomaly.

Phase (1/E) - Anomaly prevents you from being slowed or silenced.

Galvanize (passive) - Increases your maximum energy to 130%


T4
Magic Weapon (R1)
Black hole (R2)

T5

Arcane renewal (passive) - Takedowns grant 15% energy and "Flux" for 2s.

Prodigy (1/E) - Increases the duration of Anomalies by 50%.

Evocation (D) - Energy shield equal to 1 cast, will not deteriorate until you take dmg. 50% of shield Deterioration will convert back into energy.


T6

Arcane awakening (passive) - "Flux" increases basic ability damage by 20%

Reactive Armor (D) - When Energy shield expires it pushes nearby enemies dealing 0(+4%), and slows their movement speed by 20% for 2s

Familiar (passive) - Summon a Familiar that fires untalented Arcane Bolts with your basic attack.


T7

Zenith (R1/R2) - Reduces the cooldown of your ultimate by 50%

Enter the Void (R2) - Enemies hit by the black hole's final burst, are silenced for 3s.

Spell steal (R1) - Enemies hit by magic weapon have their ability damage reduced by 15% for 4s, stacking up to 30%