And, it’s going to be a very consistent build. Even more so than Images FB, which is already quite consistent (in terms of being able to clear relatively close to its max push level, fairly frequently).
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Imo its one of the best builds wizz ever had. Wizz are used to clunky builds and this wasnt as clunky as many other wizz builds currently and in the past. I will miss the birdruns. With these nerfs i prolly pass on wizz again until the next time they get a buff.
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Thumbs up to your efforts of course 
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It’s closer than that, that’s like an absolute best case scenario for Mirror Images and an absolute worst case scenario for manual Flame Blades. Probably more like ~7 tiers behind for more casual/relaxed play and maybe as little at ~5 tiers behind for high end gameplay.
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Good thing that they listened, not sure killing of the MI was what we wanted.
I wonder if this could be the solution:
I would rather have the legendary power to allow the channeling to be auto cast when we use spells.
For FB there is a BIG if, and that is if the auto cast disintegrate would apply the set combustion stacks.
This would equalize the diff between manual cast blades and images.
Personally I would prefer this change even with the removal of the damage multipliers, or a moderate one.
So will the best build be legacy Etched Sigil, or Twister with updated Sigil?
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Neither. Legacy Etched Sigil does not buff FB6 proc damage (it only buffs arcane power spenders, there was a brief period where it was bugged on the first PTR with Firebird’s but it was fixed), and the updated Etched Sigil is also not really useful because the Sigil-cast twisters do not trigger FB6 procs. Only manual cast twisters do.
FB twisters is good on console because twisters have no cast animation when channeling, so you can spam out manual twisters while still channeling. And they don’t despawn on console so you can corner-stack them. This does not work on PC because the twister mechanics are different.
FB twisters won’t really be a thing on PC.
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Weirdly, I agree with the removal of MI for firebirds. That build was certainly “neat” to play, but the AI for the pets was entirely frustrating. I give absolute props to the individuals who had the patience to put up with pokemon who wouldn’t follow your orders due to your lack of gym badges.
Nothing irritates me more than builds that have giant damage potential but it comes at some kind of ridiculous “IF”. It was great, IF your images attacked your target. It was hilarious IF they completely dunked on elites. I’m glad they chose to put Firebirds back to prenerf status, a little sad to see Deathwish go for the big build I suppose. But definitely glad to not deal with silly AI.
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Another big thing with this change to the build is that the playstyle changes completely, or at least a lot. With images you had more freedom to move around, now you have to engage directly and in a close combat style.
Somehow I feel that a wizard should be fighting more from a distance with magic powers radiating from his hands or wands and effects raining down from the sky instead of chopping away directly to the monsters’ faces.
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Ya, I wont be playing it I think. Beyond having to completely redo like 8 pieces of my gear and reaug them to 130 plus I really do not fancy playing melee. Wizards are supposed to be wizards, not some form of half hearted melee class.
After suffering through Arch Vyr and finally giving up on that I tried FB and sort of enjoyed actually progressing for once. I was fine with the 50% original nerf but now the entire build is destroyed and you have to pretend your a monk or something as a wizard. Its just stupid.
Im just gonna make a monk and join that OP herd instead because wizards are now dead. No good builds, just clunky lame half builds that are totally useless in groups.
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Speaking entirely as an outsider who has never played the build, Images FB always struck me as one of the most Wizard-y of Wizard builds. I mean, when I think of a Wizard, I think of them working in ways that are complex, esoteric, hard to understand. That describes Images FB to a T…
Far off, but rapidly approaching, you hear a sound: “Blop! Blop! Blop!” All of a sudden, with a final “Blop!” a robed figure appears just paces from you. A beam of arcane energy erupts from his hands, engulfing you, and you figure you’re finished. But, being the stalwart demonic warrior you are, the beam gives you only a slight burning sensation. As you prepare your counter-attack, your single assailant suddenly multiplies into five identical figures.
But one of the five continues the futile beam attack, and you realize then that the others are mere illusions… a trivial parlor trick. You move in for the kill towards the original figure, but as you do so, the illusions close in around you. There is just enough time for you to think “What in the burning hells are they doing?” before they cut you to pieces.
As your severed head sails through the air and your vision fades to black, a final sound registers in the tattered remnants of your mind:
“Blop! Blop! Blop!”
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Well… Now that we are sure that nerf is around 5-6 or so Greater Rift tiers, do you think new Depth Diggers, essentially doubling all primary skill damage, can be included in Flame Blades FB build?
If we are sure that one can get rid of excess toughness (who am I kiddin’, build is very susceptible to crowd control) I think Depth Diggers can give back some of the lost power tiers from this nerf.
No. Firebird damage comes from proc from the set, not from the skill itself. Otherwise, manual FB would already use Simplicity gem rather than PE.
DD won’t do a thing for this build.
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Nope, we need to gear up like tanks and melee now! Can 9 of your 13 geared/augged items and replace them and oh, I cant wait to see the whole 5 people on the leaderboards who bother with this build. May as well just play a monk…
This isnt a nerf, its total destruction.
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I bet a lot of people will still play it. It’ll still be close to the strongest Wiz build, and by far the most consistent. And for every person who is sad that the Images playstyle is gone because they really liked it, there are probably two people who will be happy to play something more straightforward.
The ideal would have been to have both playstyles exist with comparable power. But sadly, Blizz has elected not to go that route.
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because it’s easier using the 
instead of 
to tweak stuff in detail. Yup, sounds about right 
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Then I’m out of ideas to pitch.
It couldn’t be more effective than generator monks anyway. Developers removing any pet interaction from triggering the combust stacks, simply blocks any chance of Hydras to be included into the build as well. People will figure something out to create diversities in the season. I have trust at that at least.
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I get that but to completely destroy a build is just well lame. Nerf it, nuke it, tamper it down whatever. I liked watching me teleport around with tons of clones with beams going everywhere, was really enjoyable gameplay for a wizard. Now its teleport in, melee kill elite, teleport until next elite pack, rinse repeat boss next gr…
Absolutely zero strategy to that.
Is the fastest way to proc FB6 triggers Blades? Not Meteor Shower or manually cast Fire Twister?
Flame Blades hits three times per cast, which is a big part of what makes it win in the end.
Then on top of that, for manual Flame Blades you stack two separate 50% attack speed multipliers to primary skills.
So it attacks at 2.25x rate and hits three times (and gets three procs) per attack.
Nothing else really matches that FB6 proc rate. All the other builds rely on having fewer procs but buffed by Deathwish.
If you want maximum procs per second, Flame Blades gets you there.
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