Hydra, Blizzard, and Signature Spells all have a 100% benefit from attack speed.
If i understand correctly the Hydra attacks 15% faster if i get a ring with +15% attackspeed?
Same with blizzard, it channels faster, so from 280% damage over 9 seconds to 280% damage over 7,65 seconds?
Stacking poison hydra would get pretty badass.
I'm very glad you asked this. I was told that this was the case: it is not true.
Hydra and Blizzard do not benefit from attack speed at all
I tested this using two 15% attack speed rings. Whether equipped or unequipped, Blizzard dealt 12 ticks over 6 seconds, regardless of attack speed. Hydra also seemed to be ticking twice per second, despite a large difference in attack speed. I confirmed these results by switching to a 2h.
What does this mean?
Equipment with attack speed on it is effectively worthless for Wizards, as it does not equate to a DPS increase on most of our spells. I am as of yet unsure whether the damage done by a Blizzard or Hydra stems from the DPS of a weapon, or if its own attack speed is irrelevant, but I do know that the "damage" stat on the character screen is extremely misleading.
Possibility of getting sucked in or teleported on with no warning and no way to stop it, and diamond skin won't save you from Inferno chains or molten damage.
Alternatively, a rare with Invulnerable Minions, Fast, Illusionist, Teleporter with Illusionist Teleporter minions. Yeah, have fun with that one.
Wizards are extremely squishy, so any Nightmare/Hell/Inferno build must include several defensive options so that you can actually do damage (nothing can be cast on the run, so there will be no kiting anything to death with simple slows). Here are the priorities I've been using with my group of 4 to get through Hell.
1) Anything that stops mobs from attacking you at all is good. Mirror Image is the absolute best tool for this, as it does not have to be cast anywhere in particular, and can confuse even the most insane champion packs for a while.
2) Kiting is possible to an extent, but it requires manipulation of terrain via Teleport. Specifically, the Reversal rune (allows teleportation back to original spot for 8 seconds after first cast) provides more mobility than any other spell you have.
Things get a bit less clear from here, but I would consider Teleport and Mirror Image to be core on any Hell/Inferno builds.
3) Mirror Image and Teleport will not keep mobs off of you forever, and won't save you from Mortars, Molten mobs, Teleport/Fire Chains, etc. The point is that getting hit is inevitable, so you need something to help you take a couple of hits. At first, the various Armor spells might seem godly, but all three of them have some serious flaws (Energy limits AP and doesn't even give much armor, Ice only affects direct melee strikes, and Lightning doesn't even protect you), and the Galvanizing Armor passive itself is highly worthless when you have 15k+ Health and it gives a measly 200 life/second. With the entire school that is supposed to fill this role being useless, the only other defensive option is Diamond Skin, which thankfully has a wide variety of runes for different situations/difficulties.
Passives: Illusionist is your best friend. In Nightmare and onwards, it will trigger from almost any melee attack in the game and most special attacks as well. With Galvanizing Wards out of the picture, the next best defense passive would have to be Evocation, allowing faster Teleports, Mirror Images, and Diamond Skins. Beyond that, I feel that Astral Presence is simply a must on any Wizard on any difficulty, simply because it increases the ratio of AP spells to Signature spells, which makes you more consistent in any prolonged fight.
I love the Hydra because of the fire and forget nature of it (you can actually do damage while running for your life!), but I'm having trouble finding a way to run with three damage spells (along with MM w/ AP rune and Disintegrate) without dying instantly (up to Hell Act 3). I have to have teleport, frost nova, mirror images, and Diamond Skin to not die.
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I'm very glad you asked this. I was told that this was the case: it is not true.
Hydra and Blizzard do not benefit from attack speed at all
I tested this using two 15% attack speed rings. Whether equipped or unequipped, Blizzard dealt 12 ticks over 6 seconds, regardless of attack speed. Hydra also seemed to be ticking twice per second, despite a large difference in attack speed. I confirmed these results by switching to a 2h.
What does this mean?
Equipment with attack speed on it is effectively worthless for Wizards, as it does not equate to a DPS increase on most of our spells. I am as of yet unsure whether the damage done by a Blizzard or Hydra stems from the DPS of a weapon, or if its own attack speed is irrelevant, but I do know that the "damage" stat on the character screen is extremely misleading.
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Possibility of getting sucked in or teleported on with no warning and no way to stop it, and diamond skin won't save you from Inferno chains or molten damage.
Alternatively, a rare with Invulnerable Minions, Fast, Illusionist, Teleporter with Illusionist Teleporter minions. Yeah, have fun with that one.
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1) Anything that stops mobs from attacking you at all is good. Mirror Image is the absolute best tool for this, as it does not have to be cast anywhere in particular, and can confuse even the most insane champion packs for a while.
2) Kiting is possible to an extent, but it requires manipulation of terrain via Teleport. Specifically, the Reversal rune (allows teleportation back to original spot for 8 seconds after first cast) provides more mobility than any other spell you have.
Things get a bit less clear from here, but I would consider Teleport and Mirror Image to be core on any Hell/Inferno builds.
3) Mirror Image and Teleport will not keep mobs off of you forever, and won't save you from Mortars, Molten mobs, Teleport/Fire Chains, etc. The point is that getting hit is inevitable, so you need something to help you take a couple of hits. At first, the various Armor spells might seem godly, but all three of them have some serious flaws (Energy limits AP and doesn't even give much armor, Ice only affects direct melee strikes, and Lightning doesn't even protect you), and the Galvanizing Armor passive itself is highly worthless when you have 15k+ Health and it gives a measly 200 life/second. With the entire school that is supposed to fill this role being useless, the only other defensive option is Diamond Skin, which thankfully has a wide variety of runes for different situations/difficulties.
Passives: Illusionist is your best friend. In Nightmare and onwards, it will trigger from almost any melee attack in the game and most special attacks as well. With Galvanizing Wards out of the picture, the next best defense passive would have to be Evocation, allowing faster Teleports, Mirror Images, and Diamond Skins. Beyond that, I feel that Astral Presence is simply a must on any Wizard on any difficulty, simply because it increases the ratio of AP spells to Signature spells, which makes you more consistent in any prolonged fight.
My personal build looks like http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#aiYQXP!bXd!YaZbaZ right now.
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