crystal lightning wand upgrade

• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 18:13
  as of right now, i have used 4/5 upgrade slots on my crystal lightning wand. current stats are::
  
  MP- usage 6%
  + 12% charging speed
  -5% magic damage
  
  for the last upgrade, the wiki says to use Lightning Elemental Restraint 5 which is
  Mana Consumption -10%
  Magic Damage -9%
  
  However, wouldn't it be better to just use Lightning Elemental Restraint 1 which is
  Mana Consumption -6%
  Magic Damage -5%
  
  mainly because it doesn't drain as much of magic damage? or is the mana consumption upgrade more worth it? help please D:
• truefire wrote on 2011-02-06 18:28

  Quote from yoshii;323024:

  as of right now, i have used 4/5 upgrade slots on my crystal lightning wand. current stats are::
  
  MP- usage 6%
  + 12% charging speed
  -5% magic damage
  
  for the last upgrade, the wiki says to use Lightning Elemental Restraint 5 which is
  Mana Consumption -10%
  Magic Damage -9%
  
  However, wouldn't it be better to just use Lightning Elemental Restraint 1 which is
  Mana Consumption -6%
  Magic Damage -5%
  
  mainly because it doesn't drain as much of magic damage? or is the mana consumption upgrade more worth it? help please D:

  
  
  The wiki's upgrade sequences are designed to show emphasis on particular aspects, not to say that they are necessarily the end-all (ie. if you wanted a wand that has maximum MP-cost reduction or a wand that has maximum damage etc.). You are perfectly within your rights to modify the sequences shown to suit your needs or your tastes.
• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 18:46
  ok i went with the elemental restraint 1 upgrade. thanks for your help :D
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2011-02-06 18:50
  This might be a little late, you probably could have done the artisian upgrade as well. It can add up to 70 intelligence, which is a few % increase.
• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 18:52
  wait i thought artisan required all 5 upgrades + gem upgrade?
• Cryosite wrote on 2011-02-06 18:55
  Artisan upgrades are not special upgrades.
  
  Artisan upgrade is an option for your 5th normal upgrade.
  
  Special upgrades are the ones that use the upgrade stones (red or blue) and come after gem upgrades.
• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 18:56
  ...........so i have to restart my wand.....?
• Cryosite wrote on 2011-02-06 18:59
  If you want an artisan upgrade, yes. If you want special upgrades, no.
  
  To further make sure we're both on the same sheet of music here:
  
  an artisan upgrade is the one that gives a random boost in stats, which for wands, can be a nice chunk of Intelligence stat (up to +70, which would equal +2.5% damage).
  
  Special upgrades boost either magic damage (blue)or your critical damage (red).
• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 19:09
  i want an artisan upgrade but will it be worth it remaking a new wand?
• qaccy wrote on 2011-02-06 19:18
  Personally, I think getting a massive damage increase as that final upgrade makes the Crystal Lightning Wand finally worth using. The whole "nerf Thunder to the ground to save MP" design to its upgrades didn't appeal to me, so I left mine at 4/5 just for the speed casting. With the artisan, you can get a huge int bonus as others have said, to counterbalance the reduction from the first upgrade a bit.
  
  So IMO, yeah, I'd go artisan. If possible, try to find a +dura wand on the housing board before proffing because more dura is always nice with wands. I got 14 dura for only 50k, less than even a normal one.
• Q wrote on 2011-02-06 19:40
  hmm i was planning to get an average wand and try to get a wizard enchant on it hten prof it? or should i just use a clean one?
• Cryosite wrote on 2011-02-06 22:10
  If you want an average wand, don't use crystal lightning wand. Use just a regular lightning wand and do your first 4 upgrades as -mp cost. Then do an artisan upgrade as your 5th upgrade.
  
  A crystal lightning wand has fairly dramatic impact on how your thunder operates as a spell either by speeding it up and lowering the damage a small amount, or by massively reducing both the damage and the mp cost. The upgrades for the crystal lightning wand are far from average.
  
  Further, I shall repeat myself: +70 INT from a max rolled artisan upgrade on a wand is only +2.5% damage. Not "massive" by any means at all, especially when you consider how much more damage than that a crystal lightning wand is taking off. Also don't forget that is a max roll for INT. you're more than likely going to get significantly less than that.
• NotAnElf wrote on 2011-02-06 22:37
  IMO, you should get a normal lightning wand.
  since the 5th upgrade can replace chaincasting, it's possible to get -20% mana reduction from it.
• Archibald wrote on 2011-02-07 03:08
  [Image: http://i56.tinypic.com/2vjwsgm.png]

  
  
  Ya you should have done artisan. I settled for 45 int since I don't main thunder. but 70 int is possible.
• Cryosite wrote on 2011-02-07 08:47
  Zyrus, that isn't an "average" wand, that is pretty much an end-game wand. Yours is also a speecast wand, not an mp redux wand like OP was trying to make.