The prismatic prestidigitation of the Wizard is as impressive as it is destructive. In this week's Play Your Way feature, V3dun#2884 draws a parallel between the Void Ray unit in StarCraft II and his own "virtually eternal power source!"

About the Build:

Many channeling skills were updated in patch 2.1.0, especially the Wizard's. V3dun#2884 was already experimenting with Ray of Frost and his Light of Grace prior to the patch, and the tools and tweaks that came along allowed him to explore further and climb higher. Today, we're going to dig into his discoveries!

I'MMA FIRIN' MAH LAZOR!

V3dun chose to name this build after the Void Ray from StarCraft II, pointing out two major comparisons between his build and the Protoss unit. Not only do the Ray of Frost visuals look similar to the Void Ray's Prismatic Beam, but the mechanics are reminiscent—in Wings of Liberty, the longer a Void Ray locked onto its target, the more damage it did over time.

The Skills:

Many of the skills in this build support constant use of Ray of Frost, though V3dun has thrown in a few additional tools to help deal with inevitable tough spots.

Active Skills:

• Ray of Frost (Cold Blood)
  • Your bread and butter skill
  • Low Arcane power cost allows you to channel much longer
• Archon (Slow Time)
  • Provides immunity to crowd control effects
  • Allows limited use of Slow Time
  • Triggers Comet from the Tal Rasha's Elements set
• Black Hole (Absolute Zero)
  • Provides much needed crowd control to group up enemies and maximize Ray of Frost and Meteor damage
• Familiar (Sparkflint)
  • Passive damage increase
  • Triggers Meteor Shower from the Tal Rasha's Elements set
• Ice Armor (Frozen Storm)
  • Freezes melee attackers
  • Provides additional passive Cold damage
  • Triggers Comet from the Tal Rasha’s Elements set
• Magic Weapon (Deflection)
  • Provides a flat damage increase for all skills
  • Shields allow you to remain stationary for longer periods of time

Passive Skills:

• Unwavering Will
  • Incentivizes staying still and channeling longer
  • In turn, provides additional Toughness to allow you to continue channeling
• Elemental Exposure
  • With just enough skill variety, the damage bonus should trigger frequently
  • Synergizes nicely with Tal Rasha's Elements Set
• Blur
  • This flat Toughness increase is a must-have for standing strong and channeling all day long
• Cold Blooded
  • The butter to your Ray of Frost bread
  • As nearly every skill will freeze or chill your enemies, you’ll consistently enjoy this boost in damage

Alternative Skills:

• Ray of Frost (Snow Blast)
  • Replaces Ray of Frost (Cold Blood)
  • Consider this utility driven alternative if you have Arcane Power regeneration or Arcane Power on Critical Hit
• Hydra (Lightning or Arcane)
  • Replaces Black Hole
  • Mitigates Damage loss when mobile
  • Can trigger Thunder Crush or Star Pact from the Tal Rasha’s Elements set
• Teleport (Any Rune)
  • Replaces Archon (Slow Time)
  • Offers greater mobility and an escape tool
• Slow Time (Point of No Return)
  • Replaces Archon (Slow Time)
  • Offers additional crowd control and superior protection from ranged attacks

The Items:

The Void Ray build is Legendary heavy, and you’ll certainly be looking for a few specific pieces to get it rolling. However, even if you're lacking a few integral items for higher level Torment difficulties or Greater Rifts, you can also make it work at lower gear thresholds by focusing on certain stats as outlined below.

V3dun has many of his recommended items, though it's clear there's room to chase just a few more!

Required Items:

• Light of Grace
  • Allows your Ray of Frost to pierce enemies, vastly increasing its damage dealing capability
• Tal Rasha's Elements (4-Piece)
  • This build is designed to take advantage of the Meteors this set bonus produces
  • You'll want to try to avoid using Tal Rasha’s Unwavering Glare to leave space for Light of Grace

Recommended Items:

• Frostburn
  • Rolls +% Cold Damage
  • Your Cold abilities will all have a chance to freeze, increasing synergy with Cold Blooded
• Azurewrath
  • Rolls +% Cold Damage
  • Gives your attacks a chance to Freeze on hit, further synergizing with Cold Blooded

Complementary Items:

• Blackthorne’s Battlegear
  • Fills in some much-needed survivability
  • When using a Ring of Royal Grandeur, allows you to use both 4-piece bonuses from this set and Tal Rasha’s Elements
• Utar’s Roar
  • Fills in for Azurewrath if you haven’t found one yet
  • Rolls +% Cold Damage
  • Craftable and easier to access
• Ice Climbers
  • Offers great survivability and allows you to channel a little longer in certain affixes
• Firebird’s Finery
  • Can be used in tandem with Tal Rasha’s Elements
  • If you haven't found your Frostburn, you can utilize up to the 6-piece bonus
  • The 4-piece bonus resurrection can prove very useful in Greater Rifts or for a Hardcore character
• Reaper’s Wraps
  • Great source of additional resource regeneration
  • Craftable and easier to access

Recommended Legendary Items:

With patch 2.1.1, Bane of the Trapped is now much more valuable to this kind of build since Freezing effects now properly benefit from its bonus damage. You might also consider Wreath of Lightning to get your Lightning damage for proccing Elemental Exposure and Tal Rasha's Elements. Finally, Taeguk is a strong choice as you'll constantly be spending Arcane Power and you'll want the extra survivability while you’re channeling.

Recommended Stats:

Channeling spells can get downright expensive, especially if you choose not to use the lower cost runes for those abilities. Arcane Power on Crit will help immensely in sustaining long-term channeling, and you’ll want a high Critical Hit Chance to accompany it.

The majority of your spells deal Cold damage, so you should prioritize items with this affix. Bonus damage to Ray of Frost is also a nice icing on this frosty cake, and you can complement this costly build with Resource Cost Reduction to make that constant Arcane Power drain a little less cumbersome.

Recommended Difficulty and Game Mode:

V3dun was initially challenging himself in Torment V in Normal mode with this risky build. With the slew of changes that came to all channeling skills in patch 2.1.0, however, he's found he can push himself much more easily into Torment VI and has been happily completing his bounties and Nephalem Rifts. He does note, however, that fights where mobility is prized or necessary (such as Belial or Malthael) are much trickier and often require some skill swapping. Be sure to plan accordingly if you’re planning on doing Hellfire Machine runs or boss-oriented bounties!

Why We Like This Build:

This is one of those builds that sings to my heart and appeals to me on a personal level. Light of Grace was one of the first Reaper of Souls Legendary items to really change my gameplay, and having long since been a fan of channeling spells, I couldn't help but fall in love.

Love at first sight often feels like fireworks. Or, in this case, death meteors from above.

Ultimately, this build introduces some interesting and uncommonly used synergies, such as combining Tal Rasha's Elements with what is, at its core, a channeling build. It's not only effective; it’s visually engaging. The fact that it's evocative of an iconic ability from StarCraft II is pretty excellent too, especially if Diablo isn't the only Blizzard game you enjoy playing!

Tell Us What You Think!

Are you using channeling spells on your Wizard? Which ones, and what items do you use to support them? Have you noticed any other skills that feel or look similar to abilities in other games? Let us know in the comments section and if you’ve got a build you want to share with the rest of the community, don’t be afraid to send it in!

Don’t forget to stop by next week, as we’ll be voting on your favorite build for our next livestream. Until next time, nephalem!