Tainted Wand of Barrage... why?
Just finished my first playthrough and have absolutely fallen in love with the game. I'm looking forward to playing the DLC on NG+ now.
That being said, I'm looking to mix up my build I ended up with a little because we got to the point where it sorta became braindead.
Since doing some post game completion research, it seems the Crucible Wand is well known for mages and I can see why. Paired with the Hexgrip Vambraces, the wand was doing more damage unupgraded than a proper weapon was, it's insane.
However, right before I completed the final mission, I did Merlin's Tomb and got really excited by the new weapons. But to be honest, I just don't really understand them.
Staff of the Battlemage is odd... I haven't figured out if the flat damage is all that worth it but it also wants to build mana shield? But I don't think it counts as a wand so doesn't benefit from those perks?
And then the Wand of Barrage... there's something cool there, I know there is. A parrying mage that hits a sweet parry and "ripostes" with a spell sounds fun. But 100% seems small in comparison to just the passive bonus you get from something like the Crucible Wand.
Tl;dr I get it, if I don't want to play an overpowered build, then don't play an overpowered build. But I guess my real question after all this rambling is what are some "fun" mage builds people have come up with (Wand of Barrage or not... it's just the one I had on my mind) that don't turn into a spam fest by endgame. Not to say those aren't fun, I had plenty of fun doing just that. But how do I mix up that mage gameplay a little more?