July 24, 2016 December 9, 2018
Best Wands for Lower Level PvP
In my previous article, I talked about the best wands for max level wizards. So what are the best wands for lower level PvP, you might ask. Here’s some data that might help you decide just that.
The Overlords
I have been collecting data on overlords in the Arena in the period between the 16th of June and the 10th of July.
As you can see in the table, the largest group are the Prodigious overlords (100 wizards). The second largest group are the Grandmasters (88 overlords), closely followed by Legendaries (71 wizards). After that, the numbers start to dwindle.
I already wrote about the max level wizards’ wands in this article. In this guide, I will continue my observations for the other levels.
Please note that this information was collected before the July Test Realm, which might cause certain changes in people’s preferences.
Low level PvP (level 10-29)
As far as I can tell by my small amount of data, wands aren’t very complicated below level 30. I do however have only 27 overlords between level 10 and 19, and a measly amount of 6 between level 20 and 29. Any conclusions drawn based on this amount of data is bound to be skewed. Nevertheless, here’s what I’ve found! Maybe at some point of the future we can research this more thoroughly, if anyone is interested.
Below level 30, there is obviously a preference for wands that give an extra pip at the start of the battle. Of the 33 overlords between level 10 and 29, half (52%) use a non-crowns wand. First, most popular (with 6 users) is the Ascendant Staff. Even though this wand might look underwhelming, it used to be the only wand that gave an extra pip at the start of the battle.
The second most used wand (with 5 users) is the Duelist’s Dancing Blade, which is a very sensible choice if you’re serious about your low level PvP. Even at level 10, it gives one power pip at the start of the battle, plus 2% added accuracy, a outgoing healing boost of 3% and 6 wand hits. This is an expensive wand, however, costing 3000 Arena Tickets.
While there are not very many overlords using the exact same wand, pack wands are pretty popular. Of 33 low level overlords, 14 use a pack wand. The good thing about these wands, apart from the extra pip, is that they offer a boost in either healing, damage or pierce. The skull wands from the Warrior’s Hoard pack give a may cast attack as well, which I imagine is very useful at low level PvP.
Magus PvP Wands (lvl 30-39)
& Master PvP Wands (lvl 40-19)
Level 30 is an easy level when it comes to picking wands: it’s the level when Sky Iron Hasta from Mount Olympus becomes available. This wonderful wand gives a power pip at the start of the battle and 10% damage. That’s a huge amount! As such, it is used by nearly all level 30 overlords around. Of the 57 level 30-39s I ran into, 54 were using the Sky Iron Hasta wand.
Of the three Magus overlords not using the Hasta, two were in favor of the Mandolin of Evermore with its Guardian Spirit item card. You can get this wand from the Hoard of the Hydra pack. It’s pretty good for a slower playstyle.
I didn’t run into many Master overlords. Where are you, Master wizards? Come PvP against my lvl 41 Conjurer :). As such, I only have 4 wizards of level 40-49. All four of them were using the Sky Iron Hasta. I guess that makes 5, as I use one too. If you’re looking to go aggressive, this wand works wonders on low level wizards.
Grandmaster PvP Wands (lvl 50-59)
Grandmaster is where it gets interesting! Of the 88 level 50-59 overlords I ran across, 77 (that’s 87,5%) were using a Crowns wand. The other 11 either still used Sky Iron Hasta or had Duelist’s Dancing Blade. There are 4 packs that are especially common. Let’s look into those a little deeper.
Terror’s Hoard Pack
The Terror’s Hoard Pack comes with three different wands, all offering some critical and some block. Critical Block has been increasingly important for lower level overlords, because they face a lot of higher level opponents with lots of Critical. We’ll see if the test realm change to critical (critical hits will only do 1.25 times more damage in PvP) influences the need to have high Critical Block at lower level.
The most popular of the Terror’s Hoard wands is the Fortune Teller’s Peerless Eye, with 25 Grandmaster overlords using it. It gives 3% Power Pip chance, 40 critical and 40 critical block and 4% damage. This is one of the best wands available at this point in time, until you hit level 60 and can use the Staff of Flashing Blades.
Another 6 Grandmaster overlords used the Fortune Teller’s Eternal Gaze. The only difference between this wand and the previous is that the 4% damage is school specific (Fire, Ice and Storm) and that the wand hit is Fire instead of Balance. As such, it is mainly useful for Fire, Ice and Storm wizards.
The third wand from the pack is the Eye of the Soothsayer, used by 2 overlords, both Life wizards. This makes sense, because this wand is basically the same as the previous one, except the 5% damage is for Death, Life and Myth attacks and the Critical and Block is a little lower.
Keeper’s Lore Pack
The second most popular pack is Keeper’s Lore’s Order of High Glory Banner. A total of 20 Grandmaster overlords used this wand. Once again, this pack has three wands versions, but the only one popular is this one.
The reason is the card this wand gives: Mana Burn. Among the 20 overlords, there are 11 Balance wizards, and 9 Life wizards with a Balance mastery amulet. It seems this card alone is worth losing the critical, block and power pip chance from the Terror Hoard’s Pack.
Hoard of the Hydra Pack
This is the third most popular pack, with 10 Grandmaster overlords choosing to carry a wand from it. While this pack has three wands as well, the wand that overlords choose is called the Mandolin of Evermore (which already made a small appearance at level 30).
This wand’s success can be attributed to a single thing. Once again, Critical and Critical Block lose their importance because of an item card. The Mandolin comes with a Guardian Spirit item card, which revives you after you die for a fraction of your total health. This wand appears on 7 Life wizards, 2 Ice wizards and 1 Balance wizard.
Warrior’s Hoard Pack & Sky Iron Hasta
In fourth position come two wands: the Warrior’s Hoard Pack and the Sky Iron Hasta, with 7 uses each.
Of the three wands the Warrior’s Hoard Pack offers, 5 wizards use the Road Legend Skull and 2 the Deathmetal Skull. These wands are pretty similar to the Terror’s Hoard packs, but they offer Pierce, a little more damage and a may cast attack. The Road Legend Skull wand is used by 3 Ice wizards and 2 Myth wizards. The Deathmetal Skull wand is used by one Death wizard and one Balance wizard.
Fourth position also goes to the Sky Iron Hasta, which was extremely popular at levels 30 and 40. Even at level 50-59, no other wand offers 10% damage. Totally worth it if you’re planning to PvP with plain aggression.
The Rest
With only 4 people choosing it, it is clear that the Duelist’s Dancing Blade has not stayed very popular among Grandmaster overlords. Brandon Mistborn sells it for a staggering amount of tickets (5000 to be more specific, for level 50). While it offers only a fairly small amount of Critical and Critical block, it does grant 5% Pierce, which is a lot for level 50s. Perhaps that is why 4 overlords decided to pick this wand as their go-to weapon.
Another 4 Grandmaster overlords settled on a wand from the Islander’s Hoard Pack, more specifically 2 on the Frosty Stare Tiki Torch and 2 on the Shocking Truth Tiki Torch. Of these two, the first offers about the same Crit and Block rating as the more recently released Skull wands, without the damage offered by it. It seems a fairly outdated choice. The latter of the two offers the highest Critical rating currently available for level 50s, making it desirable if you’re trying to crit your way to overlord. However, the Shocking Truth Tiki Torch doesn’t offer any block, which can get problematic. Its 10% outgoing healing boost is a nice addition. All in all, I can’t say anything bad about this wand, as this is the one I personally used for a very long time XD
The last three wands are only used by one person each, so I will just give you the names and you can decide yourself whether they’re fit for PvP: the Charmer’s Mystical Flute, Jack Hallow’s Guitar and the Teeth of the Lords of Night.
Legendary PvP Wands (lvl 60-69)
It’s important to realize that PvP at level 50 is very different from PvP at level 60, at least up to a certain rank. While level 50s value wands that give a good card like Mana Burn or Guardian Spirit and Sky Iron Hasta, at level 60 Critical and Critical Block become fairly important.
Staff of Flashing Blades
First of all there is very little variation in Legendary PvP when it comes to wands. Of the 72 Legendary overlords I caught, 63 carried the Staff of Flashing Blades. You can buy this wand for 600 Arena tickets from Diego the Duelmaster.
Crowns wands
Crowns wands are much less popular at 60 than they were at 50, but still get used to some extent. The nine overlords not using the Staff of Flashing Blades, all reverted to a Crowns wand. These wands came from three different packs. As such, there is very little variation among these wands as well.
First, three overlords used the Mandolin of Evermore from the Hoard of the Hydra Pack. When you compare this wand to the Staff of Flashing Blades, it becomes clear that you lose a lot of block (you go from 55 critical block to 20) and all of your critical (the mandolin offers no critical at all). You also trade in the 10% accuracy and 15% power pip chance for 3% incoming and 5% outgoing healing.
Not a great deal perhaps? Still, the Mandolin has one advantage that’s very important for some strategies: the Guardian Spirit Item Card. Not surprisingly all three overlords carrying this wand belong to the Life school.
Second, there are three overlords using the Terror’s Hoard Pack’s Fortun
e Teller’s Peerless Eye. The thing you gain with this wand, compared to the Staff of Flashing Blades, is the 4% damage it gives. For some wizards, this is worth losing 11% power pip chance and 10% accuracy.
Third, there are the Warrior’s Hoard Pack wands. Two people sported the Deathmetal Skull and one favored the Rapturerider’s Skull. Both of these wands have decent critical and critical block. They give 6 damage for 2 schools, and have a may cast attack of those same school. They also offer a little bit of Pierce.
Conclusion
All in all, Legendary overlords strongly favor the Staff of Flashing Blades, and with reason: it is indeed a very good wand. Pack wands can’t compete with the Warlord wand at level 60.
Level 70-100 PvP wands
The odd levels between 60 and 110 don’t offer much information of interest. Among Trandescent (lvl 70-79) wizards the popular level 60 Staff of Flashing Blades is still prevailent, with 6 out of 9 overlords using it. In fact, there’s even a level 84 still using this wand. Perhaps he got his rank at level 60? We will never know.
All that’s left is 3 Trandescent, 11 Archmage, 1 Promethean and 1 Exalted wizard, who all used various pack wands of the appropriate level. Eight of these wizards picked an eye wand from the Terror’s Hoard Pack.
And as such, we have come to the end of this article. Hopefully you learned something! I know I did, as I usually don’t pay much attention to gear. I especially liked seeing what’s happening at level 50 and 60, as those are the levels I love to watch PvP the most. If you missed my article on which wands Prodigious wizards use, check it out here.
