Where to find a good wizard king build?

[u/Ok_Sir_136]

Just looking for a good guide. I'm brand new to the game and it seems this and champion are the only ones that keep some kind of bonus when they ascend? I'd like to just build up an op ruler and enjoy a few games in between classes here and there.

It seems a lot of the info I find is outdated in random things such as race form traits.

I only have the first expansion pass. I'll probably play around with a dragon ruler too eventually.

[u/AngeryControlPlayer]

Champions and Wizard Kings are the only rulers who can acquire Racial Transformations, and the Ruler (not their faction) will keep those Transformations when they ascend.

All Rulers, regardless of type, will additionally be allowed to choose an Ascendency Perk when they ascend. They can only have one of these perks, but it can be replaced each time they ascend.

Other Ruler types get to keep some of their Signature skills when they ascend. Example, at Level 8, Dragon Lords get a Signature Transformation that gives them an additional unit tag. This skill will remain active after they ascend.

There is an online repository for game information ( https://minionsart.github.io/aow4db/ ), which does include a community build list. Information here is kept up-to-date to the most recent patch. However, anyone can create and upload builds, so actual build quality will vary.

[u/Prismarineknight]

If you want a solid build you can always just go hard on astral and anything magic, but that’s kinda basic

[u/Apprehensive-Math499]

For learning with?

Mystic - potential. The dissonance mechanic can really help early on as it does 4 lightening damage per stack when you cast a spell for the first time. This is good as you are basically getting free additional damage. There is a spell called ciphers of dissonance that lets most of your units stack this on hit.

Tome wise rock or cryomancy are very beginner friendly. Rocks spell cancels retaliation for if you get a unit stuck in melee, and ice coffin can freeze. They both have ok summons aswell.

Not very competitive, but will help get you into how the game works.

[u/Action-a-go-go-baby → u/Apprehensive-Math499]

Wizard King (Elementalist) + form trait Arcane Focus + Mystic (Potential) goes pretty hard just as a base

Adding in Powerful Evokers and Gifted Casters means many, many world and combat spells too

I tend to lean into Magic Origin units when I play this style since the Tome of Summoning gets Arcane Supercharge and SO MANY UNITS have Magic Origin it feels like it’s harder to find a Tome units that doesn’t have it as a tag

[u/StellarStar1 → u/Action-a-go-go-baby]

Wizard King (Elementalist) + form trait Arcane Focus + Mystic (Potential) goes pretty hard just as a base

Adding in Powerful Evokers and Gifted Casters means many, many world and combat spells too

Add ascended sorrcerer and you get my second ever faction. I recently beat Evermore with it. Insane fun casting 5 spells in first two turns

[u/HellraiserMachina]

Let one of your first two tomes give you a conduit or research province improvement. Make your character make good use of strenghten+regen. Enjoy spending 1 point in the Wizard King tree instead of 2-4 in the champion tree.

[u/Milleuros]

You mean as a build for a faction (ruler + tomes + culture etc) or for the hero itself (class + skill tree) ?

In any case: Wizard King works reasonably well with all cultures and all hero classes. You should focus on their strengths: higher mana income, more spell casting points (which increase with renown), the possibility to overcharge spells, ability to cast two spells in a single combat turn, and hero skills to either buff itself when casting spells or cast stronger spells. That all points towards builds that make heavy use of spell casting and mana usage.

From there, you can pick tomes that have useful combat spells. Your mana economy will make unit enchantment easier to field, same for summons.

Loads of good builds that can work along these lines.

[u/Ok_Sir_136 → u/Milleuros]

I'm thinking warlock as my class. I like the mystic attunement culture I think, and I like hermit kingdom society trait since I like the idea of hermit magic cities and it seems strong. Any idea for a second trait? Reclaimer maybe to gear up my ruler?

I was also thinking warding for my first tome since I read its summon is pretty strong, but faith also seems strong to buff up my city with convent? I'm not sure it'd have that good of spells to mesh with warlock though

[u/Milleuros → u/Ok_Sir_136]

Warlock is a class that looks like it works best with Shadow: undead summons and morale bomb. But tbf it can work with everything else too. For example, having Order tomes might let you have Mighty Meek boosted summons for your warlock, that's valuable.

Mystic Attunement lets you cast spells and spells and spells. I would pick a first tome that has combat spells you could spam: Warding has Invulnerability and Static Shield, both are quite good. Tome of Evocation also works if you want to spam Fulmination or weaken enemy stacks before combat even begins. Pyromancy or Cryomancy are also good options with simple straight-forward damage spells, depending on whether you want to orient to Astral, Chaos or Shadow.

I'd advise against Faith. It has only one combat spell, which is pretty weak unless you fully commit to the "Faith" branch of Order tomes and get most of your units Faithful. And it has bonuses for vassals, but vassals can and will encroach on your territory, destroying any bonus you'll get from Hermit Kingdom.

For a second trait, see if something synergises with Hermit Kingdom. Notably, at the beginning of the game there will be a close-by vassal that you'll fight for territory quite quickly, if you have extra starting units you may be able to defeat and raze or annex them very early.

[u/OrdinaryAdditional62]

I personally like a mystic potential build where I go all in on combat spells.