dolynick: I’m 37, work in IT and live in rural Manitoba, Canada.
I started actively gaming in the early 90s with the Sega Genesis as my first console. Before that it was a bit here and there on an old TRS80 with a tape drive and occasionally a bit on friends’ newer PCs. It was about ’96 before I got my first really gaming capable PC. Since then, it’s been mainly PC gaming for me.
For PC it’s been games like Diablo, Starcraft, Quake, Baldur’s Gate and many others. I like games that I can sink my teeth into and get invested in. I spent a lot of time with Quake 2 and a clan for that game. I build and ran a NWN Persistent World for several years. I modded Sins of a Solar Empire for a few years. Things like that.

dolynick: I would call Diablo 3 my main hobby these days. The theorycrafting, the mechanics, the community and maintaining the Wizard Tools use up more than enough of my time to qualify. And then there is the time spent actually playing the game too.
I used to do Archery when I was younger. Target shooting mainly.
I’m also a bit of an audiophile but I haven’t really been actively pursuing that for a while though.

dolynick: Since 1997, shortly after the release of the original Diablo. It’s difficult to say which one I’ve invested the most time into, but D3 is the first one where I’ve become actively involved in the community aspects of the game.

dolynick: Not much. I play the occasional game of Civ V with Melkor and a few others but there hasn’t been anything else that’s drawn me away from D3 lately.

dolynick: I’ve spent time with all of the classes in the past but it’s been mainly the wizard since 2.1. I’ve worked a bit on the Pet Doc in the last few weeks but haven’t been getting the results I’d like so far. Not having a SMK is holding me back.

dolynick: I’m a member of the Vizjerei clan. It was founded as a clan for the long-standing and notable members of the Wizard Forum and a lot of them did join. It’s pretty cool to be in a clan with so many of the people that have had a hand in shaping our community.

dolynick: I’ve always liked the concept behind Rognar’s Huge Stone. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to make it worthwhile pre 2.1 or have room for it now post 2.1 with legendary gems and the things that Greater Rifts necessitate.

dolynick: There are plenty of those. The one that stands out most in recent memory is probably running a high level group greater rift after changing my gear up but going in with just 5-piece Firebird’s on.

dolynick: I’d have to say the 2 hour T5 Ubers attempt in the first week of RoS. Jaetch, Melkor, Nel and I in a series of attempts to completely all four fights. It was intense, full of laughs and surprises and was definitely one of the most fun evenings I’ve spent with the game. Jaetch actually recorded the entire session and posted it on YouTube. You can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xWvzZQp3s4

If you want a specific moment, there is a spot where most of the team is down and I go in for a rez so we can try and turn things around. Diablo fires his lightning attack at me from off-screen and it ends just pixels short of hitting me while I finish the res. It’s featured as a close-up in the video intro but it occurs around 1:04:00 in the video.

I wish I could say that I had planned it all, but there was a healthy dose of dumb-luck involved. I go quiet for a few moments in the chatter because I was sitting there kind of stunned in a “Did that just happen?!?” stupor.
We all crush this fight in T6 now but it isn’t nearly as much fun. I can’t think of a better argument for adding more difficulty (difficulties?) to the game again than this video.

dolynick: I’ve always been partial to the wizard archetype so it was a natural choice for me. Plus I played the wizard and sorceress pretty extensively in previous Diablo games.
At first I was happy with just firing away Disintegrate, dropping Blizzards and the occasional meteor. Then I started dabbling with SNS and getting into the mechanics of proc coefficients and APoC/“Active”AP management. I was hooked.
We’ve lost some of that with the cuts to APoC, etc. AP management is a lot more passive now. The buffs to skills have helped to keep things interesting though.

dolynick: These days I don’t feel like I have much choice but to use the fire along with the Firebird DoT if I want to push the difficulty envelope. Given the choice though, I’m partial to cold. Arcane can be fun too.

dolynick: I’ve always been a fan of Disintegrate; ever since I first unlocked the base rune on my first trip to 60. I have a soft spot for Meteor too though.

dolynick: Usually a Disintegrate: Convergence build or a fire based-meteor paired with a Firebird set. An Apocalypse build if I’m chasing leaderboards. If I’m not concerned about efficiency or higher difficulties, I run quite a few other builds too for variety and the fun of it.

dolynick: Wizard builds are dominated right now by Fire & Firebird builds. They have such an overwhelming advantage in both damage output (Firebird DoT) and resource management (Cindercoat). The other elements need a good shot in the arm, otherwise they are just afterthoughts.
I think the best suggestion I’ve seen so far is adding a Tal’s 6-piece bonus that is “Increases Elemental Exposures effect tenfold to 50% per element”. A 200% buff might seem overboard but it’s probably what’s needed for cold & arcane to start coming close to fire’s effectiveness (lightning is sitting slightly better right now with Static Discharge). You’d have to make sure that the new Tal pieces were gloves, pants or boots though – It should not be possible to combine it with Firebird’s 6-piece because the idea is to buff things outside of Firebirds, not send it into overdrive. If the developers don’t want to buff skills themselves much farther, something like this is what’s going to be needed to compete with Firebird’s.

dolynick: Balance should always be kept in mind. Going full DPS, toughness or sustain at the expense of the others is just going to put you up against another wall of a different sort. A good build should pay heed to all these things that help you to succeed.

dolynick: “Still with that laser? He does know that we taught him other spells, right?”

dolynick: I still have great fondness for my beloved hat, even if it is only level 60. Sadly, I’ve moved away from APoC driven builds since 2.1 and it doesn’t see much use these days. These new-fangled head-pieces with 4 APoC don’t count as Wizard Hats in my books. They’re not really worth the effort.

dolynick: “Do you know who I am?!?”
Wait… Did you mean a quote from the in-game wizard character? ;p

dolynick: Melkor

dolynick: What spell do you think is missing from your wizard’s arsenal?