While working as a mercenary in Egypt, Marc Spector stumbled upon an archaeological dig site where he had an altercation with his fellow mercenary, Raoul Bushman. This fight resulted in him dying near a statue of the Egyptian God of Vengeance, Khonshu. Khonshu in turn raised Spector from the dead as his Blade of Vengeance and gave him the power to defeat his former accomplice, Bushman. Upon his return to the United States, Marc created multiple identities in order to distance himself from his past while maintaining connections to multiple facets of society and became the masked vigilante known as Moon Knight.Marvel Source
I experiment with builds other players provide here (not just for Dr but for others too). DrS is a personal childhood favorite character and can be a little challenging to play effectively. This build has worked great for me! Great job! Thanks for sharing!
Ok,, been using it for six weeks now, and this build really works well, for an average player. Once you learn Dr. Strange, you should consider tweaking the build to how you like it, but otherwise, this will work in most situations. Once you really get going, say level 32+, cooldowns on incantations are pretty meaningless, and you can do some crazy rotations with impunity. Use this build, it is the best one as a place to start.
Fantastic Build! I was having a hell of a time making Strange work.
Thanks very much!
Your ENERGY naturally reaches the +25% (@ lvl 52?)... Another +1 Energy only gives a 1% increase from 25% to 26%. You are better served with the +10% attack speed you'll get from +1 INT, (and potentially another +5% attack speed you can gain from +speed in concert with the Brigands runeword)
THANK YOU for reading this Guide. I would appreciate your feedback in the form of VOTES or Comments.
Hey guys, I'm ORK, a crusty old gamer with kids in college and LUCKY enough to have a wife that's a gamer also. I've been a Guild Master/Clan leader for over 20 years and a hardcore gamer for almost 4 decades... I've posted dozens of guides over the years, but this is only my second on this website. I hope it helps.
Though I frequently min/max MY toons... I realize that not everyone has the resources to do that, so this Build is aimed at you: the Wife, the Kid or just the casual gamer who has less time to play because of work... "The Average Joe"
The Gear, Artifacts, Relics and Runewords I choose are aimed more at attainability and high utility than ultra-tweaked endgame output.
DISCLAIMERS
- UPDATE: WOOT! Astral Legions damage with Daggers of daveroth got increased and its spirit cost per second lowered! We just got BUFFED
- Dr. Strange plays more like Mack Truck than a Race-car, so this build includes a mix of Quicker animation/low throughput spells to make you a bit more Flexible in a tight spot.
- Dr. Strange is similar to Thor, in that, I don't think you have to play him in a Cookie-cutter fashion. ALL his skills seem to work well & its just a preference over Large radius vs Cone vs fast animations and of course how seriously you want to surf the Mystic energy attribute procs.
- He's S Q U I S H Y !
- Burst damage may be a bit lacking, but he has Excellent sustainable DPS (slow, almost ponderous but hella powerful once you get him rolling)
- He feels kind of sluggish and awkward at times because his animations are a bit on the slow side. (nowhere as zippy as Storm or Deadpool...save for that Stink Bomb animation.)
- His Ultimate power may not be the most visually impressive... but OMG is it ever a Wrecking Ball on bosses.
- This will be a Utilitarian build, with emphasis on flexibility and survivability. Quick enough to do Legendary quests reasonably fast, but still strong enough pretty much Dominate the new Damage meter in X Defense... ("I hear that Nerf a'comin, it's rollin' round the bend...")
- This is NOT a guide on how to make the Ultimate DPS Dr. Strange, its designed more for the Casual player, but will hold its own against the other builds out there, and probably have a higher overall throughput.
MYSTIC ENERGY explained
-You have a secondary resource bar with 5 segments or 'pips', right above your XP bar.
-Casting an "Incantation" spell, adds one 'pip' to the Mystic Energy Bar.
-When this bar is completely filled, it procs several very nice effects. (When it's full, you'll see a RIPPLE explode out from Dr. Strange.)
1) your next Incantation spell is FREE.
2) it activates your passive's bonus ability for a short time.
3) it subtracts 15 seconds from the remaining cooldown of Incantations... including the one you just used.
-Many builds will use all Incantations & no Basic, ... this works fine, but I prefer a more reliable & systematic approach that doesn't need the mobs to be grouped up and doesn't leave you helpless IF you run dry on spirit.
-This build will Excel when the mobs are all spread out. You may stumble slightly if you run dry (doubtful if you run a Crystal of Kadavus), but your Primary attack is a Basic... a very short few seconds and you're back in business, watching the Legion rain a red STORM of Destruction.
SORCERER SUPREME ( 67 )
- Daggers of Daveroth... MAX it: This is your bread & butter. Bolts of Balthakk can technically out preform this skill in a perfect situation as it penetrates everything in a line, but you have to aim. Daggers have Homing and very rarely miss. (eg...blocked by an obstacle) DISCLAIMER: this spell is slow as Xmas to get started, but it's a freight-train once it gets rolling.
- Vapors of Valtorr... MAX it: It has a HUGE area of effect, the Damage is respectable, but the cooldown is a bit long.
- Crimson Bands of Cyttorak... 15 points: The damage is ok, but the reason I pick this one is that if fires QUICK, has a short hold effect and has a short cooldown to help facilitate working the Mystic Energy mechanic.
- Seven Suns of Cinnibus... 15 points: Again, the damage is ok, but it has an increased crit chance & crit damage, also it fires Quick & has a short cooldown.
- Flames of the Faltine: I don't use this spell because it isn't as dynamic as I'd like, the animation is slow, making it difficult to hit moving targets. The damage IS Excellent and it's very spirit efficient. (this is your go-to spell for AOEing mobs until you get Vapors) OPTION: You can use this spell in place of Crimson Bands or Seven Suns if you mainly fight static mobs like in X-Def or are a better shot with slow spells than I am.
- Demons of Denak: EXCELLENT single target DPS at an insanely low spirit cost, and it has lifegain. I choose not to use it because it HAS to have a 'target' to fire, and its only single target.
- Bolts of Balthakk: Excellent Basic attack, use this until you unlock Daggers. It fires a straight beam that penetrates all mobs in a straight line. I Prefer Daggers over it, because this power doesn't have HOMING. (so in effect it has less DPS throughput even though the fire rate & damage are higher, because of misses.)
- Fangs of Farallah: It hits like a truck.... if, if, IF. #1 I don't like having to monitor cooldowns to maintain my DPS. #2 It's travel speed to target is terrible (easy to miss Venom, Taskmaster, etc...) #3 its a basic power wannabe with too many conditions. NOTE: IF you can compensate for the conditions and keep all your incantations on cooldown, Er Mah GERD, this is a powerful spell, but this sucker pulls the Ol' Bait & Switch on me every time.
- Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon: Nice area of effect, the damage is ok, it fires quick, but the cooldown is too long for a simple damage/non-DOT spell to suit my taste. (there are better choices.)
MYSTIC ARTS ( 4 )
- Winds of Watoomb... 1 point: A good CC breaker with an impressive amount of damage. I don't use it on my main bar because its full of more important skills. I DO run it on my secondary bar for those Magneto fights, etc...
- Orb of Agamotto... 1 point: Great utility passive for one point.
- Ancient Training... 1 point: Amazing utility passive for one point.
- Seal of the Vishanti... 1 point: I run this skill on my secondary bar for long bossfights.
- Mystic Levitation: I SO love flying skills, but we're just too lean on points to afford it. ...sob... ( T_T )
- Shield of the Seraphim: Makes no absolutely NO sense to me. 4 seconds up, 18 seconds down for...meh and it would take up a Valuable keybind.
- Seven Rings of Raggadorr: Same as above, but not as hopelessly ...meh
ASTRAL ( 63 )
- Dreamwalking... MAX it: Increases Damage, Crit AND lowers the cost of all your spells? (so Sexy, that I wonder if its married... heh, heh, giggity)
- Astral Projection... MAX it: (This is your Bread...) It makes your mirror images kick more butt, take less names & they're all out of bubblegum.
- Astral Leigon... MAX it: (...and Butter.) Same as above, it makes your images bigger, badder, meaner & faster. When you summon your Legion & lay into a Hard target... you will literally watch their health bar just melt away.
- Mystic Shift... 1 point: Teleport. Basic tactical & distance movement. AND it does AOE damage... SuhWeet!
- All-Seeing Eye... 1 point: This ability is pretty freakin awesome, BUT because the damage is already high, the cooldown is just short of a millennia and the Averaged Damage Per Second is actually lower than the more 'Tactical' abilities, it's a 1 point wonder. (this is a Burst DPS spell)
- Images of Ikonn... 1 point: For fights like the Kingpin, in Fisk Tower... sometimes you just need a distraction to off-tank for you. I keep this on my secondary bar.
- Astral Form: useless in PVE.
GEAR
Costume affixes: +Damage all slots. (its my understanding that though Big Crits are nice... +damage wins out over time & this isn't a Burst DPS build)
Costume Core: Promethium Fragment. +Intelligence > Restore Life & Spirit on Medkit > +Durability > Rare IF/ Special IF. OPTION: +speed, read the description below in the Runeword entry.
Uru-Forged item: +Mental Damage is nice if you can get away with it, but + Defense is probably your best bet, until you can tweak your gear late game.
Runeword: I preferred River of the Soul to level, but Bowazon is best IF you can get ahold of Saturn & Tyr runes. (OPTION: Brigands Fortune gives nice +Rif/Sif/Xp but more importantly +1 Speed. IF you use a costume Core with +Speed & Intelligence and this Runeword, you can get a 22% increase to your attack speed... food for thought.)
Legendary: Gungnir, but Warlocks Eye is a powerhouse also... Especially if you aren't going to min/MAX your toon.
Insignia: I like O'Grady, but have terrible luck getting a good one. Use whatever compensates for what you feel is your weakness... +Life gain, +Ranged damage, etc... (If only, he could wear THUNDERBOLT Team insignias.)
Artifacts: Crystal of Kadavus or Pym Shrinking Serum will help a lot with the spirit required to run your Leigon. Xerogen Crystal and Meta Sensory Array's are reasonably easy to get and work nicely; Starstone Tooth will help with survivability and Advanced Latverian Regalia will increase your LEGION damage ... but this build isn't made or broken by any one item.
DISCLAIMER: Of course Hand of Doom is the Best... but it's Disgustingly-rare, so what Average player can get it?
Relic: Lemuria. (I'm talking Pilsbury Dough-boy squishy)
Medallion: I feel that WIZARD's medallion is best, but I think that Both Doc Ock & Mr Sinister's medallions are both viable, with priority on getting a COSMIC medallion if you can. OPTION: Dr. Doom's medallion increases your throughput by extending the duration of your DOTs, has +damage & has survivability stats. (borrowed from MalfeanWW)
Armor & Weapon: I prefer UNIQUES as a rule (I don't have them all yet to playtest whats good or bad) Cosmics with + to the Skills you favor (I like the +attack speed Affix if I can get it), Purple +to Sorcerer Supreme or Astral
ROTATION
a.) Questing in a hurry: Teleport past all the trash mobs you can and only fight when you have to...
-Open with Crimson Bands of Cyttorak,
-Then Seven Sons of Cinnibus, both are quick animation AOE's...
-If anything is left standing, Repeat, or open up with Daggers of Daveroth until everything is dead.
When you get to a Boss/mini-boss...
-Open by summoning your Legion ,
-Drop Vapors of Valtorr & keep on cooldown,
-Activate All-seeing Eye & keep on cooldown,
-Lay into it with Daggers of Daveroth, use Crimson Bands & Seven Sons as needed to maintain your Mystic Energy proc.
b.) NONE SHALL PASS!: Pretty much as above, but run with your Legion out & kill everything... with enough +Spirit to keep it active, Leigon will slowly steamroll through most anything.
LEVELING PROGRESSION
1-10 Go straight to X-Def and you'll be lvl 10 by wave 10... don't worry about spending any skill points other than in Crimson Bands, Flames of the Faltine & Seven Sons until you pass lvl 10 and can test various skills on "Grants" gear...plan on Retconning after lvl 32
11-20 Max Dreamwalking, put a point in the '1 point Wonders' and try hang tough (you will hit lvl 20 insanely fast in X-Def)
21-32 I'm usually able to find gear with the +skills I want, but if you cant... keep on with Bolts, Flames, Bands & Sons....it will get you through to lvl 32.
32+ it all changes... Daggers of Daveroth does less damage technically, but it tracks and ends up doing more in practicality (and also kinda gives a little defense as it will track enemies behind you and at opposite angles. Astral Leigon opens at 37, and now we're dancin' @47 we get Vapors and we're rock solid @ 52 we finally pick up our Ultimate ESSENCE OF ZOM.... wow, its awesome.
It's not my intent to come off as a know it all... and the min/max numbers may suggest differently. This is just MY build, from MY experience and playtesting, feel free to tweak the skills to your own preference after you get a feel for them.
Please leave your suggestions & I'll try my best to check them out.
I hope you found this Guide informative and Useful.