Backed off from the Disintegrate/Blizzard build in Hell because I really do not have time to stand stationary and disintegrate. Tried a few builds for kicks in this level range.
Arcane slowing via temporal flux and using magic missile, arcane orb, arcane hydra was not very effective. The 30% slow is not enough. Tried a damage shield build using Storm Armor with Scramble and Blizzard/Venom Hydra.
The speed boost from Scramble was a hoot, and I was racing through parts of Act1, but the basic approach is wrong because you are moving to not get hit, which disables the main benefits to Storm Armor. May later on go with dagger/shield and go big defenses and wade in with Storm Armor for a full damage shield build, but for now Blizzard kills em fast.
The build I am running now:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#ilXSjO!YWf!bYaZaZ
This is a slight modification of several builds out there. My wizard is in hell now and things are hitting much harder, and I am driven to this kind of build. I do not bother with a class defining skill since the typical mode is dropping a hydra and blizzard then trying to maneuver so stuff that is chasing you runs into the blizzard.
Hydra/Venom Hydra- tried other runes here, specifically Frost Hydra (range is too short) and Arcane Hydra (Venom does more) and stick with this. Drop this on a stationary target or run around it as you blizzard.
Blizzard/Stark Winter- Snowbound (20 AP Blizzard) is a good option prior to this, but I prefer the 22yd radius. It means less casting and more kiting, and it tends to wipe out all of the breakables in a large area. If you are using the mode where you dump a blizzard on top of a hydra then run in circles around it, the larger area of the blizzard is very helpful.
3 Dmg boosters:
-Magic Weapon/Force weapon
-Familiar/Sparkflint
-Energy Armor/Pinpoint Barrier
I do not need much defense at this point and it was fairly painless to gear to pull this off. Blizzard and Hydra hitting as hard as possible help a great deal.
1 Defensive
-Diamond Skin/Crystal Shell is my present favorite. This skill is purely a matter of personal preference. Teleport and Frost Nova are good options here.
Passives
-Glass Cannon and Cold Blooded up damage
-Galvanizing Ward is there for life regen and less recast of armor
Gearing:
I went with a 2h weapon for big DPS with int, vit, and crit
Boots have movement speed
Most other pieces were picked for Int/Vit/Crit/Crit Damage/Life regen
Life Regen from armor and Galvanizing Ward stack to rapidly refill your life bulb. This is perfect for a kite build where you move away from the source of damage and have time to recover.
My life total is around 22K @ lvl 54, and the character sheet is showing around 6-7K DPS. Stuff dies fast, and I live through wallers. Perhaps for Inferno I will need to back off on DPS and push instead more defensives, but for now as long as you have a fairly decent health pool with 1 defensive cooldown, maximizing the DPS seems to be the way to go.
