ShatterBolt [1.3 Viable end game Self substainable Herlad of Thunder/Ice build]

I'm pretty sure people would be calling for nerfs immediately... They even made sure to specifically adjust the text on the gem so that there would be no confusion of it being affected by spell damage (if memory serves. This could all be an elaborate hallucination.)

In my opinion the skills are really powerful already. Especially when applied in the fashion outlined in StrangeCloud's guide.

As I mentioned in another post in the suggestions forum, the only weakness I find with this type of build is High Life/Resistant Single targets. I even went as far as to suggest a relatively balanced remedy for it. Should anyone want to check that out it is at the following link:

This build is amazing, I think Carcass Jack is superior to Kaoms though. Why? Cause fucking Empowering Herald of Lightning, thats why.

9,4k top end on Herald of Thunder, shit just dies so fast. And thats without Atziri Flask! Reliable freezes, almost feels cheese autofreezing EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME! Lvl82 currently.



Thank you OP for gifting us this amazingly FRESH build, made me enjoy PoE again after being burnt out for a month or so.

But: How do you survive reflect? I had to go VP and use Bereks as to not shit all over myself with HoI chain explosions oneshotting me. Works like a charm now, though!

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KaradOfUmbra wrote:

As I mentioned in another post in the suggestions forum, the only weakness I find with this type of build is High Life/Resistant Single targets.

Having the same trouble so far running this build. Any ideas for a proper solution?

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Nighus wrote:

Having the same trouble so far running this build. Any ideas for a proper solution?

If I could get some corrupted Asenath's Gentle Touch with curse on hit Elemental weakness, the extra two sockets it would free up in my Ice Nova - Curse on Hit - Increased AoE - Elemental Weakness setup may well go to Concentrated Effect and Righteous fire.

If I choose to go with a manually cast elemental weakness I can run this at any point. A level 1 Righteous Fire gem with no quality, without concentrated effect, gives my Incinerate a Tool-tip DPS boost from 4k to 5.7k and adds the extra damage from RF as well. The leech can help you sustain this if you have a Ruby Flask up.

Currently my DPS on LMP Incinerate is something like this:

Shotgunning @ Stage 1: 4k * 3 = 12k
Shotgunning @ Stage 4: 12k * 3 = 36k

As a conservative estimate, without doing the math properly, LMP Incinerate whilst supported by level 1 RF should be something like:

Shotgunning @ Stage 1: 5.7k * 3 = 17.1k
Shotgunning @ Stage 4: 17.1k * 3 = 51.3k
With added damage over time from RF of approximately 1.6k (assuming a 3.2k health pool):

51.3k + 1.6k = 52.9k


With a leveled RF this figure should increase. The actual damage dealt on the target depends on their fire resistance so elemental weakness is a big DPS boost which I'd recommend over Concentrated Effect if you have to choose.

Having a Ruby flask is important but not absolutely necessary to maintain RF. A slow heal over time flask like a Saturated Hallowed Life Flask will usually give you enough up time combined with the leech to kill most things. I usually get in close, pop a granite, hit RF, Incinerate, and maintain with my flasks. Then I end RF with a Dispel Burning flask whenever it starts getting sketchy.

EDIT: Just killed Dominus using RF for the 2nd Phase (I switched out my Curse on Hit gem). Not a problem at all! In fact, he died in about half the usual time for me. If he does hit you, it hurts, so it's best to have a granite up and pop the health flasks as soon as you take any damage. I also tested this out on Kole. If he hits you, again, it hurts. He melts pretty quickly though so if he even gets a little frozen you can capitalize on it with no danger... I only got hit because desync sucks.

I'm pretty sure that flame blast with added chaos / lightning/ cold plus conc effect will help a lot vs single target

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The_x_ile wrote:

I'm pretty sure that flame blast with added chaos / lightning/ cold plus conc effect will help a lot vs single target

I wouldn't recommend added chaos, lightning/cold would be better since you have so much "increased elemental damage + Elemental Weakness." Also Flameblast vs incinerate has been discussed, due to mana constraints, as well as the defensive mechanisms, the smaller AoE of incinerate allows the build to precisely kill bosses while keeping the surrounding packs frozen and proliferating for as long as possible.

i am looking forward on this build just atm having problems with the damage tryn to figure out what weapons u used to lvl with til i get to 75
currently i hit lvl 68 ready to throw on the belt if i can find a cheap gg one but been a struggle to find weapons good enough to lvl with threw the whole build

pm back please any help would be good to lvl this player up also clear maps faster

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beareffects2 wrote:

i am looking forward on this build just atm having problems with the damage tryn to figure out what weapons u used to lvl with til i get to 75
currently i hit lvl 68 ready to throw on the belt if i can find a cheap gg one but been a struggle to find weapons good enough to lvl with threw the whole build

pm back please any help would be good to lvl this player up also clear maps faster

You could try to find a +Cold/Lightning scepter/wand/dagger a +3 one shouldn't cost too much, last I check only a few chaos or less since no body ever uses them anymore.

very interesting build!

a few questions:

did you try atziri (i know, stupid quesion everyone asks)

how does this build do in parties?

why dont you use GMP for incinerate?

whats the biggest problem for this build? how is survivability on hard maps (alched+vaaled lvl >75) ?

edit: plus, can atziris promise add damage ?

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cmphx wrote:

very interesting build!

a few questions:

did you try atziri (i know, stupid quesion everyone asks)

how does this build do in parties?

why dont you use GMP for incinerate?

whats the biggest problem for this build? how is survivability on hard maps (alched+vaaled lvl >75) ?

edit: plus, can atziris promise add damage ?

not OP, but played this build plenty (with my small variations which are more or less irrelevant to your question)

1. n/a. But I would bet all my savings that he didnt. This build is among the WORST (otherwise working) builds for atziri

2. In parties people like your perma freeze on everything. Also the novelty of the build. Can carry groups, but not in 75+ maps even. Still, perma freezing all the things isnt something people will hate one for.

3. LMP always hits with 3 unless youre trying hard, dealing 210% total damage. GMP does 50% per stream, meaning that if you miss with ONE OF THEM you deal LESS DAMAGE than LMP - for more mana. Since the ideal situation of point blank melee incinerating mobs isnt a given, LMP is superior damage for less mana. This applies to dedicated Incinerator builds as well, anyone telling you GMP > LMP on incinerate is dreaming of paper tigers.

For this build specifically, mana is a BIG issue, so LMP isnt just better, its A LOT better.

4.1 Survivability in hard maps: The strange thing is, usually hard maps arent that bad, but some things that are trivial for other really fuck you over. In short, the defense of this build is all-or-nothing: You reliably freeze the whole screen; But your life is abysmal, your defenses are bare minimun res (75%) and there is literally no phys mitiagtion at all. Still, the freeze is very reliable. But its not 100%, more like 99%. You die every few hours or so from something meleeing you you didnt see cause of desynch, or xMP devourers where the freeze unluckily didnt proc fast enough popping up etc.

its all or nothing: If rng doesnt fuck you over, you can run -max, vuln all day and be fine. And sometimes you run packsize map, open a box and youre dead before your screen unfreezes. To sum it up, it doesnt really matter if its vuln or -max, because even in white maps you can die if the freeze doesnt proc.

mods that make it harder to freeze (Lightning resistant, curse immune) should be avoided. Anything cutting your damage to high in general should be, actually, since the speed of the build is dependant on HoT killing something to chain-HoI explode the pack. If youre not killin something quick, your clearspeed becomes exponentially more ass. The longer you take to clear, the mroe dangerous it gets.

4.2.1 biggest problem: If you follow OP to the t, you WILL DIE TO REFLECT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
4.2.2 If a boss doesnt die within 1-2 Vaal Storm Calls and 17ish seconds of herald procs, youre not going to kill him (without taking a disproportionate amount of time to refresh heralds elsewhere, etc.)
4.2.3 Did I mention reflect yet? Imagine auto-casting Vaal Detonate Dead on everything, including reflect packs, with 75% fire res. For a solution check my post few pages back.
4.2.4 Clearspeed is reliant on mob hp even more than normal. if your gems arent lvl20, it might take pretty long to clear high maps.

5. Atziris Promise adds damage and, subsequently, leech. Dont even go near reflect without it up.

Disclaimer: The post may look negative, but you asked for problems with the build. There are plenty redeeming qualities, and it is a lot of fun. Very original, and unique way to play. WOuld recommend if you want to dick around a bit with something VERY fun! But not if youre looking for a main to farm and progress with.