[1.3] Chromatic Pulse Witch! // "8k" Life, MoM, AA, LC
 Summary This is my high survivability build for Witch. Previously I made a silly version of this build in [1.2] using mostly unique items. This is my more "serious" / end-game approach.
Stat / Gear Priority
My Gear
Equipment Choices The only staff that can be used is Pledge of Hands (7 Link with Huge Mana Boost). If you intend to copy my current version of the build, it will be very difficult to acquire a dagger worthy enough to be used. This is due to needing a Tier 1 Spell Damage roll on a dagger as well as having other critical strike related bonuses. Sceptres and Wands are likely going to be used for budget as they are easier to roll Spell Damage, Spell Critical Strike, Critical Strike Multiplier and Mana Regeneration (if you desperately need it). Avoid Dual Wielding unless you can sustain the requirements of Mind over Matter, in which case enjoy the crazy crits from double platinum / golden Kris! Block is not a key point of the build, since it takes a bit more commitment to achieve 75% Spell Block at the cost of life, resistance and other attributes due to the 3 key unique items for Spell Block (Saffell’s Frame, Stone of Lazhwar, Rainbowstride). It’s best to just completely ignore block unless you desire to make this a PvP build. In terms of flasks, you want 1-2 Health Flasks (you can use hybrid flasks while leveling, but unfortunately there aren't any good high level hybrid flasks). I'm using "Recharges 1 Charge when you deal a Critical Strike" on all flasks, Curse immunity on my Ruby Flask (to prevent Hexfont spamming Silence on you), Bleed Immunity and Movement Speed on my Quicksilver Flasks. Stat Priority - HP (4k+, when you plan to do end-game and depending on your league, 5-6k would be better) - Mana (30% of HP as Unreserved mana) - Mana Regen (270-300 MPS, to run level 20+ Artic Armour effectively as well as pseudo life regen) - Resistance (75% for Elemental, don’t worry about Chaos Resistance too much) - Spell / Elemental Damage (100-150% from Passives & Equipment) - Critical Strike Chance (Goal is ~50% for Freezing Pulse which is around ~800-900% Critical Strike Chance increase from Passives & Equipment) - Critical Strike Multiplier (300%+ for Freezing Pulse ~100% increase from Passives and Armour)
Passives
Current (111 pts, level 94)
<<< Link to my Passive Tree >>> Current HP & Mana : 6,182 HP, 1819 unreserved Mana
Offense and Defensive Stats
Offense  Defense  Notable Passive Attributes - +194 Strength (+10). - +134 Dexterity. - +342 Intelligence (+10). - 205% increased maximum Life. - 145% increased Mana Regen - 25% increased maximum Energy Shield. - 82% increased maximum Mana. - 68% increased maximum Energy Shield from Intelligence. - +34 to maximum Energy Shield. - +5 Maximum Power Charge. - 4% increased Spell Damage per Power Charge. - 66% increased Critical Strike Multiplier + 40% increased Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells. - 90% increased Critical Strike Chance + 175% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells. - 42% increased Spell Damage + 20% increased Elemental Damage. Keystones Eldritch Battery. - Converts Energy Shield to Mana. - Energy Shield is converted after any % increases to it, then is converted to Mana which under goes any % increased to Mana. Unwavering Stance. - Cannot be stunned, Cannot Evade Enemy Attacks. - Getting stunned sucks, you have no armour / evasion anyways (or try to aim for it). - You will need to get Chest Pieces that either… - 1. Give Tier 1 Health and Elemental Rolls (INT base desired for extra mana boost and easier colours to roll with). Or… - 2. Have physical damage taken converted as “x” (e.g. Lightning Coil, Cloak of Flame) Mind over Matter. - 30% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life. - Requires unreserved mana equal to 30% of your maximum / available life, turning your high mana pool into pseudo life! Bandits - +40 Maximum Health (Oak). - Passive or +4% Cast Speed. (Kill all or Alira) - +1 Power Charge (Alira) Passive Point Priority [What you need before level 70] - At least 130% increased maximum Life. - At least enough mana / mana regen to sustain MoM (only when you can reach it). - Baseline ~30% critical strike chance for Freezing Pulse. - ~300% Critical Strike Multiplier (100% increase from Passives)
Gems / Sockets
”Offense”
Freezing Pulse Freezing pulse is one of the fastest spells in the game (that can deal critical strikes), with a base cast time of 0.65 seconds and being a projectile that has 100% pierce. Although its damage dissipates over distance traveled gaining projectile speed via upgrading the quality of freezing pulse or using a support gem can help negate this. Greater Multiple Projectiles [Core] - Effectively Increased Damage output by 5, as the mechanics of Freezing Pulse allows the projectiles to overlap. Spell Echo [Core] - Must have support gem for spells, 10% Less Damage for ½ Mana cost of spell at 69% More Cast speed. Faster Casting [Core] - Assists with reaching 5 casts per second without using passive points (49% cast speed at 20/20). [5th & 6th Socket is up to you, here is a list of recommendations] Cold to Fire [Highly Recommended] - Gain 29% of Cold Damage as extra Fire damage, as well as having a low mana multiplier (110%) - [What this build is based around] Power Charge on Critical [Highly Recommended] - Having a Constant +300% Critical Strike Chance is a must have (6 charges x 50% Crit). - Assassin’s Mark is too unreliable in 1v1 fights, fights with slow / low mob spawn rates and curse immune mobs / maps. - Don’t use at all if you plan to have Voll’s Protector equipped. Faster Projectiles [Compensation] - Gain increased Projectile speed and Projectile Damage, great compensation if your Freezing Pulse doesn’t have 20% quality. + Life Leech & Mana Leech [Compensation] - Conjunction of Gems (MoM builds require Mana Leech to assist your pseudo life-pool from being drained and having slow recovery, especially when walking around with Artic Armour). - You can use only Mana Leech if you are running gear that leeches life from certain elemental types (eg. Doryani’s Catalyst & Doryani’s Invitation [Cold Variation]) - Survivability (Use this if you want to use a more of a Cold-Lightning orientated build or don’t want to use Warlords Mark Curse at all.) Increased Critical Damage [Compensation] - If you find yourself below 300% Critical Strike Multiplier or just want harder crits. - Handy if you find yourself unable to use certain Critical Strike Multiplier Unique items such as Maligaro’s Virtuosity and need to use a token +HP and + Resist rare glove. Increased Critical Strikes [Compensation] - If you don’t have ~50%+ Critical Strike Chance or just want to hear that CRUNCH noise more often. - Don’t use this over Power Charge on Critical unless you are using Assassin’s Mark for Power Charges. Added Lightning Damage [Compensation] - If you can’t / don’t have the mana to run Herald of Lightning and is affected by Elemental and Spell Damage increases. - Better than Added Cold Damage gem as it can apply shock (50% increased damage) which increases your damage output. Added Cold Damage [Viable] - Extra Damage that is affected by Elemental and Spell Damage increases. - Don’t use this over Cold to Fire, doesn’t generate the same amount of Damage as well as damage type distribution. Added Chaos Damage [Low Recommendation] - Extra Damage that is affect by Spell Damage and bypasses reflect. Lesser Multiple Projectiles [Low Recommendation] - 2 Extra Projectiles, but at the cost of 30% Less Damage. - I don’t recommend stacking this with Greater Multiple Projectiles, It seems to me that the 2 extra projectiles are too far off the edge to overlap onto the middle pulse (unsure of this).
”Escape”
Lightning Warp Amazing escape mechanism for spell caster builds, only requires a 3 link. Reduced Duration [Core] - Reduce the delay of warping. Faster Casting [Core] - You can add "Culling Strike" if you have a spare socket (but is not necessary).
”Auras
Clarity [Core] - Mana Regen, this is your CORE aura and you will using it all the time. Discipline [Compensation] - Energy Shield to Mana conversion from Eldritch Battery. You can get rid of this once you can run just clarity with Herald of Ice / Thunder. Artic Armour [Core] - Makes use of the fact that you have high mana regen for Mind over Matter as well as absorbing fire damage (if you are using Cold to Fire, helps with reflect) and the physical damage mitigation is incredibly helpful on builds with low / zero armour. Purity of Elements [Compensation] - If your equipment doesn’t give you enough elemental resistance. Herald of Ice [Highly Recommended] - The after kill effect is negligible, mostly using this self-buff for the additional cold damage. Herald of Thunder [Highly Recommended] - The after kill effect is not as negligible as Herald of Ice, on occasion I have seen it remove 1/3 if the HP of white mobs, mostly using this self-buff for the additional lightning damage, which allows you to shock targets.
”Curses”
Warlord’s Mark [Highly Recommended] - Amazing curse for this build, as you can sustain your health and mana at the same time. Assassin's Mark [Highly Recommended] - Makes you crit more and harder. Also grants you a power charge on kill which can be very useful when levelling or if you plan to use life & mana leech support gems. Enfeeble [Recommended] - Good for end-game especially against heavy hitting mobs. Support Gems for curses... Faster Casting [Core] - Less time casting, more time killing. You can choose to just have a 4 link with these 3 curses on it for variety when fighting mobs. Increased Duration [Optional] - Less time recasting, at the cost of 1 socket (if using a 4 link) Increased Area of Effect [Optional] - Affect more units (reduces amount of casts needed to curse whole groups) - I would never solely use a single curse unless you are using the 8 link setup of Pledge of Hands 6L + Voll’s Protector.
”Other
Cast When Damage Taken - There are a different varieties of this setup, depending on how many red sockets you have available. Cast When Damage Taken [Level 8] - Will activate when you take a total of 980 damage. Can only support gems requiring level 45 or lower... - Immortal Call [Level 8] - Increased Duration [Level 20] - Enduring Cry [Level 9]
Unique Items to consider
Just keep in mind that if you plan to do end-game and do not have sufficient HP, reducing the amount of unique items you have will help (as most of them grant low or no life at all). Lightning Coil [Highly Recommended] Low cost unique item that is the basis of many life-based spell caster builds. The 40% physical damage taken as lighting damage conversion helps immensely in conjunction with Artic Armour. Although it comes at the price of -60 lightning resist. This will require an large investment of lightning resist on most your items (or have a godly ring with Tier 1 Lightning Resist and Elemental Resist on a Topaz / Two-Stone / Prismatic Ring). Maligaro’s Virtuosity [Compensation] Low level item that grants some dexterity (20-30) which can help especially at lower levels due to the distance from dexterity nodes (other than the +30 at crossroads). It’s major component is the critical strike & multiplier increases (50% and 28-36% respectively). Cloak of Flame [Compensation] A lower level mini-lightning coil, the 20% physical damage taken as fire damage works very well with Artic Armour as the physical damage is mitigated and further mitigated from the – fire damage from Artic Armour as well. Downsides include low energy shield (low mana gain) and no +HP but grants 30-50% fire resistance. Cloak of Defiance [Alternative / Compensation] Huge mana boost item, with great mana regen at the cost of +HP and Resistance. It also gives the keystone Mind of Matter, which can save passive node usage to acquire the keystone near duellist and several mana regen nodes. Voll’s Protector [Alternative] +1 Link (replaces power charge on critical) but at a heavy cost. Your mana is reduced by 50%, meaning duel-wielding spell crit daggers is out of the question. You will need to either use a godly high energy shield shield or use Pledge of Hands to achieve the 8 link setup. Pledge of Hands [Alternative] Works very well with Cloak of Defiance with its +100% increased mana attribute to reduce mana nodes needed from passives, also helps to counter-act the effects of Voll’s Protector and achieve 8 link status. Doryani’s Catalyst [Highly Recommended] If you can’t find / craft / buy a nice 1 hand spell caster weapon this mace does the job, though a little costly it provides some crit (30-40%), cast speed (6-10%) the elemental damage leech as life (1%) is handy as well but should not be the main reason you get this item (mini-luxury). Doryani’s Invitation [Cold Variant] [Alternative] Boost to Fire and Cold resistance (30-35%), increased cold damage (20-30%) and cold damage leech as life (1%) is handy as well but should not be the main reason you get this item (less effective if you plan to use cold-to-fire support gem). However the belt gives no bonus to HP other than the slight +HP from the Strength implicit. Saffell’s Frame + Stone of Lazwhar + Rainbowstride [Alternative / PvP] There’s no point using only 1 of the 3, once you use 1 spell block item, you are compelled to use all 3 for maximum efficiency. - Saffell’s Frame (70-80% of block chance applied to spells, +14% elemental resistance, 20-30% Spell damage, +4% to all maximum resistances, Cannot block attacks, 57 Energy Shield) - Stone of Lazwhar (30-50 Mana, 10-15% Cast Speed, 50% of block chance applied to spells) - Rainbowstride (106-123 Energy Shield, 40-60 Mana, 20-25% block chance applied to spells, 20% elemental resistance, 20% increased movement speed) In total you gain 140-155% block chance applied to spells at the cost of never blocking attacks. With Saffell’s block being 24% it will grant you 33.6-37.2% spell block. To boost this even further you will need to run Tempest Shield (4% block chance) which is converted to 5.6-6.2% spell block. Without any passive nodes to assist you, you will have between 39.2 to 43.4% spell block. Spell block is capped at 75% so you will need around 20.4 (High Roll) to 25.6% (Low Roll) block chance with shields from the passive tree. A bit of a commitment at the cost of 3 item sources that can give +HP. The Three-Dragons + Pyre [Alternative] Anti-reflect systems a go! Pyre will convert your cold to fire (ignites), then Three Dragons will change its status ailment from ignite to shock. If you use Herald of Thunder or Added Lightning Damage in your freezing pulse it will allow it to Freeze instead of Shock. Even though neither item gives a boost to HP they give some resistances.
Leveling Guide
This is just a general rule of thumb that I’ve heard from others and from personal experience. End of Normal (1k HP) - Aim for HP nodes on the way to Eldritch Battery. End of Cruel (2k HP) - Aim for HP nodes on the way to Unwavering Stance Start of Merciless Act 3 (3k HP) - Cloak of Defiance or Mind over Matter keystone will be your goal (if you haven’t got it already). - You should be able to sustain level 16+ Artic Armour. Piety Merciless (4k HP) - You might have Mind over Matter by now, so technically 4k HP + (4000*0.3) HP. - Start aiming for Critical Strike / Multiplier nodes. You’ll want to atleast achieve 30% critical strike with freezing pulse (some unique items might be required) Maps (66-72) (5k HP) - By this time you’ll be using Mind over Matter so technically 5k HP + (5000*0.3) HP. - You should be able to sustain level 20+ Artic Armour. - Real End-Game maps (78) (6k HP) - By this time you’ll be using Mind over Matter so technically 6k HP + (6000*0.3) HP. - You should be able to sustain level 20+ Artic Armour. Last edited by Razokur on Apr 5, 2015, 5:42:33 AM
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