*-*[2.2 PHC] Dual Wield Molten Claw Striker -T15 Twin Tank -225K Shotgun - 78%/78% block -Budget*-*
" Ventor's Gamble Ring (good roll) would be best in slot for this build. Aurseize gloves would be second best. Rat's Nest helmet would be third best (but likely would not have +2 molten strike projectile enchantment) | |
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Heya!
So far I'm having alot of fun with this specc on HC, currently at lvl 79 - But there is one thing I simply can't figure out. I'm currently at 68/68% block chance, where the only thing I lack is the Vaal'd necklace for the 2% block. I can't see where I get the last 8% from to be fully capped with what you've shown of skill tree and gear. I've made my profile public, and as you can see I've followed your "End game lvl 85 talent tree" and currently have: - Non vaal'd Anvil. - 2x Essentia Sanguis - Two jewel slots with 1% block chance while dual wielding Could you help me out with what I'm missing towards the last 8% block i can't find? :O Regards, Ronoidd | |
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Hey,
I just wanted to say that I did this build as my first character in last league and loved it. I've also been experimenting with the Ascendancy version of this build in Awakening, and I must say I'm very impressed with how the power levels has increased. I have NEVER felt safer killing Normal Malachai than I did with this build, even with fully twinked-out 2nd/3rd characters, and Cruel has been getting absolutely stomped also. I do have some thoughts on the build that I would like to share/get your opinion on. Gem Linking I see that the updated version of the guide has dropped GMP, which I absolutely agree with, especially with the new enchant. My experience so far is that focusing on the damage of the whole attack, not just the projectile portion, yields MUCH nicer results in my opinion. This is my gem setup for a five link: Molten Strike-Multistrike-WED-(Faster Attacks/Phys to Lightning)-(Faster Attacks/Phys to Lightning)-(Conc Effect/Added Fire/Added Lightning/Inc Critical Strikes) I'm not sure about the sixth link yet, since I don't have a 6L in Flashback, but that 5 link is amazing. Elemental reflect has been a complete non-issue what with our LGOH and block, but I play Softcore and haven't hit merciless yet this league. I think that Conc Effect could be GREAT for single-target (which is one of the reasons why Added Lightning or Inc Critical Strikes could be particularly advantageous for a simple swap). Frenzy/Fortify You I'm sure noticed the lack of Fortify in the links above as a HC player. To handle Fortify, I have a 3 link (or four link) of Whirling Blades-Fortify-Frenzy (and optionally blood magic for distance travel). This allows me to keep Fortify and frenzy up at all times without having to disengage and whirl away and whirl back (which is a pain and, more importantly, dangerous). With Frenzy-Fortify, you can stay facetanking with Molten Strike and invest a tiny fraction of a second to unnoticably keep Frenzy and Fortify up. I highly, highly recommend this. In related news, my version of your skill tree will go for 7 frenzy charges, because I can keep them up all of the time without relying on kills. AoE Clear Four Link I've been experimenting with the notion of having a 4 link to AoE clear with, perhaps Reave or a Melee Splash Dual Strike. I'll let you know how this goes. However, with Herald of Ash, Gladiator explosions, and the incresed focus on actual Melee damage, this may not even end up being necessary. Thief's Torment For my ring I'm using Thief's Torment. I absolutely love the reduction in curse effectiveness, and the life and mana gain on hit is huge. It's also dirt cheap, though you lose some life/resist/flat damage/weapon elemental damage potential. Still, I feel like disregarding half of Vulnerability/Temp Chains and all the other nasty curses is a huge potential. Also, if you overcap your resists (which I imagine you do in Hardcore) the ring provides much more effective resistances by cutting the amount of overcapping you have to do in half. Auras I've been running Herald of Ash and Hatred. The DPS boost has been great with WED. Alternately, Blasphemy Temp Chains/Enfeeble is amazing also. I'm going to try to get a setup where I can choose which of these to run depending on map mods. (again, softcore though). Herald of Ash helps with AoE clearing hugely also. Skill Tree I've dropped down to take the "lower" path to Point blank, picking up Iron Reflexes and Forces of Nature cluster on the way. I do miss out on a very nice life node, though. Ascendancy I'm going to try the bleeding-explosion instead of the Frenzy/Endurance charges on kill in order to help with clear speed. Again, I'll report back. Anyway, that's my thoughts. Thanks again for sharing this amazing build. It was great last season, and it's just incredible how much better it's gotten with the advent of the Gladiator class. I may even try Hardcore next league. Malachai has always been my nightmare for HC, and the Laby hasn't heped, and this is a simply great Lab/Malachai running build. EDIT: I should note that I did play this build to level 91 last league (softcore). -Norc Last edited by Norc on May 9, 2016, 1:33:05 PM
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" +1 Want to see screen off/def without charges if possible. | |
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Sure thing!
My offense SS without charges. With hatred active.  *Edit - Aopparently can't get the pictures in. Uploaded them here instead. http://postimg.org/image/lygqj5nkh/ My Defense SS without charges.  *Edit - Aopparently can't get the pictures in. Uploaded them here instead. http://postimg.org/image/x8i6m7qfl/ // Ronoidd Last edited by Ronoidd on May 10, 2016, 1:39:40 PM
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" I quote the OP You actually want to aim for 70 block in town, the other 8% comes from the gladiator's ascendancy when you get hit you gain extra block for 4 seconds, reseting with each hit. Last edited by Cellach on May 10, 2016, 4:38:22 PM
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" Thanks you this is excellent excellent feedback everyone reading thread should take a look. Gem Linking: -I agree with you GMP felt finicky, especially against some single targets, provided quite a bit of life gain on hit against large groups. -I agree with adding Physical to lightning in softcore. It provides a bigger damage boost than any other gem especially because it also increases the effectiveness of weapon elemental damage gem and certain passive nodes on the tree (trickery for example). Also you can grab the very underrated forces of nature node to gain 6% elemental penetration. -I don't agree with conc. effect. While it decreases the AOE of the distance the balls travel it also decreases the explosion radius of each ball so there is less chance that they overlap. Ive done testing with conc. effect in the past and didn't see much if any of a DPS increase when timing dominus kills. Frenzy/Fortify -I agree for softcore , whirling blades + fortify is the best setup to free up a gem slot for molten strike -Good idea with frenzy/fortify. -Good idea with 7 frenzy charges, they do add more DPS than most of our big nodes on the passive tree. AoE Clear Four Link - Lightning strike is another good option but you have to spec out of point blank. Thief's Torment - Absolutely , it might as well have a further +25% to all resists on the ring because you don't have to overcap as much for red 'elemental weakness' maps. The +15 mana on hit is a little overkill as you likely only need +4 for a physical to lightning molten strike setup ...but that saves you 4 passive points getting two jewel slots and/or allows you to use unique jewels which is huge. Auras - I agree with HoA for softcore Ascendancy Let me know how that works i am very interested. It was super comfortable to play in hardcore (switched after my storm call hierophant i had theorycrafted died at level 82) i recommend the switch it makes the game more fun IMHO. Im level 93 now. Last edited by link1313 on May 15, 2016, 11:16:40 AM
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I'm now up to almost 80... haven't had much time to play. A few updates/further thoughts:
Gratuitous Violence: This is very nice. It helps with AoE clearing quite a bit... I'd like to get bleed to happen a bit more reliably, though. I'm kicking around the notion of a dedicated clearing four-link again, but this time I'm thinking of Puncture-Melee Splash-Inc Aoe?-Melee Phys?. I think this has some real possibilities, because it would set off its own secondary Gratuitous Violence explosions. Even without that, it's a very noticeable help with AoE clearing, which is my biggest frustration with the build in general, and it is a great damage output boost overall. Every so often, everything just dies around you. The noise/gore effect is pretty fun and satisfying too. Overall, I think it's well worth taking over Outmatch and Outlast. For charges, I'm using the frenzy/fortify/whirling blades/blood magic link, and just manually casting Enduring Cry every time Immortal Call goes off. It's working surprisingly well, though it's clearly a bit more manual. It's a matter of preference, I think, whether you want easy-peasy charge generation or a pretty big AoE clear boost. I recommend trying it both ways and seeing which you like best, but for me it's Gratuitous, hands down. Gem Linking: I only have a 5 link at this point, but I had to swap in Added Fire over Phys to Lightning once I got Gratuitous violence after Merc Lab. The bleed effect only happens with physical damage, so I couldn't convert 100% to ele damage. This works well though. I also still totally recommend Phys to Lightning while levelling, right up until Gratuitous Violence comes online. Thanks for the info on Conc effect. I would've thought it would've replicated the effects of fighting a bigger monster. I tried Endurance Charge on Melee Stun linked with Vengeance/Counterattack but have been very underwhelmed. Will swap it out with something else. Also, I found I like manual Blood Rage cast. With the amount of investment I have in Frenzy, CWDT blood rage uptime isn't good enough with our large amount of block. Thief's Torment: Gearing can be a bit tricky if you use both Anvil and Thief's Torment. Getting enough resist and Int can be tricky. I will switch to Anvil when I get one and can though. Life totals also hurt a little. I still think it's worth it though overall, but I'm a huge fan of the ring in general. Auras: Currently I'm going with HoA, Blasph-Enfeeble and Arctic Armor. I think it gives enough offense and the defense is quite nice. After all, even softcore, you don't choose this build unless high survivability is very important to you. | |
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hi, link1313 do u planning to update ur build for 2.3 patch?
ing: @seeether
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I'm not Link1313, but I will be using this in 2.3 as my first build.
The only major 2.3 changes that really affect the build, i think, are the 2 extra ascendancy points and the possibility of the 'endgame labyrinth' 3 molten projectile enchant. -If you can get the 3 molten strike projectile attack enchant, DO IT. The 2 projectile is strong enough that I would wear it on a white level 1 energy shield hat. The 3 projectile will be even more insane. It is the single-greatest boost to your survivability and DPS that you can get. -For your ascendancy points, any of the additional options are good. The "gratuitous violence" is a huge boost to clear speed. Personally, I plan on taking the 4-point spell block node, picking up the other 4-point block node on the same path for insane damage boost versus boss monsters, and Gratuitous violence. I'm doing this because I'm planning on mainly farming hard maps/bosses with this character, and will build something squishier for general clear speed. For full clear speed, I'd drop the second block node and get the 4-pointer behind Gratuitous Violence. The increased bleed chance and main should be very nice. The Outmatch and Outlast that the build recommends is nice, but the charge generation does not work with the Gratuitous Violence bleed explosions. It is still arguably worth it for the amazing 10% more physical damage dealt/10% reduced taken when on full charges. Just be aware that you'll need to generate your charges in other ways if you also have Gratuitous Violence. Basically, there are no major updates needed for 2.3. This wuild will work, and it will work well. There really aren't even any "wrong" ascendancy choices, so long as you make sure to take the 100% spell block one (and why wouldn't you). Good luck/have fun! |
