[2.1] Storm Call - a different approach

Outdated, new one can be found:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1619127



I have decided to make a Storm call sorta-guide, since I think that this skill is greatly underrated. I realize that this skill is NOT as strong or good as the current FOTM skills that most people use, but I am pretty sure that storm call classifies as "viable". Since I noticed the general lack of guides out there (the only guide I found had a totally different gem setup and gameplay feel - check 14Uhr's if you are interested), I decided to make my own.

Spoiler

2.1 changes

The 2.1 patch has made this build significantly stronger, without the need to adjust anything major. With the increased base AoE, and the reduced "increased AoE" on the tree might change the best class to shadow, simply because you get more damage on the starting nodes, and the scion starting point is somewhat weaker in general. Nevertheless, nothing major changes in the build, except the performance :)


The general idea

I have seen Storm call used in a few builds as a single target spell - however, given that it is inherently AOE, why not use it for actual multitarget as well?
Vaal storm call works as a boss-buster - we have enough damage and coverage to clear everything else usually, leaving the Vaal storm call as a mostly-single-target spell.

How to do damage?
Spoiler

Actual screenshot

No powecharges.

http://imgur.com/IKpR6zR

Storm call has an inherently large dps, but it has a flaw - it has a 1,5+ second delay before it hits, usually making hard to aim it properly. Instead of using the usual solution, the "less duration" gem, i have decided to go all in into AOE increases. I mean, when each explosion covers half of the screen each, its really not hard to aim - just cover the whole screen with explosions! We are skipping the good old "concentrated effect" gem as well - it would just kill all the fun.
How will we actually do damage, then, without conc? The answer is crit. Storm call has a 6% base chance to crit, so with power charges up, we are aiming to have 50+ % crit chance. This means, of course, that we are shocking as well, making up for the fact that we are skipping the huge damage increase of conc.
On dangerous mobs/bosses, use Vaal storm call after you cleared the little guys - it does a ridicolous amount of single target damage if it crits.


How to sustain the mana cost?
Spoiler

In my case, it was fairly simple - I have decided to make a pure MoM build, with an actual big mana pool, most of it unreserved. Since we are planning on massing up huge amounts of mana anyway, the actual storm call cost is like a drop in the sea, and we will regen it up almost instantly anyway. I am sure that u can make it work with either blood magic, or EB + MoM + ZO, but I have no experience in those.


How to survive?
Spoiler


This build is glass cannon-ish, meaning that we dont have any actual lifesteal, and we generally rely on our ability to kill stuff before it kills us. This doesnt mean that we ignore the survival stats tho - I have almost 5k life, and 2k+ unreserved mana for MoM + Acro/Phase acro. This, coupled with some usual CwDT setup, and some evasion/block, usually proves to be sufficient.
Since the removal of thornflash, we only have to care for single target reflect mobs. They are a pain in the butt, but with our fairly high effective HP against reflect (phase acro helps a ton), they can be dealt with. Just pot up before and after them, or possibly use a resist flask. I do the former.


Passive skill tree
Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAABAcEswVCBbUHHgdjCGcI9A5IES0RlhNxFbgYPBhWHNwgbiL0KPoqCyycMHEy0TWSOkI6WDrhPAU9X0GHQZZFR0WdRwZJUUt4TLNN41AwUlNTUlVLVcZYrl3yXqVewF8qYeJirGNDZJ1o8mpDbAtsjG0ZcFJ8S3yDf8aCx4PbhTKIWonTjDaNv48aj0aP-pMnkzqVLpYylnSXlZf0muCdqp_fogCmV6cIrrO0xbc-uJO9J8BUwGbC7Mhby73Q0ND11CPYvdvn3ajr5Ovu6_XvfPAf8NXyHfJF8uH56P4K_o8=

You might notice the lack of increased lightning damage/spell damage/elemental damage nodes. We will be getting those stats from our staff and jewels. Getting crit from the tree is better I think.
We also lack castspeed from the tree - we will make up for it with a faster casting gem. Getting castspeed from the tree is also inefficient i feel.
When we gain more levels, we will be getting our 2-pointer jewel sockets.


Gearing
Spoiler

Weapon:

Pledge of hands. We really need the mana, the huge spell damage increase is amazing (and it is something we lack from the passive tree, making it even MORE amazing), and an additonal link.
Honorable mention to Divinarius - If you make this build with EB-ZO-MOM, you can totally use this, possibly 2 of them.

Chest armor:

Carcass jack fits the theme, the aoe increase is amazing, and, most of all, fun. If you use Divinarius, or just want to be tanky, possible to use other chests as well - like a Lightning coil.

Other uniques:

I use Maligaro's virtuosity, it's a huge damage increase. You can try Voidbringer as well, or any general gloves, really.

Other pieces: I use rares on my other slots. Focus on getting flat hp, flat mana(!), resists. Manaregen or crit is a bonus. Energy shield is kinda meh because Acro cuts it in half, but not totally wasted, since we have decent amount if int to scale it up somewhat.





Gem setups - in order of importance
Spoiler

Storm call:
Storm call - inc. aoe - lightning penetration - faster casting - added lightning damage - inc. crit multi
You DONT want to use conc. Kills all the fun. You should have enough damage anyway.

Vaal Storm call:
Vaal storm call - spell echo - increased duration - lightning penetration - increased critical strikes
Why increased critical strikes? Mostly, because if Vaal storm call crits, its damage is sufficient enough to kill the single monster anyway (and we use it for single target). No need for more overkill. And if it crits, its damage drops so low, that it doesnt seem to do anything.

Herald setup:
Herald of lightning - curse on hit - assassins mark
The usual power-charge generator setup. The actual damage that you get from assassins mark is amazing. You dont want to reserve any more mana, tho, so no wrath :(

Mobility:
Leap slam - faster attacks - fortify - increased aoe
You can use any mobility skill you want, flame dash or lightning warp is totally fine. I use leap slam, because, coupled with the AoE increases, it makes it easy to get fortify for free, pretty much. If you land anywhere near close to a monster, you will get the fortify. We also lack the usual cast speed increases from the tree, making lighting warp/flame dash relatively slow compared to usual.


Actual gameplay footage
Last edited by Febrile on Mar 15, 2016, 5:49:13 AM
Last bumped on Mar 15, 2016, 5:49:53 AM
wow, never knew storm call had such a range ^^
Well done on the build, have been theorycrafting something similar and it was fun to watch it in action and seems fun to play too! :)
It only goes to show that almost any skill can be 'viable and fun', but... considering the cost of the gear unfortunately also proves how much storm call is needing a reworking (1,5 seconds is too much, or more base damage to compensate for the wait).
The 6-link is entirely luxury, Storm call works just fine with a 5-link pledge, and they go for like 2 exalts at the flashback league - not something i would consider terribly expensive. The 6 link only shines when you are dealing with difficult content, like the beyond mobs, because the initially casted storm calls, that were clearing out the regular mobs, will be hitting the beyonders, thus the damage is not wasted. That gorge run would look pretty much the same with a 5-link.
I will try to upload more videos when i have time, and when the beyond demons return :)
Last edited by Febrile on Oct 20, 2015, 6:12:08 AM
Nice Guide..Storm Call looks awesome !

I dont have a Pledge but a 6l staff..is it possible to run your build
without the 100% Mana from pledge ?

And I hope I can get 6x Blue on that staff :D Jesus..with +2 Lightning


You totally can do it with a rare staff, but Storm Call doesn't scale as insanely with levels as some other skills, an additional gem socket is more damage (an added lightning gem gives you more damage than +2 levels on Storm call). And you surely want to use spell echo.
Also, if you skip Pledge, you probably should just use EB + ZO, there are plenty of hp regen nodes around, and you can just ignore the mana nodes altogether. Losing a +100% mana increase is just crippling. You will lose Acro, but you can run herald/wrath/arctic to make up for it, totally doable.
I searched the forum and found another storm call build (Templar Forum from 14Uhr)
that has another gem setup

(storm call, spell echo, blood magic, lightning pen, life leech, inc aoe) without less duration.

I mixed up now the gem setup for my staff because your inc aoe part is really nice
and from the other guide the blood magic part and more lightning dmg in the skilltree.


Both guide helped me alot and I hope your are not huffy^^

Thanks !
Last edited by DiamondSnake on Oct 31, 2015, 8:23:22 AM
Whatever works for u is fine :)
I didnt like life steal tho, you go from no steal-no steal-overcapping lifesteal (when the storm calls actually land)-no steal, repeat. Without less duration, it just feels inconsistent, and without vaal pact, it's wasteful. I would rather just kill the pack in one rotation, then pot up from the charges i just gained (or just let the hp regen do it's work). At least that was my approach.
Hello, I'm following your build and would like to know what did you choose in each bandits quest.

Thx :D
Hey, I like that you're trying to make storm call viable, and it seems pretty viable with what you've done.

I would do a different tree, though.

New tree
1. Remove Acro
2. Take double curse
3. Take vaal pact

Now you can use HOT-COH-Asn-Warlord

Or add Warlord to your L1 CWDT since levels on it do nothing.

Warlord is amazing for a MoM build. You leech both life and mana.

Also the ECs provide mitigation as well as charges for your IC.

Speaking of IC, why not level it up a bit (along with the CWDT) to get some more duration out of it?
All my builds /view-thread/1430399

T14 'real' clearspeed challenge /1642265

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