[2.4] Mines over Matter - Lightning Warp Finally Viable!

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menhowca wrote:
Not following the build, just the idea of using lightning warp with mines and found that in my case minefield is pretty much optional. My Tremor Rod is just 4 linked at the moment, so I was using Lightning Warp, Trap and Mine Damage, Less Duration and Minefield. I swapped Minefield for Lightning Penetration and had no reduction in clear speed. Minefield makes you place mines too fast, so you end up negating the "Mines can be detonated an additional time" modifier. But your mileage may vary.


If you aren't saturating your active mine count, you are going way too slow. Read the thread, all of that has been addressed. And minefield may be optional, but I could argue that its the single best support gem in the game, by a wide margin. At level 20 it multiplies damage output by 2.37 times, the only other gem that comes close is multiple traps, and traps tend to detonate separately.

/Edit
I updated the mathy bits some more with realistic examples of the build's damage output, at various stages of development.

It goes from 4link, level 18 gems, no offensive curse, to 5link 1 offensive curse, to two different 6link setups, to a level 21 gem +3 staff Empower setup for disturbingly huge damage.
Last edited by pieceofsoap on Mar 28, 2016, 2:25:58 PM
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pieceofsoap wrote:

If you aren't saturating your active mine count, you are going way too slow.


That's exactly the point. The mine count saturates even without minefield so if it's spammed, the mines will seldom detonate twice. If you don't pause the laying you end not reaching the distance potential. In my experience having heavier damage mines made it safer, as it stun the nearest monster and uses it to reach a farther pack. Testing in PvP the minefield is great, but against numerous monsters it made it worse, so I still recommend it in boss fights.

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pieceofsoap wrote:

At level 20 it multiplies damage output by 2.37 times.


In the ideal scenario, you shouldn't have monsters near you for the first explosion, so in the origin of the first detonation, you will do no damage. If the mines don't detonate twice with minefield, you get that 2.37x damage in the nearest pack, but if you let the mine detonate twice, it will do 2x damage to the nearest pack and will explode once again in the farthest pack, making the output 3x the damage.

Maybe I was going way too fast that my mines couldn't have the chance to detonate twice, but it feels better without minefield.
Dear god read the thread before you post.
on HC should i use temporal chain + enfeeble or i can go with conductivity and temporal chain? because i dont know how tanky this build is.
yo do you record gameplays?
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xFroGx wrote:
on HC should i use temporal chain + enfeeble or i can go with conductivity and temporal chain? because i dont know how tanky this build is.


I don't play HC, but this build should be HC viable. Its safer to go maximum defence and then gradually swap in offence than it is to go balls to the wall from the beginning. So I would try going Temp Chains and Enfeeble on Orb of Storms, and put Grace on an Essence worm. See how things work for you, then swap in Conductivity and/or Wrath if you feel safe enough.

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Enrovy wrote:
yo do you record gameplays?


I've been fiddling with Open Broadcaster Software (Thanks Lord_of_Error for the suggestion) and I just finished uploading a Gorge run to Youtube. I think I set the quality settings a bit too high, because Youtube is still processing (Re-encoding?) the video. Its just a basic 8mod gorge run, nothing too flashy, but it shows how the build actually plays. I'm hoping to do either an unidentified rare Shrine map, or a corrupted rare Palace map, either way I want to optimize video recording settings before I record either of those.

/Edit
The video is live!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKX1VKJHSpk
Last edited by pieceofsoap on Mar 28, 2016, 11:07:38 PM
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CoolColJ wrote:
BTW you can link in Rapid Decay to Lightning Warp for zooming warps


Yep, and if the build had some kind of DoT component it could be worth using. Maybe some kind of damage conversion setup, Voltaxic or some bizzarre fire conversion?

In other news, a new video is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44_YoN7GCdo

T14 Palace map, +80% enemy lightning resistance, tell me what you think.

I've been trying to optimize my video encoding, and though I had to cut back on bitrate and resolution that one is the best so far. Unfortunately the unid rare Shrine map I recorded prior to this video turned out so ugly its unwatchable, and will not be uploaded.

Also did some minor updates and cleaning on the original post.
I have Blind listed as an extra, optional gem within Orb of Storm's linkage. Its a good option if you have more links than curses, but nothing is a replacement for Knockback.

The reason Knockback is so important is this:
It actually increases your damage against enemies trying to melee you, in addition to preventing damage.

Within melee range, most enemies are small enough that they will only be hit by the first warp of LW.

Heres what happens with Knockback on Orb of Storms:

When
Orb and totem are active,
Enemy is in melee range,

Drop a mine
Orb of Storms activates, zapping enemy
Enemy is cursed and knocked back into the radius of both halves of Lightning Warp
Mine finishes readying and activates
Enemy is hit twice by Lightning Warp, doubling damage taken.

With a bit of practice you can pin bosses to walls, outside melee range and inside LW's sweet spot.

All of this assumes you are playing solo, or with party members for whom Knockback is not a problem. If Knockback is a problem for the people you expect to party with, by all means pull it for Blind or another curse.
I've been playing your lighting warp mine builds for quite a while now, with some modification (evasion-based to HP/ES hybrid). Reached lv 80 with no problems having more than 7500 overall HP (with tabula+self found gears). Gotta say this is one of the most fun builds I've ever played. Does tons of dmg on bosses and clear trash mobs pretty fast, though lighting resistance on rares can be an issue from time to time.

One thing though, Do you think using the new smoke flask when setting up the totem+orb artillery spot could work? Gives you more evasion and another layer of defense. Or is there any recommendation for flask that i could use?
I'm a little surprised you are having issues with lightning resistant enemies, especially with a Tabula Rasa. With all the curse and penetration options available it shouldn't be a big deal, I'm sure you saw my 80% lightning resist Palace run, are things worse than that for you?

Since you bring up flasks, I may as well add a flask bit to the main page, and just write it up here.

There are 3 defensive flasks to consider for general use:

Jade Flasks, Quartz flasks, and Stibnite Flasks.

Jade Flask
Jade is the old standby that will make evasion relevant even if gear is poor. Honestly I should be running one of these now, I just haven't bothered to craft one to my specifications. 4 seconds, 30/60 charges.

Stibnite flasks
These smoke cloud flasks are pretty neat. 100% increased evasion is nice, not Jade flask nice, but good. The smoke cloud looks like its slow to emerge, but seems thats just the animation and blind goes up quick. Blind halves their chance to hit, it does function on the accuracy equation. The good: It lasts longer than a Jade flask, it recharges quicker, and it can be used 3 times as opposed to two. The bad: It doesn't do jack against ranged attackers shooting you from outside the smoke cloud. Knockback on Orb of Storms already serves the purpose of clearing melee enemies from point blank range (and into LW's sweet spot), and they both have the same weakness with ranged attackers. 5 seconds, 10/30 charges.

Quartz Flask
While phasing is irrelevant, 10% dodge and spell dodge is not. Combined with Acrobatics and other dodge passives, its easy to reach 55% dodge and 61% spell dodge with this flask up. Ignores Accuracy equation altogether, and actively reduces incoming spell damage, especially noticeable vs spells like Incinerate or Firestorm. 4 Seconds, 30/60 charges.

The verdict:
Jade flasks will always be good, and can be used in conjunction with either of the other two flasks being compared.

Stibnite Flasks increased evasion can be stacked with Jade Flasks, but the smoke effect is redundant with Orb of Storms and suffers the same drawbacks with ranged.

Quartz Flasks do not reduce attack damage as much as either Jade or Stibnite flasks, but have a huge effect on spell damage, assuming Dodge and Spell Dodge are being stacked.

This build is an Acrobatics build, so run Jade + Quartz. If you strip Acrobatics, try Jade + Stibnite.

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