[2.5] CI Hand of Wisdom and Action Blade Flurry Elementalist - Every Map/Mob/Boss/Reflect Proof

1 Claw gives 1-6 Lightning damage per 10 Intelligence.

At 1000 Intelligence that is 100-600 Lightning Damage.

100+600=700/2 = 350 * 1.6 = 560 Base Lightning Damage a second

that's quite a bit for a single 1 hander. More than Hyaons. And don't forget 1000 Intelligence is 200% INCREASED ENERGY SHIELD

2 Claws gives you twice this amount, effectively giving you 2-12 Lightning Damage for 10 Intelligence

At 1000 Intelligence that gives us 200-1200 Lightning Damage

200+1200=1400/2 = 700*1.6= 1120 Base lightning damage a second. But wait, because we're dual wielding we get 15% More attack speed

so that 1120 base Lightning damage a second becomes 1288 Base Lightning Damage per second combined with the previous 200% Increased Energy Shield we get from Intelligence.

And that's with 1000 Intelligence. We can go higher. And we can stack more Flat Lightning Damage, and more Attack speed. I think that's enough math, onto the Pros and Cons

Pros:

+ Fun and Active Playstyle
+ Crazy Fast Clear
+ Fun and Capable of Being Cheap (HOWAs are cheap, 500 ES 5L chest is good!)
+ Very tanky! 10k ES with sub-par ES Gear!
+ Capable of Every Map Mod including Reflect!

Cons:

- Upgrades can become expensive but do not provide efficient "worth it" value
- It's still a "melee" build, volatilas can kill you and you're not unkillable but you're really tanky nonetheless.

Stats as of posting this: 8.5k Tooltip unbuffed with Inc AoE(elemental overload is 100% uptime in maps)

12k with Elemental overload basically in maps. (higher with Lightning Golem attack aura + paragon of calamity/pendulum of destruction) - 15k Easily


20k with EO + Conc Effect

11.5k ES (12k if better chest/gear)

8 attacks per second, 1224 Int

update: 9k tooltip in HO unbuffed

I use an Aquamarine flask to dodge cold damage, it has very low flask usage and charges so I can actively unfreeze myself which IMO is super dangerous. I really like the chilled ground because I'm melee as well allowing me to react faster to slowed mobs. Really great for boss fights that spawn little adds (like Hydra!)

Stibnite Flask is great as a melee and works well combined with Enfeeble+Chill from my Aquamarine flask, I have a good amount of dexterity too so If I used a Jade flask I'm sure it'd be more beneficial. It also has super low flask charges used so I can use it a lot even in boss fights, which is why I put the Staunching affix (bleeds hurt!) - Bleeds are also super scary.

Silver Flask for Attack Speed and Movement Speed. General Speed Map Flask. Immune to curse for strongboxes and monsters so I don't get Negative Resistance curses against Volatiles!

Ruby Flask OR Jade Flask - Depending on your playstyle, I like Ruby Flask for Phoenix + Ignite damage reduction but Jade Flask works great as well and synergizes with Stibnite. If you have a Vinktars get Immunity to Shock on this flask.

Vessel of Vinktar with Penetration - Our damage and leech flask - it simply does everything and is too strong not to use in this build, if you can't get a hold of one of these (buy one eventually) simply use another flask, I like to use a Quartz Flask or Basalt Flask.

Put a Brute Force Solution at the Templar Area, a Fertile Mind near Vaal Pact and another Fertile Mind near Duelist/Ranger area for Maximum Efficiency.

For leveling Level as Essence Drain with a Lifesprig preferably or tabula or even 4L until level 68, there we Respec into HOWA with Blade Flurry

Leveling gems are really Easy, just use Essence Drain - Controlled Destruction - Void Manipulation - Rapid Decay in a 4 Link

with a Faster casting - Contagion - Increased Area of Effect setup

While leveling, use Blasphemy with Enfeeble or Temporal Chains. Use Discipline and Clarity as well.

First 25 Points.


First 62 Points

While leveling, make sure to keep in mind what gems you'll need later on such as Wrath, Weapon Elemental Damage, Elemental Focus, Lightning Golem, Faster Attacks, Vaal Haste.

First 87 Points.

Make sure you have jewels ready for the respec, and gear for CI (I recommend 3-4k ES before respec)

First 88 Points.

You're HOWA! Now go farm Dried Lake. Warning Do not strictly follow this skill tree 100% to the detail, make up your mind and decide what you want, do you want more damage or tankiness? Maybe you feel like you need accuracy, it also depends on your gear, Pick wisely.

First 105 Points.


First 110 Points.

Skill Point - Kraityn (Attack Speed) - Skill Point

Normal: Liege of the Primordial
Cruel: Pendulum of Destruction
Merciless: Paragon of Calamity
Endgame: Mastermind of Discord OR Shaper of Desolation depending on if you have a 5L or 6L

Read next section

Please see gear as well to compare.



6L - Blade Flurry - Increased Area of Effect - Weapon Elemental Damage - Faster Attacks - Lightning Penetration - Elemental Focus

5L - 6L - Blade Flurry - Increased Area of Effect - Weapon Elemental Damage - Faster Attacks - Lightning Penetration

if you're a 5L you'll use Shaper of Desolation. Elemental Focus means you cannot shock, ignite or Chill so Shaper of Desolation is useless on our 6L version. If you're 6L you'll use Mastermind of Discord, we use Frost Blades to activate it for boss fights for more overall damage. While you cannot shock as a 6L with Blade Flurry we make up for this by using a Vessel of Vinktar in the flask section.


4L - Frost Blades - Faster Attacks - Curse on Hit - Conductivity/Elemental Weakness

This setup procs Mastermind of Discord and applies a curse. With all of our Penetration added up from curses/tree/gear/Light Pen gem, we're looking at a 117% reduction to enemy lightning penetration. That means even to a mob with 75% Lightning Penetration, we're doing 42% More damage compared to what our tooltip says. To bosses however, because of curse effectiveness reduction we'll still have at least 90% Lightning Penetration, which makes this build way more effective than the inquisitor version that makes resistances 0 (on crit mind you)

Note:You can simply tap Frost Blades in map for a juicy 10 second 25% penetration boost, you don't have to hit anything, this is why I link it to FA. With Vaal haste and Onslaught I use this in breaches and it's incredibly effective, although the damage boost isn't really noticeable unless I'm bossing, it's still nice to know that it exists. I almost NEVER use this while mapping unless it's a 80% + monster life map

3L - Fortify - Faster Attacks - Whirling Blades
Defense and mobility is key. Makes you even tankier and with our attack speed you move really really fast.

3L - Increased Duration - Vaal Discipline - Vaal Haste

Defense and Mobility, is once again, key.

2L - Discipline and Wrath

2L - Cast when Damage Taken (11) - Enfeeble (14)

Low level CWDT for large packs in endgame maps and sometimes bosses, -27% damage dealt and reduces their accuracy, synergies with flask+fortify is crazy.

4L - CWDT (20) - Ice Golem (20) - Lightning Golem (20) - Immortal Call (1)

Setup is to have permanent golems as stat sticks, Immortal call is placed in here to survive incoming waves of burst damage from mobs such as Porcupine Goliaths since we cannot freeze them. Note: I have yet to die to Porcupine spikes killing me.

This is the gem section, I implore you to test out what you enjoy and come back and comment!

For Helm:
I'm using these 3, I like Lightning Golem for 15% attack speed but Blade Flurry 40% damage or 12% Radius works just as well. Wrath Aura reduction and work too I suppose but you'll have to figure that out on your own.


For boots:
You can use the Endgame Labyrinth Enchant, I now use for more consistency, if you use Kaom's Roots, get 16% attack speed on kill

For Gloves: I use Ire, but Thunder works too, do what's best, the weapon clone is fine as well. Whatever floats your boat. if you can find gloves that are corrupted with Ele Weakness on hit that's probably better

Helm - Look for High Energy Shield, Accuracy, Intelligence and Resistances

Chest - Look for Links, High Energy Shield, Resistances and Intelligence

Boots - Look for High Energy Shield, Resistances and Intelligence

Gloves - Look for High Energy Shield, Attack Speed, Intelligence and Resistances or Use Kaom's Roots or Valyrium

Rings - Look for Weapon Elemental Damage, Intelligence, Accuracy and Resistances and anything else you can get

Amulet - Look for High Intelligence, Dex/Str for other gems, and other stats to pad out what you're missing such as accuracy, WED or Resistances or even ES. Astramentis works really well and is a great Amulet, but you can find 90+ Int amulets for really cheap as well.

Belt - Look for High Energy Shield and Resistances - Do Not use Doryani's

Weapons - Look for good Rolled generally anything higher than 10% Increased Intelligence is considered decent, with 12% being excellent. Ignore Dex rolls.

Outside of your Unique Jewels you have several jewel options available to you.

You can use Emperor's Wit or Mastery but those are like 6ex+ a pop. So instead look for jewels with

Attack Speed, Attack Speed with Claws, Attack Speed while Dual Wielding, Lightning Damage, Area Damage, Melee Damage, Intelligence, Energy Shield or Resistances if you need them (like me) - Accuracy rating works too but isn't that great.