[3.2] Oni-Goroshi Molten Strike + Reave Chieftain [2 Million+ DPS, Easy Bosses]

[3.3 UPDATE]

Unfortunately I won't be updating this guide for 3.3, although I am sure it is still more than viable. I have been playing a new variant, the Oni-Goroshi Wild Strike + Molten Strike Slayer/Jugg Ascendant. These builds are pretty much the same, but I find the Ascendant version performs better. Feel free to check it out here:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2147564
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Figured i'd share a fun build I've been playing for most of the last few weeks of Bestiary.

I've played a ton of "high DPS" builds in the past several leagues to "end game", including pre-nerf HoWA, Wanderfinders, Cyclone Ngamahu, Bladeflurry, BladeVortex, Spectral Throw, Frost Blade characters... and I personally would say Molten Strike DESTROYS all these other abilities in overall Damage/Tankiness/FUN factor. (Excluding pre-nerf VP, of course!...)


PROS:
Spoiler

- FLAMING BALLS EVERYWHERE
- Huge Boss DPS
- High HP due to ability to use Kaom's Heart
- Pretty decent Dodge/Evasion with minimal investment
- 40% Accuracy on OniGoroshi makes hit% easier to obtain
- Maintains excellent mapclear with no gem/gear swapouts, besides weapon swap
- OniGoroshi damage scales very well with levels, and no 6-L required
- Low budget, high effectiveness, and can scale very well with exalt investments
- Does not require Xoph's Blood, still converts 100% Phys to Fire!
- Not another Jugg


CONS:
Spoiler

- Need to hit things to leech. CANNOT run "No Leech" maps.
- No regen/Less regen are still doable but much more annoying, I personally have to swap in a Karui life flask.
- Relatively low physical mitigation
- Possiblybetter as a Champion, if you have a high budget... Cause Champion OP


PATH OF BUILDING/SKILL TREE:
Spoiler
https://pastebin.com/Mcq8tsxy

Non-PoB Skill Tree:
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.1/AAAABAEDAAHcA9YGIAaiBsMNjQ48E6UUIBRNFHEUdRUgF9wYkRm0G6oiryP2JP0m8ygqLYMwcTB8MZ4xsDH7MgkyfjWSNug4UzpCOlI64T38R35KfUt4TZJN41BHUUdW-lcNWGNYr1uvXz9jF2VNZ6BoZWxGbztybHSgdct2rHbnd9d343gNePl-3X8rf-OCB4TZhVKGYId2i0-Mz419jbmNv5d5m2qkwqZXpqOpbq2NtfK5fryfvTa9YL6nwBrBB8YExtjI3Mv1z37SIdQj1FLXfti92WHZfNy93Q3dqOOf5FHnD-dU6mLvDvJB8kXzm_ZI_Ev9bv4K_o__3g==

Tree is for level 94.
Just drop some Scion life wheel nodes/other 5% life nodes if you are level 90. Still easily over 7K HP. If lower level, like 80, probably just drop some Jewel sockets (until you get really good jewels) or probably the "Berserking" nodes.

Note that Acrobatics / Phase Acrobatics is OPTIONAL AND PERSONAL PREFERENCE. You can save 6 skill points if you don't take those - put them towards more life, jewels, damage, whatever you like.

My reasoning is that, based on my gear (shitty armor gear) I don't have a lot of armor anyway. PoB says I lose 8% physical damage mitigation... but I GAIN 40% Dodge and 30% Spell Dodge. To me, this is way more worth it. If you have better armor gear (goliath greaves, bascinet, spiked gloves, etc.) you may want to just stick with armor and grab other nodes.

Vaal Pact is also an option for only 2 skill points. Up to you if you enjoy it for your playstyle. The loss of regen isn't a big deal, you gain 2000HP/S Leech versus 1200HP/S Leech. I tinkered with also picking up Hematophagy in addition to VP. It's actually pretty cool for "facetanking" targets - as long as you are hitting something, PoB says my positive HP/S is 3000. 3000 HP per second isn't pre-nerf instant Vaal Pact levels but it's still notbad!



EXPENSIVE?:
Spoiler
With level 92, somewhat average gear (spent total around 13-15ex), pretty shitty jewels, I'm currently sitting at 7900HP. So you can easily break 8k+ HP without GG/50Exalt/Mirror gear. It's a great change of gameplay for somebody like myself used to playing 5k HP Raider/Pathfinder FastPewPew builds. If I level to 93-94 i'll easily break 8k. Or upgrade one of my shittier jewels to include +flat life.

NOTE - The +3 Helm Enchant on Starkonja cost me 8ex by itself! It's a great DPS boost but NOT AT ALL REQUIRED for endgame content. So in reality, basic gear would cost about:

2x OniGoroshi (2.5ex)
Starkonja (1c)
Rares in All Slots (Figure 10c each for basic "decent" stuff, so 1-2ex total).
That's it! I would say a minimum of 3-4exalts will make this build feel good.
A 6-link Unique chest alone would cost way over this - benefit of OniGoroshi saving you a 6-link! (Kaom's chest is usually 2-3 exalt, far cheaper than most 6-link chests!)

NOTE - You can definitely do this build on a much smaller budget, I spent a lot on jewels, quality gems, lvl20/21 gems, optimizing gear/resists (cold/lightning are the same % for wise oak, etc.)

However, unless you plan to farm the Twilight Strand for hours for your own Oni-Goroshi, I would NOT recommend starting this on a low budget.

You need at least 1, preferably 2 Oni-Goroshi, each currently about 100c. Kaom's Heart is also 200-250c, but is definitely luxury and NOT required - You can get away with any rare armor with some good life/resists, since you don't really need the sockets. Just buy cheap 1-2c armor with great stats, use the sockets for another CWDT setup or something. Everything else in the build can be substituted with rares. The +3 helm enchant is not even required; I was still doing Guardian/Shapers well before getting the +3 helm.


Why OniGoroshi?

I wanted to try something else besides another Brutus Lead Sprinkler build, and OniGoroshi seemed like a fun concept. I actually borrowed a lot of ideas from Nathan Boulton's build, the OniGoroshi Blade Flurry Chieftain, credit to him! Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evaJOWcjbEc

Unfortunately I simply did not like BladeFlurry and the lower HP in his build, so I made some changes to switch to Molten Strike and grab more life nodes.

A big benefit of OniGoroshi over a BLS build is it counts as a 6-L... which means... KAOM'S HEART!

Also, the 40% Accuracy on Oni-Goroshi is often undervalued. With only a few items with +Accuracy, and minimal out-of-the-way investment on the tree for Accuracy, I'm sitting at 92~93% Hit Chance.

Another nice benefit of Molten Strike on Chieftain + Oni-Goroshi is that you don't require a Xoph's Heart (Easily saving you 7ex+). Oni-Goroshi provides excellent base physical damage, which not only allows for "Gain % of Phys as Fire" mods to shine, but easily converts 100% of your Physical into Fire without any fancy investments. You can scale +Phys%, +Flat Phys, +Ele%, +Fire%, +Flat Ele, +Sword% Dmg, +%Projectile Dmg, +%Melee Damage... everything helps!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I also wanted to take advantage of this awesome Ascendency:
Ngamahu, Flame's Advance ->
"Every 10 seconds, gain 70% of Physical Damage as extra Fire Damage for 3 seconds"
With something like BLS, you effectively do no Physical damage.

OniGoroshi has a TON of flat physical damage you get just from leveling.

Benefits to Chieftain:
+ Covered in Ash (20% More Damage!)
+ 10% Fire Penetration
+ 10% Strength (More life!)
+ Built in 50% Physical -> Fire Conversion, means you don't need Xoph's Blood or Avatar of Fire
+ 10% Physical Dmg taken as Fire Dmg
+ 100% Fire Resist (Completely ignore Fire Resist on gear! Makes capping easy, and can focus on more DPS stats on jewelry.)

And my personal favorite...
Ngamahu, Flame's Advance ->
"Every 10 seconds, gain 70% of Physical Damage as extra Fire Damage for 3 seconds"

This is something like 40% MORE+ damage for 3 seconds every 10 seconds. You really feel this when you're beating on something like Minotaur and his life suddenly goes from 50% to 0% in 3 seconds.


ONI GOROSHI:
Note that the OniGoroshi debuff is somewhat misunderstood. It does apply a "Righteous Fire-like" debuff to you, but it only lasts for 3 seconds. Without investing into any extra life regen, I easily outheal the degen with just basic leech (I still have net +1200hp/s, without VP).

So, why OniGoroshi over Brutus Sprinkler or other weapons?

When you IGNITE an enemy (which is practically every hit), you gain this buff:

HER EMBRACE:

Spoiler
Cannot be Stunned
123% of Sword Physical Damage gained as Extra Fire Damage
Unaffected by Burning Ground
Immune to Freeze, Chill and Ignite
20% increased Attack, Cast and Movement Speed

The big one here is 123% of Sword Physical Damage gained as Extra Fire Damage.
Stun immunity is great, too!

Basically, your damage will look like this:

100% Physical Damage -> Converted to 100% Fire Damage
123% Fire Damage (Extra from Her Embrace)
=
223% Fire Damage
+
70% Fire Damage every 10s for 3s

This is rough paper napkin math... but you are now doing nearly 300% total physical base damage as fire damage. Then stuff like Covered in Ash, Intimidate, Elemental Damage %'s etc kick in.




CURRENT GEAR [BSC]:
Spoiler


KAOMS is a big pro to using an OniGoroshi - since you don't need the 6-L in your bodypiece, you get a nice +500 Flat HP (and unlike most builds, the 40% Fire Damage on Kaoms actually HELPS YOUR BUILD!)

Starkonja is, obviously, always a great helm choice. But it's NOT REQUIRED.
In fact, a well-rolled Armor helm with the +3 Projectile enchant is just as good if not better (easier to cap resists, so you can focus on more DPS stats on rings/amulet/jewels etc.)
I would just grab whatever you can afford with +3 projectile enchant.

I initially grabbed a +3 Abyssus for first cheap (like 1ex) but was dying quite a lot more on bosses... It's absolutely fine on trash or if you don't mind exploding occasionally, and if you are on a budget, but I would change out the helm ASAP.

Boots/Gloves are FLEXIBLE.
You can use Kaom's Roots if you want more HP / Ignore Temp Chains, etc.
I personally prefer Tombfist - I LOVE these gloves. They are very underrated.

1) Permanent INTIMIDATE on your target. This is a flat 10% MORE damage multiplier, which you normally won't have. This STACKS with Covered in Ash for 30% MORE total damage.

2) Permanent MAIM on your target. Has no actual DPS benefit... but... keeping everything slowed helps kite/keep it away from you. I sometimes swap out Atziri Flask for Lion's Roar on trash/mapping, and trash never really even reaches me with Reave knocking it all away/maiming them.

3) 2 more Abyss Jewels - Self explanatory... Abyss jewels are OP. Get +Flat Life & DMG Rolls

4) Still has % Max Life and % Attack Speed... two of the most important mods you want on a rare glove, anyway!


****** BIG NOTE

It's often undervalued, but get a jewel with 4% Chance to Blind Enemies on Attacks
This is MASSIVE.
The fact that you are throwing out 40+ balls per second means your chances of your target being blinded every second is practically guaranteed. Plus blind lasts 4 seconds. There's absolutely NO way your target isn't permanently blinded with this 1 mod on a jewel.

I notice this instantly on targets like Minotaur.
When I first engage, he hits me quite often. But after I swing and a chunk of balls land, I facetank him the ENTIRE time with almost ALL hits missing me.

This is because I have:

40% Dodge
58% Evasion when my target is Blinded.

Blind is great on bosses - totally worth 1 mod roll on 1 jewel.

Want MORE DPS?
Next big investment would be a Watcher's Eye with 2x ANGER mods. Obviously these are pretty pricey, but you can snag some 2-mod ones for like 10-15ex. A Crit Multiplier and Extra Phys to Fire or Fire Penetration would be ridiculous DPS increases, and come with some extra %life.



SKILLS:
Spoiler

6L: Molten + Multistrike + Elemental Damage + Chance to Ignite + Conc Effect + Fire Penetration
(If not bossing, and only mapping, Immolate may provide more DPS than Fire Pen)

6L: Reave + Multistrike + Elemental Damage + Chance to Ignite + Increased AoE + Melee Physical

(You'll notice both Molten/Reave setups are quite similar. You can easily swap the gem setup for Frost Blades, Spectral Throw, Wild Strike, Flicker, etc.)

4L: Whirling Blades, Faster Attacks, Fortify, LeapSlam/Blood Magic (Take your pick)

With Tombfist:
2L: Anger, Herald of Ash

3L: CWDT + Golem of Choice + Flammability
1L: Ancestral Protector

Note that the CWDT Flammability is a very minimal DPS increase on bosses, since it will effectively always be up on the boss when he hits you. Obviously not the best way to apply curses, but curses are weak anyway, so it's completely optional if you want to swap it out for something like Immortal Call, Vortex, or Molten Shell.

Ancestral Protector is used only for bosses, huge attack speed boost = more balls!

Without Tombfist:

4L: Anger, Herald of Ash, Orb of Storms, PCoC (Max Boss Damage)
or
4L: Anger, Herald of Ash, Enduring Cry, Ancestral Protector (This gives you a 4-Link CWDT you can play around with, can run the standard CWDT + Golem + IC + Inc Duration)

***NOTE -
I chose to fit in a Blood Rage using an Unset ring. This is optional, but definitely feels quite nice if you can fit it into your build. You can even drop the FLAMMABILITY on the CWDT to slot in Blood Rage. Or you could drop the CWDT + Golem and selfcast Golem... up to you.

Blood Rage is excellent on trash/bosses, as it provides attack speed, and 100% uptime of 3 Frenzy charges on trash. Gives you a considerable damage boost for clearing. The degen is a nonfactor.



BANDITS:
Spoiler

I prefer +2 skill points, but Alira is an excellent acceptable option, and starting off will help you cap resists. Crit multiplier is a strong stat.


PANTHEONS:
Spoiler

Using Arakali because it synergizes very well with the OniGoroshi debuff.
Reduces the degen damage, and the extra regen it provides after the 3s "Her Embrace" debuff drops helps top you off. The shock reduction is helpful too as we aren't immune and I don't run a shock flask.

Minor pantheon is preference, doesn't matter too much. I use Tukohama because, chances are, you are stationary slamming your BALLS into your target - so 8% physical reduction and 2% health regen isn't too bad.


MATHS:
Spoiler

Going to keep this section short, may expand on it later.

MOLTEN STRIKE ON SHAPER/BOSS DPS:

Each ball does 55,130 average hit damage.
I throw 10 balls per hit (or 12 with Dying Sun)
I attack 4.12 times per second

That's about 41 balls per second (or 49 with Dying Sun)

With a THEORETICAL assumption that all 41 balls hit the boss, this is:
2,260,000 DPS
+
319,000 DPS Melee Hit of Molten Strike

TOTAL: 2.58 Million DPS


Obviously this is the high-end extreme, since it's unlikely every single ball will be hitting your target... but against a nonmoving target, a good amount will hit. Even if HALF your balls don't hit, you are still putting out nearly 1.5 Million DPS - plenty for all content.



CLEARING MAPS?
Spoiler
I use Reave and it works very well. I farm T15/T16 maps and trash is not a problem. I still switch to Molten Strike for stuff like Abyss cracks, to down the rares quick - or rare/red beasts.

I imagine any skill you want for trash will work fine - Trash dies fast anyway, so use what skill you enjoy - the majority of this build's damage is from OniGoroshi, so ANY skill will likely work.

Suggestions:
Frost Blades
Spectral Throw
Wild Strike
Flicker (Quite strong/fast clear with Ancestral Call... may experience seizures)
Sunder?

You can even just use a secondary Molten Strike setup if you like. Just use ANCESTRAL CALL + Increased AoE for more coverage.



May add more info/post some videos next weekend if there's interest and time permits.
Hopefully this gives some people a fun build to try or helps provide some thought into your own build(s).
Cospri CoC Cold->Fire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2576559
Divine Ire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2459778
Last edited by KooperT on Jun 11, 2018, 11:53:35 AM
Last bumped on Jun 21, 2018, 2:17:35 PM
Thank you very much.

I had the Onis and the Kaom, bought your recommended Tombfist, filled up the other slots with trash lying around and went your tree until lvl 80 (let's see what I do with the last stats) only to level the needed gems and ...
GREAT, works well, again thanks
"
kaploink wrote:
Thank you very much.

I had the Onis and the Kaom, bought your recommended Tombfist, filled up the other slots with trash lying around and went your tree until lvl 80 (let's see what I do with the last stats) only to level the needed gems and ...
GREAT, works well, again thanks


Glad to hear!
I personally just bought all my gems lvl19 or 20 corrupted 20 quality, they are usually pretty cheap since there's so many people running lab/corrupting for lvl21's etc.

Tombfist is definitely a widely underrated Unique. I know many people prefer Gripped/Spiked gloves, but unless you really need a Rare glove for resists, I feel that Tombfist is almost always better for DPS. If you can score 2 expensive jewels with high +flat life, it's probably even better for overall total life than a rare glove.

10% "MORE" damage from Intimidate is a LOT - and the only other item I can think of that grants this is Belt of the Deceiver. Otherwise, the only easy access to Intimidate is being a Champion. Having 2 extra Abyss jewels to play around with also means you can supplement resists if necessary (pretty easy to find jewels with "+10% To All Resists" and "+12% to Fire/Cold etc." for a total of 54% resists per jewel, maybe even with an extra life/DPS roll.

Cospri CoC Cold->Fire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2576559
Divine Ire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2459778
Last edited by KooperT on Mar 31, 2018, 12:30:21 PM
Thanks for the build. I've been playing with it and really enjoy it.

My one question is if it is beneficial to swap ancestral call in with any of other other support gems on molten strike setup for more damage? with correct position in relation to boss it will result in more balls.
I haven't tested but I imagine it would be a personal preference/playstyle option.

Without Ancestral Call, I already do more than enough DPS to delete Guardians in like 5-10s and Shaper doesn't even really get to swing at me...

You probably would do more damage with the ancestral call target-the-ground trick... but personally i'm not a fan of the gimmicky aspect, and the fact you might misclick/click the boss by mistake etc. especially if you're whirling blades around to avoid stuff.

I'd probably attempt dropping Chance to Ignite and see if you still have 100% uptime of "Her Embrace" through crit/ignites.
Cospri CoC Cold->Fire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2576559
Divine Ire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2459778
Hey - switched to ur build at level 71 and have some real mana issues. I dont see what i missed :/ u have any advice?

THX
"
DocFarming wrote:
Hey - switched to ur build at level 71 and have some real mana issues. I dont see what i missed :/ u have any advice?

THX


You are probably missing the 1 point in the "Mana Leech" node over on the right side of the tree between Herbalism and Primevil Force.

Any attack build not utilizing Warlords Mark needs at least one 0.4% mana leech node to sustain. However, you really only need one. 0.4% may not sound like a lot but when you hit for like 10000 or whatever, it's enough to essentially fill your mana pool several times over. So as long as you are hitting things you won't run out.
Cospri CoC Cold->Fire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2576559
Divine Ire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2459778
I've been running this build and having a blast. I'm level 71 now and my damage is insane. I've done up to Merciless lab and I have a question about life leech. I invested in some life leech nodes early on to balance the oni. Will I be ok to respect these once I do Uber Lab?
"
thetrashboat wrote:
I've been running this build and having a blast. I'm level 71 now and my damage is insane. I've done up to Merciless lab and I have a question about life leech. I invested in some life leech nodes early on to balance the oni. Will I be ok to respect these once I do Uber Lab?


Don't see why not. I did not need any lifeleech nodes on the tree whatsoever. The 1% from ascendancy is more than enough to hit the leech cap, since damage is so high.

Arakali pantheon is extremely strong too.
Cospri CoC Cold->Fire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2576559
Divine Ire Trickster:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2459778
"
KooperT wrote:
"
thetrashboat wrote:
I've been running this build and having a blast. I'm level 71 now and my damage is insane. I've done up to Merciless lab and I have a question about life leech. I invested in some life leech nodes early on to balance the oni. Will I be ok to respect these once I do Uber Lab?


Don't see why not. I did not need any lifeleech nodes on the tree whatsoever. The 1% from ascendancy is more than enough to hit the leech cap, since damage is so high.

Arakali pantheon is extremely strong too.


Thanks for the reply. I respec'd the life leech nodes and I'm completely fine now with the ascendency. This is a really fun build. Thanks again!

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