[Retired Thread] Wallach's Hierophant Holy Flame Totems (Old)

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ZidaneOrtef wrote:

Why would you use infused channeling it says totems do not gain infusion.

The gem does say totems don't gain the Infusion buff (though as I put in the bug report forum, visually at least it looks like they actually do in the case of Holy Flame Totem), but the 39% more damage and 8% less damage taken modifiers are fixed bonuses of the gem and not attached to the Infusion buff. So long as they're supporting a Channeled skill they'll confer those bonuses at all times.

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How do you think this build compare to Arc Totems in terms of clear speed and playstyle?

Is it smooth to play like Arc Totems?

I don't think I could say it is quite as smooth as that in the sense that Arc chains, which means totem placement is much less relevant. Enemies surrounding an Arc totem for example still all get hit by the same Arc chain, whereas Holy Flame Totem is firing in a cone in front of itself. Arc is pretty brainless in that sense and you spend very little thought to your totem placement. Holy Flame Totem wants you to consider it a bit more in terms of hitting more enemies (or getting the critical strike bonus from Consecrated Ground against bosses).

If you've ever played Glacial Cascade totems, I think it is more similar to that. Probably a little smoother in terms of clear in my experience so far.

Feel free to check out the Videos section on my Twitch channel if you want to skim through my leveling experience, it might help you decide.

Updated the guide a good bit. Will get more in depth for gear beyond what's in the PoB likely tomorrow, but what's already in there should give you a solid enough idea where you're going gear-wise.

Thank you for the build. It seems to be smooth for leveling, will see how it progresses further into end game.

So far so good, just made it to maps.
Any recommended uniques for this build? Aside from Essence Wurm?

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Gulch wrote:

So far so good, just made it to maps.
Any recommended uniques for this build? Aside from Essence Wurm?

Clear Mind jewel and Wise Oak flask are pretty much it, and even those aren't required (though quite handy). If some kind of synthesis base will reduce Herald of Ash mana reservation I may not even wind up keeping the Essence Worm in the endgame.

That said I haven't seen much of the new uniques so there may be something of note for us in the new league. Otherwise you're generally more concerned about Shaper bases than uniques; the Shaper chest and shield in particular are pretty big upgrades.

I've been doing this but with multiple totem support and a +1 totem shield.

Level 17 totem tooltip with all 6 totems is 20k. Health % mana regen is insane too.

Glad to see a holy flame totem build. I just threw one of thees together last night based on a different concept that uses stuff I had on hand.

I just cleared a level 14 map quite easily, so the damage is good (and my gems aren't all leveled yet).

Anyway, although I made some different choices I hope to get some useful ideas here.

edit: actually I lied above, it was a legacy sepulchre which is a 13. However, I had temporal chains and enfeeble, so it was a decent test.

Has anyone explored the following concept:

We used to use soul mantle with GC or other skills and then have to deal with the curses. I hated that and stopped using soul mantle quickly.

Now we have holy flame totems which eliminate curses.

We could use one kind of totem on soul mantle (not HFT though), and put HFT on, say, a 6-linked weapon. You would have to cast them alternately and stay near the HFTs to keep the curse immunity.

Might be a somewhat tricky playstyle, but the soul mantle buffs are pretty strong and I believe would partly apply to both totems.

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shrunn57 wrote:

Has anyone explored the following concept:

We used to use soul mantle with GC or other skills and then have to deal with the curses. I hated that and stopped using soul mantle quickly.

Now we have holy flame totems which eliminate curses.

We could use one kind of totem on soul mantle (not HFT though), and put HFT on, say, a 6-linked weapon. You would have to cast them alternately and stay near the HFTs to keep the curse immunity.

Might be a somewhat tricky playstyle, but the soul mantle buffs are pretty strong and I believe would partly apply to both totems.

Well, the primary reason to use Soul Mantle is that it comes with built in Spell Totem Support, so you're getting an effective 7-link with standard spells. That bonus won't really help us with Holy Flame Totem.

I think for the concept you're talking about it makes more sense to do it the other way around - put your primary damage spell totem in Soul Mantle (since it will operate as an effective 7-link) and then use a spare HFT to clear curses.

That said, I think Soul Mantle makes the most sense when you're doing something like dual Kikazaru rings and Self-Flagellation to turn the curses into a big damage boost.

Hft generates lots of little hits not one big hit, so ignites will suck. Why scale through ignite?