[3.19] CoC Ball Lightning Scion

Pros
-Viable for all content, including Uber bosses, wave 30 sims, and the feared invitation released all at once.
-Extremely high single target damage (100M+ DPS with min-max gear).
-Decent map clear in narrow maps (e.g. waste pool).

Cons
-Melee build.
-Map clearing in open maps isn't very good.
-Self-crafting is mandatory because no one is selling the gear you need for this build.

PoB
High budget: https://pastebin.com/mX5qRZRp
Lower budget: https://pastebin.com/XF4KUvXc

Videos
Map clearing & Drox (low budget)
Uber Sirus (mid budget)
Uber Maven (high budget)

How the Build Works
Spoiler

The main skill in this build is cyclone - cast on critical strike (CoC) - Ball lightning. You channel cyclone, and every time you crit, ball lightning is triggered.

In addition, we use Vortex as a support skill. Importantly, vortex is an instant spell, which means that you can cast it while channelling cyclone. Thus, the gameplay is smooth even though we use two active skills.

Doryani's Prototype

Nearby enemies' lightning res becomes -200%, which is very powerful.

Damage conversion

The downside of Doryani's Prototype is that you are weak against lightning damage. This build uses new rings to convert 50% of lightning damage from hits to fire and cold. The other 50% of lightning damage is taken as chaos by using the Divine Flesh keystone offered by Glorious Vanity. Thus, you take no lightning damage from hits, and only 50% from lightning DoTs.

Projectile speed

With the reflection mechanics introduced in 3.19, it is now possible to significantly reduce projectile speed of ball lightning. With the amulet and 20% reduced projectile speed from the passive tree, ball lightning can hit an enemy 13 times per cast/trigger.
I recommend you get at least 86% reduced projectile speed in total, although PoB says you need way less than that. The reason is that PoB assumes you are self-casting ball lightning, which isn't the case in this build.

Brittle ground

Enemies on brittle ground are brittled, increasing your base crit chance for both attacks and spells by +2%. We can actually get more than +3% base crit chance by taking some "increased effect of non-damage ailments" stats. Because your ball lightning's projectile speed is so slow, each ball lightning projectile hits an enemy 13 times even if you are standing (spinning) on top of the enemy (previously, you could not stand on top of the enemy to deal max damage). Thus, it is very easy to inflict brittle to your enemies.

Power Charge Generation
We need power charges to consistently trigger ball lightning. This build uses the Stormrider notable, which is offered by medium or large cluster jewels.
Stormrider grants you 10% chance to gain a power charge when you shock a chilled enemy. How do we inflict shock and chill on enemies? Because Ball lightning is a lightning spell, we can naturally shock enemies. To inflict chill, we use vortex. Vortex creates a chilling area, and enemies on it are chilled, regardless of their life. The chilling area can chill enemies even if you are wearing Doryani's Prototype, which makes you unable to deal cold damage.

Important Notes (Read this before playing this build!)
Spoiler

Because our damage source is ball lightning, you want to trigger it as often as possible. ball lightning is triggered when you crit with cyclone. This means that the attack rate and crit chance of cyclone are important factors that determines how often ball lightning is triggered. A high attack rate and crit chance allows you to trigger shock nova more often.

However, this does not mean that you want to make the cyclone attack rate as high as possible. The reason for this is that cast on critical strike (CoC) has a cooldown of 150 ms, which means that you want to attack less often than this cooldown. You might think the best attack rate is 1/0.15 = 6.66 per second, but this is incorrect. Every action in this game happens at a constant interval of 33 ms (1 server tick), and as a result, the cooldown of CoC behaves as if it is 165 (33*5) ms. With increased cooldown recovery rare (CDR) stats, you can reduce this cooldown. The summary is given below:

With 0-13% CDR, your optimal attack rate is 6.06 aps.
With 14-51% CDR, your optimal attack rate is 7.56.
WIth 52%+ CDR, your optimal attack rate is 10.1.

Note that there is no difference between, for example, 14% CDR and 20% CDR. Also keep in mind that the "9-12% cooldown recovery rate" crafting mod on belt has no effect if you don't have other sources of CDR since 12% CDR is the same as 0% CDR.

14% CDR is recommended when you start the build. 14% CDR can be obtained from belt alone, but due to the low price of awakened CoC gems in this league, the best option may be to buy the awakened gem. Level 3+ awakened CoC gives 14%+ CDR. Crit mastery in the passive tree gives +3 level to all crit gems (including CoC), so even a level 1 awakened CoC gem gives you more than 14% CDR.

For 52% CDR:
1) awakened CoC gem with the crit mastery: 31% (level 5), 34% (level 6)
2) boots implicit (up to 10%)
3) belt (up to 12% with crafted mod, up to 16% with unveiled mod, up to 20% with shaper/crusader mod)
4) abyss jewel

Read this reddit post if you want to understand the basics of CoC.

mana cost
Mana cost of CoC builds can be solved in two ways: (1) reduce the mana cost, and (2) use "gain x mana on hit". This build uses (1) because it not only solves the mana problem but also allow you to use wrath - divine blessing for (almost) free, which is a big damage boost.
Mana cost reduction can be obtained from:
-passive tree (15%)
-divergent inspiration (46% with the +3 level crit mastery)
-flask suffix (32% with 30% increased flask effect)
-jewel (up to 5% per jewel)
-ring/amulet (5%)

97-99% mana cost reduction is your goal. Don't get 100% or more because then you can't gain inspiration charges. Alternatively, you can use "-x to mana cost of non-channelling skills" craft on ring/amulet. This is an easier solution as you don't need as much mana cost reduction. However, you can't use the wrath/divine blessing setup, meaning you lose a lot of bossing dps.

ailment and stun immunity
You are immune to chill and stun because of the ascendancy node. Freeze immunity can be obtained from boots or pantheon. Shock immunity (kind of) can be obtained from pantheon (60% reduced effect) and gloves or rings (40% reduced effect).


Gear
Spoiler

Sceptre
Spoiler


Finding a good sceptre should be done carefully. I've seen a lot of people choosing a wrong sceptre. Read the following carefully, otherwise you'll make a big mistake.

Requirement of a good sceptre:

1) Appropriate attacks per second (aps)
2) High crit chance (crafted crit chance is fine)
3) (optional) spell damage, added lightning damage to spells, +1 to level of lighting gems, crit multi, chance to deal double damage


High crit chance is obvious because we need to crit with cyclone to trigger ball lightning. That said, T1 crit chance mod isn't necessary. Bench craft is good enough to cap your attack crit chance.
What is most confusing is appropriate aps. Summary of ideal aps is the folowing:

with 52%+ CDR, 1.9 aps
with 14%-51% CDR, 1.50-1.60 aps

First, you decide how much CDR you get. 52%+ CDR is more dps but also more expensive. Then look for a sceptre with appropriate attack rate. Don't buy/craft a sceptre before making sure how much CDR you get!

Don't use a sceptre whose aps is higher than you need. For example, my sceptre (1.90 aps) is amazing if you have 52% CDR, but it is a trash tier item if you have 0 or 14% CDR.

Crafting a sceptre for 52% CDR
High-bueget version

1. Buy a karui sceptre with a fractured T1 attack speed.
2. Spam spell damage essences until T1 added lightning damage (or +1 to all spell skill gems if you are lucky).
3. When necessary, use annul and exalted orbs so the sceptre has exactly 2 prefixes and 2 suffixes.
4. Craft "cannot roll attack modifiers", and use the nerfed aug lightning craft (add lightning, remove a random mod). This craft always adds +1 to lightning, but you have 50% to remove a prefix. If that happens, go back to stap 2.
5. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and use "reroll crit (harvest)". Look for good crit multi or crit chance. If you get one of them, craft the other one or chance to deal double damage. Alternatively, you can use veiled orb instead of reroll crit, which might be better, but I didn't think about it when I crafted mine.
Anyway, the removal of "reroll keeping prefixes/suffixes" means that there is a chance that the item is bricked and you have to go back to step 2.

Mid-bueget version

Follow the crafting steps described above except that you skip step 4. This also means that it is fine for prefixes to be full in step 3.

low-bueget version

1. Buy a base (Karui Sceptre or Grinning Fetish) with a fractured T1-2 crit or T1-2 AS mod.
2. Spam spell damage or attack speed essences until you get something useful on top of the essence mod.
3. Bench craft


Shield
Spoiler



Required stats in order of importance:
Elemental and chaos resistances until capped
life
spell (or lightning) damage
+1 to lightning gems
+2 to all max resistances
+3 to chaos resistances
other damage mods

Crafting:
Just buy a shield from the market unless you want an absolutely crazy shield.
The crafting procedure for theleft one is as follows (high budget):
1. buy an int base shield (ilvl 84+) with a fraftured +2 to all max res.
2. Spam life essences until T1-T2 spell (or lightning) damage rolls. Requires about 450 tries on average.
3. When necessary, use annul and exalted orbs until the shield has exactly 2 prefixes and 2 suffixes.
4. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and aug lightning "add lightning, remove a random mod".
5. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and use veiled chaos until you get something useful.


Helmet
Spoiler


Helmet is a good source of resistances and armour.
1. Buy an enchanted helm (armour base is ideal unless you want suppression)
2. Spam essences of the resist you need until you get good suffixes.
3. Finish the prefixes with eldritch currency.

Body armour
Spoiler


Core item for the build. You don't need the +2 level implicit for any content in the game.

Gloves
Spoiler


Gloves with just life and resistances are fine. Eventually, you want to use the incursion mod "cold res/increased damage against chilled enemies).

Boots
Spoiler


Life, movement speed, and resists. Both implicit mods are extremely important for this build. Don't forget to roll them!
crafting
1. Buy a pair of boots with a fractured life.
2. Spam essences of the resistance you need until you get good suffixes.
3. Craft "suffixes cannot be changed" and used veiled chaos.
4. Craft hybrid life/armour and talk to Jun to unveil an ms mod.

Belt
Spoiler


Life, armour (or %life), flask charge on crit, resists, CDR.
1. Buy a stygian vise with good life and armour (ideally 2 prefixes and 2 suffixes). Alternatively, spam armour essences to get similar one.
2. Annul until the belt has 2 prefixes and 1 suffix.
3. Fill the last prefix by a random bench craft mod.
4. Hunter exalted orb.
5. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and "reroll crit".
5. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and veiled chaos.
6. Close your eyes and exalt if the belt has only 1 suffix.
7. Craft CDR.


Amulet
Spoiler


Because we take almost no int from the tree, it is very important to get A LOT OF int from amulet.
My amulet has the all attributes mod, but if you don't have int from other items, the int from this amulet (80 + 24 = 104) may not be enough to use level 21 ball lightning. Thus, unless you have other sources of int (most likely jewel, but you can also get int from sceptre. see the sceptre section), use a T1 int mod instead of a T1 all attributes mod.

The reduced proj speed and -lightning res mods are core mods for the bulid and 100% essential.

crafting
1. Buy an amulet (Int base is recommended) with a fractured T1 all attributes or int, depending on your other items as explained above.
2. Scour and speed catalyst. Then regal.
3. Spam crit multi essences until a good fire/cold/lightning resist rolls.
4. If you got fire or cold res, convert it to lightning by harvest.
5. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and use a veiled chaos.
6. Make sure the amulet got only 1 prefix (veiled mod). Otherwise, go back to step 4 or yolo annul.
7. Craft a mana mod, and then talk to Jun to unveil. Choose the proj speed/proj damage hybrid mod. The chance for the proj mod to appear is high (more than 70% I think).
8. Remove the crafted mana mod. The resulting amulet should have the following mods

proj speed/proj damage
all attributes or int
crit multi
lightning res

9. Buy a lake with the Kalandra reflection tile. Minimum difficulty of the Kalandra tile required to get 66%+ reduced projectile speed is as follows:
Amulet with 25% projectile speed (before catalyst): 12 difficulty
Amulet with 24% projectile speed (before catalyst): 14 difficulty
Amulet with 23% projectile speed (before catalyst): I don't know, I guess you should divine it.

10. You have 1/3 chance to get an amulet you want.

anoint
There is no required anoint. Choose anything you like.


Ring
Spoiler



One of the rings must have -lightning res so you can get -200 lightning res.
Life gain on spell hit is very powerful for survivability.
crafting (Left one)
1. Buy 5 mirrored rings of the same implicit with ilvl of 82 or higher.
2. Sell them all to a vendor to get a non-mirrored one.
3. Use catalysts.
4. (optional) Split the ring by using a fractured fossil. Sell the copy or save it for future use.
5. Use the cheapest conqueror's exalted orb.
6. Harvest craft (change influence) to make it Shaper.
7. Spam life fossils until good life/life gain on spell hit/resists. You can also try aisling etc if you get decent but not perfect mods.

crafting (Right one)
1. Buy 5 mirrored rings of the same implicit with ilvl of 82 or higher.
2. Sell them all to a vendor to get a non-mirrored one.
3. Use catalysts.
4. Split the ring by using a fractured fossil. Sell the copy or save it for future use.
5. Spam crit multi essences until you get a good fire/cold/lightning res and a suffix that isn't too harmful when it is inverted by reflection. Note that you can always slam an exalt if there is an open suffix. If prefixes are filled, just yolo annul and get lucky.
6. Craft "prefixes cannot be changed" and veiled chaos.
7. Craft mana, then talk to Jun to unveil a life/mana regen hybrid mod.
8. remove the crafted mana.
9. If the ring has a fire or cold resist, convert it to lightning using the havest craft.
10. Buy a lake with the Kalandra reflection tile. The difficulty of the tile determines the multiplier of the mods. The multiplier is increased by 0.05 for each difficulty. For example:

Difficulty 10: x2.1 or x(-2.1)
Difficulty 12: x2.2 or x(-2.2)

You have 1/3 chance to get what you want.


Jewel
Spoiler

Rare jewels
Ideal rare jewels have a %increased life and 3 crit multi mods, but they are extremely expensive. More realistic option is to use jewels with %life and one or two crit multi mods. Of course, it is a good idea to get some resists (especially chaos res), int, attack speed, mana cost reduction etc. if you need them.

You need "corrupted blood cannot be inflicted on you" on one of your jewels. If your belt is stygian belt, an abyss jewel is the best place to get it. Abyss jewels can't roll too much crit multi, so the explicit mods on it is less impactful. I'd look for life, int, attack speed, or chaos res, depending on what I need.

Cluster jewels
See PoB for the full list of cluster jewels.
1. It is not necessary to use the sceptre large cluster for fortify. I leveled the character to 97 without fortify and I had no issues. You can replace it with a lighting large cluster with overshock and sadist notables.
2. You need at least one lightning large cluster jewel with stormrider and sadist notables. Sadist gives only 40% increased damage because you can't ignite with doryani's prototype. If you need more fire/cold res, you can also use prismatic heart insead of sadist. However, be careful that prismatic heart also gives +10% lightning res since you want to be always at -200% lightning res.
3. The flask medium cluster is essential. The projectile one is nice but not essential. Use it when you have enough passive points.


Flask
Spoiler


The mana cost reduction mod on the diamond flask is a core mod in the build. You always need it.

Skill gems
Spoiler

See the gear section and PoB.

Pantheon & Bandit
Spoiler

Bandit: Kill All.
Pantheon (Major): Solaris.
Pantheon (Minor): Garukhan for shock effect reduction. You can also choose the one that gives immunity to burning ground.







Last edited by N0esy on Sep 21, 2022, 11:11:32 AM
Last bumped on Apr 3, 2023, 3:06:52 PM
reserved
Awesome m8!
Spent the last few days crafting the gear and getting most of the pieces and have most of it done now. Tried some non-uber bosses and smoked them pretty quick. Definitely feels good playing the character but can be a little odd in some spots. Thanks for the guide and info, definitely taught me more about how to craft. Probably gonna work on a second set of boots so i can get immune to frozen as I didn't have a open suffix, but they came out super good.
"
Spent the last few days crafting the gear and getting most of the pieces and have most of it done now. Tried some non-uber bosses and smoked them pretty quick. Definitely feels good playing the character but can be a little odd in some spots. Thanks for the guide and info, definitely taught me more about how to craft. Probably gonna work on a second set of boots so i can get immune to frozen as I didn't have a open suffix, but they came out super good.

Good to hear that the build is working for you. The "cannot be frozen" mod on boots is a prefix, so don't waste your currency!
I definitely meant to say prefix, I was pretty tired when typing everything out. Crafted a bunch of double crit life jewels today and got some levels. Upgrades are definitely coming along. Thanks again for all the information :)
How are you leveling this build?
"
Tecken1407 wrote:
How are you leveling this build?

If you need help with leveling, there are a lot of guides for Scion builds. Pick one and follow it until level 80 or so, when you are ready to respec to this build.
N0esy is back, I confess that he always looks for his guides, and he always looks for CoC Ball Lightning on YT, and today I saw that there was a new video of this build and I was surprised when I saw the name of the channel.

Anyway, is there a possibility to use Chaos Inoculation again? The Mjölner version had less damage, but it had a lot of clear, I liked it a lot.
Got the shield crafted today, was super happy as it brought my damage up to 71mil, gotta reroll my helms resistances at some point so I can come off resistance on the shield. Also am saving up for the 2/2 corrupted chest. Been loving the build all around. Have every uber boss down with the exception to sirus as I haven't give it a run.

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