HC Quill Rain/EA, where do I go from here?

My current passives for 73:


Been doing lesser maps without any trouble, but I'm not sure what I should go for next.

There's the Duelist AS nodes, the Templar AoE/Elemental Damage nodes, Elemental Equilibrium, Minion Instability (for skele totem fun, and it's by Divine Toughness too). Skill points are starting to get sparse so any recommendations would be useful.

Current gear:

Get EE... It is the single largest damage boost you'll ever get.

EE seems really awkward with an ignite-based build though. As soon as the fuses explode, everything's +25% resists again. What's the best way of keeping EE on -fire?

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therestless wrote:

EE seems really awkward with an ignite-based build though. As soon as the fuses explode, everything's +25% resists again. What's the best way of keeping EE on -fire?

I'd love an answer to this question if anyone can. What's the best way to use EE w/ EA build.. Cold Snap first then EA everything or?

split arrow with any lightning damage item equipped, use chain so it will bounce through the packs. I personally hated EE, very awkward, and as or the burn, i dont think it effects EE.

Once i got to merc tho, docks was a PAIN in the ass, even with with fire curse but at the same time, loading up EE just felt annoying to me.


EDIT: Put LOH on the split arrow for heals(if you're blood magic)

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Xentec6 wrote:

split arrow with any lightning damage item equipped, use chain so it will bounce through the packs. I personally hated EE, very awkward, and as or the burn, i dont think it effects EE.

Once i got to merc tho, docks was a PAIN in the ass, even with with fire curse but at the same time, loading up EE just felt annoying to me.


EDIT: Put LOH on the split arrow for heals(if you're blood magic)

I went through a map that had EE as a mod to try it. Awkward is definitely the word for it. Used level 1 wrath aura for the trigger with chaining split arrow. Seems like the best sequence is open with Split Arrow>Stack EA>Curse>Split Arrow again soon as fuses go off.

Least enjoyable clear I've ever had. The additional time/effort for the return seems poor and I've yet to run into something so resistant that swapping the fire pen gem in (over +item quantity) didn't make it fine.

I can't imagine this is really the best way to go for damage considering the +elemental nodes in the templar area. My only worry with that route is I would probably not see another health node for the rest of this character's life, though I don't think I'm in a bad spot currently.

Though this is kind of a seperate issue, I really wish I could get concentrated effect in over faster attacks. Sadly, this would involve getting GRBBB on a pure dex item. Not something I've even attempted yet as even GGRBB seemed fairly lucky.

i just dont bother with EE, all that means is slower kills, but how much slower really? ill just live with casting curse, the play style with alot of run speed is easy enough as it is, tho i admitt fire resist mobs are annoying at times.

Despite what you say, I promise you that EE is the strongest.

The clear speed shouldn't be reduced too much... You already have to wait for the fuses to detonate.

The rotation is: Stack EA, Split Arrow, Curse ... <Explosion Occurs> ... Split Arrow once more.

On blue packs/rares/bosses, EE is tremendously strong. It may feel a bit wonky, but you definitely get used to it. Also, you're only level 73... I can't imagine you're doing many 70+ maps... Once you get there, and mobs have much larger health pools, you'll notice an even bigger difference.

What makes EE so strong is that it's a damage multiplier--one that's taken into account twice--since -resists means they take more initial damage and also more burn damage since the degen from the ignite is calculated against the fire resist of the mobs as well.

The other major benefit about EE is that you can pick and choose when to use it. That is, if you take the templar elemental nodes, you'll always be doing that extra damage. This can be a potential problem when facing reflect mobs. If you instead use EE, you can choose not to proc it before the initial explosion, meaning you take less reflected damage... And afterwards you can still apply it to get the increased burn damage.

EE really starts to shine when you use it with Flammability and Fire Pen because you can get all the mobs to negative fire resistance--meaning you'll be doing multiplicatively more damage--versus being unable to do so generally when you don't use EE. Also, EE still procs against curse immune mobs.

You mention using conc effect instead of faster attacks... I recommend using increased burn damage instead because it's safer versus reflect... Also, if you can 5/6L your carcass jack, you would only need 1 off color to replace faster attacks with conc effect (the red for fire pen) or 2 off color for replacing it with increased burn damage (a second red). I do have to agree though, getting 4/5 off color on Quill Rain is rather frustrating, but I've seen at least 2 or 3 6L Quill Rain's with the proper 5 off coloring. By my estimates, doing so would take, on average, somewhere in the range of 1000-2000 chromatics though.

Lastly, you mention using the item quantity gem... Just an fyi, the increase will only proc if you kill the mobs with the initial explosion (ie, if they die to the burn damage, the gem literally does nothing).

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Pastromy wrote:

On blue packs/rares/bosses, EE is tremendously strong. It may feel a bit wonky, but you definitely get used to it. Also, you're only level 73... I can't imagine you're doing many 70+ maps... Once you get there, and mobs have much larger health pools, you'll notice an even bigger difference.

What makes EE so strong is that it's a damage multiplier--one that's taken into account twice--since -resists means they take more initial damage and also more burn damage since the degen from the ignite is calculated against the fire resist of the mobs as well.

The other major benefit about EE is that you can pick and choose when to use it. That is, if you take the templar elemental nodes, you'll always be doing that extra damage. This can be a potential problem when facing reflect mobs. If you instead use EE, you can choose not to proc it before the initial explosion, meaning you take less reflected damage... And afterwards you can still apply it to get the increased burn damage.

EE really starts to shine when you use it with Flammability and Fire Pen because you can get all the mobs to negative fire resistance--meaning you'll be doing multiplicatively more damage--versus being unable to do so generally when you don't use EE. Also, EE still procs against curse immune mobs.

You mention using conc effect instead of faster attacks... I recommend using increased burn damage instead because it's safer versus reflect... Also, if you can 5/6L your carcass jack, you would only need 1 off color to replace faster attacks with conc effect (the red for fire pen) or 2 off color for replacing it with increased burn damage (a second red). I do have to agree though, getting 4/5 off color on Quill Rain is rather frustrating, but I've seen at least 2 or 3 6L Quill Rain's with the proper 5 off coloring. By my estimates, doing so would take, on average, somewhere in the range of 1000-2000 chromatics though.

Correct, I've been doing low level transmuted maps. This is as high a level as I've ever gotten so I'm being rather cautious. Incidentally, this means I'm not terribly flush with currency to get a different 5L or 6L.

I have kept an increased burn damage gem leveled so that's simple enough. I'll probably just leave fire pen in for convenience as most things I've found die pretty readily.

EE does make Divine Toughness more justifiable, which is nice.

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Pastromy wrote:

Lastly, you mention using the item quantity gem... Just an fyi, the increase will only proc if you kill the mobs with the initial explosion (ie, if they die to the burn damage, the gem literally does nothing).

This is a very disappointing find, though it does explain things. Seems like a bit of an oversight though.

Edit: Does this also hold true for anything that dies to the degen from Viper Strike/Poison Arrow?

Indeed... Degen effects don't get the benefit of iiq/iir gems, since they don't count as doing damage with the linked skill.