Sweep + Cast On Crit + Shock Nova - how to make it work

Disclaimer: THIS IS THEORYCRAFTING ONLY! I just don't have the Gems needed to do further testing.

Hey everyone,

so yeah, that's kinda my idea. Already tested, just to be sure it works. Also works with Fireball or Ice Spear, and the fun part here is that those projectiles seem to fly in the direction of the monster that took the crit. So, some further fun potential there...

But for now, i want to stick with Sweep + Shock Nova. I kinda have a love for spells that don't get too much attention, i love Melee characters and i always love the Nova Sorc in D2, so why not?

My question now is: how to make that work the most efficient way? As you all know (i assume), Sweep knocks back enemies, so that negates the negative drawback of Shock Nova to some extend.

Why not just make a Witch and cast Shock Nova directly you may ask? Well:

1. With knockback you can prevent monsters from standing in the center of the Nova, and therefore actually make the Spell work. Adding in the +knockback distance passive nodes should help here.
2. If you stand inside a pack of monsters and crit them, your Shock Nova actually can go off several times with one attack! I've thought it through, and with a high enough crit chance you should set off Nova ALOT, and alot quicker than what you should be able to do just my casting it manually.

The basics:

Obviously Templar, melee+spell damage = natural choice.
+AoE nodes to make BOTH core spells as effective as possible
Mostly +spelldamage, as Spells will be the main damage source. Sweep is just there to set off the Crit, nothing else.
Gear should consist of:
- ANY staff: as +damage doesn't matter, one could get some pretty sweet items that focus on Attack speed, Resist and all those things most people won't look for in a Staff
- Spell damage!

Gameplay in theory: Curse the enemy with some kind of weakness spell (mainly Conductivity), jump in with Lightning Warp, Enduring Cry, Sweep+Nova until everything's dead.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBBVuLjOFz7SCf3zwF73xG113GtQTkIilP7DgaOKeEkFXAGlSRZqD7ixb5iDidilnzrKpyqfcy-Ov_sATkQaoUcacwAeefy4Kb1XXMt_LOOtgt0iTh-0UX6rvtkc4UIFBHgzgUTaIA8B8EswJxfLvzcTzvrfG0-RhdGmydrqcI2CQ2xR8Cfq92EeTswbQEB5eVl_RSUz1fJ-0ZLtSPud3yL-8O51JUSV8_9kiMz1BQWGPG2A==

Theoretical build for now, just an idea, i'd love to hear some ideas on that!

My questions to the more experienced players out there:

1. If i link, say Increased Area of Effect, Increased Critical Strike and Multistrike to the already 3L (Sweep, Cast On Critical Strike, Shock Nova), will the additional gems ONLY affect the "main" skill i'm using (in this case, Sweep), or also Shock Nova? The gems i listed are only examples, i'm interested if ANY support gem will affect the gem that i want to cast on crit, or if they only affect the "main" skill.

2. Will the spell that is casted on crit consume mana? From everything i know it shouldn't, but i want to be sure.

3. Actually i'm not sure how to deal with Single Target Damage. Any thoughts?

4. Given this build actually might work, are there any notable uniques that could improve the build?

As Sweep is a very cheap spell, i should be able to run at least one Aura. Any suggestions? Haste and Determination seem natural choices, or even Clarity ...


So yeah.. that's it. Any thoughts are highly welcomed!

Please correct me, if i'm wrong!

"

1. If i link, say Increased Area of Effect, Increased Critical Strike and Multistrike to the already 3L (Sweep, Cast On Critical Strike, Shock Nova), will the additional gems ONLY affect the "main" skill i'm using (in this case, Sweep), or also Shock Nova? The gems i listed are only examples, i'm interested if ANY support gem will affect the gem that i want to cast on crit, or if they only affect the "main" skill.

Both, if possible --> Multistrike only affect Sweep (melee attack!) but Increased Area of Effect will affect both.

"

2. Will the spell that is casted on crit consume mana? From everything i know it shouldn't, but i want to be sure.

Yes, it costs mana; CoC has a 140% Mana Cost Multiplier --> Shock Nova @lvl20 (linked to CoC) costs 53,2 mana...and because CoC has the chance to cast separately for each enemy you scored a critical hit, you need a lot of Mana.

"

3. Actually i'm not sure how to deal with Single Target Damage. Any thoughts?

Heavy Strike

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4. Given this build actually might work, are there any notable uniques that could improve the build?

- Rat's Nest (helmet), inc Critical Chance
- Thief's Torment (ring), for the mana costs

The build idea is very interesting, but a life version doesn't work --> essential keynodes like Serpent Stance or EB are located near the Witch start, which has nearly no life nodes.

My attempt at a life based build (too many points used!):

I theorycrafted this a while ago shortly after trigger gem were released. After some tests i came with some conclusion.

-It's hard to get a decent attack speed with a templar build
-Also hard to get a decent enough crit chance to proc SN often
-Accuracy issus

The main problem is that sweep has a slow base attack speed not relative to the weapon you use, also it doesn't make as much hits as Cyclone/ST that are usualy used on CoC build (but that's not really a problem, those build beeing far to strong)

I came with that build :
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAnEEBwSzBVsUTRUgFvkZhRo4GmwfAiSqJ-0pTymlKk0snCzpMgk1kjbFNuk62DwFPC09Xz8nRtdKfUrITLNN2E4qUDBSU1SRVa5VxliuWfNbWVuvZk9moGegZ71sRm6qcmyBSYFvgziFfYd2iDiI8YuMjHaPRpBVl5WX9JuhnYqdrp48n7Sf36IApwinhKlurFmsqrI4tfK3PsAaxPbGrs9l0NDYJN0N4XPjauQi52PsOO0g7m_vfPAf89331_uL_MX-Cg==

With rat's nest, carcasse jack, and a spell to generate power charges (CwDT ice spear PCoC ?) you may be able to reach a decent crit chance.

Link would be : sweep+multistrike+CoC+SN+SN (faster attack or ele prolif for 6L)

"

Fleischtorte wrote:

Please correct me, if i'm wrong!

First mistake : The Spells casted in a CoC combo doesn't cost mana.

Second mistake : A life version of this build could work, even if it includes passives such as Serpent Stance.

To the OP : I think you shouldn't focus only on Shock Nova dps. If built right, you could deal decent damage with both Sweep and Shock Nova. I think its an excellent build idea btw.

If I had to do it, I'd use a staff with high elemental damage (ideally Lightning) and high local Crit chance. I'd also use the Wrath aura and possibly Anger too. I would then proceed to pick up lots of +elemental (or lightning) dmg nods.

In a 6L, I would use Sweep + Multistrike + Weapon Elemental damage + Cast on Crit + Concentrated Effect + Shock Nova.

But like mentionned by Papyrazzi, Sweep has an attack speed that is not dependant of the weapon itself, so it probably won't work very well with CoC because of the slow attack speed. You should probably consider using Ground Slam or Reave with a fast 1h weapon instead.

(Found this thread via search when having this idea)
So I disagree with CoC, but use it alternating in Theory(!):

I really like this topic in general, both spells seem to fit perfectly together, you just have to find a way to combine them.

Physical to Lightning + Elemental Nodes (+200% Elemental Damage from Tree), Makes Sweep strong aswell...
And Unique gloves that convert 25% Phys to Cold Damage.

I also thought about Elemental Equilibrium and either:
Sweep + Added Fire + ofc Knockback (Keep conversion gloves, but get rid of phys to light)
Shock Nova
Use alternating

or
FrostNova + Knockback
Shock Nova
Use Alternating

And of course Vengeance + Knockback... and/or Reckoning if you also use a shield.
You could also take TempestShield + Knockback.
(so afterall 4 ways to knockback)
With this the knockbacks will come very frequently and the Ele damage is very high.

or
Life/ES with Cast when stunned:
50% to avoid stun, but avoiding still triggers cws(!)
+ High Block Rate, High Block/Stun Recovery nodes
cws shocknova
Main Attack: Sweap + Knockback ofc supported with Elemental Damage from Nodes and Auras.
You need some Life from my experience to not get stunlocked with even high recovery nodes, although: haven't tested CI with shield builds,,, who knows!? The autotrigger damage is very high at least: Vengeance + knockback, + tempest shield, + shocknova, and sweep + knockback when you are not stunned lol I have seen a friend use cws successfully sometimes.