CI Molten Shell Witch Build With Videos [Patch 1.1 Update]

Videos
All videos here are pre-patch.
My map pool was pretty garbage at release and I've been playing on ambush so... From testing some low maps the build still works just fine, but I now have less burst damage and higher survivability than what you see here. Damage is also considerably more consistent with slightly altered links.

Double Piety
Spoiler
Slow fight, but I think out of the "difficult" bosses she is one of the easier ones. Have yet to kill torture chamber boss or palace dominus.

Academy
Courtyard
Spoiler
First 78 map and it rolled really easy mods for me... Was a little scared of the bosses, but the damage is not as spikey as I thought it would be.

Poorjoy's Asylum
Spoiler
I did go back and clear the map with 1 monster remaining, took an extra ~15 minutes not counting the 10 minutes of just sorting through loot... Ended up a few chaos worth of drops and 3 bars of exp ahead of when I started, and a slight upgrade for my belt.

Unid Strand Map
Museum Double Boss
Collonade Run
Jungle Valley+Double Boss
Vuln+Extra Damage Jungle Valley Boss
Level 67 Map Run (old)


Patch 1.1 Update.

Pros/Cons
+Fast solo clearspeed. High burning damage can wipe an entire screen nearly instantly.
+Tanky. High block, and we heal when hit.
+Desync-proof.
+No expensive uniques required (my gear cost about 14 ex, half of which was my chest).
~Very lazy build. Gameplay consists of running into large groups of enemies and watching them kill themselves... Which may or may not be entertaining for you.
-Killspeed can be inconsistent. If enemies do not hit hard enough or fast enough, damage output will decrease accordingly.
-Slow movement speed. I use double quicksilvers just to feel like I am running at a normal pace.
-While being stunlocked can drastically increase our damage, it can also be very dangerous if we aren't tanky enough for the situation.


Core Build

Current Tree
Spoiler
-Going for inner force rather than the two 8% aura nodes near sovereignty will give us slightly more es and life regen. However, it will not grant an extra %block from tempest shield, or another 1% max res from purity of fire. If I somehow had enough points I would get both though.
-The random accuracy node is to meet firetrap dex requirements... And of course the shield resist nodes may or may not be needed depending on your gear level.


1.0.6 Crit Build

Current Gear


I do not consider any specific uniques to be essential, but the rathpith+anvil combo is really strong, and we save a lot of points going for a +1 curse unique rather than the passive.

Goodbye surgeons flasks...Not that I used them much anyways.
Didn't manage to get my hands on a saffel's frame before the patch hit, but that would be the ideal weapon swap to pair with ephemeral edge for reflect immunity and bosses like dominus.


Notable stats:

-7.7k es.
-2.1k armor without molten shell.
-8k molten shell tooltip, 2.2k firetrap and 900 tempest shield.
-68/46 block/spell block.

Gem Setup

Current Setup

[Q]Molten Shell > Life Leech > Prolif > Cast When Stunned > [Q]Fireball/Arc
-Huge base damage but tiny aoe, I scale this with burn+prolif and it deals the bulk of my damage in most situations. Manual casting is a pain in the ass. The build finally started to come together when I changed this skill into a proc.
-Fireball has higher damage consistency against non-physical mobs and generally weaker enemies. Arc leads to higher shock consitency and EE procs, resulting in bigger burst from molten shell. If I had a 6l I would add in firepen.

Tempest Shield > Life Leech > [Q]Added Lightning > Reduced Mana
-Negates most small hits and deals decent amount of damage. Can easily destroy mobs like doge and tittybitches which will most likely heal you in the process.

[Q]Shock Nova > Prolif > Life Leech > Cast When Stunned
-Great quality bonus and high base damage allows it to shockstack most mobs fairly quickly.

Fire Trap > Chance to Ignite > Elemental Proliferation/Conc Effect
-My main damage dealer vs non-physical mobs and single targets.

Discipline > Reduced Mana > Vitality/Purity of Fire
-Vitality up 90% of the time, PoF for ele reflect and -max/ele weakness maps. Ruby flask deals with ele reflect rares.

Eleweakness > Cast When Damage Taken > Flammability/Enfeeble > Enduring Cry
-Rarely use enfeeble except for bad map mod+boss combinations.

[Q]Ice Nova
-Used to trigger EE.

Notable Untested Skills:
-Firestorm
-Searing Bond
-Stormcall


Thanks for reading.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Last edited by Seinfire on Mar 11, 2014, 1:18:33 PM
Bump.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Updated.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Maybe this could help a little bit: Self-cast Storm Call, CI, CwS, high block build makes extensive use of cast when stunned.

BTW the molten shell build that is linked in the witch builds list is not very good imho (don't think it's viable). So feel free to ignore it:)
Thanks for the response, although he is using cws defensively whereas I want to use it more for the damage.

I may try stormcall once i can sustain the mana though.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Updated.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Just to make sure: Whenever you block an attack that would have stunned you, cast when stunned will trigger nevertheless, although you don't take any damage (i guess the blocking animation counts as stun). So is there a considerable difference in how often CwS triggers whether you wear a shield or not?

The "stagger" annimation on block is considered stun and will trgger all on stun effects. As further proof to that i can add that Unwavering stance will make you immune to that annimation.
"I'm going to show you pain you never knew existed, you're going to see a whole new spectrum of pain!!!!! Like a RAINBOW!"
Updated.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Updated.
My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1629242
Last edited by Seinfire on Mar 11, 2014, 12:23:51 PM

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