EB/MOM Self Cast Storm Call; would like some passive tree critique.

Hello! I'm still fairly new but I'm interested in making a Storm Call self caster build. I've looked at a few builds but they're mostly Witch, Templar, or some totem spec and they just don't really float my boat and I also don't really want to deal with Power/Endurance charges. The plan is to grab a Cloak of Defiance when I hit the required level and a Saffell's Frame if I can afford it(I probably can't), but I'm not sure if there are other uniques worth grabbing to complement the build? My knowledge of uniques in this game is pretty poor and being actually poor doesn't help either! The idea is to be able to run Clarity, Arctic Armor, Discipline, and Purity of Lightning(or of Elements?) with the 3 auras linked to a Reduce Mana gem while using Conductivity and Storm Call offensively. Then probably Molten Shell with CWDT later on.

85 Point Build

I mainly want to pick up Eldritch Battery + Static Blows + Reduced Mana Reserved. Secondary goals include: Mana, Mana/HP, Increased Aura Effects, and Increased Effects of Buffs. Future points go into filling in HP nodes mostly, as I'm not sure what else to go for. The immediate problem I see with the tree is the hardcore lack of STR and DEX nodes, but I can easily grab 30STR x2 and 30DEX x2 nodes for one point each.

Now I have a few questions.

How do you think this passive tree holds up? Is it efficient?

Are 3 points for Hex Master worth taking?

Do I need to pick up more mana/mana regen nodes to keep Arctic Armor up?

Is Blast Radius a core node to take? I see a lot of people picking it up, which is why I decided to pick it up in my tree.

Alternatively, right above the Scion starting area, I could drop the 36% ES nodes for 9% cast speed and 18% spell damage. While the cast speed isn't too big of a factor in Storm Call, the spell damage is tempting. Do I lack damage nodes?

Any nearby nodes that you would recommend? I'm not familiar with the entire tree, and this is my first Scion build!

And any general comments and helpful hints are appreciated! This is a pretty casual build and the goal is to make it to Act3 Merciless without dying more than a dozen times(while blowing things up!). (:

Well, no responses, so I'll just turn this into a short journal of my experiences with this build. Just hit level 50, 2 levels shy of equipping Cloak of Defiance!

The current passive tree looks like this:

(Yes, I know, I need to pick up some damn HP nodes.) The starter area looks a little different than I had planned; I decided to grab the spell power nodes instead of working around energy shield for the Path of the Savant node. I'm working on finishing the Aura Effect nodes on the left, picking up Holy Strength + Purity of Flesh, and then filling out those 6%HP/8%Mana nodes along the left and right paths. I then may want to head north to the Deep Thoughts node near the very top. I don't think I can pick up Eldritch Battery anytime soon because I realized my health is at a measly ~600 and using my Discipline for a total of ~600 energy shield is indispensable at the moment.

The good news is that I'm running Clarity, Purity of Elements, and Discipline with plenty of mana left over. I can't keep Arctic Armor running ALL the time running from mob pack to mob pack, but I can keep it on during fights and kiting sessions! My mana regen is somewhere around ~120 whereas Arctic Armor is draining at about ~140, so I'm close to balancing out the regen/drain. And this is without Eldritch Battery + Discipline conversion, so I'm also thinking about potentially not taking Eldritch Battery at all.. Keeping Discipline for the energy shield and maybe even running Haste on top when my Reduced Mana gem gets high enough.

Current Gear:

Obtained Goal Gear:


The current gear isn't anything special. I found the belt which has been helping a lot with STR and DEX requirements. I bought the gloves at 1c which is quite awesome. My boots suck; I think I'm using them solely for the STR gain at the moment. My armor also sucks, but I found it off Dominus and am a little proud of it, so I'm wearing it until I reach 52 for Cloak of Defiance. I also got the amulet at 1c which, in my opinion, has been the most game-changing gear buy! I got it pretty late at level 30 or so, but the last 20 levels has breezed by thanks to this amazing amulet's max mana and mana regen to keep Arctic Armor going most of the time. The reduced stat requirement is exactly what I needed to keep my Arctic Armor and Reduced Mana gems up to snuff, and it'll help level my Haste gem while I decide if it'll be worth actually using.

Leveling with Purity of Elements really helps; I've been gearing toward getting lightning + cold resists up to 75% with Purity of Elements and let Arctic Armor take care of fire damage and so far it's been working. I don't quite need the max resists yet, but I think I'll switch to Purity of Ice + Purity of Lightning later on in Merciless+.

The wand I picked up at 1c as well and I think it's a pretty good buy, being lightning and all. I was also entertaining the idea of TWO Moonsorrows for the extra damage, but then again high spell power stats do spawn on shields. Ideally, though, Divinarius is probably the better fit later on(but holy crap are they expensive). The Cloak of Defiance was the cheapest I could find at a decent price. It came with one slot so I had to gamble a few Jeweler's and Fusing's. It's kind of decent, I guess?

Wishlist for build:

Update! I really deviated from my original plan! I'm now just MoM+Aura defensive Storm Caller. I decided I didn't really like the idea of using Discipline to increase my mana pool, so I'm running Clarity, Haste, and Purity of Ice+Lightning as my main setup. This brings me to ~120% Cast Speed with Storm Call! Depending on the support gem setup, Storm Call is either 900 or 1400 damage before Conductivity and Lightning Penetration, with a 25% chance to shock or ~38% after Conductivity.

Current Passive Tree, Level 76:


I went down the left side for that +2% Maximum Elemental Resist node, which I'm not sure if it was worth it, but I do like that my resists are now at 82/87/87/-8. I also decided to drop the Witch area entirely, going into the Shadow starter area for Cast Speed and +5% Shock, and trailing over to the far right side to pick up the entire Acrobatics area. I realized that I don't have much armor nor ES, so I feel that the dodge may be a good way to further increase my survivability. I currently only have 1400 or so armor, but I haven't picked up Acrobatics yet, but once I do, I will be switching my armor gears into evasion instead. Once I have Acrobatics covered, I will be swinging down from that area to pick up Ondar's Guile and then filling out HP nodes wherever available.

Passive Tree Goal:


Some more questions I have:
Is the 16% Chaos Resist node between Witch and Shadow worth 1 pt?
Is the Herbalism node near Ondar's Guile worth picking up for 1 pt?
Is the 3rd Chaos+HP node at the top left worth picking up for 1 pt?
Is the Shadow starter area 16hp/16mana node better or worse than an 8%hp?
Are there anything else I should get? I could potentially drop some cast speed nodes.

My current gear setup:


Explanation: Storm Call is normally linked to: Added Lightning Damage, Lightning Penetration, Faster Cast Speed, and Elemental Proliferation for ~900 damage per cast. With Haste, I get ~120% cast speed which is about ~8 casts during each detonation. I'm also leveling a Concentrated Effect and Increased Area of Effect that I can swap in for ~1400 per cast, but I like the shock spread and extra speed for now.

My boots and helm host my aura setup depending on what I need. Boots are RGGB for Reduced Mana, Haste, Purity of Ice+Lightning. When I swap the gems to my helm, I get RGBB for Reduced Mana, Haste, Discipline(which I will probably stop using due to Acrobatics), and Purity of Elements. I've been leveling a Grace gem in case I want to replace my Haste with it for higher damage areas(Especially after I've picked up Acrobatics and Ondar's Guile.

My Helm, Gloves, and Belt are my major sources of armor. Although not amazing, I think they're doing the job okay. They'll be replaced with better pieces once I've picked up Acrobatics(which I want to do in one big swoop).

The CWDT setup is in the wand so it can make use of the free Blind, but I don't think it makes too much of a difference. I was thinking though that I may want a level 1 CWDT setup instead since I'll be forgoing armor. Not sure yet!

I have ~2k hp, ~1400 armor, 82/87/87/-8 resists, ~350 unreserved mana, ~290 mana regen/sec, and have no problems keeping up Arctic Armor 100% at all times. The problem is that the MoM passive is probably not always working at maximum efficiency, but so far I think it's not too shabby.

Thanks for reading~! Comments/suggestions/advice always welcome.