[New league][HC] Flame Totem MF'er Solo/Group

Alright, I am probably not the only one waiting for the new leagues to start. And while waiting I've been trying to think of my first character. I want it to be able to farm for currency while still be able to do maps and group up. I chose to use Flame Totem as it can do potential give fine damage for soloing bosses and still really sick culler spell in groups.

As for now, we don't know if any changes gonna be made towards MF or our chosen spell Flame Totem and last - the passive tree. So take that in mind.

But my self think this is a very viable build and like to share it to the community. (please give me any feedback you may have)


First of...

Lets take a look at the passive tree



This is how I am thinking of progressing through the passive tree... Now! - Flame Totem is not viable to level with so let's see what else there is to use.

(But pick/buy your way to the needed skills/supports asap for leveling)

We want a skill that is easy to scale/safe to use - as for my experience it would be either EK, ST, FP, FB - but in the end, it comes down to what you prefer to level with and easy to get. I myself will probably choose ST as it is easy and safe to use - and when I start pick up fire / spell nodes then switch ST out with FB (that you of cause leveled up when you could)

Now we got Ancestral Bond and ready to transit into Dual Flame Totem! YEAH!

Well, I don't think there is any must have gear - but myself really want to get a heartbreaker so I don't need to use a gem spot for culling strike. Rest is up to you, how much you think you can sacrifice for IIR/IIQ and still remains full resist capped. I would say atleast 4k life (for hardcore players)

Good picks could be:

Wheel of the stormsail
Rathpit
Aurseize
Goldwyrm
Perandus
Andvarius

OBS: But don't choose IIR/IIQ over survivability

Try find a EV/AR chest as the gem colors would be easier to match (RRGGBB)


Gem setup

5 -/ 6 Link : Flame Totem - LMP/GMP - Faster Casting - Fire Pen - Faster Projectiles - Rarity ( you can swap FP for Rarity if you want) Level a Chaos damage to swap for rarity whenever needed.

Auras: Reduced Mana (I will level all these and switch for situations) Grace, Purity of Elements, Purity of Cold, Purity of Fire, Vitality.

CWDT: Do what fits you, I will choose Enduring Cry, Immortal Call

As for curse use Flammability and Enfeeble

Put in a warp with reduced duration and faster casting if you like it.


So this is my build for the new leagues. There is probably a lot of mistakes I havn't found, so please make a comment if you have anything to say about it.

EDIT: Flame Totem is viable to level with if you wanna. But I would say taking one of the other written, would improve the leveling speed.

Thanks

Flame totem not viable for lvling?? Have you even tried?? I did self found flame totem build on my last char.. Did just fine.. Just saying :)

flame totem has a cast time of 0.08 seconds (12.5 casts per second) and can crit as well. It crits the most among any spell (except ice spear maybe), and I've seen it crit a lot with even 5% crit chance. I think by not taking crit nodes and crit gear ur missing out on a lot of xtra dps.

@TAgames, yes I have actually... and yes it can easly be leveled with. But I think it is a lot easier with ST/FB :) plus I won't get dual totem before late (around 70)


@nightblade157, thought about going for the crit and burn nodes instead. But as a single crit from Flame Totem is coming with a low end damage, the crit would not be that big + it cannot stack. So I think it would be more damage to go for pure fire and the extra crit I get is just a bonus.

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nightblade157 wrote:

flame totem has a cast time of 0.08 seconds (12.5 casts per second)

That is no longer the case. The unofficial wiki hasn't updated, but if you scroll down, you will see patch notes/changes regarding flame totem. It only hits 5 times a second now normally.

I did run Flame Totem for quite a long time in Domination. You need some alternative skills to deal with Lightning Thorn, and some way to deal with the mana cost. Can't check your build right now cuz on phone, but those 2 are the main problem when using Flame Totem.

I will have fair amount of Mana/ Mana regen as I'm going for EB... though I forgot to put in clarity, but that will not be a problem to use. I will be pretty sure I will be able to get around 200 mana per sec. How much is a 5linked Flame Totem ?