(1.3) Budget Life Freezing Pulse Witch (HC)

UPDATED FOR 1.3

Hey-o,

So to start us off I'd like to say my intention for this build is for it to be affordable and really easy to run as a first character or on a new league. I am very aware that crit builds are more desirable due to the higher dps and freeze chance they provide, but they also cost a lot of currency to build and as a hardcore player I feel you just sacrifice too many defensive points to make it effective. So this being the case, I feel this build fits a lot better for the average player imo.

Passive Tree @ 70
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEAelAuNJsiycEFivm5UEMjQfAjbFBAfYJOvkg9tMs6cIXypVxi0fuJPa3Z2uOliVIOvuGmzli2sXwfMo-prgNun527zqoqOCHoLHRZ0kqn7HwFR_xtsL-egMfVNSFm9qQwj0flkRlkGHEH_jag5IBx63PsaeXfLjhJUu_gpCwzY98NXYvd-EnapJUQL-YqxsjIw2B2NVS8u9YeImlRa_Ax4fQeQi1abtPJo7gpvhcw==


My Current Skill Tree - Level 90
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEAelAuNJsiycEFivm5UEMjQfAjbFBAfYJOvkg9tMs6cIXypVxi0fuJPa3Z2uOliVIOvuGmzli2sXwfMo-prgNunkIvnbvOqio4IegsdFnSSq1aZ-x8BUf8bbC_noDH1TUhZv7TxqQwj0flkRlkGHEH_japo7DkgHHrc-xp7hc4KbXfLjhJUu_gqiAOw4QsM2PfDV2L3wHwSzJy_fhJ2qSVE1ksBmkFUC_mKsbIz-jxo4jDZN48AaB2NVS6ZXcYXLvWHi8xEmlbFCFr85igMeMJcfQUbXOuE=


My Current Stats @ 90
Freezing Pulse DPS: 8173 (x3 projectiles from LMP and 36% cold pen makes it roughly 33300 dps single target, add in the 25% from celestial when stuffs frozen and its very nice!)
Cast speed: 4.1 casts per second
Chance to freeze: 15% + 13% from frostbite + 7.2% crit chance + super fast cast speed and 3 proj = many freezes :)
6.3k HP
3.3k Mana
950 Unreserved Mana for CoD
315 mana regen
5.4k evasion (bout 33-40% depending on lvl of mobs)
25% block
15% spell block
75% res all
-8% chaos resist


Bandits
Normal: Help Oak for Life
Cruel: Kill all for the skill point
Merciless: Kill all for the skill point


Leveling Passives

Leveling for this character is a breeze, link LMP to your Freezing Pulse asap and you'll be running around one shotting stuff for the next 20 levels. While leveling I never reached a point where I felt my dps was low and as such I made it all the way up to entry maps with mostly self found gear. Utilize the masters and you'll have no problems, and you can save your currency for the CoD.

Level 30
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEAelAuNJsiycEFivm5UEMjQfAgQH6-SD20yzXypVxi0fOliVIGsXwfO86qKjwFR_xmpDCPR-WRGWDkhd8kLD34QC_ow2

Level 50
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEAelAuNJsiycEFivm5UEMjQfAjbFBAfYJOvkg9tMs6cIXypVxi0fuJOdrjpYlSDr7hps5YtrF8HzmuA26fnbvOqio4IeRZ0kqn7HwFR_xtsLU1IWb2pDCPR-WRGW42oOSAceXfKVLkLD8NXfhElRAv6MNlVLYeImlRa_Ax4fQQ==


Gear
Gearing for this character is really easy and quite simple. Whilst leveling wear evasion gear as I have found in low amounts it far outweighs armour and if you can find a good +1 to cold spells wand (or lifesprig) to use up until your 40-50s you'll be sweet for DPS. As you level up switch to more EVA/ES stuff so you have enough mana regen to sustain a low level AA and your Auras.

For Defences this character uses Evasion (through grace and gear), Shield/Spell Block, Stupidly high life (without Belly or Kaoms), Arctic armour and Mind over Matter (Through CoD)

My Gear


Endgame Options: As an Eldritch Battery user with high mana regen you will be using Arctic Armour as one of your primary defenses. Now as we all know AA and EB both pair remarkably well with Mind over Matter but I feel in this current form of the tree it's just too much of a stretch to get over there whilst still picking up all the nodes you need. Hence in endgame this build will run a Cloak of Defiance. It's the one unique "expensive" item that you'll need to really push on past entry maps, but once you have it, it's a cakewalk from there. As for other gear just cap your resists and grab as much life and damage as you can. As a hardcore player it would also be a very good choice to use a Rathpith Globe but it is in no way necessary.


Skill Gems
You need one of these, should be the first thing you buy with currency as the quality is huge.


All links in order of importance

Damage:
6L: Freezing Pulse > LMP (I prefer it over GMP but you can also use it) > Spell Echo (Faster Casting till you get it) > Life Leech > Cold Penetration > Added Cold Damage

4L: Ice Spear > Increased Crit DMG multiplier > Spell Echo > Added Cold Damage

Ice spear is simply amazing, I would not run this build without it. Even on a 4L it is extremely powerful. I use it on map bosses to freezelock them from range and it destroys them. Can also be used to offscreen any mob you wish, I used it on beyond bosses at great effect.

Curses:
3L: Frostbite (for freeze chance) > Enfeeble > Faster Casting

Mobility:
3L: Lightning Warp > Reduced Duration > Faster Casting

Auras:
4L: Grace > Clarity > Herald of Ice > Reduced Mana

Defenses:
4L: CWDT > Enduring Cry | Arctic Armour > Empower (endgame) / Vaal Grace


Progress update 04/10/14
I must say I am really happy with how my build has turned out. Although I haven't been the luckiest with drops and such, I have really worked hard to get where I am and the end result is quite pleasing. My survivability is really strong for a witch, and although it can't really compare to the LC/EVA/Acro/P-Acro/Oondars/Block combo a lot of builds are running at the moment, it has still proved to be more than enough and as such I have breezed through to 85 thus far in Beyond. For a non-crit build the dps is very strong, I smash through maps up to level 74 at the moment and it's only getting stronger as my gems level, so no complaints there. I ended up opting for LMP over GMP as I found with GMP it felt like the 5 projectiles were rarely all hitting thus lowering my overall dps so I stuck with LMP in the end.

In terms of currency spent all up until level 70 I spent about 5c on gear, thus confirming my builds budget status. I played pretty much self found and used masters to cap my resists on pieces I found. This left me with quite the currency pool and I saved hard to buy my CoD which I got for 2ex. I just recently spent 4ex on Rathpith (2ex which I found from 70-84 and the other 2 I traded jewelers I'd accumilated from selling 6sockets to fusings, then sold the fusings for exalts, a thing every player can do). The rest of my gear I've picked up on the cheap for a few chaos here and there and I'm happy where it is at currently.


Feedback always appreciated.

Peace out!

Crit


IGN: Criticism_ | CriticismSW | CriticismFP
Last edited by Criticism_ on Feb 3, 2015, 2:22:09 PM
Hey man. There are a few things which seem odd or you haven't spoken about yet in your post.

Reflect can be sorted out a number of ways, the easiest is a Pyre ring and AA. Getting flask nodes, Rainbowstride/Rathpith + Rumi's flask will cap spellblock also.

You grab 10/20/10 mana regen nodes in the Witch's starting area, I don't think those are worth it to be honest. Preference I guess, so no big deal.

Crit isn't scaled very high but I get that it is a level 70 tree. Power charges are really accessible as well as the Witch's spellcrit/Templar area.

What other defences do you plan to use for the build? You could aim for IR for example which seems like a good choice. A Cloak of Defiance is not something I would do, I don't like the chest at all but it might work if you wanted it to. I have a FP build already made for the 3mhc that uses IR/MoM without the chest, you can create a much larger Life/Mana pool without CoD. I'll share it anyway but the point I'm making is what do you plan to do outside of AA/eva?

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkg9trF8HzXypVxrzqgh6iozpYwFTbC3_GD8QI9GpDJ6kRlhzcO3wHHg5Ikye4ypUu44RjQ13ytAzviPDVNj1w1ULDRnH5N4_6SVGdqonT34SDCdfP6_VirGyMcFIC_m-eSbFknSoLjDacpMpK8bPyHfPqVUuHE1FMS1dh4ncHrEfA4yaVfVsWvypNAx4VIB9BIuIs6Ufi3Q3QgVuvOrP8xaQ5GNtOKmegdPEppYd2hTJKfQ==

(Offline POESkillTree Calc)
IGN: SlightRedeye
(GMT + 0:00)
Your build seems pretty solid in terms of going life Crit, but as you have noted in doing this you'll need to take measures against reflect, in your idea the use of a pyre + potentially additional spell block to cope. Remember in doing this though you lose the ability to chill all your enemies which is pretty significant in terms of defenses as you lower their movement/cast/attack speed by 30%, also freeze is great for survivability, I have no doubt you'll be doing nice damage with burn though instead. I don't believe my 70 build will struggle with reflect at all because as you have said, it isn't crit focused. I am going to have a look at running a purity of ice though as an option to help that.

Thanks for the feedback on the 10/20/10 mana nodes, I dropped them for the superior Deep Thoughts and saved 1 point. Also put me in a superior position to grab the shield block or power charge later on :)

Do note I intend on going crit once I have the currency to buy the gear and I am a higher level. My reason behind this build was to create something that required as little currency investment as possible whilst still being very effective up until early endgame, ie. just what I want from a new league.

In terms of IR and MoM I just feel they use too many points now and are just too far off the path to achieve what im trying to achieve here. If I were to go down that road I'd lose a lot of dps and life only using the same amount of points and once im into 85ish where I could grab it, I have other plans anyway as I'll be looking to switch the whole build up around there. Also my thoughts on evasion > armour is that after using Mathil's ST build it does seem to scale quite well on a ranged (even tho FP is only semi-ranged) when you don't invest any points into it and run grace. If I were to go IR id end up with what? about 4-5k armour? I just don't feel that's enough. I would rather use evasion and evade 50%~ of attacks as it also benefits your MoM mana pool.

Here as an example I roughly reconstructed your tree if you were to be using the CoD
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkg9trF8HzXypVxrzqgh6iozpYwFTbC3_GD8RqQwj0HNwnqX5ZEZY7fJMnDkgHHrjK74i0DOOEY0Nd8pUu-TfqukZxNj1w1ULD8NXXzw18gwmdqonT34SP-klRSbFXyW-eYqxsjHBSAv7r9Sj6nKTxsyoLjDZknevugseHE0tXVUvyHZrg-egMfXcHwONh4kWdQYcQfyaVU1K3PsaeFr_-CgMe8kXYvR9BOuGmV03j_o_z6g==
So, what do you gain by doing this...well for starters you gain significant boosts to your mana pool through more ES, higher base mana + 120-130% mana regen (great for AA and MoM). You also gain 23% additional life, 1.8% life regen and the Inner Force cluster for a stronger AA. Lastly you gain the additional 10% of damage converted to mana through the CoD. Now, what do you lose? 50% evasion rating, stronger flasks and the base life + resists using a normal chest would grant you. Personally, I don't think that's a gain. Hence Cloak of Defiance is what I'm going with, its just more efficient in my opinion even though I have to sacrifice the life roll on it, but at the end of the day, each to their own


IGN: Criticism_ | CriticismSW | CriticismFP
Last edited by Criticism_ on Aug 18, 2014, 9:12:29 PM
Why life? Why not go CI ?
"
Criticism_ wrote:
Your build seems pretty solid in terms of going life Crit, but as you have noted in doing this you'll need to take measures against reflect, in your idea the use of a pyre + potentially additional spell block to cope. Remember in doing this though you lose the ability to chill all your enemies which is pretty significant in terms of defenses as you lower their movement/cast/attack speed by 30%, also freeze is great for survivability, I have no doubt you'll be doing nice damage with burn though instead. I don't believe my 70 build will struggle with reflect at all because as you have said, it isn't crit focused. I am going to have a look at running a purity of ice though as an option to help that.

Thanks for the feedback on the 10/20/10 mana nodes, I dropped them for the superior Deep Thoughts and saved 1 point. Also put me in a superior position to grab the shield block or power charge later on :)

Do note I intend on going crit once I have the currency to buy the gear and I am a higher level. My reason behind this build was to create something that required as little currency investment as possible whilst still being very effective up until early endgame, ie. just what I want from a new league.

In terms of IR and MoM I just feel they use too many points now and are just too far off the path to achieve what im trying to achieve here. If I were to go down that road I'd lose a lot of dps and life only using the same amount of points and once im into 85ish where I could grab it, I have other plans anyway as I'll be looking to switch the whole build up around there. Also my thoughts on evasion > armour is that after using Mathil's ST build it does seem to scale quite well on a ranged (even tho FP is only semi-ranged) when you don't invest any points into it and run grace. If I were to go IR id end up with what? about 4-5k armour? I just don't feel that's enough. I would rather use evasion and evade 50%~ of attacks as it also benefits your MoM mana pool.

Here as an example I roughly reconstructed your tree if you were to be using the CoD
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkg9trF8HzXypVxrzqgh6iozpYwFTbC3_GD8RqQwj0HNwnqX5ZEZY7fJMnDkgHHrjK74i0DOOEY0Nd8pUu-TfqukZxNj1w1ULD8NXXzw18gwmdqonT34SP-klRSbFXyW-eYqxsjHBSAv7r9Sj6nKTxsyoLjDZknevugseHE0tXVUvyHZrg-egMfXcHwONh4kWdQYcQfyaVU1K3PsaeFr_-CgMe8kXYvR9BOuGmV03j_o_z6g==
So, what do you gain by doing this...well for starters you gain significant boosts to your mana pool through more ES, higher base mana + 120-130% mana regen (great for AA and MoM). You also gain 23% additional life, 1.8% life regen and the Inner Force cluster for a stronger AA. Lastly you gain the additional 10% of damage converted to mana through the CoD. Now, what do you lose? 50% evasion rating, stronger flasks and the base life + resists using a normal chest would grant you. Personally, I don't think that's a gain. Hence Cloak of Defiance is what I'm going with, its just more efficient in my opinion even though I have to sacrifice the life roll on it, but at the end of the day, each to their own




Do you intend to go block? You missed block nodes near shadow and witch area. I agree with the EV/ES. But I feel you need those block nodes. For reflect just bring 1-2 sapphires. Also for auras I am assuming your running grace, PoI, and clarity?

Also maybe something like this
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkg9trF8HzXypVxrzqgh6iozpYwFTbC3_GD8RqQwj0HNwnqRGWO3yTJw5IBx64yu-ItAzjhGNDXfKVLvk3RnE2PXDVQsPw1dfPgwmdqonT34SP-klRSbFvnmKsbIxwUgL-6_WcpPGzKguMNmSdhxNLV_PqVUvyHXcHwONh4iaVFr8DHh9B6roNfFfJKPqCxwx9EH_GnvnoQYe3Pv4K2L01krXyqW5WLd7lFKk=



Or this

Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkg9trF8HzXypVxrzqgh6iozpYwFTbC3_GD8RqQwj0HNwnqRGWO3yTJw5IBx64yu-ItAzjhGNDXfKVLvk3RnE2PXDVQsPw1dfPgwmdqonT34SP-klRSbFvnmKsbIxwUgL-6_WcpPGzKguMNmSdhxNLV_PqVUvyHXcHwONh4iaVFr8DHh9B6roNfFfJKPqCxwx9EH_GnvnoQYe3Pv4K2L01krXyqW5WLd7lFKk=


Adds 10% chance to block

Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMCsNBAeVINte6-SD22sXwfNfKlXGvOqCHqKjOljAVNsLf8YPxGpDCPQc3CepEZY7fJMnDkgHHrjK74i0DOOEY0Nd8pUu-TfqukZxNj1w1ULD8NXXzw18gwmdqonT34SP-klRSbFXyW-eYqxsjHBSAv7r9Sj6nKTxs7TFKguMNmSdgseHE0tXHoHz6lVL8h356Ax9dwfA40uNYeIQf_8cJpXGnha_Ax4fQUGHtz7-Cti9
Last edited by banes312 on Aug 27, 2014, 2:28:46 AM
Yep your right, if I was to continue with the same sort of idea for the build id invest more into block as it works out better than investing more into evasion. Id probably go something similar to this for +10% block chance and +10% spell block whilst also using rathpith. So you'd end up with 40% block and 30%+ spell block.
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwQWK-blQQyNB8CNsUEB9gk6-SD20yzpwhfKlXGLR-4k9rdOliVIOvuaxfB85rgKPq86oIeoqNFnYLHwFQUsNsLf8ZTUvnoakMI9EwtJ6l-WRGWQYcXVA5IBx63Po4844Rd8pUu_gpWSjY9QsPw1fJF2L2eoZ2q34RJUTrhNZIigWKsbIwC_qZX_o-MNk3jc7NVS_BrYeIV5yaVl5cWv0V8Ax4fQSsNQkuFxd--tMUegUuN_xwMfRB_xp6drhpsFm8kqjbp42o=


For aura's im going to go just Grace and Clarity (possibly with HoI) for the non crit build so as I have a large effective MoM mana pool.

I most likely wont go crit as life as I feel running the extra 40% aura for PoI so you don't one shot yourself, ontop of grace and clarity doesn't leave you with enough mana to make CoD's MoM effective. If you were to drop grace all together it could work but you'd lose a large chunk of defence.

For end-endgame I'd most probably go Crit/CI with AA, discipline instead of grace and PoI with a tree somewhat like this
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQ6QIHpUuuAuMbJUmy2VssnG0ZBUIRUEGWNbmus9D1pysdT0yzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkHwLB818qNsWio4t6f8YPxAFvHNwnqRGWO3zi95MnDkgHHrjKhEjviLQMY0Nd8pUuXGv5N7Jw6rpGcfLhtvdw1ULD8NXDbdfPYpUNfIMJRwYrConT34SP-klRSbEqU1fJb57b5xEvcFIC_uv1KPqcpF9qKguMNmSdgseHE_PqB2PyHfnoDH13B8u9EH_mgcaeFr8DHh9BK3gfxy2LwcUsv4auFddWYw==
IGN: Criticism_ | CriticismSW | CriticismFP
I started a character just the other day with this in mind.

Currently level 39 here is my tree.
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAuMFQgceB6UI9BEPEZYUsBdUH8cigSepK3gsnEGWSVFJskwtTLNQMFPUVkpqQ2sXbRl_xoIQgh6Ngo48lSCVLp6hnwGio66zvOrAVMHz0PXR5NsL217fit-w8NU=


There are some nodes I will need to spec out of.

I am currently running - Clarity, Herald of Ice, Purity of Elements and AA

Was lucky enough to get this drop that helps with the mana regen -


My gear is pretty bad so I am squishy atm but the freeze really helps with defense.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread for tips.

Thanks OP.
IGN: The_Lurch
"
Criticism_ wrote:
Yep your right, if I was to continue with the same sort of idea for the build id invest more into block as it works out better than investing more into evasion. Id probably go something similar to this for +10% block chance and +10% spell block whilst also using rathpith. So you'd end up with 40% block and 30%+ spell block.
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwQWK-blQQyNB8CNsUEB9gk6-SD20yzpwhfKlXGLR-4k9rdOliVIOvuaxfB85rgKPq86oIeoqNFnYLHwFQUsNsLf8ZTUvnoakMI9EwtJ6l-WRGWQYcXVA5IBx63Po4844Rd8pUu_gpWSjY9QsPw1fJF2L2eoZ2q34RJUTrhNZIigWKsbIwC_qZX_o-MNk3jc7NVS_BrYeIV5yaVl5cWv0V8Ax4fQSsNQkuFxd--tMUegUuN_xwMfRB_xp6drhpsFm8kqjbp42o=


For aura's im going to go just Grace and Clarity (possibly with HoI) for the non crit build so as I have a large effective MoM mana pool.

I most likely wont go crit as life as I feel running the extra 40% aura for PoI so you don't one shot yourself, ontop of grace and clarity doesn't leave you with enough mana to make CoD's MoM effective. If you were to drop grace all together it could work but you'd lose a large chunk of defence.

For end-endgame I'd most probably go Crit/CI with AA, discipline instead of grace and PoI with a tree somewhat like this
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQ6QIHpUuuAuMbJUmy2VssnG0ZBUIRUEGWNbmus9D1pysdT0yzLR9QMAQHlSDbXuvkHwLB818qNsWio4t6f8YPxAFvHNwnqRGWO3zi95MnDkgHHrjKhEjviLQMY0Nd8pUuXGv5N7Jw6rpGcfLhtvdw1ULD8NXDbdfPYpUNfIMJRwYrConT34SP-klRSbEqU1fJb57b5xEvcFIC_uv1KPqcpF9qKguMNmSdgseHE_PqB2PyHfnoDH13B8u9EH_mgcaeFr8DHh9BK3gfxy2LwcUsv4auFddWYw==


Hey small question what do you think would be the best for a CoD life AA build with high damage and high survivability with potential to reach level 100? So far this is the best I think I have come out with.

Better viewed with the offline Calculator. Has block and increased es% from shield. Requires a high es shield with evasion preferably. But honestly even this tree I think the damage output would be very low IMHO
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37CCEAelAuNJsiycBUJBlq6z0PVMsy0fKw0EB5UgQkvr5IPbaxfB84XFXypVxrzqgh6io9--wFTbC3_GakMI9BzcEZaTJw5IBx7viLQMXfKVLvk3snDqukLD8NXXz2KVDXzfhI_6SVFJsSpTV8kC_uv1KPqMNmSd6-6Cx1VL8h2a4LiT-egMfWHiRZ2nCEGHEH8mlVNSna63PsaeFr8abOcL_goDHhZvJ2HesNi9H0Ekqgbp8741kjbptfLjaqluVi3e5RSp


Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQB6UC40myLJwFQkGWrrPQ9UyzLR9QMAQHlSDr5IPbaxfB818qVca86oIeoqPAVNsLf8YPxGpDCPQc3BGWO3yTJw5IBx64yu-ItAzjhGNDXfKVLvk36rpGcTY9cNVCw_DV188NfIMJnaqJ09-Ej_pJUUmxV8lvnmKsbIxwUgL-6_Uo-pyktMWMNmSd6-6Cx4cTHoFVS_IdmuC4k_noDH13B0uNYeJFnacIEH__HCaVU1KdrsaeFr8abAMeFm_kIh9BJKqOZDbp96bjarb6
? loads of crit
Last edited by banes312 on Aug 27, 2014, 1:34:04 PM
I'll have a look when I get home bro @ work for the next 9 hours :P
IGN: Criticism_ | CriticismSW | CriticismFP
hi I am confused, life leech from Blood Drinker keystone works on FP? or did u just grabbed it for the 8% hp?

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