[2.0] Mediocre staff-based crit icecrash

I played staff a scion crit ice crash build for this round of beta. I mostly played 71-73 maps, but tried some 74 and 75. My impression was that the build was fine, but it wasn't outstanding in terms of survivability, or DPS. The best thing about it is that it's fun to play, and it's not that expensive for a crit build.

I believe scion is the best start for a crit staff build after the VP move. I thought it was duelist before then.

Video testing Vaal Pact in a elemental reflect map.



Blood Magic support
I couldn't think of a good way to support ice crash on mana.

We could grab soul siphon and thrill killer, but this build is already strapped for points. We need every bit of %increased damage we can get since we have so many %more multipliers. Then we'd either need to drop a herald/go hatred->HoA or invest another 4 points into sovereignity. Or we could go Alpha's+Enlighten+Conqueror's Efficiency, so we don't have to get sovereignity. We'd still have to put points into mana though.

So blood magic saves us about 6 points which is equivalent to about 90% increased damage. It seems hard to beat for the cost and dependebility, though I think we could keep mana up with a surgeons hybrid flask.


Herald of Thunder & curses
In my opinion curses are the best thing ever, and Herald of Thunder is the best way to apply them for a crit build. It stays on for a good 5sec after you shock a mob, and it is quick cursing everything in the next pack you come across.

What's annoying about HoT is its int requirement, and it doesn't add much DPS.

I couldn't think of a better way to double/triple curse than HoT on a 4L. On a 6L you could go Leapslam - Fortify - Curse on Hit - Warlords - Assmark - Bloodmagic. Or you could drop bloodmagic if you found a way to sustain on mana.


Reflect Maps
Since I had to rely on Herald of Thunder to curse my enemies, and I needed to shock to proc it, I couldn't remove phys to lightning. With phys to lightning we need 4% leech to stay alive. This means warlord's + life leech. The problem is that our leech is barely positive in this scenario, and we often rely on pots. Vaal pact is mandatory, I tried it without and killed myself on the first pack.

Also phys reflect maps are dangerous since you can't leapslam. I leap slamed onto a pack and instagibbed myself, all while being very confused.

Survivability
Honestly a build like crit ice crash is a offense as defense build. Temp chains is the scariest map mod (aside from 2 multiplicative mods).

Despite that I was fine against mobs because of some layered defense. In this case the layers are enfeeble (a 0.7 multiplier), arctic armor (a 0.86 multiplier), and granite/resistance potions (an other 0.8ish multiplier). Overall I reduced incoming physical damage to about 50% of its original value. With chill and knockback from icecrash, we end up being fine even against tornado shot archers, devourers, etc.

Against bosses like Carnage we're still in trouble. The percentage mitigation isn't enough, and you can't leech enough with 2% or even 4% leech. I don't understand how a melee character who isn't overgeared is supposed to kill hard bosses.

Gear progression
As a first character playing crit staff and specing into crit was painful. I was stuck doing docks with a 200 pdps 7.5 crit vendor recipe staff until a guildmate managed to find and donate a 420 pdps 6.8 crit one. It tripled my DPS. Then I managed to buy a 425 pdps 8.5 crit one for 3 exalts, and it also helped a lot.

If I were to do it again I wouldn't spec staff or crit nodes until I got a 350+ pdps staff, and would rather spec 2hand, attack speed, and elemental damage nodes until then.

What I didn't get to try
Triple curse, so I wouldn't have to choose between Assassin's mark and Enfeeble, both of which are great. No one seemed to have either Doedre's ring or Windscream for sale, but trading in beta was a pain overall.

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Thanks to my guild and especially Languidness, Sherkhan, PeppermintButler, and VarthDaver for help with gear and discussion.