why aren't more witches blood mages?

I started Templar/Fire caster and I love it with BM. I'm JUST starting to grab all the damage boosting nodes and am doing fine in HC @ 55 and just finishing act 1 merciless. My gear is NOT great(not even good really lol) so my HP is still a bit low at 2600 but I can cast any combo of whatever I want and never have worries of cost. My Firetrap alone is 120 ish cost. Firestorm is over 100. Spell totem is like 160. Having those extra links available for DPS gems makes up for pretty much all of the loss I HAD going BM and now It's ALL dps nodes from now till I hit default :P I like it! Having said that I Could see myself spec'ing out and going eldritch much later if gear permitted extreme mana regen etc. We'll see!

"

Lachis wrote:

@ fayde
I can make a freezing pulse build with 285% life and 50 max health, use EB, have more defensive auras and still do the same amount of damage as you with iron will.

I was able to reach 352% life by cutting off everything south of the templar area compared to the 327% I had in the bm build I linked, but the base hp dropped by 140. I drove into shadow land and grabbed all the hp nodes, including those at the top of ranger. I also lost out on ~25% resist all from marauder's diamond skin and elementalist. I did pick up more +dmg nodes though from shadow.

I think you've underestimated the +5% max resist node and the 250+ hp/sec provided by all the % based regens you pick up.

Even if you decide to take EB, running through the west and south-west part of the passive tree is a good idea if you ask me, I just think it's stronger than most.

"

Lachis wrote:

If you take the blood magic passive you cannot run the same auras. You also are assuming that because you are EB you dont wear armor gear. This is not true. 1 good ES piece and disc is all you need to run 6 auras. The rest are armor.

Interesting, I hadn't anticipated that. 1-2 pieces of ES gear to provide the base mana to run things like grace while your % based auras take the rest of your mana. Still a bit perplexed though why you're so keen to run anger/wrath/hatred/determination though without much use for it. I know it's a group game but when everyone is building for auras... you don't have to worry about being able to run 7 by yourself.


Thanks again

After reading this thread I have to admit my Blood Fire Witch hopes were quite handily dashed. As this is my first witch I'm sure my post will be more toasted than the enemies I face with this build, but I'll give it a try anyway.

From what I understand, the arguments against the blood witch boil down to the following:

-Sub-optimal starting position in relation to BM = wasted nodes
-Does the same things other builds do but either worse or later in the game
-Position at Blood Magic cuts off paths to other trees in the north
-There is a Blood Magic gem
-Reflect is bad

So I pose this: My plan is to take Blood magic, roll fire and minions, and enjoy much HP and regeneration without having to worry about a mana pool. Grabbing an Iron Will gem will make my strength nodes look a lot better, and my position and path to blood magic gives me access to a lot of useful clusters, like resistance, stun immunity, minions, etc.

My question then would be this: As I'm not planning to roll another class after collecting the useful witch gems, and I'd like a build that is both fun, interesting, and unique (and to me not managing mana regen = more fun), is there anything I'm not going to be able to handle with this character?

My fear is that in the statmaxxing (which I'm more than a fan of) we've lost the actual question the OP intended. I think I'm wondering if Blood Witch is viable in all content, even if it can be argued that it isn't optimal. I'm afraid we're looking at 95% vs 100% and saying 95% = fail.

Hey, I have a build for blood magic, mainly EA you can find on the forums.

I thought this screenshot might be of interest.



give or take this is close to about 6-7% regen.

Keep in mind, I have mediocre - decent gear. Nothing maxed or amazingly worth wild.

I should cap near top end around 6k+ hp

I've debated to try removing blood magic and yielding to the cost of blood magic gem for that two extra aura.

However, I don't have the luxury at the moment (in orbs) to swap a few minor and for +%mana regen items. (hacked, all currency gone)

I'm guessing the mana yield would be heavily dependent on gear if you want to stake the survival.

@ktbanh

I actually found your build before I posted here and it is what inspired me to look for more blood witch builds. I actually considered it, the only reason I didn't like it was because it focuses mostly on totems and explosive arrow, neither of which I want to use at all - I'd like my offensives to be firestorm and fireball with a possible totem minion if I decide I get tired of casting them. It's possible I'm such a complete noob that I have no concept of what the witch can be, but what would the world be without those pie-in-the-sky wide-eyed newbies like me?

I dont read everything, but if i would like to go full life and blood magic i would simply pick a other class which have it easier to access hp nodes etc.
When i pick a witch i aim to be a summoner or a ci witch, its simply the easiest way to do well in endgame....
just my 2 cents

cheers

"

fadeawayyx wrote:

"

Lachis wrote:

@ fayde
I can make a freezing pulse build with 285% life and 50 max health, use EB, have more defensive auras and still do the same amount of damage as you with iron will.

I was able to reach 352% life by cutting off everything south of the templar area compared to the 327% I had in the bm build I linked, but the base hp dropped by 140. I drove into shadow land and grabbed all the hp nodes, including those at the top of ranger. I also lost out on ~25% resist all from marauder's diamond skin and elementalist. I did pick up more +dmg nodes though from shadow.

I think you've underestimated the +5% max resist node and the 250+ hp/sec provided by all the % based regens you pick up.

Even if you decide to take EB, running through the west and south-west part of the passive tree is a good idea if you ask me, I just think it's stronger than most.

"

Lachis wrote:

If you take the blood magic passive you cannot run the same auras. You also are assuming that because you are EB you dont wear armor gear. This is not true. 1 good ES piece and disc is all you need to run 6 auras. The rest are armor.

Interesting, I hadn't anticipated that. 1-2 pieces of ES gear to provide the base mana to run things like grace while your % based auras take the rest of your mana. Still a bit perplexed though why you're so keen to run anger/wrath/hatred/determination though without much use for it. I know it's a group game but when everyone is building for auras... you don't have to worry about being able to run 7 by yourself.


Thanks again

Why would you run anger and wrath? I'm talking about clarity disc determination grace purity and haste.

Also i'd liek to see your 365% hp witch build.

I played a Dual Flame Totem Templar and went with lots of mana regen. However, with 2 curses, 2 traps, and 200+ mana cost totems, I was chugging mana flasks all the time. Picked up The Covenant and tried out a Blood Magic build. It's stupidly easy.
IMO, for anyone going dual totem, the templar area has everything you need and it's closer to dual totem passive and marauder area. At least to me, Blood Magic on DT/DC is the obvious winner.