[2.1] Non-Crit Ball Lightning - Great Damage and Survivability!

~Ball Lightning~
Ball lightning is an AoE projectile that hits enemies multiple times pretty quickly. Therefore we can scale its damage with slower projectiles, as the ball stays closer to enemies for longer. However, area damage does not do anything to ball lightning, so we do not take area damage nodes on the tree.

~Pledge of Hands~
Pledge of Hands is great because it gives us a free link, effectively giving us a 6L if you have a 5L pledge or a 7L if you hav a 6L pledge. In addition, it gives high spell damage and mana, which are essential for our build.

~Mind over Matter~
Getting a ton of mana from Pledge of Hands allows us to run MoM pretty well. We leave ~50% of our mana unreserved and 30% of all damage taken will go through mana and not life. If we get chunked by a hard hit, just pop a mana flask. We basically have a constant 30% damage reduction if our mana is up.

~Non-Crit~
By going non-crit, we can take advantage of Pledge of Hands and not worry about getting spell critical strike chance or critical strike multiplier (saving many nodes and getting other damage / survivability nodes) yet doing insane damage still!

- Not crit - enfeeble is not as harsh as it would be, controlled desctruction
- 5L Weapon - can focus on chest stats rather than links
- Uses many rares - wide range of budget, a lot easier to get resistances
- Not required to go hybrid ES/life
- Charges are not required

- Single target is not that great unless you have a specific setup
- Pledge of Hands can be considered expensive -> 5L chest highly recommended for budget wand version
- Will have lower defense than other tanky builds (only MoM and AA)
- May have some stat problems (strength or dexterity) for Slower Projectiles, Duration gems, Enduring Cry, or Decoy Totem

Weapon: Pledge of Hands See description in build mechanics.
Budget: Rare wand (spell damage, cast speed, lightning damage) + shield (spell damage, life, energy shield, resistances)

Chest: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances or Carcass Jack for the increased area of effect (area damage does nothing to ball lightning). Remember that a 5L is not necessary unless you want a 5L single target setup: prioritize on stats before links.

Helmet: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances.

Gloves: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances.

Boots: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances, movement speed.

Amulet: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances, mana regeneration, any missing stats

Rings: Rare with energy shield, life, resistances, mana regeneration, any missing stats.

Belt: Rare (Leather, Chain, Heavy) with energy shield, life, resistances or Doryani's Invitation (lightning) for resistances and leech.

Main Link (in pledge)

Main Link (not pledge)

Single Target

Movement

Auras

Leftovers (choose which/where you want to use)
great for bosses, rares, tough packs
great for distracting bosses while you vaal storm call and ball lightning

Coming Soon

(still getting more jewels)

Normal - Help Oak (life)
Cruel - Help Alira (cast speed) or Kill All
Merciless - Kill All

Coming soon

98 points