[2.6] zSavage's Beefy Meatballer (dual BLS molten strike Berserker) - EO, MoM, VP, PB, Acro

Was a big fan of your Mjolner build back in the day and have decided to give this build a go as my last character in legacy. I've read quite a few variations of the build and your ideas sound pretty solid.

I do have a few questions that maybe some others following your guide have as well:
1) In leveling, did you go up the Templar or Ranger side first?
2) Along a similar note, in what order would you recommend grabbing the listed keystones? Are they already ordered?
3) I have a similar concern as another poster about using MoM and hitting a momentary blip that leaves me without mana to attack. Particularly starting a fight if I've taken some hits getting into the action. Is this just a dumb concern or are there measures you are taking that do not make this a concern?

Looking forward to getting this build into the action and seeing what it can do!

1. I went to the templar area first.

2. For keystones:
-Grab EO as soon as you reach it.
-Grab PB as soon as you reach it.
-Grab MoM once you have the mana leech from your Ascendancy (it's on the way to EO, you might be getting this pretty early).
-Grab VP only when you have Cloaked in Savagery. For me this was after Uber lab.
-Grab Acro last when you have the rest of the tree filled out (for me this was at level 90 - you can get it sooner if you delay life nodes)

3. I'm taking care of this with a tuned CWDT setup (it's one of the optimizations I've been working on). Currently with my health and mana it's a lvl 10 CWDT linked with firestorm, elemental focus, and iron will. I'll be posting more about this when I update, but generally what you want is (your unreserved mana / 0.30) - your unreserved mana to be around the threshold of your CWDT gem. Dividing your mana by 0.3 gives you the total damage you will have to take before MoM to remove all of your mana. Subtract your mana from this value, and you get the damage taken to HP.

This value should also be larger than your cloaked in savagery threshold (15% max hp).

If all goes according to plan, when you take a big hit, firestorm will trigger with 100% life leech and the mana leech and keep you alive with enough mana to attack while you go into melee range.

Thanks for the quick replies. That makes complete sense waiting for leech to grab MoM and can see how the CWDT setups will help recoup enough mana.

Since this is the end of the league, leveling should be a breeze with a few Elreon jewelry pieces, tabula, and other twink gear.

The irony of this build is that the sprinklers are no longer cheap at the moment. The Mathil effect has fully kicked in and the cheapest ones available are all 40C. I remember vendoring a few earlier in the league when I couldn't even sell them for 1C. Oh well. At least Xoph is only 180C at the moment. So I guess it evens out in the end. Considering using a few Brightbeaks with the hopes that I can snag a few sprinklers for under 30C tonight. Damage probably won't be an issue until Merciless.

I'm very curious to see what you find with the CWDT setups. Because these are largely just alternative leech mechanisms vs. pure defensive setups I guess it is still fairly unknown what is actually the best :).

Level 67 and mapping now. I had to take VP because I was sustaining too much damage against any real threats to counteract without instant leech. I still have 2 ascendency nodes to pick up and I was wondering why you recommend Cloaked in Savagery last? Is it that the 40% dmg increase indirectly helps with leech already?

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jddc78 wrote:

Level 67 and mapping now. I had to take VP because I was sustaining too much damage against any real threats to counteract without instant leech. I still have 2 ascendency nodes to pick up and I was wondering why you recommend Cloaked in Savagery last? Is it that the 40% dmg increase indirectly helps with leech already?

I took it last because the lab is easier when you have regen. I wanted to make sure I had regen for Uber Izaro while having enough DPS to kill him quickly.

In hindsight the extra 40% more damage was probably overkill for uber lab, but that's the order I went nonetheless.

That was my reasoning when I was at that point myself.

I see. So it is more a preference than a necessity to take them in that order. Good to know.

The damage is already really good while mapping at 68. Looking forward to getting this char into the 80s because that extra life will really make a huge QoL difference. Enjoying this build a lot so far!

Just wondering what are people's thoughts on using Brine Crown for this build. It gives mana regen, freeze immunity, life, and cold res. The 60% mana regen while standing still could be a bit helpful due to MoM (and in between leaping around, obviously our zerkers are standing still often enough to spam MS). Also gives 800 armor while standing still too, to help with a bit of mitigation.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Brine_Crown

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reciprocate wrote:

Just wondering what are people's thoughts on using Brine Crown for this build. It gives mana regen, freeze immunity, life, and cold res. The 60% mana regen while standing still could be a bit helpful due to MoM (and in between leaping around, obviously our zerkers are standing still often enough to spam MS). Also gives 800 armor while standing still too, to help with a bit of mitigation.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Brine_Crown

Generally speaking, a rare with Life, Strength, and Resists is gonna serve you best.

If you can spare the resists for a unique helm you'll want either Black Sun Crest for 15% Strength or Devoto's Devotion for the attack speed.

I would second the Devotos. It gives move speed as well, which makes mapping feel a lot better. Also has a lot of armor and evasion in case you have been neglecting it for str/life/res on other pieces like I have. I am still juggling gear, but have one reserved that I am using for helm enchants in case I get lucky and land the MS enchant.

At this point in the league, you can get more than enough res on rings/belt at a cheap price to mostly take care of your resistance concerns. Helm/Gloves are a lot harder to find at an affordable price, but they exist.

I would also strongly recommend using the Wise Oak flask. I've only been running on a 5-link because the RNG gods hate me. It has been a huge DPS boost against bosses while I've been leveling as long as you keep your fire res the highest of all your res.