[3.5] For Scion - Dual Curse Crit. Based Blade Vortex as Elementalist + Assassin (SSF Viable)

I set my characters to not be hidden now, maybe you can see something I'm doing glaringly wrong already

Right now I try and have at least 5+ blades up, then I curse mobs with Assassin's Mark and Shield Charge into them. It might not be the most effective but it's 100x faster than any other character I've played so far and it feels very rewarding when the crits go off.

While googling for how to get Warlord's Mark I realized I skipped a whole area in Act 3 with the ghost selling skill gems. That will be my next destination then.


I was hoping I could avoid using Tabula Rasa, it's such an unappealing armor piece (last game I heavily played was Dark Souls and there it was all about the fashion with armor). I do realize how important it is to get 5-6l for the main skill fast, so I'll look into farming for it.


I'm not sure if I can get to the next labyrinth by lvl50, though. I'm already 47 and basically just finished the first lab. Could I go the long way round the passive tree up to the witch section now, and then later respec when I have the easy way there? Or would that ruin my progression for the next levels?


Thanks for all the tips and pointers again, it's much appreciated. This game got so deep in the last few years, can be quite daunting (reminds me a lot of MedianXL mod for Diablo2)

Cheers,
Peter
"
I set my characters to not be hidden now, maybe you can see something I'm doing glaringly wrong already

Right now I try and have at least 5+ blades up, then I curse mobs with Assassin's Mark and Shield Charge into them. It might not be the most effective but it's 100x faster than any other character I've played so far and it feels very rewarding when the crits go off.

While googling for how to get Warlord's Mark I realized I skipped a whole area in Act 3 with the ghost selling skill gems. That will be my next destination then.


I was hoping I could avoid using Tabula Rasa, it's such an unappealing armor piece (last game I heavily played was Dark Souls and there it was all about the fashion with armor). I do realize how important it is to get 5-6l for the main skill fast, so I'll look into farming for it.


I'm not sure if I can get to the next labyrinth by lvl50, though. I'm already 47 and basically just finished the first lab. Could I go the long way round the passive tree up to the witch section now, and then later respec when I have the easy way there? Or would that ruin my progression for the next levels?


Thanks for all the tips and pointers again, it's much appreciated. This game got so deep in the last few years, can be quite daunting (reminds me a lot of MedianXL mod for Diablo2)

Cheers,
Peter

You will want life rolls on all your rare gears (except weapon).

You can use this skill tree (it does not require completion of Uber Lab).

You can always re-spec to the actual skill tree at a later time.

A 5L rare chest will be very useful too but 6L Tabula gives you the most damage and it can carry you all the way into end game.

Link Fortify to Shield Charge. It makes you take less damage when you have fortify buff.

Level a Decoy totem gem. Use it for Izaro.

Ensure your resistances are capped.

You need an anti-bleed life flask and anti-freeze quick silver flask. These 2 flasks are very important as they help to ensure your survivability.

And you are welcome. :)
Just a quick little update, you've been super helpful so far man, cheers.

Trying to follow the skill tree you made and it's going alright, I'm at Act 7 right now.

I switched to Warlord's Mark just in time. Larger mob groups have started doing damage to me and the leech mitigates it wonderfully.

Gearwise: I realized I was sitting on a large amount of Chaos Orbs in the form of one Exalted Orb. Sold that and invested in a Tabula Rasa. It stills hurts to look at my character but the effect is undeniable.
I also got myself an Essence Worm ring for Hatred to free up my mana, best investment so far.
For the rest of the gear, I'm struggling with life and resists but we're getting there.

Fortify on Shield Charge, Immortal Call and the Decoy Totem are saving me regularly as well.



Some questions again, if you will still indulge me:

With Controlled Destruction on Blade Vortex, is it even still worth it to go for Critical nodes on the tree? Where do I get my crit chance from?

In your guide, you show your Gem Setups, but on the items you have in "current gear" they look a bit different. I guess there's just many different ways to set the skills up? What would you recommend?

I'm struggling a bit with mana. I tried having Warlord's Mark as an aura with the Blasphemy Support, but that and Herald of Ash mean I don't have enough mana to even cast up the full 10 stacks of Blade Vortex.
Which also means I don't use Orb of Storms yet because continually casting both Warlord's and Orb seems a hassle.. Is there something I'm missing?


Cheers,
Peter
"
Just a quick little update, you've been super helpful so far man, cheers.

Trying to follow the skill tree you made and it's going alright, I'm at Act 7 right now.

I switched to Warlord's Mark just in time. Larger mob groups have started doing damage to me and the leech mitigates it wonderfully.

Gearwise: I realized I was sitting on a large amount of Chaos Orbs in the form of one Exalted Orb. Sold that and invested in a Tabula Rasa. It stills hurts to look at my character but the effect is undeniable.
I also got myself an Essence Worm ring for Hatred to free up my mana, best investment so far.
For the rest of the gear, I'm struggling with life and resists but we're getting there.

Fortify on Shield Charge, Immortal Call and the Decoy Totem are saving me regularly as well.



Some questions again, if you will still indulge me:

With Controlled Destruction on Blade Vortex, is it even still worth it to go for Critical nodes on the tree? Where do I get my crit chance from?

In your guide, you show your Gem Setups, but on the items you have in "current gear" they look a bit different. I guess there's just many different ways to set the skills up? What would you recommend?

I'm struggling a bit with mana. I tried having Warlord's Mark as an aura with the Blasphemy Support, but that and Herald of Ash mean I don't have enough mana to even cast up the full 10 stacks of Blade Vortex.
Which also means I don't use Orb of Storms yet because continually casting both Warlord's and Orb seems a hassle.. Is there something I'm missing?

Cheers,
Peter

Controlled Destruction lowers your crit chance but does not make it 0. With sufficient crit chance (and Diamond flask), you will still crit most of the time so crit nodes are definitely worth it.

As your gems and character level up, you will deal more damage and you will have enough mana to sustain BV as long as you are in a fight. Enlighten 4 linked with aura gems will also provide you a bigger mana pool for casting BV.

For mapping, having 5 stacks of BV up should be sufficient. On boss fight, you will be able to sustain 10 stacks without issues.

Your next upgrade will be at least a 5L Inpulsa chest (6L will be the goal). It will further improve your map clearing speed.

For gems setup, you can follow the one listed in the guide. The one you see in "current gear" are pretty much what I was using at that particular point in time when I was playing the build.

Orb of Storm is mainly used when you are in a boss fight. You use it to proc Arcane Surge and with Culling Strike gem linked to it, orb will be able to 1 shot boss when life is below 10%.
Will you update this for 3.5, or is it fine as it is? Wanna play BV as league starter, is this the right build for it?
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Pjey wrote:
Will you update this for 3.5, or is it fine as it is? Wanna play BV as league starter, is this the right build for it?

No changes to the build for 3.5 and it will be fine as a league starter build. :)
Planning on starting with this build, thanks for guide.
Since im pretty new to the game i have a few questions.
1)What is my starter attack skill? And which gems i have to support it with?
2)When i can start using Blade Vortex? What are my first support gems for Blade Vortex?
3)Delve was my first league and i only was able to kill Shaper, is this build uber Elder viable(with currency investment)? Or its just build for start?
Thanks.
"
Hallybro wrote:
Planning on starting with this build, thanks for guide.
Since im pretty new to the game i have a few questions.
1)What is my starter attack skill? And which gems i have to support it with?
2)When i can start using Blade Vortex? What are my first support gems for Blade Vortex?
3)Delve was my first league and i only was able to kill Shaper, is this build uber Elder viable(with currency investment)? Or its just build for start?
Thanks.

Ans 1: Just use any skill. Once you reach level 12, you can switch to Blade Vortex (quest reward after clearing act 1 boss).

Ans 2: Use Added Lightning, Cold, and Fire when you reach level 8 and switch to skill gems listed in the guide as you level up.

Ans 3: With end game gear, you can beat Uber Elder.
"
kira1414 wrote:
"
Hallybro wrote:
Planning on starting with this build, thanks for guide.
Since im pretty new to the game i have a few questions.
1)What is my starter attack skill? And which gems i have to support it with?
2)When i can start using Blade Vortex? What are my first support gems for Blade Vortex?
3)Delve was my first league and i only was able to kill Shaper, is this build uber Elder viable(with currency investment)? Or its just build for start?
Thanks.

Ans 1: Just use any skill. Once you reach level 12, you can switch to Blade Vortex (quest reward after clearing act 1 boss).

Ans 2: Use Added Lightning, Cold, and Fire when you reach level 8 and switch to skill gems listed in the guide as you level up.

Ans 3: With end game gear, you can beat Uber Elder.

Okay thanks, what are advantages for picking Scion over Elementalist Witch if any?
"
Hallybro wrote:

Okay thanks, what are advantages for picking Scion over Elementalist Witch if any?

Main advantage will be versatility.

If you want more survivability, instead of Assassin, you can pick Slayer overleech. I used Slayer during Incursion flashback race and got to rank 3 with this build.

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