[3.0] Scorching Ray CwC Berserker - 10k Life, League Starter, 124/126 Atlas

Overview
This is a safe, fun, easy to gear for, easy to play build that can run almost all of the content in the game. It makes a great league starter and can take you up to T16 maps with no problem.

Pros
- Absurdly high life pool, even without a Kaom's Heart
- Uses insane Berserker leech mechanics
- 250k+ dps with minimal investment, 350k+ dps with some investment, 500k+ dps with decent investment
- Can run elemental reflect maps easily despite dealing 100% fire damage
- Effective immunity to Freeze, Chill, and Stun
- Can easily defeat all 126 map bosses except for The Cursed King (still doable), The Shaper, and Hall of Grandmasters
- No required uniques (although two are highly recommended)
- Extremely cheap to get up and running
- Many options for upgrading gear
- Very SSF viable
- Proximity Shields don't matter with Scorching Ray

Cons
- Some damage is sacrificed for life
- As a leech build, traps are very dangerous. Uber Lab is easily doable, but not efficiently farmable
- Shaper and Uber Atziri are technically doable but not practically doable
- Probably not a great idea for Hardcore

On Hardcore Viability
While this build is theoretically Hardcore-viable, it uses leech as it's primary defense mechanic. Unlike with a mechanic like life regeneration, you must be constantly dealing damage in order to be healing (excluding flasks, of course). While leech is a godly mechanic right now, it's a sort of risk/reward type of mechanic, and Hardcore generally doesn't go well with risk.

Damage and Defense
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My defense tab. My fire and lightning resists are a little low (only 7% and 5% above capped), but that's only because I opted for cheap gloves with a high life roll and no resistances. They will eventually be upgraded.
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The damage output as reported by the in-game tooltips is extremely inaccurate, and Firestorm DPS is very hard to calculate even with Path of Building. You can play with it yourself, but trust me, I'm sitting at around 450k+ damage with my setup (which will be detailed below).

Buffs I have active that I am using to calculate this "450k" figure are as follows:
- Level 20 Anger
- Level 20 Flammability
- Level 11 Flame Golem
- Level 6 Arcane Focus
- Having taken a Savage Hit recently
- Plus all the passive stuff from my links, tree, and gear, which we'll get to.

Please note that it is possible to proc a Savage Hit by using the unique flasks Doedre's Elixir, thus increasing your damage and life leech. You won't need it for fighting most non-unique enemies, but it can be useful for things like Essence and Harbinger encounters.


Gear
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The Searing Touch is the obvious choice for this build. It's very good and very cheap.
- This is one of my highly recommended uniques.
- Doon Cuebiyari in combination with Rathpith Globe will actually yield about 10k more DPS, but that restricts us from using a Kaom's Heart.


I'm using a Kaom's Heart because I'm cool. However, this is a frivolous luxury item. It's worth noting that even with no body armour, we would still be dealing ~420k DPS (~430k with Doon Cuebiyari and Rathpith Glove), and we would still have over 8k life. With this in mind, excellent alternatives to Kaom's Heart include Belly of the Beast and Tabula Rasa (for a six-link before you get your Searing Touch six-linked).
- With Belly of the Beast, you're still looking at 8500 or more life, but it's extremely hard to get the correct socket colors for your main skill, since you need five blues. It is good for extra sockets, though, where I would put a second CwDT setup.
- With Tabula Rasa, you're looking at a cheap six-link. It's honestly a great choice, even in end-game, and because I balanced this build around wearing a Kaom's Heart, its only downside is the opportunity cost of not wearing a Belly or a six-linked rare chest.
- A decent six-linked body armour with a high life roll can also be a solid choice. It has the advantage over Tabula Rasa of being able to have mods on it. However, if you want decent mods or to craft it yourself (or to six-link it yourself) it will be more expensive than a Tabula.


Hrimnor's Resolve is a very cheap and very effective helmet for this build. I've noticed that people like to use the Brine Crown, but I really don't know why. The Brine Crown has two useless "while stationary" conditional effects that don't matter because of your high life pool and leech rate, while Hrimnor's Resolve has increased fire damage and just as good a life roll. It's also much cheaper than the Brine Crown. Its only real "downside" is that you have to have used a fire skill recently in order to not be Chilled or Frozen, but that hasn't been much of an issue for me.
Hrimnor's is also nice because it's an armour base, making it ideal for a defensive CwDT setup.
- This is my other highly recommended unique.


I'm using Fingerless Silk Gloves because I wanted cheap gloves with a high life roll, and Fingerless Silk Gloves with a high life roll and no resists are just as cheap as any other base of gloves with a high life roll and no resists, but with a better implicit. I plan on getting better gloves in the future.


Standard boots. 30% move speed. A decent life roll. Some resistance. Master crafted strength for extra life.

On non-unique gear, prioritize +max life, +# strength, as well as any resistances you may need to cap them at 75%. Make sure to also get 30% move speed on the boots. It's not really required, but it's not usually expensive and it feels nice.

Jewelry, Flasks, and Jewels
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Standard jewelry with resists and life. Strength is also important for that extra life (and damage if you're using Doon Cuebiyari).
- If you can afford it, look into getting Opal Rings instead of Two-Stone. I plan on getting at least one once I get better gloves with resists and a high life roll.
- Doryani's Invitation (Fire) is a decent belt choice. It has strength, resists, increased fire damage, and a bit of leech, but no life. It's up to you whether it's worth it.
- Xoph's Blood is the BiS amulet choice for this build, but it might mess with your resists, and it will be prohibitively expensive for most people.
- Otherwise just use an Amber Amuelt for the Strength.


I use Divine Life Flasks for their amount recovered. Catalysed and Seething prefixes for recovery speed, and Warding and Staunching suffixes for defensive mechanics. Most of the time you won't need to use these, but you'll be glad that you have them when you find yourself in a bind.
- The Staunching suffix is the more important of the two, but Warding is nice for dealing with Silence.


I love my Ample Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline. It's a luxury, but not an expensive one. If you're paranoid about Chill and Freeze, use one with the Heat suffix instead.


- I chose Atziri's Promise because it gives you a little ~3k DPS boost and a bit of extra leech.
- Some people may argue that the Wise Oak is better, but Atziri's Promise adds the same amount of damage (assuming perfect rolls), gives you a bit of extra leech, doesn't require you to fiddle with your resistances, and is much cheaper. It's just better.
- I chose Doedre's Elixir because using it will proc Savage Hit conditional mechanics, as long as your chaos resistance is at or below -40%. Make sure you don't use Doedre's Elixir while Atziri's Promise is active, or it won't proc a Savage Hit. Make sure there is no chaos resistance on your gear.


I have four jewel slots allocated in my tree. I am using five of these because they were releatively cheap. When choosing jewels, prioritize life, then burning/fire/spell damage, then resistances if you need them, then strength.



Gems
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Gems with a Kaom's Heart
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Use a Searing Touch if you plan on using a Kaom's Heart.

Weapon
- Scorching Ray (blue)
- Cast while Channeling (blue)
- Firestorm (blue)
- Elemental Focus (blue)
- Controlled Destruction (blue)
- Burning Damage (red)
Notes
- Elemental Focus can be used because Scorching Ray burns enemies without technically "igniting". Therefore, it is not inflicting an elemental ailment, and we can use it with impunity.
- Some would say that Immolate or Fire Penetration would be better choices than Burning Damage. However, Burning Damage is better because of the colossal damage boost it gives Scorching Ray.

Helmet
- Cast when Damage Taken (Level 9) (red)
- Immortal Call (Level 11) (red)
- Flame Golem (Level 11) (red)
- Anger (red)
Notes
- The reason Anger is here instead of Increased Duration is because I had to shuffle some gems around to get Arcane Surge in the build with the fact that Kaom's Heart has no sockets. This isn't a problem if you're not using Kaom's Heart.

Gloves
- Blasphemy (blue)
- Flammability (blue)
- Flame Dash (blue)
- Arcane Surge (Level 6) (blue)
Notes
- Arcane Surge is a nice damage boost for things like Essences, Harbingers, and bosses. This build is low on sockets, but I really think it's worth including it in here.
- Arcane Surge needs to be level 6 in order to proc every time you use Flame Dash.

Boots
- Cast when Damage Taken (Level 20) (red)
- Firestorm (Level 20) (blue)
- Flame Surge (Level 20) (blue)
- Magma Orb (Level 20) (blue)
Notes
- Ideally you'd want at least one more of these setups, but with a Kaom's Heart we have to make do with one.


Gems without a Kaom's Heart
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If you don't plan on using a Kaom's Heart, you might as well use a Doon Cuebiyari and Rathpith Globe.

Body Armour
- Scorching Ray (blue)
- Cast while Channeling (blue)
- Firestorm (blue)
- Elemental Focus (blue)
- Controlled Destruction (blue)
- Burning Damage (red)
Notes
- Elemental Focus can be used because Scorching Ray burns enemies without technically "igniting". Therefore, it is not inflicting an elemental ailment, and we can use it with impunity.
- Some would say that Immolate or Fire Penetration would be better choices than Burning Damage. However, Burning Damage is better because of the colossal damage boost it gives Scorching Ray.

Helmet
- Cast when Damage Taken (Level 9) (red)
- Immortal Call (Level 11) (red)
- Flame Golem (Level 11) (red)
- Increased Duration (red)

Gloves
- Cast when Damage Taken (Level 19) (red)
- Firestorm (Level 18) (blue)
- Flame Surge (Level 18) (blue)
- Magma Orb (Level 18) (blue)

Boots
- Cast when Damage Taken (Level 20) (red)
- Firestorm (Level 20) (blue)
- Flame Surge (Level 20) (blue)
- Magma Orb (Level 20) (blue)

Weapon
- Blasphemy (blue)
- Flammability (blue)
- Anger (red)

Shield
- Flame Dash (blue)
- Faster Casting (blue)
- Arcane Surge (Level 6) (blue)
Notes
- Arcane Surge needs to be level 6 in order to proc every time you use Flame Dash.



Passive Tree
Spoiler


Passive Tree at level 92

Order to Allocate Passives
- Basically, beeline for Vaal Pact, only picking up life nodes as you need them.
- Once you get Vaal Pact, just start picking up life nodes.
- Get Explosive Impact and Holy Fire whenever.
- I usually pick up the jewel sockets last because good jewels are expensive and I usually don't get them until end game.

Ascendancy
You're going to take Berserker. Allocate your Ascendancy nodes in this order:
- Pain Reaver. This will help with your leech when you get Vaal Pact.
- Cloaked in Savagery. Leech and Damage when you take a Savage Hit.
- Crave the Slaughter. A bit of movement speed, and needed for Aspect of Carnage.
- Aspect of Carnage. This is what gets you the juicy 40% more damage, and the 10% increased damage taken will let you use Doedre's Elixir to proc Cloaked in Savagery.


Leveling
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- Always make sure you are using the highest level life flasks that you can at the time.
- As for skills, take Molten Strike as a quest reward for killing Hillock.
- Once you enter the Caverns of Wrath, take Sunder as a quest reward.
- Near this point you may want to consider using Clarity until you feel you don't need it anymore. Using the highest tier Mana Flask that you can at any given time will work too.
- Once you complete the quest Lost in Love (early Act 2) grab Anger to level it as soon as you can. Also grab Hatred and Herald of Ash to use it temporarily with Sunder.
- Once you complete the quest Fixture of Fate (late Act 3) grab as many gems as you can from Siosa. You can start using Scorching Ray, Elemental Focus, Controlled Destruction, and Burning Damage in a four link if you want, or you can just level them while you continue to use Sunder.
- Once you complete the quest The Eternal Nightmare (late Act 4), you can start using Cast while Channeling. Buy a cheap five-link if you're not in an SSF league and use Scorching Ray, Cast while Channeling, Firestorm, Elemental Focus, and Controlled Destruction. Put Burning Damage in an extra socket until you get a six-link or use a Tabula Rasa.
- Upon entering defeating Kitava in Act 10, make sure to buy a good ring, amulet, and belt to greatly increase your resistances.
- By level 55 you can equip Hrimnor's Resolve.
- By level 60 you can equip the Searing Touch.
- By level 64 you can equip Doon Cuebiyari (non-Kaom's).
- By level 68 you can equip Rathpith Globe (non-Kaom's).
- By level 69 you can equip all non-map bases.
- By level 73 you can equip Fingerless Silk Gloves.
- By level 80 you can equip Opal Rings.

Bandits
Kill all for the two skill points from Eramir.


Endgame
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Pantheon Powers
- For major gods, use Arakaali or Lunaris normally. Use Solaris for maps with difficult bosses.
- For minor gods, use Yugul normally, use Ryslatha for the Labyrinth.

Map Mods
What you cannot do:
- Cannot leech
- Elemental Reflect and -Max Resistances in combination
What you can do:
- Elemental Reflect by itself (just make sure you have the Soul of Yugul selected on the Pantheon)
- -Max Resistances by itself
- Everything else

Just be wary of more than one damage mod at a time, as well as damage mods and curses.

Labyrinth
You should be able to complete the Labyrinth easily for the purpose of getting your Ascendancy points. However, as a leech build, farming Uber Lab is not recommended. Traps are deadly to you, but they can be partly ameliorated with the Soul of Ryslatha, which will help you with life flask charges.

Bosses
You should be able to kill all bosses in the game with a few exceptions
- The Phoenix: You can tank most bosses, but not the Phoenix. However, this one is actually really easy as long as you are familiar with his mechanics and keep your distance, especially when he does his big explosion.
- The Shaper: You're probably not going to be able to do the Shaper on this build. It's got damage, but not Shaper-killing damage. I've tried, and you can't sufficiently protect Zana from the portal monsters. Also, since it takes so long to kill him, the arena will eventually fill up with ground vortices. You might be able to get enough damage by trading some life for damage on the tree, but I can't vouch for that. You also might be able to kill him if you let Zana die immediately (she should respawn before the bullet hell phase) and are generally really skilled.
- Uber Atziri: I haven't gotten around to trying Uber Atziri with this build, but from what understand the Atziri fight depends too much on movement for survival. Anyone is welcome to try and let me know, though.
- The Cursed King (T15 Dark Forest): Rigwald's mechanics shit on this build. It is very possible to defeat The Cursed King, even deathless, but it's frustrating and difficult. Lycius, Midnight's Howl (T13 Lair Map) is much easier, both mechanically and in terms of damage. When fighting Lycius, be sure to activate Doedre's Elixir to proc a Savage Hit so you can tank that large-aoe barrage thing he does. When he transforms into a wolf, run away or portal.
- Hall of Grandmasters: This map is possible to complete in theory, but this build doesn't quite have the damage. Plus a lot of them tend to move around a lot more than normal monsters and bosses, which is bad for this build.
- All other map bosses should be a piece of cake normally, but watch out for bad combinations of map mods, especially damage mods, Vulnerability, and Elemental Reflect.



Click for Path of Building code (Searing Touch, with or without Kaom's Heart)

Click for Path of Building code (Doon Cuebiyari & Rathpith Globe, without Kaom's Heart)
Last edited by AronJerda on Sep 16, 2017, 6:01:00 AM
Last bumped on Sep 16, 2017, 5:48:50 AM
should get some videos up as people dont really play builds they are not sure about without being able to see some footage.
Hey man,

Trying your marauder right now. I have to admit it is sooooo much fun to look at the mobs melt under the ray.

In terms of leveling like most character i think it is more time efficient to go for a +1 fire gems weapon and use fire trap and fire storm.
I am also struggling with survivability as i am always out of mana especially against bosses.
So I guess at lvl 46 i'm going to get the Pain reaver and see if it helps.

Thanks for this build!

Ps: in terms of nice unique to progress I got this one, seems like a nice add-on to lvl up
Last edited by ceddybeddy on Sep 12, 2017, 4:16:16 AM
Ok pain reaver + 75% res = game too easy ^^

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