[3.1] Frostbreath Molten Strike / Sunder. Does Everything.
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Intro
With the chill changes in 3.0, I started to tinker around with the Idea of using Frostbreath, I wanted a league starter that was cheap, and could efficiently farm bosses. This def delivered and then some. Against Shaper, you are dealing 274k dps Per magma ball, at 12 balls that's 3.2 mil. Not too shabby. Sunder is sitting at 527k dps against regular maps. Very tanky, super reliable. -- 3.1 Update -- The new Vaal Pact changes definitely affects the defensive capabilities of this build, and with the rarity changes to Lycosidae (one of the core uniques) it doesn't feel as good a league starter as it used to. Thrash clears are just as quick, and you only need to be a bit more careful about high burst situations such as opening Strongboxes, Breaches, Abysses, etc. Bosses melt just as fast, and only the ones with ridiculously high burst (Minotaur with damage mods for example) require a change in gameplay for consistency. Nevertheless, the build does hold up in endgame content with some modifications. See the updated sections for more details.
Path of Building
Tree
Ascendancy
Berserker Normal Lab - Pain Reaver Cruel Lab - Cloaked in Savagery Merciless Lab - Crave the Slaughter Uber Lab - Aspect of Carnage
Pantheon
Major - Solaris Minor - Yugul / Whatever.
Bandits
Kill all, 2 passive points OR Kraityn (Keep in mind this pushes the build to level 93)
Skill Gems
* Main skill Sunder/Molten Strike Added Cold Elemental Damage with Attacks Multistrike Concentrated Effect Hypothermia *Note - Yes, you will be swapping gems before a boss, thankfully it's only Sunder/Molten Strike and not any other supports gems, you use the exact same setup of supports for single target as you do for AoE. Buffs Wrath OR Anger Arctic Armour Summon Flame Golem Vaal Grace Ancestral Protector OR Decoy Totem Mobility Shield Charge Faster Attacks Fortify Culling Strike CWDT Cast when Damage Taken Bladefall Molten Shell Elemental Weakness OR Enfeeble 3.1 Notes With the changes to Vaal Pact, being more defensive is vital to completing the endgame content. This means Vaal Grace wins out over Vaal Haste, and instead of Ancestral Protector, a Decoy Totem can be used. While leveling until you reach a more comfortable healthpool you can also sub out Elemental Weakness for Enfeeble.
Gear
Core Uniques
Optional Uniques
Rare Gear
Stats to look for are Life Resists (Until Elemental Weakness cap) Added Elemental Damage % Elemental Damage to Attacks You can use an Astral Plate which gives a max implicit of 12% all res, this really makes it easy to cap out your resists. My new current Chest : Previous chest : The rest of my current gear, keep in mind this is way over kill, and some items might be expensive, the core of the build works just fine with lower end gear.
Rare Jewels
Stats to look for are Attack Speed with Maces (up to 8%) A second Attack Speed roll which applies to you (One handed weapon, While wearing Shields, etc.) % Area Damage These rare jewels were very cheap when I bought them a few weeks into the league, 2-3c a piece. Experience may vary.
Video
Build details
Offense This build leverages the new chill mechanics, even if it's a tiny chill it still enables the Frostbreath double damage mod. We then further multiply this by having Elemental Overload (40% more), Point Blank (50% more) and Aspect of Carnage (40% more). Defense We rely on having a high life pool with Vaal Pact, and strong damage leech from the Berserker Ascendancy. This is also ALL Damage leeched, which is why we have a CWDT Bladefall, this triggers when we get hit and heals us a fair amount, and if we have Savage Hits on, it's a full heal. We also have Acrobatics and Vaal Grace, this allows us to Dodge a lot of incoming damage Arctic Armour for less Physical and Fire damage, Chilled grounds is also nice to help proc that Frostbreath. Kaom's Roots not only for the high life, but the Unwavering Stance mod, and cannot be slowed below base speed. 3.1 Notes Even without instant leech, the build still holds up to the endgame. T16's bosses and Shaper just require to play the mechanics instead of facetanking near everything in the game.
What can beat this build
Enough Reflect will hurt you. (Ele reflect map mod + Reflect Aura for example). The "Cannot leech" map mod. One shots, don't run triple damage mods Minotaur and expect to facetank. Lab Traps, Since you are Vaal Pact you have to be careful around theses.
Conclusion
This was a very fun build for me, it's still a blast to play even after over 90 levels, and def a strong cheap league starter. If you want to go full potato mode this is def for you. 3.1 note No longer a cheap league starter because of the Lycosidae rarity changes, and you can't go full potato anymore against endgame bosses. The rest of the game is perfectly fine. Last edited by Tankajin on Dec 14, 2017, 9:06:37 AM Last bumped on Mar 12, 2018, 3:02:36 AM
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I am trying this out right now, it's pretty solid, thank you!
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" Glad you are enjoying it! :) | |
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Just curious as a new PoE player, what do you put the 'pastebin' info into??
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" You would use the link to the pastebin in the import section of a program called Path of Building. It's a tool made by a community member (Openarl) to plan and theorycraft a build, it can calculate just about anything you need for path of exile, and combines Skill gems, Passive Tree, Gear, Buffs, the works. Really powerful tool. Here is his thread : https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1716360 | |
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(I couldn't figure it out, what is giving you 12 balls per hit?) *edit* Nvm I found it, helm enchant gives another 3 and flask gives another 2 Last edited by wooli on Sep 15, 2017, 6:21:55 PM
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Very nice build and rather cheap if you take away the helmet enchant and the Dying sun flask which still gives 6x274k=1,64M DPS which doesn't include the molten strike melee hit, which is very good.
I was thinking about an underused unique that could boost your damage by at least 26% more damage bringing it from 274k to 347k per projectile depending on the bosses resists : Malachai's artifice. Put an orb of storms inside the ring and enemies hit by the orb will trigger a lesser EE of .75x50=-37% resist to fire and cold damage at the cost of .75x25=+19% lightning resist which you don't really use, 97 life, and not being able to do elemental weakness maps. And it will help trigger EO. You can swap between your current ring and malachai's artifice if you have an elemental weakness map. I tried exchanging your gloves with Hrimsorrow/Hrimburn gloves which increases your DPS but I think at too much loss of defence. POB Doesn't take into account the +XX% lightning resist when you socket a blue gem. Last edited by nougatt on Sep 18, 2017, 12:27:25 AM
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Triggering EO isn't really an issue.
It's an option if I wanted more damage, I'd have to tinker with it and see if the change to the playstyle is worth it (having to drop orb of storms every now and then). | |
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While I do not need a cheap league starter build at this point, I'm sorely tempted to try this out, for a simple reason:
It has been a while since I have seen an underused unique utilised in such a creative manner. You, sir, have my respect. This looks like an excellent build. Still waiting for GGG to admit that they made mistakes and actually work on fixing them.
You'll find me when pigs start flying. |
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" True you will have to recast orb of storms but only around every 11 seconds(Orbs last 6s and EE 5s) which I wouldn't call spamming :-). Anyways Malachai's Artifice is only to be used against BIG bosses because you have the DPS for the rest of the mobs. If you try it out could you keep me updated ? |
