why can't i kill shaper?

so i made a cwc firestorm berserker that i think can kill shaper. but so far i haven't been successful. i'm wondering if the reason i can't beat shaper is just my lack of proficiency at killing shaper (this is the character i have come closest with) or if this character really just can't cut it. t16 w/o mods are a cake walk, but shaper seems impossible. character name is shocking_and_dizzy (was thinking about a cyclone doryani's fist build) , profile is set to public. please give feedback on what i need to improve to where i can kill shaper (i don't want to scrap the whole thing, so let's try being productive). if the character set up is good enough, then i guess i'll just keep trying to down shaper.

you seem to have high maximum life. How is your life recovery?

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Ludvator wrote:

you seem to have high maximum life. How is your life recovery?

i use vaal pact.

oh sorry, I have missed your ascendancy

Shaper fight is very simple occasion, a DPS test, defense other than max life doesn't do much in this fight, when higher max life makes mistakes a bit more forgivable

The way I see it, you have two problems

1, movement speed which you have none on gear, and your setup is with a staff, solely rely on flame dash imo is not good enough for shaper, you will get hit by his balls and beams quite often I would say even in phase one and two.

2, not enough damage output, firestorm with 14% penetration even with martyr of innocence is not great to begin with, more importantly, it is CWCed, so you have to cast standing still more than 0.35 seconds to have the firestorm proc'd, otherwise it's only scorching ray.

These two problems work together, and created a conundrum, you either standing still to cast, get hit often and run out of portals fast. Or you barely cast, not getting hit that much but doing very limited damage, resulting in whole lot of vortex everywhere on the floor which kills the potential to even operate.

I can't say what's best because I never did a char like this, but to my experience, if I were you , I would put on a high movement speed shoes maybe seven league steps, and change the skill setup to self cast, most likely include fire pen into 6L. And since not using kaom's roots anymore, a higher level CWDT linked with fire storm + inc duration a.k.a. autoleech will help a lot.

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TravisL wrote:

Shaper fight is very simple occasion, a DPS test, defense other than max life doesn't do much in this fight, when higher max life makes mistakes a bit more forgivable

The way I see it, you have two problems

1, movement speed which you have none on gear, and your setup is with a staff, solely rely on flame dash imo is not good enough for shaper, you will get hit by his balls and beams quite often I would say even in phase one and two.

2, not enough damage output, firestorm with 14% penetration even with martyr of innocence is not great to begin with, more importantly, it is CWCed, so you have to cast standing still more than 0.35 seconds to have the firestorm proc'd, otherwise it's only scorching ray.

These two problems work together, and created a conundrum, you either standing still to cast, get hit often and run out of portals fast. Or you barely cast, not getting hit that much but doing very limited damage, resulting in whole lot of vortex everywhere on the floor which kills the potential to even operate.

I can't say what's best because I never did a char like this, but to my experience, if I were you , I would put on a high movement speed shoes maybe seven league steps, and change the skill setup to self cast, most likely include fire pen into 6L. And since not using kaom's roots anymore, a higher level CWDT linked with fire storm + inc duration a.k.a. autoleech will help a lot.

an interesting idea, one that i have actually considered. 2 questions: 1. will the loss of stun immunity greatly hinder me in shaper fight? 2. will loss of life be much of a factor?

thanks for the help and insights.

I can't help with your char, but maybe with the execution:

1) Apply your dps. This is basic WoW-101, despite the "a dead dps doesn't deal any damage" mantra, you can't spend all your focus on jumping through hoops - that won't kill the boss. Practice on being on your target as much as possible, limit your movement to what is absolutely necessary. Plan your flask usage. Don't use them at the start of p2 or p3 for he will do the Bullet Hell first. You have to kill him before the void zones overwhelm you.

2) A basic guideline for "enough dps" is whether or not you can kill the adds without losing Zana. The "buff" to her hp was actually (intentionally I guess) bad for in 2.6 you could let her die asap and she'd be back right in time for the Bullet Hell.

3) You need some kind of fast movement to get out of the Slam. That's been my only problem this league as a melee char. If you can fight at range, that shouldn't be much of an issue. Brine King Pantheon (50% reduced chill effect) might help. I prefer running out with a speed flask over Leap Slam.

4) About void zones: Once you manage not to die to any of his regular attacks, you need to learn to place these. You want to trigger them when you see those balls chasing you - near the edge of the platform. They will eventually kill you if you trigger them inside Zana's shield. At the start of Bullet Hell you have a short time window to check for those balls. The better you are with this, the longer time you get to live and thus kill him.