[3.1] SSF Guide, HC/SC. 75/75 Block Necro Volatile Dead. Guardians, Uber Izaro, HotG. Videos Inside.

Introduction

Last league I played SSF SC and had alot of fun. This time I decided I wanted a different challange in SSF HC. I also wanted to make my own build and after seeing the new skills I knew I had to try Volatile Dead.
I hope to help those that want to take their first step in SSF HC with this guide. I lost my first witch at lvl 84 to Lich's instarip bug. I've killed the Lich 4 times since.

Although this is a SSF HC/HC build it's still very viable for SC.

The build is not a one button build. You will be using five skills actively.

Edit :

I also ran it in SSF SC with a slightly different tree and setup.

SSF HC PoB pastebin : https://pastebin.com/EyL9me3h
SSF SC PoB pastebin : https://pastebin.com/7GvGenaH

SSF SC Videos



SSF HC Videos



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Pros

Tanky with max-block and good eHP pool
High Life regen
Easy to gear
No need for Uber Lab
Good DPS with little investment
Easy leveling
Kill up to 2 screens away

Cons

Not a one button smash build
Not the fastest map clear build
Flame Dash only movement skill

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Gem links








Cremation has many roles. It's added dps, it curses mobs and reliably procs Elemental Overload.
I mostly cast Unearth totem vs bosses, it spawns so many corpses wich in turn feeds to Spirit Eater's 2% added cast speed per corpse consumed. Bone Offering needs to be 100% up for maximum safety.
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Gearing

Rule of thumb, get as high life roll as possible on gear. Resists are very easy to max out due to getting alot from ascendancy and tree.

Weapon

Cybil's Paw
Doryani's Cataclyst
1H with Ele Dmg, Spell Dmg, Flat Ele Dmg (preferably Fire), Cast speed and Mana regen.

You will need a really one-handed weapon to outperform Cybil's Paw. It's a quite common drop, got 2 already myself.

Shield

For max block you will need 29% block shield with Bone Offering at lvl 20. Crest of Perandus is a nice shield that will do fine up to red tier maps. Later you will want a 120 life shield with 30+ block chance.

Chest

Grind for Tabula. It doesn't take that long. Later try to 6L a eva/es chest with high life.

Gloves

Prioratize Life and Resists on gloves.

Helmet

Prioratize Life, Dex Resists on helmet.

Belt

Stygian Belt with high Life and some Resists.

Boots

Life, Resists, Dex and Movement Speed.

Rings

Life, Dex, Cast Speed, Mana Regen and Resists.

Amulet

Stone of Lazhwar, a very common unique drop. Needed to get spell block.
Else Amulet with Life, Spell Damage, Cast Speed, Increased Fire Damage, Dex and Resists.

Jewels
Life and flat Elemental Damage (preferably Fire)

My Gear in SSF HC



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Ascendancy, Bandits and Pantheon

Start getting Commander of Darkness, then Mistress of Sacrifice and finally Spirit Eater. You could take Beacon of Corruption for the 15% Chaos Res if you like but there is no need for the last 2 points.

Kill all bandits.

Soul of the Brine King and Soul of Shakari are the pantheons of choice. Capture Terror of the Infinite Drifts when you find a vessel for the sweet poison immune.

**Recently I have been using Soul of Tukohama. We stand still alot when casting so we get nice phys reduction and life regen after catching Tashin.

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Gameplay

Keep Bone Offering up all the time. My routine is usually cast Desecrate, Bone Offering, Desecrate, Volatile Dead, Bone Offering, move, Desecrate, (vs big packs throw in Cremation) Volatile Dead, Bone Offering etc.

For example when doing Abyss cracks I start casting Desecrate into Bone offering, start the Aybyss crack and follow it. When it opens cast Desecrate, cremation, Flasks, Volatile Dead, Unearth totem , Volatile Dead (hold button down for maximum casts), Bone Offering, Flasks, Volatile Dead and when the crack moves you follow it and start the steps again.

Example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rht0KleXKPk

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Leveling guide

Start with the skills of your choice, I personally always start with Magma Orb into Firestorm. At level 16 eqip Desecrate and link to Spell Cascade and Arcane Surge. Don't level Arcane Surge beyond level 5. Link Volatile Dead with Spell Cascade. Get Elemental Focus and Controlled Destruction when it's available and link with Volatile Dead and Spell Cascade. Focus your gear on life and to cap resists. Get Cremation when available and link with Elemental Focus and Controlled Destruction. This will boost your dps alot. Use Jade and Stibnite flasks. Ease into endgame setup before Kitava fight (see gem section). Trade Jade flask with Basalt when you start mapping.

Leveling Tree's :







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PoB image from SSF SC




PoB image from SSF HC




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SSF SC

PoB Pastebin https://pastebin.com/7GvGenaH

Videos



Will add more videos when I get the other guardian maps.

Will update this section before next league.