Witch - [3.3] Rasgeroth's Bubble Wrap. (Storm Burst Elementalist.) Shaper/Red Elder Viable. - Forum

DISCLAIMER: This is a build using Orb of Storms to clear, and Storm Burst to burst down bosses. So there will be some mentions of orbs and balls, damage per ball or orb, spreading and what not. THIS IS THE PLACE TO GET ALL OF THE JUVENILE JOKES OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM. Snicker, laugh away, do whatever you want, but do it before you start reading. Builds in Path of Exile is serious business, and I know full well what kind of elementary school level puns a build such as this one might invoke.

INTRODUCTION:

Hello there, my name is Rasgeroth and I like balls. Orbs? ORBS! Goooooooood f****** dammit.....

You may disregard the disclaimer already.

I'm a Path of Exile player since 2013, and lately I've been fiddling with a lot of builds to finally decide to share a few of them. I first used the Storm Burst on a Scion to somewhat successful degree (Up to guardians) back when it was first released in the Harbinger League. A little gem in the patch notes told me about elemental leech and the noticeable damage buff for the Storm Burst itself, so I decided to have another go at it. (Movie Preview Voice: This time, it was personal.)

Other than this build, I've got a bunch of goodies waiting around in my standard league roster, and I am a newbie streamer. You can take a look at my profile with Path of Building, and watch me baby rage about lag spikes right here:

https://www.twitch.tv/rasgeroth

3.4 Changes: No nerfs for this one. Orb of Storms trap or totem is of no use for this build, and no changes to anything this build does make use of. Plays the same, hits the same. Probably, only change you will see is the global illumination changes for those with good PC's.

ABOUT THE BUILD:

This build makes use of Inpulsa's for the fast clear capabilities it bestows upon it's wearer and Storm Burst for overlapping a bunch of balls together to slap them on to the face of whatever unlucky monster you choose to target.

Here are some graphic images about how the build should look and feel while playing it:

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Here is how it looks in game:

To get the culling from my golems, I ran headfirst in to a Shaper Orb. Was fun. Can we add Shaper Slam immunity to their Elemental damage immunity pretty please?

On a more serious note, I do love how Storm Burst sounds and it gave me the idea about how to name the build, but while it deals a ton of damage, you won't be using it much other than for single target. Inpulsa's be broken, yo!

BUILD MECHANICS:

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With great Inpulsa's, comes great responsibility. The build revolves around orbs, first one is dropping an Orb of Storms to pop an entire screen worth of mobs. (Exquisite in incursions, especially if those regular joes are cuddling the architect.) Second is channeling Storm Burst, sending a barrage of small orbs at your target, alt-tab, go to youtube, type WTF BOOM, put it on a loop, and watch the mayhem.

Since Storm Burst isn't the usual channeled spell, you won't be standing around much. What you want is to make sure you channel at most 2 seconds, most of the time it is even less. Most damage comes from shotgunning the orbs together, which means you have an area where your optimal damage occurs, and that area is usually half a screen away. You can create damage zones via creating waves of orbs, but the damage is high enough to just click half a second and move on for the next target.

One of the main issues of the build is that GGG hates self casters. AHEM.

Nevermind that, one of the main issues of the build is that you need a Watcher's Eye for the Wrath Mana Leech effect. There is no regen in the game that makes sure you can channel as long as you want to with this build. You need the leech, and you need it bad. Since Watcher's Eye is a lot more permanent than using blasphemy and Warlord's Mark, I opted for that. The life leech will come from your gear and ascendancy. (0.9 percent life leech is enough to get you to the cap.)

Other than that, the required gear is rather cheap atm.

For the ungodly clear speed it provides. Being unaffected by Shock is also a great bonus for a fragile build like this one.

For the extra projectile and cast speed. Cast speed means more balls, extra projectile means more balls. Seriously, you want to go Onyxia Raid Wipe kind of more balls with this build. (Those that understood the reference, meet up and we'll drink to how fucking old we got over the years.)

Free conductivity is free, allows you to get another curse to increase your damage.I went with Elemental Weakness, if you want to be more defensive, Enfeeble is a good choice as well. (Projectile Weakness isn't good enough damage increase, especially considering you want your target to be wrapped with balls, not be pushed away by them.)

Elemental Proliferation is what you need on these, along with the Elemental Damage Leech. Any Shaper Sceptre with Increased Crit and Elemental Proliferation will also do, as long as you can enchant 0.2% Lightning Damage Leech from Catarina on it. The perfect Shaper Sceptre gives more damage, and it also does not exist. (Lightning Pen, Inc Crit For spells, Elem Prolif, Cast Speed, Adds Lightning Dam to Spells, Cata Mod.) These two are cheap and very very effective, so go for them. If you got Bill Gates Exalts, look for or craft the Shaper Sceptre.

PRO & CON:

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Pro's:

Popping. Lots and lots of popping. Inpulsa's pops the density, Storm Burst pops the remaining few.
Can deal with most map mods. Cannot Leech being the only exception. You can shut down your second curse aura, spam a mana flask along with a life flask. But if you like torturing yourself like that, why are you playing a game that is MOSTLY enjoyable? (Looking at you, damn porcupines.)
Fast. Hella fast. A few bursts from the Storm Burst and things drop like flies. Every magic monster die from a few zaps from the Orb of Storms, and with a build that focuses on high cast speed to overlap orbs, Storms zap quite a lot in a quite little amount of time. Rares get betrayed by their own henchmen's health pools, and Beyond monsters don't live long enough to be seen that they spawned. Even beyond bosses, most of the time.
(Edna Mode Voice:) No corpses!. Inpulsa sweeps screens crystal clear, and porcupines and a certain jackass that loves to blow those pesky corpses up can go screw themselves.
Fast clearing self caster, roar with defiance against game designers. Then cross your fingers and pray a lot to not get banned. Maybe don't write this down on the game's own forums? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
Very affordable. Even the required Watcher's Eye is doesn't cost much. Though if you have currency to burn, you can go for double wrath versions to do even more damage.
Inpulsa's. Need I say more? Shock immunity without the immunity, people.

Cons:

Fragile. With 6K HP, and armor/evasion that equals to protection of a cosplay armor, this isn't the build to face tank anything. You don't need to stand still too long to deal a ton of damage though.
Self caster, not for everyone.
Not the best league starter. Doryani's at the start of the league cost an arm and a leg each, and you need the hands that usually come attached to the arms you just sold to get the Sceptre to play the game. Inpulsa at the start of a league costs about your firstborn child, so if you have a good relation with adoption agencies and are careless about condom use, you can get one. Snakepits are also another problem as nobody comes outta Twilight Strand and enters Lair of the Hydra. Second curse is optional so Impresence isn't the most important required item, but the rest are pretty much out of reach for a while.
Not enough cons to balance out the pros? Seriously, can't think of anything.

PASSIVES & ASCENDANCY:

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Passives:

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Current version for Path of Building. For non-PoB version, the leveling section has the tree.
https://pastebin.com/7YzEYhXU

Bandits:

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Pop those lawless troublemakers. Even the gentle one, Oak.

Pantheon:

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Major God: Soul of the Brine King. You are a fragile build, you need this. It would be all too easy to stun-lock you and end you otherwise.
Minor God: Soul of Shakari, Soul of Gruthkul. Either is useful, I prefer poison immunity for the convenience. In this build, you don't stand still long enough to make use of Soul of Tukohama.

Ascendancy:

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In order of importance:
Paragon of Calamity: Bread and butter of self casting. You really need the leech from here. Defensive bonuses are good, and reflect immunity is a must.
Pendulum of Destruction: Checkpoint for the Heralds, increased area helps with increasing the overlap of your storm burst orbs.
Mastermind of Discord: Lots of penetration and Herald of Lightning goes with the theme by popping those barrels. Thanks to Inpulsa and Orb of Storms, it is active as long as you need, and deals enough damage to regular monsters to keep your popping chain going.
Liege of the Primordial: More cast speed for more ball overlapping. Second golem is up to you, I went with Flame for more damage, but Stone is also a good option if you want to be safer in the labyrinth for example. Just keep in mind that Stone Golem won't have the Elemental damage immunity of the Flame Golem.

If you think your shocking capabilities are sub-par, you can drop Liege of the Primordial for Shaper of Desolation. For your information, nothing lives long enough to make use of those freezes and ignites though.

GEAR & ENCHANTMENTS:

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Current Gear:

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You can also use an Atziri's Promise instead of a regular amethyst flask for a little bit more boost in damage, but I rather get some curse immunity myself. Granite flask is there to deal with the physical damage, as you have little to no mitigation against it otherwise. Rest is self-explanatory, silver flask is more cast speed, and I also have perfect resists to make full use of the Wise Oak.

Jewels:

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REQUIRED: Watcher's Eye: %# of Lightning Damage is Leeched as Mana while affected by Wrath.

Rest of the jewel sockets are for rare jewels, which should have the stats you need. (Resists, dex, what not.) As long as you have % increased Lightning Damage and % increased Maximum Life, the suffixes of these jewels can vary between area damage, projectile damage, spell damage and cast speed. Most effective suffix is the cast speed.

Enchantments:

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Helmet: Best version is Storm Burst Fires An Additional Projectile. This build is about overlapping them, and more is always welcome. If not available, try to go for Storm Burst Deals 40% Increased Damage.

Gloves: You do not or should not need to stand close enough for Commmandment of Tempest to be useful, so the best version is Commandment of Reflection.

Boots: There are a few options for this one. Best is Adds 1 to 160 Lightning Damage If You Haven't Killed Recently for the added damage against bosses.
Though if you are unlucky, life & mana regen when hit, or life & mana leech if you have killed recently are useful as well. We have a lot of penetration already, so increased penetration if you haven't killed recently is a very, very tiny decrease (100 DPS decrease in Path of Building) compared to added lightning damage.

GEMS AND LINKS:

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Storm Burst:

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In order of Importance: Greater Multiple Projectiles, Slower Projectiles, Concentrated Effect, Controlled Destruction, Added Lightning Damage.
You leave shocking to Orb of Storms, basicly. More projectiles, overlapping thanks to their reduced speed, and a whole lot of area damage for their explosions.

Orb of Storms:

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Must be socketed in a weapon: Innervate, Arcane Surge (level 8.)
The chain starter, shock enabler and overall damage buffer of the build. The Elemental Proliferation from the weapon is a must. If you don't have a shaper scepter or a Doryani's Catalyst, drop Arcane Surge for Elemental Proliferation.

Notice how it doesn't have Increased Critical Strikes, even though this is an Elemental Overload build. The increased critical chance from your weapons and the tiny bit we take from the tree gets Orb of Storms to 10% crit chance. With high cast speed, it zaps so often that it'll keep EO active even with such low crit chance. Don't worry.

Mana Reserve:

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Wrath, Herald of Thunder: The build enabler via the Watcher's Eye, and main damage penetration via the ascendancy.
Blasphemy, Conductivity, Elemental Weakness, Enlighten (Level 3):
The curse setup. Remember that the second curse is optional. You can swap the points for more cast speed, or get Enfeeble to reduce the damage you take.

Golems & Movement:

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Cast When Damage Taken, Lightning Golem, Flame Golem, Culling Strike:
The better Golem is Lightning, so if you wish, you can get Stone Golem for the regen it provides instead of the Flame one. Remember that Stone Golem is fragile compared to Flame Golem on an Elementalist. Culling Strike is always good, though you have a lot of burst to leave it if you wish. Linking Golems to Cast When Damage Taken increases their uptime.

Lightning Warp, Swift Affliction (Level 1), Less Duration:
Zap around and zap away from danger. With as much cast speed as in this build, you don't need the usual Faster Casting in this setup. If you get this in a Doryani, it helps shocking monsters as you land on them, and starts a popping chain.

HOW TO DEAL WITH:

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Cannot Leech: Very troublesome, not worth the effort to deal with. You have a lot of mana reserved, so you might want to shut down your second curse aura and get a mana flask. Also, smash your life flask button as well because you don't take a lot of life regen talents. Nobody would think lesser of you if you just reroll the damn mod though.
Elemental Reflect: You be immune, mon'.
Physical Reflect: Listed for political correctness, has nothing to do with you or the build.
Cannot Regen: While Cannot Leech is almost impossible to deal with, (If you don't like torturing yourself that is) this one is even harder to mitigate.
YOU SHOULD NOT USE LIGHTNING WARP IN A MAP WITH THIS MOD. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE HORROR?! This build reserves a lot of mana, so not much left to zap around with. If you drain your mana dry, just remove some links from Orb of Storms and force the mana cost to go down. It'll generate you some mana when you drop it near the next enemy you find.
Monsters Avoid Elemental Shenanigans: No worries, Orb of Storms applies shock per zap, not per cast. It zaps very, very frequently thus this mod isn't a problem. If you see your chain start in 0.5 seconds compared to the usual 0.2, just do a click-release of Storm Burst (Releasing like, 3 balls or so) and force the nearest enemies to die. While not all of them will be shocked, at least a few will be to make them pop, removing any threat to you.
Hexproof: You don't rely on Conductivity to Shock things. This has no real impact on you. Inpulsa covers your ass on this one. Boss fight might take a second or two longer though, you impatient, impatient exile.
Your parents' divorce: Well, you get to have two of pretty much everything, birthdays and what not. Happy family life is overrated anyway. If you wish, feel free to leave the thread after such a terrible joke, just like your dad leaving your mom.