Mirkulas BV Chieftain 3.4 Build (1.Chieftain SSF Flashback)
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It's really great to see a properly SSF-oriented build guide which isn't assuming access to, say, a BV +duration lab enchant - I'm a bit fan of the QoL touches.
I'm thinking about this as a Betrayal league starter - of course, who knows what the patch notes will bring, so this might be a little premature, but I thought I'd get some thoughts down to refer back to at league start.
Leveling thoughts
I'd not a huge fan of Sunder and I'd prefer to be lazy and not respec - seeing the proximity of the Exceptional Performance/Potency of Will duration clusters on the 75-point skill tree pathing led to me having a quick attempt at running SRS, as it's very quick to mule from a Witch at league start, and gets carried for quite a while by a craftable +1 fire gems wand. I cruised along until Merveil, then thought I'd see how low-level BV felt/fared. I was pleasantly surprised with a Blade Vortex-Onslaught-Added Fire Damage setup, which alongside Herald of Ash and Herald of Purity took me through A2-A5 at a fairly fast clip and with a very smooth normal lab, and once you pick up Ngamahu, Flame's Advance, pop the points into Avatar of Fire/Elemental Overload, and hopefully have a 3/4L to switch to Blade Vortex-Elemental Focus-Controlled Destruction (then Spell Echo at L38), your damage skyrockets. I'm not a racer, but ~20mins to mule a Witch to the Cavern of Wrath to grab BV wasn't too sluggish (though I'm sure I'll be sorely tempted to talk to Jun along the way on league start ...) - you'll get Arcane Surge, Orb of Storms, Flame Dash and Added Lightning Damage as quest rewards, and can buy a second Arcane Surge for a Wisdom scroll, and Blade Vortex, Clarity and Combustion for an Orb of Transmutation each. I'm leaning towards running Flame Dash-Arcane Surge (with Faster Casting post-Siosa) while leveling over Shield Charge/Leap Slam + Faster Attacks, as I'm not grabbing any attack speed from the tree, wands are fairly easy to grab suitable links for from vendors, have decent implicits/mods for BV while low-level, and FD lets you skip some irritating ledges/gaps in various areas (Temple of Decay, etc); by maps, SC+FA should have levelled up enough and attack speed nodes reached in the tree to swap over. Maintaining dexterity requirements for BV while leveling: * Check Nessa from L5 onwards for a +29/30 dex Jade Amulet * The Survival Instincts jewel (+20 dex, +6% all elemental resistances) is a ~L18 quest reward from Through Sacred Ground in A2, and can be placed in the jewel node just below the Marauder start which we path beside anyway. * The +30 dex Agility node to the left of Elemental Overload can be picked up if needed. * With the master/crafting rework, I'm not too sure when the equivalent of Haku level 2 / level 3 +dex to armour/shield crafts will be available, but that's something to keep an eye out for as well. I'm leaning towards grabbing Hinekora, Death's Fury last rather than second - being able to get the +100% fire resistance from Ramako, Sun's Light from Merc lab pre-maps will make SSF gearing smoother, and you can run Blasphemy-Warlord's Mark to cover leech while you're hunting for lab trials.
SSF crafting
With Delve going core, I'll have to keep an eye out for a good stretch of Magma Fissure in my mine to farm Scorched Fossils in - as well as crafting a weapon (1H Shaper maces are easier to craft than 1H Shaper scepters; the Maraketh maces with the attack speed implicit would be the best bases but it might be a while before you find one), there's the -max fire res mod on helms, and helping to target "Gain #% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage" and other goodies on an Elder amulet (see here to simulate mod weightings with fossil combinations). "(source, see also) Depending on Essence availability, you can slap an Essence of Woe on a weapon for spell damage or Essence of Anger/Hysteria on rings for fire damage. Oh, and with Incursion core as well, it might not hurt to keep an eye out for fire Topotante-mod items that drop from Crucible of Flame / the Vaal Omnitech, or hope the latter kindly drops you a +skill effect duration or +all elemental res String of Servitude not longer after you first encounter Alva in Act Seven. Last edited by Haasts on Nov 27, 2018, 9:33:50 PM
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Hi Haasts,
very good additions. Muling a witch when you dont like to spent your respec points is also a good strategy. I also used the new flame dash in delve and can realy recommend it. Also try out consecrated path instead of shield charge for movement skill. | |
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Couldn't quite get the hang of Consecrated Path (or didn't like the feel), but glad I experimented with it. I found a vague rhythm alternating Flame Dash with Quicksilver + Phase Run linked with Increased Duration in between recasting BV.
Another SSF consideration/musing - as a helm lab enchant isn't realistic, would grabbing a Bone Helmet + pathing to Spiritual Aid (~7 points from Avatar of Fire) be worthwhile, or would it not be worth the opportunity cost? However, a glove lab enchant is a little more realistic to obtain (especially as Elder Fingerless Silk Gloves don't exactly drop frequently), especially compared to a curse on hit corruption, and apparently Commandment of Blades scales very well on Blade Vortex builds / helps clear out stragglers. Edit: Just saw this Reddit thread from someone who ran BV Chieftain in Delve SC to L100 + 40/40 challenges - while his tree is closer to Mathil's, he talks extensively about his crafting process for his gear which makes for good reading. Also, links Cold Snap to CWDT, which I hadn't considered as a way to generate Frenzy charges to boost Phase Run's duration. Last edited by Haasts on Dec 4, 2018, 3:27:05 PM
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" I did try phase run flame dash on my delve occultist bv too. Stayed with flame dash, even got the helmet enchant because i liked it so much. " Bone helmet is a good choice, if you can craft it better then starkonjas. I also specced into spiritual aid for my occult. Liked it very much. This way you have an easier way to craft jewels too. Edit: Just saw this Reddit thread from someone who ran BV Chieftain in Delve SC to L100 + 40/40 challenges - while his tree is closer to Mathil's, he talks extensively about his crafting process for his gear which makes for good reading. Also, links Cold Snap to CWDT, which I hadn't considered as a way to generate Frenzy charges to boost Phase Run's duration.[/quote] I liked the crafting part, but it will be hard in commin ssf league. Isn't blood rage better? You wanna use it anyways for arakaali proc. | |
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hows that one doing for labfarming early on? (non ssf obv :) )
Last edited by bahnschranke on Dec 5, 2018, 10:48:20 AM
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How do you feel about carcass jack and saffels frame? Got them to drop last league but never got the 6L. plan on going SSF again. Worth trying to chance them?
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Helo i am planiung play your build in ssf in betrayal as i check patch notes its sems to be untouched mm maby except nerf gain phys ad but its not a bug deal i think i am right ?
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No its not nerfed. Even stat stick is not nerfed. The only thing i would change for 3.5 is maybe try a different movement skill. Flame dash, phase run and consecrated path are all good options. But shield charge still great. You can also self cast blood rage, because its instant now. But if you map a lot putting in in cwdt is a huge quality of life, as i often forgot to cast it.
You can also try to grab spiritual aid node, so you have an easier time rolling jewels, because minion damage also works for you. This way you can also use bone helmet. See post above from haast. But besides that i would totally go with it again, if i didnt have 2 blade vortex chieftain already. Curses are so much better then running anger aura imho. Last edited by mirkula on Dec 5, 2018, 4:30:52 PM
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" Loreweave is much better then carcass. Just put on some mf gear and you will have 60 rings by lvl 90-92. You may also have 1500 fusing by then. Until then just use a tab or farm the Emperor of Purity card (its not that hard) 80% max res is basicly 20% less elemental damage, also you save so much currency by not rerolling -max maps. With the extra elemental damage roll on top its simply best in slot and you can self farm it with a bit of patience. Saffels is a a good starter shield until you get loreweave, but i would not chance it, you'll find one. Shield with high life and spell damage is a better option thou. |
