[3.6] Eiryfex' Bowling Queen | Selfcast Ball Lightning EB/MoM Elementalist | 5M++ Shaper DPS

Introduction
Hi, Eiryfex here. I'm currently in my 3rd league and this is gonna be my first official build guide. Now why would you wanna play this build? For me it started with helping a guildie that wanted to play selfcast Ball Lightning, and then I really liked it myself and adapted it to my own character as well. The dps calculation from PoB doesnt work on this skill, as it just takes the average hit x cast speed which gives the completely wrong picture. With this build I have managed to get 300-400k average hit tooltip vs Shaper, and each ball hits every 150ms (6.66 times per second). Add in the factor that multiple balls can damage the same target simultaneously and we are starting to look at ridiculous damage numbers. This is still a work in progress as I am continuously working on my character. I will keep updating it. Feedback/questions are very welcome.
Anyhow, here is what my guide will be:

- Pros & cons
- PoB/Ascendancy(endgame version and various lower level suggestions)
- Optimal gear & other gear suggestions
- Gem links with explanations
- Pantheons
- My "why this and why not that?" thoughts
- Gameplay videos



Pros
Spoiler
- Amazing clear speed
- Surprisingly good end game single target damage, cn do all end game content
- Fun playstyle with exploding bowling balls of lightning
- Cheap to get started, lots of scaling possibilities with investements
- We can run 3 major auras with 2 heralds and war banner
- Elementalist ascendancy gives us a lot of ailment benefits from shock and chill


Cons
Spoiler
- If you want a "facetank everything - build", this one is not for you
- We can take a hit due to Mom/EB and semi decent health pool, but does require some knowledge of endgame bossfights in particular
- We do not get stun/freeze immunity naturally and have to adress this through flasks, pantheons or gear
- We can't do elemental reflect unless taking the Paragon of Calamity Ascendancy. This is totally viable if you hate ele reflect but comes of the cost of dmg loss.


Path of Building

Spoiler
Endgame skilltre (lvl 95+)https://pastebin.com/FBkPZtrt
Included in this PoB is suggestions for lvl 0-20, 21-40, 41-60 and 61-80. You can find these in the bottom left of your skilltree window inside PoB
A few generic tips for levelling with this build:
Spoiler
- Any skill is fine from lvl 0-12. From lvl 12-28 you can use Arc. Lvl 28+ you can start use Ball Lightning.
- Examples on good support gems to use while levelling: Added lightning damage, controlled destruction, lighning pen, spell cascade.
- You can dual wield wands, sceptres or daggers, all are viable. If you feel like you need a shield, don't be afraid to use one. Keep in mind that whirling blades can only be used with daggers and shield charge only with shields (if you have any strongly preferred movement skills).
- Personally I leveled as pure life and grabbed MoM after reaching maps.

Ascendancy
Spoiler
- Pendulum of Destruction
75% increased AoE and 75% increased elemental damage rotating every 5 seconds. Can't go wrong with this. We also need this node to get to our next node.

- Mastermind of Discord
Really strong node that gives us 25% lightning pen from running herald of thunder. Also increases heralds effect end mana reservation, which in the end helps allow us to run 3 major auras + 2 heralds.

- Shaper of Desolation
What really enables a lot of our effective dps and allows us to run some gems that benefits the elementalist. ALL of our dmg has 100% chance to inflict the ailments from the rotating buff we get. Lets use shock as an example. The total rotation of this ascendancy node is 14 seconds. 6 of those seconds we have a 100% chance to shock with our damage. Take into consideration that the shock effect lasts 6s on base duration and we suddenly have 12/14s guaranteed uptime on shock from this alone.

- Beacon of Ruin
Another great node for strengthening our ailments. Straight up 20% increased effeck of shock and 10% guaranteed action speed reduction from chill. It just works great in our kit.


Gear

Spoiler
Helmet

One of two mandatory uniques for us. This helm lets us skip the Eldritch battery node in our skill tree and gives our socketed aura gems +1 lvl and a whopping 20% reduced mana reservation. The flat added ES from the helm is a nice bonus to our ES pool as well. Every 5 seconds it will also heal us and replenish energy shield through feast of flesh. Not really what makes the helm shine for us, but still handy from time to time. I chose one with resists as the veiled mod, as I like picking up some chaos resists here and there. You can ofc go for the increased quality + dex mod if you feel like its a nice place to cover some dex. In the end you want to get the increased area of effect enchant on it for your Ball Lightning.

Gear options:
Spoiler
You can technically run any rare helmet with high life or life/ES hybrid + some resistances if you want. However, remember to make sure you pick up the Eldritch Battery node manually via your skilltree if you do so. They way this excact build is designed, I will still reccommend you to get The Devouring Diadem


Body Armour

The best in slot body armour for us. Gives us decent life, further increases the dmg of our shock effect, increases our dmg if we have shocked recently AND provides us with a massive clear speed boost in terms of crispy explosions from enemies we kill. Also provides us with a defensive tool in terms of shock immunity.

Gear options:
Spoiler
A really cheap way to get the build started is to buy a 5linked Carcass Jack. It gives you life, all res and some dmg from the increased AoE it has (we don't scale from AoE damage, only from increased Area of effect). Or, if you have a 5-6linked chest form another build or in your inventory with life and some resistance that will do the trick to get started as well. Even a tabula works, although the lack of stats. However, in the end, Inpulsa should be your goal.

Cloak of Defiance
This unique body armour is our most defensive option. It gives you Mind over matter for free so it frees up 4 skill points if you also drop the mana nodes tied to MoM. It also adds another 10% damage reduction from it, but comes at a cost of sacrificing the life from inpulsa + the damage and clear you get from it. However, this chest is totally viable if you should prefere a bit more tankyness.


Weapons
I will use 2x Shaped Platinum Kris daggers (ilvl 85+) that I craft myself.

Note that I added the cast speed/arcane surge on one of my weapons. This is for my own convenience as I don't have Command of the Pit right now. Remember that we cannot proc arcane surge "naturally" as we spend energy shield and not mana. You do not have to do this if you don't like it, but can be a nice way to have reliable arcane surge.

Here is how to make them:
Spoiler
1. Buy a shaped platimun kris dagger
2. You need alteration orbs, regal orbs scouring orbs. Stock up on these if you are low.
3. You will alteration spam your weapon until you see the "gain x% of elemental damage as extra chaos damage" (note that the wpn base has to be level 85+ to get tier 1 roll).
4. If you hit that prefix as your ONLY mod, then regal. If you hit that prefix WITH another suffix, you can use an orb of annulment and try remove the suffix OR go back to alteration spam until you get it again..
5. When you have regaled the base with ONLY the elemental as extra chaos, you will end up with a rare base with 1 prefix and 1 suffix. Now, you use an orb of annulment and you want to remove the one thats NOT elemental damage as extra chaos. IF you succeed, your hard work is over (just kidding, you need one more dagger).
6. Now you have your dagger base with only the elemental as extra chaos prefix and it is time to get the "can have multiple crafted mod" suffix from the crafting bench.
7. Now you craft the following (all in the highest possible tier):
- Added lightning damage to spells
- Spell damage
- Critical strike chance for spells
- Critical strike multiplier
8. Tip: IF you end up with a great tier 1 prefix or suffix in addition to the elemental as extra chaos dmg when doing your alteration/regal crafting, take a look at it and consider not using the annulment orb. The reason is the tier 1 rolls on the base weapon is higher than what you can craft on the bench so if you are super lucky your weapon will be even better.

Gear options:
Spoiler

The good old Divinarius is a really cheap weapon to get started for this build. It offers critical strike chance, spell dmg and increased AoE (which also means increased dmg for our Ball Lightning). Dual wield this and you will have no problem mapping although the potential end game scaling damage is gonna be far away from what the selfcrafted weapons can offer. Alternatively you can try buy a relatively cheap dagger, in which case you would look for some of the following affixes:increased spell damage/lightning damage, critical strike chance, critical strike multiplier, added lightning damage to spells (damage penetrates resistances and lightning or elemental as extra chaos would be great but not cheap)


Gloves
These are my current gloves. Nothing fancy here. I aim for fingerless silk gloves as they have the spell damage implicit and energy shield base. You want a mix of life and energy shield on them in addition to fill out resistances. Pretty basic. Tip: good additions to craft on them if you have open spots are %increased area of effect, #increased ele damage if you have dealt a critical strike recently/%increased critical strike chance or %increased damage while leeching

Gear option:
Spoiler
If you want a cheaper base: Arcanist gloves. You still look for the same stats. If you can afford it and can do with the loss of resistances I reccommend 2 socketed Command of the Pit gloves. They are expensive but give you 2 extra abyss jewel spots + arcane surge on hit which is a quality of life uppgrade as we dont have to worry about proccing it from other sources.


Boots

Here is an example of the boot base you want. The reason why we want the sorcerer boots is for their energy shield base. You look for life + energy shield and the resistances you need. Also try to get as high movement speed as you can. For enchant you want "adds x to x lightning dmg if you haven't killed recently" or "damage penetrates x% of resistances if you haven't killed recently"

Belt

You want a stygian vise like the one shown here. My current one is not optimal but you get an idea of it. What you look for is high life + increased lightning damage and increased elemental damage. The way I'm gonna get this is by fossil crafting my belt. You will have to use a combination of metallic/prismatic/pristine fossils for the best chances of getting this result. Don't forget to keep an eye out for resistances here if you need them.

Gear options:
Spoiler
You can use this very cheap belt to get started if you don't have a stygian or while waiting to craft one. This belt gives you some dmg, some resistances and a little bit of life leech to help with survivability.


Jewelry


You want to get an elder ring base with the warlords mark on hit (strongly reccomended). I hit mine by alt/regal/annull crafting. My ring is a coral ring just because that's what I had, you can choose the ring base that suits you. I will multimod this with all res, life and some sort of added cold as my most important stats.What you choose besides this is up to you.

The other ring I will be using is the unique Mark of the Shaper ring. It gives you increased lightning damage if your other ring is an elder ring, adds elemental damage through its implicit and adds some flat dmg to your spells. Pretty cheap and all around solid option in combination with our other ring.

For my amulet I had to cover some dexterity. Outside of that I look for life, all res and as much dmg as I can get. I was lucky and got one with more ele as extra chaos plus high crit multi.

Gear options:
Spoiler
If you are not gonna use a mark of the shaper ring in your other slot you don't need to have an elder ring here. You can use your ring slots for more res capping or other stats if you should prefer so. I use the elder warlords mark ring because of the sustain it gives + the added dmg from mark of the shaper. Note that if you don't go elder ring with warlords mark you lose some life leech and endurance charges.


Gem links
Spoiler
Single target for very end game bossing only:
Spoiler
Ball Lightning | Elemental focus | Increased critical Strikes | Controlled Cestruction | Hypothermia | Slower projectiles
If you do not want to use another skill to rely on getting shock/chill on boss then remove elemental focus and add Spell Echo/Added Lightning Damage or Ligtning Penetration, whatever you feel like.

Mapping/general play:
Spoiler
Ball Lightning | Spell Cascade | Increased Critical Strikes | Controlled Destruction | Faster Projectiles/Hypothermia | Lesser Multiple Projectiles
The faster projectiles gem is suggested as a quality of life/defensive gem when mapping. It just helps the Ball Lightning casts reah the mob packs faster, hence providing you more defence as less incoming damage will have time to hit you. The dmg is way more than needed for clear this is why I reccomend this. Same goes for lesser OR greater multiple projectiles. Big quality of life uppgrade where you just destroy everything.


Helmet
Discipline | Herald of Thunder | Zealotry | Wrath
If you feel like you have enough energy shield for your Eldritch Battery I would try playing around with another aura instead of Discipline. For example haste.

Gloves
Orb of Storms | Elemental Proliferation |Power charge on Critical Strike | Increased critical strike OR Blind Support
This is our way of keeping status ailments up on the tougher bosses when we have Elemental focus in our 6l Ball Lightning. I usually throw it into bigger packs in high tier maps just for the power charges, but not needed. However, the dmg is so good you can clear maps just using this skill alone.

Weapons
Storm Brand | Curse on Hit | Elemental Weakness

Flame Dash | Faster Casting | Summon Lightning Golem OR Summon Ice Golem

Boots
Immortal Call | Cast when damage taken | War Banner | Herald of Ice
Feel free to drop both war banner and Herald of Ice for something else here. You can add vaal righteous fire and vaal haste for example if you feel like thats a better fit for you. Or just dropping one of them for something like vaal righteous fire. If you want to use a portal gem, this is where you'll put it.

Tip for immortacl call/CWDT setup. I personally level them pretty high as I want it to proc above the normal dmg treshold. I dont worry about it proccing from low dmg while mapping, I personally want it to proc only on big hits so I know its up when I need it.



Changelog
Spoiler
19.04: Managed to finalize my jewelry slot section due to some lucky drops today. Added to the guide. Working on crafting my weapons rn, will post when finished. Added more examples of gear options.

21.04: Added example of my 2 finalized crafted daggers and made minor changes to the belt section. Added "cannot do elemental reflect" to cons.

22.04: Finished the skill gem section with suggested gem links and where to put them. Added a short explanation to my weapons and added a few viable gem variations you can try.

Last edited by EiryfexPOE on Apr 22, 2019, 6:53:30 AM
Last bumped on May 5, 2019, 11:45:00 AM
Having played this along side Eiryfex when he was still theory crafting it I have to say it's a pretty fun build with lots of potential. For me it lacks a tiny bit on the defensive front for my personal preference but the damage is great and the clear speed is insane.
Last edited by Pegglea on Apr 16, 2019, 10:03:01 AM
in your PoB I see you tick enemy shocked.
Ball lightning damage per hit is so low that can not shock enermy to 50% effective of shock, and you also got Elemental focus on your setup gems.
"
sieusao17 wrote:
in your PoB I see you tick enemy shocked.
Ball lightning damage per hit is so low that can not shock enermy to 50% effective of shock, and you also got Elemental focus on your setup gems.


Hi, this is correct. I have not yet finished my guide but will write about why I use ele focus for tougher bossing. I have an orb of storms with ele prolif setup just to keep ailments up on bosses. For mapping my gem links changes a bit.
I also play a ball lightning build, but I prefer Scion because of her beauty. Of course, Scion can not reach high damage like our Elementalist. But I run 2 setup ball lightning , 6L on armor with GMP to clear map and 4L on my gloves with supported by slow project and faster catsing +50% multi- so considered as a 6L anw to melt boss.
The only problem for this build is not damage, but it's the lack of def. I have about more than 7k Ehp now but still can be one shoot by boss if they do crit.
I can easily take more def if play a Trickster but I never want to follow the crowd. So, both of Scion and Witch is lack of def. We can turn our build to ES but... ES items in this league is crazy expensive.
Ye these are fair things to point out. I would imagine a Scion would be able to reach good damage numbers as well tbh. Personally I built this to make my ball lightning hit as hard as possible more so than stacking loads of cast speed to spam balls with little damage. In the perfect scenario vs an average enemy hitbox of 2 "tiles" the dps from each ball is between 6-8million with this setup vs shaper. Lets take a low end hit on 300k average. With slow proj it will hit the target for 3seconds which means it hits the target close to 20 times per cast. Thats 6 million damage just there. So the damage is great. In terms of defences I aim for 5k + hp and 2k ish energy shield with my MoM/EB setup. In addition I am currently thinking about adding arctic armour to get some sweet extra phys defences and add a global blind somewhere (maybe on gloves). BUt for now I run wrath, herald of thunder, herald of ice, zealotry and discipline as my current gear is pretty mediocre and I need the ES from discipline atm. This is my 4th character this league and I already have ES characters so wanted to make my own thing. Also wanted to avoid the whole eternity shroud ele as extra dmg conversion meta setup and its been working great so far tbh.
how much does it hurt your dps dropping Mastermind of discord for Beacon of clarity?

or should i just say, i hate dying to reflect lol how do we mitigate it in this build?
Been wanting to play a selfcast ball lightning build for a while but never could get my PoB quite right. Gonna give this a shot. Did you level as Ball Lightning or are you better off doing something else until later?

Edit: Nevermind, just found your comments about leveling. How's the clear without Inpulsa? I can afford it, but haven't played much this league and I'd be tight on currency afterward.
Last edited by ConsPark on Apr 20, 2019, 11:57:31 PM
"
zawaka wrote:
how much does it hurt your dps dropping Mastermind of discord for Beacon of clarity?

or should i just say, i hate dying to reflect lol how do we mitigate it in this build?


Hi! First the ascendancy. Flat tooltip loss is 51k average hit witch is something like 900k dps loss per ball. However, the Beacon of Calamity can also give more dmg than the tooltip of it shows but its a but unreliable to my liking because it depends on what element you took damage from. Also, you will have to get the 25% elemental penetration you lose from Mastermind of Discord elsewhere. I took this node mostly because of that but also because I can run 2 heralds and 3 major auras in the end with it. The no reflected damage is definately a quality of life improvement. It is absolutely viable to pick this up, if you are okay with sacrificing what I mentioned above. As I have built my character as of right now I can not do elemental reflect myself (will update the build to add it as a con).
"
ConsPark wrote:
Been wanting to play a selfcast ball lightning build for a while but never could get my PoB quite right. Gonna give this a shot. Did you level as Ball Lightning or are you better off doing something else until later?

Edit: Nevermind, just found your comments about leveling. How's the clear without Inpulsa? I can afford it, but haven't played much this league and I'd be tight on currency afterward.


Hi! Yes I wanted to make something of my own this time, this is my 4th character this league and I wanted to build into something else than the whole trickster/eternity shroud/conversion meta thats going on rn. I'm pretty happy with the current PoB, and its pretty flexible for adjustments. The end game scaled damage is so good you can easily afford to grab way more life or other sources of added defences.

Personally I levelled with ball lightning from level 28 and had a blast. You get the feel of the skill and I really liked it. The dmg was great and didnt struggle with anything. Depending on how many links you have i would just run something basic like Ball Lightning - Lightning Pen - Spell Echo - Added Lightning Damage - Lesser/greater mult projectile - Controlled Destruction. Just level as pure life and start transition into Mind over matter and Eldritch battery later.

You don't need the inpulsa for clear but I can really reccommend it. With my current setup I can run 2 heralds (HoT & HoI) + 3 major auras. This means you still get shatters from Herald of Ice and if you follow the suggested gem link you will have great AoE clear. Our Beacon of Ruin ascendancy which spreads effect like chill and shock also helps us here. Adding Inpulsa takes it from good to amazing.
Last edited by EiryfexPOE on Apr 21, 2019, 5:46:36 AM

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