[3.6] Cast When Stunned Discharge Scion

Gear
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Videos
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Minotaur (non-rare) https://youtu.be/x5xfOxnup-E
This was my first time ever attempting this map with any build (like I said, I'm a casual player), so it may be a bit painful to watch.


Racecourse Syndicate Research https://youtu.be/szhl5s2Id08
Racecourse Syndicate Fort https://youtu.be/x4co2JfXjos
Racecourse Boss Fight https://youtu.be/9AeEwk7dfFg

Overview
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The playstyle is more-or-less shield charging everything (including bosses) and spamming Molten Shell. Otherwise, this build is based around the cast when stunned (CwSt) mechanic. The advantage of cast when stunned over cast when damage taken is two-fold: CwSt has a chance to trigger off every hit received no matter how small and it can be leveled to support other level 20 gems.
This is a life-based build and, in order to be stunned with a small amount of damage, we've got to use the Valyrium ring to base stun off energy shield (ES). It's also important to keep ES as low as possible when selecting gear.

In addition, according to the wiki, https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stun
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As long as a creature has greater than 0 energy shield, it has a 50% chance to ignore a stun.

Therefore, we need to use some method of removing our ES or changing it to cover mana (Eldritch Battery). I went with the Devouring Diadem due to its synergy with the build. This can be a bit expensive for a casual player like me, but I had a few lucky drops and made the investment.


Pros/Cons
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Pros
-Fully functional CwSt, fun to play (I think).
-Can run the majority of modifiers very smoothly
-Very good in laggy leagues *cough* Synthesis *cough*

Cons
-Can't do elemental reflect. (whatever, I'm fine with that.)
-Struggles with single targets that don't attack quickly. I've tried using Vaal Breach and this helps immensely, though this build has a slow cast speed so you want to start it before engaging the boss at all.
-Very much struggles with high damage that doesn't hit (scorching ray type bosses). Generally there are other attacks and it is not a show-stopper if you are careful, and even more so if using Vaal Breach
-Can be a little rippy for hard-hitting one-shots. A few things could be done here: finish maxing spell block, add Immortal Call to the setup, pickup a little more life on the tree, and change the body armor for a Koam's Heart or Belly of the Beast (if you wanted to maintain the Molten Shell).

Damage Mitigation
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This build uses a combination of blocking and health regain to mitigate the incoming hits. According to the wiki, https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Cast_when_Stunned_Support
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Block recovery animation for blocking a hit that would stun does count as actually being stunned.

That synergizes well and it makes sense to block as frequently as possible.
In order to max out block, I'm using a combination of the Gladiator ascendancy and the Necromancer's Bone Offering, 3x reckless defense on the tree (4% to each and closest to 200% crit as possible), plus some gear. I'm also using a Rumi's to max block before my Bone Offering procs the first time.

In addition, the Soul of Solaris pantheon will reduce extra crit damage and Soul of Gruthkul can provide a little more overall dmg reduction.

Life Gain
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Bone Offering, Warlord's Mark, the life recovery on my shield, some regen on the tree, and use of Consecrated Ground sustain my health pool. The Devouring Diadem also adds some life gain but is typically not frequent enough to matter for this build. The shield was not expensive (<20 chaos) and also enables the gaining of charges on block. Also, I've got a bit of life recovery on my belt.


Damage
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Discharge is actually the secondary damage, though it procs the most and is most useful for mapping. I'm using Molten Shell as the primary damage source since it typically procs at least once per pack and frequently during bosses. I'm not clear if this is optimal and I've considered switching the two spells but have already setup my Hungry Loop for Discharge.

In addition, I've linked Purifying Flame to help with clearing and provide for regen, and Wave of Conviction for the penetration. Additionally, I've got a cursed Anvil and am running a 2nd curse. This can either be Flammability or Elemental Weakness, though I'd choose the latter if you've got a 20 quality gem.

Lastly, the Devouring Diadem allows me to reserve all my mana for Anger, Herald of Ash, and Zealotry. This gives a bit of damage boost to everything, HoA helps my clearing of trash mobs, and Zealotry gives some regen.

Other Gear
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The Ambu's Charge breastplate is perfect for this build as it provides for free endurance charges to mitigate damage and feed Discharge. Also, it provides some reliable regen, though that takes backstage to the other healing.


Passive Tree

Other Thoughts

Took out the guardians easily enough (a death here and there but primarily due to trying to tank where I should have dodged). Tried Shaper for the first time and he was tough (didn't kill him) due to the non-hit DoTs.

I doubt this build is HC viable due to its vulnerability to non-hit dmg, though I'm a casual player and YMMV.

A potential future upgrade could be a crafted sword with the endurance charge on block, though crafting is expensive for me and I don't have the correct Veiled mods yet.

Might be able to extend "life" pool a little bit with MoM and making some adjustments to ES allocation. This might mean swapping out shield charge for Riposte (or equiv) to make sure fortify is always up.
Last edited by dsstrouhal on May 19, 2019, 3:47:41 PM
Last bumped on May 13, 2019, 12:55:59 AM
Nice build! First Cast when Stunned build i have seen yet. Intresting concept, thanks for sharing!

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