Tiny bit concerned about losing stun immunity if you go Malediction, and Profane Bloom. Haven't played WI without stun immunity so I'm not sure how impactful stuns would be. Nice thing about Occultist is you can always ditch a damage node and retake vile bastion if it's needed.
You don't lose stun immunity, it just costs 3 skill points:
- Unwavering Stance (100% immunity at the cost of losing all chance to evade; not sure how important that ever was);
- Lucidity (40% stun avoidance while channelling and -3 mana cost; not sure if this is enough or not).
Tiny bit concerned about losing stun immunity if you go Malediction, and Profane Bloom. Haven't played WI without stun immunity so I'm not sure how impactful stuns would be. Nice thing about Occultist is you can always ditch a damage node and retake vile bastion if it's needed.
You don't lose stun immunity, it just costs 3 skill points:
- Unwavering Stance (100% immunity at the cost of losing all chance to evade; not sure how important that ever was);
- Lucidity (40% stun avoidance while channelling and -3 mana cost; not sure if this is enough or not).
Doh, I see that now, missed it in your POB. Evade chance can be decent, and even more if you get blind in your build. It's always felt like a decent defensive layer. Still, lots of options to play around with and see what feels the best.
In other news, I didn't see a single thing in the patch notes that has any real effect on the build at all, positive or negative.
So here's the big thing: Ascendant vs new Occultist.
I've tinkered in PoB a bit to see what would happen with the same exact gear as my 3.12 character if I go Occultist in 3.13. This is the final PoB for 3.12 Ascendant from the top post: https://pastebin.com/GWyAxgmv
The best tree I could come up with for Occultist is this: https://pastebin.com/ZbmX7eXN
If you multiply the damage by 1.15 for the new upcoming mod (until PoB is patched), the damage is about the same as Ascendant.
Spoiler
Then the question is what can be gained by going Occultist, and at what cost.
First, the cost:
1. It's harder to max resists. In my Occ project PoB they are still not maxed and would require a better left ring. It can be done. Just harder.
2. It's harder to upgrade from Astramentis to a rare amulet. The stat requirements are tighter, and I had to take Practical Application.
3. Because of the lower Int on the Occultist, my ES also ended up being lower. Not by much. But lower (13k vs 13.5k).
4. Ascendant has been stable for a long time and has a tested and proven path that you can take. The detailed guide is here, and so far nothing will be different in 3.13 (pending the patch notes). Occultist requires development when it comes to leveling and the initial Classic setup before switching to the clusters. You may have to think for yourself and make decisions not covered by the guide.
Now, what's gained:
1. Clear speed. Profane Bloom with the new 40% chance should result in a significantly faster clear. And if you like Delirium and/or Delve, this is going be huge for those particular targets.
2. Freeze and chill immunity. Ascendant Inquisitor is immune to ele ailments on consecrated ground which she constantly creates. But still, I had to carry a Heat flask because when you move fast (Delve, Delirium) you constantly outrun your consecrated ground. And getting frozen is very annoying. I also suspect that full immunity to everything bad will be important in those 10-boss Ritual fights.
3. Stronger defenses. Occultist has an extra mod that reduces enemy damage (2 x 10% reduction vs 1 x 10% from Asc Inquisitor). Plus increased effect of curses. Plus ignoring Hexproof. Plus freezing everything around you every 4 sec for 0.6 sec - that should be very nice in those 10-boss fights as well.
Overall, both classes should be great and viable. Ascendant offers an easier path to a known power level. Occultist is an experiment that takes more effort but may result in a greater final result.
I'm personally leaning towards Occultist because I've played Ascendant for the last few leagues, plus I value quality of life over stat min-maxing. Unless the patch notes contain something unexpected, I think I'll try the Occultist.
Hello. I am looking forward to reading the patch notes any minute now to see if Icestorm will have some love. I checked your Occultist PoB. You mentioned some lacking resists & attributes. I made some adjustments to your tree to give you some inspiration: https://pastebin.com/35n2NjbV
I'd go Vile Bastion for the first Acendancy, since 40 es per second + 10% regen is great while leveling until the leech catches up and then respec it out when pathed to Unwavering Stance and having the third lab done to get profane bloom + freeze immunity
I don't think Vile Bastion is going to be needed even for leveling. You've been leveling without stun immunity in the past just fine. With the Ascendant, you can only get it in Act 7 in the 2nd lab. And most classes never get it at all. Small ES regen is not going to matter much for a leech build.
I'm going to grab Malediction first. Using 2 curses, dealing and receiving 10% MORE damage (at that point it's pure MORE) - that's just too sexy.
Then Void Beacon -> Frigid Wake. And finally Profane Bloom in the uber lab for the mapping.
Against stun, I'll probably try Lucidity first and see if it's enough. If not, then Unwavering Stance.
Tiny bit concerned about losing stun immunity if you go Malediction, and Profane Bloom. Haven't played WI without stun immunity so I'm not sure how impactful stuns would be. Nice thing about Occultist is you can always ditch a damage node and retake vile bastion if it's needed.
You don't lose stun immunity, it just costs 3 skill points:
- Unwavering Stance (100% immunity at the cost of losing all chance to evade; not sure how important that ever was);
- Lucidity (40% stun avoidance while channelling and -3 mana cost; not sure if this is enough or not).
Doh, I see that now, missed it in your POB. Evade chance can be decent, and even more if you get blind in your build. It's always felt like a decent defensive layer. Still, lots of options to play around with and see what feels the best.
In other news, I didn't see a single thing in the patch notes that has any real effect on the build at all, positive or negative.
Losing evasion will not affect Blind. We use Flesh & Stone, and all nearby enemies are blind. They have a greatly reduced chance to hit you. I was never quite sure how important was evasion on top of that. But still, it probably helps, so I'm going to try Lucidity first.
and all nearby enemies are blind. They have a greatly reduced chance to hit you. I was never quite sure how important was evasion on top of that. But still, it probably helps, so I'm going to try Lucidity first.
Unwavering stance does nuke blind. Blind reduces enemy chance to hit by 50%. Unwavering stance forces enemies to have 100% chance to hit you regardless. This means that enemies cannot miss you, so it makes blind do nothing sadly.
Evasion stacked with blind gives blind a much more powerful effect. If a monster has a 62% chance to hit normally do to your evasion, blind will make it have a 31% chance to hit. If you had stacked evasion giving it a 50% chance to hit normally, blind will take that down to 25%. Of course Evasion does nothing for spells.
Phantasmal Cyclone can help as well, giving you a 20% chance to avoid interruption from stuns while using Cyclone. Sadly that 20% doesn't look like it stacks with anything else.
Hello. I am looking forward to reading the patch notes any minute now to see if Icestorm will have some love. I checked your Occultist PoB. You mentioned some lacking resists & attributes. I made some adjustments to your tree to give you some inspiration: https://pastebin.com/35n2NjbV
Indeed, pathing through the Shadow area instead of around it looks slightly more efficient. Good catch! Thank you.
And it also added more evasion, so I hope Lucidity ends up being enough against stun without needing to take Unwavering Stance and losing evasion.
Unwavering stance does nuke blind. Blind reduces enemy chance to hit by 50%. Unwavering stance forces enemies to have 100% chance to hit you regardless. This means that enemies cannot miss you, so it makes blind do nothing sadly.
Ok, then definitely should try Lucidity first. Enfeeble is an accuracy debuff too, so you'll want to keep that as well.
Ok, then definitely should try Lucidity first. Enfeeble is an accuracy debuff too, so you'll want to keep that as well.
For late game min/maxing there is also a medium cluster jewel node Unwavering Focus that gives an additional 40% chance to avoid stuns when channeling as well. May be good on a megalomaniac jewel.
