Weirdo build contest [win Exalted] WE GOT A WINNER!

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SilentOppressor wrote:

Alright, this toon is still mostly theorycraft as I'm assembling the pieces, but here it goes.

Chaos Innoculation. Eldtrich Battery. Remote Mine. Frost Wall.

The idea is to make a viable CI EB build. Obviously the biggest danger is being hit by anything at all, so we have to play at a range. Even then, we'll have to play at a big range, so let's go with the spell that gives us the best range, Ice Spear. At a good range, Ice Spear's chance to crit shoots up immensely, and if you crit, you don't have to worry about taking much damage, so rather than focus on those wimpy defensive nodes like everyone else, let's stack crit.

But why settle for just high crit chance when you can get even more damage on top with Elemental Equilibrium? First set up the closest thing you'll have to defense, Skeletons with Added Fire and/or Minion Instability. Support them with Spark Totem or Arc on Remote Mine. Why Remote Mine? For a small delay in casting, you get an impressive 30+% More Damage. With 2 level 1 gems and no Lightning Damage, I was able two-shot mobs in Merciless, meaning mine, mine, detonate, 3 things are dead, and you can do even better stacking crit and light damage. If anything survives the skeletons and lightning damage, they're looking at -100% cold res as an Ice Spear hits their face.

In addition to the Skeletons and Totem, you have another line of defense, mostly for ranged mobs. Frost Wall. Frost Wall is even able to stop Goatmen, and with enough crit and cold damage, it to can freeze and will benefit from EE if your totems or Skellies have hit. And if all else fails, there is the backup of Grace.

The starting weapon of choice for this build is Ungil's Gauche. With a higher base crit than any dagger but Divinarius and 24% more block chance if you dual wield them makes them great offensively and defensively. While you will find rare and magic daggers that will outcrit Ungil's, the 39% block chance will make it one of the better daggers for a long while. The second piece of gear you'll need is a little more mandatory. Even stacking all this crit probably isn't enough, and what's a crit build without Power Charges? Since we can't use Power Siphon with Daggers and Power Charge on Crit can't link with everything, Voll's Protector is the obvious choice. While this will eat a good chunk of your mana, I believe it will be well worth it. Alternatively, you can go with Power Charge on Crit and use Infernal Manle, with implicit Spell Damage, ~500 es and 100% crit chance. Victario's Acuity would be great if Voll's is not being used to generate Charges as well, and gives us a Projectile damage mod for even more power. Rainbowstride stands out for the spell block and movespeed, as well as mana and even more es for mana, making it another great addition. Optional gear would be a +minion hat so you can get better skeletons, but if Alpha's Howl is an option, use it. With the slots that remain, the more es the better, and the paranoid can use Shadow gear for some more evasion behind Grace.

And while we know have a nice amount of damage and defense, but there is still a pretty hard counter to this build, the infamous Elemental Reflect. Rainbowstride, Lahzwahr and dual Gauche will give us about a 30% chance to block the reflect, but that's not very good and should only be a backup to offscreening ele reflect. Watching your Spark Totem can alert you to ele reflect you can't see, which you can leave to your minions or turn the tide with Conversion or Bear Trap.

Potential Build about level 72 - Without EE
Help Normal and Merc Alira, perhaps Cruel Alira as well. Still subject to change as I actually play the build and work out the kinks.
And then I suppose the ultimate setup would be:
Alpha's Howl: Reduced Mana, Clarity, Discipline, Grace
Voll's Protector: Ice Spear, LMP, Increased Critical Strikes, Faster Casting, Elemental Proiferation? for 5L and possibly Blind on a 6L
2x Ungil's Gauche/better Dagger: Arc, Remote Mine, possibly Blind or Culling Strike. Blood Rage, Frost Wall, Increased Duration on the other.
Rainbowstride: Spell Totem, Spark, Faster Casting, Fork?
ES Gloves: Summon Skeletons, Added Fire Damage, Conversion Trap and perhaps Minion Damage or Raise Zombie
2x Diamond Rings (Gifts from Above?)
Couple good choices for ammy, Victario's, Lahzwahr, Foible, or ammy with crit chance/multi.
Diamond Flasks are an obvious choice, but mana and quicksilver pots should also be considered. Best flask mods are Surgeon's, Perpetual, Adrenaline and Reflexes.

Of course, there is more specialization that could be done at this level. If you ditch the EE and Arc Mine part you free up some nodes that can go towards mana or crit or even just change it to more cold damage. I also included Blood Rage because free Frenzy Charges, but this can get swapped with just about any curse. Critical and Projectile Weakness help Spark and Spear, Warlord's for keeping your pots full, Temp Chains or Enfeeble to stop even more hits, ele curses...