Totem nodes behind Ancestral Bonds

To the OP you are doing something wrong with your links GMP-LMP fine for flame totem Faster Projectiles is a must but if you replace faster cast with an added damage (lightning for shock) your DPS should increase. They hardly even touched Flame totem if I am correct(-10% damage mana cost reduced though). http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Flame_Totem

If I use faster Casting, my DPS is around 580 (from 490 before), if I use added chaos damage, it's around 630dps (from 490 before). So the difference is not that great. And even if it would increase my dps greatly, then the mana cost is ridiculous high. Faster Casting has 120% Mana multiplier (229 mana per totem), while added chaos damage has 150% (287 mana per totem).

When I have activated purity and clarity (both with reduced man), then I have 234 mana left... And my equipment already gives alot of mana and I have some increase mana % nodes as well. So even if I want to use added chaos damage, I couldnt cast one totem at all. And even if I could, then I had to wait like 3 seconds to cast the second one. The mana cost for totems is just to high for that low damage output. And against stronger enemies, your totems falls in 1-2 seconds...

Or you could try jumbling Added damage LMP GMP and Faster Casts. At level 62 I hada flame totem Templar with 900 tooltip DPS. Im not entirely sure what you are doing wrong. Mind you they have changed the skill tree a lot since then.

I do question the value of spell totems myself as 50% LESS damage. Seems like it might be better to keep a totem for summon skeleton or decoy and have the caster simply stay back and fire from further back than a totem will even trigger as its attack range is short enough that many a ranged enemy can and will destroy them from off screen while a totem does nothing.

I suppose requiring two extra slots to add the totem itself and then a minion elemental gem is just another balancing thing. I find it odd that a pure caster who doesn't need to use those two extra slots can't add MF more easily than the totem build since a totem should probably also include cast speed to offset the 30% reduced cast speed.

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AckwardNinja wrote:

Or you could try jumbling Added damage LMP GMP and Faster Casts. At level 62 I hada flame totem Templar with 900 tooltip DPS. Im not entirely sure what you are doing wrong. Mind you they have changed the skill tree a lot since then.

Without faster projectiles the projectiles have really low range. This sucks especially against ranged enemies.

I think it's bad gamedesign if you need a 5L or 6L Searing Staff to make flame totem or other fire based totems viable in the endgame.