Barrage Wonder Wanderer – how to DEMOLISH maps (1.3.X)

hi there. Seems to be a pretty nice build. I started leveling a shadow with spectral throw as recommended in your first post. Can u tell me at which level i can start using the 4L combo of barrage + cast on crit + ek + chain ? Just because im a bit fed up with spectral throw ^^ i know its a nice skill gem but i've used it too much recently

or should i only start using barrage with ek when i can get my hands on tabula rasa or a 5l chest ?

im a bit low on currency leveling in ambush league atm ^^

also while leveling my shadow i was thinking about using a 4l volls protector (which would do the trick for power charges = 5l body armour) hopefully its defensive stats will be enough for cruel.

I started out levelling with Freeze Pulse and as soon as I got my first CoC I changed to Barrage+EK+CoC and Chain in a 4-link. I used Fire Trap as well and still use that for spot and AoE removal.

Life Leech isn't needed until Merciless I think. At least I went up to just before Merveil without the need of adding it. So a 4-link gets you a long way, even if you don't crit as much due to no Power Charges.

Anyone tested how does Barrage + Life gain on Hit compare to 1.1 Vaal pact + Life leech (with and without chain/pierce, it might make a difference)?

Is there a notable difference in survivability favoring Vaal Pact that justifies spending whole 9 points (in my build) to get it? It could be replaced with +32% mana, 40% mana regen, 32% evasion/armour, +9% walking speed, 36% accuracy and +8% aura effectiveness, which makes very compelling alternative if the life gain on hit works well also. What do you think?

Vaal Pact version:

Without Vaal Pact:

LgoH works only with attacks. You will only leech from the barrage itself.

You can go a long way without VP, in fact, I never used it. Played up to level 81 and mid-level maps. That was before the leech and VP changes, so I can't tell how well it works post-patch, but you can definitely progress without VP.

Looks like fun, can you break down the lvling into eg first 20, 40 etc points that you would recommend or just point to which nodes you should work to first.

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Bars wrote:

*sigh*

Do you guys read, like, even the last page of a thread you're writing in?

For the 10th time - look at that gem setup (no, it's not the main attack, it's a method to chain-cast the linked spells for next to no mana):

The main difference between this and other methods of casting, besides being almost free, is that when barrage crits, you will summon the full limit of skeletons at once and right on top of your target. When you level them, they will become actually tanky with your auras. Hello, free meatshield.

If you feel lazy and can spare a link in your main attack, you can directly place summon skeletons there and finishing Merciless will become laughably easy, if with a bit less damage.

Sorry man, I didn't really try to check since the last time I did I saw people discussing variations of the build. If I knew you answered it before I would've done so. Thanks for the detailed tip though.

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Bars wrote:

You can search any skill in gamepedia and see a table with all of its stats, including mana requirement per level.

It's pointless to level barrage because this build doesn't deal any damage with the barrage itself and leveling it won't change that. Generally, you will want to level all gems unless you want to use them later in combination with a cast when damage taken support gem (CwdT doesn't work with gems which have a higher level requirement than its own).

Some spells, like curses, become very expensive in terms of mana and you might want to not level them past a certain point, unless you'll cast them with blood magic or with cast on critical. I prefer that method because leveling curses makes them much better.

Thanks for your response and your continuous participation on this thread! You're really helping out a lot of people (especially me)!

So in terms of Gem lvl, which of these do i have to watch out not to max? What lvl should i stop at? These are the gems i see being used. I'm most concerned about the aura gems costing too much mana.

Critical weakness
Blood Magic
Increase AOE
Clarity
Grace
Purity of elements
Hatred
Life leech
EK
Chain
Barrage
Cast on Crit
Cast when damaged
Temporal chains
Summon skeletons
enfeeble

Any others?

Thanks!

What are people's thoughts on using ?


Gives you as much crit as 2x Diamond Rings would (you're lacking the resists from the one ring but can use any resist/life ring instead of limiting to Diamond). Consecrated Ground gives you 4% HP regen while standing on it and with the Crit rate you get from Barrage you're creating multiple patches of Consecrated ground almost constantly.

@CertifiedPro: level everything but barrage, when you start running with purity + grace + hatred in Merciless, you won't have enough mana to cast anything anyway. You'll cast whatever it is you want to cast by linking with blood magic, with barrage+coc or with cast when damage taken. The only spell that will actually cost you mana is barrage.

Until you have a blood magic support gem or high crit chance to reliably cast spells with barrage+CoC, check the auras in gamepedia to see the scaling of their mana cost and effectiveness and use your own judgement.

@Zinsho: that ring is great on its own, but I don't know how many zero-defense-stat uniques you're using. When I was still playing my CoC shadow, I had Voll's Protector and Maligaro's and I found out that I have no chance to keep resists maxed and life decent if I added more offensive uniques.

Currently/planning on going Rat's Nest, Voll's, Gifts from Above.

However I'm running Evasion/Dodge rather than Armour so my resists are slightly stronger (30% Spell dodge means 30% less damage taken from Spells, plus whatever I dodge from attacks).

Yes I'll take slightly higher burst from melee, but overall my biggest weakness at the moment is spells, and just plain bad luck (64% Evade vs equal level + 24% Block + 40% Evade, and then get an unlucky string of hits from a boss before I can regen since I don't have LL on yet).