Solo & Support Incinerate Scion

Welcome! This will be my first real try at making a comprehensive guide/showcase for my character, so bear with me. Hopefully I'll be making regular updates as I level up and acquire more gear.



~~Disclaimer~~

I want to say a few things before I get into the build. This build was initially inspired by Nugiyen's Incinerate tank in Nemesis. I honestly only remember watching his stream one or two times back then, and I remember him farming City of Sarn and killing stuff with those blue flames. That's where I got the idea for this build. I've never looked up a guide for an Incinerate character, so this is all 100% original content. I'm sure there are many other builds out there that look similar; I'm not trying to take credit for those.

Also, this build can be used by beginners, but it is not recommended. Incinerate is a great skill which will carry you into the end game, but there are many skills that can do that for you. This build rewards large investments in time/gear/experience and thus may not be the best choice for a beginning player.

--The Build--

The idea behind the build was to make a character that could do pretty much everything. I wanted to be able to play/level solo and in a party. I wanted to be able to do good damage, support my allies, and magic find. I also wanted to play the same build from beginning to end. Most builds aim to tackle these goals! The backbone of the build is the focus on auras. Being able to swap in and out many different auras allows you to solo/party effectively as well as deal good damage, support your allies in the best way possible, and wear the most penalizing magic finding gear without sacrificing any of the aforementioned qualities.



Currently, I am level 86 and can tackle most content in the game. I haven't tried Atziri, but I do think it is possible for this build to handle her. My skill tree is pretty much completed at this point:

--Skill Tree--

A detailed explanation of the notable passives taken in this build can be found here:
Spoiler
At this point, I don't have a "Leveling Path" set up yet. I can say that I went for Ballistic Mastery and Iron Reflexes relatively early, and grabbed Sovereignty and Eldritch Battery later. In the future, I'll try to add detailed instructions on how to level up. For now, I'd like to discuss some of the key aspects of the tree and explain their relevance.

Path of the Savant: This is the only spell damage node taken on the entire tree. If it weren't for the other great stats that it provides, I probably wouldn't have it. However, the Intelligence and Mana basically translate into defence, so this is a great node overall.
Shaper: This build focuses on auras, so the mana path is a great way for us to exit the Scion start. The health regeneration is quite nice as well, since we won't be making into the Duelist or Marauder areas of the tree.
Inner Force: Both our auras and Arctic Armour are effected by this great node.
Purity of Flesh: Tied with Thick Skin for the highest %life, this node gives us much Chaos Resistance as well! This will help let us run Blood Rage once we've got some Chaos Resistance from gear.
Sovereignty: This aura cluster is great for any build using multiple auras. Since we're using 5-6, this is a no-brainer.
Holy Strength: This is a great node for 3 reasons. It gives us some much needed life, strength (scarce since we don't visit the bottom-left part of the tree), and Increased Effect of Buffs.
Elemental Adaptation: A great node for any build that's in the area. This works well with our Purity auras to push our resistances even higher into the 80s.
Harrier: Great node for both cast speed and movement speed.
Mana Geyser: Pumping our maximum mana and mana regeneration as high as possible is always a great idea for this build.
Charisma: Another good aura cluster that's perfect for us.
Ballistic Mastery: This is an absolutely incredible node for Incinerate. The projectile speed here coupled with quality on the Incinerate gem gives us the freedom to drop Faster Projectiles from our Incinerate spell making way for better damage gems like Added Chaos Damage and Faster Casting.
Heart of Oak: This node is a must if you don't have access to/choose not to use Kaom's Roots. We're no where close to Unwavering Stance, and since we're sitting out in the open 99% of the time, a chance to not be stunned is great!
Leadership: Not a great node for solo play. However, if you are in a dedicated group, you should always take this node as your auras are guaranteed to be better than those of your allies.
Conduit: An underused node that has great potential for us! Theoretically, we could use Romira's Banquit, Blood Rage, and Enduring Cry to give Power, Frenzy, and Endurance Charges to our party members.
Clear Mind: A great node for any non-CI characters in the area.
Mental Acuity: Incinerate has 0% base critical strike chance, so we don't benefit from the critical strike chance, but the other stats are great. Also, this opens up the great 12% life nodes for us.
Influence: Once again, this build is all about auras, so this node is a must.
Written in Blood: Similar to Holy Strength, this node gives us some much needed life and strength.
Deep Wisdom: If you find yourself needing that little extra bit of mana, consider taking this node.
Eldritch Battery: A cornerstone for the build. It isn't necessary to take until Merciless difficulty, but once you're able to run the Discipline aura, this node will greatly increase your mana pool and regen.
Reflexes: This is the gateway to the bottom-half of the tree. Since we're taking Iron Reflexes and wearing only evasion gear, this directly translates into increased armour.
Thick Skin: More life! Can't go wrong taking this node.
Iron Reflexes: Since this build doesn't focus on blocking, turning all of our evasion into armor gives us a nice and steady amount of physical damage reduction.
Mind Over Matter: The second cornerstone of the build. This Keystone is located on the Cloak of Defiance body armour and is a main source of damage reduction.


--Gems--

The ideal 6-link for Incinerate would be: Incinerate - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Added Chaos Damage - Life Leech - Faster Casting - Mana Leech

5-link: Incinerate - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Added Chaos Damage - Life Leech - Faster Casting/Mana Leech (pick one)

4-link: Incinerate - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Added Chaos Damage - Life Leech

Here's my Incinerate:
Spoiler


Auras for Solo Play
Spoiler
Purity of Fire - to deal with reflect as well as high fire damage monsters like Exiles and high level map bosses (Crematorium, Shipyard)
Purity of Lightning - to deal with Lightning Thorns and high level map bosses (Piety, Dominus)
Haste - crazy cast speed due to all the aura effect nodes
Discipline - insane mana/mana regen
Clarity - insane mana regen

Here are my defensive stats using this setup:

Auras for Party Play
Spoiler
This depends on your party. You can run the Purity auras with Grace for defence or you can run Anger, Wrath, and Haste for damage. You can determine a good mix for your own party. You should be able to support Clarity in any setup.

Other Good Gems/Links
Spoiler
Cast when Damge Taken - Enduring Cry - Immortal Call - Increased Duration
CwDT lvl 7, Enduring Cry lvl 9, Immortal Call lvl 8 is a good setup, or you can just run CwDT - Enduring Cry if you don't have the space for a 4-link
Lightning Warp - Reduced Duration - Faster Casting
Curse 1 - Curse 2 - Increased Area of Effect
I'm currently running Elemental Weakness and Enfeeble
Blood Rage
With high enough Chaos Resistance, Blood Rage can be used to generate Frenzy Charges for additional cast speed


--Gear--

My Current Gear
Spoiler

Other Useful Items
Spoiler
Kaom's Roots
These can be used to make you immune to stun, but you lose the sockets and movement speed.
Voideye
A level 25/26 Arctic Armour will greatly reduced the damage you take from physical attacks, potentially letting you spec out of Iron Reflexes, saving you many points.
Atziri's Promise
I will probably buy one of these tonight. The extra damage is great and the leech will work with your Added Chaos Damage gem.


--Gameplay--

Maps
Spoiler
Map mods to look out for with this build:
Emanent - Area is inhabited by ranged monsters
This is more annoying than dangerous. Incinerate with GMP works very well against monsters in melee range, but not so great against spread out enemies. This map might take a little longer than others.
Freezing - Monsters deal x% extra Damage as Cold
For a map like this, I'd run Purity of Ice to negate the extra daamge
Hexproof - Monsters are immune to Curses
Fire resistant monsters might take longer to kill, while high damage monsters might be a little dangerous without Enfeeble
Incombustible - +x% Monster Fire Resistance
Monsters will take longer to kill than usual
of Hemomancy - Players have Blood Magic
Nope
of Smothering - Players recover Life, Mana, and Energy Shield 50% slower
I haven't tried this yet because I haven't had to. As long as there aren't any serious damage mods, you should be able to sustain AA and MoM with this mod. If not, you could consider running a lower level of AA.
of Statis - Players cannot regenerate Life or Mana
Nope

I'm looking into recording some gameplay of my character in maps. If anyone has any requests, please let me know. Like I said before, I haven't attempted Atziri and probably won't try for a few more levels.

--Change Log--
Spoiler
5/20/14: Updated gear (new boots, ring, weapon)
5/27/14: Updated gear (6L chest, atziri flask)


That's all for now! Please let me know if you have any comments/questions/suggestions. Thanks for reading.
A long time ago, on a Wraeclast far, far away...
Last edited by nahvi_milieux on May 27, 2014, 3:29:50 PM
Are you planning to get the shadow nodes next? For 4 skillpoints they seem to be a better deal than path of the savant. Also, out of curiosity, how much mana do you have unreserved?
Last edited by Cyan_ogeN on May 19, 2014, 11:58:48 PM
"
Cyan_ogeN wrote:
Are you planning to get the shadow nodes next? For 4 skillpoints they seem to be a better deal than path of the savant. Also, out of curiosity, how much mana do you have unreserved?


I've considered it. I kind of like the Int+Mana from Path of the Savant over the damage from the Shadow start. I have ~1050 mana unreserved with the Solo auras I listed above.
A long time ago, on a Wraeclast far, far away...
Whats up with that wand? I think you could get so much better wand with fire and spell dmg and cast speed (maybe inc proj. speed as well) pretty cheaply
Highly recommend the voideye for your arctic armor, if you can handle the mana degen (345/s while moving) and losing resists/life from your ring. AA at level 25 with inner force and holy strength makes it so you can completely facetank white mobs (365 flat reduction). I love it.
Last edited by FrontLineBait on May 20, 2014, 4:23:03 AM
"
VRock wrote:
Whats up with that wand? I think you could get so much better wand with fire and spell dmg and cast speed (maybe inc proj. speed as well) pretty cheaply


Yea the wand is pretty terrible. I've been checking poexyz every day for a serious upgrade, but haven't found anything worth investing in. I'm not a big fan of spending 10c on a 10% spell damage upgrade. I'm trying to hold out until a 100%+ fire spell damage wand with projectile speed hits the market.
A long time ago, on a Wraeclast far, far away...
"
FrontLineBait wrote:
Highly recommend the voideye for your arctic armor, if you can handle the mana degen (345/s while moving) and losing resists/life from your ring. AA at level 25 with inner force and holy strength makes it so you can completely facetank white mobs (365 flat reduction). I love it.


If I swap out Atziri's Step for some GG boots (life, cold res, chaos res, movespeed) then I can afford to switch to Voideye. It's definitely something I'm looking to do in the future. I think I can definitely support the mana cost.
A long time ago, on a Wraeclast far, far away...
Updated the gear. Got my hands on a decent 1h sceptre, some good boots, and a Voideye. I'll update my HP/mana/regen stats tomorrow. Thanks for the comments so far.
A long time ago, on a Wraeclast far, far away...

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