The Herald of Ash : A Physical Bow Build

Very interesting build. I did not know you could link herald of ash with the other items.

I'm not sure I understand it quote yet. Why not use herald of ice? Could you go into explaining that?

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Basically_Aldin wrote:

Very interesting build. I did not know you could link herald of ash with the other items.

I'm not sure I understand it quote yet. Why not use herald of ice? Could you go into explaining that?

Ash is stronger, and with three dragons, allows you to shock when you ignite. Herald of Ice should only ever be used for spell users, or if you want even more damage on top of your fast ele build on top of your other ele aura.

Hatred is stronger then ice for phys, Anger/wrath are stronger then ice for ele. He uses ash instead of the original auras because you can buff it, thus saving links on something you would have otherwise needed to link to your main skill (like ele prolif and increase area of effect). That's my understanding anyways, may be wrong.

Thanks for your answers Elboyo and yeah about mana i was thinking the infractem canceled only life leech and not affect mana, my bad.

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You also mention that your mana leech is too low. You can't leech with Infractem.

I don't want to be an asshole, I really enjoy your build, it looks fun and is very interesting, but I think GGG will nerf this soon. It is just insane...

But anyway really nice job!

How do you sustain mana?

Very nice build, OP.

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Tisca wrote:

How do you sustain mana?

Since you're firing off very few shots, at a low firing rate, you don't need that much sustain.

I've been working off the Revelry cluster, as well as a mana flask on the side.

I'm also wearing a Volls chest for that elusive RRBB link for HoA. Which is incredibly untanky.

I'm planning on routing to the Charisma cluster for 12% reduced mana reservation, that plus a L20 reduced mana can let you run grace/hatred on the remaining mana. At that point, you can probably afford a 5L, and that means you can run Ice Shot on a BM gem. Alternatively, get 2x 5Ls, and run an RM on the HoA and BM on the Ice shot, that can let you skip the aura nodes (actually, I like that plan better).

Wow, didn't actually believe it would be this strong, I mean I just entered cruel with only a 17.6% crit chance and 1.6k ice shot with no damage nodes and clearing through packs like nothing. I thought my 1.3k molten strike gear or my 4-link glacial cascade when leveling in normal/cruel was OP, this just dominates o.o

Good build, can definitely drop damage for survivability for those wanting for HC/beyond. Got colors on dragons for ash in under 60 chromes, time to get some good gear ><

Level 61 Progress:

Offense: Kills stuff like woah. Thats all I need to really say about the offense. If you have enough crit you feel very powerful. If you go a few shots without a crit you kinda start wishing you had more attack speed/mana/whatever but its just an illusion. Get more crit and only fire one shot.

Defense: Yeesh. I'll be the first to admit I'm more used to in-your-face leach builds but I've played ranged before and this build is scary.

I just get smashed by anything that gets to me. Exiles are the worst as you don't expect them and they jump around, but even mini bosses like the Weaver are damn scary. If I can't kill it before it even moves I'm terrified of it. I'm only 61 so I'm hoping I figure out some survival tricks but I'm wondering how Piety and Dom will be with the build. Its looking like a NUKE IT BEFORE IT MOVES OR UR DEAD kinda deal at the moment which is fine but may pose some issues later when big map bosses start taking a bit to kill or have some form of cc.

Anyway, still a brilliant build! Will keep my eye on this thread to see if anyone has any idea about how to tank it up a bit without losing TOOOO much of our extreme DPS.

Thanks !

edit: Got my rrbb on dragons in 5 chroms. lol?

Got to say, this is the first build I tried that levels faster than mainstream arc and searing bond builds. The damage is insane.

My two cents on the defensive side of things: what I am planning to do is pick up a Lightning coil. With so many flexible pieces of gear, and considering the helm also gives ~30% allres, it shouldn't be an issue.

I have yet to decide on which path I take if I ever manage to 5L it. One of the options is to put IS in it for even more offense. The other - and more probable way - would be a 5L HoA with reduced mana. With some aura nodes I might even be able to run grace as a secondary aura in another 2L, which would give me a huge defensive boost.

But for now, I'm still plowing through cruel, and I'm having a BLAST!

Do you guys level with bows from the start? I'm about to enter Cruel and been using FP but I think I will hit a requirement wall there pretty soon. Not sure if I should move to bows now or later. FP is just so insanely good at least in low levels.