Dragon Surge Crit build

I've been wanting to make a Flame Surge build for a while. Here's what I wanted out of this build:

== Use Flame Surge
== Use The Three Dragons
== Deal Critical Strikes
== Not need more than 4l

The two skills this build relies on are


Flame Surge deals 50% increased damage to ignited targets. This is achieved by using Freezing Pulse. Both skills benefit from increased cast speed and are linked to support gems such as Faster Casting or Spell Echo. To increase the effective area Freezing Pulse is linked to Faster Projectiles and Flame Surge is linked to Increased Area of Effect. Both gems are also linked to Elemental Proliferation which helps spread any Elemental Status Ailments to other targets. Because Flame Surge shocks targets due the the Three Dragons the damage output from the skill is again increased by 50% (as of 1.2.0 shock status ailment no longer stacks).

Because Status Ailments such as shock and ignite prock on critical strikes this build utilises the Doom Cast cluster in the Shadow area, the Annihilation cluster in the Witch area and the Arcane Potency cluster in the Templar area of the tree. In end game the build will benefit from uniques such as Maligaro's Virtuosity and Divinarius for even more Critical Strike chance.

Two uniques from the Rampage League supplement the build quite nicely because they increase the chance to ignite.


The Flame Surge skill further benefits from passives that modify the Area of Effect such as the Blast Radius cluster in the Witch area and the Amplify cluster in the Templar area of the tree as well as uniques such as the Carcass Jack armour.

By skilling into the Mana Regeneration nodes Soul Siphon (Shadow), Deep Thought (Witch), the Quick Recovery cluster on the way to the Scion area and the 40% Mana Regen in the Templar area this build manages to cope well with the mana consumption of both skills.

At level 71 the only thing this build is currently struggling with is survivability and the Strength and Dexterity requirements of the gems used such as Reduced Mana, Reduced Duration, Faster Projectiles, and Herald of Ice. I'm currently not sure if I want to continue using Herald of Ice anyway. The build would greatly benefit from a Doryani's Invitation belt with extra fire damage and life leech on fire damage.









9'230 dps on Flame Surge +50% from ignited +50% from shocked = roughly 18k dps (correct me if I'm wrong)
and I've just noticed that I can run both Herald of Ice and Herald of Ash alongside Clarity without struggling for mana. Herald of Ash ignites nearby enemies for 100% of the overkill damage upon kill and I haven't yet figured out quite how much this is...

The Build is not complete. My character is at level 71 and as mentioned, struggling with survivability, but I think I'll get there. As you can see from my gear, it's not fleshed out completely. I'm aiming to make Carcass Jack my first 6l (some time within the 3 month league). Discovering Freezing Pulse as a secondary skill has greatly improved playability in the early mapping stages.

If you have any input I would greatly appreciate your comments. Otherwise, watch this space for lvl 100! ^_^

Updated. Now with added Oumph!

Hey was just wondering how you leveled, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!