[Completed/Updated] Thunder Slam Jam: The Herald Prolif build that doesn't use Ash.

Video Links:

Guide Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rs0tcpcRnk&
Guide Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flZZ2AW577c&
Level 75 Fracture Map No Commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tS6gksBKZQ&

Outdated:


Hey hey. So since the Heralds have come out, I've been really interested in the ability to add supports to them as other spells. This came to a head when Herald of Thunder was released. I decided to experiment with the Three Dragons, snagged my name, and here we are.


The idea is to permafreeze as much as possible. With the Three Dragons,

Herald of Thunder can freeze enemies instead of shocking them (since it cant shock.)


I wanted to try to get HoT to be self sufficient, so I went with Herald of Ice and a Pyre ring.


This causes Herald of Ice to do fire damage, which will shock when using the Three Dragons. I found this to be a little less consistent on it's own than I wanted it to be, and as I was leveling I found Leap Slam fills in the gaps. The build works by Leap Slamming from pack to pack, freezing them, having Herald of Thunder shatter them, triggering Herald of Ice which chain reacts and explodes the screen.

Leap Slam, Faster Attacks, Inc AoE, and Ele Prolif can shock and freeze in a massive AoE. i have +90% Area Radius with it. This combined with HoT and HoI and nothing is left moving. Once you get Herald of Thunder active, you can Leap Slam from pack to pack until the map is clear.

I use GMP Arctic Breath to get HoT started but it is up to you. Once you get the chain going, just leap slam to victory. Arctic Breath is also helpful taking down rares and heavily resistant enemies. It is our single target.

For your Passive tree you have a lot of options. I started as a Shadow, going for the elemental damage nodes. I focused on Freeze chance #1, then chance to shock. Try to only get elemental damage nodes rather than single element ones. This helps the damage of both Heralds.
After that I got as much AoE and AoE damage as I could. Vaal Pact is essential to counter reflect. Since I have gotten it, reflect has been a non issue.



Main links are:
Herald of Thunder > Ele Prolif > Empower
Herald of Ice > Inc AoE > Life Leech > Reduced Mana
Leap Slam > Inc AoE > Faster Attacks > Ele Prolif
Arctic Breath > GMP > Inc AoE > Concentrated Effect > Mana Leech

For bosses I use Inc. Duration Vaal Glacial hammer to lock in mobs then LMP Spell Echo Vaal Spark to melt them. Nothing can live after getting hit by 900 sparks.


On a side note, there is a very interesting interaction that happens with fracture mobs. The timing seems to make the spawned mobs get killed by the Herald of Ice explosion of either the original enemy, or the one next to it. Either way, fracture maps play just like normal maps. There is a link to a video at the top.


GEAR

Carcass Jack for the AoE radius and damage.

This is where I put my Arctic Breath. Its got pretty great shotgun DPS, I just use it to get Herald of Thunder activated, and for some rares when needed.

Three Dragons as I already linked. Put whatever you want in there.

For gloves I'm using corrupted Asenath's Touch.
Temp Chains is great for keeping targets frozen and shocked longer and the Ele Weakness just amplifies all of your DPS. They are great even if you cant get them corrupted. I used Curse on Hit Ele Weakness with Leap slam before I corrupted these.

I'm currently trying to corrupt +1 curse on an amulet. This would free up 6 points on the tree or let you use something other than Windscreams, depending on which you go for.

I got a pair of Windscreams until I corrupt an amulet.
My skill tree path is only 6 points from Whispers of Doom, so that is an option too if you want to dual curse.

Doryani's Invitation is the belt you want to go for.
I use the cold variation for the 10% freeze chance even though I miss out on the cold leech. You can opt for fire or lightning versions but I found cold to be best for DPS and freeze consistency. I try to always have a quicksilver or Atziri's Promise active for that reason.

Aside from the Pyre ring fill the other ring and amulet slot with survivability and resist pieces. I'm using but there are much better choices.

For potions I use two quick heal hp potions, two Atziri's Promises and a Quicksilver.


Atziri's Promises are amazing for this build. The passive hp leech from your constant damage is awesome with Vaal Pact. I use two so I can be sure I always have one active. Nice DPS boost too.

WEAPONS


Doryani's Catalyst is number one.
The elemental damage buffs Herald of Thunder and Ice massively. They are not considered spells so Spell damage from the tree or wands has no effect. These really are BiS. You can dual wield them but I went with this.

When using a level 3 Empower gem Herald of Thunder gets buffed to level 26, nearly doubling the damage of another Catalyst. I found this to be most effective for killing and shattering single enemies (which chains and shatters the whole screen)




LEVELING

I leveled as this build from the start. Low level spells can get you into Arctic Breah and the Herald's range. From then on its easy-mode. I dual wielded Dark Seers up until my other sceptres.
The mana and ES on kill is unbeatable. The ele and straight damage % increases both Heralds and your skills. 14% blind, temp chains, prolif freezing and ES on kill means you never die. These are Beyond only drops so you will need to kill off a character there (like I did) or find someone else selling them in Standard, sorry Rampage.

This turned out to be an extremely cheap build, cost me under an exalted orb up until the Doryani's gear. It is a very fun and fast paced build and I encourage you to try it. Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions.

Could you make some more videos especially boss fights i just want to see how the builds handles bosses.
Also very creative and awesome :) loved it!!!!!!!!!

I'll try to make some more videos with boss kills. I dont have a better way to edit footage than Windows Movie Maker (which is terrible) so I have to do uncut live recordings (which then take hours to upload to youtube) but I will see what I can do.

looks really fun! think i'm going to try out this build when the leagues restart!

could you link your passive tree in the build please?

Thanks so much!

My passive tree is inefficient right now. I need to do a bit of respeccing into the pure health nodes rather than hybrid, and my character is only level 77.



There it is, but I would recommend going down through the scion life wheel and getting Vaal Pact.

I'm also uploading another video to youtube now.

EDIT:Respecced a bit, got Vaal Pact, updated tree.

"

moike wrote:

My passive tree is inefficient right now. I need to do a bit of respeccing into the pure health nodes rather than hybrid, and my character is only level 77.

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAv4EBwVbBx4HYxGWE54UsBa_F1QYahzcHwImlSepKPoqOC0fLUcy0TWSNok2xTeBOlg8BT1fQYdFR0V8RtdJUUwtTLNPr1BCUlNSslPUVUtVxlgHXcZh4me9bRlwu3gvfOV-WX_Ggh6Cx4PbiEKLjIw2jYKPRpUglS6XlZeXl_SboZ8Bn9-kkacIqW60OLUEtfK3PriTwcXB88u90eTYJNi934Thc-NW5OvlGevu7BjtIO988NX06fno-_X-Cg==

There it is, but I would recommend going down through the scion life wheel and getting Vaal Pact.

I'm also uploading another video to youtube now.

EDIT:Respecced a bit, got Vaal Pact, updated tree.

Thanks!

Updated OP with two more videos.

Updated OP with a 77 Shrine map run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrULuEUjQaQ&feature=youtu.be

Have you tried Lightning Tendrils for singletarget DPS? It might just be able to freeze, as well.