[2.0] Terror's "Shatter Chuck Lite" Variant •• Barrage CoC •• 280k+ DPS •• Atziri w/ 5-Link

• 1.3 Shrine ► Barrage, Fireball, Freeze Pulse, No Righteous Fire
• 1.3 Atziri ► GUIDE ► Barrage, CoC, GMP, Fireball, Arctic Breath, Life Leech
• 1.3 Atziri ► Barrage, CoC, GMP, Fireball, Arctic Breath, Life Leech ► Righteous Fire
• 1.3 Atziri ► 5-Link ► Barrage, CoC, GMP, Fireball, Arctic Breath

Rare or Rat's Nest


Explanation:
Rat's Nest is fine if you want to take an offensive approach. I currently like the increased defense, Health, Resists and Accuracy and rare can provide. We can make up for Crit Chance on Jewels eventually (its a tad difficult to roll.) Also, my favorite version of the build uses Unwavering Stance, so the Evasion is lost to me on Rat's Nest, leaving only 2-3 mods really worth anything.

Rare Item Mods:
Base type is best as Armor if Unwavering or Armor/ES if Unwavering/Kinetic Blast. Evasion and Evasion Hybrid is okay if you forgo Unwavering, though, the game really favors Armor at the moment. It is important to know that your Health will burn faster from Righteous Fire the more Energy Shield you have. I will remind about this in each section. Sorry if you are a thorough reader!

Voll's Protector ◄ Mandatory ► (or Tabula Rasa in place of 5L Voll's)


Explanation:
Our bread and butter, Voll's Protector, allows us to completely ignore the Power Charge on Critical gem. In fact, it's actually better; you gain a power charge for any enemy you crit, meaning you can get multiple charges per use of a skill. As an example, if you crit with all 4 Barrage Projectiles (assuming they hit), you will gain 4 power charges compared to PCoC's one.

It is worth mentioning that a Tabula Rasa can be used to replace a 5L Volls as long as you use Power Charge on Critical as the 6th Link. It will not replace a 6L Volls. Tabula is just nice because it is often cheaper. Just remember that if you are using Discharge in any way, your Power Charge generation is going to suffer.

When rolling colors (GGGRBB), I'm often asked if its better to chrome yourself or use Vorici. According to this Chromatic Calculator, using 1G Vorici barely pulls ahead of doing it yourself. I personally used the 3G Vorici, since I wanted to guarantee the colors with the little amount of chromes I had. If you can't get those colors specifically, don't worry about it. There are a ton of combos in the Links section and it's really easy to put together something that works for just about any color set (as long as your attack colors are taken care of.)

Rare


Explanation:
We use a wand to be able to use the Barrage and/or Kinetic Blast skill. A rare is by far the best choice (even compared to the ever-suggested Void Battery.) Rares gives us Attack Speed, Accuracy, higher Base Crit, comparable Spell Damage and are much, much easier to come by. It's important to maintain a low currency barrier of entry, and Void Battery undermines that. I'd like to give an honorable mention to Piscator's Vigil, which can be used in a pinch, but isn't ideal due to lack of Spell Damage.

On the wand, we prioritize (Base) Critical Chance, Spell Damage, and Attack Speed, in that order.
Aim for:

• Critical Chance: 10.5+
• Spell Damage: 55%+ (total)
• Attack Speed: Variable (see below)

Anything else is icing on the cake, especially Accuracy.

As of 1.3, Cast on Crit has a .05 second internal cooldown timer, up from .01. Basically, we now have an absolute max of 20 procs per second where we used to have 100. This has bumped Barrage from the territory of non-concern into a position where we need to factor in the timing of our projectiles/hits.

There is something you need to know about Barrage; it's attack speed split is 40% wind up with some % of listed attack speed taken per projectile fired (confirmed by GGG) WITHOUT Greater Multiple Projectiles. With Greater Multiple Projectiles the spread is undetermined since we don't know what that % per projectile is and consequently can't math out how long between hits we are taking. We can run some tests to approximate though!

I've done testing, and in short, the best character attack speeds are:
For Barrage alone:

• <1.5 APS
• <3 APS
• <4.5 APS
• etc.

◄ Please note these are LESS THAN. Reaching the specific numbers listed above is going to put you on the absolute bottom of the next tier of speed, actually making you worse! ►


For Barrage ○ Greater Multiple Projectiles:

• ≤2.2 APS
• ≤4.4 APS
• etc.

◄ Take note, these are LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO. ►

So, what does this mean for all of us? Just follow the breakpoints for whatever setup you are using. I run at around 2.7 or 3.2 (Depending on Blood Rage and Frenzy Charges) for both Barrage and Barrage ○ Greater Multiple Projectiles. It's a comfortable number that was easy to achieve. Now, you might've realized that I went OVER the Barrage ○ Greater Multiple Projectiles breakpoint [of 2.2]. Why? Well, I found that 2.2 APS was just too slow. I could be procing more per attack, but I'd be sacrificing mobility. I chose slightly less damage (which is still a ton of damage) in favor of being more mobile. I'm also running just under the "best" speed because the calculations are against targets that are standing still. If they are moving towards you, the procs will be closer together; if your target is fast enough, it could mess up your timing (though, not likely, so don't worry too much. Like I said, 2.7 is just a comfortable number I was able to get to anyways.)

Rare Item Mods
There is no best base, since it really just depends on what Attack Speed breakpoint, listed above, you are aiming for. Imbued Wand is typically used the most.

Saffell's Frame or Rare or Rise of the Phoenix


Explanation:
There are three great choices here. Saffel's is my favorite, being one of only a few ways to reduce elemental damage through Max Resists. It loses some usefulness since "group" reflect has been removed, but is still worth a number 1 choice in my book. Rise of the Phoenix is up there because sometimes I get lazy with my Righteous Fire when mapping and it's nice to not burn. A Rare shield is a great choice in situations where you wouldn't want to run Righteous Fire.

Rare Item Mods
Base type is best as Armor if Unwavering is spec'd, Armor/Es if Unwavering/Kinetic, or player's preference otherwise. Remember that Righteous Fire burns more Health if you have more Energy Shield.

Maligaro's Virtuosity


Explanation:
Maligaro's Virtuosity is an obvious choice. It gives us important Crit Chance, Crit Mult, Attack Speed, and Dexterity. These mods are too good to pass up, so they are preferred over a rare.

Rare


Explanation:
Rare boots are used because they can provide us with much needed health and resists in quantities greater than uniques can provide. They also have the bonus of having higher possible move speed, which helps with clear speed and survivability in general.

Rare Item Mods
Base type is the same as all other rares: Armor is Unwavering, Armor/ES if Unwavering KB, or anything if anything else. Remember that Righteous Fire deals more damage the more ES you have.

Rare or Doryani's Invitation

Explanation:
Our belt is here for three things: Strength, Life, and Resists. Rare belts meet all three of those criteria, esp. since they are one of only a few slots that can have Chaos Resist. Doryani's Invitation is alright in the meantime. Use the version that fits your spells the best.

Rare Item Mods
Base type is Leather since we need the health. Strength can be useful occasionally as well.

Rare or Voll's Devotion

Explanation:
Our amulet slot is Rare if we are using anything other than Discharge, otherwise we want Voll's Devotion for massively increased damage.

Rare Item Mods
Base type is a great opportunity to fill in needed Str/Dex/Int. The only better mod is +1 Curses, and that's a long shot.

Rare

Explanation:
For rings, the endgame of this build is using Rares. There are a few unique rings that can work as a substitute in the mean time: Berek's Grip, The Taming, and Le Heup of All.

Rare Item Mods
Base type should be Diamond. This is a great place to get Fire Damage for your attacks if you are using Flame Surge. You only need it on one ring, as all unmodified burns are the same duration regardless of damage.

◄ Do NOT underestimate the importance of Flasks in this build. Nicely rolled Flasks are some of the strongest (and only) defenses this build has. If you are dying, this is probably the reason (and you probably aren't using a Granite)! ►



This is my standard set of Flasks.
Slot 1:
The Seething of Dousing is for emergencies and turns off Righteous Fire. If I need to hit it, that means I don't need RF damaging me and contributing to my death. Since it is used so rarely, it also means that I always have charges to turn it off to sort a giant lootsplosion or for when monsters refuse to be within 500 miles of each other.

Slot 2:
The Surgeon's of Staunching is for spammy heals! Who doesn't like infinite regeneration? First off, it means I can constantly attack Corrupting Blood without worrying about not having a flask to remove Bleed. It also means I always have charges to stall Righteous Fire and/or Blood Rage degeneration (usually in combo with the Ruby Flask.) It's good for being topped off between groups in case of spikey damage from gap-closing monsters. Finally, it's your healing if you are not running Life Leech.

Slot 3:
The Surgeon's Granite of Iron Skin is a staple survivability flask. If you are dying, you probably don't have this exact flask rolled. This is activated at every enemy group; make sure to activate it before any enemy "charge" animations or, due to coding, it won't work. I guess you could sub a Taste of Hate here if you are running EK or Glacial since it still performs the same roll while giving damage (I haven't tested this though.)

Slot 4:
The Surgeon's Quicksilver of Adrenaline is for speeeeeeeed! Clearspeed is what we do well, so it makes sense to use a flask like this. Gotta go fast. You can swap this for an elemental flask of Adrenaline if you feel you need the defense vs. a certain map boss.

Slot 5:
The Surgeon's Ruby Flask of Warding is our Righteous Fire guard and our Curse Immunity since it's uptime is almost 100%. You'll burn a fiery death or explode into hexy giblets without it. If you are not using RF, then an alternative would be to use Atziri's Promise, Taste of Hate, or any other flask of choice and move the "of Warding" to your Quicksilver.

I have never felt the need to run any status immunity flasks. I never get frozen and if I do, it's for a negligible amount of time from a really powerful enemy. Shock really never happens and the ground can be avoided/mitigated with smart play. Burning is joke for obvious reasons.

Just so I can say I mentioned it, run a Jade instead of a Granite with Acrobatics if that's your thing. The node kills Armor too much to spend a flask on it.

The Best Mods:
Prefix:

• Surgeon's ► Recharge On Crit
• Seething ► Instant Heal at 33% Efficiency

Suffix:

• of Iron Skin ► Armor +60-100% While Active
• of Reflexes ► Evasion +60-100% While Active
• of Adrenaline ► Movement Speed +20-30% While Active
• of Steadiness ► Stun Recovery +40-60% While Active
• of Warding ► Curse Immunity While Active
• of Staunching ► Remove Bleeding On Use

TLDR/Summary:

• Seething Life Flask of Dousing
• Surgeon's Life Flask of Staunching
• Surgeon's Granite of Iron Skin
• Surgeon's Quicksilver/Resist of Adrenaline
• Surgeon's Ruby of Warding, Atziri's Promise, Taste of Hate

Surgeon's Regenerative Flask highly recommended if you only have a 5L. Never take off your Granite and get Iron Skin on it.

Hardly mirror-tier and still missing some optimization, my gear is achievable for most players and is a realistic assessment of the strength of this build. You can achieve this level of strength and clear most of the highest content in the game.

Two of my favorite plus's from the 2.0 changes are that there are a lot more balanced options available for gem selection and Auras don't require Reduced Mana slotted next to them. As a result, gem position and socket coloring are less rigid. Because its possible we'll all be working with different color needs, I'm just going to list the good gems to have, but not where they go.

◄ It is up to you to use the Vorici Chromatic Calculator to decide where it is easiest for you to put the gems that you choose to use. ►

Basically, don't plan to slot multiple blue gems into a Strength/Armor based helmet. Play smarter or pay out the butt. You can always look at my gear to see how I generally slotted everything.

My Links


Let's start with everyone's favorite comparison:

Barrage vs Kinetic Blast

Barrage:
Pros:

• Best all-around, "balanced" performance
• Better and faster unconditional* single target damage
• Much cheaper Mana cost
• Less Righteous Fire burn from less Energy Shield needed to sustain attacks
• Fewer links required to operate effectively

Cons:

• More precise aiming required
• More "desynchy" in 1.3 (Can't confirm for 2.0, but haven't had problems personally.)
• Longer attack animation leaving player vulnerable
• Attack speed breakpoints are an important consideration

Kinetic Blast
Pros:

• Better group clearing
• Better conditional* single target damage
• Aiming is more forgiving
• Sheer enjoyment of blanketing the screen in spells

Cons:

• Can really be penalized against stragglers and wall-less levels
• High mana cost
• More Righteous Fire burn from higher Energy Shield
• Requires more links to even function

*: Conditional/Unconditional: I am referring to the ability for Kinetic Blast to "Shotgun" when used against a target that is against a wall. This will generate MANY Cast on Crit procs but requires some setup time to position.

The comparison really comes down to reliability. Barrage is more consistent and dependable, where Kinetic Blast has potentially better results, but potentially much worse as well. KB also has a higher link requirement and mana cost attached to it as well.
As a result, Barrage takes the cake for me. I prefer the consistent performance to carry me through tough situations. I do occasionally enjoy throwing a KB setup into my chest for cruise controlling lower tier maps (it uses the same socket colors.)
I cannot tell you what you will enjoy any more than this. You must test both and decide!

6-Link
There's no simple answer for this any more. There's a lot of good stuff now, so I'll list combo's I've found effective. But first...
To Life Leech, or not to Life Leech?
"Group" Reflect has been mostly eliminated from the game. However, there are a few reasons we still need leech in our 6-Link:

• Maps can still have ele reflect.
• Can't run Righteous Fire or Blood Rage without it.
• Still a really fast way to heal. Makes our character sturdier.

And on the other side?:

• It's fun as hell to run another spell.

And there ya have it. Life Leech should be in your 6-Link, but that doesn't mean MAXIMUM SPELLS can't be a guilty pleasure in easier maps...

And now, some combos:

• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Arctic Breath ○ Fireball ○ Life Leech
  My bread and butter. Best all-around performance in my opinion. Subbing in Freezing Pulse or Ice Spear works too.
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Arc ○ Freezing Pulse ○ Life Leech
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ Ethereal Knives ○ Glacial Cascade ○ Arc ○ Life Leech
  Better single target than the above two, but slightly slower group clearing.
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ Ethereal Knives ○ Flame Surge ○ Glacial Cascade ○ Life Leech
  Hands down best boss killer. Atziri is slain with this.
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ Ethereal Knives ○ Discharge ○ Ice Nova ○ Life Leech
  Solid all around. Increased AoE can be used instead of a nova for larger group clearing.
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Fireball ○ Arctic Breath ○ Arc
  Stuff MEGA dies. So you do if you aren't careful!
• Kinetic Blast(8-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Cold Snap ○ Arc ○ Life Leech
  Murders groups. DECIMATES GROUPS. Single target is slower.
• Kinetic Blast(8-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Chain ○ Cold Snap ○ Life Leech
  Armies fall before you. A single man standing in a field will wreck you.
• Kinetic Blast(8-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Ethereal Knives ○ Glacial Cascade ○ Life Leech
  You would think this is worse because of the GMP+EK anti-synergy, but its actually quite strong at clearing since most of the damage is physical and hard to mitigate.
• Kinetic Blast(8-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Firestorm ○ Flame Surge ○ Life Leech
  Pretty well balanced KB setup. One of my favorites for that attack.
• Kinetic Blast(8-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Chain ○ Fire Storm ○ Discharge
  You will literally delete your video card, but not before your computer, and subsequently house, bursts into flames. You were warned.

Honestly, experiment. There's so many fun combo's I can't even list them all with the character space I have left in this post.

5-Link
A 5-Link setup is any of the links above, you'll just lose either a spell or Life Leech. There is another set of links you can use to mitigate the latter: Cast When Damage Taken(1) ○ Warlord's Mark(5) (Warlord's has 2% Life Leech regardless of level, so we can run a low level CWDT). This allows you to essentially move the link onto your enemies instead of wearing it in your armor.
This comes with a few disadvantages; you lose the ability to use Enfeeble/Temporal Chains and/or Assassin's Mark/Elemental Weakness trigger links, and Warlord's Mark doesn't work against Curse Immune targets or maps.
A Tabula Rasa can substitute for a 5-Link Voll's Protector as long as you use Power Charge on Critical as your 6th link.
Finally, I'd like to mention that you cannot easily or safely run Righteous Fire without a 6-Link, or more specifically, without a Life Leech gem. (Yes, there were people that tried. RIP.)

4-Link

• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ GMP ○ Projectile Spell
• Barrage(5-) ○ Cast on Crit ○ Ethereal Knives ○ Arc

These are your best bets for a 4-Link setup. We don't really use Kinetic Blast because it's link intensive and much less effective vs. single targets without them. Once again, you can use a Cast When Damage Taken(1) ○ Warlord's Mark(5) setup to provide a faux Life Leech gem. Just for clarity...
Projectile Spells:

• Arctic Breath
• Freezing Pulse
• Fireball
• Ice Spear

Auras:

• Purity of Fire
  Only necessary if you are running Righteous Fire. Otherwise, consider subbing it and a Herald in favor of Anger or Wrath if you prefer offense, or Determination for a more defensive approach.
• Arctic Armor
  Great gem for mitigating the intense physical damage in 2.0. The trail of ice is nice too!
• Herald of Ice & Herald of Thunder
  These two will only be supported by Curse on Hit depending on your 6-Link spell choices. They no longer do enough added damage to freeze or shock worthwhile targets alone, so to get them to proc reliably, you will need to run a spell of the same element. Thunder is generally slotted with an offensive curse since it actively strikes targets you are attacking. Ice pairs best with charge generating curses since it will activate on groups of mobs when they die. If you are running both a cold and lightning spell, both can be used at the same time since they provide the curses during different phases of the attack (one to deal damage, and one when things die.)

Offensive:

• Blood Rage
  A nice source of Attack Speed and "More" Damage. I run this with Righteous Fire on safe maps and in place of RF on dangerous maps (where I only turn RF on in short bursts.) The degen is countered by our perma-regen flask and Life Leech in our 6-Link.
• Ele Weakness & Assassin's Mark
  Two ways of dealing a lot more damage to stubborn badguys. Self-casting the skill is great if you cannot reliably proc Herald of Thunder. Don't cast it on every group; just save it for rare monsters, bosses, or otherwise meaty targets.
• Righteous Fire
  Who doesn't like going Super Saiyan? This skill gives us around 60% "More" Damage as well as a bit of mostly unimportant burn damage (the exception being Flame Surge) in your 6-Link.) Use with Purity of Fire. The degen is countered by Saffel's Frame/Rise of the Phoenix, Ruby Flask, perma-regen flask, and Life Leech from our 6-Link.

Defensive:

• Cast When Damage Taken (20) ○ Increased Duration(20) ○ Immortal Call(20) ○ Summon Chaos Golem
  The resident anti-burst links. These synergize with Herald of Ice if you are able to use Curse on Hit and Warlord's Mark with it to grant a long duration physical immunity. Instead of trying to keep our golems alive, we automatically replace them throughout the course of a map instead. Golem choice is subjective, however, despite being a crit build, Flame Golem will almost always give more DPS than Ice Golem.
• Flame Dash
  Movement skill. May be linked with Faster Casting if so desired (I don't.) Lightning Warp allows you to open strongboxes more safely, but the movement is slower without more links.
• Cast When Damage Taken(20) ○ Molten Shell(20) ○ Enfeeble(20) ○ Cold Snap(20)
  Entirely optional links. Our offensive is covered, so why not more defense? Levels on these are player's preference. Mine are at 20 because I only need it in real emergencies; I don't want Enfeeble constantly overriding my other curses. Temporal Chains is another good option for a defensive curse. I ran a single target Barrage setup here when I had Kinetic Blast as my 6-Link. Experiment with these links and have fun.

Bandits:

• Normal: Oak or Kill
• Cruel: Kill
• Merc: Alira

Unwavering Stance:
Scion
Witch
Shadow

Scion is kind-of the best for this build now. By a lot. I just want to reiterate; A LOT. Witch is okay, but Scion is noticeably better. Shadow may as well be a Witch, except Witch is better with EK and Glacial where Shadow gets all "core" nodes 3 points sooner. Play a Scion and turn voices off. It's that worth it.
Yes, it's basically the same tree as 1.3; that's because Stun Immunity is really freakin' good. You can drop the whole leg and go for Phase Acro or something over in Templar if you really want to. I'm clearing high level maps with this, so you can always come back home baby birdies.

Jewels:
Jewels are easy:

• Step 1: Cobalt (Exclusively has Spell mods. Can be other types if a "defensive" jewel.)
• Step 2: Get "+3 ES On Hit" on one or two (Cobalt Only)
• Step 3: Get 7% Life on as many as possible (Can be any type.)
• Step 4: Get Resists, Spell Damage, Crit Chance, and/or Crit Mult on as many as possible (Cobalt exclusively has our damage mods. Resists can be found on any.)

That is your order of priority: ES on Hit (1-2 max) > Life/Resists > Damage.

A perfect [Cobalt] Jewel would be:

• Pre: Spell Damage While Holding a Shield
• Pre: Life
• Suf (x2): Spell Damage / Crit Strike Multiplier for Spells / ES on Hit (max 2) / Resists

That's ideal. The closest I've gotten, on one jewel, with all my crafting is ES on Hit/Life/Crit Mult. Just get as close as you can; if you can pull off 2x ES on Hit suffixes as well as maxed out Life prefixes, you're already golden. It's just up from there.

My Jewels:

Leveling with this build is incredibly easy as long as you take a cold damage spell. Crits will provide plenty of damage as well as your defense through the Freeze mechanic.

The best spells are (in no particular order):

• Freezing Pulse ○ LMP/GMP
• Ice Spear ○ LMP
• Glacial Cascade

I used Glacial Cascade on a 3-Link +1 Cold Gems until I switched to Barrage. It worked well, but I should've switched it over to a 4-Link at some point during the leveling process to make it go faster. Remember, you can pretty easily craft a +1 Cold Gems wand to use.

You'll want to combine your primary spell with these gems where possible (also in no particular order):

• Added Cold Damage
• Cold Penetration
• Added Lightning Damage
• Power Charge on Critical
• Increased Area of Effect
• Faster Casting
• Echo

When leveling, I found its better to use increased damage gems over Faster Casting/Echo. You'll avoid mana problems and most packs will die in 1 to 2 casts.

As for the tree, simply follow it around grabbing damage nodes. Pick up health as you find it necessary. The hardest stretch is between the Shadow's Crit and the Scion/Mara/Duelist health wheel. If you die, it'll be there (it's the reason Hardcore is risky.)
If one was REALLY determined, you could skip the shadow section while leveling by taking the path between Witch and Shadow leading down to the Scion/Shadow/Ranger evasion wheel. Follow it over, grab all the health. Leveling will be slower but I suppose it will give better survivability. I haven't personally tested this, so you are welcome to pioneer it.

When I was leveling, I used dual wands for the increased damage. It wasn't until late merciless when I actually switched to a shield (mostly for resistances.)

Q: Is this build hardcore viable?
A: Well, not without extreme patience and dedication. Even if you did get to a higher level, I don't think you'd enjoy the build as much since you can't really just go crazy. You could probably run the build pretty safely with a few tweaks. You'd lose DPS, but isn't that always the case when comparing HC and Standard builds?


Q: When do you switch to Barrage/CoC?
A: At ~80% Critical Chance with Barrage. Don't forget accuracy! Honestly, you could probably switch earlier, just run a faster wand. I'd also only switch after you gain access to a 5L. A 4L works if you really want, but whatever you leveled with is probably stronger.


Q: What's the Trio order for Atziri?
A: Dual Striker ► Tentacle Miscreation ► Bleed Guy


Q: Which gems are quality important for?
A:
Tier 1: Most Important

• Cast on Crit / GMP / Immortal Call / Increased Duration / Righteous Fire

Tier 2: Nice to Have

• Enduring Cry / Lightning Warp / Reduced Duration / Curse on Hit / Herald of Thunder / CwDT (Dis,LL,MS)

Tier 3: Absolutely Not

• Barrage / CwDT (EC,ID,IC) / Reduced Mana

If it's not listed, then it gives some boost, but is typically not applicable to you or is redundant (Purities, Assassin's Mark, etc.)


Q: How do you survive reflect?
A: High max resists from Saffels, the Purities, and Resist Flasks (with the Witch Flask nodes) in conjunction with the combo: Vaal Pact + Life Leech in our 6L or CwDT ○ Warlord's Mark somewhere else. We also get about 20% Spell Block from Saffels, which does work to block the reflect damage.


Q: I'm having mana problems. What's the problem?/What can I do?
A: Buncha options here. The "Deep Thoughts" cluster near the Witch is 2 very effective points to help counter Voll's Protector. Alternatively, you can grab Soul Siphon near the Shadow start to [usually fully] replenish your Mana after every pack. The first Regen/ES node at the Witch start is also okay (even if it's a shade of it's former glory.) Mana Regen on even one ring makes a huge difference, as does Energy Shield/Mana where you can get it. Use those master mods! Finally, you can run a Surgeon's Hybrid Flask if you really need to. I'd also like to mention that I cannot fire indefinitely. It takes my character a good 5 seconds of constant firing to drain me. Even stepping to dodge once almost replenishes me fully. It's a balance you need to find, don't waste points making it so you can fire forever.

I'm going to reiterate, if you aren't running ES or ES Hybrid Rares, you are probably having mana problems. Don't forget quality! Max Mana and ES is also good where you can.


Q: Have you tried Cyclone/Kinetic Blast/Spectral Throw?
A: Yes. Barrage beats them all for the simple fact that is has consistent performance across the board. Kinetic Blast and Spectral Throw are better vs groups but are abysmal vs. single targets. Cyclone is good against both, but is mana hungry and puts the player in danger. Barrage is cheap, effective against groups and single targets equally, more versatile for spell choice, and safer. I have run all those options as built characters and can safely say Barrage wins for its all-around performance. Hilariously enough, you can run all of those with this build anyways. Knock yourself out, but Barrage is home.


Q: Have you tried X aura?
A: Yes. There is no room. The limited space on gear leaves us with no choice but to run Purities, which is fine, because the Max Res is really helpful. No, Haste is not worth it. No, Grace isn't either (tried 'em!) You are welcome to try what you please, but I'm confident to say that our current selection is already ideal.


Have a question? You think should be here? Let me know!