[2.0] BM Chaosballer - HC Viable and Skill Flexible
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Disclaimer
I have not leveled 1-91 with this build in the 2.0 expansion. I have only modified my existing characters with existing gear I had in my Standard league stash/characters and possibly another 80 or so regrets. Yes, Fireball is still terrible and the build would do better with Magma Orb or Firestorm but OH WELL. Yes, regular Fireball without Infernal Mantle, Added Chaos gem, and/or Apep's would probably be better but OH WELL. If you do want to get rid of the chaos part of the build (you probably want to) then it's as simple as getting a Carcass Jack, Belly of the Beast, regular or +1 gems Tabula Rasa, or a high armor and/or es rare chest with life and resists instead of Infernal Mantle. Replacing the Added Chaos gem with something like Iron Will (preferred this might as well be an Iron Will build), Faster Casting, or Slower Projectiles is all you have to do. Lastly, the Apep's is now kind of obsolete because of the added x to spells mods. Get an Apep's (downside spell cast cost) or just get a GG wand with spell dmg, faster cast speed, and add x to spells. Regardless of how you want to build this, I will go over alternatives again in gear selection but keep in mind my linked gear is not very optimal because I do not want to take the time to trade for everything in Standard league (blech, no offense) Intro Blurb:
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I'd like to explain some of the changes from the pre-2.0 guide right here in the intro. I have changed from crit to non-crit and opted for Blood Magic. The reason changing to non-crit is because you are no longer going to travel to the right side of the tree so there is not enough crit on the left. There is the cluster in Witch start and the cluster at Avatar of Fire, but it's just not enough total crit to warrant going there. You are also not using a staff in this build so forget about the global crit for staves cluster. The reason you don't go to the right side of the tree and you go for Blood Magic now is because the mana cost is just impossible to keep up with without the old EB. Old EB gave maybe around 140 mana regen/sec for a total of around 210-250 total mana regen. The remaining 100 mana regen/sec is not enough to keep up with the fast casting (which is the best way to scale Fireball). The only way it would be possible is to either include Lavianga's (maybe two) in the build which would reduce your survivability by a lot or get GG gear with good mana rolls as well as everything else you need. Both options are extremely expensive and not realistic for the majority of players. If somebody does want to test it, this tree would be what you would want to use (possibly remove Snowforged for Templar mana regens). But that tree is definitely not viable in hardcore. The one I will use for this build is.
Videos (all pre-2.0):
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These are all old videos. I do not expect to replace them but I'll just leave them here.
Reflect Maps
Gorge
Relevant Mods: Enfeeble, Ele Reflect Got disconnected so the beginning where I showed the gem switch isn't very clear. LMP for GMP and Conc Effect for Item Rarity. Boss fight is a good example of how bad GMP can be with single target. Also, reflect damage isn't too bad because of Enfeeble, but you can still see how easy it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCOFiz7gpls&feature=youtu.be
Crematorium
Relevant Mods: Enfeeble, Elemental Reflect Sorry, enfeebled again. This time with LMP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwlW_o0K6WQ&feature=youtu.be
Resist Map
Relevant Mods: Elemental Equilibrium, +75% Fire Resist This shows how well this build deals with resists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE23_C78nQY&feature=youtu.be
Offscreening
Academy
Relevant Mods: EE, Double Boss, Vulnerability https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLTftIsYBcI&feature=youtu.be
Bazaar
Relevant Mods: Vulnerability, 82% Extra Fire Damage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHweB1gP28Y&feature=youtu.be
Crematorium
Necropolis Boss Fight
Precinct
Relevant Mods: Elemental Equilibrium, Ele Weakness, Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7KbWjzgqZ4&feature=youtu.be
Maze
Shrine
Relevant Mods: 2 Additional Projectiles, Increased Speed, Beyond This is only the last leg of Shrine, but you get the point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2RHCYvf9VE&feature=youtu.be Offense/Defense Screenshots
Spoiler
Will fill in later. Fireball seems to have between 15-20k tooltip. 5k hp with 1k es Bandits:
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Normal: +40 life (Help Oak) Cruel: Cast speed (Help Alira) Merciless: Point (Kill all) Passive Trees:
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Passive Tree Progression to 50 points
Low HP in the beginning. You need to play carefully. Head towards life nodes first and then Heart of Flame notable is optional, but if you do go for it then it's all the damage from the tree you need until late game.
10 points
Passive Tree Ramblings
AoE notables: Three points for 16% AoE and 12% AoE damage in Witch start. So 5.33% AoE and 4% damage per point. Two points for 16% AoE and 8% damage in Templar. 8% AoE and 4% damage per point. That per point number is so weak, especially for nodes right next to your skeleton highway. Also, every Fireball build uses Conc Effect because the damage increase from that support is gigantic. So even if you take all the AoE nodes, you will be getting a 10% AoE increase from Fireball's eight AoE to a grand total of nine. It is almost certainly not worth your points. +30 Dex/Str/Int nodes: The strength is not too essential because you grab so much with life notables, but the dex is definitely worth the pick up until you can spec out of it. If you're really struggling with dex or int, heading down and grabbing the +30 nodes is not too bad either. Block nodes: The only one you should consider is Mind Barrier for the 7% spell block and a bit more mana, which equals more mana regen. The others are just too far out of the way and offer too little now. Celestial Punishment: This notable is not exactly necessary to get so if you're trying to get somewhere you can omit this node. But the ignite on Fireball is pretty good now so the argument for this node is so much better now due to the low damage you will be doing compared to the previous crit build. +1 Endurance Charge: You may want to consider these nodes now. The thing about Fireball is you can offscreen things, but without shotgunning it's much harder to kill turbo mobs because they will close distance so quickly. I also did try one lvl 77 Shrine map with Added Cold, Fracture, and Beyond mobs. The phys dmg from the Beyond mobs absolutely destroyed me. Most spawned with turbo aura and it was impossible to survive without blowing everything and kiting with Lightning Warp. Gem Setup:
Spoiler
Fireball
4l
Fireball- LMP - Spell Echo - Life Leech You should be using life leech in your 4l to sustain your HP. If you feel you can do without, Conc Effect would replace it. No need to rush getting a 5l. A 4l in the Infernal Mantle can do 70+ maps just fine.
5l
Fireball- LMP/GMP - Spell Echo - Life Leech - Conc Effect Try switching Iron Will and Added Chaos at this point.
6l
Fireball- LMP/GMP - Spell Echo - Conc Effect 5th and 6th link: Added Chaos Damage/Iron Will/Faster Casting/Faster Projectiles/Item Rarity/Life Leech/Slower Projectiles I would probably choose between Added Chaos, Iron Will, and Slower Projectiles
CwDT setup
With the removal of cries with CwDT the setup is now very up in the air. You can use Phase Run, Totem Skellies, IC, Frost Wall, Molten Shell, etc. CwDT - Molten Shell - Immortal Call - Inc Duration The CwDT level has never been important to me. It's whatever you feel like you would want.
Vaal Gems
Vaal Grace and Discipline are good defensive options. It's possible you should be taking as many possible you can fit now because of the ridiculous physical damage. They may all still be charging because souls go into random ones, but it can still save you.
Curse(s)
Flammability/Elemental Weakness/Enfeeble - Inc Duration/Faster Cast - Inc AoE
Movement
Introduction of Flame Dash has made it interesting. Either one is a good choice but Flame Dash does offer some more kiting damage. Lightning Warp - Less Duration - Faster Casting Flame Dash - Increased Burning Damage
Mitigation
Enduring Cry - Inc Dur - Spell Echo Does Spell Echo still work with Cry? Oh well. Gear:
Spoiler
As you can see I haven't updated any of my gear. For instance, the amulet does not have life and still has mana regen from my previous build. The helm is useless because you're not using auras. The gloves are close to useless because you are not using crit. Of course you want to switch those out for much more useful items that offer life, resists, armor/es, and damage if you can. Also, you don't really need the Atziri flask anymore. It does add around 11-12% to your tooltip but I've been doing more hardcore than softcore and you probably need to have a Taste of Hate in there instead. ToH along with possibly respeccing some nodes to Endurance charges is probably what you would need to survive the increasingly dangerous map mods at around lvl 76/77+ maps. Also, try to get your hands on an of Heat flask removing frozen because Alpha's Howl is not useful in this build. You can also try getting [url"http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Consuming_Dark"]The Consuming Dark[/url] to make it a true Chaosballer, but you'd lose out on even more damage. The good thing is you would always be immune to reflect and mobs usually don't have much chaos resistance. Losing x added dmg to spells and faster casting mods would remove a lot of damage, but it's up to you. Maybe keep it in a weapon switch. Last thing that is so good for this build is the Clear Mind Cobalt Jewel. You have one jewel spot and this one just adds so much because you're doing Blood Magic. Maps:
Spoiler
Reflect maps: I'm not sure how much reflect was nerfed, but I doubt this build can do reflect now. Maybe if you go for Consuming Dark. Fire Resist maps: Elemental Equilibrium and +75% fire resist are doable even as a 4l. As you add more Chaos Damage to your build, they get easier and easier. Avoid: -Chaos Damage bosses (Labyrinth and Jungle Valley) -No/Half Regen -Inhabited by Animals - for Dungeon-style maps and narrow space maps (because of Devourers) - -Max + Reflect - Good flask usage can do this combo, but there's very little room for error. -Blood Magic -Chilled Ground - Ok, this is not a mod you need to avoid. But this mod is infuriating to me. Obviously do not reroll if you are low on currency and/or are chisel/alch/chaosing. LMP vs. GMP:
Spoiler
There is no debate anymore. Shotgunning is gone, GMP is too little damage for single targets. Quick note on Fireball DPS calculation:
Spoiler
There has been speculation on how to calculate Fireball DPS. I have searched everything for a definitive answer, but there is none. No clarification from any GGG staff even when the question is asked on these forums or elsewhere. I have even messaged GGG staff to get a definitive answer, but no reply. One way Fireball DPS is thought to be calculated is that the tooltip is the projectile DPS that will register when piercing through a mob or does not explode. The explosion damage is what would register on the mob plus the AoE modifiers. So the damage to non-explosions would be 1 and the damage to explosions would be 1 * (AoE modifiers). The other way is almost the same except it assumes the projectile and AoE damage is two separate instances. Much like Explosive Arrow's tooltip shows the damage from your hit of the arrow and the real damage is from the explosion displayed in the skill description. So this way assumes the projectile would be 1 and the damage from explosions would be 1 + 1 * (AoE modifiers), adding in the hit from the projectile. GGG tries to be as common sensible as they can with everything. But after a lot of thought, I know anyone can get to either conclusion very sensibly. I think it's the latter, and if it's great if it is. But if it is the former then Fireball is pathetically underpowered to other skills considering equal levels and items. Last edited by meest#0162 on Aug 3, 2015, 5:53:24 PM
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Empty
Last edited by meest#0162 on Aug 3, 2015, 5:40:11 PM
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Continuing build.
Added section on progressing into super late game. Becoming real Chaosballer with 30-40% of damage eventually being chaos. *Lvl 17 Added Chaos Damage + Apep's Rage gives around 34% of total damage being chaos. Last edited by meest#0162 on Dec 31, 2014, 12:52:05 AM
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Why is Atziri's Foible so important? Why not get a high dex/int neck with real stats? I'm kind of confused by that one.
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" It's just easier. Some people don't have the currency to buy GG rings + ammy, especially with the exponential costs of jewelry. The other uniques are much more important to get before spending so much on jewelry. You would need 30+ dex on that ammy to cover dex requirements if you are going to use Alpha's Howl (138 dex) or a high lvl Vaal Grace/Haste (lvl 16 - 136 dex; lvl 17 - 140). More if you do not have dex elsewhere like on a Maligaro's. The mana regen is around 80 mana/second just from Atziri's Foible, which helps with the extra mana cost that comes from Apep's Rage. Of course, you can use another weapon for almost the same damage, but then you wouldn't be maximizing the Chaos damage of your build (I just did a Precinct with -17 max resist and ele reflect with very careful use of flasks and survived). I switch between LMP and GMP sometimes because the five dragons are so much more fun to spam so that's even more mana cost. Remember, you really want to try not hitting 30% or lower mana because of Infernal Mantle. If you are able to cover that mana regen while using another ammy then sure. But you'd need to get rings and ammy with % mana regen, life, resists, dex, and +mana/es compared to just life, resists, and possibly dex if you need it. Last edited by meest#0162 on Jan 2, 2015, 5:18:04 AM
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Would you ever use voidbringers in place of maligaro's?
Also I don't see apep's rage in your gear list, when/where would you add that? Thanks! |
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" I'm going to give the guide a revision/update when my Fireball hits lvl 20 and I q20 recipe my support gems plus get them to around lvl 15+. I'll add it then. The advantage of having Maligaro's over Voidbringers is the extra dex and not having an increased mana cost. For a reference, a 5l Fireball (Fireball - LMP/GMP - Spell Echo - Conc Eff - Added Chaos) with Apep's already has a 125 mana cost per cast with LMP and 147 with GMP. Using Voidbringer would take the mana cost to over 200 per cast. The only way to sustain is to use Atziri's Foible with 40%+ mana regen on both rings, preferably 50%+ (Current gear/build gives around 16-20 mana regen per second per 20% increased mana regen). If you want my current gear:
Spoiler
Last edited by meest#0162 on Jan 2, 2015, 1:01:21 PM
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Thanks a bunch! When you get time, would you be able to upload a vid? Would love to see it in action
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" Added two short videos. Kind of low-res, but going to try to add at least one more higher res video. |
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Finalized build.
Everything should read smoother. Information is much better organized. And I've done all the testing I've wanted to do except power charge work (don't think it's necessary anymore, not even going to spend the currency or time to test) and 6l. |
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