[1.3] Dual Flame Totem, Crit
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Disclaimer
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1. This is the first time I'm sharing a build on forums.
2. I only play standard, and occasionally very little non-hc leagues. 3. I'm not very good at this game. 4. I have built the skill tree by myself from the get-go. I play niche builds, if something's popular you probably won't see me playing it. I don't read up on builds on forums either (I do from time to time hear about popular builds from other people), if this build has already been posted then I'm very sorry T_T 5. I'm still working on this build as I level. 6. I'm playing on a few years old laptop, so recording vids and whatnot is impossible. I tried messing around with (non-crit) Flame totems on 1.2.x, and when I reached mid to high level maps (74->) I felt like the damage wasn't cutting it for me personally. I have another fully self-built build, that can clear any map, any mod, so struggling at that point didn't feel really good. I started theorycrafting a build that'd include crits as well, a week or two before 1.3 hit. I started leveling a new Scion a bit before 1.3 since I had none with Power charge taken as a reward from bandits (I don't play crit builds, simple as that [irony, huh?]) and by 1.3 I could just respec to the planned skill tree. Tooltip DPS
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Without Power charges
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 With Power charges (7)
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 Skill tree
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Why/not certain nodes
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Important nodes
Blood Magic - For me, this is simply superior choice over mana. I suck at playing with mana, and I think it'd be hard to change the tree without removing too much deeps so that I could spam totems on mana. Celestial Punishment - The build has very little (none) damage nodes on the tree. Celestial Punishment is just too good to pass though. Extra Power Charge x3 - Flame totems have low crit chance of only 4%. Anything that increases that chance is valuable, and the 4% spell damage boost per charge doesn't hurt either. Staff Global Crit nodes - With nodes leading up to Smashing Strikes and Serpent Stance, you get up to 130% increased GLOBAL crit chance, as well as 30% multi. A rare staff with decent spell crit/multi is far superior than wand/shield combo. Life - Grabbing the whole life wheel next to scion is pretty much a must. There isn't much room to go and grab life nodes off the road to crit nodes, simply due to the amount of skill points you got. 30 Dex nodes - You're not picking any dex nodes along the route through skill tree so these are mandatory. You'll be needing around 109 dex (GMP / Faster Projectiles lvl 20 requirement) and these nodes give you up to 90 of that. 10 dex node that leads nowhere - Because I don't get enough dex from my gear. Mortal Conviction - This allows you to run one 40% aura (or maybe two Heralds). I'm using Purity of Elements at the moment, to max my own resis as much as to prevent totems being permafrozen against everything that deals cold damage and reaches them. Ignored nodes Ironwood - A totem build that ignores Ironwood? Well, I've simply had no need for it so far. With this build a single totem is enough to kill a room of enemies in seconds, up to 74 maps at least. I'm currently level 76 and Underground River (lvl 74 map) boss dies in <10 seconds to two totems, WITHOUT any curses. Totemic Zeal - Too many wasted skill points to get there. Celestial Judgement / Heart of Flame - Like I stated previously, damage is NOT a problem in this build. Even without these nodes. Gear & Skills
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Gear Apart from 3Dragons and "staff", nothing else is a necessity. There are very few sources of dmg apart from crits in this build, and having enemies be shocked is one of those. I don't know how well you kill things without 3Dragons, but I'd assume burning is nowhere near as useful as that 50% increased damage. Maligaro's Virtuosity is something you should strive for. It's effectively an extra Power charge. Voidbringer might be better, but the 80% increased mana cost hurts too much. Either one of these shouldn't be game deciding factor though, life/resi gloves are a good option if you have no access to Maligaro's, or are lacking in hp/resis. I got lucky and found that staff on poexyz for 1ex. With that staff and staff nodes from the tree I get 223% crit chance, 30% crit multi, 85% spell dmg and 17% cast speed. I'd say that's a pretty damn good deal to get for 1ex. There are no unique staves you should go for, instead try looking for a rare one with crit chance and cast speed, as those are the most important mods to have. Secondary mods to look out for are crit multi and spell dmg. Belt, boots, rings and amulet are pretty obvious choices. Life/resis, and if crit chance/multi are available that's even better. Doryani's invitation is a possibility, but I believe a rare belt with resis/life is a better choice overall. Romira's Banquet, now that's a funny story. (Long story in spoiler, reason in a nutshell after spoiler)
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When I first respecced to this on 1.3, I had Power Charge on Crit linked to Flame totems. Little did I know that totems can't get charges, though it didn't take long for me to realize that either... After that I researched on possible ways to get power charges, and came up with three of the most convenient ways: Power Siphon, PCoC and Romira's. Power Siphon was a no-go since I'm bound to using staff. Best skill to use with PCoC is Ice Spear, but that option didn't feel optimal due to relatively slow charge gain. That left me with Romira's Banquet. Problem with Romira's and a crit build is obviously the fact that I'm specced towards dealing crits, and Romira's removes all charges on crit. I needed a skill that'd fill the following conditions: very low to no chance to crit, and fast enough speed to make it a worthwhile pick over Ice spear PCoC. Reading through the Critical Strike page on wiki reminded me that Incinerate has no crit chance. Perfect. With FP/LMP/Incinerate (Faster Casting in 4l increases charge creation speed) I'm at full charges nearly instantly, without a fear of critting and losing all my charges. Only downside is that I gotta use one ring slot on Romira's, a cost I'm willing to pay.
Using Romira's means you'll be max stacked on Power charges almost instantly by using FP/LMP/Incinerate. If Romira's is unavailable or you just don't want to use it, the second best option after Romira's is PCoC Ice Spear. I'm just using Tabula as make-believe 6l for now, while trying to link another chest. Infernal Mantle is a valid choice, and 5l The Covenant is another option for a make-believe 6l. Like I've stated before though, I don't have issues with dishing out enough dmg, so getting a rare chest with resis/life is also an option. Skills 6l, importance from highest to lowest: 1. Flame Totem 2. Greater Multiple Projectiles 3. Faster Projectiles 4(&5). Faster Casting / Added Chaos Damage 6. Increased Critical Damage If you're able to get 5l only, drop out Increased Critical Damage. On a 4l you can pick either Faster Casting or Added Chaos. Faster Casting gives more crits, while Added Chaos increases crit dmg and makes it easier to face fire resistant enemies. You can run a 4l up to early mapping at least, without it getting too hard to dish out enough dmg. 4l source for Power Charges, with Romira's Banquet Incinerate Lesser Multiple Projectiles Faster Projectiles Faster Casting 4l source for Power Charges, without Romira's Banquet Ice Spear Power Charge on Critical Lesser Multiple Projectiles Faster Casting You can replace Faster Casting with Spell Echo, but you're unable to move while casting double Ice Spear, possibly leaving you vulnerable for a short period of time. So far these are the only links I've worked out. I haven't had a real need for any curses yet (used Assassin's Mark on bosses and strongest rares) and I'm still thinking about the best CWDT combo. Bandits Normal Oak - 40 life Cruel Kill All - 1 Skill point Merciless Alira - +1 Power Charge At the moment I'm running around with 2,5k hp (with purity of elements reserving hp), full resis and no other defensive means. A glass cannon. Being one goes against my style of play though (run into enemy packs, live to see another day) so I'm working on that. Editing/updating the post when I decide on changes/upgrades. If this is lacking some explanation, tell me and I'll see about adding whatever's necessary. Last edited by Anonymous1749704#5648 on Dec 22, 2014, 1:49:49 PM
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I think the critical chance of Flame totem (4%) is too low to build around...
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