[2.1] Berserking Reverse SWT Searing Bonder || The original Searing Bond Atziri killer

Reduced duration is used to reduce the cast speed of lightning warp. They go warp warp faster. Makes them. Harder targets.

Curses are not a problem. Flasks handle it and getting warding on things like granite or ruby flasks help. It takes getting use to but you eventually just auto piolot on the curses that matter. Vuln, enfeeble, and temp. Chains. When you gear is set the rest don't matter.

Inc. Duration is extra sockets.
+2/+1 is the best for SB dps wise hands down. It blows searing touch away.

Chaos golem is kind of a given for any build.

Item rarity should be added to lw totem Keith culling strike. SB again has no sockets to give up.

Chaos res has never been stacked. There is very little chaos threats and if you want to beat Malachi you just stay away and let LW totems approach Malachi.

This build will reach 25k to 30k+ with a little love and that doesnt include dual curse and EE.

Reduced Duration for me has the totem last for 4 seconds instead of 8 (nerf sadface), or 14 with an increased duration. Doesn't faster cast improve warp warp? Maybe Im missing something....

Looks like I'll need to get hold of a +1/+2 wand, though I'm guessing without an Empower gem I won't see the same damage benefit over the Searing Touch for quite a while yet. Also some flasks for when I hit 49 .

Cheers :)

dont level red. duration past 10.

take all inc. totem duration nodes

should be 8s+ after that. Plenty of time. Especially once you have a +2/+1 as well as your SB gem is in the range of 17 to 20. Gem level 16 SB = pre 2.0 SB. Before that its less damage then pre-2.0 and after that it scales much higher then pre-2.0

Just want to say really nice guide and innovative build. I have played Searing Bond and Dual Totems before but never as endgame builds and never this fun!

I used the respec on my lvl 70 Templar and was a bit overwhelmed with the playstyle at first (putting the right totems down, figuring out where to place them, remember to use both curses etc) but after a few runs it got more comfortable.

I didn't like the aspect of self casting 2 curses as its just too much busywork for me(just my own preference), so I 4-Linked Glacial Cascade (lvl1) - Curse on Hit - Ele Weakness - Temporal Chains. Temporal keeps you and the totems safer and keeps the screen less hectic, ele weakness for the boost in dps, and glacial cascade for alternative way to trigger EE. It's working out pretty well for me, but I am still experimenting with a bigger AOE spell. Too bad Ice Storm isn't a gem. Defensively I also run my Chaos Golem with Blind to give that extra safeness.

Do you have any tips on totem placement, what do you find is the most effective location for the SB? Behind my character (to keep it safe) or behind the mobs (to potentially do more dmg)?

with 2.0 giving totems a lot more base HP and the ability to add totem life/resistance/damage jewels its best to hide behind your totems.

1) vs slow easy packs
Generally I drop SB in front of a pack then LW into the mix (or as close to) without putting my self at risk.

2) vs difficult/fast packs
stay back keep mobs on the other end of the screen. Drop SB mid screen as well as LW totems. Let your totems approach your targets for you while you maintain a safe distance curse snipping from a far.

Hey Kartik, have you ever tried using Righteous Fire with this build?

Edit: You would still use Lightning Totems, but RF would sit in a different slot independent of the totems.

I just started a new build last night (based on yours) that drops Ancestral Bond, picks up a little more life, and maybe uses Discharge as an extra DPS boom. Not entirely sure about Discharge, but that would be fun if I can fit it in. The only additional uniques might be Doryani's Catalyst (or other rare weapon) and Mosaic (shield).

Playstyle would be more melee-based - ie: drop totems, run into packs, kite if needed - especially for bosses like Malachai.

I lit up RF on a Standard toon last night and it didn't kill the totems (as I expected it would), so it seems to be viable.

I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have any. Many thanks!
~ Scards

Hey Scardia

so you use lightning totems with soul mantle to proc EE while running around burning things with RF? Just trying to clarify before I say anything.

"

Kartikdon wrote:

Hey Scardia

so you use lightning totems with soul mantle to proc EE while running around burning things with RF? Just trying to clarify before I say anything.

Exactly. That's the idea anyway. I'm not committed to anything, though - lvl 20-ish so far in the new league. I don't want to hose up my lvl 80+ RF build in Standard just to try this out.

Proposed Skills:
1) Righteous Fire + Concentrated Effect + Increased Area of Effect + Increased Burning Damage
2) Searing Bond + Empower + Increased Burning Damage
3) On Soul Mantle > Less Duration + Minion and Totem Elemental Resistance + Lightning Warp + Faster Casting

An added bonus is that the totems get the spell buff from RF without any degen. :)

The skills seem very complimentary, and I have a running lunch bet with a buddy that I can make RF work with Searing Bond.

Worst case scenario, I'm out $15 and a lvl 60+ toon. ;)

Also, props on the build! This looks like it's going to be fun.

Everything sounds good for your idea except for one thing. You will be up in the thick of things with RF but you have no means to regen life. Maybe cyclone + Fortify + LGoH on BM or Mana?

Drop totems, spin around letting RF do its thing while keeping you up. Helps spread SB as well. As long as you have no fire damage associated with cyclone you will not proc EE against your totems.

You could even still run a +2 fire gem +1 all gem 1h and still have amazing SB damage since you wouldn't care about the damage from cyclone. It is just means to heal. Or if you add Added Lightning Damage you could drop LW totem and Soul Mantle and run EE that way. Honestly this is probably the way I would do it since soul mantle can be very RIPy in melee range if you get some bad timed hits when curses are in between clears.

That Cyclone idea sounds great! How would that work with Ancestral Bond though? Or would you need to drop that (and Soul Mantle) and run Cyclone for life gain and EE proc with added Lightning with just a single SB totem?