[2.0] Life based triple curse +max effectiveness with FP and Discharge

This build uses triple curse and the max possible +curse effectiveness, combined with freezing pulse for early dps and charge generation (via voll's protector), and self-cast discharge in a 4 link as the main DPS. I designed this build for duo play with another self cast discharger, but I ended up doing a lot of solo play and found it quite powerful in both situations.

Curse effectiveness is great for many reasons, but the primary one is that is stacks additively with the innate reduction on bosses. In other words, if a boss has -70% curse effectiveness, and you come in with this build with +54.5% curse effectiveness, the end result is only -15.5% effectiveness for close to normal curses on bosses (not sure of exact innate boss value).

Curse effectiveness is also excellent cursing normal mobs, especially with temp chains which can achieve a 62%+ slow. In other words monsters will have 38% of their normal DPS and movespeed with super slow attacks that are easy to dodge. The fact that this can be applied to more than the whole screen with GMP/Ball Lightning makes this build quite safe.

Pros
-Can do upper-mid 70s maps with only ~2 ex worth of items
-Easy to level into
-Extremely effective in group and duo play
-Quick clear speeds; one-shots most groups after curse
-High damage without spending many resources on it means good HP pool for a caster (~6k at level 94)
-Scales quite well late game with 6L and Voll's Devotion
-Can kill some 78 map bosses in a single discharge without crazy gear

Cons
-Lacks some survivabilty before 3rd curse is attained (Temp Chains).
-Low damage mitigation makes a few bosses difficult.
-No life regain or life leech (close to some life regen nodes if this is important to you) .
-Not good on Atziri due to reliance on curses, also weak against tough curse immune mobs.
-Quite weak against elemental reflect.
-There are two map mods that are no-gos, elemental reflect and curse immunity.

Skill Tree at 94


Quick Tree Discussion
You don't need much damage to clear things quickly, as discharge has naturally high damage and the curses add a lot of DPS, so the focus is largely on life. Leveling up I would hold off on some of the crit nodes and power charge nodes, as well as the curse nodes near the start, until a bit later. Obviously you don't need to go down to conduit if playing solo. Also the end charge node isn't worth it unless you have voll's devotion (highly recommended if you can afford it late game).

A good argument can be made for picking up the arcane potency crit nodes in the upper left or the potion effectiveness nodes in the witch area. I opted for the higher life version.

One of the jewels should be Conqueror's Potency to max Curse effectiveness. The biggest priorities on Jewels are max life, cast speed, crit mult, spell crit chance, and damage in that order. Remember that discharge can benefit from all fire/cold/lightning modifiers.

This build would work fine as a Templar, Scion, or Witch.

Main Links Mid Game
5L in Voll's Protector- Shock or Ice Nova - Curse on Hit - Temp Chains - Assasin's Mark - Ele Weakness
4L Freezing Pulse - Spell Echo - LMP - Faster Projectiles
4L Discharge - Increased Area - Conc Effect - Crit Damage

Mid Game Discussion
Before you are able to stack crit chance and rely on discharge, a lot of the damage comes from Freezing Pulse. Early game this is pretty much a freezing pulse toon. The above four link FP combo gives you the most damage and range on FP.

Either Ice Nova or Shock Nova work for Curse on Hit.
-SN has less cast time, can double hit for more Voll's charges, and the shock right before discharge is great. I slightly prefer SN.
-IN has some more defensive utility with a slow nicely complementing Temp Chains.

Another good option for a 5L is using GMP-Ball lightning and only two of the three curses. GMP/Ball Lightning/Temp Chains is a massive survivability boost if you are having problems staying alive.

Before you are able to triple curse, or if you are using GMP/Ball in a 5L, I think any two of the three curses can work. Before I got three I opted for the offensive combo, cutting out temp chains. I opted for Doedre's Damning to enable the third curse.

Enfeeble is tempting, I used it for a while, but I think Temp Chains is clearly superior after spending time with both.

Other General Discussion
I think the best way to handle mana and auras is having one aura for around 50% reserve and using a mana potion, with nothing else invested in mana. The high discharge mana cost combined with the voll's mana pool penalty make aura stacking difficult. I think the best auras are Herald of Ice and Thunder early game because this gives the biggest benefit to freezing pulse, transitioning to Wrath or Haste later.

Reflect hurts. Try to use freezing pulse or your curse on hit setup to take down reflect monsters. Probably half my deaths on level 75+ maps were from trying to clear too quickly and discharging on a reflect mob before I saw it. I never messed around with Saffel's, Purity of light/fire, or Lighning/Fire resistance flasks which in hindsight was probably a mistake. Each come with their downside though.

Some other good links (good for any level):
3L - Whirling Blades - Fortify -Faster Attacks
3L - IC - CWDT - Increased Duration (good even without end charges)
Chaos Golem for extra phys mitigation

Main Links Late Game
6L - Ball Lightning - GMP - Curse on Hit - Temp Chains - Assasin's Mark - Ele Weakness
4L - Freezing Pulse - LMP - Faster Projectiles - Crit Chance
4L - Discharge - Increased Area - Conc Effect - Crit Damage (same as mid game)

Late Game Discussion
A 6L makes a big difference with this build, mostly from the safety of cursing the whole screen plus many mobs offscreen with a massively effective temp chains, while still keeping your very helpful offensive curses. Saving for 6L Voll's should be a priority.

Voll's Devotion gives a massive survivability boost as the constant end charges make your IC/CWDT combo quite powerful, and chained discharges also become much more powerful. Freezing Pulse is used a lot less frequently late game, mostly just to generate charges, so we sub out spell echo for crit chance.

I never tried a quad curse version, but before I re-specced into CoC/Cyclone/Discharge (more on that at the end) I almost had just got enough currency to get a +curse Voll's Devotion. My plan was to swap BL/GMP for Shock Nova/Enfeeble. This might be worth trying by using Windscreams, a second Doedre's, or another +curse amulet (don't recommend another amy if you can afford Voll's Devotion). If you do it let me know.

Example Late Game Gear (far from perfect)


I like using a dagger because whirling blades is amazing, but I rocked a Void Battery for a while which was also great. This shield had +cast speed when I was using this build.

I think this post is already long enough so I will end it here. I re-specced into CoC/discharge as detailed in this post (scroll down a bit) because I wanted to mix it up and the power of that build is undeniable right now once you have some ex to spend on it. But I think I could have taken this build further than lvl 94 without much difficulty and had a lot of fun playing it.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or other feedback. Thanks for reading!

Any feedback is welcome.