[2.1] MauranKilom's RF Cast on Crit Mapper
 Hello and welcome to my third build guide! Since the concept of my recent Warbands character seems to surprise some people, I decided to make a build guide for it. It was my first character in that league and has been very fun to play all the way through, so much so that I'm considering making it my new default Standard mapping char. The build in a nutshell: Cyclone CoC, sustaining RF for the insane spell damage boost. Constant flask uptime due to Surgeon's Flasks, combined with high life, good armour and regen makes it versatile and tanky. The character (KaomsEternalNightmare) can also be found in my profile. It is currently lvl 89. I have included a comprehensive leveling section in case you would like to try this build in the upcoming 1 month league. If you do, please let me know how you fared against the flood of league mods! :) Videos: Build Explanation and Volcano run with ghosted boss. Ele reflect Necropolis with no gear change. More to come! Pros & Cons
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Pros:
Cons:
Passives
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Tree at level 87.
Really, the trick for making this build work is the Scion start and the use of the Disembowling cluster. This means you get everything you need to run RF (tons of life and life regen) from the Marauder/Templar area, while also grabbing the CoC necessities from the Shadow. You also get 6 jewel sockets for a 5 (!) skill point investment! Overall, I knew this char was going to work when I devised the tree. It feels so elegant and compact... For even higher char levels I'd just grab more life. You could take the shadow elemental damage instead, but I haven't found damage to be really lacking. Bandits: Oak (Life), Kill (Skillpoint), Kill (Skillpoint) or Alira (Power Charge) What about those power charges? I don't feel like I need them. They're good while you're using Voll's Protector (see leveling section), but it's more important to have RF working (and once you do, your dps will be just fine). The Q&A also has an entry on this. Gear and Links
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My current gear:
Absolutely nothing fancy in there. Cyclone CoC already pretty much works in a 3L, everything except the chest (and the RotP on the first days of a league) is a couple of chaos and mostly found by myself. Ok, I spent a bit more on the amulet, but you get the point: The build is cheap and easy to gear. Discussion of the flasks is in the "Playstyle" section, but I'd just like to emphasize this here already: The Surgeon's Ruby Flask of Iron Skin grants 10k+ armour, 98% fire res and (consequently) the full 700 life regen whenever it's up, which is during every single fight. The synergy between CoC and RF is awesome (as people who use RF for burst know), but in this case you actually build 70% of the tree for defense and get the full defensive benefit PLUS the 60% more spell damage out of it whenever you're fighting something. Links I'm currently using:
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5L chest piece GGBBR Cyclone - Cast on Crit - Ice Nova - Flame Surge - Fortify (If you cringed because of that last link, check the Q&A below.) The 5L isn't necessary, you'll do fine without fortify in lower maps. For the 6th link you could explore another spell or even more utility - PCoC comes to mind, as well as increased AoE. Maybe even crit multi. Free sockets somewhere Vitality Purity of Fire (Determination) Righteous Fire Ice Golem (Herald of Thunder) You can support the latter three to your liking. These are the auras I'm using right now in order to sustain RF in maps without constantly killing things, although I have the Heralds as fallback (see below). 3L BBR Flame Dash - Faster Casting - Blood Magic Just a movement skill for traversal. WB is faster, but this can cross (small) gaps. I have it linked to blood magic so I can still use it even if I somehow run out of mana (Thief's Grip? D:) and really need to get out of somewhere. 4L BBGR (colors may vary) Herald of Ice - Vengeance - Curse on Hit - Assassin's Mark This is both a fallback for when you can't reasonably run RF (use the Herald instead for higher damage and consistent power charges vs packs) and an automatic boost to build strength in situations where you need it (through Vengeance): You get hit a lot -> Enemies get cursed -> More dps, more flask charges (because more crits), life, mana and power charges on kill. I really like this setup, it helps a lot. 4L RRRR CwdT - Immortal Call - Molten Shell - Increased Duration Call me old-fashioned, but I still think 0.6 seconds of phys invulnerability are a big deal (and yeah, I'm not even using endurance charges -> Q&A). I decided relatively late to let my CwdT setup gain levels again, but the extra armour from Molten Shell is also not shabby. What to look for on gear
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In general: The tree scales armour. If you can stem the chrome costs (because this build almost uses equal amounts of all gem colors), go for armour gear wherever you can.
Dagger: Crit is mandatory, attackspeed is nice but not must-have. %spell and flat spell damage are awesome, as is crit multi. Helm/Gloves/Boots/Chest: Generic. Life, res, armour. Melee builds generally run a lot, so get good movespeed on boots. Rings: Life, crit (Diamond Rings are nice), accuracy, any spare resists you still need. Rarity is also always welcome. Amulet: Life, spell dmg, armour, crit chance/multi, accuracy. Might also be a good place to pick up any int you're missing. Belt: Life, armour, resists. Everything else is optional. Jewels: LIFE (seriously, 7% life in each of 5 jewel sockets for 6 points is so OP), (melee/global) critical strike chance, global crit multi. Spell damage while holding shield is nice, as is armour. By now you probably figured this stuff out yourself anyway. Gearing tips:
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Playstyle
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As I said, this build has quite a bit of flexibility. You can adjust it to the situation as necessary, be it map mods or your playstyle preferences. In particular, if you have a lvl 21 PoF or can live with a very slight degen from not using Vitality (your flasks can easily cover it, but it makes running maps feel more hectic), you have quite some options to choose from: Herald of Ice (with CoH - AM, giving Power Charges) Herald of Thunder (just dps boost) Arctic Armour (you won't be standing still a lot, but chilled ground can really help) Determination (if you're really worried about phys) Other purities I'm currently still experimenting with going full dps-mode with two heralds (which is only 50% reserved, so you can even run AA) and sustaining RF purely off of flasks, but I'm not really enjoying that playstyle overall, it's too hectic. I mean, this char was built to make the use of RF in mapping possible in a comfortable way. You can use RF purely as a dps boost against bosses, but why do that when you could just have it on permanently for a permanent 60% more dps... Flask management
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First of all, I'm running a mana flask. I have no real other way of sustaining mana, so a Surgeon's Hallowed Mana Flask is employed. This combination means you never ever run out of mana flask charges, and currently the regen also matches my mana consumption extremely closely. I put curse immunity on this flask, since both mana and being cursed are unrelated to taking damage, so it's easy on the decision making. My bleed flask is a Surgeon's Eternal Life Flask. It's Surgeon's instead of an instant one, because you may need more than three sips against corrupting blood enemies. Yet another flask that virtually never runs dry (unless you needlessly spam it). I'm using a Seething Divine Life Flask of Dousing as an "OH SHIT"-button, which will both dispel RF and give me a sizeable chunk of my life back. Since I never need to use the instant flask over the (surgeon's) eternal one unless I'm about to die, this is a very good combination to ensure safe disengaging. I have freeze/chill immunity on my quicksilver. This is both very nice in chilled ground maps, as well as implied freeze/chill immunity during every fight, as the long duration means it will always fill up before I need to use it again. Lastly, the Surgeon's Ruby Flask of Iron Skin. If I had more flask slots, I'd be running a separate granite, but this does the job. With it up, I have 98% fire resistance, effectively nullifying the RF degen, and it also boosts my armour up to over 10k (without molten shell). Managing (and keeping an eye on) this flask is extremely important and rewarding. It basically means you have your full regen (~700 life/s), substantial armour and virtual fire immunity in every single fight, constantly. Since all flasks have different durations, managing them properly is actually somewhat of a challenge. Again though, it's very rewarding if done properly. If I do need another type of resistance flask, I'll usually swap out the quicksilver for it. Needless to say, my replacements also have surgeon's, as well as appropriate other mods (chill/freeze immune for sapphire, shock immune for topaz). Map mods
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I said this build could do all map mods. Let's look at the difficult ones:
Curse immunity: Whatever. Cannot leech: Don't care. 20% slower life recovery/vulnerability: Can still run RF but will incur a degen. Flasks can still quite easily counteract it. No life regen/>40% slower life recovery/-max res: Don't run RF. Instead, use the Heralds (or an appropriate combination of Heralds, AA, PoF and Vit of your choice). Especially the no regen is awful given the investment into regen in the tree, but it doesn't kill the map for you. Blood Magic: Ugh. Iffy, but this alone doesn't really kill RF. Probably still better to leave it off (and switch out the mana flask). Stacking multiple of these mods has no further effect after you're forced to turn off RF, you're running on auxiliary power anyway. Ele reflect: Have run into this in unid maps, as long as you keep your ruby up (and don't blaze through entire packs of squid) you should be fine. Would definitely turn off RF though, both for reducing dps and having the regen on your side. Since we can't get Vaal Pact, using Life Leech instead of Fortify won't save you from oneshotting yourself against big packs. Leveling
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As mentioned, this was my first char in Warbands, and it's been a smooth experience. Here's an overview of how I went about it in the context of a fresh league start:
Early leveling
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I leveled through most of the questline with mainly Fire Trap. Flame totem is undoubtedly a useful companion for a simple "fire and forget" source of bonus dps against bosses. Other than that, you can use whatever spells you feel comfortable with (or which you find uniques for).
In the skill tree, you should beeline for the Shadow elemental damage and grab nearby life. Aim for something like this (the jewel sockets can be used to house the unique ones you get from the act 2 "Hand of a Good Man" quests). You'll notice that this includes some nodes that the final skill tree doesn't have; you'll be getting respec points from the quests for free, which you can use to spec out of these nodes into more efficient ones as soon as the time arrives. Try to start leveling your gems as soon as possible, especially your spells (the town vendors offer a fallback though in case you miss something). Into and through Cruel
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As you progress through the questline, your next goal in the tree should be reaching and filling out the Disembowling, True Strike and Assassination clusters (once again grabbing nearby life as available). Take jewel sockets only if you have something worthwhile to put into them. There's a total of 4 for only 1 skillpoint each, but if they remain empty that's still a waste.
Here's my suggestion for a tree around the end of cruel (level ~56). If this is not your first char in the league, you could likely be doing your CoC already by dual wielding Ungil's Gauches. Merciless and early maps
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Once you reach Merciless, try to get a Voll's Protector and a dagger with decent crit (something for like 2c will totally suffice) - It's CoC time! I personally wouldn't bother with attack speed too much early on, flat or %spell damage is sweet though. A 3L with Cyclone - CoC - Ice Nova will already destroy packs, but a 4L should be easy to acquire and will substantially boost your single target.
Why Voll's Protector? This early on, you'll have trouble having enough crit to consistently proc your spells, which means you might have to cyclone through each pack for a while. 3-5 power charges (you can temporarily take the one near Shadow) boost your crit chance by a lot, and Voll's Protector is by far the easiest way to sustain them at this point. Similarly, an Ungil's Harmony will also smooth out the transition into CoC. Seriously, it's made for this exact purpose and is dirt cheap even in the first few days of a league. Show it some love. In this stage, you could also opt to use Cold Snap instead of Flame Surge (Voll's Protector gives you plenty of Power Charges), which will help subdue bosses and exiles you encounter more effectively. It's a matter of personal preference though I'd say. So when do I start using RF?
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To sustain RF you need:
Once you're getting close, you can use a Fragile Bloom to bridge the gap. Due to the penalty, I wouldn't really use more than one. Try to get away from it asap too, there's much better jewels you can put in that socket anyway. I'd like to emphasize how important/detrimental ES is for actually sustaining RF: If you have 200 ES on top of your 4000 life, that's 5% more life regen (of the total % life regen you have) you need, so about 0.5%. And that's just 200 es! For this reason, grabbing life nodes not only means you have more life (duh) and more RF dps, but it also results in more life regen and (comparatively) lower impact of your ES for the RF burn. In short: More life = Easier RF sustain Following from this, it's best (and totally fine, dps-wise) to swap out Voll's Protector for a chest piece with good life and whatever else you need when you transition to using RF. (Note: EB can no longer be used to remove all your ES. You'll still get extra burn for it, even if it covers your mana.) Yes, this means you're not using RF by the time you're hitting maps (and likely even for a while after). That's no problem, because the normal CoC dps will take you there easily. RF is essentially your endgame deal (not your build enabler). Q&A
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Is this build HC viable?
I think so. I'm no passionate HC player, but (if it's any indication) I've never died this few in maps on any other softcore char I've played. I know that sounds pessimistic, but some of the Chaos warbands are tough as nails and will (unsurprisingly) mince you with chaos damage. And then there's that SC mentality... There's still more life nearby that could easily be taken over some damage nodes, so as to reach 200% life before jewels. Could also grab some endurance charges and use enduring cry... Yeah, my answer is definitely "yes". Wait... you're doing CoC and... don't use power charges?!? Yeah. It doesn't feel necessary. With the boost from RF, the spells deal so much damage that it's not very important for every cyclone hit to be a crit. They still serve as replacement in maps where you need to leave RF off (and instead use Heralds with CoH - Assasssin's Mark) and will help in that case. ARGHH! A Fortify in your main CoC link? But your deeps! Once again, dps has not been an issue so far, but survival always matters. By the time you need to worry about dps again (80+ maps), you should be able to afford a 6L anyway, so go ham on that last socket. I'm also not a fan of doing the same stuff every few seconds, which is why you don't see me using endurance charges through enduring cry (even though I totally could) and why I don't have Fortify on a utility skill like WB. It doesn't add gameplay depth, which is why I find it boring. And Fortify has made mapping a lot easier. Why not Discharge? I love Discharge, but using Voll's Protector on a RF build is sort of iffy. I wanted to explore the synergy between RF and Flame Surge here, and Ice Nova also provides awesome crowd control. Plus, it would push the build further towards Fakener, making it less of a standalone build. You should be using a Vagan dagger! I'm not convinced about this. Especially with the introduction of flat spell damage rolls, it'll be very hard for a non-multimodded Vagan dagger to outperform the < 1 ex versions with crit chance, attackspeed, %spell and/or flat spell dmg (see my dagger). Yeah, if your accuracy is garbage then it's probably worth it, but I'm at 90% chance to hit at lvl 89 with no noteworthy investment (although I obviously did look out for accuracy on gear). Screw you, Vagan! Changelog: 23 Sept 2015: Wrote build guide. 27 Oct 2015: Added videos. 23 Dec 2015: Adjusted passive tree for 2.x. Thanks for reading! If you have questions, comments or critique, feel free to leave them here or contact me ingame (IGN: KaomsEternalNightmare). See you in Wraeclast :) Last edited by MauranKilom on Dec 23, 2015, 10:47:22 AM
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(Reserved, I suppose)
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Looks really interesting mate would love to see it in a map to see what you do!
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This build looks great, I've been looking for something like this. Could you post a video?
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I'll look into recording some appropriate footage. I suppose the abaxoth facetank would be interesting, but I'm not sure I even recorded it and even if I did, it'll take a while to find...
Edit: Found this, which is from my first fight vs abaxoth in a zana daily. Look at all those shattered skeletons! Fun times :D Last edited by MauranKilom on Sep 23, 2015, 2:10:47 PM
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I'm doing something similar, but using a staff instead.
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Added some gameplay videos I made in Warbands (finally got around to uploading them)!
Last edited by MauranKilom on Oct 27, 2015, 12:07:35 PM
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Hey, i have a very similar build coming from an older league too.
I like to have both RF and CoC but even if it's pretty cool to play, it seems to lack a lot of dps comparing to other build, how do you manage that ? Did you try Atziri with your char ? I died at the 3 mini boss room because I took too long to kill them and there were too many mobs and too much poison on the ground. My build :
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https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAAdwEswUtBg4J9gthDF8PqxQgFr8YVho-HKckiyaVJy8n7SkuKgstqDWSOtg8BTwtQYdHfktXU6VVS13yXz9fsGEhYeJko2VNaHRo8m87b55wUnDVcql07Xasdwd343gNeWh8uIKbgwmDX4PMhMWE2YTvhxOJ04w2jM-QVZJ9lKCYb5o7m7WcpJ1jn9-iAKSxqW6vbLGQtfK3PrfWvTa-gL6nwBrAZsDjwQTDOsRYxPbGrspKz37UfNhN2L3aYtrB21ncI-WO5c_qGOw47w7vfPAf8bPz6vZI9zL56P4K?accountName=Varkhan&characterName=Varkhounet
My gear :
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Thanks for your advice :) IGN: Vavark - Standard RF CoC Scion lvl 80
Shop : https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/145941 | |
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Hi, this build need physical damage?
How stay live with righteous fire? ty Last edited by thedoldivic on Dec 8, 2015, 4:17:04 PM
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