[2.4] Mines over Matter - Lightning Warp Finally Viable!

Just ripped on my character using your build, at lvl 71.. but i loved this build so much!

Just wanted to say thx for creating such a diverse build!

I'd just like to mention Xirgil's Crank as a great (superior?) levelling alternative to Tremor Rod.
It has +1 gems built in. The 35% less damage from Tremor Rod is gone.
It has effectively a level 5ish tempest shield built-in.
It has the ES and block of a shield.

> why restrict ourselves to one lightning warp when we can have 9
Unless I'm missing something - could you clarify this to "~9 per second".

I'd just like to mention Xirgil's Crank as a great (superior?) levelling alternative to Tremor Rod.
It has +1 gems built in. The 35% less damage from Tremor Rod is gone, the near-useless "mines can be detonated a second time" is gone too.
It has effectively a level 5-6 Tempest Shield built-in.
It has the ES and block of a shield.

"

why restrict ourselves to one lightning warp when we can have 9

Unless I'm missing something - could you clarify this to "~9 per second".

PHC Character: BeachLaughTheInsane

I jovially refer to the build as Ion Cannon =)

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ltwizard wrote:

I jovially refer to the build as Ion Cannon =)

That is an excellent name for the build, I love it!

Xirgil's crank is an excellent leveling option up until Tremor rod, but nothing, not even the +3 skill staff I am currently using, beats a Tremor Rod for doing damage while moving. While standing still other staves can compete as per the spreadsheet on page one, but for high-speed, low-drag operations in which an operator must operate operationally, the Mines can detonate an additional time function combined with the increased mine laying speed makes tremor rod hands down the best option for when you have a need for speed, and do not have the time to drop either a totem or an orb. Here's how.

When you gotta go fast, casting a Detonate Mines totem is too slow, even more so an Orb of Storms.
So, naturally, drop mines, run, detonate, run, drop more mines, run, detonate, run, repeat.
The limitation on damage is how often you can afford to stop, drop, and pop.
The increased mine laying speed reduces the drop time, leaving more room for running.
This is also where the extra detonation comes in handy.
Mine laying rate goes down drastically since you have to spend so much time running, which means that hitting the mine cap is much less of an issue.
So, with Tremor Rod, the drop pop and run cycle from earlier retains previously detonated mines for even more damage, causing mines to go off in a sort of ripple effect as you run, functionally doubling damage. Because this sort of play is based off how fast you need to be running, and how many opportunities you have to drop and detonate mines, this increase in damage cannot show up on paper, and cannot be quantified, as much as I would like to have it on the spreadsheet on page 1.

The long and short of is that when you are detonating mines manually, the extra detonation on Tremor Rod will functionally double your damage output compared to an identical staff without the additional detonation. It's the best staff for clearing trash monsters quickly, or facing off against a particularly dangerous bosses. Anything where you don't have time to cast, or cannot rely on a Detonate Mines totem. /edit This is also why Tremor Rod is the best weapon for PvP.

As for the question about "why restrict ourselves to one lightning warp when we can have 9" I do not mean 9 mines per second, its easy to push mines per second over 12. What I am comparing is Lightning Warp without mines, which can only warp once, to Lightning Warp Mines, which can detonate for up to 9 lightning warps simultaneously. I'm sorry if that was not clear.


Finally, I want to give a big thank you to all of you who have been following my guide and having fun with this build. I truly do love hearing your experiences with it in this thread.

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pieceofsoap wrote:

What I am comparing is Lightning Warp without mines, which can only warp once, to Lightning Warp Mines, which can detonate for up to 9 lightning warps simultaneously. I'm sorry if that was not clear.

Being new to mining builds, perhaps I'm missing how the mine cap is raised to 9? I'm pretty sure my cap is currently 7 mines. Did you or I miss this in the build post?

Thanks for the feedback! I agree, the gameplay is a lot smoother with Tremor Rod and I can definitely see the benefit of Tremor Rod where you don't particularly need to guarantee killing all trash (if it's a bit too spaced out for a 'minefield' or two to kill every mob in a group) and just want to quickly clear 'most' of an area, or for dangerous situations.

The base mine count is 5, add the passives Saboteur and the node next to Volatile Mines for 7 total mines, then finally equip a Minefield gem for a total of 9 maximum active mines.

New video up!

https://youtu.be/2bn3DbIgPHU

My first T15 run ever, deathless. The video is just the boss fight because I was playing very cautiously leading up to that, especially since there were Quill fiends with +397% crit rate and +45% crit multi. It was my first Infernal king attempt, and kill, as evidenced by the achievement. Overall my performance on the boss was a bit sloppy on the boss, due to having no idea what I was up against, And the result is clear:

T15 maps are totally doable.

I already knew that all map mods were doable, so this confirms that this build can do any map, with any map mod. How well is obviously going to vary with player skill and gear, but there is nothing this build cannot do.

About ascendancy, what about using the saboteur and then bomb specialist for extra mines and extra AoE on the mines?

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Starslayer_D wrote:

About ascendancy, what about using the saboteur and then bomb specialist for extra mines and extra AoE on the mines?

Because mines are notoriously mana hungry. Let me break it down for you:

33 Mana - Lightning Warp (Level 20)

3.8 casts a second (.263 second interval, 90% increased mine laying speed)

Mana Multiplier
1.5 - Remote Mine (Tremor Rod)
1.6 - Minefield
1.2 - Less Duration
1.3 - Controlled Destruction
1.4 - Lightning Pen
1.3 - Trap and Mine Damage (Yes, the -10% mine laying speed is factored in)

6.81408 combined mana multiplier
225 mana per cast

855 mana per second

I've got 1875 mana right now, and 145% increased mana regen rate, as I've taken mana nodes to feed Mind over Matter. Without Clarity I'm sitting at 80.4 mana regenerated per second, and with the level 18 clarity I happen to have sitting around, I go up to 120.8 mana/s. The days of Arctic Armor mana regen builds are over, with the changes to Eldritch Battery and Arctic Armor itself, and with it goes the kind of mana supply required to actually feasibly feed a sustained LW Mine dump.

There's a reason Saboteur's generally run some kind of skill gem to reduce or transform mana costs, such as Reduced Mana or Blood magic, effectively trading a skill gem link for multipliers in the ascendancy tree. As a Trickster I don't have to worry about mana costs at all, can link gems purely for their damage bonus, and can use all 1875 of that mana as extra HP.

Free Lightning Warp from Trickster does more for damage than anything Saboteur could hope to touch.

Does that answer your question?

It does. I was just speculating as I have sub-par equipment so far whether I could gain the increased radius that way.
Free lightning warp? But only the non-mine one, or?