[2.6] The Curse Whisperer - Tri-Curse CI Whispering Ice EleRaider - Viable for Everything

I think that the new Elementalist can outperform the Ascendant for the 2.3 Icestormer.

Double golem boost (ice + fire, even easier to keep elemental overload up), 50% reflect damage reduction from Paragon of Calamity 2.3.

Mastermind of discord works wonder with Orb of Storms and the subsequent 25% extra fire penetration. Pendulum buff seems nice too.

Elementalist itself seems to be very good. But on a second thought apart from the Main Ascendancy Skills you can get 80 Int as Ascendant and I don't know how we reach Unwavering Stance as an Elementalist.

I too think that scion ascendant is no longer optimal. Imho the best classes will be Elementalist or Berserker.

My idea for Berserker:

The build is already incredible tanky, so the 40% more damage at the cost of 10% more damage taken from the Berserker's Aspect of Carnage node is very attrative. On top of that, in 2.3, the Pain Reaver node will give permanent life and mana leech. This might even allow us to ditch blasphemy warlords mark and use a [lvl 1 cwdt -> lvl 5 warlords mark] setup. This way, we could take enfeeble or temp chains as the permanent, aurafied curse and use warlords mark in some sort of cwdt setup.

Overall, in this build, we do not have to drop a 40% more multiplier for life leech, and the 40% more multiplier from the Berserker ascendancy should at least make up for the loss of 80 int from the Ascendant tree, the damage bonus to the fire golem and the 5% ele penetration. Taking Rite of Ruin with the 8th ascendancy point compensates for the loss of reduced ele damage taken from the ascendant elementalist node when fighting reflect mobs.

Pathing is not as bad as one might think:
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAECAXuMJSddSWeb1I8ZLtlhVw3zm2hl0iGezacwn8uuPsauxPbEFTwtg1-DzLc-QYf56ILHHb4zhwPuKPq4kxzcjxrr7qcIj0YdFK-Nm6EYajlSWAfYJFZIna4abOQi1aYpT548jHbsOIV7ZlSCm7UERUfAZjwF73w2xR8CBAfr5F8qg_cRLSycEFiHZa-bTLPQH-_rRX4OXGr6l5VSUz1fLR8dTzW5pysRUG0ZlSDB86KjUXSO6aaZf8bBxewYLL8V14auVmOP-tDQX2oRlg5IXfIrChEvkye-iqEvytO0DEZxgwlvnspKX7CbtYTFwzoqOL8IJDf4X1_QIZDqEA==


My idea for Elementalist:

The double golem node is very strong and yields plenty damage bonus. Since we now have to use the life leech gem, one damage gem has to be dropped. We drop elemental focus instead of controlled destruction and then take the Elementalist's Shaper of Desolation node to gain ele conflux. The 50% more multiplier from the shock compensates the loss of ele focus during mapping and also during many boss fights which spawn adds. The freeze and burn are nice extras. With the remaining four ascendancy nodes, we take mastermind of discord that offers huge additional fire pen, provided we cast orb of storms once every 10 seconds. Paragon of Calamity imho isnt worth it since reflect already was a none-issue before. (Getting 2% life leech from the LL gem as opposed to the old 1.5% from the scion berserker node compensates the loss of the reduced ele damage taken from the scion elementalist node!) Overall, this spec is very offensive:

http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAMCAN-wksGOvhEtLJwQWIdlr5uD9x8CNsXYJFZIBAfr5F8qTLPQH-_rRX4OXGr6l5VSUz1fLR8dTzW5pysRUG0ZlSDB86KjUXSO6aaZf8bBxewYLL8V14auVmOP-tDQX2oRlg5IKwoRL13ykye-iqEvytO0DEZxgwlvnspKX7CbtYTFwzoqOKcIj0aboRhqOVJYBx0Ur42drhps5CLVpilPnjyMduw4hXtmVIKbtQRFR8BmPAXvfOvuHNyPGriTKPqCxx2-M4cD7vnoQYe3PoPMPC2DX8auxPbEFSftGS7ZYVcN85toZdIhns2nMJ_LRwbb52wI8Yo=

Personally, I think that the Elementalist tree should be the strongest option.

---

The major drawback of both these versions is that we lose 28% to all elemental resistances from passives compared to the old scion tree. For speed clearing gorges and plateaus, the old scion tree with elementalist and raider is probably the fastest, but that's not this build's strong suit anyway.

---

tldr: The old tree got nerfed noticably, it probably loses a 50.4% more multiplier, or one third of its damage. Nonetheless, I think that the build will only get stronger thanks to the new trees that I just outlined!!! :D

"

Slowdice2 wrote:

Elementalist itself seems to be very good. But on a second thought apart from the Main Ascendancy Skills you can get 80 Int as Ascendant and I don't know how we reach Unwavering Stance as an Elementalist.

Something like that should work fine.

You have a sort of elemental equilibrium (but easier to use) if you use Orb of Storms thanks to Mastermind of Discord. This is a very powerful synergy and partially compensates the need to use the Life Leech gem instead of Controlled Destruction.

You take 50% reduced damage from reflect. This is simply awesome, especially when considering you have a better life leech than the current Ascendant (4.2% vs 3.7%).

The double golem is very good. You will have more damage (this compensates the jewel socket loss because you don't start in the Scion area) and slightly more crit, to have a better EO uptime. And 2 golems which are immune to elemental damage.

And I am not considering Elementalist's sub-nodes (40% elemental damage, 8% cast speed) and the temporary buffs you get in combat from Pendulum of Destruction and Paragon of Calamity.

"

Black_Gun wrote:

tldr: The old tree got nerfed noticably, it probably loses a 50.4% more multiplier, or one third of its damage. Nonetheless, I think that the build will only get stronger thanks to the new trees that I just outlined!!! :D

Conflux is a very good mechanic for mapping, but remember that for the only content that is really difficult for an Icestormer (Uber Atziri, Core Malachai) it doesn't work most of the time.

"

ojejku wrote:

I guess you forgot one additional sort of 'nerf' (maybe not that important...):

"

Warlord's Mark now has an additional 10% chance to stun at all levels of the gem, rather than scaling up to 15% by level 20. This was to fix a situation where any hit could stun an enemy

BTW LL from WM standalone was not enough on maps withuot curse immunity? If it was just fine, theh gb to CD gem on curse immunity maps only.

Stun nerf doesn't seem to be important for us. Icestorm produces more than enough hits to perma-stun anything within the WM aura that's not immune to stun. And we are doing just fine even in stun immune maps.

Leech from just WM aura itself is not enough in reflect maps and against bosses and curse immune packs.

"

djnat wrote:

"

Black_Gun wrote:

tldr: The old tree got nerfed noticably, it probably loses a 50.4% more multiplier, or one third of its damage. Nonetheless, I think that the build will only get stronger thanks to the new trees that I just outlined!!! :D

Conflux is a very good mechanic for mapping, but remember that for the only content that is really difficult for an Icestormer (Uber Atziri, Core Malachai) it doesn't work most of the time.

You are right, the longer I think about it, the more I prefer my berserker version. It even allows to use an utterly insane ultra-endgame lowlife variation with MoM....

Witch Elementalist looks to be super sexy indeed. Skyforth would help a lot there I guess, but then it'll be a high budget build and not new league-friendly. Pathing through the Marauder space is definitely possible. But the loss of Int will be painful regardless of it.

Hard to say without trying. I have a couple of unused Witches in Standard to reset and check it out once 2.3 is released. If it works, I can post a Witch version. But can't recommend it in the new league without trying first.

Is it theoretical possible with Elementalist: Shaper of Desolation to use Herald of Thunder to inflict all 3 Curses with CoH in a 5 link Chest?

"

Slowdice2 wrote:

Is it theoretical possible with Elementalist: Shaper of Desolation to use Herald of Thunder to inflict all 3 Curses?

It still won't work against bosses where you can't kill shocked foes to make herald proc.

You need a more reliable curse applying method for serious content. Like blasphemy or CWDT.