[2.2] Double Conversion CWDT Whirling Blades

T6 Strand
T7 Wastepool
Will add more later

After learning about the interaction between Scold's Bridle and Vaal Molten Shell through Mathil, I started a fresh character to make my own build based on the concept. Using whirling blades to trigger spells sounded like it would be super fun. I kept in the fire to chaos damage conversion and took it a step further with triple conversion.
When I got to lv65 I realized that thanks to some admittedly poor planning I hadn’t checked the actual CWDT damage thresholds. Thankfully I came across this video by The_x_ile that showcases a fantastic proof of concept that uses Fevered Mind jewels and large mana multiplier support gems to massively inflate the mana cost of spells in order to trigger a high level CWDT.

: 40c
: 38c x2
: <1c
: <1c x1-4
Fevered Mind Jewel : 50c x5

Total cost: ~5ex

As you no doubt noticed, the most significant cost of the build is the investment into Fevered Mind Jewels. This cost can be mitigated however. 1x Fevered Mind can be replaced with a Voidbringers Gloves (5c) if your CWDT can take the 20% loss (only 80% increased mana cost vs 100% on Fevered Mind). The second option is to corrupt every Cobalt Jewel you come across. I have corrupted 4/5 of my current Fevered Minds. Keep in mind the very high Chaos:Vaal orb ratio this league. Finally, you could wait it out and grab the jewels when they drop in price or haggle them down. The odd jewel drops to 10-20c every now and then because frankly, no one want them (big surprise!). I have spent ~1ex for 5x Fevered Minds.

Naturally you can modify the build to be less reliant on conversion so the dual Consuming Darks and/or Pyre may not be required. The number of Fevered Mind Jewels required will change depending on the trigger spell you use, its links and the level of CWDT you want to use.

We want whirling blades to trigger our CWDT gem. To do this we use Scold’s Bridle which deals 400% of your mana cost as physical damage. The mana cost of whirling blades is far too low however. To inflate its cost we equip 5x Fevered Mind Jewels and high mana multiplier supports. I use whirling blades-faster attacks-Added Chaos Damage-Blood Magic.

We want whirling blades to trigger our CWDT gem. To do this we use Scold’s Bridle which deals 400% of your mana cost as physical damage. The mana cost of whirling blades is far too low however. To inflate its cost we equip 5x Fevered Mind Jewels and high mana multiplier supports.



This causes whiling blades to cost 330 mana (instead of the base 15) equating to 1319 damage with scolds. Note that additional health is lost due to blood magic!. Some of this damage is mitigated through the Mind over Matter keystone that converts 30% of damage taken to mana while still allowing it to trigger our CWDT. Furthermore MoM allows us to bleed our mana very effectively without which (thanks to blood magic) our mana would remain at 100%, making us unable to use Zerphi’s.

We remedy the remaining health loss through the use of Zerphi’s Last Breath flasks. They have an uptime of 10s. I would recommend getting a belt that decreases charges used to allow for three swigs as opposed to just two per full flask.

In order for elemental reflect to not be a huge pain in the ass I have opted for a conversion build. However, there are not many projectile fire spells (Molten Orb and Fireball) or AoE spells (flameblast will not charge) we can use to maximize our damage. Using Pyre I have gone for triple conversion. Cold to fire to chaos. We now have access to multiple projectile spells and even an AoE.

TLDR: Scold’s Bridle deals 400% of whirling blades mana cost as physical damage. Zerphi’s Last Breath heals 800% of whirling blades mana cost as health. This occurs every single time we whirl. Keep whirling to instagib packs, restore flask charges and instaheal. Conversion to chaos allows us to ignore reflect.

Note that whatever life gear you do pick for your remaining slots, it can't have so much armor that it mitigates your Scold's self damage below the CWDT threshold.
I use level 9 CWDT gems. I would like to increase them but this needs a bit more investment in my gear. I am planning on swapping whirling blades to my chest to make use of the 1-2 extra links to increase its mana multiplier (if the math checks out).
Again, I would strongly recommend picking up a belt that has reduced flask charges used to make the most of your Zerphi's.

My current Lv83 tree
My planned tree

My planned tree is slightly more efficient with nodes. Were I do to this build again I would not leave the majority of health nodes till last.

For my ascendancy I picked up the Elementalist's Shaper of Desolation and Beacon of Ruin

+Literally the most fun build I have ever played
+Looks cool as fuck
+Completely unique playstyle, great if your bored of other builds/want to try something new
+Physical and elemental reflect can suck it
+You can suicide in peoples hideouts if they annoy you while trading

-Reliance on whirling blades for damage and healing means indoor maps and random shit on the ground is your worst enemy
-Extremely expensive, at least by my standards
-Not endgame map or hardcore viable in its current state
-You can and will instagib yourself if you lack health (if an enemy hits you first then you whirl dealing damage ontop before the heal)
-Poor single target damage (mitigated somewhat by the awkward wither totem)