[2.5] Essence Drain Build Options (HC Uber Atziri/Shaper Viable)

Curse effectivenes has ben devalued a lot in 2.4. I consider it still good in a Cospri's life based version of the build since you can always curse the 99.9% of mobs (Plaza boss et similia being the only exceptions).

BTW, against bosses skittering runes now provides only 3.2% extra slowing on TC and only 2.4% less damage taken from enfeeble. Still decent, but it comes at the cost of 4 passives.

And I'm considering the bosses only because they are usually the only thing which can make a difference between life and death in higher tier maps.

The build defenses are quite layered and don't have to rely necessarily on curses. Fortify, false targets (golem / decoy from gloves / wither totem), evasion, block / spell block, dodge / spell dodge, flasks, high ES pool, high ES regen, high mobility.

I agree with you that until 2.4 curse efficiency was amazing to compensate (and almost negate) the 60% penalty on bosses, but as of now, since that penalty is multiplicative, its value is a lot lower in the total picture of an Essence Drainer's defensive arsenal.

More questions:

1. empower or slower proj for 6th?
2. How do you reach such a high str requirement for the decoy totem?
3. any special chests for CI or just high es with resists?

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Frinta wrote:

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ProjectPT wrote:

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Frinta wrote:

Did you switch to LL or CI? Also thanks for fast response

I went directly from life based to low life at level 90. Though the respect was intensive (I was solo self found, and didn't unlock the uber lab until 90). I'd recommend switching between 80 and 85, much sooner if you are willing to invest into the gear

If you didnt play SSF and did this build now, would your final goal be LL or CI?

Energy shield is a quite new consept to me, and figured this build would be great to introduce myself to CI or LL.

Also the way i see it LL seems pretty risky with chaos damage if that spikes (without Shavs)

I would go CI unless I wanted to do shaper fight (need a lot of dps for him)

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GreyGoose wrote:

I'm CI and finished with the passive tree by yogi posted on this thread. Where would I go from there? ES wheel in the middle?

ES if you feel you need more defense or the templar AoE for clear

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GreyGoose wrote:

More questions:

1. empower or slower proj for 6th?
2. How do you reach such a high str requirement for the decoy totem?
3. any special chests for CI or just high es with resists?

Empower lvl 4 is faster clear but lower single target dps
Str on belt with str roll
High ES chest

What your think about using this weapon Breath of the Council. I dont feel that high boost from poison of Consuming Dark field dagger.

Hi PT,

I wanted to ask you about damage this build can get. I am running this build on ESC, currently life based 88 level and I've got around 17.5k damage over time in tooltip with 5 frenzy charges and sulphur flask. I am using both Consuming Dark and Breath of the Council in the offhand.

I still didn't get my hands on 6L and my gems are only lvl 19 (no quality) but I am feeling a serious lack in damage for red map bosses.

I couldn't find anywhere what damage you were able to achieve with this build.

Hello guys, I'm starting this build: what level is optimal to switch to ci guys? Ty

Hey all,

I am really enyoing this build. But I have a problem with my dps, I have no problem with my defenses. Would be great if someone could help me increasing my dps. How can I increase my dps?




Gambler92

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Gambler92 wrote:

Hey all,

I am really enyoing this build. But I have a problem with my dps, I have no problem with my defenses. Would be great if someone could help me increasing my dps. How can I increase my dps?

Gambler92

40% Increase dmg of Essence Drain (helm) enchant
More spell damage on shield.
Proper usage of wither + spell totem
6 link (4lvl empower for clear speed or slower projectiles for single target)
Witchfire Brew flask (third possible curse plus nice dmg boost, cool to get some +1 curse jewelry)
max lvl of support gems + 20% qual,... lvl 21 Essence drain (corrupted) (20% qual)

First off, loving the build so far projectpt! Someone knew to the game so still learning a few things. Not sure if has been mentioned yet but vaal discipline doesnt appear to work with CWdT. Did you swap this out for something else or have something you could recommend?

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trace07 wrote:

First off, loving the build so far projectpt! Someone knew to the game so still learning a few things. Not sure if has been mentioned yet but vaal discipline doesnt appear to work with CWdT. Did you swap this out for something else or have something you could recommend?

Vaal skills do not work with cast when damage taken, they must always be used manually