[3.11] Kitava's Thirst Builds - Flame Surge/Blade Vortex - Sirus /T16 Farm

Hi, thank you !

This ring was pretty good at the time (very strong with cold to fire builds), now I think it's outmatched by basically slamming a fire damage essence (Anger) on an opal ring, with a chance to have life, and better resists.
The spectral wolf chance can be pretty cool though, you could try it as a starter. :)

Hey, im currently playing your build in incrusion, it works really well once you got your key items and makes fun to play. I´d say of all the characters i played this one feels best.
So everybody thinking about playing it incursion i can recommend it.

I got one question since you mentioned Combustion support as a buff to this build. Where would you put it (flame surge doesnt make sense, since it cant ignite(?) and you would lose elemental focus)?

Hi, Combustion would go in the helmet, probably instead of Magma Orb or Arc. The gems in the staff are always the same, think of the setup in the helmet as a big support gem for Flame Surge, triggering EE and anything that can improve the damage. :)

As my final review of the build in HC (RIP ThirstBoiOfKitavo, level 88):

Pros:
LOADS of damage, both AoE and Single-Target.
LOADS of screen-clearing for the next two screens, seriously.
Fun. REALLY FUN. Watching all of the socketed skills trigger just feels amazing.
Elemental Equilibrium. Enough said.

Cons:
Very glass-cannon, even with tweaks from damage to more survivability on top of MoM and Dodge.
Dodge. This one is more personal, never was a huge fan of dodge builds.
A lot of uniques makes it hard to gear out resists/life.
Slow compared to other builds. Flame Dash is the worst movement skill in my opinion, ended up going for Leap Slam in it's place.

Final thoughts:

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had with this build. When I finally was able to get Kitava's Thirst socketed and Pledge of Hands on a 5L, this build blew me away. While the build itself does immense amounts of damage, it does lack proper defenses for HC without an insane amount of spending -- which isn't so bad if you have lucky drops or the currency to spend. Regardless, I played this build because it was different, it was unique in it's own sense, and if you're ever looking for a build to either have fun with or to change something up, do yourself a favor and try this build. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you for this amazing build, Sarodh1! This will definitely be played again and again in leagues to come!

Edit: Favorite quotes from random parties and friends I play regularly with:

"What is this cancer?"

"That build will never make it. Pfft."

"M Y F R A M E S. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"

Man I really wanna run this build and i'm going the ES variation because it seems cheaper but I can't seem to sustain mana. I cast it like 4 times then i'm out of mana. I know i'm only 72 but it feels like i'm missing something. Any advice?

"

40_Below_Summer wrote:

As my final review of the build in HC (RIP ThirstBoiOfKitavo, level 88):

Pros:
LOADS of damage, both AoE and Single-Target.
LOADS of screen-clearing for the next two screens, seriously.
Fun. REALLY FUN. Watching all of the socketed skills trigger just feels amazing.
Elemental Equilibrium. Enough said.

Cons:
Very glass-cannon, even with tweaks from damage to more survivability on top of MoM and Dodge.
Dodge. This one is more personal, never was a huge fan of dodge builds.
A lot of uniques makes it hard to gear out resists/life.
Slow compared to other builds. Flame Dash is the worst movement skill in my opinion, ended up going for Leap Slam in it's place.

Final thoughts:

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had with this build. When I finally was able to get Kitava's Thirst socketed and Pledge of Hands on a 5L, this build blew me away. While the build itself does immense amounts of damage, it does lack proper defenses for HC without an insane amount of spending -- which isn't so bad if you have lucky drops or the currency to spend. Regardless, I played this build because it was different, it was unique in it's own sense, and if you're ever looking for a build to either have fun with or to change something up, do yourself a favor and try this build. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you for this amazing build, Sarodh1! This will definitely be played again and again in leagues to come!

Edit: Favorite quotes from random parties and friends I play regularly with:

"What is this cancer?"

"That build will never make it. Pfft."

"M Y F R A M E S. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"

Hi, first, congratulations for having the balls to play it in HC, I wouldn't even get to 70 myself :D
This is an impressive and fair review. The cons are legitimate for HC. It's tough enough for SC but it does make it expensive, and for HC the bar is much higher.
I hoped that GGG would buff Flame Dash along the many other skills, but I was a bit disappointed. Well we did gain tons of damage, sooooo this time I'll give them a pass.

I'm glad you had fun with this build, I'm having fun too, in the end that's all that counts. :)

"

SilentManny wrote:

Man I really wanna run this build and i'm going the ES variation because it seems cheaper but I can't seem to sustain mana. I cast it like 4 times then i'm out of mana. I know i'm only 72 but it feels like i'm missing something. Any advice?

Hi, I checked out your build, got some suggestions for you to try, from favourive to least favourite :
-Tweak your mana cost closer to 100. That can be done with removing Voidbringer gloves. With a 5-Link that gets you to 103 mana. When you get a 6L make the switch back to Voidbringer (with around 45%increased mana cost) and remove Fevered Mind.
-Get a Watcher's Eye jewel with a Clarity mod like Weave the Arcane. If you're looking for one mod it should be cheaper.
-Get more mana. Yup, this one is because you're low level, so you'll have some time to do that, but eventually you should aim for 2500-3000 total mana. Not only you'll have a significant buffer, but Weave the Arcane will give you back a lot more mana.
-Add a CWDT+Warlord's Mark Setup. It isn't 100% reliable (and you can't do hexproof maps unfortunately) but it does the work most of the time. You can even put IC on top. :)
-Mana flask. Well, in endgame it does feel like a sacrifice, but it's good enough for leveling.

Btw, both versions are basically the same price, I did put more money in the MoM one, but I could have done the same with the ES version.

Bump, I made small updates to the guide, just started the character, and it feels good.

I really enjoy the playstyle of the build but struggle with elder atm and get oneshot by some mob-groups randomly way more often than is enjoyable (playing the MoM version). I feel like the build sacrifices too much defense for damage and can't really hold up in the later stages of the game- I don't have the "recommended" build complete yet, but the items I miss shouldn't bump my survivability by much. Big hits drain the manapool instantly while bumping me down to about 20-30% life aswell. I even respecced into some more life for consistency and tried to play without phase acrobatics and phase acrobatics but it doesn't make much of a difference. I also considered trying out the energy shield version since it looks tankier on paper- not quite sure if it's worth the investment though.
If you have any recomendations for me I'd be happy to hear them :) Otherwise I might switch to another build, which is a shame since Kitava's is so much fun.

Hi, Elder fight is tough with close range builds like Flame Surge. You need to move often to avoid the tons of projectiles they throw at you, and it can be difficult because of the mobility of this build. A good placement is very important to maximize your area clearing. I'll try to post a video of Elder when it spawns.

You should keep Acrobatics/Phase Acro (especially in Incursion with those constructs), it offers a lot in this case. If you didn't already I also recommend to upgrade Lunaris pantheon, this is a must have in this fight.

Also, you may need more mana to balance out your consumption with MoM. If you can afford it, a Watcher's Eye with clarity mod helps a lot. And if you can afford it too, Atziri's Acuity is the final step for facetanking.

Good luck ! :)

Bump, small update on my progression, and a lich bossfight on video.