[3.6 Video Guide] Volatile Dead Elementalist (or Inquisitor) [HC/SC/Uber Izaro/Shaper]

Hey Ghazzy, I failed. I am going to try out this build. :D

Uhm, didn't you forget to mention Desecrate links? you do mention them in the video, but I can't see them here, only in leveling tips.

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Keelez wrote:

Hey Ghazzy, love your guides - Did you leave out the desecrate gem setup?

You're correct, doublechecked and updated it, thank you!

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pemens1 wrote:

Hello! How it feels for a SSF? Got good 2h staff +110% fire dmg, +30% cast speed.
Is it possible to farm well t15 maps without supports?

Shouldn't be a problem imo.

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PiousSlayer wrote:

Hey Ghazzy, I failed. I am going to try out this build. :D

Nice!
I can recommend the Inquisitor version till they buff Elementalist tbh, it's from what I understand the best build in the game for Elementalist but the class is so bad compared to most others atm (patch 3.1)

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azaanis wrote:

Uhm, didn't you forget to mention Desecrate links? you do mention them in the video, but I can't see them here, only in leveling tips.

Correct, I've fixed it! Thank you :)

Very minor correction: I believe in your skills/setup section that spell totem should be red instead of blue. Confused me when referencing the guide to buy my links and they didn't fit haha. This build is such a blast to play. Thanks for the detailed guide!!

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Skibity wrote:

Very minor correction: I believe in your skills/setup section that spell totem should be red instead of blue. Confused me when referencing the guide to buy my links and they didn't fit haha. This build is such a blast to play. Thanks for the detailed guide!!

Hey,

Put it red on the first mention then blue in the gem list.. FailFish, I sorted it now! Thank you!

My pleasure, glad you like it!

two quick questions;

1. you linked lightning warp together with swift affliction... does that work again?
2. how do you not kill yourself on atziri mirror?

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lordchopf wrote:

two quick questions;

1. you linked lightning warp together with swift affliction... does that work again?
2. how do you not kill yourself on atziri mirror?

Hey,

1) There's a built in delay before LW teleports you, the support gems are there to increase the cast speed as well as minimizing that specific delay.

2) You don't do Atziri with the VD, you want to use Cremation for that instead. :)

I am a huge Lightning warp fan myself

I used to run LW,FC,LD and Rapid Decay

In 3.0 they changed Rapid Decay to Swift Affliction and the duration part was not affecting LW anymore, that's why i asked ^^

Edit:

Skimmed over your vid and was surprised you do not think ele reflect reduction is not mandatory. Just did a reflect map and i see no changes to reflect in maps? I had to slot in detonate dead and even that almost got me killed when i got to many mobs at once.

I will watch your video in full later as the answer to that is maybe in there

what do you use to get your Dex high enough for maxed Volatile Dead?

I have been playing a similar build up through level 90, with a very close skill tree, and it is worth noting that with some tweaks this can be an extremely customizable character that is capable of clearing all content (not sure on Uber Atziri yet). A couple suggestions addressing the build and questions above:

- Consider taking the points out of the elemental/spell nodes leading out of the templar start and put them into the shield block nodes heading to Sanctuary. This accomplishes three things, 1) extra mitigation, 2) it makes your gearing life bliss with so much additional base resistances, and 3) it places you in position to grab more life nodes from Tireless if you push into the 90s. You can now work more uniques like Emberwake (for clear speed), Atziris Foible (budget replacement for Cloak of Defiance), Memory Vault (if you have a very nice amulet and chest piece you want to use over Cloak of Defiance and Atziris Foible), and The Formless Inferno (Paragon of Calamity synergy) in. Another great use for those Templar nodes you pull out is to grab Path of the Savant and the cast speed near Scion.

- To easily gear a 6L, just search poetrade for corrupted six links with 4 blue, 1 green, 1 red sockets. You can run a Atziris Foible with it and take on end game content. Don't sleep on Atziris Foible by the way. It does two very key things for you: 1) it ups your mitigation with a lot of mana; and 2) it lowers the requirements on your green and red gems, making the build inherently cheaper to build. Also, its 1 chaos to buy. So Vaal as many as you can and hope for a +1 curse.

- Doryanis is a solid endgame choice, but you can push the build to its limits by picking up a wand with at least 80%+ total fire/spell damage, 15% cast speed, and 40-80 flat fire damage to spells. They are surprisingly cheap for how devastating they are. Make sure you find one with an open prefix to craft fire leech on it.

- If you have the resists from grabbing Sanctuary, add the Formless Inferno. Not only will it help proc paragon of calamity, you will see a 15-20% increase in physical damage reduction when used in a build that is only really running Chernabog's Pillar and maybe some hybrid armor pieces (I have a hybrid chest and gloves and I'm at 8k armor). Not amazing armor, but great return on investment.

- Elemental Reflect is very tricky as VD is quite powerful. I have found success swapping in a Rise of the Phoenix with a Purity of Fire gem. Still need to be careful, but you can clear maps and avoid simply murdering yourself in one volley. I also use this combination on Atziri and run VD for the fight instead of cremation. I would not recommend doing this on Hardcore, but you can do it deathless on Softcore. EDIT: Another safe option is to swap fire penetration out for spell totem gem. Now you cast desecrate and let your totem get blown to bits.

- Cast speed is essential for this build. Get it on your rings. You need to keep moving with lightning warp and get desecrate and VD down quick. With enough speed high physical fights like Uber Argus/Izaro become trivial because you can keep them off screen and continue casting.

- I run Orb of Storms with increased critical strikes, flammability/enfeeble, and curse on hit. When you get a +1 curse Foible or amulet, swap out increased crit for flammability and enfeeble. I find orb of storms maximizes Elemental Overload uptime.

- I don't run cremation because like many players I lack the cognitive response and manual dexterity necessary to keep track of the cremation nodes in fights where you actually benefit from it. You end up getting hit far more than you should and in short its a great way to get jump slammed by Izaro.

- On my wand I keep 2 blue and 1 green socket. I use arctic armour in the green socket, which can be swapped out for haste when you are grinding safe maps.

- As I mentioned, VD packs a punch on its own. For very good clear speed in midtier maps swap out elemental focus for spell echo and use Emberwake. Combine with haste and you're flying through content.

- For jewels, I run fire dam to spells, fire dam to spells with shield, and flat max life. No mana problems forgoing the spectrum and its a significant damage increase.

- For those of you who want to throw fusings on a fire, I could see this build functioning very well with a 6L Cloak of Flame to further increase your physical mitigation. Might as well get the most out of Paragon of Calamity. Just need to ensure you get your life back on other gear. If you need a reason to argue that Elementalist can outperform the Templar version of this build, here it is.

Just my thoughts on making this build tankier and far more versatile than it would appear. I think the Elementalist is better than it would appear and frankly I love how you can switch out gear and gems on the fly without having to burn through chroms, play with resistances, or keep extra sets of items.