[3.15] Spectral Shield Throw Bleed Gladiator - tanky & fast mapping - good scaling - all content

So i assume not being able to use Deadly Ailments does not destroy the build but what to replace it with ?

I can only find 3 alternatives:
Iron Grip(does that even work for this skill?)
Maim
Cruelty(although this one will probably do the least for boss fights)

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justanotherbody wrote:

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scruffywookie wrote:

I'm gonna need someone smarter to break it down, because the math here says "doubled damage for SST". But not being able to double hit will make a difference.

What is double hitting? Does this mean it won't e.g., bounce between twinned bosses or something else?

Now we don’t need to worry about it double hitting it not because the first hit is going to be more than what it would have been if it has double hit previously.

Also Shield Crush is a level 1 skill that we can buy as soon as we enter the first city so I will probably leveling with it until we get Spectral shield throw. Also shield charge got a major boost and was not nerfed unlike the actual movement skills but can still be chained to move quickly if I’m not mistaken.

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Furbl wrote:

So i assume not being able to use Deadly Ailments does not destroy the build but what to replace it with ?

I can only find 3 alternatives:
Iron Grip(does that even work for this skill?)
Maim
Cruelty(although this one will probably do the least for boss fights)

Anomalous Iron Grip Support looks to be the best option because the mana cost was only increased by 20% with no change in damage.

Vicious Projectiles 140% (Previously 120%)
Brutality 150% (previously 130%)
Iron Grip 120% (previously 100%)
Swift Affliction 150% (previously 125%)
Unbound Ailments 140% (previously 110%)

for Unbound Ailments it's worth noting that damaging Ailments got nerfed while non damaging ailments got a pretty decent buff.

Casting Spectral Shield throw with the setup above will now cost 52.92 mana compared to 21.45 mana previously.

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Casting Spectral Shield throw with the setup above will now cost 52.92 mana compared to 21.45 mana previously.

That's a real big nerf. I used to have like 90 - 95% reserved, enough for a cast or 4? and regen/leech/mana on hit would just instantly fill it. Maybe have to drop banner for 10% less reservation to be able to sustain. We'll see.

Now to throw the new #s into excel I guess.

If the projectiles now also can chain, replacing ailments for chain support may be a big boost as well? Though, bleedxplosions kinda fuck the entire screen typically already anyways?

Because of how bleed works Deadly Ailments is still fine we don't care about the hit damage because bleed is only scaled by the attacks base damage and so the 80% less hit damage doesn't matter for the bleed, this also means that iron grip is useless for this build as it scales the hit damage and not the bleed.

As for how the damage changes work out with the base skill and support changes without swapping any gems taking all of the gem more multi from pre change was 750% more bleed damage on the shield and 562% on the shards. Post change factoring in the doubled base damage and changed shard ratio would give 951% on the shield and 476% on the shards so this gives 27% more single target damage and 15% less aoe damage.

old damage shield
59% 49% 64% 44% 34% total -> 750%
new damage shield
100% 49% 39% 44% 34% 19% total -> 951%

old damage shard
59% 49% 64% 44% 34% * 0.75 total -> 562%
new damage shard
100% 49% 39% 44% 34% 19% * 0.5 total -> 476%

The one gem I think you might want to replace would be Swift Affliction because of the change from 15% reduced duration to 25% less, Cruelty might work but because it is based on the hit and Deadly Ailments reduced that maim or chance to bleed will be the best replacements depending on how much bleed duration you need.

Damage numbers are crazy. Double Damage for Armour scaling and Double base damage.

The double hit wasn't really a thing, so i would not worry about that line.

We lost 1 chain but gain double dip for additional chains.

We have the same amount of projectiles but gain double dip for projectiles.

And that's without the mandatory jewel, so we get +1 jewel socket, too :)

With the Level 28 requirement we need to think about some leveling skill now.

Have to check the Support Gems later, but the Mana costs sounds really bad, as a lot of complaints in this thread were already about the mana without -mana chest /ring or other stuff. I never felt this way because if you are good at targeting and hitting with the shield, leech will carry. But this will become harder.

Some people already played Lifetap Support, maybe that's a solution.

One possible solution to mana problems would be Eldritch Battery from a Replica Soul Taker and energy leech support and making sure one of your armour pieces is an energy shield or at least hybrid es base. The opportunity cost for doing this would be losing Advancing Fortress or Prismatic Eclipse and swapping a support gem for energy leech which gives 24% more while leeching and that will always be the case while you are attacking. The difference between energy leech and Swift Affliction is a 7% dps loss and longer bleeds, and for Unbound Ailments you gain 4% dps and loss bleed duration.

Yes quick excel work shows, damage for the main proj is basically x2, shards as well, bit more.

But that 100% more damage vanishes quickly

We take a quick flat 45% hit on inc. dmg on the hits just from the support reductions, the bleed reducions are about the same.

The DoT supports take a slimilar hit.

So all in all, I'd guess this just performs the same as 3.14, the numbers just shifted. A better armor shield is now even more highly preferred.

For the mana issue what about crafting Mystic Bulwark keystone onto our amulet. That would give us 75% increased mana regen with our maxed out block chance.

Omegabuff has arrived.