[3.19] Donkster5' LS Champ - Still great! Leaguestart to endgame SC and HC. Updated 8/18

"

UkoCyanide wrote:

"

tenchu12 wrote:

Hey guys another question from the besginner here :-D

Atm i have Tabula Rasa. Would you rather play this or a 5 link and if the 5 link what would you recommend to slot out for the time being?

if you are playing trade it is better to get some corrupted 6L chest with matching color.

Uko is right that a corrupted six link is best and cheap at this point in trade league.

If that’s not a possibility then… it depends on what you’re playing, level, and current gem setup. For HC or if you don’t like dying, then a solidly rolled 5-link will offer much more survivability than a tabula. I’d remove inspiration from the endgame setup or added lightning if you still need AC. I cannot see your characters gem setup as your profile is private.

Hey all, I wanted to share an early mapping video I made a couple days ago for anybody that is struggling after getting out of acts. Its not a how-to, rather just a taste for what the build should feel like in maps. It's not a showcase, but if you've been struggling take a look and ask questions as needed. Pertinent gear being used on the character is SSF/Self-crafted.

https://youtu.be/5DPt6WrXets

Nice!

I switched my 6L up today to fit in nightblade and dropped ancestral call. I still need +1 strikes, but clear is fine with pierce. Getting into t6-8 maps now, and mobs are feeling more tanky, but the gameplay overall is straight forward. Re-leveling some of my gems to 20 as well. I think next upgrades for me are going to be more flat damage on a weapon, some damage on amulet.

Just wanted to write a quick post thanking Donkster5 for their Champion Vaal Lightning Strike build.

I've leveled a couple of characters this league and just wasn't enjoying their leveling experience, or game play, or survivability, or some combination thereof.

I feel like leveling is harder in Expedition or at least a bit more dangerous. You can get some decent gear from the Expedition traders if you feel comfortable doing that content, but it certainly will slow you down having to read all the mods and interact with the traders.

I leveled fairly slowly and took down Act 10 Kitava, no deaths, 24 passives, 1 game day. I did have access to the Expedition re-rolls and currency that I had already accumulated, basically infinite scrolls of wisdom, and a Vaal Lightning Strike. I did not naturally drop a Vaal Lightning Strike until Act 10 with this build and that was with doing every Vaal side area I came across.

Skill tree in guide is well laid out and addresses the problems that you run into (mana, pierce, etc.,.)

The build has

-good movement speed by the time you get to Act 10 via the skill tree and decent pair of boots
-is visually enjoyable (herald of ice shatters are muah) without being too clutter usually
-can take a hit at least from campaign and campaign Expedition mobs
-good clear

The problems I ran into were

-getting claws with attack speed and high elemental damage (I just crafted % inc phys on the ones I found that were close)
-a few whoa moments while getting used to lifetap support in the early game (the life gain on hit claw solved this problem)
-single target is meh with my current gear, sometimes even with Vaal Lightning Strike. I feel like it gets the job done, but you are probably going to have to dodge a few extra mechanics since you aren't going to mop the floor with most bosses.

Still thoroughly enjoyable to level and I'm glad I gave it a try. Thx!

PS I like that you included the new Defiance Banner as it is something I was wondering about since Reduced Critical Strike Chance to nearby enemies is not really a stat that you can get anywhere else that I am aware of (Sanctum of Thought being the nearest thing I can think of but that reduces 20% of the extra damage from crits rather than the chance to crit).

Hello, guys, Inskipped a couple leagues, so as a few new gems.
I have a question: trinity support puzzlez me, we run anger + herald of ice for it, I assume, but why? Should I craft fire/cold on my gear beside lightning for some reason to make trinity more potent?
And another one: how di I get pierce craft for gloves? Is that a veiled mod?

Last one. How bad is this build for bossing? Like ue/maven? I ser that the build is tailored towards mapping, but.

"

Donkster5 wrote:

Uko is right that a corrupted six link is best and cheap at this point in trade league.

If that’s not a possibility then… it depends on what you’re playing, level, and current gem setup. For HC or if you don’t like dying, then a solidly rolled 5-link will offer much more survivability than a tabula. I’d remove inspiration from the endgame setup or added lightning if you still need AC. I cannot see your characters gem setup as your profile is private.

I am playing on Playstation so the league is still in week one i think.
Also i don`t know how to link my PS Account to this website :-D

I try my best to get the 6 link you guys mentioned, but it is pretty hard to find one.
My gem setup on the tabula is: Vaal Lightning Strike - Trinity - Elemental Damage with Attacks - Nightblade - Added Lightning Damage - Ancestral Call so still without Inspiration so i guess i remove the Added lightning if i cannot manage to get my hands on a 6 link in the near future.
Ty as always guys really appreciate your help :)

"

ShatteredEssence wrote:

Hello, guys, Inskipped a couple leagues, so as a few new gems.
I have a question: trinity support puzzlez me, we run anger + herald of ice for it, I assume, but why? Should I craft fire/cold on my gear beside lightning for some reason to make trinity more potent?
And another one: how di I get pierce craft for gloves? Is that a veiled mod?

Last one. How bad is this build for bossing? Like ue/maven? I ser that the build is tailored towards mapping, but.

We do all 3 damage types to build up resonance with trinity support, which increases our damage dealt. The mix of auras help achieve this.

@tenchu12

To get a 6L that's not tabula, try running each vaal side area you see in maps. Can get lucky to find a corrupted 6 link. There's div cards you can farm as well, such as The Chains That Bind.

"

agm_ultimatex wrote:

Nice!

I switched my 6L up today to fit in nightblade and dropped ancestral call. I still need +1 strikes, but clear is fine with pierce. Getting into t6-8 maps now, and mobs are feeling more tanky, but the gameplay overall is straight forward. Re-leveling some of my gems to 20 as well. I think next upgrades for me are going to be more flat damage on a weapon, some damage on amulet.

Versus flat damage on weapon, I think a bigger boost may be focusing on crit chance both on the weapon and elsewhere. You're reaching the point where your hit chance should be up towards 100% and scaling elemental damage will be less effective than getting your crit chance up. Then you scale crit multi once your crit chance is high enough.

"

agm_ultimatex wrote:

"

ShatteredEssence wrote:

Hello, guys, Inskipped a couple leagues, so as a few new gems.
I have a question: trinity support puzzlez me, we run anger + herald of ice for it, I assume, but why? Should I craft fire/cold on my gear beside lightning for some reason to make trinity more potent?
And another one: how di I get pierce craft for gloves? Is that a veiled mod?

Last one. How bad is this build for bossing? Like ue/maven? I ser that the build is tailored towards mapping, but.

We do all 3 damage types to build up resonance with trinity support, which increases our damage dealt. The mix of auras help achieve this.

@tenchu12

To get a 6L that's not tabula, try running each vaal side area you see in maps. Can get lucky to find a corrupted 6 link. There's div cards you can farm as well, such as The Chains That Bind.

The aura's should be enough for trinity and adding flat lightning damage is better so long as you still build resonance.

Re: Bossing. If you have the endgame gear listed in the build guide (Or better), the bosses can be done. I think I was around 3M sDPS when I did UE and died once. Double that sDPS with proper placement and both VLS wells down. I have played better bossing builds but with proper scaling, you could make this a decent bosser. I don't say great bosser because of the inherent lack of bossing with melee builds.

Cheers for the tip on crit, i definitely havent invested enough there yet. I lucked upon the base from expedition, then a couple metallic fossils gave me this

hoping i can luck out to remove one of the two unneeded suffixes with an annul orb, craft or harvest in some crit :D