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

Are you going to league start as an VLS champ in 3.17? Would be nice to follow your twitch stream while playing the same build ^^.

A question regarding the PoB: it shows 90% physical reduction , what are the main physical reduction sources? I wanted to add determination to the build, but if the physical reduction is already that high there is no need for it.

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Enterich wrote:

Are you going to league start as an VLS champ in 3.17? Would be nice to follow your twitch stream while playing the same build ^^.

A question regarding the PoB: it shows 90% physical reduction , what are the main physical reduction sources? I wanted to add determination to the build, but if the physical reduction is already that high there is no need for it.

It’s definitely not 90%. Go to config settings and put in a big enemy hit (5-10k). You’ll see the reduction drop rapidly. Remember fortify is straight 20% first, so can calculate based off that. I also recommend arctic armor as a smaller aura as it has some nice phys mitigation built in, and we’re general stationary when taking hits.

Edit: Yes, I’m starting with this build, but won’t be on until a few hours after leaguestart due to work/life. Do join me though
if it works out. I’d love the company.

I have done this build a few times now, and always like using it. But I have a question about using Static Strike to get Wave of Conviction. Since the best positioning for Lightning Strike is a few steps away from the enemy, I always seem to need to move closer for Static Strike to work.

So, if Static Strike is to get Wave of Conviction to activate, it is easier to hit an enemy with Wave of Conviction directly. And of the point of Wave of Conviction is to apply exposure, multiple hits would not be useful. Is there something I am missing here?

the 3.16 gauntlet tree is still accurate for hardcore?

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frostbond wrote:

I have done this build a few times now, and always like using it. But I have a question about using Static Strike to get Wave of Conviction. Since the best positioning for Lightning Strike is a few steps away from the enemy, I always seem to need to move closer for Static Strike to work.

So, if Static Strike is to get Wave of Conviction to activate, it is easier to hit an enemy with Wave of Conviction directly. And of the point of Wave of Conviction is to apply exposure, multiple hits would not be useful. Is there something I am missing here?

Try it and see if you like it better. SS has a few second duration, and it shoots beams after the initial hit. You can link it to whatever supports/secondary skills you want. I like the way it feels, but i’m playing around with taking the +3 range of strike skills attack mastery. This may help QoL for you..

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Poprostu wrote:

the 3.16 gauntlet tree is still accurate for hardcore?

Yes! I didn’t take winddancer in gauntlet, so only change would be to take precise technique while leveling up to around 50 or whenever you start to scale crit chance. This requires using precision early to keep your accuracy higher than your life. PoB wasn’t updated for 3.17 until after league start, so i’ll be releasing an official tree in a couple days… but very little will change.

Liking the build alot, but degens are a bit of a problem i'm finding and boss DPS is very poor! I feel like i'm missing something this time around - seemed alot stronger the patch before tbh. I am up to red maps.

I'm using junk items but the upgrades seem very expensive for the build like farruls fur, the unique gem etc, strike gloves are all like 4 ex each atm !

I have slightly changed some of the skills around though.I find whirling blades linked with faster attacks and culling is very nice for mobility, fighting bosses etc moving around.

I put my ancestral totem linked with the cast on crit, pulse, wave of conviction... but i dropped rage. The stacks are too difficult to build up and it's not worth it imho. Maybe that entire link setup can be re-looked at? Maybe a self cast wave of conviction would work better and that frees up 3 potential gem slots for something else?

Any tips for improving my DPS at this early on in the league appreciated thanks :)
I think adding in some regen/vitality would be very useful as there are just so many degens all over the place in 3.17. Some of these bosses are so tough I end up killing them using my ancestral totem to take aggro and then I just stand at the double attack distance and then kite the mobs for up to 3-4 mins at a time, they can get so damn tanky and rippy. I was even tempted to add in decoy totems and beef them up somehow to take aggro away from us.

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Any tips for improving my DPS at this early on in the league appreciated thanks :)

You have stellar crit multiplier, but your chance to crit is very low. The Claws of the Hawk points in the claw wheel will be especially high-value before you switch over to Secrets of Suffering. Similarly, a diamond flask of incision will be very cost effective if you can fit it in.

Your uber lab points with the easy intimidate on hit will give a sizable bump. Another very cheap upgrade is a well-rolled Mantra of Flames jewel. Last time I checked it in PoB, this jewel was giving me about the same damage as a quadruple crit multiplier jewel, and you can also usually get decent corruptions. It gets even more impactful when you can fit in Secrets and benefit from the scorch effect.

Another easy way to pick up single target damage is boot enchantments. For example, 1-160 added lightning damage if you haven't killed recently will give you 10% more damage when you need it on bosses. A cheap amulet anointment like Divine Judgment will give you even more.

I'm also a big sucker for the Perseverance belt. The permanent Onslaught before you get something like Replica Farrul's really boosts efficiency, and it'll let you scale offense through defense simultaneously. Crafting +3000 armour during soul gain prevention on your shield, for example, is an easy way to get a big chunk of damage given the many Vaal skills you have. To be honest, I started just putting Vaal Molten Shell on left click for the damage because I never needed it for defense.

Moving on up in price for upgrades, a blizzard crown with nothing else on it will give you 8-9% more damage. Look for any relevant enchantment when you do your uber lab.

Following that, the really big upgrades will certainly be Secrets of Suffering and strike gloves. Secrets alone probably won't show its full worth until you have a blizzard crown to bump up its brittles. Switch to added cold damage support if you need to.

Good luck.

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Nevzat wrote:

Liking the build alot, but degens are a bit of a problem i'm finding and boss DPS is very poor! I feel like i'm missing something this time around - seemed alot stronger the patch before tbh. I am up to red maps.

I'm using junk items but the upgrades seem very expensive for the build like farruls fur, the unique gem etc, strike gloves are all like 4 ex each atm !

I have slightly changed some of the skills around though.I find whirling blades linked with faster attacks and culling is very nice for mobility, fighting bosses etc moving around.

I put my ancestral totem linked with the cast on crit, pulse, wave of conviction... but i dropped rage. The stacks are too difficult to build up and it's not worth it imho. Maybe that entire link setup can be re-looked at? Maybe a self cast wave of conviction would work better and that frees up 3 potential gem slots for something else?

Any tips for improving my DPS at this early on in the league appreciated thanks :)
I think adding in some regen/vitality would be very useful as there are just so many degens all over the place in 3.17. Some of these bosses are so tough I end up killing them using my ancestral totem to take aggro and then I just stand at the double attack distance and then kite the mobs for up to 3-4 mins at a time, they can get so damn tanky and rippy. I was even tempted to add in decoy totems and beef them up somehow to take aggro away from us.

Along with what Erasmus wrote, one item I see is the AS on your claw. Consider going back to dual wielding if you can until you have a claw with 1.9+ APS. Attack speed is a big more and QoL factor for the build.

Playing this build for the first time this league, really enjoying it. It's one of the most fun builds I have played (this is only my fourth league, though) but I really enjoy the playstyle. Slowly progressing through maps, but just wanted to ask when you planned on having the new PoB guide updated as mentioned earlier? I'm not too worried about having to respec but honestly I'm just excited to get this build off the ground even further.

Thanks for the guide and the non-meta build again, really having fun so far.