[GUIDE] 1339 Fireball Shotgun/CI Sorc v1.0.0

Introduction
The following is a guide to create a copy of my witch. Do not bother with this guide unless you are prepared to face-tank own all of the available content currently in this game.

Disclaimer:


OVERVIEW
The distinguishing aspects of this build are that you 1. 2-3 shot map bosses w/ penetrating shotgun fireball and 2. use the CI keystone with a bunch of energy shield. Here is what you can expect upon completion of this build:

- Dps over 9000!!! (Roughly 30k+ w/ pen. FB shotgun)
- Between 6-7k energy shield
- Immunity to Chaos, 75 resistance to all elements
- Use of Power, Frenzy, and Endurance charges
- Sustain for days with Ghost Reaver + Life leech gem
- Resistance to reflect due to arctic armor

The build also has some disadvantages of course. For example, you can't do blood magic maps. It'll also be tough to pull off mods such as, say, i dunno, [Vuln + -maximum resists + ele reflect + half regen rate], not that anyone should be running suicide maps like that anyway. Besides that, I can't think of any other drawbacks. Even half/no regen maps are easy with the swap of one gem. To give you an example of this build's power: Merciless Dominus dies in under 20 seconds.

This is a screen cap of my character's stats:

http://i.imgur.com/b1PKZnM.jpg

For your viewing pleasure, I have made available two videos of my sorc in action. If you're not a fan of the music I was listening to, just turn off the volume - I didn't add narration or anything. My bad, I didn't realize that the music I was listening to would also be recorded as well as my gameplay :S. Please note that this is BETA footage, though its not very different from what it looks like now. I plan on uploading another video in the future to highlight the various revisions of this build post-release.

VIDEO 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydKHkrUWPag

VIDEO 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFbhyjiR40o&feature=youtu.be

Highest map I had was a 69, so there was no reason for me to engage tank mode, but situations where your life is in danger with this build are far between, anyway, so you're not missing much by not seeing that recorded. These videos accurately reflect what 99% of your play time with this build will be like.

SKILL ALLOCATION
I will now show you the passive tree that you will strive to mimic. This is at level 88 assuming you kill all of the bandits one time.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBAuMHYwelES8RUBXXFecWQBa_GmwfAilPLJwsvy0fLdI2PTbFOthBlkNjRKtG10cGSRtJskyzTdhQMFBCVa5WY1crWPVdxl3yXvpfKl9qYG1jQ2aebRlwUnDVcU1zU3OzdFV8zn1TghCCHoKbhX2GrodliEKIa4w2jHaOZI-mj_qZmprPnC2dgJ2uncSiLqXLpwivt7UEtoa297b6tzHAUcBUwcXB88Lsw23VT9eG2CTbXtvn3fPed9-w44TkIuaB62Pr5OwY7Djwa_Id8uHz6vem_Ks=

As for bandits...

Normal - Help Alira or kill all.
Cruel - Kill all or help Alira
Merciless - Help Alira or help Kraityn

Helping Alira will result in a higher DPS, but helping Kraityn will give you a better balance of charges. I chose to help him since an 8/5 charge balance looks better in my opinion. It's a matter of personal preference, though.

I have received requests for build orders for those who are leveling with this build. Leveling is pretty simple: Focus your first 30-40 levels on spell damage, intel, and mana. Stack mana as much as possible in your early levels. Grab a pernandus shield and use arctic armor - nothing can mess with you throughout all of normal and most of cruel. After you're in the 40's, fill out your es nodes. Save the crit nodes for level 80+.


ITEMIZATION
One bright side of this build is that you will not require the highly demanded Shavronne wrapping that everyone in the world is using.

Next I will go over the kinds of items you will want to wear.



Hat - Use a rare circlet. High es, mana, int, and resists are a must.

Armor - Highest es rare armor you can afford w/ as much ele resist as possible. +Int is a bonus but not required.

Glove - Maligaro's is the only option here unfortunately. You want it for two reasons 1. +dex mod enables you to level up your skill gems and 2. those crit mods are sexy.

Boots - Rainbowstride. Only viable option. You can't pass on that +100 mana. Get a legacy pair while you're at it because 20% ele resists is amazing. Spell block roll is irrelevant for this build, so don't worry what yours is.

Arms - Shields are for women, don't use one. You'll have enough energy shield without one, so be a man and double-wand it up. Dual void batteries are ideal for this build, but if you can't afford them, a high-end rare wand will suffice. If you are shopping for rares, 18+ cast speed and 100+ spell/fire damage with at least some spell crit is what you're aiming for. However, it might be in your best interest just to save for some batteries instead of bothering with it seeing as how GG spell wands cost as much or more than batteries do.

Belt - Don't be a noob that uses chain belts. Chain belts are ugly and you have enough ES from your other gear as it is. You need a high-end rare heavy belt. Fire penetration and Reduced mana gems demand 109 STR, and your belt is the easiest way to meet that requirement. +STR and resists are a must. +ES, life, and armor are a bonus. As a demonstration of how unimportant the belt is beyond the +50 STR it needs to provide, just look at how trash the one I'm wearing is. Embarrassing.

Ammy - Eye of chayula is the obvious choice. CANNOT BE STUNNED. It's hard to face-tank anything if you're stunned, so make sure you're wearing this amulet. The +20stats will also help you meet requirements to use all your gems. Settling for a +16 non-legacy roll is fine, just be aware that you may not be able to max your gem levels using one.

Ring 1 - Dream fragments is essential. Mana, Mana regen, Cannot be frozen. A better ring for CI casters does not exist.

Ring 2 - Preandus Signet. It provides crazy INT and mana that synergizes well with all the uniques this build utilizes. You can wear a gg caster ring instead, but pernandus is probably the better option (cheaper too).

SKILLS

Your main skill will be fireball. You can get a quality FB if you want, but it is not needed in the slightest. Things will die before they have a chance to take burning damage, plus you will have somewhere between 35-65% chance to crit anyway. You can support it any way you like, but let me tell you the way I do it.

Core 5L: Fireball - LMP - PC on Crit - Life leech - Fire pen

There is no debate here. LMP allows you to shotgun bosses - essentially multiplying your single-target DPS by a factor of 2.5. Without PC on crit, you wouldn't be able to get power charges and without Life leech your sustain will be garbage. Fire pen is more or less required as well unless you don't mind the thought of fire-resistant mobs laughing at you.

For your 6th link I would highly recommend using FASTER PROJECTILES, and I have a few good reasons why:

-Increases you damage, range, and cast speed(quality) at a measly 110% mana cost increase. No other gem gives you better return on your mana.
-Its green, which means you'll be able to swap it with MANA LEECH gem when required. More on that later.
-Fast fireballs look way cooler than slow-mo ones. Once you experience speed fireball ownage, it's painful to go back.


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Auras

With patch 1.0.0, we saw a hefty increase in aura cost. Although this build used to run a total of four auras, I now suggest sticking with only two. Use DISCIPLINE and CLARITY. As a CI build, you can't go wrong with more energy shield and mana regen. Of course, I've had to take measures to counteract the loss of purity/haste. I'm not going to go on a tangent explaining the changes because that's in the past. Rest assured, this build is just as powerful, if not more so, as its beta counterpart.

Note to those who want a third aura:


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Support skills

1. Flammability
2. Arctic Armor
3. Blood Rage
4. Enduring Cry
Optional. Firestorm, Portal

You can efficiently set up all of your core support spells inside two 4-links and a wand. Lucky for you, you have gloves, boots, and a wand to do this with.

Maligaros: Blood rage - Arctic Armor - Increased Duration - Faster Casting

Rainbowstrides: Cast on Dmg Taken(lvl1) - Enduring Cry - Increased AOE

Wand: Flamm - Portal - Faster Casting

As far as your curse goes, you COULD use elemental weakness. It would make your groups a little happier and you don't even need burn damage seeing as how even bosses die in 4 hits max. That being said, Flammability is the curse of choice because 1. It matches your theme and 2. Who needs groups? You'll be facetanking hybrid widow and buffed Blacksmith while everyone else hides. Using a curse that benefits only you demonstrates to the noobs you party with that your character is strong enough to take on any enemy as well as any player that has something to say about it.

Arctic Armor is a controversial aspect of this build. You are a fire sorc, yet this is an ice spell. Well, without it titty bitches and Uber voidbearers on -max resist maps would be a weakness to you. You might get caught off-guard and die, that would suck. Arctic armor makes you immune to these two weaknesses. Don't leave town without it.

NO REALLY, ARCTIC ARMOR IS OP AS SHIT FOR FIRE SORCS. USE IT NO MATTER WHAT.


Blood rage is a no-brainer. Frenzy charge generation with no drawback? Yes please.

I also have enduring cry linked up with Cast on Damage Taken. Unless you plan on getting wrecked on a constant basis, do yourself a favor and keep CDT at level one. This will cause it to proc more often and that's good. Increased AOE on this should help generate more endurance charges when there are less mobs around.

POTS



p.s. As always, Flask affixes that heal puncture, shock, chill, burn are still highly beneficial to you.

Mana potion is completely optional. I don't think I ever drink from it. You have a MANA LEECH gem in your inventory, don't you? Use that during Half/No regen maps. In all normal situations, following this build will afford you enough mana and mana regen to spam fireballs all day even with ARCTIC ARMOR running.

Diamond flasks are good. I find them especially helpful for building up your initial power charges. Use against bosses to guarantee the 3-hit KO.

Granite flask can be helpful just as it is with any build. Carry one or two just in case.

Quicksilver - Because this build's one major flaw is not enough stacked movement speed.

Note: If you're struggling finding gear with fire resist, you may want to carry a ruby flask. I personally don't, but you can. Who knows, it could save your life one day against a double-reflect mob on a -max resist map.

STRATEGY

Step 0. Make sure you're always enraged by blood
Step 1. Cast flammability on target(s)
Step 2. Walk up to the enemy's face and proceed to shoot them with your fireball shotgun
Step 3. If they're not dead after the first shot, quickly finish them off and pick up your just loot
Step 4. Repeat

Note: The above strategy will allow you to own any content that this game has to offer MOST OF THE TIME. There are some exceptions - situations you will occasionally find yourself in where you must change your strategy slightly. I will inform you of those now.

Exception 1: You meet a boss with extra physical damage, increased crit chance, faster attack speed, etc and he looks dangerous.

-Use granite pot and continue on your way.

Exception 2: Takes you a minute to find the mobs and your power charges have faded.

-Use diamond flask to improve crit chance. Do not face-tank things until you have at least 3 power charges up.

Exception 3: You are so cocky that you face-check a room filled with magic titty-bitches and uber voidbearers. The map has -max resists and extra monster damage.

-Take .35 of a second to cast artic armor. Stand in the middle of room facetanking everything while you own them with fireball.


With this build, you can facetank pretty much everything (read: Anything that isn't extra damage vuln kole blood stain or Vaal slam of course). As long as you keep firing your fireball shotgun, nothing can kill you. Enjoy it.


FINISHING TOUCHES (a.k.a looking like a badass)

Once you understand the basics of this build, I would recommend pursuing the following things:

1. Only noobs use traditional fireballs. Make sure you get the dragon head fireballs as soon as possible to increase how epic you look while demolishing waves of enemies. Never shoot the fireball shotgun from far away if you can help it. It's just... not as cool that way.

2. I find that linking firestorm to CDT trigger gem to be especially awesome. The damage resulting from this is mostly irrelevant, but the fact that armageddon is raining upon your enemies while you melt them with fireball shot gun is insanely cool. Double benefit if it's in the 4L with Increased AOE and your enduring cry gem. Triple benefit if you have the siege firestorm effect activated. WARNING: Do NOT attempt this during Promenade map. The awesome visuals are not worth the guaranteed death awaiting those who use CDT + Firestorm against lightning thorns.

3. When it comes to your wands, it looks tacky if they both have the same type of glow. Your wands aren't exact copies of each other and thus they shouldn't look exactly the same. Any weapon effect with red/purple/black theme will look great on you. I personally use crimson for my main hand and lavender for my off hand. Arcane, Vampiric and Ebony are good choices as well. As far as skin transfer goes, prophecy wand is hard to top. It has a nice tribal feel. If batteries ever get 3D art, my opinion may change on this matter. For now, though, I would stick with the glow effects and no skin transfer.

4. Vaal regalias are ugly. Skin transfer yourself something decent. Same goes for the stupid-looking hubris circlet. Oh, and don't bother with footprints for this build. If you really want to leave behind some kind of effect where you step, just activate arctic armor.

CONCLUSION

Congratulations on completing the replication of my Fireball/energy shield sorc. I hope you are pleased with your newly found ability to own everything this game has to offer. Thanks.

can you give some minimal system requirements / minimum item (and levelling steps) requirements?

"

Kiedel wrote:

can you give some minimal system requirements / minimum item (and levelling steps) requirements?

No idea what you're asking for here. Sorry.

is the build viable with 4K ES and half the damage? do i need max resists? etc...

when does the build start to shine is the question.

The entire point of the build is to have more ES than that and of course more damage. Max resists are not required (except for fire, otherwise ele reflect will give you a hard time), but helpful. My resists are all over-capped so you can afford to skimp on ele resists if you wish. For example, I wouldn't mind if my ring was paua instead of prismatic at all as I would still have 78 all.

As far as shining goes... You will begin wrecking everything once you hit level 69. Around 75-80 the game ceases to provide any challenge. Once you hit 85+, even bosses will die before you even realize they were there. The people you party with will inquire "Hey, where is the map boss?" and you can honestly replay "Dunno, but they probably got raped by a stray fireball." I would suggest leveling with a friend, though, because the 25-30 grind on normal docks is kind of slow because everything resists fire there. Merc docks are a non-issue because by then you'll be rocking fire pen + flammability. The only difference between fire resistant monsters and others is that the fire resistant ones will sometimes take two hits to kill instead of just one.

As far as only having 4k ES... I would strive to hit at least 5k. Honestly, I rarely see my shield drop below 2k when I'm in the middle of face-tanking a huge group of mobs, so hitting 7k isn't really necessary. If you are playing on a non-HC mode I would say feel free to skimp on ES a little bit. 5.5-6k will get you by just fine.

may i ask when you actually switch to CI?

"

jay86 wrote:

may i ask when you actually switch to CI?

Depends on if you are group rushing or soloing the story. For rushing, it doesnt matter too much but during merc ledge runs between 50 and 54 is when it seems right to me. If you are soloing the story, you will need to find or spend a few chaos on a 300+ es chest and transition to CI during cruel act2. Using dual wands, you will be able to focus on es, int, and mana nodes for your early levels. Doing this eliminates the need to spec any life.

Obviously this assumes that you are already in possession on eye and fragments as you begin this build. I wouldnt recommend going for this set up without those two items.

What is "on eye" and "fragments?"

As a new player, and a fireball / CI Witch, I've been following this thread since it's inception and have found it quite helpful.

I have my own thread going here about fire, CI, and how to progress / alternatives:

And would welcome any input from seasoned players (like you).

Thanks for taking the time to post all of this for the community!

Cheers,
Brith

Eye and fragments refer to Eye of Chayula and Dream Fragments - two unique items that are borderline essential to making a successful CI caster. I linked them in the first half of the guide. I will check out your topic to see if I can give a few tips to your specific build as well.