[1.3]Fireball Witch guide for beginners

Hi!

Thanks for the guide, i'm currently at lvl 82 in softcore doing maps and enjoying it!

I'm at the point where i need to tweak the gear to be able to progress thru the higher tier content, but the build is solid!

keep it up!

"

Biomirth wrote:

Very well written guide. Thanks very much for this. I have a couple of questions regarding the passive tree you suggest.

Before I found this build I found the one outlined in the comments here: where he says "This one is a cake walk" about halfway down the page. (Passive Tree).

Considering both builds are "Fireball / Firetrap" it's rather amazing how different they are. I got to level 20 or so very quickly with that build but began to suspect things were going too well because every damn node it was adding fire damage and it seems a far way away to improve life, armor, or mana for that matter.... Which is why I like the look of your build very much. However it does leave me wondering: Is improving fire damage just not as useful as spending node after node to get to the far sides of the tree, or is there some compromise to be made?

I'm sure that's a bit noobish, but what can I say, I'm a noob. It just seems that so many nodes taken in this build are to travel from here to there I wonder how much (if any) this weakens this build overall compared with other class/builds?

The build you quoted is a bit broken (it's pre release). Most important it is a CI build. Imho you can't just throw out a lvl80ish CI build and say go for it if starting a new char. Following that build might carry you through normal but you will hit a wall in cruel because you didn't take any life nodes. Even if you want to take CI it is highly recommended that you do that in merciless once you have 2500+ ES. Before that you should take life nodes and look out for hitpoints on your gear. Once you are in act2 merciless you can spec out of those life nodes and respec to a CI char.
As for the "traveling": Usually you lay out your basic tree while leveling in normal. That means, aiming for life nodes and taking the nodes that lead to keystones. Once you are lvl40+ you can start building up pure damage nodes. Taking them first runs the risk of getting to cruel with an imbalanced char that might do higher damage but is constantly low on mana and life.

Thanks Bada Bing, that does explain things.

Thank you very much for all your effort and detail, makes getting into the game as a fire witch/mage easy to understand and enjoyable.

I´ve been following this guide, with a little added Discharge + charges, and it still rocks at level 77 doing 66-67 maps solo. Since I´m using Discharge and has a few extra power charges from the skill tree and bandit quest, I need the Power Charge on Critical on my Fireball. I also need Life leech, LMP and obviously FB itself. That leaves room for either Fire Penetration OR Conc. Effect as support.

Which one gives the better overall DPS boost? Does it matter if I run with Flammability or not? I tend to switch between Flammability, Temporal Chains or Critical Weakness depending on how hard the map is.

This is my current Fireball Setup, so the questions is whether to switch Fire Penetration for Conc. Effect or leave it as it is :-)



This is my build if that matters:


Again, thanks for a well researched and friendly guide!

"

MrHarakiri wrote:

This is my current Fireball Setup, so the questions is whether to switch Fire Penetration for Conc. Effect or leave it as it is :-)

Both are multiplicative damage modifiers. The 32% penetration (lvl 17 gem) that the enemy suffers translates into "your damage" x 1.32. A lvl concentrated effect gives 69% more damage, your damage therefore gets multiplied by 1.69. So CE gives you more dps (although non really shows up in the tooltip).
You would have to change the socket colours on your chest, but getting 3B,R,G on an ES piece shouldn't be too hard.

Anyone with this build, start using the new skill Flameblast also now?

I haven't tested it with my fire witch (she's in standard while i play the new leagues atm). I would guess this skill is best used in combination with cold snap the way miraio is using it in his CI Flameblast/Infernal Mantle Burning Witch with video guide. It's the best way to keep you safe while casting flameblast AND prevent the mobs from moving out of the explosion circle. I would link it with trap thouigh: Trap - Cold snap - elemental proliferation - Increased area of effect.

Nice guide man!

I'm rolling with it now. I got lucky and 5 linked my searing touch yesterday and 5 linked my infernal mantle!!! So a fire witch had to be made!

Questions though:

1. Would a cloak of defiance be better endgame than the infernal mantle? It would seem on the surface it has everything a fire witch would want. Just not sure if the defensive properties of cloak would be better or not.

2. How long will this 5 linked searing take me? Thinking of going rathpith wand combo at some point. The plus burn dmg on the searing really nice obviously as well as the plus fire dmg. Thoughts?

Thanks for your time. I haven't really decided life or CI. I don't have a lot of currency so life seems like its a little cheaper to gear for. Plus I can grab pieces from my scion and ranger to help out.

PS. Basically I'm trying to make a gear decision based on the insufficient currency I'm working with. Do I keep the chest and sell the staff at some point for a rathpith etc..? Or do I keep the staff and trade the chest in for a cloak of defiance? Or keep both and run with what I got? Does staying life or going CI lend itself to either chest? How do the low mana mechanics work with the infernal while running two auras? Is it low mana of what's not reserved? Sorry and thanks.

"

inB4nOOb wrote:

Nice guide man!

I'm rolling with it now. I got lucky and 5 linked my searing touch yesterday and 5 linked my infernal mantle!!! So a fire witch had to be made!

Questions though:

1. Would a cloak of defiance be better endgame than the infernal mantle? It would seem on the surface it has everything a fire witch would want. Just not sure if the defensive properties of cloak would be better or not.

2. How long will this 5 linked searing take me? Thinking of going rathpith wand combo at some point. The plus burn dmg on the searing really nice obviously as well as the plus fire dmg. Thoughts?

Thanks for your time. I haven't really decided life or CI. I don't have a lot of currency so life seems like its a little cheaper to gear for. Plus I can grab pieces from my scion and ranger to help out.

PS. Basically I'm trying to make a gear decision based on the insufficient currency I'm working with. Do I keep the chest and sell the staff at some point for a rathpith etc..? Or do I keep the staff and trade the chest in for a cloak of defiance? Or keep both and run with what I got? Does staying life or going CI lend itself to either chest? How do the low mana mechanics work with the infernal while running two auras? Is it low mana of what's not reserved? Sorry and thanks.

Defiance vs infernal mantle depends on your build: The mantle is best used with a CI build, whereas the cloak needs a life build (with Eltrich Battery) to work.
My personal playstyle doesn't favour the cloak as i tend to run as many auras as possible, leaving not enough mana left for a decent damage reduction via mana pool. But that's my personal bias. If you have a big enough mana pool left after auras, 40% damage taken from mana first is a very good damage mitigation. If not you are better of with a rare armour that gives life and resists.
Speaking of unused mana: You have to be careful with how many auras you run with infernal mantle. If you have less than 35% mana left you take double damage from spells. So you best run discipline and a cautiously leveled clarity only here. Sovereignty and a reduced mana gem should be enough to keep the mana over 35%.

There are people that use Searing Touch through endgame. Personally i prefer a good wand/dagger shield combo.

Because you own two 5L the following two combinations would be best:
For a CI build Infernal Mantle with dagger/wand + shield
For life build Searing Touch with Cloak of Defiance (you need EB and enough free mana here) or a chest with Life and resists. You can look for BIS mods here without breaking the bank as you don't need a 5L as chest.