[1.0.X] [Witch/Templar] Multiple discharge + cast on damage + cast on stun = AFK mass destruction

Wanted to test what a discharger can do with trigger gems.

Here is the result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_i0_LmoruM.

Video by TRYTOTAMETHEBEAST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAptmRsThCM.
And his summary: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/575998/page/21#p6436043.





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Disclaimers:
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DISCLAIMER 1: It started as a proof of concept spec, to test trigger gems, not intended for new players, levelling, hardcore or hard maps. However solo performance is good so far.

DISCLAIMER 2: I play on Standard league and accumulated good gear for a discharger. This build might not work otherwise.

DISCLAIMER 3: Prices are going nuts since release on Standard, up to 4 times higher than before. I got most of the gear back in closed beta when it was possible to farm for a reasonable time to get it.

DISCLAIMER 4: This build does not work in parties, unless it is a small party and not public, with a friend or two. Reasons are explained below. A regular discharge setup is strongly recommended for public parties.

DISCLAIMER 5: Several core items are not available in new leagues. This build can still work without them. Please refer to 'Gear availability in new leagues' section closer to the end of this post for details.


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Videos:
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Note: flasks are used rarely for run speed buff and to dispel bleeds.

1.0.4 videos:



1.0.3 videos:



1.0.2 video (no flasks, better rings):



1.0.1 videos:



1.0.0 videos:




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Concept:
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- CI and no stun immunity for constant stuns leading to Cast when Stunned gem procs
- Life Leech gems with Ghost Reaver and Vaal Pact passive skills to stay alive and deal with reflect
- Discipline aura for more ES; another aura like Haste (for run speed), Purity (resists) or Grace (evasion or armor with Iron Reflexes passive) can be used as well
- high spell crit ES gear with Voll's Protector and Voll's Devotion to roll charges
- Cast when Stunned and Cast when Damage Taken gems linked to charge generators and discharges to deal damage
- Critical Weakness (curse, more damage), Enduring cry (more endurance charges) and Blood Rage (for frenzy charges) auto casted by lvl 1 Cast when Damage Taken


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Play style:
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Run into packs of mobs or to a boss, watch them die. The more damage they deal, the more spell casts proc.

Please note that this build does not work in parties. The character does not take enough damage to proc discharges constantly. Overall damage is low. Unless other party members just follow behind and don't tag monsters.


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My current stats:
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With charges:

Offence


Defense


Without charges:

Offence


Defense



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Talent tree:
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Witch example:



Templar example:



My current talent tree at level 88:



Possible options:
- drop either witch or templar damage nodes, depending on character class
- drop one of the 'circles' with ES nodes
- take the upper path (on templar side) to get 'Energy Shield on Shield' nodes
- get Vaal Pact going clockwise (through dexterity nodes)

Path to Vaal Pact takes a lot of nodes (15 or 16), but this talent is required to not to get oneshotted by elemental reflect packs and in maps with similar mod.


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Recommended gear:
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Chest: Voll's Protector (I have a 6-linked, but a 5-linked will work fine too)

Amulet: Voll's Devotion

Rings (option 1, used in my videos before 1.0.2): ES + resists + dexterity rare, Dream Fragments

Rings (option 2, better but more expensive): ES + spell crit + resists + dexterity rare (left slot), Shavronne's Revelation (right ring slot)

Weapon: Divinarius (Void Battery might be a better but more expensive option)

Shield: ES + spell crit rare

Gloves: Voidbringer

Belt: ES + resists rare

Boots: Rainbowstride

Please note that it is possible to replace weapon and boots with rare items which can be even better in terms of stats useful for this build.

Also note that Voll's Devotion amulet and Shavronne's Revelation ring no longer drop and are not available in new leagues. Please refer to 'Gear availability in new leagues' section closer to the end of this post for details.


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Recommended gem setup:
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Example of charge generator: Cast when Damage Taken or Cast when Stunned + GMP + Ice Spear + Freezing Pulse (or Fireball). Keep all gems at level 1 (except for Cast when Stunned) for more CwDT procs and less damage from reflect. Skills are used only to generate charges from crits, not for damage.

Example of discharge setup: Discharge + Life Leech + Cast when Damage Taken + Cast when Stunned + Increased Critical Strikes + Increased Critical Damage. Balance gem levels (CwDT and Discharge) according to your ES (or just level them to max), level other gems to max.

I tested different gem combinations and gem levels and currently use 2 charge generators and 2 discharges, see 'Current gear and gem setup' section for details.

Example of utility spells: level 1 Cast when Damage Taken + level 5 Critical Weakness + level 5 Enduring Cry + level 5 Blood Rage.

Discipline aura and Purity auras are useful as well. More information about them is provided below.


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My current gear and gem setup:
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Summary:
- 1 auto discharge in chest, linked to both CwDT and CwS (not max lvl because I'm still levelling them)
- 1 auto discharge in gloves, linked to CwS (I don't use a second CwDT because its 250 ms cooldown is shared with all similar gem combos)
- 2 auto charge generator setups, one in helm and one in boots, all gems are lvl 1 (except for CwS) for more CwDT procs and to reduce damage from elemental reflect, all linked to GMP: ice spear and freezing pulse linked to CwDT (different spells because CwDT 250 ms cooldown is shared); two ice spears linked to CwS (proc chance is rolled individually for each spell, can’t proc together though
- lvl 5 critical weakness (curse), lvl 5 enduring cry (more endurance charges) and lvl 5 blood rage (buff to get frenzy charges on kill) all linked to lvl 1 CwDT gems in shield and in weapon
- max level Discipline aura in weapon (for more energy shield, link to CwDT gem does not work with it)

This is not intended to be the perfect gem setup. It is what I currently use after testing different options within the time I had.


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Bandits quest rewards:
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Normal: resists or skill point
Cruel: skill point
Merciless: endurance or power charge


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Gear availability in new leagues:
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TL/DR:

The build still works without Voll's Devotion and Shavronne's Revelation.


FULL EXPLAINATION:

Voll's Devotion amulet and Shavronne's Revelation ring no longer drop and are not available in new leagues.

The amulet provides endurance charges thus buffing damage and survivability (physical defence, smoother back to back discharges).

The ring (in right ring slot) buffs survivability (good amount of energy shield, constant energy shield regeneration).

However the build still works without them.

Without Voll's Devotion there are usually none or just a few endurance carges, therefore '+1 Maximum Endurance Charge' passive skill node is no longer needed. The same reward from merciless bandits quest becomes inferior as well.

To see nearly the worst possible scenario, here is some gameplay footage of running three maps with hard mods (elemental reflect, elemental weakness, vulnerability + shocking ground), without both uniques, without over capped resists, without Elemental Adaptation passive skill node and with just one aura (Discipline): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcnwXtCeRMc.

This video demonstrates limits of this build under quite unfavorable circumstances. Be sure to follow endgame map guidance provided below to properly deal with them.


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Endgame map guidance:
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TL/DR:

- Hard but doable map mods are: elemental reflect, lower maximum resistances, elemental weakness, blood magic
- It is most likely enough to just run Discipline aura for all maps with no more than one hard mod
- Skip elemental reflect maps if you take too much damage there


FULL GUIDANCE:

Hard map mods:
- elemental reflect
- lower maximum resistances
- elemental weakness
- blood magic

Other mods to make note of:
- shocking ground
- vulnerability

Watch for:
- elemental reflect packs (combined with lower resists)
- heavy hitting physical attack bosses (can one shot by an unlucky crit)
- spell reflect monsters (Undying Evangelists - run inside their aura to kill)
- degeneration effects (bleeds and other DoT effects)

How to increase survivability by optimizing gem setup:
- use Discipline aura for more ES
- use Purity of Elements aura to compensate for elemental weakness
- use Purity of Lightning aura to compensate for Elemental reflect, Lower maximum resistances, Elemental Weakness
- use Purity of Fire aura (needed mostly with Voll's Devotion) to compensate for Elemental reflect, Lower maximum resistances, Elemental Weakness

How to increase survivability by upgrading gear:
- More energy shield (7k recommended)
- Enough crit chance (70% w/o charges recommended)
- Over capped resists (enough to compensate for elemental weakness)

How to increase survivability by optimizing skill tree:
- Elemental Adaptation passive skill node
- elemental resists nodes
- elemental resists bandits quest reward (normal difficulty)

How to increase survivability by optimizing flasks:
- use armor flasks while fighting heavy hitting physical attack bosses
- use bleed dispel flasks
- shock dispel, curse dispel, resists flasks are also an option

How to increase survivability by optimizing bandits quest rewards:
- Elemental resists reward from normal difficulty
- Endurance charge reward from merciless difficulty (only useful with Voll's Devotion)

Overall advice:
- A combination of hard map mods can be deadly (like elemental reflect + lower maximum resistances + blood magic)
- For best clear speed use standard gem setup (see 'My current gear and gem setup' section) if it is fine to die from time to time to a combo of hard map mods or an over buffed boss (death frequency depends on gear, knowledge of content and play style)
- For lower clear speed but noticeably better survivability run a full aura gem setup (Discipline + Purity of Lightning + Purity of Fire + Reduced Mana), take Elemental Adaptation passive skill node, over cap cold resist to compensate for elemental weakness (lightning and fire resists should be over capped as well with the help of purity auras), get Shavronne's Revelation ring if possible (for constant ES regeneration), get Voll's Devotion amulet if possible (for endurance charges)
- For more survivability without Voll's Devotion it should be better to use Purity of Ice aura instead of Purity of Fire (no endurance charges from this amulet, but frenzy charges still present from Blood Rage) and over cap fire resistance instead of cold resistance (cold resistance will get over capped from aura)

Example of gem setup for more survivability (changed gems in weapon and boots):


Defence without charges (with gem setup for more survivability):
http://i.imgur.com/nUQ8vNq.jpg

Please note that:
- Degeneration effects do not proc trigger gems, so make sure to learn when they occur and take proper action
- Experiment with gear, gems and talents to find suitable balance between clear speed and survivability according to your needs
- It is possible to swap gems or gear to increase survivability for maps with hard mods if needed
- Remember that if map mods seem hard then you can always to skip or reroll such map
- Results may differ depending on your gear level, play style, knowledge of game mechanics and endgame content

reserved

Which bandit rewards would you say is the optimal choice?

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mangosmash wrote:

Which bandit rewards would you say is the optimal choice?

This build is just a proof of concept, but I guess skill/skill/charge is optimal.

Or resists on normal difficulty if you don't have good resist gear.

Power or endurance charge on merciless. Power for damage, endurance for a bit better survivability. Power can be more universal in case you decide to respec to a ranged caster or power-only discarger later.

Now that bandit respecs will be implemented soon, these decisions could be revised at least.

can you test your build against lightning thorns ?

"

baadgeek wrote:

can you test your build against lightning thorns ?

According to this post http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/110390#p1098316 ligtning thorns reflect melee damage.

In case they reflect other damage, they should work like reflect. And running into reflect packs is quite amusing as they trigger the following sequence: discharge - reflect - discharge - reflect untill the pack dies. With instant life leeches and charge generators in between.

Fun fact is that it is so fast, faster than a machine gun, more like discharge shotgun... Reflect packs just evaporate into nothing leaving you at full health :).

Elemental reflect map madness video added: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er8TZlcP3X4

why not use the "Life" build instead of "CI" build ?

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neutronex wrote:

why not use the "Life" build instead of "CI" build ?

Life is an option as well, Kripparian runs a life based Discharge build now.

CI gives chaos immunitiy and ES still regenerates with Vaal Pact, while life does not. Spell crit nodes are closer to CI as well.

You should update with the video of you successfully running an ele reflect map. It was a brilliant moment when you