[Strongest Solo Variation: Projectile Madness Spectres] LMP/GMP Ice Spear 2x Totem 2x Curse 3x Traps

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shredR wrote:

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renroval wrote:

So honest and serious question:

Totems do 40% less damage and 30% slower casts.

You dual totem so you can't cast other spells (other than curses).

Wouldn't this be really low dps overall? It says HIGH DPS...how so now?

well, if you concider that it doesnt cost you any more mana once you put the totem down, and does a steady stream of quite high dps, there are a few other things to concider...

*you dont have to stop casting your ice spear to cast curses
*you are much safer as you can better avoid mobs and be mobile for fights, rather than planted in one spot
*you are now free to cast things like fire trap, bear trap, and other traps/mines which can do a significant amount of damage

just a few things to consider..

yeah I gathered that. Just wondering now how this can kill bosses when you can neither tank nor summon durable enough minions

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Vhexd wrote:

In the first build you link you take early increased attack speed up to Savant, in your levelling guide you've taken the Spell Crit Chance nodes, which do you actually recommend? Or do you respec at some point?

I think to compensate for the speed nerf you go with the increased speed nodes

Anyone running a dual totem witch on hardcore now?

Are you going CI, or are you rushing towards templar/marauder for armor/life?
The initial ES nodes doesn't seem sufficient for the entire build.

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DaMightyTom wrote:

The initial ES nodes doesn't seem sufficient for the entire build.

My only gripe with this build as well, at the moment. It should still work with high-end ES gear but no one likes gear dependency. :(

I guess the last revision was on the initial CI nerf, when you still had the cluster with the extra ES next to it, hence the '3(?) extra points to counter CI nerf' remark. Off the top of my head, you could go Templar instead and go for some AR/Life nodes. That would gimp mana regen and crit stacking pretty badly, though. So.. thoughts, HS? :P

Where do you guys find the damn Dexterity for this build? I had to find a good Dex Ring to equip just to be able to use some moves

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Approximation wrote:

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gmnenad wrote:

Why would 2nd totem be better than yourself casting that spell?

I'm not an experienced player myself, but I can think of 3 distinct reasons as to why 2 totems would be better than one totem and you casting the spells.

1. Skill gems, and sockets on items: If you want you and a totem casting ice spears (or any other spell) you would need 2 piece of gear with the right color sockets linked, one for your ice spear with the totem support (and anything else you might want with them GMP, faster casting, cold penetration, etc.) and another without the totem support in order to be able to cast the spell yourself. This way you would have more restriction on gear, and if you want quality gems, you would need 2 of them.

2. Resource management: A spell totem support gem has a mana cost multiplier of 250% (could be different in OB, it was 250% in CB) and lasts 30 seconds on max level. You essentially save mana if you cast a second totem for 2,5 times the mana cost instead of repeatedly casting the spell yourself.

3. Control: While you can't deal damage that doesn't mean you can't do anything useful. You can summon minions, cast curses or frost wall to help your totems or party members. If you don't need any of that you could still manually dodge projectiles coming at you, or pick up stuff form the ground.

Those are good points, especially #2, but they bring some additional questions:

1) Gems: do you mean that I can use same IceSpear gem and same GMP gem for both first and second totem? I just need to cast totem 2nd time? Or I need two sets of gems to use 2nd totem? Also, if I have one IceSpear gem, linked to GMP and to totem gem... can I cast totem and also cast my own IceSpears with just that one gem? Or do I need two sets of IceSpear gems for that?

2) Mana: this one is probably MAIN reason why totems could be better. I didn't know that it use mana just once (those 250%), and if that is true, then it it much more mana efficient than if you cast spell

3) Control: this one is least persuasive. You can cast pets before fight or once in fight, also frost wall or similar, and continue casting your own IceSpears

For 1st totem, this does not change my previous oppinion: 1st totem is ALWAYS good. It will increase your DPS for some 40%, without negative effects.

For 2nd totem, if I understood above correctly, it makes 2nd totem better in long fights (20sec+), where you want to save on mana. It does NOT make '2nd totem' better DPS than '1totem+yourself' when you can use potions, or in short fights. And it have drawbacks (like you are not able to focus damage on boss, totems will shoot any mobs...)

But still, with above assumptions, I can see that 2nd totem CAN be good, even if personally I will be satisfied with 1st totem ;p

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gmnenad wrote:

snippity

1. You don't need 2 sets of gems. Just get the passive node and the maximum totems you can deploy goes up to 2. If you're not taking the passive node and want to cast it yourself along with the item, you will need 2 sets of gems, or at the very least another Ice Spear gem.

2. This isn't accurate. Totems are relatively weak at higher levels, especially now that mob damage got buffed. Any decent totem build relies on you 'herding' the mob pack with totems, which means recasting them often, sometimes even before they get 2-shotted. This is why HS has so many mana-related talents. No mana = no totem to pull aggro.

3. Totems lets you cast the filler spells (pets, traps and so forth) without interrupting the damage dealing. This isn't true for normal casting.

2 totems basically give you double DPS and added utility (in the case of ice spear). Simple as that.


I don't want to be a dick but #1 and #3 were implicitly answered in the original post.

Let's talk about ES nao. Anyone past 40ish that has already taken CI? Are the ES nodes enough as is?

I lost the post where i posted "you can build w.e you want".

but yes, you can build w.e you want as long as you get double ice spear totems and the curses which is the point of this build.

Is it better do be a witch or a templar to make a dual totem ice spear build ?

so this is my build atm: http://tinyurl.com/b3x9dcr
im lvl 32.

since there is no totems in sight im wondering if i should start investing in ES for IC like this: http://tinyurl.com/ak2okp6 (11 points)

and if i wont get totems after 11 points like this: http://tinyurl.com/adoavns
(12 points for more ES)


or should i invest, after 11 points to CS and some cold dmg like this: http://tinyurl.com/a8b6ujn (10 points)

ty