[1.0.3b] Self-cast Storm Call, CI, CwS, high block build.
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Hi, this is a build I've been working on and leveling since news broke about storm call, and I believe it is ready to share with you!
Gameplay with this build often is incredibly fast as it can chew through packs, and many map bosses are absurdly easy to facetank due to the build's use of CwS gems and high block! The higher health mobs have in parties also becomes nearly a non-issue with this build, as all your party members gain the benefit of your sweet, sweet, triple shock stacks :) So take a look, give feedback if you want, and have fun! Key Features of this Build: Easy shock stacking Abuses cast when stunned for tons of free spells High block chance Chaos Inoculation
End Game Passive Bonuses
Chaos Inoculation & Ghost Reaver 44% increased Spell Dmg 42% increased Lightning Dmg 20% increased Elemental Dmg 12% increased Area Dmg 135% increased Critical Strike Chance 182% increased Maximum Energy Shield 12% more Maximum Energy Shield 24% additional Chance to Block 60% increased Armour 95% increased Evasion Rating 24% to all Elemental Resists 15% to Lightning Resist 38% increased effect of Auras 21% reduced Mana Reserved 56% increased maximum Mana 60% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 20% Chance to Shock 12% increased Radius of Area Skills 12% of Block Chanced applied to Spells
Passives for Every 10 Points
Maps I have completed
These are the maps I have had a chance to try out so far, with some commentary.
Lvl 66 Maps
 This map was not nearly as dangerous as I thought it would be, but it did make it slower to clear. Hillock was facetanked with ease, especially since his new ability makes him even easier than before for CI builds :)  This map I did in a party of 2. I was able to tank both bosses solo easily after my teammate had to port to town, though mana did become an issue due to the smothering mod.  This map was also quickly cleared, and the Bishop was facetanked with flask charges remaining afterwards.  Elemental Equilibrium slowed down clear speed some, but not terribly due to Lightning Penetration imo. The Ape Chieftain boss was facetanked.  The map was slower to clear due to the smothering mod. The Daughter of Merveil boss was facetanked.
Lvl 67 Maps
 Fast map to clear and easy boss to facetank.  This map was a breeze until the Skeleton Archer boss, where forgetting to keep granite up turned out to be really dangerous with 2.8k ES.
Current Gear
Skills and Links
Storm Call > Elemental Proliferation > Life Leech > Lightning Penetration > (5-link) Faster Casting or (6-link) Concentrated Effect + Increased Area of Effect This is the primary offense of the build. Storm Call, Elemental Proliferation, and Static Blows are an amazing combination, enabling triple shock stacks with ease and regularity, which greatly boost this build's potential in party situations. Lighting Penetration was chosen over other dmg gems due to its effectiveness against the toughest mobs this build faces, whereas increasing tooltip dps against mobs already easy to handle is less important. So while a lvl 20 Penetration only adds 35% dmg to a mob with 0% resists, it adds 240% dmg to a mob with 75% resists! Tempest Shield > Reduced Mana > Power Charge on Critical Power charge on crit linked to tempest shield gives power charges to bypass the cooldown on cold snap, enabling this build to keep even more mobs frozen at once. Reduced Mana > Discipline > Clarity Lighting Warp > Faster Casting > Reduced Duration This is just an amazing movement ability which is used for everything from simple travel, to initiating fights, to clutch escapes, to finishing off weakened packs as you port to the next fresh pack. It also allows for maintaining Arctic Armour in combat easier. Cast when Stunned > Enduring Cry > Molten Shell > Decoy Totem Cast when Stunned > Enfeeble > Cold Snap > Blood Rage These linked to CwS are what makes the build surprisingly tanky against most mobs, and are a must-have. Blood Rage combined with Chaos Inoculation acts like a free Faster Casting support gem for all skill gems, and this build can maintain nearly 100% uptime on it, as well as on endurance charges through Enduring Cry linked to CwS. Arctic Armour I am still testing this ability out, but so far it feels very powerful with only a slight mana inconvenience at its current lvl 7
Bandit Rewards
Normal: Alira The mana is really useful for leveling this build and always is beneficial even in late game. I could see an argument made against it if mana is not an issue while lvling for you however. Cruel: Kill All 4% cast speed isn't enough imo to essentially spend a passive for it Merciless: Oak Endurance charges are very easy to maintain for this build. When you consider the amount of armour needed to add just +4% damage reduction to a hit by Brutus/Kole, and what you'd be giving up to get that much, it makes sense to spend a passive point instead.
Current Stats
    Block and Tempest Shield By having high spell block, 71% currently, not only is a ton of spell dmg avoided but the status effects associated with them that are so devastating for CI builds are also frequently avoided as well. By socketing tempest shield into moonsorrow, mobs blocked have a 9% chance of being blinded. This may not seem like much, especially since it requires blocking, but even with my current 58% block chance, 6% of all attacks received cause the mobs to be blinded, which is extremely noticeable in combat! Philosophy of Cast when Stunned Gaining unwavering is either very costly in passive nodes or requires a rather underwhelming ammy, so this build embraces the stun problem inherent in CI builds and attempts to turn it into a positive. The goal of the CwS linked skills is to give added survivability: Enfeeble, Enduring Cry, Molten Shell, Decoy Totem, and Cold Snap. The effectiveness of these gems are common knowledge, and having all of them firing off rapidly is insanely powerful. Logic Behind Cast when Stunned As ES gives a 50/50 chance of avoiding being stunned, and as this build has 58% block chance and 71% spell block chance, being able to be stunned so easily isn't as bad as it seems. To explain, here is an example in which 4 hits that could stun occur, with each case being approximately equally likely for the sake of simplification (The positive outcomes actually have higher odds): Case 1: Ignore the stun and take dmg. Case 2: Ignore the stun, block all dmg, and the mob gets damaged. Case 3: Get stunned, take dmg, and 0 to 6 spells fire off, with ~3 occurring on average. Case 4: Get stunned, block all dmg, the mob takes dmg, and 0 to 6 spells fire off. By this logic, through high block and cast when stunned, only 25% of stuns are actually a hindrance to this build, with 50% of stuns enabling the use of more spells faster than this build could ever support with respect to both mana and cast time otherwise. This makes the gameplay feel very fast and fluid, and a ton of fun! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please leave feedback if you have any! Last edited by OccamsRazor17#2496 on Dec 17, 2013, 1:38:36 PM
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Updated the build with my current stats. The screenshots were taken in the merc Catacombs with my auras on. I had a bit over 400 mana left after Discipline, Clarity, and Tempest Shield.
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I like the idea of turning getting stunned into a positive.
Message me (or post in your thread) once you have tested the build by running some maps. Gonna link it in the witch builds list then. |
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" Will do. Thanks! |
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Hey everyone, I found the time to run a few maps and posted my experience with the build so far. Tl;dr, my first few maps with this build were a blast!
Also posted my stats with the new gear I bought, as I burned a large chunk of my orbs to finally get an item worth more than a few chaos :) |
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del
Last edited by Luc1f3rr#1030 on Dec 15, 2013, 11:30:23 AM
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" Nvm, I see you found the answer to your question :) Last edited by OccamsRazor17#2496 on Dec 15, 2013, 11:39:09 AM
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Updated a bunch of sections and, more importantly, turned on spell check finally...
Let me know what you think! Last edited by OccamsRazor17#2496 on Dec 15, 2013, 8:54:16 PM
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would this be a crazy awesome build with Aegis Aurora recovering 4% of your armor when you block or not? activating a granite flask alone would give 120 energy shield recovery on every block, not including the bonus armor nodes you pick up, getting around 400-500 shield back every block could be pretty easy, not sure if the lost spell block on the shield would be an issue or not, honestly not sure if spell block would even trigger the shield regen.
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" Aegis Aurora would definitely work amazingly well. With a granite that rolled Iron Skin this build could easily get 350 ES/Block using Aegis as literally the only gear with armour. I would try Aegis out if I could afford one, especially since getting Rainbowstrides along with it at that point would only cost a bit more, and then this build would still have 54% spell block which is still respectable. Also I'm pretty sure Aegis does activate on spell block, so long as it's not for reflected spell dmg. |
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