[v1.7] 39k+ DPS with INFERNAL BLOW, +239% life, +6.8% regen, +145% armor, TRIPLE curses + blinds!

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Fuzznimp wrote:

Yeah sure. Couldn't play that muche since EU here and I work on saturday so wiil see. I love the idea behind arc totem :).

I love the fact that they made a F2P game, which isn't pay 2 win - and leaves room for creativity. :)

Hi nocebo,

thanks for this guide. I want to try a similar build in Anarchy League now but I'm not sure if this will work.

Can you please give me hints if I am missing something. I want to use a 2 handed axe with infernal blow and melee splash. Is it possible to go without blood magic or will the mana costs of infernal blow with all support gems be to high?

Build:


Skills:


Another question: does it make sense to buff arc totem with static blows or is the shock duration too short?

Thanks in advance

tweedle

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tweedle wrote:

Is it possible to go without blood magic or will the mana costs of infernal blow with all support gems be to high?

I have a toon in a3 cruel using 4L Infernal Blow + Melee Splash + Elemental Proliferation + Melee Physical Damage. I'm managing fine so far without Blood Magic but it's less convenient. My Build requires Hatred so I can't spec into Blood Magic. 5L without Blood Magic should be doable but my guess is for 6L passive mana nodes or a lot of mana & mana-regen on gear is required.

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tweedle wrote:

Another question: does it make sense to buff arc totem with static blows or is the shock duration too short?

Don't bother, it's not doing enough damage to trigger shock.

Exactly what fae76 said about shocks.

There simply isn't enough damage on the Arc -totem. It's just there for the debuffing.

I think the magic -whatever his/her name was again (check previous page), could answer your questions better about melee splash. I've been away from the game for 3 months, thus I still haven't tested out how melee splash/multistrike works.

I have no idea how the build works without blood magic, because I consider it a core keystone for the build. You don't basically burn any life attacking/casting anything, since your regen will be crazy high.

Thank you for your quick replies, I will go with blood magic then.

Just one more question: is it a viable option to pick vaal pact instead of those regen nodes? My build only has ~90% increased life, so maybe that instant leech is better for me (and saves me some passive skill points)?

It doesn't make sense to run fire penetration with double/triple curse. The payoff just isn't that big when you've got so much -resist from elemental weakness and flammability. I would personally favor multistrike for offense, but frankly, you've got plenty of offense, so I'd go life leech. I know the OP doesn't use it, but it makes an enormous difference.

As for melee splash: melee splash is great. Obviously it reduces your single target DPS, but the effect on groups is delightful. However, it is not compatible with EE and arc totem. Melee splash will hit every enemy in the group with every swing, pretty much, while arc only hits 3 targets. The result is that most targets will have their fire resist INCREASED by EE, instead of decreased. One option is to get your EE procs off a true AoE skill like frost nova totem (inc aoe + blind + spell totem + frost nova), but my personal preference is to just say fuck EE (which will make you more group friendly) and go skelly totem.

A note on your build: Not enough health. No, the most recent patch hasn't really changed things that much. You still need a bunch of health nodes. You barely have any. 150% minimum (equivalent to 200% before patch).

Speculation (I haven't tried this): With your focus on physical rather than elemental damage nodes, it might be possible to make up your mana shortfall with on-gear mana leech, allowing you to forgo blood magic, and thus run some %based auras. Clarity + grace + anger + wrath on life (with a covenant or malachai's, obviously not with a gem, too much life), then hatred + determination + purity/haste/vitality on mana.

Thank you for this info @magictectangle.

I think I will try Vaal Pact with life leech gem and drop those regen nodes.

You are right about arc totem, I didn't consider this.

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magicrectangle wrote:

As for melee splash: melee splash is great. Obviously it reduces your single target DPS, but the effect on groups is delightful. However, it is not compatible with EE and arc totem. Melee splash will hit every enemy in the group with every swing, pretty much, while arc only hits 3 targets. The result is that most targets will have their fire resist INCREASED by EE, instead of decreased. One option is to get your EE procs off a true AoE skill like frost nova totem (inc aoe + blind + spell totem + frost nova), but my personal preference is to just say fuck EE (which will make you more group friendly) and go skelly totem.

If you go Frost Nova Totem you can as well drop blind it simply doesn't proc often enough. I tried Frost Nova and I'm back to Arc. In my experience it doesn't matter much if fire resists increases for some mobs. Once the chain-reaction starts (a few weakened mobs are enough for this to happen with the first hit) there is usually no stopping it. But then I have no map experience with this build, might well be that things change in higher levels. On the other hand once you get your hands on a second 5L add chain to the Arc Totem, this should hit more mobs and trigger even more blind.

Once the group is ready to blow, yeah, it will usually all blow, but your fire damage from the splash is reduced by EE fire resists too, not just the final explosion damage. EE just isn't worth it in my opinion, especially if you ever want to play in a party.

I'm not a fan of vaal pact. It makes suffering maps a pain in the ass, and you'd be surprised how often seething flasks come in handy. Vaal pact is great with ghost reaver builds (assuming you can get all the way down to it) but I really can't see ever using it with a health build. Potions and regen are just too nice.

Is it just me or did playing melee actually get harder since 0.11? I'm leveling a new toon and every 2nd hit stuns me. 1500 max live (+130% live @lvl 49, on my way to more) this seems quite strange to me. My armor is mediocre at best (~30% reduction) but resistances are all > 70%