[1.3.x] Dual Flame Totems: Solo, Self-Found, Beginner-friendly. AA+EB!

Hi,

I want to make a dual Flame Totem build in the next league.

I agree with the point of view, that a +12 fire is more interesting than a +8 Totem.

I have a question: why don't you consider the node Heart of Flame?

Thank you,

Raoul

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed guide. It really covers a major chunk of everything you need to know to start this build.

Im thinking of running this build with MF for the new league (softcore). I was wondering, which start would be better? I see Templar having really nice Ele Dmg and Witch having nice Mana/Mana regen nodes at start. Survivability is not the 1st priority as its softcore. And im thinking of linking FT+LMP/GMP+FirePen+FasterCasting+IIR+Culling if I ever get a 6L, so Ill definitely have a lower DPS. So thinking of making it up with better starting nodes? Idk.

Any thoughts?

"

Mivo wrote:

From the 1.3 patch notes:

"

Auras and aura-like effects can now affect totems.
Summoned totems are only affected by auras that affect defensive properties.
Summoned totems still use their summoner's skills. In order for an offensive aura to have an effect, it must affect the summoner, not the totem.

So, Purity of Elements suddenly became interesting. Without much number crunching, I think we can ignore Ironwood, fit PoE on the character, and grab some cost reduction nodes + other stuff. Very preliminary, gotta play with that some.

What do you guys think of this?

Level 90 build with Purity of Elements/X

edit: Mark confirmed that Discipline will give the totems an energy shield, too.

Wow, that's really interesting. Like the tree you linked, I think rather than going to ironwood it's better to take some aura nodes for purity of elements. More totem resists for less points, I guess. It would also make gearing up easier.

You may be right about celestial punishment, but, at least with my gear, I'm not insta killing all rares and I notice they are always ignited. Maybe with better gear it would be unnecessary.

So far I really like what 1.3 brings to this build.

@Raoul: I didn't include Heart of Flame because of a lack of points. I believe that the build is likely to have too much mana regeneration for players with good gear, but since Arctic Armor is such a huge survivability boost (even in its new, nerfed state), I err on the side of average/poorly geared characters. I also took a relatively good number of life nodes because dying is not fun. :) But if you want more damage, you could easily drop Purity of Flesh and/or Combat Stamina and grab Heart of Flame. I think I may include this as an optional build (for softcore, or if the gear allows it).

@deadphanit: Either start (Scion, Witch, Templar) will work. I prefer Scion in general, because she gets plenty of the gems needed for the build (Witch doesn't get FT, unless that changed), but if that's not relevant, I'd go with the Witch. Damage won't be a problem, really. Mana and mana reg are the potential bottlenecks if your gear is not developed yet and you want to run AA and three auras. As mentioned by Raoul, there's always Heart of the Flame to get once everything else is in place and you're in a position where you can sacrifice mana/mana reg/resists/life for more damage. For MF, I'd use a secondary 4L setup for a culling strike/IIR FT and just drop them when bosses/champions get low. Means you won't get the IIR from regular mobs, but your killing speed will not be affected that way.

@shrandis: I put Celestial Punishment in the L90 tree, though I think these would be two points I might put toward Heart of the Flame, if I had the others I needed for that! Purity of Elements worries me a bit because I don't think it's feasible early on before Reduced Mana is leveled up and the character and the gear come together. But then again, the totems do now get an energy shield of their own (they take damage from ground effects now, which is new in 1.3) and casting FT is so cheap with all the reduced costs nodes and the generally lower casting costs since 1.2 that this should work out well as long as folks don't go overboard with Arctic Armor before they can support it. (Happened to me, too, so I had to toggle AA on and off as needed, for a while.)

I think overall the build really benefits from the 1.3 changes. I'll start a FT Scion in Bloodlines and see how things go. I'll also run some tests on my L90 Scion when the patch is released to get a non-theoretical impression of the mana costs under the new conditions.

On the weekend, I should also update the leveling trees. For now, it's just the same as before:

- Head toward Ancestral Bond and delay taking the keystone until FT are available. On the way, grab survival or mana/dmg nodes as needed (HC players may want to grab some of the life nodes, e.g, the big one in the Scion Wheel), though the trip through the Templar area takes care of most needs (the 30 DEX node will probably be needed for from-scratch leveling).

- The next stop is Eldritch Battery above the Witch area.

- I'd then go down to Sentinel and pick up Totemic Zeal and Totemic Mastery.

- After that, it's probably time to get the aura cost reduction nodes.

But it's all flexible and everything is in easy reach. It's what I like about this build: the flexibility and room for adjustment depending on the character's current needs. I'll update the quest rewards section as I go through Bloodlines (all assuming my character doesn't croak in the process!) since apparently these changed again.

I've always wanted a flame totem build but some things kept me from doing it before (last I really played a lot was nemesis), but now the build looks great with 1.3. Solid foundation, lots of customization potential between life/dmg/mana available.


Thanks Mivo. My first char for the new league <3

Happy that it's useful to you, Kuro, and thanks for the kind words. :) Please let me/us know how it's working for you and if you learn of any issues or find alternative nodes that work better!

Looks like your links are broken regarding the 1,3 tree. Shows empty for me. But was a damn good read :)



-King

Passive skill tree is not up to date.

was looking for inspiration for my own totem build. since you asked for commentary on the 1.3 tree:

1. Discipline affecting totems is huge. The only good node in the totemic zeal cluster is the 24% totem life node. With them having huge ES now, its definitely not worth going further south than scion life wheel. Losing Sentinel hurts probably, but its 8 points for totemic zeal cluster + Sentinel... Even though the stats are needed, its just so terribly inefficient.

2. templar start is obviously better. Witch as well. Probably showing scion since you are respeccing your scion? But as a fresh start, theres no question about it really.

3. points saved in (1.) can be used to pick up light of divinity and mental rapidity. On LoDivinity, its very questionable you didnt pick up 15% SD and 7% Cast speed for 2 points in the first place

4. faith and steel. probably for res? but its 4% per, really not that great.

Now to some questions, more than feedback:

1. With all the ele damage, is added lightning outperforming chaos?

2. Any news if mana reduction is worth going for?

3. Arctic Armour on totem builds, just like trapper builds, is very hard to sustain, isnt it? Other builds stand while casting still, thus never having to sustain both moving AA cost AND spellcasting. The same is not true for totems and traps, which are by their very nature always in motion. How does it work out for you?

The Poebuilder.com links still work for me, but I re-created the tree on the official site now since it is updated: here, for level 90.

@Inkompetentia: The build has been for Scion since February, when Scion was the optimal class. The differences are still marginal, so I just keep the guide as a primarily Scion-focused build. We'll probably see the starting area getting rebuffed again, eventually. I like the central positioning of the Scion as it allows for easy changes later on, when the game changes (which it does with every major patch, it seems!).

Totemic Zeal is weird. The skill description says that it's placement speed, but the dps substantially increases with the node, so in previous discussions about it the conclusion was that for some reason this also affects casting speed (of the totems). How much exactly is not known. It's not just the displayed dps value that goes up, but it's also more "felt" damage. I asked Mark about it some time ago, wondering if it may be a bug, but didn't get an answer. If it didn't increase dps so noticeably, the cluster would be much less valuable.

I haven't tested the mana reduction stuff on my L90 character yet (played Bloodlines -- leveling this build to 30+ is so much nicer now with Lightning Tendrils, by the way), will do that later today or tomorrow. AA was not hard to maintain in 1.2 (surprisingly easy, actually), and the 1.3 will make it even easier. I stand and teleport more with a totem character than with most spellcasters I've played. Trappers play differently, there is much more kiting involved than with totem builds, at least that was my experience with the one trapper I played! AA is only a mana concern in the mid levels where you have to stop leveling the gem when you can't sustain it well, and then continue when the gear and node situation has improved. Looking at the numbers (more mana reg, higher skill cost reduction), sustaining AA is easier in 1.3 than in 1.2, where it wasn't a problem. I suspect, and will test, that I can cut a number of mana nodes from the tree (gear dependent).

Faith and Steal is primarily taken for the 10% ES, with the 8% resists being a secondary benefit. ES becomes mana with Eldritch Battery, and more mana equals faster mana reg. Certainly a candidate for dropping if the individual gear situation allows. I'll add some commentary when I update the leveling trees.