[1.3] The Crit Philosopher - CI Crit Cold Witch - Freezing Pulse, PCoC & Echo

"

kranather wrote:

Hi

Can somebody help me to understand why everyone don't pick the upper +71℅ damage and +2cold penetration upper witch nodes? It is a lot of damage...

I'm a pulser lvl 81 and with LMP my max dmg output is 12k of damage but....is really low. Why everyone don't want +spell damage?

Because most of the time, one invests in defense first, and then some crit multiplier or cast speed, they have a tremendous impact on damage. Cast speed is a MORE multiplier, while Spell Dmg is an INCREASED multiplier.

"

jaredh wrote:

"

Sojer wrote:

Another thing is Body and soul - waste imo. Sovereignty it is a good cluster if you are using

I can't imagine not having the entire Sovereignty wheel.

IMHO OP should use Alpha's for the 8% more reduced and run a 5th Aura (which is what I'm thinking about doing)

I really need to consider this; I know using haste (for example) would really improve dps, but I'd lost 350 base ES. My body armour is not that great, either, it only grants 600 ES.



Maybe when I get a +900 ES Regalia or something :D

"

keta wrote:

"

kranather wrote:

Hi

Can somebody help me to understand why everyone don't pick the upper +71℅ damage and +2cold penetration upper witch nodes? It is a lot of damage...

I'm a pulser lvl 81 and with LMP my max dmg output is 12k of damage but....is really low. Why everyone don't want +spell damage?

Maybe really high lvl u can take it, but befor its better to get crit or even cast speed imo, and defense.

Try to get better gear for ur dmg.

Yeah, lol, I was typing when this answer came up. There won't be any damage if you've got no defense at all!

Thanks for all your replies, guys. I'll update soon™.

"

Saxarona wrote:

"

kranather wrote:

Hi

Can somebody help me to understand why everyone don't pick the upper +71℅ damage and +2cold penetration upper witch nodes? It is a lot of damage...

I'm a pulser lvl 81 and with LMP my max dmg output is 12k of damage but....is really low. Why everyone don't want +spell damage?

Because most of the time, one invests in defense first, and then some crit multiplier or cast speed, they have a tremendous impact on damage. Cast speed is a MORE multiplier, while Spell Dmg is an INCREASED multiplier.

"

keta wrote:

"

kranather wrote:

Hi

Can somebody help me to understand why everyone don't pick the upper +71℅ damage and +2cold penetration upper witch nodes? It is a lot of damage...

I'm a pulser lvl 81 and with LMP my max dmg output is 12k of damage but....is really low. Why everyone don't want +spell damage?

Maybe really high lvl u can take it, but befor its better to get crit or even cast speed imo, and defense.

Try to get better gear for ur dmg.

Yeah, lol, I was typing when this answer came up. There won't be any damage if you've got no defense at all!

Thanks for all your replies, guys. I'll update soon™.

Ok, ty for the answers.

Now I want to know why I see around Pulsers with 30k DPS with GMP and I have 118% + Spell damage on gear , a LMP 20/20 , FP 20/20 gem and I have 11K DPS (with all 7 charges) :(

(No prob for the crits... 64% chance)



My tree:

Along with the Aura suggestion above, I have another...

When/If you dump body and soul...go over to Nullification. When you dump the B&S cluster, for 6 points you lose 35% ES and a bunch of useless armor and 8% resist (see below)...

If you take the 3 down to nullification from where you are now, and the rest of the 3 in the UnNatural Calm wheel, you get (for the same 6 points) 38% ES, some Evasion (which is more likely to be worthwile in this build) the same 8% Resist, and 10% faster ES recharge. It's better/equivalent all around.

So you gain 3% ES, 10% Faster ES Recharge, and evasion and lose %armor that is probably useless (unless you spam Granite...*maybe* then)

"

kranather wrote:

Ok, ty for the answers.

Now I want to know why I see around Pulsers with 30k DPS with GMP and I have 118% + Spell damage on gear , a LMP 20/20 , FP 20/20 gem and I have 11K DPS (with all 7 charges) :(

They are usually life based, and run some more auras. Haste, for example, increases greatly the DPS output. Also, GMP delivers "more damage" than LMP, and some use Cold Pen/Increased Crit Damage and Assassin's Mark instead of Frostbite.

Numbers are way higher using that setup, but one should be aware that the DPS measure is not the only damage indicator that exists. Talking about GMP, it shows more DPS because 5 pulses of 200 damage each deal more damage than 3 pulses of 300 damage each; the damage is greater IF you hit the mob with all 5 pulses. Because each pulse is weaker, the cold damage dealt for each is reduced too, so that means you have less freezing chance than the one provided by using LMP.

It all has a price, it is up to you if you're willing to pay for less ES, more auras, no chaos damage immunity, or things like that. If the build works for you, then you're good to go :)

In other news, thank you all for your suggestions, guys.
Treated myself to some Regrets and now the tree looks like this.

Body and Soul & Faith and Steel are no more, because 3% physical damage reduction (which is the armor I lost) is not worth it for the 10 points I had there. So instead I picked nullification (mostly because of the ES and Evasion for Maligaro's), and completed with some block nodes in the Sanctuary notable wheel that grant 8% block chance (I'm resist capped now!) The remaining points were used in the Written in Blood wheel, granting 20% increased ES and some Strength.

Gonna update in the Original Post now :)

Hi,
I followed the life based+eldritch battery build on page 10. Currently I have far too much mana left even with Herald of ice, discipline, clarity (useless here as mana regeneration is already very well). I also added tempest shield and Arctic armour.
Tempest shield is OK although the monster usually die before reaching me, but I am not sure I understand the point of Arctic armor. It is not that good is it?

I will try to respect eldritch battery to see if I still have enough mana.

Let me know what you think about Arctic armour and tempest shield
. CHEERS

FYI your final build tree is still the older version.

It's arguable that the shield wheel you chose isn't the best option for some cases...compare it and the Mind Barrier Wheel:

Mind Barrier: 4% Block, 8% Spell Block, 30% More ES from Shield
Sanctuary: 8% Block, 22% Resist

Depending on if you need the Resistance, I'd say Mind Barrier might be the better choice late game considering the Spell Block ends up being usually more valuable in my experience than 4% regular block.

Like I said, debatable and situational

"

Saxarona wrote:

"

kranather wrote:

Ok, ty for the answers.

Now I want to know why I see around Pulsers with 30k DPS with GMP and I have 118% + Spell damage on gear , a LMP 20/20 , FP 20/20 gem and I have 11K DPS (with all 7 charges) :(

They are usually life based, and run some more auras. Haste, for example, increases greatly the DPS output. Also, GMP delivers "more damage" than LMP, and some use Cold Pen/Increased Crit Damage and Assassin's Mark instead of Frostbite.

Numbers are way higher using that setup, but one should be aware that the DPS measure is not the only damage indicator that exists. Talking about GMP, it shows more DPS because 5 pulses of 200 damage each deal more damage than 3 pulses of 300 damage each; the damage is greater IF you hit the mob with all 5 pulses. Because each pulse is weaker, the cold damage dealt for each is reduced too, so that means you have less freezing chance than the one provided by using LMP.

It all has a price, it is up to you if you're willing to pay for less ES, more auras, no chaos damage immunity, or things like that. If the build works for you, then you're good to go :)

also you forgot to mention that tooltip dps is per 1 projectile, so if you have 11k tooltip with lmp then your "effective" dps is 33k (provided all 3 projectiles hit the target).

A lot depends on their links as well, if someone is running PCoC in their FP then that will lower their DPS with max charges, Cold Pen does nothing for tooltip either but the difference is pretty significant when attacking.

All in all looking at tooltip dps provides little in a big scale you just have to play and "feel" if links feel good or need some improving.

"

edessiex wrote:

Hi,
I followed the life based+eldritch battery build on page 10. Currently I have far too much mana left even with Herald of ice, discipline, clarity (useless here as mana regeneration is already very well). I also added tempest shield and Arctic armour.
Tempest shield is OK although the monster usually die before reaching me, but I am not sure I understand the point of Arctic armor. It is not that good is it?

I will try to respect eldritch battery to see if I still have enough mana.

Let me know what you think about Arctic armour and tempest shield
. CHEERS

Arctic Armour give extra defenses in case of fire damage or physical damage (or both, like Tentacle Miscreations). What I like the most of it is the pseudo passive defense, you don't need to activate it or cast it more than once per instance if your mana can sustain it.

Tempest Shield is another (aura-like) skill that passively gives you additional block chance and will deal lightning damage to attackers when their attacks (or spells, both are calculated separately) are blocked. It's useful for shocking enemies too, given you have lots of crit chance. IMO, I think Tempest Shield is more useful than Arctic Armour, but its mana reservation prevents it from being used early in the game.

"

jaredh wrote:

FYI your final build tree is still the older version.

It's arguable that the shield wheel you chose isn't the best option for some cases...compare it and the Mind Barrier Wheel:

Mind Barrier: 4% Block, 8% Spell Block, 30% More ES from Shield
Sanctuary: 8% Block, 22% Resist

Depending on if you need the Resistance, I'd say Mind Barrier might be the better choice late game considering the Spell Block ends up being usually more valuable in my experience than 4% regular block.

Like I said, debatable and situational

Final Progression is the older version, there's a non-spoiler tree at lvl 84 just below with the new changes :)

And yeah, spell block is way better! But I need the resistances, that's why I chose Sanctuary over Mind Barrier.

"

Sojer wrote:

Also you forgot to mention that tooltip dps is per 1 projectile, so if you have 11k tooltip with lmp then your "effective" dps is 33k (provided all 3 projectiles hit the target).

A lot depends on their links as well, if someone is running PCoC in their FP then that will lower their DPS with max charges, Cold Pen does nothing for tooltip either but the difference is pretty significant when attacking.

All in all looking at tooltip dps provides little in a big scale you just have to play and "feel" if links feel good or need some improving.

True! This info is useful too. I'll add it to the original post for those who don't know about how tooltip DPS is calculated :) later when I'm not lazy

Great guide! My first go as a wander.
I'm used to face tank melee so this is quite a difference.
Very slow leveling to 60, even tho i had some decent gear to move me along.
I know im not fully equipped yet but it just seems a little weak, Artic armor sounds great but can this build run a high lvl of it? I got mine at lvl 10 currently and just barely able to maintain.
Is this build just supposed to spam granite flasks constantly ?


Now on to the tree, it maybe the melee in me but i just want to stack more ES.
Looking at where you go in the templar area just doesn't look appealing.

I'm considering going down and getting foresight, harrier, truestrike.
Also continuing through trickery to pick up the 12% ias & 28% ele in 5 nodes.
All this as a replacement to where you went in templar. Probably pick up frostwalker / fire for res if needed when i swap out to rathpith & doryani

I've got the shield & belt recommended, just need a few more lvls to try it out.

Gear/tree

"

oldirtybomber wrote:

Great guide! My first go as a wander.
I'm used to face tank melee so this is quite a difference.
Very slow leveling to 60, even tho i had some decent gear to move me along.
I know im not fully equipped yet but it just seems a little weak, Artic armor sounds great but can this build run a high lvl of it? I got mine at lvl 10 currently and just barely able to maintain.
Is this build just supposed to spam granite flasks constantly ?


Now on to the tree, it maybe the melee in me but i just want to stack more ES.
Looking at where you go in the templar area just doesn't look appealing.

I'm considering going down and getting foresight, harrier, truestrike.
Also continuing through trickery to pick up the 12% ias & 28% ele in 5 nodes.
All this as a replacement to where you went in templar. Probably pick up frostwalker / fire for res if needed when i swap out to rathpith & doryani

I've got the shield & belt recommended, just need a few more lvls to try it out.

Glad you like it so far. This build doesn't have much mana, so you'll not be able to run high level AA. At early stages, spamming granites is usual, but as you progress (generally when you get block) you simply ignore the hits. The idea of the build (generally of any non-armor Witch) is not to get hit too much; use your lightning warp to re-position yourself and freeze/kill them before you get killed. That's the main advantage of high crit chance and a freezing spell from afar.

The Templar part of the Tree was meant for leveling, if you skipped it, you can invest it in other defensive (I'd recommend) stat now. Take a look at the "Current Tree" below the final progression in the original post: it takes block nodes and ES/Evasion nodes instead.

Your gear is very good! Block chance is greatly boosted with both Rathpith and Rainbowstride, so I'd recommend going for that instead of armor. If you want more damage, I'd probably invest in those Ele Dmg and Cast speed nodes near the Shadow, but I'm not sure if going down 'till Truestrike is worthy (at least for me, I'm 8 nodes away).

Tell me how it goes when you get to try on your new gear! :D