Dominion's Hardcore Dual-Spark CI Witch - UPDATED for 1.0.1

How do you get the 3G 1R without the unique gloves?

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william2433 wrote:

How do you get the 3G 1R without the unique gloves?

Either
- Use good rare/unique boots or gloves with evasion base (Gloves have lowest ES base, but boots are not much better if you want movement speed). I use Goldwyrm boots - I know Dominion used to run them as well.
- Ignore the GGGR link and place the traps in random G slots in your gear. The added fire damage is nice, but having a slightly weaker bear trap will never stop you from progressing.
- Use a gazillion chromatics.

I would recommend the first or second option. If you can't afford the gloves, you aren't at the point where optimizing links is crucial.



Now, a question for Dominion (or other experienced users):
I'm currently level 69, progressing through Merc A3 Sewers and looking to gear up for maps. I'm at slightly over 4.5k ES currently. How much more do you think I need before I can start doing maps, and which pieces would you focus on upgrading first?

My gear:

I am currently lvl 73, with about 3,2k ES and I have no problem whatsover in Maps. Ran all the lvl 66 maps with ease.
So, I think you would definitely be able to run the maps, don't forget to transmute/alterate them ;)

I am currently doing maps with 3.5k ES. Dont get why everybody needs that much ES for low level maps, just dont get hit, its far from hard with this build. The mobs literally never reach me.

Level 49 to this build it really started getting slow to me. What should i do? Here's my current gear. Should i upgrade something? No dual totems yet

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Level 49 to this build it really started getting slow to me. What should i do? Here's my current gear. Should i upgrade something? No dual totems yet

You have no surviveability. No Life, no ES. you MUST have some Life untill you build your ES armor and grab CI.

@Grrmask - I'd only make 3 adjustments for default play. I'd switch to using critical damage earlier, I'd take CI earlier, and I'd spend less time overleveling the content during progression. Since the survivability isn't necessary until you're high enough level that a death erases hours worth of experience, the caution isn't needed at the same capacity for which this guide is developed.
- Possibly for party play. Being able to add extra curses is always a big plus for groups.
- Elemental proliferation is a potential 6th link, though I think there are better choices ESPECIALLY for default. (Increased crit damage is a must for default 6L)
- LMP/GMP have damage reduction. While they add more sparks, each spark does less damage. Because of the way shock stacking requires a certain threshold to be passed to actually trigger the shock, reducing the damage dealt to hit more times actually hurts the build.

@Dracule - Exactly. I would add though that I don't really use them spur-of-the-moment. I Replace my elemental weakness/conductivity hotkeys with temp chains/enfeeble immediately before an especially dangerous map or boss.

@Maetel - You're absolutely right. I only recently transitioned to critical. I didn't realize until last night since I usually kill things quickly enough that my flasks are always full. When I was doing Piety in the shrine map, it became very clear that surgeon's was not triggering off of totems.

@William2433 - I recently got rid of it on my level 90 build since I need the extra mana more than I need the extra minion. I don't have a particular target for spectre, I primarily use spectres/zombies as an extra meat shield when I need buffers for flicker strike.

@Shaxxy - About 2 exalted, possibly up to 3.

@nynyny - You're also correct, it does not appear to trigger from totem crits.

@XZlayeD - Perhaps with low-mid spark dps, this would be a good option. The bear traps are such phenomenal single target dps though. I wouldn't consider it at this point since my spark totems shock stack everything fully.

@Elerion_ - Thanks for answering that, your response is exactly what I would have said. I would absolutely work towards getting a better 5L chest. Since the chest slot accounts for about 40% of your total potential ES, it's definitely the best piece of gear to invest in. Additionally, A spell damage/cast speed wand would probably be better, at least until you can invest lots of points/affixes in crit modifiers. You could probably start doing maps now if you're comfortable enough with your build, though more ES never hurts.

@nynyny - Redundancy never hurts, even if the primary method of defense is rarely getting hit.

@masixi - Level 49 is around when I took double totem. You should probably do that now if your only other damage spell is a 2L freezing pulse.

@Brahir - He's in default, though I agree with your assessment.

I do a build very similar to you but i use Ice spear, since i like the control it gives me in groups, so i can still keep up two offensive curses. Would the arc + remote mine be better in that aspect then? i i havn't gotten far enough with the spec yet to estimate if it's worth it, but i hope so, giving i can actaully keep a couple of stacks up on targets to help my totem finish targets off faster.

Do you use any other auras beside: Clarity, Purity, and Displine?

Just wanted to say this is my favorite build out there currently. Really appreciate your time and effort keeping it updated.