Dominion's Hardcore Dual-Spark CI Witch - UPDATED for 1.0.1
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Aereic wrote:
@Zanghe
Won't stand well late game due to low ES and only a lvl 14 spell totem.
Curses will also be troublesome
the low ES i should be able to solve with other pieces of gear (should be able to get to 7-8k ES easaly).
what about the lvl 14 spell totem? the wiki says that lvls on spelltotem only increases it's duration, is there any other bonus that levels of the gem give?
I have like 10 exalted worth of orbs, 9 pure exalted. I need items for every slot basically.
With 10 exalts I'd probably do:
Option #1:
A badass 5L, probably 750 ES with at least one good resist.
If you're lucky you can save 1 exalt and pickup a 220ish es helm for 5 chaos, 220ish es shield for 5 chaos, some decent spell dmg wand for 5 chaos, then get whatever belt/rings/neck with the rest.
Option #2:
1-2 on a nice 300ish ES helm
1-2 on a nice 350-450ish ES shield
1 for a solid wand
1 for perfect resist windscreams
0.8 for high dex/crit maligaros
6 chaos each for a decent belt/ring/necklace
That leaves you 2 exalts to get some type of 5L, probably in the 450ish ES range.
I don't think there's anything wrong with either option. I feel like by the time you level from 69 to 80ish you will have enough currency to be able to buy a dream fragment to replace one of your rings. Late 70s is about the time you can switch to crit too.
Just make sure you have capped resists and at least one item with 40-50 mana on it if you want to run clarity/disc./purity asap.
Last edited by antelopesalad#2904 on Apr 28, 2013, 4:38:34 PM
@Zanghe
Won't stand well late game due to low ES and only a lvl 14 spell totem.
Curses will also be troublesome
the low ES i should be able to solve with other pieces of gear (should be able to get to 7-8k ES easaly).
what about the lvl 14 spell totem? the wiki says that lvls on spelltotem only increases it's duration, is there any other bonus that levels of the gem give?
anyway, i love the damage <3
You're easily giving up at least 500 ES on the chest (which translates to about 2.5k ES after passives) for one extra link. The extra damage imo is not worth that loss in survivability. (Not to mention the fact that you have to replace regular flasks with curse removing ones.
Also, higher level spell totems = more health on the totems, so you'd be losing that as well.
Having reached lvl 84ish with this build (I specced into something else later) I can say the damage is quite sufficient with 2 totems - and you will DEFINITELY want that 2.5k ES for maps.
I have like 10 exalted worth of orbs, 9 pure exalted. I need items for every slot basically.
With 10 exalts I'd probably do:
Option #1:
A badass 5L, probably 750 ES with at least one good resist.
If you're lucky you can save 1 exalt and pickup a 220ish es helm for 5 chaos, 220ish es shield for 5 chaos, some decent spell dmg wand for 5 chaos, then get whatever belt/rings/neck with the rest.
Option #2:
1-2 on a nice 300ish ES helm
1-2 on a nice 350-450ish ES shield
1 for a solid wand
1 for perfect resist windscreams
0.8 for high dex/crit maligaros
6 chaos each for a decent belt/ring/necklace
That leaves you 2 exalts to get some type of 5L, probably in the 450ish ES range.
I don't think there's anything wrong with either option. I feel like by the time you level from 69 to 80ish you will have enough currency to be able to buy a dream fragment to replace one of your rings. Late 70s is about the time you can switch to crit too.
Just make sure you have capped resists and at least one item with 40-50 mana on it if you want to run clarity/disc./purity asap.
Thanks for answering! I think discussing this topic could be usefull for everyone going for this build and looking for upgrades.
What I really wanna know is, how much ES do I need from every piece to be at a safe level when it comes to survivability. You kinda pointed it out but I think people are looking for more than 1-2 exalted on those pieces but I might be wrong as I have yet to look for gear in the forums.
My build atm at lvl 69 has every resist node except for the shield resist nodes close to Ancenestral Bond. I can get those quite easily, I only need one more level and the 3 skill points from act 3. I'm saying this because I have no idea how much resist I need from gear to be capped. OP's current gear section has some but definitely not as much as I used to have with other builds which I find awesome to get this much resist from the tree. I guess I can get quite a lot from belt and from shield for example but what piece would be the best price-wise to get some resist on?
Also I really don't feel like getting 1 awesome item from all the currency I have atm. I would rather get decent items for every slot. Although I'll definitely do what gives me more dps and ES at the same time.
@Zanghe
Won't stand well late game due to low ES and only a lvl 14 spell totem.
Curses will also be troublesome
the low ES i should be able to solve with other pieces of gear (should be able to get to 7-8k ES easaly).
what about the lvl 14 spell totem? the wiki says that lvls on spelltotem only increases it's duration, is there any other bonus that levels of the gem give?
anyway, i love the damage <3
You're easily giving up at least 500 ES on the chest (which translates to about 2.5k ES after passives) for one extra link. The extra damage imo is not worth that loss in survivability. (Not to mention the fact that you have to replace regular flasks with curse removing ones.
Also, higher level spell totems = more health on the totems, so you'd be losing that as well.
Having reached lvl 84ish with this build (I specced into something else later) I can say the damage is quite sufficient with 2 totems - and you will DEFINITELY want that 2.5k ES for maps.
do you have any idea what is the HP progresion/level on the spell totem?
also, you don't really gain only an extra slot, you get 33% more damage due to the extra totem. the extra slot is just a bonus, you can put ther a resist gem maibe. donno, have to do some testing
The most logical spell to pick up would be Ice Spear - Faster Casting - Power Charges. Pretty much a safe crit every time you cast it. You get 350% crit chance for like 5 instead of 13 points which opens some new ways to play the specc. I could for example imagine it now being possible to maybe run an additional 40% aura (ok I just did the math and it turned out that to run another 40% aura effectively you would have to invest too many points into mana and reduced manacost nodes for it to be worthwhile, plus you have to watch out for a lot of mana on gear - so thats not an option until they release an ES version of the Alphahowl unique) since you can easily pick up the mana nodes above the power charge in the witch tree.
In the end you would have the same amount of Crit, get spelldamage instead of lighting damage (which evens out if you ask me, also the bear traps now have more damage) but have a way bigger mana pool (which might make it possible for you to use an additoonal aura) and probably even saved a couple of nodes. All of that for doing a little bit more... for the first mob pack, because everything you need to do after you got your charges up is cast Ice Spear once every 13 seconds since the spell will crit for sure
7% default crit * 600%(2nd form) * 350%(charges) *[XXX%(from gear and nodes)]
= 66.5% crit chance without nodes and gear
Now the question is, what will be the chance to get a power charge from crits. If its anything around or above 20% it shouldnt be a problem to refresh your charges every now and then with Faster Casting and Haste.
Something that will be interesting to see is how the gem interacts with LMP/GMP. Because if every single projectile is seen as a crit I think it would be smart to drop the Faster Casting gem on the curses and run
Generating charges with a LMP Ice Spear (3 crits per cast) should be extremly easy and minimizes the chance of not getting a procc.
Yes, given the new skill, I would take the power charge given the chance to remake that decision.
As far as usage goes - Ice spear + GMP + Faster casting + Power charge on crit. It only generates a maximum of 1 per cast, but it's still easy to get max charges up, and easier still to maintain them.
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DMC wrote:
the patch on critical. how will it affect this build is it good or bad?
Indifferent
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deentemp wrote:
i tweaked abit this , i dont want to use inner force since i will only use 2 or max 3 auras( purity/ disc/ clarity) . My question is : the nodes like : increase elemental dmg with wand wont work with spark/totem right? those work with power siphon kind of builds.
And if the 3 point spent in cast speed near witch tree are wrong , i could spend them in the _+ light dmg in templar area.
Im just downloading the new patch i want test the new stuff , i am lvl 65 by now will start maps soon , till then WTB 6 link ES or Es /EV chest /w me ing hypotenka.
Skipping inner force is a big mistake. It's not out of the way, and it gives a massive benefit, even with only 2-3 auras. You need to keep in mind the flasks as well. 30% buff on the granite flask and the iron skin mod is a massive increase in the damage reduction from granites - and quicksilver of adrenaline sees similar returns.
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Bumblebutt wrote:
Questions:
1/ How do you afford 151 Dex for lvl 20 bear trap?
2/ I'm currently lvl 80 and running spork totem + arc as main attack. The my totem is getting insta-killed by a pack of spell caster skeletons. Is dual totem gonna clear them fast enough for me to shotgun the necromancer? Have you had any problem at all with that kind of mob pack when you were around my lvl?
Ty for your time
Necros can get annoying. Ideally, you curse them, then place the totems on top of the necro to shotgun it, replacing it as necessary and kiting the undead nearby. When you get higher DPS, you can just outpace the necros, killing the undead far faster than it can revive.
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snagglefox wrote:
You say to use bear trap in the beginning but it requires 16 dexterity when you only get 14 and your passives don't show getting dexterity anywhere so how should I get the 2 more dex I need?
Adjust the passives as necessary if gear isn't enough. Ideally, you just want the dexterity for bear traps to level them so they are prepared when you need them later on. If you don't have the dex at first, you can always level them up later, they just won't be immediately accessible.
I wonder if it's worth it to use that new unique chest to give your totems 25% more HP and the ability to summon a 3rd totem. It has pretty poor stats but I think a 3rd totem might outweigh them.
It has too many downsides. You would need to sacrifice DPS nodes for survivability to make it work. You would have similar damage with an obnoxious curse script.
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pwnageoftheyear wrote:
welp.. after watching that merc vaal kill im most certain ill be using this build next=d
just wondering, is starting as templar for this build alright since he takes the templar passives anyway? i just thought it would be faster progression for me using melee up to 50s
Perfectly fine. The build can be done on shadow, witch, and templar with little or no endgame difference.
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Legendknewl wrote:
Added a new Flask Mod - "of Staunching": Removes Bleeding.
Added a new Flask Mod - "of Grounding": Dispels Shocked.
I'm assuming you will be using both of these? :) Seem like insane mods for CI, the "Removes Bleeding" especially.
I keep a staunching flask in inventory and swap it on when the map includes puncture mobs. I don't currently use grounding.
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extleacc wrote:
Do I need armor? The monster is almost 1 hit me...
No, granites are sufficient. Get in the habit of using them whenever anything gets even close.
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pennyyy wrote:
For endgame, what do you guys think about the Shock and Mental Acuity nodes near the shadow tree?
It´s 4 points for 20% lightning damage, 5% shock, 30% crit chance and 20 int.
I´m really tempted to spec into them after I´m done with all the other crit nodes.
I like the nodes, though I don't currently use them. I'm doing a slightly different shadow version of this build for the 1month race that will take advantage of these nodes.
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Dalcar wrote:
First i would liek to thank Dominion for the guide :)
I respeced from Fire 2 weeks ago and it is working great just have problem with freezing havent bought the Ring yet as I am always out of currency hehe. My passives arent exactly the same but still have alot of Crit/cast speed and damage nodes to get.
Atm I am at 1216 DPS - 7687 Es and max res. My spark is at L18 still as I respeced when I was L74 and it takes foreeeeeever to level that thing -.-
I am still waiting to get some Exalts to finish of my crafting on these items..IF I get lucky haha.
But I dit get lucky on this one :)
I wouldent recomend to start of with this build but go Fire build or something else until you are L60+ for this build to shine you really need alot of Nodes. So pick something else to level fast and plan your skills so you dont have to respec like crazy :)
That shield. Figure out some way to convert it to hardcore so I can steal it, lol.
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Palmie wrote:
Hey, I was wondering if I should get the bonus maximum power charge from merc bandits now that Dominion uses ice spear with power charge on crit. Thanks.
Given the chance to redo that decision, I would take power charges now.
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rsalty wrote:
Okay I finally got enough GCP to get my spark to level 20 quality. What gem(s) should I buy or level to 20 quality next?
Faster casting and elemental weakness
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apatia77 wrote:
Please can anyone clarify what will happen if I enter a map with Blood Magic mod? Will I die instantly when I cast any auras, totems etc?
I try to always check what mods map has but very often I forget and I just don't want to 1 shoot myself in HC league.
Your auras will be disabled on entry. If you attempt to use a percentage aura (purity), it will kill you. All other skills will cost more than the 1 life that you have, so they will be impossible to cast.
What I really wanna know is, how much ES do I need from every piece to be at a safe level when it comes to survivability.
Each piece alone isn't important really, you just want the end result to be good.
Personally I think about 5.5k ES is reasonable for 66 maps but more is certainly welcome. People can spout off how cool they are with less but fk them. You're playing hardcore and will be running 100s of maps. You need good ES to handle the randomness of map affixes and monster rolls.
For instance, just today I was in a 68 map with 29% monster damage as one of the map rolls. 2 flicker spiders hit me at the same time because I turned a corner too fast before my zombies got there. I lost 4.5k ES in 1 second. I have 8.1k atm at level 85 so it wasn't too scary but if I had 5.5k ES there I would be terrified and nearly dead, what if one of them crit?
Anyways if you want a rough guide, I would say aim for around 7k ES. That should get you to early 70 maps solo if you play somewhat cautious.
To hit 7k with the standard crit / es nodes you're looking at like...
450 chest
280 helm
400 shield
60 everything else
That's pretty much what I have now except I'm using a 650 chest and around 100 ES gives me around 500 fully buffed ES. I also have 13% ES on my amulet too but that's not really adding as much as you would think, it's not 13% straight on top of 8k, it's like an ES node with 13% which is much less.
It would probably be cheaper to get a 550ish chest and 300 shield though. Just don't spend too much on an ES chest at that range, 550ish in the grand scheme of things is kind of low.
Last edited by antelopesalad#2904 on Apr 29, 2013, 5:47:55 PM
Is Added Lightning Damage a viable support gem instead of Lightning Penetration??
Yes but I am pretty sure Light pen is much better. It all depends what your DPS is atm I run Item rarity and quantity gems insted of Crit + Light pen my dps is at 950dps then. I works just fine but I run only 66-69 Maps as I only solo and dont seem to get any higher maps hehe.
But it is fun to run with 170 IQ and 120 IR :)
Last edited by Dalcar#2715 on Apr 30, 2013, 8:13:58 AM
