[1.2] KuteKitteh’s Tanky Arcer, 20k+ Effective DPS, Atziri/HC-viable. Poor-man’s BM Arc included

Thanks for the reply and you were right about the rings ! I am going to hunt for some good mana regen rings now

Trying out budget version, will post my progress this week, since i dont have a lot time after a work to play. Hope i wont result again in squishy arc caster. :)
Another question about reaching BM, is not better to go link side then u take 2 dex nodes and then str, 2 str next nodes and then down, instead of going down and taking 3 str nodes? you would save 1 point, or im bad at math :)

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Matematikas wrote:

Trying out budget version, will post my progress this week, since i dont have a lot time after a work to play. Hope i wont result again in squishy arc caster. :)
Another question about reaching BM, is not better to go link side then u take 2 dex nodes and then str, 2 str next nodes and then down, instead of going down and taking 3 str nodes? you would save 1 point, or im bad at math :)

I don't know what you're saying but I'm pretty sure the path I put up is the most efficient.

Been playing this build in Beyond league and currently sitting at level 75. I have to say I am very impressed with the survivability of block and the accessibility of many of the uniques associated with this. Initially my plan was to go for the BM build but as I was making my way there I thought better of it. While I have no doubt that the budget version is fine, BM is just an awful skill and I hate it. So I decided to transition into the standard version but with some obvious sacrifices due to compromises on available gear.

I have recognized the strength of dual curse not just from a clearing efficiency standpoint but also from a survivability one. Since this is a HC league, having enfeeble and warlords mark on a target significantly minimizes the threat. For those unaware, warlords mark gives over 6% mana and life leech which increases as you level. Since arc casts so fast, it is able to sustain me through just about anything even if my leech from gear is weak and only the bare minimum from the passive tree. When I encounter a rare or a Beyond portal, I immediately enfeeble and warlords and start attacking to get a feel for the situation. Then once I am down to a single mob or two, I will ball lightning through with conductivity and ele weakness to burn the single mob down.

In order to do the dual curse I have to go with the Doedre's Damning ring which significantly limits my mana regen options from rings. My other ring right now is also filling my resist to cap and providing ~70 life, but no mana regen. This translates to not having nearly enough mana regen to run Arctic Armor beyond level 5 or 6. I can turn it on if I am stopped in place, but movement is a drain of my available pool in about 10 seconds. A mana flask could probably counter this, but I am tied to a quartz in order to ensure I can get away without desync and I really like my granite flask. Obviously the armor that I have isn't good (as I'm not trying to stack it), but bringing myself to approx 6000 armor for a few seconds definitely helps to ensure that an unblocked hit by a big enemy has some mitigation behind it.

Here's the issues that I am running in to:

1) I have nowhere near enough health. I have just picked up MoM and survivability has further increased (75/47 block), but now I need a much bigger buffer to feel comfortable doing maps. Currently sitting at around 3400hp, I would rather have around 5500 for maps. No idea where to get this from other than just "better" gear.

2) Unwavering stance is hard to justify over more health. I understand why it's good, those Rhoas dont fuck around, but I'm really conflicted as to which I want more.

3) Degen is everywhere in this league and it's a big problem. I'm thinking a Amethyst Flask will help but I can't think of a good way to incorporate it into my current flask setup

4) Rathpith will NEVER exist for me. It just isn't going to happen. I have crest of Perandus, but that means my spell block is not going to cap. I worry about the strength of the build long-term without it.

5) 4-link ball lightning seems nice because of the curse, but if I am not using those two curses then I feel like I shouldn't be bothering with it. I can mix and match 4 curses as I see fit based on the enemy if they aren't linked to a skill. Not sure how I am going to deal with this yet.


Anyway, I really appreciate the build you have put up and am blown away by its effectivness in a hardcore setting. It's a little touchy moving forward now because I have to get some pretty insane gear to improve my current, but I guess that will be a slow work in progress. Thanks for the guide and if you have any advice as to how I should proceed, I'm all ears.

Currently using your build in Rampage, loving it. I'm currently in that weird spot between Merciless and being able to effectively run maps. Any tips? I've been farming Piety for rares to hoard for the Chaos recipe, but it's slow going :(

Having an extremely hard time finding a Rathpith Globe, but that's no fault of the build.

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Schrii wrote:

Having an extremely hard time finding a Rathpith Globe, but that's no fault of the build.

Rathpith globe comes from a level 74+ Titanium Spirit Shield which means you need to be in level 74+ maps before you have a chance of seeing it drop. Don't count on finding it and expect it to cost you all your arms and legs if someone puts it up for sale.

"

magnus962 wrote:

Spoiler

Been playing this build in Beyond league and currently sitting at level 75. I have to say I am very impressed with the survivability of block and the accessibility of many of the uniques associated with this. Initially my plan was to go for the BM build but as I was making my way there I thought better of it. While I have no doubt that the budget version is fine, BM is just an awful skill and I hate it. So I decided to transition into the standard version but with some obvious sacrifices due to compromises on available gear.

I have recognized the strength of dual curse not just from a clearing efficiency standpoint but also from a survivability one. Since this is a HC league, having enfeeble and warlords mark on a target significantly minimizes the threat. For those unaware, warlords mark gives over 6% mana and life leech which increases as you level. Since arc casts so fast, it is able to sustain me through just about anything even if my leech from gear is weak and only the bare minimum from the passive tree. When I encounter a rare or a Beyond portal, I immediately enfeeble and warlords and start attacking to get a feel for the situation. Then once I am down to a single mob or two, I will ball lightning through with conductivity and ele weakness to burn the single mob down.

In order to do the dual curse I have to go with the Doedre's Damning ring which significantly limits my mana regen options from rings. My other ring right now is also filling my resist to cap and providing ~70 life, but no mana regen. This translates to not having nearly enough mana regen to run Arctic Armor beyond level 5 or 6. I can turn it on if I am stopped in place, but movement is a drain of my available pool in about 10 seconds. A mana flask could probably counter this, but I am tied to a quartz in order to ensure I can get away without desync and I really like my granite flask. Obviously the armor that I have isn't good (as I'm not trying to stack it), but bringing myself to approx 6000 armor for a few seconds definitely helps to ensure that an unblocked hit by a big enemy has some mitigation behind it.

Here's the issues that I am running in to:

1) I have nowhere near enough health. I have just picked up MoM and survivability has further increased (75/47 block), but now I need a much bigger buffer to feel comfortable doing maps. Currently sitting at around 3400hp, I would rather have around 5500 for maps. No idea where to get this from other than just "better" gear.

2) Unwavering stance is hard to justify over more health. I understand why it's good, those Rhoas dont fuck around, but I'm really conflicted as to which I want more.

3) Degen is everywhere in this league and it's a big problem. I'm thinking a Amethyst Flask will help but I can't think of a good way to incorporate it into my current flask setup

4) Rathpith will NEVER exist for me. It just isn't going to happen. I have crest of Perandus, but that means my spell block is not going to cap. I worry about the strength of the build long-term without it.

5) 4-link ball lightning seems nice because of the curse, but if I am not using those two curses then I feel like I shouldn't be bothering with it. I can mix and match 4 curses as I see fit based on the enemy if they aren't linked to a skill. Not sure how I am going to deal with this yet.


Anyway, I really appreciate the build you have put up and am blown away by its effectivness in a hardcore setting. It's a little touchy moving forward now because I have to get some pretty insane gear to improve my current, but I guess that will be a slow work in progress. Thanks for the guide and if you have any advice as to how I should proceed, I'm all ears.

Thanks for the feedback. There is always an issue with leveling a block build - grabbing both block and health is very tricky since block is a force-multiplier that increases in effectiveness with more block. Block builds generally tend to scale late-game extremely well at the cost of a very noticeable awkward leveling phase. I tried to make this as comfortable as possible by taking health nodes by Aegis and Golem's Blood by Testudo. In a HC setting, I would take HP over block during that awkward leveling phase - ~65% block is definitely not as effective as max block, but that extra bit of HP is a bit more comfortable for hard hits. If you need more HP, I would complete Scion's Life wheel and get the armor/life nodes at Maurader's start. A complete tree with those two additions will give 158% life, which is a comfortable margin.

If you feel that Unwavering Stance isn't worthwhile, you can definitely drop it. It's not set-in-stone and it's more of a late-game addition to the build (e.g. after I get a comfortable health pool + max block), but it definitely saves my butt against those heavy hits.

Also, if you feel that you want to manually cast those 4 curses, by all means go ahead and manually cast them. Because this build is in SC, I run EW + Conductivity for the faster clear, but if it were HC I would widen my curse options like you did.

Degen is a problem with many builds, and for this one the only solution is to run an Atziri's Promise as well as a good life flask and maintain a healthy HP pool (partially why HP takes priority over block). The buffed 1.2 flasks are amazing, and a saturated eternal or catalysed divine lets me stroll through the worst of poison clouds with a -40% chaos resist setup.

The build works decently without Rathpith. Without it, I lose 60% spell damage and I take twice as much spell damage, but 47.5% spell damage still gives almost twice the effective HP of a blockless build. Even with that level of spell block, spell damage is much less dangerous and the only serious issue without capping spellblock is reflect, which can be mitigated with Warlord's mark.

Generally, you seem to know what you're doing. You should follow your gut instincts and adjust the build to an appropriate comfort level until you can get out of the awkward leveling phase.

"

Schrii wrote:

Currently using your build in Rampage, loving it. I'm currently in that weird spot between Merciless and being able to effectively run maps. Any tips? I've been farming Piety for rares to hoard for the Chaos recipe, but it's slow going :(

Having an extremely hard time finding a Rathpith Globe, but that's no fault of the build.

Get your hands on a Moonsorrow or Cybil's paw if you already haven't done so. I would also prioritize HP over block depending on the order you're taking them in. Prioritize mana regen on rings, and for gear, prioritize HP and resists over ES (but if you can get all 3, great!)

Also, I realize that a Rathpith will cost an insane amount early in the league; until then, a Crest of Perandus or a nice spell-damage 30%block shield will suffice.

Noob Question here!

When you say T1/T2 life items... can you point me to somewhere with a detailed explanation of this and how it works on items.

Cant seem to find an explanation on the interweb :)

Thx

Also after I finish the 81 point tree on the BM arcer and get BM. What do you suggest we go for next as I try and complete the level 85 portion of your tree... the life and block down by the duelist or the lightning damage up by the witch?