Ele Cleave strikes back!

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Rithz wrote:

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SlixSC wrote:

(especially shadow cleave will be absolutely dominating, guarantee it)

No, no it won't. I guarantee Fire trap/flameblast shadow is better.

If that's true then Fire trap must be totally nuts on Shadow now.

I don't see why you couldn't transition into ele cleave from fire trap, given that Shadow's new tree is just flat elemental damage. Fire trap with double sceptre is absolutely insane in act 1; you basically one shot packs from the burn, allowing you to keep maximum mobility. You could mule cleave from Duelist, and grab dual strike off Mercy Mission and swap to ele cleave at ~10 when you get wrath and two sabers.

Whether or not this strategy is faster than a +1 cold wand added cold/glacial cascade is what I question. I'm really bad with cleave and never liked the skill very much, so I didn't practice much with it even when it was the best build for shadow. In longer races (3 hours), you have enough time to get flameblast and level it, so it's probably best. Shorter races, if you can actually get ele damage on your jewelry/gloves, I can see elecleave being better than glacial cascade. Having a more gear dependent build rather than just crafting an easy +1 weapon will always lead to greater variance in your run though. Good for a signature race if it's between 75-90 minutes, perhaps.

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Kheffin wrote:

Whether or not this strategy is faster than a +1 cold wand added cold/glacial cascade is what I question.

Glacial Cascade was never really the meta. It was okay-ish single target but you swapped to Flameblast in Act 2 when you got it from Sins.

SHadow should be interesting this season - there's a lot of potential for what the best build is. Ele Cleave, Phys Cleave, Fire Trap with variations of spells (freeze pulse got buffed, so maybe for single target?), etc.

Hell, I could even see Ice Shot working this season from the buffs. Will be interesting to see.