[2.4] {HC} Occultist CI Crit Freezing Pulse - Ascendancy Update

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Jokix10 wrote:

Hey, love this build. I have some questions :)

1) Have you tried using faster projectiles / elemental focus instead of cold penetration and why have you chosen it instead?

2) I had few ideas to modify your skill tree:

- Why not go down to scion's tree and pick up "Foresight" + "Path of the Savant" + "Harrier" + "True Strik" ? I think it's pretty efficient.

- Another idea is to pick up "Retribution" next to templar and go down for "Sancity" picking up life reg and cast speed / energy shield.

- And at least i've found this jewel called "Energy from within". It grants you 12% increased ES and makes %increased life nodes transfer to %es nodes. So i've thought it would be a good idea puting it near "Melding" right of the witch tree. It would allow me to take 40% increased ES in 4 points.


You can also add me in HCP, my name is Jokix10.

Thanks for help :)

1) This is extremely inefficient for damage. Just because your tooltip goes up, doesn't mean you do more damage. If you're using elemental spells, penetration is better than every other choice. If you're curious you can do a search on it.

2) If you can manage to get a build that gets to level 115 then these are fine choices. You can't really sacrafice any nodes from the tree to viably get these suggested nodes. If you want extra life regen, the most viable nodes are above the shadow crit nodes in the damage over time wheel, where 3 points will give you 2% life regen, as opposed to 5 nodes for 1% regen in templar area. Doing this means you either have to stall getting crit/ES which I don't recommend, however its a fine choice. Going down to Harrier and True Strike is probably what I'd do after level 90+ but its not worth it to do it earlier.

3) That jewels fine, I'd just rather not waste 4 points.

nice build

Hey dude, I've got some additional questions.

1) My Mana regeneration isn't stellar right now and I can't comfortably afford Faster Casting on my FP. What would be the best replacement (I don't have a lot of crit nodes already)? Added Cold/Ice, Faster Projectiles, or something else (or do I better drop some other gem like LMP)?

2) What are the best gems to have quality on? I'd assume FP, Spell Echo and maybe Cold Pen? I've seen you have quality on some other support gems and besides the FP setup, how advisable is that?

3) Are you able to do the hardest content in the game?

And thanks for the guide, it is really helpful getting back into the game and I enjoy it so far.

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CruelMatatron wrote:

Hey dude, I've got some additional questions.

1) My Mana regeneration isn't stellar right now and I can't comfortably afford Faster Casting on my FP. What would be the best replacement (I don't have a lot of crit nodes already)? Added Cold/Ice, Faster Projectiles, or something else (or do I better drop some other gem like LMP)?

2) What are the best gems to have quality on? I'd assume FP, Spell Echo and maybe Cold Pen? I've seen you have quality on some other support gems and besides the FP setup, how advisable is that?

3) Are you able to do the hardest content in the game?

And thanks for the guide, it is really helpful getting back into the game and I enjoy it so far.

First off, what level are you?

1) Around level 65-75 I really struggled with mana myself. This is where your spell damage for single projectile freezing pulse starts to drop off and you can't sustain the mana for LMP. All I did was literally upgrade my jewelry to have at least 50% mana regen along with keeping my res and ES and I didn't get greedy for crit until later. The 3 nodes by the witch start point for mana and mana regen are the most effective nodes you can get point for point and really easy to spec in and out of, don't be afraid to use them. Also, make sure you get that single node under CI on the tree for 4% less mana reserved.

2)FP obviously. I then did Cold pen since I found one that was already quality and levelled it up, but spell echo is pretty much the same. Herald of ice quality actually scales more damage than both of these gems though. You should really just concentrated on getting 20% FP to level 21, as this is the most risky, expensive and most rewarding. After that, quality on enfeeble and temp chains is super good, quality on fortify is nice since its longer duration, quality on whirling blades and faster attacks is not just end game min/maxing and quality of life, but could save your life. Your auras don't really benefit from quality, I vaal'd discipline as soon as it hit 20 without quality.

3) Define what you mean as the hardest content in the game.

The hardest content in the game for me is T15 core malachai. I think very few builds are actually capable at doing this and even those that do tend not to since you do it just to say you've done it, not for exp or drops. With enough damage gear, who knows but I wouldn't attempt it myself.

I've been doing everything up to red maps pretty comfortably. You're not immune to damage, you still take quite a lot but you can take a good punch. The key with staying alive with this build is seeing a situation before it happens, understanding when you're about to take damage and positioning properly while keeping your flasks up, popping them before you take the initial burst.

Your defenses I think are really strong but it is of course still possible to die. Honestly one of the most dangerous things in the game for this build right now are the traps in the labyrinth which are broken for CI in my honest opinion. You can always be bursted down or stunlocked by a lot of hard-hitting ranged mobs, but my start of ES regen modifier right now is 67%, which means you just need to avoid damage for 1 second and then you're pretty much staying alive. This is why I run both Jade and Quartz flask, on top of Rumi's, just to be able to avoid taking that damage, instead of mitigating it with armor.

I think I could go into red maps as long as I rolled them them right but I don't have the currency / motivation to push past 95 in all honesty, I don't know if the build is capable since I haven't spent much time as those ladder pushers.

Looking at your characters your top is level 81, so I'm pretty sure this build will take you a lot further than you've seen. Expect to be able to do T12s pretty comfortably, the rest is up to the player and RNG.

About to start leveling this build, I was wondering why you went with the Onslaught over a more defensive flask like a stibnite flask.

Also it might be worth mentioning that when doing the lab, using a Enduring Cry + Basalt Flask helps a ton. The flat phys% reduction lowers the damage taken from on hit trap damage (spikes & darts) and with ZO Enduring Cry is a quick ES boost on demand.

Anyways, wish me luck.

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Wonkstar wrote:

About to start leveling this build, I was wondering why you went with the Onslaught over a more defensive flask like a stibnite flask.

Also it might be worth mentioning that when doing the lab, using a Enduring Cry + Basalt Flask helps a ton. The flat phys% reduction lowers the damage taken from on hit trap damage (spikes & darts) and with ZO Enduring Cry is a quick ES boost on demand.

Anyways, wish me luck.

I felt like this build had enough defenses and I wanted more damage. With the increased cast sped from onslaught you can perma freeze almost anything that doesn't have huge life and you have more casts to either crit or freeze. Movespeed is nice too since I don't think a quicksilver is worthwhile anymore. If you wanted to be super safe I guess another defensive flask is alright but you'll probably want silver once you try it.

I'd probably run a Basalt or Quicksilver with Staunching next time for the lab (if I ever have to do it again) but the Enduring Cry tip is interesting for the life regen, doesn't it only last 0.75 seconds?

Can it freeze map bosses or is freeze still useless?

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RestInPieces wrote:

Can it freeze map bosses or is freeze still useless?

You can freeze a lot of things, just not permanently since there's no stacking of freeze chance/duration. I can perma freeze bosses I'm overlevelled for but it depends on the boss. Definitely not useless.



Level 90 gear:

Make a video :(

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faududu wrote:

Make a video :(

You are CI. You move with whirling blades and you click Freezing Pulse and use potions inbetween.

Is this really necessary?