[2.5] Culler-Support-Tank - Full MF | +12k ES | 7 Auras + Animate guardian

Belt, gloves and my current boots all have some dex, the rest came from 1 or 2 jewels.

If you need more dex, just pick a 30dex one.

Hi, your builds looks really nice and im definitely going to try it!
but i have one question: most other guides i read had some sort of stun immunity, which i dont see here. Is it so tanky that you dont need it? for example the crematorium boss, where you have a loot screenshot from. do you just stay out of the firestorm?

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2L8 wrote:

Hi, your builds looks really nice and im definitely going to try it!
but i have one question: most other guides i read had some sort of stun immunity, which i dont see here. Is it so tanky that you dont need it? for example the crematorium boss, where you have a loot screenshot from. do you just stay out of the firestorm?

Stun is a problem in a lot of energy shield based builds, but at least this one has several built-in anti-stun layers.

First of all, I must say you get stunned a lot, far more than you think you do. If you want to test, just equip a cws (cast when stunned) with some spells, and see that it's proccing a ton.
A stunned dps loses damage, but getting stunned with this build isn't a big deal because you only need to cast totems. This leads to the main point: getting stunned is only a problem if you get stunned to death

The mechanics that help against stun are:

1- High tankyness
Even if you were in a situation where you would get chain stunned, you just have to survive long enough for your party to clear all the monsters (or enough monsters so you don't get chain stunned anymore). If you have messed up, press all flask instantly.

2- Evasion
Evaded attack = 0% chance to be stunned.

3- Positioning
This summarises as being a totem build. You don't have to be in the middle of the fight if you don't want to (despite you usually can do so).
This doesn't mean you need to take free damage, definitely do not stand inside firestorms, you can walk across one, but if there are several of them stacked you will die 100%. For example, what I do against said boss is stay close to my party (so they get buffs) in a safe spot (but ready to move at any time, and avoid being cornered). Keep checking the boss hp, when it's low cast 2 totems (each one in a different place). If by any reason I must leave line of sight (me or my guardian risking death) and a totem dies, replace it when you can, then run away again.

4- innate chance (50%) to avoid stun when having some es

5-"High" HP
The passive tree implicitly contains much more hp than any other low life build. Showing some numbers, assuming we do not evade any attack
A hit of 500 has a 50% chance to stun against a 1000hp char
A hit of 500 has a 25% chance to stun against a 2000hp char
A hit of 1000 has a 50% chance to stun against a 2000hp char
A 2000hp char is immune to stun with hits lower than 200hp

6- Mitigation
Most energy shield builds rely on a high ES buffer + leech to stay alive, with little to no mitigation. This one has both a high buffer but also decent mitigation (max res from purities, evasion from grace, phys from golem + radiant faith (ascendancy point).

Mitigation works the in a similar way as having high hp, turning a hit of 1000 into one of 500.

7-Stun recovery (reduces the duration of stuns)
I currently have 35% stun recovery

Hey there! Your build looks very interesting, but i've got several questions.

1. What is average cost for this build?
2. Is it enough regeneration from divination distillate to run 6l totems? (At high-end party mobs can die pretty fast)
3. Is it still worth to play as culler at standart league? (I have not been playing standart for about 2 years already)

Thanks for build, and future response.

Hi Grinderman!

1- There is no such thing as an average cost of this build, you just have better numbers with better gear. Getting some IIQ + a lot of IIR is dirty cheap, getting a lot of iiq + some IIR is expensive as hell.
But by endgame a 5L shavs and a IIQ gem have a big impact, so you could call these 2 as requirements if you want.

2- No problems sustaining hp, it's the other way around (having to stand still to deplete hp so the flask effect remains is a bit of a struggle sometimes)

3- As long as you have a default set of friends to run with (or are willing to build up one) I think it's a good choice. If you plan to rely on public parties forever... don't do it. Public parties lead to insanity.

In any case, if you have been out of the game for so long you might find the rewards a bit lacking. But it's the same for all builds, that's how the game has evolved.

Thank you for answers. Since i have about 20 ex on standart, i think i can afford decent gear, and after end of current leagues gonna play for a while as culler. Thanks for guide and good luck)

Today I read about the next patch having 2 additional ascendancy points (8 in total).

When the patch hits, I'll probably have my mind somewhere else, so I'm doing a fast update with the info we have now:

Witch: Small improvement
- the extra 2 points go into profane bloom (useless) and a 8% es node (vile bastion is still terrible)
- A more supportish variant with Forbidden power (ascendancy) + conduit (passive) + charges flask becomes better than before.

Scion: big improvement
- The guardian sub-ascendancy class got changed and also includes "Nearby allies share charges", which is a huge buff.

- The 2 extra points go into path of the witch. In the end these ascendancy points equal to ~3.33 passive tree points. But the new points also are invested in more desirable stats.

Templar: big improvement
- There are different good uses for the extra 2 points.
Prayer of glory is really good, and well worth the single gem slot for a warcry. 15% movement speed is a big chunk of clearspeed.
Bastion of hope remains as the more selfish choice, giving some block and pseudo immunity to chain stuns.

Summary
Templar strengthens his spot as #1 support class.
Scion gets closer but there isn't any reason to chose her over templar (other than looks/voice/lazyness to lvl another character).
Witch keeps his spot as #1 tanky class.

Cheers

Another update from today.

Basically, I made some preparations so people will have an easier time comparing the strength of each ascendancy class. When the patch hits, I'll finish the 2.3 section (I don't want to rewrite half of the update due to last minute changes in patch notes).

Secondly, I simplified the "Tips for running lab" section, as most people is already familiar with that by now (and also because it has been made easier).

Guide fully updated for patch 2.3

Aside from a better writting, new patch hasn't bring that many changes.

Added doedre's flask as a powerful support tool

Tree unchanged.
Slayer appears out of nowhere as #1 culler, but it lacks significantly in the other aspects.
Guardian is the overall strongest ascendancy
Witch remains #1 tank
Scion becomes a bit better, bit still behind.

Nice Guide !! Thanks you so much ^_^