[3.0] COLD CHAMPION SIEGE BALLISTA GUIDE - DPS... plenty - Meme Ballistas - Video(s) Inside

WORK IN PROGRESS

3.0 UPDATES INC - 9/25





Discussion/Theorycrafting

Picked up a couple of new pieces...



Damage is starting to feel really good.

I've seen this on your twitch channel, not bad at all. How did you level? Also, is there a rain of splinters in your tree somewhere? Do you use jewels to get more dex in places?

Thanks

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animalhouse wrote:

I've seen this on your twitch channel, not bad at all. How did you level? Also, is there a rain of splinters in your tree somewhere? Do you use jewels to get more dex in places?

Thanks

I think dex/int on jewels helps you do a lot in the end. I just picked up this bad boy.

A few new pieces

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animalhouse wrote:

I've seen this on your twitch channel, not bad at all. How did you level? Also, is there a rain of splinters in your tree somewhere? Do you use jewels to get more dex in places?

Thanks

Just realized I didnt respond to your question about leveling.

I leveled using a Storm Cloud all the way until I could use the Iron Commander at level 32. The tree is pretty straight forward as well.

Why not use the Pierce gem instead of Slower Projectiles? Same damage but no downside.

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Mannoth wrote:

Why not use the Pierce gem instead of Slower Projectiles? Same damage but no downside.

huh. your right. Slower proj is what we used in the past. but, it starts at 20% more, and hits 29% at rank 20... And maxes out at a 34% theoretical rank 30. also 140% mana multiplier.
peirce STARTS lower at 10% more, but is also 29% more at rank20. AND in theory goes higher at 39% at rank 30. AND only has 110% mana mult..

slower proj is more damage 1-19. but, more mana. at rank 20 both are equal damage. rank 22 and beyond, pierce is more damage.

I was playing Ballista last league as phys, and made an elemental version for this league as well (as it seems the best way to scale it.

I haven't moved toward crit at the moment, but I really like my set up personally:



My Current Elemental Non crit tree

I'm deadeye with Endless Munitions and Fast and Deadly. When I go crit, ill swap to powerful Precision.

When/if I go crit, I'll likely drop a herald and Alphas but still keep the full reservation with Wrath, Anger, HOT.

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Mannoth wrote:

Why not use the Pierce gem instead of Slower Projectiles? Same damage but no downside.

You don't seem to understand elementary Siege Ballista mechanics. I tested the skill thoroughly back when Lifting posted his ele guide in Talisman.

SB's projectiles cannot be either slowed or accelerated, meaning slower proj/faster proj have 0 effect on the skill itself, hence slower proj has no downside when linked to SB. SB's projectile range is based on a fixed number of units and extends well into adjacement screens.

SB's windup time can be shortened drastically by applying large amounts of attack speed (which is the main and the most important stat this skill scales from), effectively reducing the time the skill takes between acquiring the target and firing.

Once the target is acquired, SB fires in that direction even if the target moved, aka it is not locked-on but requires an attack to fire before aiming again, hence why, again, attack speed is the most important stat for these totems as it greatly reduces chances of totems missing.

To fully profit from this build, you first have to adjust your mindset to understand the general layout how this build works best, and that is as long-range heavy artillery playstyle and not your average shockwave/rf drop-in-the-middle-and-watch-everything-get-evaporated.

I wish there was a way to upgrade/empower IC from level 32 to lets say 60, it would make the whole thing a lot more interesting. Being forced to use it just so you wouldn't have to travel all the way to templar, feels meh.