Auto-Cloaked in Savagery Voltaxic Marauder (100% Leech| HC/SC)

Introduction

This is more of a template to show how you would make Cloaked in Savagery activate it is by no means the best use of it. The build abuses several mechanics that have been abused in the past, but with patch 2.2 adding Ascendancy trees, and Perandus giving access to league specific uniques, all of the most broken mechanics can be put together. (The Retch's wording is incorrect, it applies life LeechED, not life Leech. Took me 2 ex to figure that out)

Build Overview

The build revolves around the Marauder's Berserker Ascendancy node Cloaked in Savagery, which gives 100% of your damage leeched as life if you've taken a hit that deals at least 20% of your maximum life as damage in the past four seconds.In order to make Cloaked in Savagery turn on without actually being hit by enemies, the Torment league specific unique Scold's Bridle is used, which applies 400% of your mana cost as damage to the user. It has to be a HIT that effects your LIFE. Damage over time and/or energy shield will not work, because of this, the energy shield added by Scold's and other sources must be removed, this is most easily done with Blood Rage.

How to Get Enough Mana Cost for Scold's to Work

To get a hit to deal you 20% of your maximum life as damage with Scold's, a specific amount of mana cost is required. For example, with 5,100 life, 1,020 damage is the minimum amount of damage you have to take, with no physical mitigation or energy shield. This is done by using a level 20 Explosive Arrow linked with WED, Chain, and Life Gain on Hit for a total mana cost of 85, combined with two Fevered Mind jewels to make the total cost 255, increased by 400% from Scold's, which applies exactly 1,020 physical damage to the user, for this example.
(To find out how much damage you need to take, and the required mana cost, divide your total life by 5. Then divide that number by 4 to find the mana cost with Fevered Mind, then divide by 3 to find the base mana cost). To push this even further, another unique jewel is used, Hungry Abyss, which makes all forms of leech apply to chaos damage instead. The physical leech from Blood Rage is now chaos leech, and so on. However, it requires that you wear 5 corrupted items for it to work. This jewel is combined with Voltaxic Rift for chaos conversion.

Tree



IMPORTANT: Pay attention to your life total at every level after you start using Scold's, adjust gems and jewels to get the correct amount of mana cost and damage taken.

While leveling, prioritize crit, then get Vaal Pact. At 65 when you can use Scold's, put as many Fevered Minds as you need into the jewel sockets. You must have enough unreserved mana to use Explosive Arrow, all of it will be leeched back on your next attack. From there, get either more life or frenzy charges.

For the most well-rounded variation of the build, at least 3 jewel sockets are required. Fevered Mind (x2) Hungry Abyss (x1).

Ascendancy

Berserker

After getting Cloaked in Savagery, spend your last two points on Crave the Slaughter. Both will activate after using Explosive Arrow, giving you 45% increased attack speed and 20% attack damage, on top of the 100% leech.

Pros and Cons

Pros
-Can run any map
-Non-reflectable damage
-Very high life total
-Yes, it is hardcore viable. Just use Vaal Grace and have all of your gear set up before attempting to use Scold's

Cons
-Expensive. Very expensive.
-Prone to physical spells. Kill it before it kills you. (looking at you Atziri Trio)
-You'll need to book an appointment to explain the build to someone


Defense

The build's defenses are Dodge, Evasion, life total, and leech. Physical mitigation would only further complicate the Scold's damage calculation. The Basalt flask and Taste of Hate can be used, but only after Cloaked in Savagery is in effect.

Gear Requirements and Alternatives

My gear

Note: If you want to use Vinktar with Voltaxic, you must have Hungry Abyss. Meaning you need 5 corrupted items equipped

The only items required for the build to work at it's core are Scold's Bridle, and either Fevered Mind or Voidbringer. Voltaxic is just for convenience and synergy. I do have suggestions, though.

Helmet
Scold's. If you can't get one and just want to see the build function (see Variation 1)

Belt
Not The Retch. Wed, life, resistances.

Gloves
Facebreaker- 90% crit multi
Maligaro's Virtuosity- Attack speed, crit, crit multi.
Voidbringer- No longer need either one, or both Fevered Mind Jewels (see Variation 2)

Chest
Belly of the Beast- The increased max life does stress the required mana cost, but the boost to life is very nice
Lightning Coil- Again, stresses the mana cost, boosts defense and adds lightning damage
(The 30% reduction can be temporarily bypassed by the self-shock from Vinktar, then remove the shock after using your proc skill. This would require a lot of busy work)
Rare Chest with Resistances and Life- Nothing fancy, it'll get the job done

Boots
Atziri's Step- Life, movement speed, spell dodge. Very good. Or,
Movement speed, life, resistance boots

Bow
Voltaxic Rift- Best in slot by far, if you can get one, get one.
Death's Harp- Cheap alternative, decent crit, great crit multi.
Any decent crit phys or crit lightning bow will do

Quiver
Crit multi, life, WED, added lightning, life, resistances. All are good. Or,
Drillneck- Since the build doesn't get much increased damage, Drillneck is extremely powerful.

Rings and Amulet
Intelligence is necessary for gem requirements. Otherwise, WED, added lightning, accuracy, life, crit. In whatever order you need.

Flasks
Zerphi's Last Breath- Nullifies Scold's and gives a lot of life
Vessel of Vinktar- Great damage, great leech, try to fit it in if you have the currency and patience
Chemist's Diamond Flask- The low base crit on Voltaxic makes this almost necessary
Atziri's Promise- It's essentially a baby version of Vinktar, cheap alternative
Taste of Hate- Not necessary, but nice to have. Be careful using it with Scold's.
Remove Shock Suffix- Necessary if you have Vinktar
Remove Bleed- Self explanatory
Remove Freeze and Chill- See "Remove Bleed" for my reasoning.

Gems

Note: You will have to make the decision on whether to run Vaal Haste or Vaal Grace

4L-Explosive Arrow, GMP, WED, Life Gain on Hit. (You'll need to change the gems depending on your life total and gem level)
4L- Wrath, Herald of Thunder, Curse on Hit, Assassin's Mark
4L- Blink Arrow, Faster Attacks, Blood Rage, Vaal Haste (or Vaal Grace)
5L- Lightning Arrow, Added Lightning, WED, GMP, Pierce 6L- Increased Crits
5L- Blast Rain, Added Lightning, Concentrated Effect, WED, Increased Crits, 6L Void Manipulation (Swap either Inc. Crits or Void Manipulation for Elemental focus for Atziri)

Build Variations and Options

Variation 1, Fragile Bloom+Doedre's Elixir
You could make a cheaper more rippy version with 5 Fragile Bloom jewels and shocking yourself with Vinktar for a total of 100% increased damage taken, then using Doedre's Elixir. This is not recommended.
Variation 2, Lightning Caster
Using a lightning skill such as Spark would also work extremely well, due to the huge amount of increased spell damage from the jewels and Scold's. No Voltaxic necessary, but it would be a huge buff to survivability and damage.

Hi, great concept, but you list "High life total" as a pro of this build, and I don't see how that's so. You're building so that whenever you use Lightning Arrow you take 20% of your health as damage, right? In practical terms, that means you have 20% less life, unless I'm missing something. Also, do you have to use Explosive Arrow once every 4 seconds? I'd love to see a vid of the build in action.

I deleted the character because it was just a proof of concept, nothing more. Explosive arrow takes away 20% health, not LA. That damage is instantly leeched back by the EA hitting. So no, you don't have 20% reduced health.