[2.2] The Storm Herald (crit thunder/ice heralds) easy maps!

Welcome!



This was my second build in HC perendus league. I brought him over to standard so I could test out with better gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeawZhu_zgE&feature=youtu.be - shows PURE Herald damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXeJVV-zr4w&feature=youtu.be quick gorge map

How it works:

Herald of thunder and Herald of ice are supported with the increased crit chance gem (which grants 1.9% base crit).
In addition to that, the Assassin provides an additional 0.5 base crit per power charges. With 6 power charges, we can make Herald of thunder/ice have a decent crit chance.

since HoT cannot shock, we use:


This allows the lightning bolts to freeze and proc Herald of ice. Herald of ice is also linked with a Cold to fire gem so that it shocks nearby monsters. This creates a perpetual cycle between the two Heralds.

In addition to having high damage crit Herald's, we can use either a 4L or 6L firestorm setup. Firestorm will shock enemies because of the Three Dragons.


Defensive mechanics:
Hybrid es/life. Life leech applies to ES and 1 life potion is sufficient.

Writhing jar is great because it can proc HoT - allows for sustain on single boss fights.

provides high block chance. With a few talents, tempest shield, and lazhwar, you can almost be block capped (with legacy rumi's you can overcap).

Lastly, Herald of thunder is linked to the Blind support gem.

Stats:


Gear:




Skill Tree:




Links:





Videos:


To see my other builds, look here:


I am currently finding ways to improve the build, but so far it has been a blast. Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below.

Doryani's scepter is much better now. I am uploading a video that shows the damage of the heralds without using firestorm very often.

Herald of thunder/ice has about 40% crit chance + 9% from Assassins mark.

why not use cold to fire ring for better mana reservation?
and why you dont take ambush node on ascendancy?
also you can use on herald of thunder in the 6L (COH + ass mark) for better mana reservation

"

The_x_ile wrote:

why not use cold to fire ring for better mana reservation?
and why you dont take ambush node on ascendancy?
also you can use on herald of thunder in the 6L (COH + ass mark) for better mana reservation

Assassin nodes used are:
Ambush, unstable fusion, and deadly infusion.

As mentioned you can use pyre ring, but right now cold to fire does more damage and is 110% multiplier which is next to nothing.

Lastly, I dont have a 6L yet, so no CoH HoT. I will be running a third curse with this setup (TC) once I get a 6L and reach level 90.

Mana is not an issue, especially once rallying cry is up. There is just enough mana to cast indefinitely.

Edit:
I will update the guide with a few minor changes - now uses orb of storms for bosses. Character now lvl 85.

This build was my first build of PSC, I used Storm Call with dual Storm Prison wands to get 50% crit on heralds. I quit pretty fast though because of low damage and squishy lol, the tree for crit heralds is a real stretch and on top of that I was using rarity gear... I think your sceptres are way better than Storm Prisons.

Just in case you were interested I'll put my gem setup here
HoI -- crit strikes -- cold to fire -- fire pen -- rarity
HoT -- crit strikes -- lightning pen -- rarity -- (added lightning b/c it was in thunderfist gloves)

and then ass mark on blasphemy, lightning warp, cwdt, and 4-link storm call for single-target.


One question, how do you think Assassin stacks up against Elementalist? Personally I think Elementalist is probably better, then you can use Ele Overload too. However, I like Assassin because crit Heralds are very silly :)

Anyway, good work making this build function, I tried and failed so I'm glad someone did it!

haha, well so far I have done up to T13 maps no problem! I dont like storm call, it feels to clunky. Firestorm works perfectly - the increased duration from the skill tree buffs the damage and the 95% crit chance make it pretty much always shock. Shock + kill = Herald of Thunder. I can even use HoT in PVP and pillage all those aegis tanks (since HoT is not a spell, it cannot be blocked).

Assassin is by far the best choice, since you get 95% crit firestorm/ orb of storms and 50% crit heralds. The only thing I like about the elementalist is the fact you apply all status ailments on hit. the 40% more damage multiplier is okay, but nothing compared to 400+ multiplier on crit.

new vid up, precinct map using 4l orb of storms and 4L firestorm.

https://youtu.be/OIFbZhdEjic

updated guide with most recent skill tree and gear. Currently using 6L HoT. The 6th gem slot will be increased area of effect gem once I get the helmet enchant with 20% reduced mana reserved for HoT. Also added lightning damage support has been linked with Herald of ice sot hat it chains.

Pretty nifty.

Makes me wonder if i can do something similar without the mask using elementalist.

Vaal Stormcall is the absolutely best vaal skill for this build, especially with duration nodes which you have, so is there some reason why you don't use it?

It can recharge itself from one cast if the pack of enemies is large enough.