[2.4] The Master of Agony - CI / ZO + Tri-Curse Essence Drain / Contagion Trickster

Ty for your previous answer, hope yon can help me one more time :) How can I replace Heretic's veil? Should I use blasphemy support gem?

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Xinerub2 wrote:

Ty for your previous answer, hope yon can help me one more time :) How can I replace Heretic's veil? Should I use blasphemy support gem?

Heretic's Veil is key to this build.

Without it, you cannot run 3 curses because you'd have to use blasphemy, thus having no room for enlighten. And you wouldn't get the extra mana reservation from the helmet itself, too. So you'd end having a very small pool of unreserved mana, which I don't really advise to do.

To replace HV, you have to use a good ES helmet with decent stats and run two curses only (Temporal Chains and Enfeeble).

Heretic's Veil allows to add Vulnerability + Enlighten to the mix. So it's a fantastic upgrade, because the DPS boost Vuln gives is quite strong (it's like an extra MORE multiplier for Essence Drain).

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djnat wrote:

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Xinerub2 wrote:

Ty for your previous answer, hope yon can help me one more time :) How can I replace Heretic's veil? Should I use blasphemy support gem?

Heretic's Veil is key to this build.

Without it, you cannot run 3 curses because you'd have to use blasphemy, thus having no room for enlighten. And you wouldn't get the extra mana reservation from the helmet itself, too. So you'd end having a very small pool of unreserved mana, which I don't really advise to do.

To replace HV, you have to use a good ES helmet with decent stats and run two curses only (Temporal Chains and Enfeeble).

Heretic's Veil allows to add Vulnerability + Enlighten to the mix. So it's a fantastic upgrade, because the DPS boost Vuln gives is quite strong (it's like an extra MORE multiplier for Essence Drain).

Yeah, I understand that Veil is key to this build. I meant how to replace it until I'll get ~5ex. Thanks .

Great guide, currently following it. Quick question:

I have two daggers currently and don't know which one is better.

Option A)

Option B)

I was using the Heartbreaker up until recently. It has higher spell damage, energy shield and culling on it. Vs Consuming Dark which applies poision.

Will the poison spread without a kitchen knife? Is it worth giving up some extra es and culling for it?

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lightz39 wrote:

Great guide, currently following it. Quick question:

I have two daggers currently and don't know which one is better.

Option A)

Option B)

I was using the Heartbreaker up until recently. It has higher spell damage, energy shield and culling on it. Vs Consuming Dark which applies poision.

Will the poison spread without a kitchen knife? Is it worth giving up some extra es and culling for it?

The poison does not spread without a Bino's.

But it's still the best option to have, because this build has already an overpowered AOE mechanic which usually destroys entire screens of monsters with a single ED / Contagion combo. The only thing to "boost" as much as possible is the single target damage, because it means better clearspeed.

For two reasons:

1. Your first ED target dies faster because of the poison ===> ED spreads faster thanks to contagion
2. Your single target is a lot better because of the poison ===> Bosses are a lot easier to kill

Don't forget that a best rolled Consuming Dark has 60% spell damage AND 40 int. 40 int means 8% increased ES and +20 base mana.

I'd go for Consuming dark all the time. Especially if you can find a better one (yours has a very bad roll)! :)

Hey djnat great job with the Guide. I want to ask about the new Unique: Breath of the Council. Is this an good alternative to Consuming Dark? He gives a lot of Chaos Damage , increase AoE and Duration. Or is Poison still better for single Target?

Thx and have fun in Prophecy :)

Best regards LuffyFAN

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LuffyFAN wrote:

Hey djnat great job with the Guide. I want to ask about the new Unique: Breath of the Council. Is this an good alternative to Consuming Dark? He gives a lot of Chaos Damage , increase AoE and Duration. Or is Poison still better for single Target?

Thx and have fun in Prophecy :)

Best regards LuffyFAN

It seems a decent alternative for mapping, but I am not that convinced. You can't use Whirling Blades with a Scepter, and that sucks A LOT.

For single target / Atziri / difficult bosses Consuming Dark will still be far superior.

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djnat wrote:

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lightz39 wrote:

Great guide, currently following it. Quick question:

I have two daggers currently and don't know which one is better.

Option A)

Option B)

I was using the Heartbreaker up until recently. It has higher spell damage, energy shield and culling on it. Vs Consuming Dark which applies poision.

Will the poison spread without a kitchen knife? Is it worth giving up some extra es and culling for it?

The poison does not spread without a Bino's.

But it's still the best option to have, because this build has already an overpowered AOE mechanic which usually destroys entire screens of monsters with a single ED / Contagion combo. The only thing to "boost" as much as possible is the single target damage, because it means better clearspeed.

For two reasons:

1. Your first ED target dies faster because of the poison ===> ED spreads faster thanks to contagion
2. Your single target is a lot better because of the poison ===> Bosses are a lot easier to kill

Don't forget that a best rolled Consuming Dark has 60% spell damage AND 40 int. 40 int means 8% increased ES and +20 base mana.

I'd go for Consuming dark all the time. Especially if you can find a better one (yours has a very bad roll)! :)

Thanks for the input. As you said my roll is about as bad as it gets. I decided to hang on to the Heartbreaker for now and traded the consuming dark for an energy within jewel as I'm about to switch over to CI.

Quick question, what are your thoughts on running Discispline instead of a 2nd curse in HC (I don't have the currency for a veil or lvl2+ enlighten so I'm holding off on trying tri curse). With Discipline I get around an extra 1K ES. Do you think the ES gain is worth losing temp chains?

Also, how do you handle mana problems? I can't seem to find a way to get rid of my mana pot end game (level 72 right now) and I'm only on a 4L. What do you think? Thanks again!

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BhaluBear wrote:

Quick question, what are your thoughts on running Discispline instead of a 2nd curse in HC (I don't have the currency for a veil or lvl2+ enlighten so I'm holding off on trying tri curse). With Discipline I get around an extra 1K ES. Do you think the ES gain is worth losing temp chains?

Also, how do you handle mana problems? I can't seem to find a way to get rid of my mana pot end game (level 72 right now) and I'm only on a 4L. What do you think? Thanks again!

For HC, Discipline in the endgame setup can be used in place of the third curse, sacrificing some DPS.

If you don't have the veil, I don't think Discipline is worth sacrificing Temporal Chains of Enfeeble, unless you are in curse immune maps (in those maps I usually replace the 3 curses in veil with Grace, Discipline and Clarity).

As to the mana issues, you have to use a mana potion in no regen maps (we cannot leech, so we are forced to use it). If you took Weave the Arcane or Patient Reaper you should be fine in all the other maps.

Until you feel comfortable with the mana regen, you can spend two extra passive points to get the Dreamer notable. Remember that having some mana regen on gear is good too (you can go for it in Spirit Shield / Ring if you happen to find / trade good ones).

EDIT: did you take both the Primal Spirit and Shaper notables? Those help A LOT with the mana management, especially when the gear isn't still optimal, as it usually happens at the start of a new league.