R.I.P. [2.6] Explosive Arrow - Elementalist Build Guide (multi class + version, in depth theory)

Wait, reflect is the problem as an elementalist? Oo how much damage are you doing

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Greengroove wrote:

*snip*

I went with 12 too (yolo). Lost about 700 life, 130 hp/s, had to patch up some resists (for ele weakness) but the damage is obscene. I took down twinned core (died once because it was pretty much my first time ever doing twinned core) and now I'm waiting to get some guardian maps so I can test the damage there.

The only relative negative surprise was how much I initially missed the 30 or 40% aoe I had from the tree before but I got used to it.

Reflect can be a problem if you stack more than 3 arrows. Even with the Elementalist. But it also depend on map mods,... For example if you stand in shocked ground u get hit harder of if you have a prophecy with 2x rare reflect mob, -max maps,...

Damage is retarded. I am even using gmp. 12 Jewels might just be overkill for mapping. But For the T16 bosses it could come handy.

I will try some different things in the future.

About enemies resistances and damage scaling - as I know it:

Lets say we put out 300k damage on a monster with 30% fire resistance, our 300k damage will be cut of by 30% (300*0.70=210). That is a severe damage reduction.

If we use modifiers that remove resistance we directly increase our damage by a lot. Since enemies can have minus in resistances its always a huge damage increase to lower their resistances.

Shouldn't this be a big priority for us? We have flammability, Fire Penetration and Elemental Equilibrium, but we can also get:

- Corrupted gloves: Curse Enemies with level (10 to 12) Elemental Weakness on Hit
- Corrupted amulet: Enemies can have 1 additional Curse
- Mastermind of Discord (triggered by added lightning DMG on a ring)

We can also use a 30% increased Flammability Curse Effect on helmet. I'm not sure how this scales the curse - anyone know?

Elemental Weakness + Mastermind of Discord will take away 56% fire resistance on our enemies. That is 56% more damage of our total damage.


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Thoughts? And correct me if I'm wrong.

You are right.

To be able to use the corrupted gloves with an additional curse we also need to be able to actually cast 2 or more curses. Otherwise this would be useless.
There are also some nice glove enchants available for us as an alternative.

Corrupted amulets yes! Other corruptions might also be beneficial such as +1 to frenzy charges.

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Mastermind of Discord (triggered by added lightning DMG on a ring)

What did you mean with this. Mastermind of Discord requires us to use a lightning skill in order to work. I propose to drop an orb of storms and destroy anything.

It is really hard to get a good enchant on a helmet. I think that once you get a good one you can just stick with it.

There is another way to further scale curses if that is the path you want to take. You can get an Intuitive leap jewel and stick it in the socket on the left side of the start tree for Scion. Then leap to Skittering runes and potentially get the Scion aoe nodes. This would definitely be worth it if you use 2x curses.

One thing I'm not sure of is how do these curses affect reflected damage.

All in all I agree that curses are very powerful damage amplifiers. However you can often find Hex proof mods on maps or mobs. You need to be aware of that and not rely on curses too much.

To be honest since I switched to Grand Spectrum my damage has sky-rocketed. I don't feel the need for any additional damage. That being said reflect can now be a bit problematic. I will try to get my second curse going on the amulet. But I think I'll just use enfeeble or temp chains on CWDT.
I am not sure how to apply a double curse on a 4 link other than with the Rain of arrows skill that I personally don't really care for. But yeah that is a matter of preference. With Rain of arrow you have a nice AOE and you can link it with Curse on hit + 2 curses.

There are many ways to work with EA in general. I have seen that there is many viable options. We need to be aware of the map mods that we run. Some of them may hinder us and some of them might even help. But in general I feel that EA is a very strong skill.

Then I will definitively get an additional curse on my Tiki amulet, and EW on Winds of Change gloves for 30% increased total damage. Enfeeble is also a good idea for even better survivability - thank you for that.

This can work for a double curse on 4L (not so good for big packs, but convenient on bosses): Split arrow > CoH > Flammability > x curse ...but then we lose frenzy.

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What did you mean with this. Mastermind of Discord requires us to use a lightning skill in order to work. I propose to drop an orb of storms and destroy anything.

I missed the "skill" bit. Maybe not worth it then.

Thank you for your answer and tips. I'm looking forward to optimize this build for my own playstyle at higher levels. I´ve only palyed it for 2 days as of now, but I enjoy it more then any other build I've played.

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This can work for a double curse on 4L (not so good for big packs, but convenient on bosses): Split arrow > CoH > Flammability > x curse ...but then we lose frenzy.

That is a neat idea. However this way you also lose the more multiplier and attack speed from Frenzy.

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I missed the "skill" bit. Maybe not worth it then.

I haven't tried that route myself but I think that would be a nice thing to have for the guardians. Orb of storms requires 1 link and it last 10 seconds. Probably more if linked to increased duration. After it disappears you still retain the effect for an additional 10 seconds. Increases to aoe may also help.

For general play the Beacon of ruin is really nice as it provides prolif. Its basically free aoe.

I tried the 12 Jewel setup at first but it was too powerful. The reflect was starting to make problems. It is doable but I only had about 6.8k life since I had to use Essence worm for the protection (while mapping). Any Opal rings are just overkill over the overkill. :)
I could also swap the Essence worm for a high life ring. That would grant me about 7.1k life.

I then decided for the 11 jewel set up. And switched some gear to rare. Now I lost about 160 elemental damage (1x jewel and gloves) but I gained about 600 life. Additionally I am now able to use 1 Opal ring that grants me about 55 elemental damage. I am sitting at 7.9k life and the damage is godly.

I lost a bit damage, so now I only have a "shit load" of damage.

Quick gear update for Grand Spectrum setup:

I am now using more rare gear as I don't need the damage from gloves and the -10% movement speed is not ideal. Instead I opt for more life (since the Grand Spectrum tree has less life).
I also get more resistances and accuracy + attack speed. I will also try to get a nice enchant on the boots. This way I only really lost 10% of movement speed. I gained about 600 life.



Since I deal way more damage the Atziri's promise flask comes into play:



Because the damage is now insane I opt for the Rearguard with the fire leech corruption instead. I am mostly just using GMP but I'll switch to Culling strike for single target. The flask and the leech from the belt and this quiver allow me to do no regen maps without any problems.



Videos coming soon.

if you have problem with reflect, try integrate a Sibyl in your gear as the second ring. should probably solve any problem you have with reflect.

Sibyl's lament is a no no item for EA as it will prevent us from using Elemental Equilibrium.
There was no real ele reflect problem. It just started to be noticeable.

I have now switched to 11 jewels and got some more significant upgrades to my setup!