[2.5] CI Witch Scorching Ray CWC Whispering Ice - Version 2.0 Released - Now with more damage!

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SasoriOtoko wrote:

This build can absolutely do Uber Izaro and endgame maps!

I wrecked Uber Izaro easily and I've done most T14-15 maps with nasty mods - including a twinned Abyss last night that was almost a joke. Facetanked the two Kaoms even when they charged me because the DPS was so high that they were both dead very fast and the leech kept my ES up. My one regular Atziri run was funny too...the trio were dead almost instantly and Atziri was very easy. I'm sure Uber Atziri could be done as well, but have not tried.

I definitely recommend a Vaal Discipline if you can fit one in for the end game content...goes well with CWDT+IC+ID combo and it is a nice emergency button in case you get in trouble. It is the closest thing a CI character will ever get to a life potion. Also very handy in the Lab.

I had a Minotaur map drop last night but since I'm almost halfway to Lv 92 so I want to get my next level before running it.

I'll share my results here once I do.

Your days are numbered, buddy. :D

Glad to get some extra confirmation on the end game maps, so it's not only my words providing proof.
I have been experimenting with the setup for vaal discipline also, and the best slot is definitly in the cwdt combo with inreased duration, vaal disc pretty much makes us immortal for a pretty long duration.
Go get that minotaur!

**UPDATE**
Updated gems and links! Be sure to check up on it

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All good! Just glad you didn't waste currency then :D
I hope you enjoy the build

You're damn right I am :)

How can you apply freeze or do I miss something? Shaper of desolation gives us Chill not Freeze. Also, since icestorm hits are so small, it cannot apply shock to higher tier bosses which is a huge downside.

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8r3nt wrote:

How can you apply freeze or do I miss something? Shaper of desolation gives us Chill not Freeze. Also, since icestorm hits are so small, it cannot apply shock to higher tier bosses which is a huge downside.

That is my bad, the shatter/explosion I get on corpses is actually from pyre, which explodes corpses that are ignited, so the chill is just a 30 % slow reduction to enemies (which just means we didn't need freeze anyway).

Are you you certain that shaper of desolation doesn't bypass the 5 % minimum of shocking, since I seem to be shocking bosses currently? Either way, the shard hits are not that "small" I can currently hit an average on 10300 damage per shard (which means some is higher and some are less ofc).
I am almost certain tho', that shaper calculates the hit, like a crit would be calculated.

For example crits always shock/ignite/freeze if used by a lightning/fire/frost spell, same works with shaper of desolation.

Would be nice to have this confirmed.

Thanks for the guide! It looks like a lot of fun. I've played a few WI chars and am starting to make some plans for a 2.5 WI run, but I've got a question about your build.

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Elemental Focus: I chose to remove this gem instead of controlled destruction due to the fact that I am taking the ascendancy Shaper of Desolation.
Shaper of Desolation gives us Freeze, Burn and Shock effects all the time! And shocking is an amazing damage modifier (50 % from all sources + we spec into celestial punishment for even more modifiers.) which is more than elemental focus gives us alone!

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We can shock that is 50 % MORE damage

I am under the impression that the shocking status effect imparts *increased* damage where elemental focus grants *more* damage. A quick look at the wiki kind of confirms this, but you seem to use the *more* keyword interchangeably with the *increased* keyword. Am I missing something that makes shocking much better than I would otherwise expect?

Thanks,
RB

Im sure that mathoddie can explain it better but shock is a more multiplier outside of a few minor situations.

Debuffs on enemies act as more multipliers because they are calculated separately than the other increase damage sources. Just like cursing a mob with vulnerability, yes it says increased phys and DoT dmg taken, but since it's a debuff on the target, and not a buff on you, it's a multiplier not an additive increase.

this build is fun as hell, huge dps, life leech and AoE, i no longer avoiding breaches but destroying them now lol. the only downside is it kills breaches as well as my fps lol.

anyone here doing T16/shaper/breach lords already? mind to share your results how it fare against end game bosses?

thanks again :D

I've fallen in love with this build :) I'm lvl 86 and is working like a charm. The only thing that bother me is the cumbersome activation of the first icestorm cwc, it hurts a little the clearing speed w. r. t. faster, classical spell.
Anyway, I'd like to share a couple of thoughts with you:
-I don't love the strength to int jewel usage in our build. I mean, it is an usage of, if I remember correctly, 6 points for getting converted 50 str to int, plus the jewel int bonus and 10 int node, it is actually 6 points for 84int total. It is good but to me it doesn't seem awesome. Especially because we seem to have cheaper +int nodes near our tree path! Just look on the lower part of our tree path, where we take +20 maximum es / +% increased es node: there is a anode that gives 20 int 16 spell damage and we don't lose anything to reach it, just some increased es modes to take.
Another thing that can be taken is under vaal pact, a Dex node that is already converted by us to int and then a +20 int(and projectile damage/speed).
I still need to do the math, but actually I think I get better dps with this setup, and I'll put a spell damage / fire damage / cold damage jewel inside the jewelry slot on the strength zone. It is 40% increased damage to our icestorm.
-another consideration that come in my mind: this build is nice because it is simple, especially simple for building&gearing:I mean, we get rid of cast speed, mana, regen mana, mana reserved, we only care about int, es and some spell /elemental damage. This leave use so free for gearing that I'm thinking myself if this build would shine even more if it would be critical.
Especially if we get rid of the left, strength-ish part of our tree, we recover something like 15 points that can be invested in taking crit nodes(that we already reached actually), then in our gear we can put some +crit chance / mult, finally swapping controlled destruction by elemental focus and taking the 25% ascendancy fire penetration when using lighting spell(which we use cast often by cwdt) while taking out the burning /freezing/shocking effect node. I thing those two are of equal value for us, because we trade 25% constant penetration (25% *more* damage in our case) with the 50% (shock) more damage half of the time.
The build could reach 50-70 crit canche, we can even benefit from staff crit nodes, I thing that, while gearing would become a little more complicated and expensive (but is soo simple actually!) we could easily do 2-3 times the actual damage.
I don't think I will do that because I don't want to chance my whole gear that is already almost end-game, but it is a viable option if someone want more damage.