[3.0] The Demented Xoph Berserker Build Guide [Rain of Arrows, Barrage] [Softcore, deeps]

The clear speed will be hindered, due to the ignite nerf! We still use Herald of ash, so that may help. We could get more damage with Elemental focus and Chin sol + The signal fire instead of using a Xoph bow. Another option is also the same Chin sol set up with Ignite proliferation gem instead of increased area gem. Something to try if you are playing this.

Overall playable, but the ignite part that was about 200k in 2.6 is now less than 10k. Damage can be still good and the single target is unchanged. But the screen will not burn down as it did previously.

Here's the tree for endgame.

This build is able to leech 100% of damage dealt if you've taken a savage hit recently. This is thanks to the Ascendancy node Cloaked in Savagery, and it means that most times you can't die so long as you leech and don't get 1 shot. It all comes together when we spec into Vaal Pact. Words are useless here. It's best if you go for the video section and have a look.



General "cleaning":

For general mapping we use Rain of arrows. It deals a damage in a reasonable aoe. Whatever is left standing is burned to ash from ignite proliferation and herald of ash. Rain of arrows is ideal because it delivers the highest base damage output for better burn. Since it is an aoe we don't need to use supports such GMP or LMP.



Boss:

I like to throw a Vaal lightning trap. After that it's "face" time. Barrage your enemy down till there's nothing standing. Remember to also use flasks for maximum impact.



*For more check the video section.

Ascendancies:

Pain Reaver > Crave the Slaughter > Cloaked in Savagery > Aspect of Carnage.





Vaal Pact:

This thing keeps us alive and it's of crucial importance to the build. Sure we lose life regen but believe me; You won't miss that much unless you want to do content like Uber Lab. Additionally you can drop Vaal pact if you use Atziri's Acuity.



Point Blank:

50% more damage. What more is there to say? This keystone synergies well with Barrage and Rain of Arrows as well as with the Chin sol's unique property 100% more bow damage at close range. It is a very well worth 2 point investment. The downside is that we knock back most bosses (with chin sol and when we crit.). However, this can also serve as a good defense against melee bosses.



Curses:

"

Daloco wrote:

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.

Curses are very powerful mechanic. I have personally opted for 1 curse myself. I don't want to be too dependent on them as sometimes you can encounter mobs or even maps that are immune to curses (Hexproof). Bosses will get a curse effectiveness reduction of 60% by default. The reflected damage we take is also higher. There are many other ways to improve our damage and some defensive curses also synergise well with our build.

"

Monsters and maps can have modifiers that make them (or monsters inside of them, in the case of maps) hexproof or immune to curses.

Act and map bosses have 60% less Curse Effect.

• Flammability: Our main offensive curse.
• Elemental Weakness: The secondary offensive curse.
• Enfeeble: Arguably the best defensive curse currently available.

Check the gem setup here.

Bow for general mapping - Xoph's Nurture

Xoph's Nurture is a great bow for mapping as it provides decent base damage, 50% of damage conversion to fire damage, but most importantly it grant's us free elemental proliferation! The links colors are flexible. Ideally you will want 5 off colors but there's many options if you cant get the ideal colors.





Quiver for general mapping - Rare quiver

A rare quiver like mine will work best, since this is a crit build. Otherwise The Signal Fire is also a solid choice.





Bow for single target - Chin Sol

Chin Sol is amazing and it works best at close range. A Harbinger bow can be better, but it would really need to have top rolls to beat Chin Sol. The knock back can be a bit annoying and even dangerous, but it also works as a good defense "measure" against melee attackers.




Quiver for single target - The Signal Fire

The Signal Fire is GG. If you can get one with +1 arrows you will get most damage.





Helmet - Rat's Nest

Rat's Nest is great helmet as it provides a lot of critical strike chance, attack and movement speed.





Chest piece - Kaom's Heart

The armour of choice. Kaom's Heart is just awesome with tons of life and the fire damage on top. Just pure awesomeness.
As a stepping stone you can use a Tabula Rasa or a Rare 5 link chest.





Gloves

I recommend using Maligaro's Virtuosity. These will give you a lot of damage. Another great option is also Empire's Grasp. These will negate the annoying knock back effect from chin soll. This will also pseudo increase your accuracy and it's generally much fun!
Otherwise you can use simple rare gloves with Life, resists and accuracy rating or attack speed. If you have too much moneys try the Atziri's Acuity.





Boots

On boots you look for Life, resists, movement speed, maybe some intelligence:





Amulet - Xoph's Blood

Xoph's Blood can give you a lot damage and even defenses. The stats are ideal for the build. The life and resistances are great. However the Elemental penetration adds a lot of damage. This Amulet also grants us Avatar of Fire which enables us to have a 100% conversion of physical to fire damage! The mod "Cover enemies in ash when they hit you" can save our lives since we are able to leech the damage inflicted.

*Note: If this amulet is too expensive for you try to use Blast rain instead of Barrage. In this scenario you can try and swap Physical projectile damage for conc. effect or Slower projectiles.






Rings

The best in slot ring is a rare Opal Ring. Diamond rings are also a good choice! You can also do essence crafting, if you feel RNG is on your side. An Essence of Anger can go a long way. Other rings can be decent too. You can use these slots to get the remaining resistances. Of course life is very important as always. The remaining stats can be anything you need. there's many stats that benefit the build.





Belt - Rare rustic sash

The last piece of gear. No doubt best in slot is a Rustic sash with WED, life and resistences.

We are looking for rare jewels with:

• increased maximum life
• increased fire damage
• increased projectile damage
• increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier
• increased Area Damage (not good for Barrage)
• increased Damage
• increased Accuracy Rating
• global critical strike chance
• increased Attack Speed with Bows
• increased Attack Speed
• increased Attack and Cast Speed
• chance to Ignite
• increased Damage over Time (not very good)

• One instant flask with dispel bleed. Must have.
• The Diamond flask is probably the most important flask that we have.
• The Basalt flask is also quite important for mitigation of the hits that can actually kill you.
• Quicksilver flask dooh... Use 1 or 2 depending what kind of content you play.

• Reflect can be a problem. That's why we can use a ruby or a Dying Sun flask, if we can afford it. The Dying sun is especially good in this build as it will protect us against reflect. But it will also grant aoe to Rain of arrows and the prolif. and of course a lot of damage to Barrage!

The best option is to take the skill points, You may also help Oak or Kraityn if you feel like it.

Check the Vlog on Youtube.