Lightning Golem Crescendo ♫ All Content / HC Focused / Not Casual-Friendly

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urgatorbait wrote:

Hi all.

I've been lurking in this thread since 3.0 when I decided I wanted to see for myself how cool and strong a golem build could be. I'm just putting the finishing touches on my level 93 witch in standard after the respec and hope to test drive it tonight or tomorrow. I plan to post my tree and gear in this thread once done for feedback. It's not far off from most others but a bit tweaked for my own liking. I went hybrid and landed on using a strong ES rare rather than my Shavs. More on that when I post later.

In the meantime, I have a quick question about your setup.... you said you went CI but you are using an rare amulet. How are you mitigating stuns? My apologies as I cannot see the POB link as I am on my iPhone and not at home on my PC. Thanks and happy hunting.

Brine King Pantheon Power (including 1st and 2nd upgrade) it isn't stun immunity, but its as close as you can get to it while not sacrificing slots to uniques.

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You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds
Upgrade 1: 30% increased Stun and Block Recovery
Upgrade 2: You cannot be Frozen if you've been Frozen Recently

So, basically you get stun recovery and cant get stunned more than once in 2 seconds....that combined with a quartz flask to phase through mobs should get you out of more or less anything.

Also, here is my updated PoB link:
https://pastebin.com/Hw8MKApM

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urgatorbait wrote:

Hi all.

I've been lurking in this thread since 3.0 when I decided I wanted to see for myself how cool and strong a golem build could be. I'm just putting the finishing touches on my level 93 witch in standard after the respec and hope to test drive it tonight or tomorrow. I plan to post my tree and gear in this thread once done for feedback. It's not far off from most others but a bit tweaked for my own liking. I went hybrid and landed on using a strong ES rare rather than my Shavs. More on that when I post later.

In the meantime, I have a quick question about your setup.... you said you went CI but you are using an rare amulet. How are you mitigating stuns? My apologies as I cannot see the POB link as I am on my iPhone and not at home on my PC. Thanks and happy hunting.

Hey, you're probably looking at my LVL 30 character that's still in the leveling phase of the build (no time to play for most of this month :(). I use Eye/Presence of Chayula for stun mitigation. The new pantheon ability is prooobably decent mitigation? I haven't tested enough to give a firm answer. I'd hate getting stunned while trying to use Convocation (with it's long 8s cooldown) though. Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.

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tomatopotato wrote:

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urgatorbait wrote:

Hi all.

I've been lurking in this thread since 3.0 when I decided I wanted to see for myself how cool and strong a golem build could be. I'm just putting the finishing touches on my level 93 witch in standard after the respec and hope to test drive it tonight or tomorrow. I plan to post my tree and gear in this thread once done for feedback. It's not far off from most others but a bit tweaked for my own liking. I went hybrid and landed on using a strong ES rare rather than my Shavs. More on that when I post later.

In the meantime, I have a quick question about your setup.... you said you went CI but you are using an rare amulet. How are you mitigating stuns? My apologies as I cannot see the POB link as I am on my iPhone and not at home on my PC. Thanks and happy hunting.

Hey, you're probably looking at my LVL 30 character that's still in the leveling phase of the build (no time to play for most of this month :(). I use Eye/Presence of Chayula for stun mitigation. The new pantheon ability is prooobably decent mitigation? I haven't tested enough to give a firm answer. I'd hate getting stunned while trying to use Convocation (with it's long 8s cooldown) though. Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Yes, without true stun immunity you may get stunned while trying to cast convaction, but I found that that issue is easily bypassed with being a bit less reckless while playing. The pantheon power is good from a defensive standpoint, and certainly can act as an stun immunity replacement, however if you're reckless about your positioning it will not prevent getting stunned in the middle of a convocation cast.

Anyways currently I'm thinking about linking another convocation with CWDT as a quality of life improvement. I found that when speed running maps with separate small rooms that golems lag behind at times, and as you said, convocation's cooldown can be a bit restrictive on how youre gonna play (regardless on if you have stun immunity).

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Palaryel wrote:

Anyways currently I'm thinking about linking another convocation with CWDT as a quality of life improvement. I found that when speed running maps with separate small rooms that golems lag behind at times, and as you said, convocation's cooldown can be a bit restrictive on how youre gonna play (regardless on if you have stun immunity).

That's actually a really great suggestion. I never even considered that. Gonna swap Vaal Lightning Trap for CWDT-Convocation when mapping from now on. Thanks, will add to the guide :)

Edit: Doh... just tried it. It shares the same cooldown as the non-trigger Convocation. Ah well... :(

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tomatopotato wrote:

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Palaryel wrote:

Anyways currently I'm thinking about linking another convocation with CWDT as a quality of life improvement. I found that when speed running maps with separate small rooms that golems lag behind at times, and as you said, convocation's cooldown can be a bit restrictive on how youre gonna play (regardless on if you have stun immunity).

That's actually a really great suggestion. I never even considered that. Gonna swap Vaal Lightning Trap for CWDT-Convocation when mapping from now on. Thanks, will add to the guide :)

Edit: Doh... just tried it. It shares the same cooldown as the non-trigger Convocation. Ah well... :(

I did that for a few quick test runs on some lower level content before I had my build completely geared out. I think I had cwdt, convocation, phase run and flesh offering on a four link. It was awesome. I then tried switching things up and I Rama few modest runs last night but I noticed that I missed that setup. Instead I had a manual cast of convocation in an unset ring but now I'm thinking I may figure out a way to get that back. When I did have it in my setup I still had a manual cast in the unset for when I needed to call them.

Thanks for the clarification on the stun prevention. I am using a Presence and was even able to squeeze in a Dream Fragments to be extra safe. My resists are capped and even have 69% chaos resist. I am hybrid using a high ES chest (760+). I have about 7600 ES on top of 2800 life for a total 10,400 EHP.

I have 1 ring with minion movement speed and using 11 jewel slots with one empty needing another harmony. I'm using Vertex helm and using discipline and temp chains on blasphemy. I am cursing using a ball lightning, gmp, coh, flammability setup. Maybe the gmp is overkill but it feels nice. I was also able to squeeze AA into the mix and still barely have enough unreserved mana to cast my FG.

Anyway, I'm hoping to post links to everything when I have time. I've learned so much from reading this thread ( and others)... thanks. Never played a minion build before and it's been fun so far. Really wish GGG would improve minion AI though.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I may switch my Increased Duration in my CWDT setup to a second convolcation. It would be CWDT, IC, Phase Run and Convication. Even though it shares the same CD as the other convocation I'm fine with it. Normally running through maps... run towards pack, fire GMP ball lightning into pack to curse and proc EE, run into or close to the pack, take a hit and proc lvl 1 CWDT, immortal call, summon golems to your side, and phase run to lower aggro and speed boost away. I foresee using the self cast convocation for emergencies (just have to hope it's not on CD) or when it's needed strategically during certain boss fights.

Finally had the time to post this....

Here is a link to my skill tree:


Here is my gear (current gem links included):


I have an Anima Stone, Might, Eminence, and 7 Harmonies with one slot open for another Harmony once I can find someone on Standard to break away from Harbinger to sell it to me. :p

I run 4 Flame Golem, 1 Lightning with Culling and Rarity, and 1 Stone for a 3rd golem type and a little ES regen.

It was very challenging to balance out my desire for a high EHP, capping resists, dexterity requirements but I finally managed. I was even able to get 69% chaos resists!

I'm hoping to try running some tier 14's and up but so far I've only been able to acquire 1 or 2 of them.

I'm happy to receive any feedbadck or constructive criticism about my gear, gem setup, skill tree - anything. I've been reading up on all the Golem posts and learned a lot but maybe I missed something important. Thanks all and may your drops be bountiful and epic!

Hmm I've been thinking about it, and even though I went with elementalist this time around, if I had to rebuild this build again I think I would roll with a Ascendant- elementalist and probably guardian. You get the same passive tree except you have easy access to another 3 point jewel and 5 passive points. And more stats..and still 6 golems.

Hey guys,
Really sorry for the late replies. Not much chance to play this league yet with IRL stuff getting in the way. Hopefully soon though...

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Palaryel wrote:

Brine King Pantheon Power (including 1st and 2nd upgrade) it isn't stun immunity, but its as close as you can get to it while not sacrificing slots to uniques.

So, basically you get stun recovery and cant get stunned more than once in 2 seconds....that combined with a quartz flask to phase through mobs should get you out of more or less anything.

Yup. I get the feeling it should be sufficient, enough so that a good rare amulet should provide more value than Eye, but should probably still rank behind Presence. For this build, the only situation I can think of right now where it would really suck to have Convocation stunned is when trying to save Zana during Shaper (hit by the clone just before add phase) or possibly Minotaur.

Some non-Convocation situations that might be potentially fatal to take even a single stun would be Phoenix and the Uber Oversouls. A random add stunning you might be enough to get you caught in the Phoenix Whirling Blades or self-explosion move (death would depend on the number of damage mods on the map). The Oversouls mega-Ball Lightnings should be given extra wide berth, a situation which might be complicated by an untimely stun. Other than that though, just common-sense play and quartz like you said should be more than sufficient.

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urgatorbait wrote:

Thanks for the clarification on the stun prevention. I am using a Presence and was even able to squeeze in a Dream Fragments to be extra safe. My resists are capped and even have 69% chaos resist. I am hybrid using a high ES chest (760+). I have about 7600 ES on top of 2800 life for a total 10,400 EHP.

I have 1 ring with minion movement speed and using 11 jewel slots with one empty needing another harmony. I'm using Vertex helm and using discipline and temp chains on blasphemy. I am cursing using a ball lightning, gmp, coh, flammability setup. Maybe the gmp is overkill but it feels nice. I was also able to squeeze AA into the mix and still barely have enough unreserved mana to cast my FG.

I do think 2800 life is still really risky if you happen to be playing HC, but 69 chaos res, nice!

I absolutely love GMP Ball Lightning :)

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I run 4 Flame Golem, 1 Lightning with Culling and Rarity, and 1 Stone for a 3rd golem type and a little ES regen.

I assume this is a mapping setup, yes? Unbuffed Stone Golems may have trouble staying alive vs. endgame ele damage.

Also, will you be replacing the boots with an ES base eventually? The stats are great otherwise.

Your tree looks great. I assume you'll pick up that nearby minion damage node and possibly the left-side jewel slot with your future points if you level that far, as well as Avatar of Fire if/when you spec into Lightning Golems.

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I'm hoping to try running some tier 14's and up but so far I've only been able to acquire 1 or 2 of them.

Feel free to hit me up next time I'm online for some T14s on Standard to test with if you like. I have some extras I don't need.

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Warranx wrote:

Hmm I've been thinking about it, and even though I went with elementalist this time around, if I had to rebuild this build again I think I would roll with a Ascendant- elementalist and probably guardian. You get the same passive tree except you have easy access to another 3 point jewel and 5 passive points. And more stats..and still 6 golems.

Hmm... I'm not convinced regarding Ascendant yet, but I don't have enough info/experience to give a definitive answer. I did have somebody message me the other day saying they tried playing golems as Ascendant on HHC (with Flame and then Lightning). That person told me after doing a few Normal Atziris at around level 82(?) he/she somewhat regretted not going Elementalist.

Would innervate not be a good gemslot for this? I would assume controlled destruction and innervate would result in higher damage than inc duration and elemental focus, just due to being able to shock? As well as the innervate boost also giving your minions better clearspeed?