[3.6] Milky's Scorching Ray Totems (updating process)

Thanks for your help milky :) Sad story with singularity..

I play the build without Elemental Equilibrium because its uncomfortable for me
to throw traps and to cast Orb of storms and stack my curses and..

I need Ancestral Bond and cant proc EE in maps anyway so I have a plus for mapping
but a minus for boss fights. Thats ok for me, and the build deals tons of damage
so bosses die fast anyway.

Got a whole playstyle section in the guide relating to that topic.

Normally i never use Orb of Storms for EO or Traps for EE, except on bosses or potentially longer fights/harder enemys like in Breaches, against some essence monsters and bosses.

That buffs and debuffs are mainly needed for those tough fights, normal/magic/most rares die nearly instantly anyway

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Mdramadesu wrote:

Okay, another stupid question from me. I'm kinda new to this game, played a bit during breach league and that's all (and my english is pretty bad. Sorry about that).

Can you explain to me how Elemental Equilibrium works? As far as I understand it every time we use RF Totem monsters get + fire resists which is bad for us. We can use Orb of Storms or Traps to get lower resists but it is such a pain in the ass to use them every time. I'm in Cruel now and monsters probably will die fast enough either way but what about higher lvl zones and maps?

Elemental Equilibrium is triggered on a hit. Degen abilities (RF, Scorching Ray) do not hit ever, so Elemental Equilibrium doesn't trigger, and monsters don't get additional fire res.

For the purposes of this build, not using Orb or a trap is like fighting the enemy without having EE as a keystone. You can safely just place totems against regular mobs and only use Orb OR cold/lightning traps against tougher stuff to lower their resists against fire.

Milky, wouldn't be better using Chance to Ignite over Totem Resistence?

It has now 29% More Fire Damage on it as an added mod at level 20

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Daiug wrote:

Milky, wouldn't be better using Chance to Ignite over Totem Resistence?

It has now 29% More Fire Damage on it as an added mod at level 20

on beta you mean... and there is the burning dmg gem which already replaces totem resist gem. We will see how they balance all the gems and pick the strongest.

I will update the guide once everything is more or less written in stone, atm i just keep everything for 2.6 (which many still play).

Maybe i play the build again after the next wipe to test endgame content (which is significantly harder to reach with fewer mapdrops due to no legacy and fewer players to trade with).

Maybe i just test other stuff instead and just play it in 3.0 as my league starter :p

Hey Milky, thanks for the great guide. I love totem builds, and recently played a chieftain based on your guide. It was the funnest totems build I have played so far, and agree it makes a much better league starter than the other two that get tossed around. Contemplating a berserker with 3.0

In the beta I have been practicing my starts to get to RF, once you have it with inc aoe it is smooth sailing! The biggest thing I've found is being ready to progress, resists wise.

With legacy I went a much lazier(but pricier) route of using some of the breach items(skin of the loyal, xoph's heart), and a lvl 21 spell totem gem to increase damage without dealing with curse clunk.

For 3.0 though I am guessing pyre rings are going to be the most viable way to increase damage without soul mantle? What are your thought on this? I saw your update about the changes with gems and stuff for 3.0, but curious what else you might do if avoiding soul mantle.

Overall, love this build and thanks again!

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For 3.0 though I am guessing pyre rings are going to be the most viable way to increase damage without soul mantle? What are your thought on this? I saw your update about the changes with gems and stuff for 3.0, but curious what else you might do if avoiding soul mantle.

Well they are still balancing stuff around and its hard to tell how good some stuff will be in the end.

atm 1 or 2 pyre with a belly or rare chest with life + hybrid life seem pretty good on their own. slap in a 21 spelltotem later on and the damage will be higher than it is with the current soulmantle setup.

alternatively some opal rings with fire% essence craft + life are good choices ofc.

Without any additions or changes of uniques there wont be a bigger dps setup than soulmantle + kikazarus + self flag due to the extra link and 50% totem life.

Currently ggg still changes some uniques and there will be more new ones in 3.0 full release, maybe there is something that benefits the build as well.

I think its good to have many choices between very defensive setups, very offensive setups and a mix of both which can work for any type of league (hc/sc) and preference

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Milkyslice wrote:

"

Without any additions or changes of uniques there wont be a bigger dps setup than soulmantle + kikazarus + self flag due to the extra link and 50% totem life.

I may have to get over my aversion to soul mantle :/

Thanks for the reply!

"

EntropyMu wrote:

Elemental Equilibrium is triggered on a hit. Degen abilities (RF, Scorching Ray) do not hit ever, so Elemental Equilibrium doesn't trigger, and monsters don't get additional fire res.

For the purposes of this build, not using Orb or a trap is like fighting the enemy without having EE as a keystone. You can safely just place totems against regular mobs and only use Orb OR cold/lightning traps against tougher stuff to lower their resists against fire.

this is exactly what I was looking for. thank you.

Dont you need to actually do damage in order to trigger ele equilibrium? So it won't work with Ancestral Bond?