Cartwheels on Ice (Golems) ⛄ Shaper-viable meme build

3.3 Update

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Overall nothing major.

re: Primordial Harmony fix
① 3.2 Harmonies gave extra unintended cooldown (via cooldown stat #1)
② GGG is removing that unintended cooldown in 3.3 (nerf)
③ GGG is giving back that cooldown by boosting cooldown stat #2 (buff)
④ Overall effect: no nerf/no buff

This might be considered a small indirect buff, since perfect or well-rolled Harmonies should theoretically be more common/cheaper (higher odds of hitting max roll for a single 30-45% stat, than to hit max rolls for 20-30% and 10-15% consecutively).


re: secondary skills
Ball Lightning, one of the recommended curse appliers for this build gets a slight buff with more AOE and projectile speed.

Discipline and Vaal Discipline get folded into one gem, opening up space for Decoy Totem, or (Vaal) Lightning Trap, or whatever you want.



re: new corruptions
I didn't see anything too crazy regarding helpful corruptions for this build. The ability to get all white sockets would be nice QOL. For Jewels, it looks like you can't corrupt them for +1-3% chaos resistance anymore. Instead, you can get one of the following new (I think?) results:

Minions deal (4–5)% increased Damage
Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you
You cannot be Hindered
You cannot be Maimed
1% reduced Mana Reserved

It's also possible to get corruptions for +ES% or +Life% on gear too.

Seems like a buff.



re: other stuff
① I'm planning to skip this league and take a break. Will still lurk/check the thread in case anybody has questions though.

② Added an Elementalist tree/POB to the passives section for those interested in playing that version instead.

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cyberxndr wrote:

I really like this build. I've tried it a few leagues ago, and still playing it each league. Ice golems are real blast, they charge as hell and disrupt everything. Clearspeed may be a bit slower compared to flame/lightning ones, but there are no shiny graphics explosions each second, and it's more eyes-safe for relaxed playing. The sounds of cyclone charges are fantastic, the mobs literaly CRUSHED with freeze explosions granted by Hatred. Single target is a joke, the golems just charge and shred the boss in seconds.

(snip)

Totally with you regarding the sound effect and thanks for the reply :) You brought up some great points, especially regarding customization (Shaper's Touch for defense or Grip of the Council for offense, etc.). I went with ES recovery via CWDT/Spirit Offering in 3.1, but I see you were successful with your own ZO/ES regen version.

Re: the Harmony fix
It should be neither a buff nor a nerf. You can read more about the bug details here if you're curious.

Edit: I was trying to think of what the ice shattering sfx reminded me of and it dawned on me... it sounds like cash monie$ :P

What's more interesting, it seems like 3+1+1+1+1 setup is the best option for this build. The reason is related to the golem UI. Golems prefer to use Cyclone only for charging, and not for the melee combat. But if we scale Cyclone damage as much as possible, each single charge would become fatal, and there wouln't be much mobs to continue with. 12 harmonies allow to bypass Cyclone cooldown entirely.

I've ran some 82lvl temples during the day, and man, this build is not a joke anymore. The mobs are literally shredded like a butter all the time. Each golem charges in its own direction and leaves a dead trail behind, no need to wait anything, just run through. It's even better for temples due to obstacle bypassing with Cyclone three times a second. Clearspeed is not an issue anymore, 700-1000 rampage kills all the day while relaxed - no more pleasurable thing to do. No need for empower4, sotl2, lycosidae and charity. Just 12 harmonies, 2 clayshapers and Vulnerablity curse for bosses to apply bleed stacks. You can even miss 60% hits with this kind of damage thanks to bleed.

Shaper should be fine, Omnitect was a joke. This golem archetype can attract a lot of people if would be introduced. I've tried to record some videos, but the quality is meh, should attempt one more time soon. Just was very excited to get a successful results with this setup.

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cyberxndr wrote:

What's more interesting, it seems like 3+1+1+1+1 setup is the best option for this build. The reason is related to the golem UI. Golems prefer to use Cyclone only for charging, and not for the melee combat. But if we scale Cyclone damage as much as possible, each single charge would become fatal, and there wouln't be much mobs to continue with. 12 harmonies allow to bypass Cyclone cooldown entirely.

Hmm... According to my Harmony Damage Calculator, 5.1.1 or 4.1.1.1 should be a bit ahead of 3.1.1.1.1

You probably know this already, but I think another important aspect of the Ice Golem Cyclone is distance management. If the golems get into melee range and there's no other target that's farther away, they tend to stop doing Cyclone, even when the cooldown is refreshed. So I tend to Convoke a lot.

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tomatopotato wrote:

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cyberxndr wrote:

What's more interesting, it seems like 3+1+1+1+1 setup is the best option for this build. The reason is related to the golem UI. Golems prefer to use Cyclone only for charging, and not for the melee combat. But if we scale Cyclone damage as much as possible, each single charge would become fatal, and there wouln't be much mobs to continue with. 12 harmonies allow to bypass Cyclone cooldown entirely.

Hmm... According to my Harmony Damage Calculator, 5.1.1 or 4.1.1.1 should be a bit ahead of 3.1.1.1.1

You probably know this already, but I think another important aspect of the Ice Golem Cyclone is distance management. If the golems get into melee range and there's no other target that's farther away, they tend to stop doing Cyclone, even when the cooldown is refreshed. So I tend to Convoke a lot.

Yes, in terms of raw DPS 5.1.1 are the best, at least for bosses. But for clearspeed, 3.1.1.1.1 is a thing, because it removes "distance management" problem.

In regular 5.1.1 setups damage multiplier from harmonies is not too high (20*3*n), and the golem can leave alive mobs after cyclone. This forces him to use melee skills. But for 3.1.1.1.1 the damage multiplier is very high (20*5*n), and single golem melt everything in radius. He cannot continue in melee then, because there are no targets, so he forced to use cyclone and move to the next cluster of mobs. And that's the point: to scale damage as high, as possible, and force golem to charge instead of finishing low-hp targets.

(regarding to convoke, I even dropped it completely due to lacking of gem slots, and it's not even noticable. You can cast arc on target and the golems would rush to it, destrong everything on their way in the given setup. It's pretty cool, really. Not sure this would be the best bet on hardcore though :)

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cyberxndr wrote:

Yes, in terms of raw DPS 5.1.1 are the best, at least for bosses. But for clearspeed, 3.1.1.1.1 is a thing, because it removes "distance management" problem.

In regular 5.1.1 setups damage multiplier from harmonies is not too high (20*3*n), and the golem can leave alive mobs after cyclone. This forces him to use melee skills. But for 3.1.1.1.1 the damage multiplier is very high (20*5*n), and single golem melt everything in radius. He cannot continue in melee then, because there are no targets, so he forced to use cyclone and move to the next cluster of mobs. And that's the point: to scale damage as high, as possible, and force golem to charge instead of finishing low-hp targets.

Hmm... I'll give it a try this weekend then :o

Thoughts on 3.4:
* Ice Golems benefit more than the others from Primordial Chain. Movement speed bonus is very sweet.
* Convocation becomes unnecessary.
* Spirit Offering becomes reasonable choice now (minion resists, added chaos damage, bonus ES). Flesh Offering not a thing anymore, since we already have a lot of movement speed.

Generaly, the build configuration was split for two ones:
1)For mapping, Primordial Chains with Victario's Charity looks promising. Max Harmonies should be used for Cyclone damage and reduced cooldown.
2)For bosses and Delves, Chayula with Lycosidae seems the only choice. Harmonies with Eminences (3+) should be used for max DPS from regular melee attacks.

Second Clayshaper becomes not very useful. Shields seems to outperform it for both cases.

It's nice to see that the build can be adjusted for different playstyles now. Flexibility is a good thing.

Its worth noting that the new "caster" tombfists give 1k accuracy with a ghastly jewel in them.

If neccesary it spossible to stack up to 4 Abyss jewels that each give 200 accuracy+ 1k from the gloves.

1.8k Accuracy might make lycosidae not neccesary anymore and accuracy gem link also replaceable.


Just food for thought.

There is no mods for minion accuracy on jewels it seems :(

Command of the Pit looks interesting though. Solid accuracy boost for bosses, with possibility to replace a shield with another variants.

For example, Prism Guardian may become playable for lowlife builds.

Interesting items:
* Balefire - 3% max mana/life on kill. With ZO it's nice regen for clearing. Also opens MoM possibilities.
* Severed in Sleep - minions have 60% chance to poison enemies on hit. Seems like more additional DPS for bosses.

Mediocre interest:
* Magna Eclipsis - 110 life, 100 ES, +2 gems, 1000 EHP elemental barrier. Nice defensive option for bosses?
* Apep's Supremacy - Bleed immunity (CI/lowlife), lot of ES, +50% faster recharge.
* The Oak - +6% ES regen (ZO + lowlife). Good in delves for regen builds.
* Saffels's Frame - +4% max res, ~20% chance to block spells.

Damn, I could have sworn that I saw accuracy for minions on abyss jewels, but i Double checked as well Now. No dice

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cyberxndr wrote:

Yes, in terms of raw DPS 5.1.1 are the best, at least for bosses. But for clearspeed, 3.1.1.1.1 is a thing, because it removes "distance management" problem.

Yo, really sorry for the late reply! I have experimented with 3.1.1.1.1 and even 2.1.1.1.1 a bit recently, but not enough to draw any hard conclusions yet. It definitely felt fine, but I can't say for sure if it felt better or worse than what I was used to.

As for the recent replies from you and Tyranastrasz, I basically agree with everything said so far. But I'll have a closer look and properly respond later since it's pretty late for me right now.

Thanks!