[3.10 HC] Apep's Darkpact Totems are BACK (original build 3.1-3.3)

Thanks to Orion for an excellent build.
Interesting to read other people's variations and gearing.

I am still leveling in a tabula, so this may change when I get into hard maps, but my current setup (based on OP pg 27 variation, posts in this thread and my own preferences) is:

* Drop frenzy and flame dash.

* Use 4L wither to proc arcane surge and increase DPS.

* 1L lightning warp for ledge hopping.

* Dream fragments ring for anti-freeze/chill, Brine King pantheon for some anti-stun.

* I had a spare 4L, so added: CWDT, ball lightning, blind, knockback. Optional but blind combos nicely with enfeeble and evasion. Or the defencive CWDT of your choice or extra links for a faster lightning warp if you prefer.

* Devoto's Devotion + quicksilver for fast movement (linking lightning warp is an option, but I prefer running).

* I am bad at flasks, so I just use them as a panic button: life + jade of reflexes + quartz + quicksilver. This added to the enfeeble and blind allows you to run fast through enemies to escape a bad situation while adding dodge and evasion.

Wow. I've never had a build with 100k+ views. I am most gratified that it is working well for so many of you.

There are some things I only learn about a build after starting over more than once. I'm posting now about skeletons---I had underestimated them severely. (Many of you may have already realized this, but I feel obligated to make a clear post on it).

You see, when I first made the guide, I thought that darkpact was counting the totem as "you" for all purposes. But it apparently only counts as "you" for the base cost in totem life and the base damage. It does not (as someone recently posted) count as "you" for the more multiplier. The implication of this is that summoned skeletons don't just boost the damage somewhat. Because DP will chain twice after the initial cast from the totem, they can nearly -triple- it. Here's the math:

For each cast by the totem alone, you will have (base DP damage+added damage+6% of totem life (2921 at lvl 20))*increases*mores. For each cast of a totem while there are at least 2 summoned skellies on the board, you will have (base DP damage+added damage+6% of skelly life (1897 at lvl 20))*increases*mores*THREE.

Not that the build needed a ton more damage, but there are two places it becomes important:

1. While leveling, using self-cast summon skellies makes things zoom by even faster.
2. At T15+, I believe the definitive dps set up is going to be wither>Cast while channelling>Summon skellies>minion life/faster casting/increased duration (matter of taste/further experimentation). This should create a dramatic dps boost for the top level fights, as the multiplicative bonuses from wither and summon skellies can be stacked efficiently this way. (I had tried it previously with two separate setups and found it too cumbersome--I ditched the skellies before because I did not fully understand the DP totem interaction.)

-O

I love this build ^^ Thank you !

First Try Uber Lab with 73 and 3500 Hp and Done ;D

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Orion72 wrote:

For each cast by the totem alone, you will have (base DP damage+added damage+6% of totem life (2921 at lvl 20))*increases*mores. For each cast of a totem while there are at least 2 summoned skellies on the board, you will have (base DP damage+added damage+6% of skelly life (1897 at lvl 20))*increases*mores*THREE.

There's another two HUGE aspects which acts as "hidden" dps increases too.

1. Our totems doesn't kill themselves which in turn increases dps due to not having to recast as often, they also don't have to be as close on aoe bosses since it bounces to skeles.
2. Our dps follows the boss since Wither namelocks and cast the skeles ontop of the boss -> no more reverse whack-a-mole recast needed to be done to have the totems close enough on high mobility bosses. Less downtime overall.

One drawback to keep in mind is that you lose some control over your dmg since where you place your totem it isn't necessarily where your dmg lands. Keep it in mind if dangerous adds runs up to you. It's a matter of learning when to use witherskele and when not to. Also be wary of getting used to channeling for too long or you could end up standing still longer then intended and getting smashed to death.


as a sidenote, I wonder how many chromes I've saved by using the vorijeweler crafting method to roll colors, been experimenting around with links so much this weekend.

Current setup in spoiler below.

Its so messy I cant really figure out what to use now, first vaal summon skeletons, now normal summon skeletons with totaly different 4 link setup. Orion I really like your build but can you please update the build info post (first post) everytime you make changes, cause walking through all this pages looking for the changes is crazy...

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6 Link: Darkpact>Spell totem>Added Chaos>Cont Destruction>Void Manipulation>Faster Casting*
4 Link: Flame Dash>Faster Casting>Arcane Surge>Inc duration
4 Link: Decoy Totem>Min&Tot ele res>Inc AOE>Inc Duration
4 Link: CWDT>Immortal Call>Inc Duration>Enfeeble
3 Link: Frenzy>Faster Attacks>GMP
3 Link: Summon Stone Golem>Minion Life>Vaal Summon Skeletons

Im following this setup... Cause it's in first post...

@EDIT:


So i switched to this atm, this Wither shit mixed with skelletons is such a badass combo... It feels like you dont even need decoy totem anymore, I just place 4x DP totems and wither the boss standing in one position and its really working... Way better then this stupid Frenzy combo.

I have 1 question about my weapon 3 link setup i copied from the guy that posted his stuff before me. Its Stone golem>Enfeeble>CWDT. Ofc I understand that its just so you can use your golem and enfeeble but why CWDT, it does nothing or am I wrong? So you just put it there to level it up and I can put any other gem there or is it actualy working somehow?

Re CWDT:

Yes it does things. It will resummon that high level golem periodically when you are under attack, saving you from needing to self-cast it repeatedly (which gets annoying at high levels), while enfeebling the enemy.

Re Messiness of Build Write Up:

Fair point. Normally I might have waited to post a build write up to begin with, experimented more, worked out some kinks etc. I was very excited about this one and wanted to share it early, in a more raw state. Overall, I'm very pleased with the result, as many people who have played it have made valuable contributions of their own ideas. But I admit that it is a bit of a mess to find the most updated version at this point. (I agree that with the Wither/CWC/Summon setup, it's both too cumbersome and unnecessary to also keep up frenzy charges).

Hopefully sometime soon I do intend to update and streamline the guide, preserving the original conversation in spoilers. I want to get a little further with my current version of the experiment before I do.

-O

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Shoxu wrote:

I have 1 question about my weapon 3 link setup i copied from the guy that posted his stuff before me. Its Stone golem>Enfeeble>CWDT. Ofc I understand that its just so you can use your golem and enfeeble but why CWDT, it does nothing or am I wrong? So you just put it there to level it up and I can put any other gem there or is it actualy working somehow?

When CWDT proccs it automatically summons stone golem and uses enfeeble in an aoe at the enemy.

edit: well, guardians turned out to be easy with the one exception of hydras arrow fork thingy which I had issues seeing at times. I'll leave shaper untouched until I've decided if I go for 100 first or not.

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Orion72 wrote:

Re CWDT:
Yes it does things. It will resummon that high level golem periodically when you are under attack, saving you from needing to self-cast it repeatedly (which gets annoying at high levels), while enfeebling the enemy.

Oh, cool thanks for the info.

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Lysithea wrote:

When CWDT proccs it automatically summons stone golem and uses enfeeble in an aoe at the enemy

Hmm Im pretty sure curses cannot be cast by CWDT, can they?

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Shoxu wrote:

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Orion72 wrote:

Re CWDT:

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Lysithea wrote:

When CWDT proccs it automatically summons stone golem and uses enfeeble in an aoe at the enemy

Hmm Im pretty sure curses cannot be cast by CWDT, can they?

It definitely can, has the gem tag "spell" and all, just make sure you are within the CWDT lvl constrains.

In your case it doesn't work since cwdt is lvl 1 and can only cast spells up to lvlreq40. You need to lvl that CWDT for it to be able to proc high lvl stonegolem/enfeeble.

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In your case it doesn't work since cwdt is lvl 1 and can only cast spells up to lvlreq40. You need to lvl that CWDT for it to be able to proc high lvl stonegolem/enfeeble.

Ye I just did but now I cant cast enfeeble myself so Im thinking about this guys BBBG setup. Orb of storms>curse on hit>temporal chains>enfeeble, is it good? Should I lose Decoy Totem setup for this one? As I said with this Wither setup, Decoy Totem is not even necessary anymore, in my opinion ofc.

This setup seems nice but I dont understand why 2 curses? Arent we able to cast only 1?