[3.0] Balance - A CwC Frostbolt EE MoM VP guide

plz post video
looks awesome

Am I right in thinking that the new 40% conversion pyre is better here, because with it we deal all three elemental dmg types, and using the classic 100% pyre mean we lose cold dmg entirely - so Elemental Equilibrium is not working properly?

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H3avyM3tal wrote:

Am I right in thinking that the new 40% conversion pyre is better here, because with it we deal all three elemental dmg types, and using the classic 100% pyre mean we lose cold dmg entirely - so Elemental Equilibrium is not working properly?

Short answer: No.

Long answer:
Lets break down the interaction between damage types, and reconsider how Elemental Equilibrium functions:

Elemental Equilibrium specifically states that "Multiple EE strikes will overwrite each other." What this means is that every 'hit' of damage that contains an elemental component will strengthen the monster to the next hit to whatever elemental damage was contained in that prior hit. However, if you manage to hit the monster with hits of different and exclusive elemental damage types, it will fluctuate between the two strengths and weaknesses due to the nature of completely being overwritten.

Our damage composition due to pyre + realm ended looks like this:

Storm Burst: 100% Lightning. No cold component to be converted into fire.
Frostbolt: 90% of cold has been converted into fire. 10% Cold remains.
Vortex(when socketed): 90% of cold has been converted into fire. 10% Cold remains. Ground effect DoT from Vortex mechanic unable to be converted, remains 100% Cold.
Herald of Thunder: Grants lightning damage to ALL spells in this interaction.

The net result is that any 'zaps' of Herald of Thunder that occur reset resistances to be -50 to both cold and fire, and back to +25 against lightning. Since we only use lightning for debuffing monsters to our real source of damage which is ultimately fire (and a little cold) then we don't really care that they gain lightning resistance.

Important to note that adding lightning damage to Vortex does not cause any real negative outcome due to us not scaling for it at all. +25 resistance against a damage we're not trying to scale is still positive damage at the end of the day, but it's negligible. It also doesn't hurt us to strike enemies with all three elements with our Frostbolts, since that next Storm Burst cast or Herald of Thunder proc will reset the monster once again.

And of course, this continually keeps happening between cycles in our Cast while Channeling setup.

I made a gif to demonstrate this for us:


You will notice it fluctuating between vulnerability to our damage source (cold/fire) and neutral after being hit by all three.

Cheers

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monkuar wrote:

plz post video
looks awesome

Added a build introduction video in the new 'videos' section at the front of the guide. Enjoy! ♥

I'm really squishy with bosses. How do you deal with Izaro? I can teleport around some, but when flasks run out, my dps is not enough... Even with vortex...

sub4k hp, with only 1000 mana unreserved, I couldn't do Uber Izaro yet. The build needs more love for that.

I'm thinking of making the 'damage taken gained as mana' a requirement to roll on a ring for such fights. Arctic Armour didn't feel good in that encounter, it didn't provide enough defense versus the loss of mana. with my current gear, i'm struggling... I may decide it's not an efficient lab farmer, but I haven't given up yet!

I think simply wearing a high Hp/armour chest, as well as boots and helm, will really help. I mean, Izaro hits are just silly insane damage and armour doesn't really 'fix' his fight mechanics at all.... but it should help.

I likely won't try him again with our build without more damage/six link (with life leech) or 5k hp + mana.

Did some red maps and had a decent time with them yesterday. Recorded a vod of it (Skip to 10 minutes in +/-). Went really well, only 1 death due to not switching out pantheon.

Like most builds, there is likely going to be some content I don't prefer to run. But with more damage a lot of these intentionally spikey fights will have their danger mitigated by simply being over faster, and thus having enough flask charges.

Hello man

I've been trying your build and adapting it a bit to fill my play style.

I gotta congratulate you this is really fun to play, tho yeah gotta be careful with the reflect.

Anyhow i just changed a bit stuff just to fill my playstyle as i said, Herald of Thunder is kinda hard to apply curses, so i use orb of storms with both curses and larger area gem, and it poops the Elemental resistances too.

For boots i changed to curse +1 ones Windscream ones, nice mov speed, all res, and ele dmg.
And amulets im using Karui ward to help with the 30% speed and projectile dmg, still thinking to change it to something better, but im just 3 days on this new league.

Soo far it's been good, and i took almost the same path as you on the skill tree.

Im lvl 68 atm, still looking to 6 socket the ender staff :'c with no luck.

Regards and keep the good job, nice build and fun to play with.!

Hi Kwitch!

Absolutely love the concept. I've been looking for a true caster to play this league with the potential to clear endgame content. I can't stand summoners.

Two things.

A question first: Was the leveling process decent? I assume you just used Frostbolt until you picked up CwC and Storm Burst.

And next a suggestion. In fiddling around with the PoB I dropped the Inquisitor staff nodes and picked up the Written in Blood and Doomcast clusters for a net difference of one more point. You lose just a touch of damage (about 4%) but gain a significant chunk of life and the odd ES boost for whatever ES gear you might wear.

I do love the flavor of the staff nodes a lot and the concept of block and power charges is intriguing. But considering that bossing is probably the weak point of this build (along with every other fun build) and power charges will be impossible to maintain in those scenarios, what do you think about that change?

Thanks for the interest!

I considered the written in blood wheel, and only ended up not choosing it because I valued the 12% block over the 20% hp. Otherwise yes, they are very comparable.

I stopped leveling it at level 88, waiting to hit a 6 link before pressing onward. I haven't lost interest, I just became devoured by an attack speed build idea I had. I'll return to this shortly and complete my progression portion.

Why do you socket in increased critical strikes if using controlled destruction means we have 0% crit chance?