[3.0] Explosive Arrow - Berseker / Ascendant (work in progress)

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SummerMelody wrote:

What do you think about using Scorching ray for single target with Searing touch in weapon swap as @Dsfarblarwaggle suggested in his guide?

Yes definitely!

Could you please make a quick video of how scorching ray and searing touch fare against some endgame boss?

Edit: I was thinking of doing something like this https://pastebin.com/s3KPSPCn
Elemental and fire damage scaling both EA and SR + taking holy fire for a significant boost to SR dmg

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SummerMelody wrote:

Could you please make a quick video of how scorching ray and searing touch fare against some endgame boss?

Edit: I was thinking of doing something like this https://pastebin.com/s3KPSPCn
Elemental and fire damage scaling both EA and SR + taking holy fire for a significant boost to SR dmg

Apparently even a 4 link SR is enough to kill the 1 grand master that can't be killed with Explosive arrow. Otherwise EA is great. I was able to squeeze up to 1.5 million damage (5 arrows with all buffs).

There is 1 thing with Berserker. Leech might be problematic against single target! It is however fine for general mapping.

In general scaling burn seems a huge waste in 3.0. For example, you took holy fire but not Explosive impact. You take some ES nodes such as Foresight that helps you nothing. And you didn't take the jewel in the Scion area. I prefer the lower route since it gives you bit more stats like Sentinel with elemental resist. You also get more dex that translates in accuracy rating. With the extra dex I even dropped Devoto's devotion and got Hrimnor's resolve instead. You also didn't take Ash, Frost and Storm for the ele reflect reduction. You have less mana than I do. Don't neglect mana. It's quite important! And jewel sockets can give a lot of damage and even life,... The Duelist area is quite good as well with the Art of the gladiator. That node is really good.
In the end just look at the tool tip: average hit 283,5k / ignite 100k and my build with 600k - 1,500k (depending on config) and up to 160k ignite.

Kaom's heart is not too good in this patch. I prefer Carcass jack or for max damage a +1 Tabula rasa or Skin of the Loyal. Having an extra 6 link allows us to get corrupted +1 quiver AND Quill rain. The quill rain doesn't have to be more than 4 link. And that is easily craftable. Now that we always have 3 arrows we don't loose damage by using LMP or GMP. And we gain a link in the setup! The ignite prolif gem is great for trash.

Ps: there is also a Berserker crit version in the works. With more life and more damage. But reflect is a big problem, with so much damage.

Lovely. Can we sub the Ignite Profi for Conc Effect or Fire Pen?

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xecutable wrote:

Lovely. Can we sub the Ignite Profi for Conc Effect or Fire Pen?

There's a few options overall. You can use Carcass Jack or +1 Tabula / Skin of the loyal. The later two give A LOT of damage. But with so much damage on the Berserker reflect means, you die. So the damage options are only to be used for Uber (reflect safe) content. As gems are concerned, Ignite proliferation support is best for general clearing for many reasons.

For single target you don't need to change this setup in most cases. Only in special cases, like Guardians, Shaper, Uber Atziri, maybe Hall of Grandmasters.

The options are Conc. effect, Elemental focus and fire pen. The Berserker will NOT LEECH enough mana with single target. He needs either Blood magic gem (+ Ryslatha's Pantheon power) or a good mana flask and good play.

The Scion has a big reflect reduction, mana sustainability is much easier, but it also deals less damage.

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Greengroove wrote:

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xecutable wrote:

Lovely. Can we sub the Ignite Profi for Conc Effect or Fire Pen?

There's a few options overall. You can use Carcass Jack or +1 Tabula / Skin of the loyal. The later two give A LOT of damage. But with so much damage on the Berserker reflect means, you die. So the damage options are only to be used for Uber (reflect safe) content. As gems are concerned, Ignite proliferation support is best for general clearing for many reasons.

For single target you don't need to change this setup in most cases. Only in special cases, like Guardians, Shaper, Uber Atziri, maybe Hall of Grandmasters.

The options are Conc. effect, Elemental focus and fire pen. The Berserker will NOT LEECH enough mana with single target. He needs either Blood magic gem (+ Ryslatha's Pantheon power) or a good mana flask and good play.

The Scion has a big reflect reduction, mana sustainability is much easier, but it also deals less damage.

I see. I meant for the scion yeah. As I am leveling, the mana is an issue atm, but then again, I still havent placed that jewel, and I havent done the labs yet.

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xecutable wrote:

I see. I meant for the scion yeah. As I am leveling, the mana is an issue atm, but then again, I still havent placed that jewel, and I havent done the labs yet.

You should totally go for the Trixter ascension as soon as you can in Cruel + Normal. That will help a lot. Tho I'm not sure leveling with EA is such a good idea. Usually we level with some caster skills and later respec. to EA. Spirited Response jewel can also help. Get someone to carry you in cruel lab if that is necessary. A good hybrid or mana flask is also an option. Maybe even BM gem...

Good luck.

I'd be alright, I always leveled on your Elementalist 2.6 build as EA, was always alright by late 50s. I then moved to the Pathfinder EA, but sadly that seems dead now in terms of when you check the PoB stats.

Thanks for updating this for 3.0, because I felt so lost without EA :). Been trying a bunch of skills and builds but my heart was always set on EA.

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xecutable wrote:

Thanks for updating this for 3.0, because I felt so lost without EA :). Been trying a bunch of skills and builds but my heart was always set on EA.

EA was great indeed. I played quite a few other skills after that and I had a lot of fun. The thing with EA now it's that the DOT part is pretty bad right now. Of course the explosions are now much bigger and they make up for the loss, but it's not quite the same. I myself, wanted a lazy build, so I did a classic summoner, Animate weapon and a Golemancer this league. Summoners are strong! The Animate weapon girl was just ridiculous in damage. But the others are doing fine as well. The golemancer build is really one of the laziest builds ever. My current character is a Cyclone Mjolner Juggernaut. One of the best builds I ever played. This guy is almost unkillable. I'm slowly gearing up for Shaper and Uber Atziri. Guardians are pudding. :)

I'm curious what you think about my Slayer EA build - I feel like I was able to follow the 2.X pattern pretty closely - Blood Magic, Kaom's Heart, etc - without any significant issues. I use a +3 weapon swap, which means I'm a pure EA character as well - no need for shenanigans to clear HoGM, for instance. Here's my guide