[3.8] A Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils CwC Arc - All Content - Budget version included

Hey everyone, I had very limited internet access this month and for another week so I couldn't really respond to all the questions I got here and by PM. Sorry for that.

A frequent question I received  was about the new league. The build received almost only buffs in 3.3 so it will be even stronger for the Incursion league :D

For a little run down of what is coming in 3.3:

+ Arc got buffed like crazy. Higher damage rolls, higher damage effectiveness, HUGE damage boost against single targets, better pack clearing. I so hyped, we could even skip the Shock Nova swap even for end game bossing, it's crazy.

+ Vaal Arc. You can now socket Vaal Arc instead of the regular Arc as it will provide both versions of the skill. Vaal arc will give a periodical burst of damage as well as an empowered Arc for 4s after use.

+ Tree buffs. The penetration nodes that we use in the tree are both buffed. More pen = more bossing potential ! Yey !

• Storm Burst buffed. For those who dislike Lightning Tendrils or want to be different, Storm Burst could be an interesting alternative.

- Beacon of ruin nerf. We lose 20% shock effectiveness, so our shocks go down from 50% to 46% it's not a huge nerf but I don't like it, I will see what I can do about it when I can access to PoB.

All in all, the build is stronger than before :)


I will update the build post as soon as possible, which will be after league start sadly, but exepted Vaal Arc, nothing core changed.

just an fyi: this build cannot support vaal arc as cwc does not trigger with vaal skills.

unfortunately, this includes the "default" skill made available by the vaal gem. arc is still insane this patch though so damage still looks pretty good so far (in act 7 atm and no dps problems).

will prob try testing out ball lightning, stormcall, or some other single target alternatives as i progress but arc is looking to do just fine.

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sim_the_exile wrote:

just an fyi: this build cannot support vaal arc as cwc does not trigger with vaal skills.

unfortunately, this includes the "default" skill made available by the vaal gem. arc is still insane this patch though so damage still looks pretty good so far (in act 7 atm and no dps problems).

will prob try testing out ball lightning, stormcall, or some other single target alternatives as i progress but arc is looking to do just fine.

Thanks for the piece of info !
That's a bit of a bummer. I assume you tried it yourself, because I can't find anything written confirming this.
Well it means we still want to go for the 21 arc and need to reserve a socket somewhere for Vaal Arc to get the buff. It's less clean but it's still a great buff for the build.

By experience Storm Call isn't a good option, the delay is too clunky. The new Ball of lightning may be an option for single target. You could try Storm Burst instead of Lightning Tendrils too, the buff looks pretty good imho.

as per the description on cwc: "Vaal skills and skills that reserve mana cannot be triggered."

i tried socketing it wondering if tendrils would still cast the regular arc but it wouldnt. both versions are also disabled on the toolbar.

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Swiks wrote:

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sim_the_exile wrote:

just an fyi: this build cannot support vaal arc as cwc does not trigger with vaal skills.

unfortunately, this includes the "default" skill made available by the vaal gem. arc is still insane this patch though so damage still looks pretty good so far (in act 7 atm and no dps problems).

will prob try testing out ball lightning, stormcall, or some other single target alternatives as i progress but arc is looking to do just fine.

Thanks for the piece of info !
That's a bit of a bummer. I assume you tried it yourself, because I can't find anything written confirming this.
Well it means we still want to go for the 21 arc and need to reserve a socket somewhere for Vaal Arc to get the buff. It's less clean but it's still a great buff for the build.

By experience Storm Call isn't a good option, the delay is too clunky. The new Ball of lightning may be an option for single target. You could try Storm Burst instead of Lightning Tendrils too, the buff looks pretty good imho.

Just tried it out, and CWC+Vaal Arc works just fine. It doesn't trigger Vaal Arc itself, but it still triggers normal Arc.

What do you think of dropping Mastermind of Discord in favor of Paragon of Calamity? The leech is really nice and it completely prevents reflect.

We have two opposite statements here and I can't try it myself. So which one of you is correct ? :D

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path23leech wrote:

What do you think of dropping Mastermind of Discord in favor of Paragon of Calamity? The leech is really nice and it completely prevents reflect.

We already have a lot of options to leech, Valako, Berek's Grip, Warlord's Mark, weapon craft...
The reflect immunity is not worth losing 25% penetration, 25% increased effect of HoT and the reduced mana reservation. I mean, you just have to not roll that mod, it's not like a few months ago where you could encounter random reflect monsters.

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Swiks wrote:

We have two opposite statements here and I can't try it myself. So which one of you is correct ? :D

Was going to argue for my case, but figured just literally recording a video for you would be quicker and easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kd373DFt4g

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Nuraihyon wrote:

Was going to argue for my case, but figured just literally recording a video for you would be quicker and easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kd373DFt4g

That's awesome :D
Actually just the fact that it's working makes me want to run this as my first character instead of the other builds I had planned.

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Nuraihyon wrote:

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Swiks wrote:

We have two opposite statements here and I can't try it myself. So which one of you is correct ? :D

Was going to argue for my case, but figured just literally recording a video for you would be quicker and easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kd373DFt4g

strange... dunno why it wasnt proccing for me. well, my bad guys. also, still kinda lame vaal wont proc :(