Mirkulas BV Chieftain 3.4 Build (1.Chieftain SSF Flashback)

With regards to leveling, do you switch over once the tree is filled out matching your guide around lvl 45? Meaning I should continue playing melee until then? I don't think I'll be properly geared to switch right when I hit spell echo (lvl 38). What do you think works best?

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gopotan wrote:

Would you recommend this build as league starter for 3.4 on trade league ?

Ive been running a BV Chieftain most of Incursion and its my league start.

Pretty much only "Need" Loreweave and thats ONLY if you plan extreme endgame bossing like Uber Elder with it. (Which i do/did.) Everything else can be worked in as you go and still effectively tackle everything in the game NP. All bosses, All Content, on the cheap and easy. The Damage is there, The defenses are there, And it just feels good to play regardless of it being almost a Melee setup.

Vaal 21 BV is my only thing... I really hope theses a farmable way to get that gem since Vaal BV is an essential tool for bossing and lvl 21 gem really give you that extra damage to carry even the worst gear.

And personally i level with BV once i have it to run. Or ASAP anyway. Only problem with Leveling with it in my exp is it does require you take duration nodes very early on to help make up for the lack of early game cast speed and mana. Also the mana cost can be tough to hack at first especially in a tabula. Just run it MOM while lvling for nice defenses along with ease of play. And NEVER run Echo.. Completely wasted link for 10 stack BV. Running Duration in the main links isnt suggested either unless you have the damage or farming content where you can give up the damage just for even more QOL if you like.

Very versatile build although its always going to be a fire based build theres a few options for the build but once you get to that point its all just preference anyway since again you dont need anything for the build besides Loreweave. Everything else is completely up to you. Insanity Gloves are something for example i will work into my setup as soon as i can. Another example is your ammy.. you could run an Elder ammy with % added as fire rolled on it OR run the Fire version of Impresence for Free Flammibility. Rings you could Essence craft % added as fire on both rings OR run Mark of the Shaper with an a single Elder ring.. Possibly Essence crafted to also have that % added fire later on.

IMO thats its biggest strength.. It progresses extremely well. It can get going with nothing and scaling into extreme endgame content as far as you currency tab will allow. But, at the same time its not required you spend 50-100+Ex just to see nice results. Those come from the build itself already there.

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vpburns007 wrote:

With regards to leveling, do you switch over once the tree is filled out matching your guide around lvl 45? Meaning I should continue playing melee until then? I don't think I'll be properly geared to switch right when I hit spell echo (lvl 38). What do you think works best?

You don't need spell echo it just helps you clear faster and helps solving the mana problem. So you can go anytime when you pick some inc duration, cast speed and the elemental overload node.

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Demonoz wrote:

Ive been running a BV Chieftain most of Incursion and its my league start.

Pretty much only "Need" Loreweave and thats ONLY if you plan extreme endgame bossing like Uber Elder with it. (Which i do/did.) Everything else can be worked in as you go and still effectively tackle everything in the game NP. All bosses, All Content, on the cheap and easy. The Damage is there, The defenses are there, And it just feels good to play regardless of it being almost a Melee setup.

Vaal 21 BV is my only thing... I really hope theses a farmable way to get that gem since Vaal BV is an essential tool for bossing and lvl 21 gem really give you that extra damage to carry even the worst gear.

And personally i level with BV once i have it to run. Or ASAP anyway. Only problem with Leveling with it in my exp is it does require you take duration nodes very early on to help make up for the lack of early game cast speed and mana. Also the mana cost can be tough to hack at first especially in a tabula. Just run it MOM while lvling for nice defenses along with ease of play. And NEVER run Echo.. Completely wasted link for 10 stack BV. Running Duration in the main links isnt suggested either unless you have the damage or farming content where you can give up the damage just for even more QOL if you like.
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Hi Demonoz,
I agree with you in most points and I also gonna really miss my 21/20 vaal bv. Only thing i want to add: I found spell echo extremly helpful in going fast. Added a FAQ entry why. But in the end it comes to personal preference on how you want to play char.

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You don't need spell echo it just helps you clear faster and helps solving the mana problem. So you can go anytime when you pick some inc duration, cast speed and the elemental overload node.

Thanks. I guess there's a difference of opinions since OP says go for spell echo and the guy above you says don't! Must depend on where you are in the build! After playing around in Path of Building, I'm thinking I should NOT respec until I have enough points (11) to get rid of all the melee nodes I used to level up.

I'm thinking if my tree is here: http://poeurl.com/b2Y3 at 50 passive points, I can then respec the melee points to this tree: http://poeurl.com/b2Zd

So you'd have Elemental Overload, Avatar of Fire, and both duration clusters full. From there you can head over to the templar area.

For a league starter, though, I won't have 11 respec points that early. I'd have 8 points from the quests at around level 42 (50 passive points) I may have to avoid taking all the melee nodes while leveling.

Am I over thinking all of this?!? XD

Thanks for the build guide, it's well written and a cool take on BV. I was wondering if in 3.4 with the Shield Charge nerf if leap slam would be better. I haven't played BV and I'm not sure if it fits the play style.

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IkeAndRobin wrote:

Thanks for the build guide, it's well written and a cool take on BV. I was wondering if in 3.4 with the Shield Charge nerf if leap slam would be better. I haven't played BV and I'm not sure if it fits the play style.

Leap slam is a good alternative. You can use brightbeak and wield stat stick in off hand.

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vpburns007 wrote:

Thanks. I guess there's a difference of opinions since OP says go for spell echo and the guy above you says don't! Must depend on where you are in the build! After playing around in Path of Building, I'm thinking I should NOT respec until I have enough points (11) to get rid of all the melee nodes I used to level up.

I'm thinking if my tree is here: http://poeurl.com/b2Y3 at 50 passive points, I can then respec the melee points to this tree: http://poeurl.com/b2Zd

So you'd have Elemental Overload, Avatar of Fire, and both duration clusters full. From there you can head over to the templar area.

Depends how soon you wanna start with your build and how comfy you are with melee build.
Tree seems fine. You can also start with one duration cluster and head to templar earlier for some cast speed (esp if you dont wann use spell echo)

Awesome guide. More detailed than Mathils 3.3 and others that I've found. First 3.4 chieftain guide I found so sticking with this one from seeing how cheap it is compared to my 3.3 Windripler MF build.

Also going to be running a BV Chieftain, and just wanted to see how other people are doing it.

With the new tree pathing, I think a lot more damage can be squeezed out while maintaining the same life (actually more) than the tree you're currently using.

For reference: https://pastebin.com/fFvrHBxS

I know your tree is SSF, which is why some Res nodes were taken, as it's meant to ladderpush without trading for more res gear, but most people here are probably going to be running trade league.