[3.6] Tectonic Slam Ascendant Slayer / Pathfinder - 8000 + Life, 1 Mill + DPS - All Content
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INTRODUCTION: Hello everyone and welcome to my build guide for the Tectonic Slam Ascendant, focusing on dealing pure Fire damage. I am idontwinitsk and this will be my first ever guide ( and first ever forum post ) on the official forums so bear with me. In this build guide i will go through how i built and play my Tectonic Slam Ascendant and will cover everything from choice of class and main skill to passive tree and ascendancy points, gems and gear choices ( and alternatives ), stat priorities and strategies for dealing with the endgame and current league mechanic encounters. The guide will be easily readable but quite long, you have been warned. Right off the bat i would like to say that THIS IS NOT A BUDGET OR LEAGUE STARTER BUILD - the build requires a few core items that will not be available at all or will be quite expensive at the start of a league. I recommend that you have at least 4 - 5, preferably 6 - 7 Exalts ( at the time of writing this ) ready if you do not already own the core items listed in the guide. 3.6 SYNTHESIS LEAGUE CHANGES
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Our damage and AoE were buffed, our life leech was horribly nerfed. Damage - the nerfs to Tombfist and Ascendant Slayer are offset by the increased power in some of our Passive Tree nodes so our damage is actually slightly higher now and we get slightly more AoE from Ascendant Slayer. Survivability - Life Leech was horribly nerfed which is a massive loss in survivability for the build. As long as we can keep attacking we will not notice a difference in most fights ( mapping is still a complete joke for this build ) but for endgame bossing i would no longer recommend this build unless you are already experienced with the content. Phased bosses that do not allow us to maintain permanent leech are all very dangerous now for the inexperienced / bad player. Tombfist - no longer grants Attack Speed. Remains an easy recommendation for Gloves slot as the Abyss Jewel socket, 6% Increased Life and Intimidate on hit are all still great. Still this is no longer the obvious optimal choice for our gloves. Unless we heavily invest in 2 Sockets and GG Jewels Spiked gloves are now better. Ascendant Slayer - this is right on the brink of being garbage now, especially for a build like ours that has to deal with massive degen from our weapon. TOO LONG, WON'T READ, JUST GIVE IT TO ME STRAIGHT
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Pastebin ( lv 93 ): https://pastebin.com/Qwa8nBun Pastebin ( lv 100 ): https://pastebin.com/zF74jjPi Gear: CHANGE LOG:
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06.03.2019 - Updated Pastebin for 3.6 Synthesis League; Added details on 3.6 Changes and how they will impact the build. 03.02.2019 - Updated formatting for better readability. 01.02.2019 - Added lv 100 Pastebin, build is complete and no updates will be made for some time. 21.01.2019 - Dropped Precision as i now maintain 95% Chance to hit with War Banner. This is only possible at endgame ( lvl 95+ ) with heavy investment into flat accuracy on gear ( 1594 on the gear i am currently using ). 18.01.2019 - Incorporated War Banner into the build guide; Added optimal gem socket placement; Expanded several sections with additional general information / suggestions; Updated Pastebin. CONTENTS: 1. Build Pros and Cons 2. Required Core Items 3. Build Overview, DPS Calculations and Stat Priorities 4. Build Details - Passive Tree and Progression, Bandits, Ascendancy and Pantheon Choices, Gems and Gem Links, Jewels and Flask Setup 5. Character Gear Section On second post: 6. Endgame bossing - what to do and what not to do 1. BUILD PROS AND CONS:
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Build Pros: - Comfortable and enjoyable build that can complete all endgame content ( not tested against Delve bosses Kurgal and Aul as i haven't found any yet ) - Very durable - 8000+ Life, Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics + very high Life Leech for laughing at bosses - Very reliable and safe with powerful synergies - utilises both Slayer Overleech and Pathfinder perma-flasks for a smooth and safe play style - Excels in both AOE and Single Target damage - 1 Million + sustained Shaper DPS, can dish out around 2 million burst DPS with Vaal skills and charges; Tectonic Slam one-shots the screen during mapping - Only requires a single six link gem setup - no need to swap between gems for bossing or mapping - Deathless Uber Elder not difficult if experienced with the fight mechanics - Tectonic Slam looks and feels amazing Build Cons: - Endgame synergies oriented Scion build - not the best leveling experience - Requires at least Oni-Goroshi, the Charged Slam helmet enchantment and Uber Lab complete before the build truly kicks in - Getting all endgame recommended items can be hard for inexperienced / casual players - total cost around 10 - 15 Exalts - Cannot do no leech or elemental reflect maps - Not Hall of the Grandmasters viable 2. REQUIRED CORE ITEMS:
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In order of importance: 1. Oni-Goroshi - the only weapon and 6 link you will need, can be used from level 1 2. Any helmet with the *20% chance to create a Charged Slam* enchantment - mandatory for proc-ing Charged Slam as we don't use Endurance charges. Get this and equip it ASAP. 3. Three Might of the Meek Crimson Jewels - you don't need all three right away , i personally used only 1 up to about level 85, but you should look to get them all as soon as possible as they are a massive boost to your quality of life, survivability and damage when you have all three. 4. Kaom's Heart Glorious Plate - the go-to chest piece for this build, is the cheapest but the least important core equipment item to get. 3. BUILD OVERVIEW - WHY SCION AND TECTONIC SLAM, POB CODE, DPS CALCULATION, WHAT STATS TO LOOK FOR ON GEAR:
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So why Scion and not a Marauder JUGG?
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Ever since i saw the fiery goodness that is Tectonic Slam i've wanted to make a build that focuses around it and uses Oni-Goroshi since i have never used that weapon in a build before. After playing around with a Marauder JUGG version and not really enjoying it that much when i hit red maps i decided to test my own Scion version instead, focusing on getting more tanky and using the powerful Slayer + Pathfinder ascendancy combo and Acrobatics / Phase Acrobatics for survivability and quality of life. Using Scion also meant that i could try incorporating Might of the Meek jewels into the build and i had never used those before either so, yea. Marauder JUGG Tectonic Slam is certainly not bad and is much more enjoyable to level with with easy access to Charged Slam early on. Both builds can work perfectly fine and be great fun however i personally much prefer Scion for the different take on survivability and aesthetics. The Overleech from Slayer, permanent flasks from Pathfinder and a combination of evade and dodge make this build not only very player friendly but also deceptively tanky. With smart gear choices ( explained further down in the guide ) we also pack more than enough of a punch to comfortably destroy endgame bosses. How does Tectonic Slam work and why don't we use Endurance Charges?
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Tectonic Slam is fairly straightforward - you slam the ground and kill everything that is within half a screen radius of you and if you have any endurance charges you have a 35% chance to consume one and create a Charged Slam that deals much more damage in a much bigger area so you kill everything in a full screen radius instead. Sounds fun? That's because it is, but as a Scion unlike Marauder JUGG we don't get any Endurance Charge generation unless we spec JUGG in our ascendancy choices which we do not want to do. This is where our helmet enchantment comes in. Like i mentioned in the core items section our second most important item to get after Oni-Goroshi is a helmet with a *20 chance to create a Charged Slam* labyrinth enchantment. This is a must have item as that 20% chance does not require any Endurance Charges to be consumed and, just like the built in Charged Slam on Tectonic Slam, can proc on any swing we do which gives it great synergy with Multistrike. I recommend getting this enchant on any Tectonic Slam build regardless if you have easy access to Endurance Charges or not, for this build specifically it is all that we need to do consistent Charged Slams and wipe everything from the face of Wraeclast. Pastebin Code for the build and a note about Tectonic Slam DPS:
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Pastebin Code for the build: https://pastebin.com/Qwa8nBun The build is complete at either level 90 if you don't use a Watcher's Eye or 93 if you do. The DPS you may see in Path of Building can be up to 1.9 - 2 million however this is because we have factored in both of our Vaal skills and maximum possible Frenzy + Power Charges which is something that will only happen after add phases on endgame encounters such as Shaper and Uber Elder. DO NOT Enable *Do you use Endurance Charges?* in Path of Building as that assumes permanent Charged Slams giving us an unrealistic 60% damage boost. This is why our sustained realistic DPS is more around the 1.1 - 1.2 million mark as that only requires an active Blood Rage, flasks and normal Warchief totem active which we have available at all times. Please keep in mind that these DPS numbers are what we achieve without any Charged Slams as those are impossible to accurately factor in with Path of Building - every charged slam we proc will result in roughly 8% additional DPS so at ~7.5 attacks a second we can assume we dish out on average about 20% more DPS than Path of Building shows. Stat Priorities and what stats to look out for on gear:
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If you follow my recommended items route you will notice that we have a lot of uniques and not much space to cap out our resists and hit chance ( more on this in a moment ). Thankfully we achieve most of our damage without needing to overspend on flat / percentage damage mods on gear so our stat priorities on non-unique pieces are as follows: 1. Max out our resists 2. Stack a ton of flat accuracy ( aim for 1500+ for the endgame ) 3. Grab a ring with *Curse enemies with Assassin's Mark on hit* Shaper mod 4. Acquire 30 int ( or 10 if using the Shadow 3 point jewel socket above Blood Drinker instead of the Templar area one above Devotion ) from rings / belt / boots / helmet for gem requirements 5. Get as much life as possible - 50+ if self crafted or at least 70+ on gear we buy 6. Get as many percentage or flat damage mod rolls on gear ( percentage is better, aim for either fire or physical for flat mods ) - one per piece of gear is enough. What's the big deal with Accuracy? Why do i need that much? Let me make this simple - flat Accuracy is THE MOST IMPORTANT STAT for us on every piece of gear, especially rings, amulet ( before Xoph's Blood ) and jewels. We need roughly 1450 flat accuracy from flat accuracy mod or Dexterity ( 1 point of Dexterity = +2 Accuracy ) plus the Precision notable in the Templar area in order to achieve a 94% chance to hit which is the highest we can go without using War Banner. War Banner helps us cap our chance to hit as long as it is active and reserving mana / we are in the buff circle when placed so it should definitely be incorporated in your build if you do not mind the aesthetics of it ( more on this in the Gems and Gem Links section ). You can spec out of Precision and use the 2 points somewhere else if you use War Banner, are at endgame level ( at least 93+ ) and have enough flat accuracy on your gear. Keep using Precision until then. Without this investment into accuracy our chance to hit will be at an abysmally low 82 - 83 % not only making us lose a ton of damage ( way more than damage mods on our gear are worth ) but also make the build feel awkward and terrible at the very endgame boss battles if we start missing a lot of our swings. Use Path of Building to import any new items you wish to purchase to calculate your hit chance beforehand so you don't end up buying a piece of gear that doesn't fit your purposes. Do not settle for anything less than 91 - 92 % Chance to hit without War Banner ( requires around 700 - 800 flat accuracy on gear + Precision ). 4. BUILD DETAILS - PASSIVE TREE AND PROGRESSION, ASCENDANCY POINTS, GEAR, GEMS, PANTHEON ETC. I will list all the gear i use and the alternatives i recommend last for better readability. Make sure to read about the importance of Accuracy in the Stat Priorities section first.
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Passive Tree and Ascendancy Points Progression, Bandits, Pantheon
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Passive tree: www.poeurl.com/chwy Passive Tree Progression: I absolutely recommend getting Path of Building before reading this so you can better visualise the process. The passive tree might look a little daunting but is pretty straightforward - we first go left through the melee damage nodes and Scion life wheel and go up to take all passive points in the Templar area except the Devotion life nodes and the jewel socket ( leave those for lvl 80 + ). After this it's straight down to Vitality Void to grab our life and mana leech ( do not take Vaal Pact yet ) then work towards the Ranger starting area to prepare for when we grab Path of the Ranger in Merciless lab. From there we grab Acrobatics and the sword nodes and work towards Shadow area. Try to get your triple Might of the Meek setup around Scion starter area as soon as possible, preferably before diving too deep into Shadow nodes. Priority for those is bottom jewel socket for resists, top left jewel socket for mana and mana regeneration and top right jewel socket for the attack speed nodes. Fill out the rest of the tree as you wish, do not grab Vaal Pact before Uber Lab where you get Slayer. Bandits: Help Alira. Ascendancy Points: Pathfinder --> Path of the Ranger --> Slayer You can try grabbing Slayer first if leveling sucks too much for you but leveling will suck either way so i would leave it for last and focus on the general tree with Path of the Ranger as a priority instead. Pantheon Powers: Major power: Soul of Solaris - fully upgrade it Minor power: Soul of Shakari ( my personal choice ) or Soul of Ralakesh - make sure to upgrade this as well None of the pantheon powers are that important for us - thanks to *Her Embrace* buff from Oni-Goroshi we are immune to stuns and freezes and also thanks to Oni-Goroshi we are constantly taking damage over time. This pretty much prohibits us from taking advantage of Brine King or Arakaali ( the go to major power for overleech builds) and Lunaris is pretty bad in my opinion. This leave us with only Solaris as a viable option and fully upgraded Solaris is actually pretty good. Minor powers are all pretty meh as well, i personally always use Soul of Shakari for poison immunity. You can also upgrade Soul of Yugul and swap to it for Shaper / Uber Elder but i personally don't even bother. Gems and Gem Links
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Tectonic Slam: Tectonic Slam -> Multistrike -> Combustion -> Elemental Damage with Attacks -> Melee Physical Damage -> Damage on Full Life This is our only 6 link setup. No changes are needed for bossing or map clearing, only use Damage on Full Life after you grab Slayer from Uber Lab. Get your gems to 20/20 ASAP, you don't need a level 21 Tectonic Slam but if you want to waste currency on an upgrade go for a 20/23 gem. Socket these gems in your Oni-Goroshi. Vaal Ancestral Warchief + Leap Slam + War Banner: Vaal Ancestral Warchief -> Leap Slam -> Faster Attacks -> Fortify / War Banner Spending any gem slots to buff our Warchief totem is a waste and Leap Slam only requires a Faster Attacks support so i use both skills in the same link setup. War Banner allows us to cap our chance to hit ( we are 1 % off normally so not really a big deal ), save a couple hundred flat accuracy from gear / jewels and is overall the best choice to use for a damage buffing aura / manual trigger skill. I also hate the aesthetics of it which is why i mostly use Fortify instead. Fortify is not that good or useful for doing dangerous content, such as endgame bosses or deep delving, but if you can't stand the look of War Banner on your character and with an empty gem slot it's a *well why not* type of gem choice. Frankly, i would prefer using a Portal gem instead of Fortify if i had the hotkey space for it. 20/20 for every gem here as well, Vaal Warchief doesn't really need it but we only use 20/20 gems around here. Socket these gems in your helmet so you don't need to move them around / recolour sockets if you use Kaom's Roots for Uber Elder. Cast When Damange Taken + Immortal Call + Vaal Haste: Cast When Damage Taken -> Immortal Call -> Increased Duration -> Vaal Haste Our CWDT setup should remain at low level, every other gem we have should be leveled to level 20. I personally use lv 7 CWDT and lv 9 IC and wouldn't go higher than that but it's pretty much preference. Both Immortal Call and Vaal Haste benefit from Increased Duration so we keep them in the same setup. Only Increased Duration Benefits from 20% quality. Socket these gems in your boots, you can afford to drop them entirely for Uber Elder if you switch to Kaom's Roots. Anger + Blood Rage + Herald of Ash: Anger -> Blood Rage -> Herald of Ash While leveling do not use Blood Rage and pick only one aura as your mana and mana regen will be lacking. You want to always be using Anger if you have a Watcher's Eye jewel slotted in your passive tree. Only Blood Rage needs 20% quality here. Socket these gems in your Tombfist gloves. Flasks
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Recommended Flask Setup: 1. Divine Flask with Bleed Immunity - Catalysed, Bubbling or Seething are all good, this is mostly personal preference. I use a Catalysed but may switch to Seething in the future. 2. Lion's Roar, Granite Flask - our best damage flask, gives us knock back and flat armour for added defensiveness. Try to get a max 25% Melee Physical Damage roll. 3. Diamond Flask with Curse Immunity - another flask that you should always use, prefix doesn't matter too much. Swap with a Diamond Flask with Freeze Immunity for Shaper / Uber Elder if you don't use a different Freeze Immunity Flask. 4. Cinderswallow Urn, Silver Flask - the new flask from the Betrayal league Mastermind fight, provides us with Onslaught and some life recovery on kill, a great flask all around. Grab one with the *increased Critical Chance during Flask Effect* mod. Both the life recovery on kill and crit chance mods don't need to be rolled well but try to get one with close to max rolls ( 3% for life recovery and 80% for crit roll ). Optional Flasks to use: 1. Taste of Hate, Sapphire Flask - a great option to use for Uber Elder and Shaper and adds good damage and satisfying shatters before we start using Xoph's Blood. The best fifth Flask choice overall. 2. The Wise Oak Bismuth Flask - will do more damage than Taste of Hate ( cannot use both at the same time ) and will be better for mitigating fire and lightning damage if you triple balance your resists. If you don't want to triple balance i recommend using Taste of Hate or another flask instead. 3. Atziri's Promise, Amethyst Flask - second best flask to have after Lion's Roar if not using Xoph's Blood, 35% to Chaos Resistance is great for Syndicate encounters as well. Should eventually be replaced by Cinderswallow. 4. Any Utility Flask to replace one of the unique flasks on the list that you do not own - grab a Silver flask for Onslaught if you don't have Cinderswallow; Jade, Basalt and Granite can be viable options in place of a Taste of Hate or Atziri's Promise. Make sure to craft Freeze Immunity on whatever flask type you choose, i personally recommend Quartz. Jewels
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Might of the Meek: Getting our triple Might of the Meek jewel setup up and running as soon as possible as mentioned previously in the guide is one of our top priorities for the build overall and the most important jewels we need for the build to function at maximum efficiency. Acquiring your second Might of the Meek and slotting it in the top left jewel socket in the Scion starting area will completely solve our mana regeneration problems and should be prioritised over the jewel socket on the top right socket of the Scion starting area. Abyss Jewels: Our priorities here are to get as much accuracy and flat HP as possible so we only use Abyss Jewels. Use Path of Building to calculate how much accuracy you will need on jewels, my personal recommendation is to go for 40+ Life and 210+ Accuracy on each. Make sure to grab at least one Murderous Eye Jewel to socket in our Tombfist gloves to apply Intimidate on hit, the base for the rest does not matter. Do not bother overspending for other mods on jewels, life and accuracy are mandatory, the rest are just a bonus until you can afford to waste currency for minor upgrades. Watcher's Eye: A Watcher's Eye is an endgame option that i definitely recommend grabbing after you get your hands on a Xoph's Blood Amulet. The mods we are looking for are: Damage Penetrates #% Fire Resistance while affected by Anger - recommended mod, get one with maximum 15% fire penetration #% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Anger - crit multi is always good and several times cheaper than the fire penetration version if you are buying a single Anger mod jewel I would generally recommend that you save up either for a single mod fire penetration jewel or for a multi Anger mod with at least fire penetration and if possible crit multi or one of the other secondary mods except physical to fire conversion ( useless with Xoph's Blood ). 5. CHARACTER GEAR - WHAT I USE, WHAT TO LOOK OUT / AIM FOR AND ALTERNATIVES:
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Weapon
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Oni-Goroshi is one of the core items in our build and provides us with everything we need - a ready made six link for our Tectonic Slam, plenty of damage for leveling if we choose to use it from level 1 and the *Her Embrace* buff. The crit roll on the sword is not particularly important but i would aim for one with a 80% or higher roll. You will need 5 red sockets and 1 blue socket for your Tectonic Slam gem setup. A thing to keep in mind about *Her Embrace*: Her Embrace is a fantastic buff, providing us not only with a ton of extra damage and attack speed but also with Freeze, Chill, Stun and Ignite immunity during it's duration. However the buff also applies a heavy degeneration to us that is only really solved effectively after we grab Slayer from Uber Lab. Also, make sure to not rush to open any Unidentified Strongboxes while the buff is not active on you as a Freeze strongbox will get you killed very quickly if you do not carry a Freeze Immune Flask. Helmet
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Any Helmet with the *20% chance to create a Charged Slam* is a viable option - i personally use and can recommend a Starkonja as it was very cheap ( only 1 ex at the time - much more expensive now ) and adds very good life + Dexterity that helps slightly with meeting the Accuracy requirements for the build. Any helm that fits the stats you need will do as long as it has a good life roll. The cheapest ready option right now is a Devoto's Devotion, fossil crafting an insane helmet would probably be the strongest choice but for me i'm sticking with the Starkonja for now. Armour
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Kaom's Heart is another core item for the build. Pretty much anything can work here however i would strongly recommend getting a straight up Kaom's as they are dirt cheap this league and by far the best. The fire damage mod on it is not worth a heavy investment for a good roll, any roll will do but 30% + would be my recommendation. If you do use a different chest piece make sure to balance your stats around Kaom's and not any other chest you are using. Gloves
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Tombfist are always a great option. We only require 1 Abyssal Socket ( place a Murderous Eye Jewel for the Intimidate here ) and those are pretty cheap. As of Patch 3.6 Tombfist no longer grant attack speed so the power of the item is greatly diminished and it is no longer the best overall option for our gloves slot. I recommend using Spiked gloves instead unless you go for 2 socket Tombfists and / or really expensive GG Abyss jewels. A pair of Spiked gloves with just good attack speed roll ( at least 10% ) and 70+ life will match 1 Socket Tombfists in both DPS and HP gain and will make it easier to cap out our resists. Belt
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A Stygian Vise for the extra Abyss Socket. Any Stygian that packs a lot of elemental resists and life will do, this and your boots are where you will get the majority of the resists on your character so make it count. Try to squeeze in a *increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills* craft on it ( up to 32 % ) if possible. Not having a damage mod on the belt is not the end of the world at endgame as long as your Accuracy and Jewelry are properly taken care of. Boots
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30% Movement Speed -> As much Resists as you can manage -> High Life Nothing to see here really. Any boots with 30 % or higher movement speed with a good life roll and the resists you need will do. Just like the belt this is one of your main source of resists so make the best of it. Rings
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Rings are the most difficult part of gearing this build as you will need very specific stats on them for it to work. With that said do not bother wasting several exalts on multi-moding or buying a godly ring as it will likely not be anywhere near being worth the price. The best bases you can use are Two-Stone Ring if you need some extra resists, Diamond or Opal Ring for some extra damage. A combination of a Two-Stone and a Diamond or 2 Diamond if you don't need the extra 32% resists will be great. Opals in my opinion are too expensive and do not really provide a DPS increase over Diamond Rings. The stat priority for your rings is as follows: 1. Curse Enemies with Assassin's Mark on Hit - a must have for the build, provides a ton of damage for map clear and crit chance via Power Charges. Usefulness diminishes against endgame bosses but is still the most important mod on your rings. 2. Accuracy Rating - with Xoph's Blood equipped your rings are your primary source of accuracy apart from Abyss Jewels. Get around or at least 300 on each if you are missing any Abyssal Sockets or Accuracy on your Abyss Jewels or use Path of Building to calculate how much you will need here if you have your Jewels in order. 3. Intelligence - as mentioned in the Stat Priorities section you will need either 30 or 10 Intelligence on your gear depending on your level and which final jewel socket you take and rings are the easiest place to get it. If you can find boots, a belt or a helmet with the required Intelligence then switch this for more Resistances or flat / percentage elemental damage mods. 4. Resistances - not much to say here, rings are important for finishing up your resistances especially if you go for triple balance for Wise Oak. 5. Life - 50+ on crafted or 70+ if already present just like the rest of your gear pieces. Just don't go around with no life on your rings. 6. Flat/ Percentage Increase Elemental Damage mods - try to squeeze in at least one damage mod on each ring like you would do on the belt. A single percentage damage craft on one and a physical / fire flat damage mod on the other is fine. Amulet
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I wouldn't normally recommend a Xoph's Blood as it is the most expensive item for the build however considering that the amulet currently sells for about 35 % of the price it did last league it is definitely the go-to endgame option. Both the damage and life you gain from Xoph's will generally overpower any other option so look towards acquiring one as your endgame Amulet piece and balance your stats around Xoph's Blood and not any other Amulet you are using. Before you get Xoph's you can use any Amulet that patches up lacking areas in your build as you work towards obtaining and balancing your endgame gear setup. I used the above Onyx Amulet until about level 90, if you want any damage mods on your Amulet your best choice would be crit multi + a flat damage fire or phys mod, the rest should be a bunch of defensive stats. Again, do not over spend currency on an amulet that you should swap out of your build eventually - multi damage mods Amulets are very expensive and not worth the investment even if you don't expect to get a Xoph's Blood any time soon. Last edited by idontwinitsk#7860 on Mar 9, 2019, 12:31:55 PM Last bumped on Jun 5, 2019, 2:48:39 PM
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6. ENDGAME BOSSING - WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO
Outside of Hall of the Grandmasters ( not possible with this build ) and all Delve Bosses ( i haven't faced all of them yet in Betrayal League ), this build has completed all content in the game with minimal / no issues when fight mechanics are played correctly. Only Uber Atziri and Uber Elder pose a real challenge for this build, Shaper and the Syndicate Mastermind fights can also be challenging if you do not know the mechanics but these some of if not the hardest fights in the game so that is to be expected on any build. Important note about Delve bosses:
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I can't give any specific expectations you should have when fighting Delve bosses as their difficulty is based almost entirely on how good or bad your RNG is when you encounter them, assuming you encounter any at all. These bosses may range from complete pushovers on the level of Shaper Guardians ( Aul excluded, this boss is at least approaching Uber Elder in difficulty in the best possible scenario ) to downright impossible to kill depending on their mods and the depth you find them at. Always treat these fights as if you would be doing Uber Elder and dodge every attack, i will only list general tips and the hardest version of each boss i have completed and where i would rank them on the difficulty scale in comparison to the other endgame boss encounters. If you want to complete any endgame boss encounter deathless make sure you: 1. Don't stay in one spot too long - Multistrike can get you killed if you are too greedy with wanting to do more DPS. Smack the boss with 1 - 2 Multistrike Tectonic Slams then keep moving. 2. Don't try tanking one-shot moves from endgame bosses - you can dodge those, but mostly you will die just like any other build and feel bad, they are called one-shots for a reason. 3. Keep your leech and *Her Embrace* buff active at all times by hitting the enemy - don't run around with no leech or Stun Immunity or you can die easily. And that is pretty much it. Note that your damage against endgame bosses will scale up drastically as you acquire a Xoph's Blood and Fire penetration Watcher's Eye and especially as your Chance to Hit goes up so do not slack on your Flat Accuracy mods on gear. 6.1 THE *GUARANTEED* ENDGAME - BOSSES YOU WILL MOST LIKELY FACE In this section i will give a brief overview of how you should approach the endgame bosses in what i will refer to as the *guaranteed* endgame - bosses that you should eventually be able to face without relying on your RNG luck and that mostly stay the same difficulty wise. These bosses include Shaper and his Guardians, Elder and his Guardians, Atziri and her Uber Atziri version as well as the *Final boss* of the game - Uber Elder and the Tier 16 Elder Guardians leading up to the fight. This is somewhat of a *from easiest to hardest* list based on my own experience and assuming the hardest possible version of each boss encounter where applicable ( excluding insanely rolled Shaper Guardians map that you probably should not be doing ).
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Elder and his Guardians
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We will assume that the version of the Elder you are facing is what is commonly referred to as a *Red Elder* - Tier 11 or higher as that is the only version of Elder ( Uber Elder not included ) you should aim to proc on your Atlas and target farm. Red Elder is, quite simply, a complete joke for this build and so are his Guardians. Guardians don't really get any tougher even at Tier 16 for Uber Elder so the same tips on them apply there as well. Red Elder - jump on his face and phase him in a few seconds, build up your Frenzy and Power Charges during add phase for some satisfying final DPS push. He can't do anything to you outside of his arena ring burst ( will one-shot you ). The Eradicator - jump on his face and DPS him down. Avoid his triple hit combo move as it can potentially be deadly, his Tendrils can be tanked straight up or with a Catalysed Divine Flask or you can just avoid it with Leap Slam if you are not confident. The Constrictor - jump on his face and DPS him down. Avoid the Scourge Arrow like charged attack he does as a crit from that can kill you. The Purifier - again, jump on him and dumpster him. Avoid his double overhead slam ( potentially deadly at Tier 16 ) and his double hammer throw ( potentially deadly at higher tiers ). The Enslaver - stay close to him, his damage relies on stacking Ignites on you that are all ranged, in melee range he does zero damage outside of his jump and slam attack which isn't deadly. Shaper and his Guardians
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Shaper and his Guardians are much tougher to kill and deadlier than Elder and Elder Guardians, mostly due to map mods affecting Guardian Maps. Take note of any map mods that buff Guardian defences or lower your damage ( especially Elemental Equilibrium and Monsters avoid Elemental Ailments ) and play more defensively if those are present. Shaper - no real difficulty here as long as you don't stay in one place or on top of him for too long or attempt to tank his Slam, all three Balls or his Beam for longer than 2 seconds. DPS a bit then move out of the way especially when his clone is up and he will fall over easily. Don't forget to manage the ground degeneration zones as they make our life harder. The mini boss you need to fight between Shaper phases has 2 deadly attacks - his overhead Slam and his Vaal Firaball like multi-ball attack ( from second time you fight him ). Avoid standing on top of him as those, especially his ball attack, will kill you outright - DPS him from at least some range. Guardian of the Phoenix - one of the tougher Shaper Guardians, avoid his firebomb attack at all costs and move out of the way of his spin attack ( can be tanked but can also kill you ). You can facetank his normal attacks but make sure to kill his Phoenix adds and not stand in the fire tornadoes - you lose maximum fire resistance as his HP goes down and both his adds and tornadoes can shred you easily if you are not careful. Guardian of the Hydra - the toughest Guardian to kill for this build, mostly because you generally have to avoid all of her attacks ( apart from her barrage attack ) and the balls from the environment. *Monsters Fire 2 Additional Projectiles* is a very deadly mod on her. Move and DPS and you will be fine. Guardian of the Minotaur - tanky, but pretty much a joke for this build. His overhead slam and burrow attacks can be tanked although those can potentially one shot you so it is not recommended. Move out of his cave-in zones and kill his golem adds as those are more deadly than the boss itself. Guardian of the Chimera - toughest boss for most builds, mostly a joke for this build. His adds are very deadly and should be killed as soon as possible, Chimera himself requires several damage mods or defence debuffs on you ( *Player Dodge Chance is Unlucky* is the most serious one ) for his damage to go past your Dodge + Evade and Overleech. Atziri and Uber Atziri
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Atziri - Uber Atziri is a very difficult fight for this build for two reasons - both her and her clones Flameblast and Storm Calls will straight up one shot you so you can't get hit by any and the size of your AOE makes not one-shotting yourself from her Mirror clone difficult. Normal Atziri herself is not that deadly apart from her Mirror clone reflect but you should still avoid all of her spells if you can. The only way to complete the actual Uber Atziri fight deathless is to not get locked down by Multistrike in one spot for too long so you don't get dumpstered by the near instant Flameblasts and to quickly identify the Mirror clone before they spawn so you can move as far away from it as possible so your AOE doesn't kill you. Same strategy for the clones applies to normal Atziri fight. Very awkward fight for our build overall, might be impossible deathless if your reflexes are not fast enough during clone phase. You can respec from Slayer into Elementalist for the elemental reflect immunity to make your job easier during clone phase but it is still not an easy fight. The Trio - these bosses die very easily but are pontetially very deadly. The final boss left alive on uber difficulty will do much more damage and be far tankier than we are comfortable with so should be approached with caution. Do not leave A'alai last as she is far deadlier than the other two on uber difficulty. On normal difficulty all three bosses disappear in about 1.5 seconds so they are not a problem. The Vessels of the Vaal - not a problem on either difficulty as they die very quickly and won't get to do much. On uber difficulty be careful with the second Vessel if you don't manage to kill it before it goes down after spawning - the ball lightning attack it does can deal a lot of damage to us as we are right on top of the boss. Potentially deadly but unlikely to kill us. Uber Elder
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Toughest fight in the game and only real challenge for this build outside of Uber Atziri. Not too much to say here - dodge everything, maintain your *Her Embrace* Stun, Freeze and Chill immunity by DPS'íng at all times and manage the degeneration zones. Use Taste of Hate instead of Wise Oak and a Freeze Immunity Diamond Flask in place of your Curse Immunity Diamond Flask for extra defence. Swap your boots for Kaom's Roots if you are not confident as a combo of Elder slow + Shaper mauling your face is the only real danger this fight poses for you if played correctly. The fight can be completed comfortably with this build if you don't ruin the arena with degeneration zones and have all of your penetration from Xoph's and Watcher's Eye. Still, you need to put in the effort if you want to complete it deathless. 6.2 THE *RNG* ENDGAME - BOSSES YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO FACE In this section i will cover the elusive but very fun / dangerous Delve bosses. Not much to be said in the way of tips as boss difficulty will vary wildly based on Delve monster mods ( they all affect the bosses as well ) in the city you encounter them in - i will mostly simply list the hardest version of the boss i have completed and where that encounter ranks compared to other endgame boss fights. As mentioned earlier in this post you should always approach these bosses as if you are about to fight Uber Elder - they have a whole bunch of stupid challenging and / or over-tuned mechanics that should all be avoided if you do not wish to lose Sulphite.
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Ahuatotli, the Blind
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Completed with the following offensive / defensive mods: Depth: 281 Monster level: 83 40% More Rare Monsters 35% Increased Monster Movement Speed 35% Increased Monster Attack Speed 35% Increased Monster Cast Speed Monsters Skills' Chain 3 Additional Times Rare Monsters each have a Nemesis Mod My first Delve Boss found and killed in the league. Very straightforward and easy kill on the first try - all of his attacks should be avoided especially his Blood Barrage and Blood Nova. Boss adds were very fast with their attacks but not really dangerous. Overall difficulty: Roughly on par with Guardian of the Phoenix or Guardian of the Hydra. A couple of deadly attacks not too difficult to avoid, no time for the boss to trigger his turret mechanics due to high DPS. Overall a trivial kill. Kurgal, the Blackblooded
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Have not encountered one yet. Aul, the Crystal King
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Have not encountered one yet. Last edited by idontwinitsk#7860 on Feb 3, 2019, 5:58:28 AM
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Great build ! (first time posting too haha) following this for few days already, i'm level 95 and i just killed uber elder with it, with ease !
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" Glad you like it and congrats on your kill! :) If you have any videos of you doing endgame bosses with this build, especially deathless runs and / or Delve Boss runs, feel free to link them and i'll add them in a Videos section and credit you. I'd record some myself but laptop lol |
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have any videos?
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" For now from me no, not until i figure out how to record properly on this laptop. If anyone posts their own videos of doing bosses with this build i will feature them. |
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Well i have a ok-ish pc but sadly i dont know if he can handle any record
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Great build guide! I'm currently lvl 81 and im shredding maps right now. I've done a few red elders and it just wipes em out. I was wondering what you think about running a curse flammability ring? I play on standard btw.
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" Not something i have considered using myself, maybe a placeholder curse before you get a good Assassin's Mark ring with the right stats on it since i am assuming it might be much cheaper due to low demand. I don't play on Standard though so i have no idea. On paper Flammability would be comparable to Assassin's in terms of Shaper / map boss DPS but only if we assume zero power charges, in terms of overall utility and especially for map clear where you have almost permanent charges it's inferior. |
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Right on thanks for the reply. I'll see about getting a assassins curse ring then thank you!
Last edited by shankin#2809 on Jan 20, 2019, 11:35:04 PM
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