[3.12] [HC] [SSF] Zombies/SRS Occultist

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Aeui wrote:

I made a summary about farming it in this league in the Gear section, not sure if you have seen it. It took me 18 maps then and I actually farmed it again for the second character - I didn't record details, but it was roughly the same. Sometimes they drop from chests etc. in the map, so I keep checking them all. You could also try chancing Void Sceptres, and you might get lucky, but I feel like it's a waste of orbs.

Didn't read that section, I'm usually fine with ways of getting items (my loot filter currently is on for chancing Light of Lunaris for example). I'm not as lucky as you, I made many other maps where it might spawn, not sustained those and then went back looping karui fortress (and hated that).
I got what I was looking for (even if kinda bad rolled) and some other better items and it improves the build a bit, but not as wonderfull as I imagined it would.

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Atlantis_arch wrote:

I'm not as lucky as you, I made many other maps where it might spawn, not sustained those and then went back looping karui fortress (and hated that).

Sorry to hear that, I wouldn't recommend running The Karui Fortress for sure. Still, I don't have much data, but I feel like Marshes has the best rate per map.

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Atlantis_arch wrote:

I just wonder if a shavronne's wrapping is not mandatory on your build.

You built it up a bit differently, so regarding your solutions/playstyle, I'm not sure of that. I haven't played any version based on Shavronne's Wrappings. I don't rush the CI tree and make a transition when I gear up for it. The character I linked earlier is a fine example of that phase.

hello sir, best pantheon choices? tyty


nevermind....

"From the minor gods, Tukohama. In the Labyrinth you can switch to Rakalesh.

From the major gods, Solaris, but I guess Lunaris isn't a bad choice either."

thx anyway

Well, with the summoner overhaul in 3.8 it doesn't look like I'm leaving the build behind any time soon :D

I'm very curious to see the details. If you haven't checked it yet, here's some fresh info from ZiggyD. I didn't hear anything specific about SRS, but zombies get some buffs.

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[edit; September 20, 2019]

The guide is now fully updated for 3.8. If you just need the new tree - link.

Here's some footage from testing:
Pit of the Chimera (full run),
The Shaper.

This guide is underrated! Thank you very much, I am really enjoying following along with this guide. This is my very first summoner. I am having a hard time finding enough Life and Shield to keep up but other than that my character is unstoppable.

I really appreciate the focus on HC SSF, there are very few guides that provide the info that I need. I am a casual player so when you explain how to get items instead of just buying them, it helps me a lot.

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floraline wrote:

This guide is underrated! Thank you very much, I am really enjoying following along with this guide. This is my very first summoner. I am having a hard time finding enough Life and Shield to keep up but other than that my character is unstoppable.

I really appreciate the focus on HC SSF, there are very few guides that provide the info that I need. I am a casual player so when you explain how to get items instead of just buying them, it helps me a lot.

Thank you for the kind words :) I hope it's a struggle you're comfortable with. Finding a build-defining unique surely feels great, but for me the charm is in the gradual progress. Building up the ES pool day by day suits me.

I'm going to take care of the leveling section in the next few days. I just finished adding info to other parts, so that should be the last main update of the guide for 3.8.

Really enjoying the build, gave SSF HC a go this league and glad i did. Guide's been invaluable. Well written and easy to understand.

The mobility and focus i can give on avoiding things and how clear the screen is compared to the other builds i've tried been nice too.

at 44 and picking ascendancy,
Do you still feel in 3.8 that Occultist is the way to go?

Also the Bandit choice, do you feel changing to a 2 passive once you hit higher levels is worth it or the choice scales well?

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Onthax wrote:

Do you still feel in 3.8 that Occultist is the way to go?

Prior to 3.8 I assiociated a tanky Necromancer with the build presented by Clooney, but that was hard to achieve in hc ssf. The new options in the reworked Necromancer class and gems modyfing AI of minions filled up a fairly scant defensive assortment that you'd have before acquiring the required uniques. I'm more encouraged to give this direction a try.

On the other hand, the Occulist got some new minion tools too. And I like the CI playstyle :) Remember that a CI Necromancer has to deal with high chances to be stunned.

The Necromancer offers easier high single target damage, but I think the Occultist still offers easier good defense. I'd say they're much more similar as summoners as compared to when I rolled the build the first time though. I might actually try the Necromancer this league and share some opinion that's established better.

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Onthax wrote:

Also the Bandit choice, do you feel changing to a 2 passive once you hit higher levels is worth it or the choice scales well?

Early on the benefits from helping Alira are very useful, but in the end game they can be replaced with the right gear and I try to do so. Sometimes it's tight when you try to get as much ES as possible at the same time though.

That makes sense,

Just hit Act6 and got Vile Bastion, makes a huge difference, especially in boss fights.
Got about 1k ES, 800 Life now with discipline. Working on upping my resists and there seems like a lack of craft able ES items at my level to boost my ES up. Any ballpark figures for when i should be going CI?

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Onthax wrote:

That makes sense,

Just hit Act6 and got Vile Bastion, makes a huge difference, especially in boss fights.
Got about 1k ES, 800 Life now with discipline. Working on upping my resists and there seems like a lack of craft able ES items at my level to boost my ES up. Any ballpark figures for when i should be going CI?

That's not a bad sum, although personally I'd feel safer investing more into life at this point. Recovery through flasks can be helpful at times. Chaos damage bypasses ES, so it can be particularly dangerous, especially in Act 7.

I believe you can unlock the first ES-related recipe in the Karui Fortress in Act 6 (in the boss arena).

I usually finish Act 10 with 2-2.5k life and ES each (with Discipline). Then, it's the grind for ES gear. I don't switch to CI until I have items that would make me have at the very least 6k ES after switching.

That means sometimes I accumulate ES-focused gear in my stash while using something hybrid instead to maximize the sum of life end ES. Once I gather a few things that seem valuable enough, I put it on and test it in PoB to see how it would work.