[Retired Thread] Wallach's Hierophant Holy Flame Totems (Old)

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int1223167 wrote:

I'm having a slight problem with totem surviveability. They just die too fast from any cast in their way (not a damage reflect affix). Am I running maps higher than intended or it's a git gud situation?

Without investment in that direction totems aren't that sturdy, but usually when it comes to maps this is a sign you might be light on damage for your map tier and the totems aren't killing enemies quickly enough. You should expect totems to die relatively frequently in hard boss encounters though, replacing totems in those situations is just part of the game for totem builds.

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herkufels wrote:

why not Illuminated Devotion instead of Divine Guidance in SC?

Illuminated Devotion doesn't do much for a totem build unfortunately; Holy Flame Totem does not have an Area tag (so does not gain any benefit from the 25% increased Area of Effect), and we cannot leech life back to us via totem damage. So the only thing Illuminated Devotion really provides us is 40% increased spell damage while Arcane Surge is up, which in my PoB example gear is worth about 3% total damage. In my opinion this is not worth giving up the very large amount of mana, mana regen and additional 10% damage redirection to mana.

Later on in gearing especially it may be that we get more damage by dropping Essence Worm and just bearing Herald of Ash's mana reservation so we can do something more powerful with the second ring slot (such as the new unique ring which has the potential to massively buff Herald of Ash's buff effect). That will make the much higher mana pool from Divine Guidance even more important.

Just got my hands on this new Synthesis item:



This definitely changes my build plans. It is more than a 20% overall DPS boost over running Essence Worm + Clear Mind (even before I replaced the Clear Mind with another jewel), and with the reservation reduction leaves you enough mana to work with for Mind Over Matter.

Big item for this build! I'll update the PoB tonight and then the guide tomorrow accordingly, but if you are playing Holy Flame Totem this item should be one of your long-term goals. Unfortunately the two Herald of Ash modifiers that this ring can roll are random from a pool of 6, and you definitely want this particular pair of rolls. Keep an eye on the trade site if you are playing in a trade league.

I can't believe people play this build as Hiro over Ascendant Hiro/Chieftain

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I'm having a slight problem with totem surviveability. They just die too fast from any cast in their way (not a damage reflect affix). Am I running maps higher than intended or it's a git gud situation?

I've been noticing this myself. The totems do not appear to be surviving as well as they did in my previous totem builds. I can cast them as often as needed, but since I'm now trying to stay close to some of them to get the regen, I may just be seeing this more.

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I can't believe people play this build as Hiro over Ascendant Hiro/Chieftain

I would probably try that if they would let me switch my templar to a scion. I been playing totems for a while and have only used chieftains and hierophants.

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axelchen01 wrote:

I can't believe people play this build as Hiro over Ascendant Hiro/Chieftain

Personally I don't care for non-Hierophant builds due to the lack of totem placement speed. Even if results are comparable or better they feel too slow in practice; totem builds are already slow enough compared to other setups even as a Hierophant.

Added a Gear section with a lot of new recommendations.

Circle of Anguish is super strong for this build and should take priority over Essence Worm as soon as you can afford at least one.

op op ^^

Hi, first of all thank you for this guide. But there were problems. Did everything according to build. Collected similar items, but the dps is almost 2 times less than you do, judging by the path of building. What am I doing wrong ?

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Shake23 wrote:

Hi, first of all thank you for this guide. But there were problems. Did everything according to build. Collected similar items, but the dps is almost 2 times less than you do, judging by the path of building. What am I doing wrong ?

Looking at your character in Path of Building, the main things I can see so far are that your crit chance is still a bit lower than what you're comparing to (your effective crit rate is about 10% lower while your Diamond flask is up), you are not yet using a Wise Oak (make sure when you get one that Fire is your highest uncapped resistance) and your gems are still not yet done leveling. In particular you do not have a level 21 Holy Flame Totem, which will be a large increase; just changing this alone takes your Shaper-target DPS from about 217k to 264k. A Shaper chest with spell crit would also be a fairly decent upgrade to the tune of about 15% total DPS.

Other than that it'll be incremental upgrades that add up - getting more critical multiplier from jewels, getting the 10% elemental penetration enchant for boots, etc.

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Wallach wrote:

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Shake23 wrote:

Hi, first of all thank you for this guide. But there were problems. Did everything according to build. Collected similar items, but the dps is almost 2 times less than you do, judging by the path of building. What am I doing wrong ?

Looking at your character in Path of Building, the main things I can see so far are that your crit chance is still a bit lower than what you're comparing to (your effective crit rate is about 10% lower while your Diamond flask is up), you are not yet using a Wise Oak (make sure when you get one that Fire is your highest uncapped resistance) and your gems are still not yet done leveling. In particular you do not have a level 21 Holy Flame Totem, which will be a large increase; just changing this alone takes your Shaper-target DPS from about 217k to 264k. A Shaper chest with spell crit would also be a fairly decent upgrade to the tune of about 15% total DPS.

Other than that it'll be incremental upgrades that add up - getting more critical multiplier from jewels, getting the 10% elemental penetration enchant for boots, etc.

Got it, thanks for the advice.