[3.16] Dark Pact Totems | The smoothest spell totem skill around, now post-nerf updated
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3.14 Patch Notes / changes
No major nerfs to the build. No buffs anywhere. Numerous small nerfs. 3.14 takes a dump on so many builds, but Dark Pact Totems should remain intact. Vitality Aura now regens less HP, ~200 at max level instead of 250. I still think Vitality is worth running, since I like regen, and regen is core to our EHP sustainability. Trigger craft on weapon now has a cooldown of 8 seconds, instead of 4 seconds. The Trigger craft was never required for this build to function, it was just a fun thing to have to add a little extra power and QOL. Now, you are unlikely to have uptime of your Trigger spells in most situations, though somewhat likely in the bigger boss encounters. This will have to be tested. Vaal RF now gives us less DPS, while doubling how much life we lose. Vaal RF should no longer be used. If you truly crave situational DPS like this, you could try the regular Righteous Fire. I will test this whenever I play the build next. Chainbreaker and Alt-Berserk were nerfed. I never tried it, and this build doesn't need it. But it's still a nerf because it was a viable and powerful addition to the build. [Avoid Elemental Ailment craft could be nerfed. The "Jun" version of the craft was nerfed, which goes on Chests. But there is no mention of the regular "Helena" version of the craft, which goes on Helmets and Gloves. Waiting for PoEDB to update.] I was thinking the new spells Reap or Exsanguinate could be fun to level with as totems, but GGG has limited that viability. Totems can't gain the 'Blood Charges' associated with Reap, so they'll never reach big DPS. For Exsanguinate, the damage over time on enemies is limited to only 3 instances, a cap that totems will quickly hit. Does anyone else see any nerfs or changes? |
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With the Vaal gem changes and Vaal RF getting hit hard, do you see any of the other Vaal gems being worthwhile?
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" I don't think any of the buffed Vaal gems will be worth using. They focus on dealing damage and our Hiero can't deal damage directly, which includes most Vaal skills. Vaal Grace and Vaal Haste are a solid combo here, when pressed at the same time. But it's very minor. Vaal Blight could be used, I'm just not familiar with it. Vaal Lightning Trap, I tried using years ago for it's damage debuff, and it always whiffs or misses. |
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Since the amount of fun and early progress I had with this build was tremendous, this will quite possibly be the build I will be starting with. Goot to see that nothing much has changed after the 3.14 announcements!
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Thanks for this guide, played a freezing pulse totem-toon a couple of leagues ago and really enjoyed it. Will deffo be giving this a go for Ultimatum and thanks for sharing the freezing pulse guide too as a league starter before transitioning after obtaining a bit of currency.
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" I think I'll try Wallach's leveling suggestions for Holy Flame Totem, and maybe never make the switch to Freezing Pulse for early mapping. Just hope for a cheap and early Astral Projector, and make the Dark Pact switch then. I haven't league started as a Totem char since 3.3, so I'm feeling a little rusty! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CYhIStWtWnDVllR8gp59DizL2ORFWKft/view?usp=sharing I've attached a visual leveling guide for myself, for Holy Flame Totem. It's a PDF and meant to be full-screen on a second monitor, or something similar. Last edited by BlueeGreg#0246 on Apr 15, 2021, 5:12:32 PM
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" Thanks heaps for that document. I was going to write this up for myself today ready for league start so saved me some effort. I've been leveling with Holy Flame Totem the past two leagues and have found that linking it with Summon Phantasm as soon as its available (lvl 4?) really helps out early. Having those 5 phantasms as decoys and additional damage really helps with survivability and the levelling process. I find running HFT + Infused Channeling + Summon Phantasm along with dropping Flame Walls (which gives the Holy Flame Totem a big damage buff) gets you a long way towards maps without need anything else at all really. |
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Duly noted on the Phantasm support! I tried that before when league starting as a Necro, where I used that on Holy Flame Totem for the first two acts until other things were online. Helped with single target and helped protect my squishy body lol.
Didn't know it works with Flame Wall, because I didn't know the Phantasm uses projectiles! Just had to check the Wiki. With this kind of setup, which supports do you like for Flame Wall? Last edited by BlueeGreg#0246 on Apr 15, 2021, 7:01:36 PM
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" Yeah the Flame Wall helps with both the HFT damage because that counts as a projectile and also with the phantasm's as they fire projectiles. I put Flame wall in a 3 link with Spell Cascade and Combustion. Spell Cascade helps with getting the walls out quicker and Combustion helps with lowering monster fire resistance. With just the HFT and Phantasm's for damage, self casting Wave of Conviction and Wall of Flame most content before maps becomes trivial. I then just use the rest of my gem slots for levelling the gems i intend to use post conversion to the end game build. |
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PoEDB has the 3.14 changes, and Avoid Elemental Ailment craft is NOT nerfed for Helmet and Gloves. Just the Chest. *phew*
https://poedb.tw/us/CraftingBench |
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