Stress-Free PoE! BONE ZOMBIES: No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.14

Started this around a week or 2 back in standard. Journey to Kitava and early mapping was as easy as I'd expected (easier than the old slow-mo zombies in fact). :) Made 1-2 changes as usual, which I'll be testing in maps.

1. Switched chaos golem with stone golem, removed cwdt, and put golem + evangelist spectre on a 5 link staff (femur of saints) with meatshield.

2. Put feeding frenzy on zombies.

With this config the meat-shielded evangelists + stone golem form my defense, while the zombies are a more free-ranging offense. This helps keep the zombies on target in case I need to move away from a boss + keeps the ranged proximity shield spectres on me when they fire up their shields.

Also, am using your "secret" link setup rather than the shield bash.

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Few quick questions:

1. What's the use of the glancing blows here? I don't see any other investment into "Gain X with block" either on tree or recommended gear mods. Is it helpful without such mods?

2. Is there any rough benchmark to the range of pride? Searched for this, but I'm totally unable to see any AOE effect/ red-glow on enemies.

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SalvatoreBlack wrote:

Spoiler

Started this around a week or 2 back in standard. Journey to Kitava and early mapping was as easy as I'd expected (easier than the old slow-mo zombies in fact). :) Made 1-2 changes as usual, which I'll be testing in maps.

1. Switched chaos golem with stone golem, removed cwdt, and put golem + evangelist spectre on a 5 link staff (femur of saints) with meatshield.

2. Put feeding frenzy on zombies.

With this config the meat-shielded evangelists + stone golem form my defense, while the zombies are a more free-ranging offense. This helps keep the zombies on target in case I need to move away from a boss + keeps the ranged proximity shield spectres on me when they fire up their shields.

Also, am using your "secret" link setup rather than the shield bash.

__________

Few quick questions:

1. What's the use of the glancing blows here? I don't see any other investment into "Gain X with block" either on tree or recommended gear mods. Is it helpful without such mods?

2. Is there any rough benchmark to the range of pride? Searched for this, but I'm totally unable to see any AOE effect/ red-glow on enemies.

Nice changes SalvatoreBlack! I like what you've done! I'll mull them over for sure.

1. Glancing Blows couples really well with Bone Offering (which applies to us via our ascendancy choices). Then, when you add your shield or staff's block chance, you get a decent amount of mitigation for very little investment.

2. Ya, range #'s are a pain in the butt in this game. As far as I know, Pride's AoE, once fully levelled is the same as the other basic auras which is most of the size of a normal monitor's display. Describing things in unit in this game is kinda pointless cause there isn't a reference point buuuuuut...let's see...Flesh and Stone has an obvious AoE in game. Load it up and you'll see it on "the field". Pride should be just over double that. So almost your full screen from top to bottom but not quite from left to right.

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SalvatoreBlack wrote:

1. What's the use of the glancing blows here? I don't see any other investment into "Gain X with block" either on tree or recommended gear mods. Is it helpful without such mods?

In SC SSF Ultimatum a Femur of the Saints dropped for me, too. 1% to block attack damage per summoned skeleton, and Vaal Summon Skeletons makes the ultimatum encounters more enjoyable.

Also I happened to get Rainbow Strides for some spell block.

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CelticHound wrote:

Spoiler

In SC SSF Ultimatum a Femur of the Saints dropped for me, too. 1% to block attack damage per summoned skeleton, and Vaal Summon Skeletons makes the ultimatum encounters more enjoyable.

Also I happened to get Rainbow Strides for some spell block.

Wicked combos CelticHound! Nice work. Also, Vaal Skeletons is almost impossible to ignore, isn't it?

Any thoughts on what the balance manifesto changes will mean for a zombie build?

Just wanted to say thank you. This is exactly the kind of build I've been looking for as it fits my preferred playstyle exactly.

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CelticHound wrote:

Any thoughts on what the balance manifesto changes will mean for a zombie build?

Biggest nerfs according to the manifesto is the flask changes.
Since this build doesn't run any utility or defensive flasks it'll literally be no difference. So be happy about that.

The biggest nerf will be the major dps reductions coming from the support gems.
Since this build already is running pretty low on dps, this might end up hurting the build alot, especially for bosses. If you know your boss mechanics it shouldn't be too much of a problem though.

The support gem nerfs is relative though since every build in the game will be hit by it. So even if the build is nerfed, keep in mind that other builds will be nerfed even more since they get hit on both their support gems AND their flasks.

Hey CelticHound and Deadandlivin!

Ya, you're correct, for the Shield Charge version of this build, only the zombie supports seem like they'll be affected. That being said, I think every 3.15 build that people make pre-league-launch will have to have an "*" next to it as there are so many changes that will impact many little details. So we'll have to see which supports make sense for zombies (not minion damage, that's for sure) once the patch notes get posted.

I'll have to do some testing in regards to mana recovery for the version of the build that I like to play.

I'll likely be adding Unwavering Stance as well...I'll likely cut some minion health to get it, which is why I won't be considering dropping minion life on supports.

Anyway, we'll see what the notes bring.

And good points on the nerf comments. Almost all builds are getting hit, so the old expectations of boss killing and map clearing will have to be adjusted.

Thanks, both of you. You rock.

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zidders wrote:

Spoiler

Just wanted to say thank you. This is exactly the kind of build I've been looking for as it fits my preferred playstyle exactly.

Awesome zidders!

Thanks for taking the time to be so kind :). I really appreciate it. I'm happy for you too! It's awesome when you can find something in a game this massive that just suits you perfectly. Hopefully, the 3.15 version of the build suits you too.

Thanks again for your kindness.