[3.25] Holy Flame Totem Scion -- League Starter -- HC / SSF viable

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gui_orioli wrote:

On uniques, @Popochka, I think Infernal mantle can be good, still didn't check all the changes, but I usually don't go very far on tweaking the build for SC endgame, I've been trying to improve the SC POB a bit every league, but it's far from minmax'd or ubers viable. Now, maybe I'm wrong in this, but Nycta's Lantern damage modifiers are local and will only affect the weapon, so I don't think this is usable for us.

So I took a little time to get the hang of PoB and infernal mantle is not better at all than Skin of the lords.
But Nycta's may be a cheap option before a better wand endgame.
We benefit from Nycta's lantern, because the mod "Battlemage" on it actually gives us spell damage from its local damage modifiers.

I'll try to explore the possibilities a little.

Regarding the cheap unique options, there is Winds of change and Karui Ward that I quite like in early maps thanks to all the projectile speed that makes the totems clear the entire screen. There's also some nice projectile damage in these two.

Updated POBs with new POB version. I split them into "HCSSF/Leaguestarter" and "SC Trade DPS" since they are so different.

If I figure any changes, I'll keep 'em updated.

Also, I'm discontinuing golem/totem versions because I believe most people use mines, and it's better/recommended anyways.

Hey Gui,

Been looknig for a tanky chill totem build and Holy Flame keeps cropping up, I mainly play SSF and abit worried about endgame dps, did you have any issues at all?

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NoAimNecessary wrote:

Hey Gui,

Been looknig for a tanky chill totem build and Holy Flame keeps cropping up, I mainly play SSF and abit worried about endgame dps, did you have any issues at all?

It goes well until red maps with little dmg investment on items, and from there, it'll require gear and farm to keep advancing (like most builds anyways). In SC Trade, I'm not sure it can do uber bossing, but regular bosses are quite possible. In SSF, you'll need to farm and craft some good gear for bossing.

So, bottom line, I'm sure it can get the content done, on the other hand, I'm also sure it's nor the highest DPS ceiling not it's the easiest build to scale endgame DPS. I'm sure it'll get you there without problems, tho.

This is exactly the kind of build I'd like, too bad that you say that DPS suck and is not good for red maps and bosses. The throwing mines part makes me worry too, seems like taking downsides of 2 playstyles to end up "ok enough" to do pretty basic stuff.

If this ever gets buffed I'll be first to play it, the idea of leeching thru totems sounds fun. There is actually shield that does grand the same benefit but only at 0.5%

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u4UCn5cmk7tFdghP wrote:

This is exactly the kind of build I'd like, too bad that you say that DPS suck and is not good for red maps and bosses. The throwing mines part makes me worry too, seems like taking downsides of 2 playstyles to end up "ok enough" to do pretty basic stuff.

If this ever gets buffed I'll be first to play it, the idea of leeching thru totems sounds fun. There is actually shield that does grand the same benefit but only at 0.5%

Ok, maybe I wasn't clear, so just to make it clearer:

It doesn't suck for red maps, my damage when I reach red maps in SSF is something similar to "budget" gear on POB (which is actually made of items I got in SSF), which is around 900k and I consider this ok for any mapping, and will definitely do Red Maps.

It is after that where it's harder to scale, requiring +level gear that isn't that easy to get/craft. I've done a some bosses with this DPS, it's not fast but doable. You just won't be able to alch-and-go into guardian maps without any gear like some builds seems to do (I mean, maybe you can if it's not HC).

Now, to fight stuff like Maven, this is where it gets harder. In SC Trade I've fought everything besides Ubers, but crafting that same gear in SSF takes a long time, and if it's HC you need twice that much because you can't sacrifice defenses.

Hope this makes it easier to understand.

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u4UCn5cmk7tFdghP wrote:

This is exactly the kind of build I'd like, too bad that you say that DPS suck and is not good for red maps and bosses. The throwing mines part makes me worry too, seems like taking downsides of 2 playstyles to end up "ok enough" to do pretty basic stuff.

I'm a returning player (playing since 2014, but mainly in 4 intensive bouts with pauses of several years in between, so I'm not that experienced especially wrt newer mechanics), and I'm playing this build in red maps right now.

I should preface this by saying that I'm not using the build to its full potential yet. I'm still on a Tabula for my body "armor", and I haven't found a single useful item with "+1 to skill gems" yet. I'm also still limited to 3 totems. I'm also not using the Quicksilver flask yet since I need a second health flask to mitigate my lacking gear. I am using a Carnage Heart that I happened to have in my SSF stash, though.

Despite the suboptimal gear, I've gone up to tier 15 without any major problems. Kill speed for normal mobs is generally decent - totems are always a bit on the slower side since the split-seconds that they need to get placed and orient themselves do add up. Enemies with fire resistance can take several seconds to go down. But it's still good enough for me - I wanted a resilient Scion build, not necessarily a super fast one.

I didn't have any issues with map bosses so far. But I'm a bit out of the loop and don't know which bosses are considered difficult right now. Tier 14/15 maps felt a _lot_ easier than with my previous two characters (Legion and Bestiary leagues), though I can't tell whether this is due to the strength of the build, or due to changes in the game's mechanics - probably both.

I didn't encounter many issues with map mods either. Some require slight changes in gear - e.g. I'll take a hybrid flask with me if I'm in a "can't regenerate mana" map. "Can't leech" might be a no-go for this build though, I haven't tried it yet. If a map stacks several +damage modifiers, then the boss might kill me once or twice, but that may be due to my lacking defenses (again, I'm still using a Tabula in Tier 15 maps ...).

Maven's multi-boss-fights have been easy so far. I killed the Infinite Hunger with 3 deaths, mainly because I didn't know the mechanics. I failed killing the Black Star, but I think that was mostly due to me not being aware of the mechanics; it was the first-ever time I encountered that enemy.

I can't talk about enemies beyond those since I never encountered them with any of my characters. Currently, my impression is that the build will do well for a build that's more focused on survival than speed, as long as you can keep the leech up. The build might hit a hard ceiling if an enemy destroys your totems so quickly that you can't get a reliable leech - in maps that isn't much of a problem since you can just keep raising totems, but in an endgame fight you might not have enough time to replace them(?). Just speculation, though.

I will say that this is not a 1-button build. I generally place totems first (so that I can leech), then place Sniper's Mark (can be skipped against non-bosses without fire resist), and then throw lots of mines, which I sometimes need to detonate manually (the skitterbots seem a bit unreliable?). So that's 4 skills that I'm all constantly using during the more difficult fights, plus any flasks that I haven't automated yet (though eventually everything will be automated except the health flask). I'm having great fun with it.

Even if it's not the most efficient build around - I wanted to play a Scion, I wanted an SSF-viable build, I wanted to try totems, and I wanted to be tankier than my previous two characters. The build succeeds on all four accounts. :)

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u4UCn5cmk7tFdghP wrote:

If this ever gets buffed I'll be first to play it, the idea of leeching thru totems sounds fun. There is actually shield that does grand the same benefit but only at 0.5%

You mean Trolltimber? I was actually using that while leveling. Together with Carnage Heart and an additional leech effect on my boots, I could out-leech most enemies' damage for a long time. ;)

Hi

many thanks to share this build.

it's really good to beginners.

By the way,

How do you think about to use Shock wave totem with Astral Projector?


no one play fire convert Shock wave totem.


no one play totem build with Scion ascendancy i couldn't refer from anyone ! :(

do you probably have pob if you tried before?

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chlwjdrh1 wrote:

Hi

many thanks to share this build.

it's really good to beginners.

By the way,

How do you think about to use Shock wave totem with Astral Projector?


no one play fire convert Shock wave totem.


no one play totem build with Scion ascendancy i couldn't refer from anyone ! :(

do you probably have pob if you tried before?

Sorry, I never tried it, don't know really. Maybe Tatiantel2 (twitch.tv/tatiantel2) knows something, he's the best reference for totem builds.

So I just started this build. In act 3 atm but the damage feels horrible (took me around 15 mins to kill act 2 boss on 3 link). Should I level with something else? Im using Totem with ele focus and cont destruction. I dont have much levelling gear apart from victarios boots and trollltimber. Whats the best way to level this if I keep the totem setup? Something that bothered me while playing is that sometimes my totem stops casting even though the enemy is right in front of it. Is this a bug? Most importantly what kind of gear do I have to use for this build? so I keep upgrading as I level up