[3.25] Kitava's Thirst Autobomber - A Mana-Gating League Starter
 Introduction This is my take on a fast, flexible autobomber with lots of explosions! The build revolves around triggering spells in Kitava's Thirst using mana-gated Cast when Damage Taken triggers. League Start POB (what's used in league start video and gif): https://pobb.in/BiKc4YehTkTK Delirious Forge of the Phoenix League Start: https://youtu.be/jsMavtDJMcU Delirious Forge of the Phoenix Initial Energy Blade Transition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kryOoQbzfik ________________________________________________________________________ Pros & Cons + Extremely fast and strong mapper + Autobomber with explosions! + High scaling potential + League starter + Choice of triggered spell + No temporary league power is used in any of the showcases (see tab for league specific suggestions) - Not SSF viable (requires Kitava's Thirst and 2x Storm Secret) - Not HC viable (at least without adjustments) - Complicated to put together - Have to level as something else (guide included) ________________________________________________________________________ Settlers of Kalguur League Specific
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Recombinators should make it much easier to craft the rares.
________________________________________________________________________ Build Mechanics
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Triggering Kitava's Thirst
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The core idea behind this build is to trigger spells in Kitava's Thirst without having to cast any spells ourselves.
To trigger spells in Kitava's Thirst without casting any spells ourselves, we need a way to trigger spells passively. To do this we use Storm Secret and Herald of Thunder to damage ourselves, which triggers a low level Cast when Damage Taken whenever we're nearby enemies. If the spells linked to Cast when Damage Taken cost at least 100 mana each (see Increasing Mana Costs), we can trigger the spells we've got socketed in Kitava's Thirst without needing to stop and cast spells ourselves! Mana-Gating Cast when Damage Taken
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To optimize our trigger rate on Kitava's Thirst, we need to trigger the spells that cost 100 mana slightly more than once every .1 seconds. Unfortunately Cast when Damage Taken has a .25 second cooldown and requires us to take ~500 damage after that cooldown expires before triggering linked spells, which is both too long of a base cooldown for Kitava's Thirst and requires far more self-damage than Storm Secret can inflict. Fortunately, Cast when Damage Taken has a separate cooldown (and damage counter) for each linked spell and spells won't go on cooldown if we don't have enough mana to trigger them (meaning their damage counters will begin to offset from each other). Since each one of the spells we trigger with Cast when Damage Taken has a mana cost of at least 100 (see Increasing Mana Costs), if we have less than 200 mana unreserved we will trigger at most one spell each time we're hit. With a sufficient number of spells linked to Cast when Damage Taken (see Self-Damage and Cooldowns), we can accumulate spells whose Cast when Damage Taken damage counters' have reached the trigger threshold and will cast the next time we're hit and have sufficient mana. Assuming sufficient mana regeneration between being hit (see Sustaining Mana), now we've got a way to trigger individual 100 mana cost spells at intervals gated by when we're hit and not by a cooldown!
Self-Hit Frequency
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Now that we can cast a 100 mana cost spell whenever we're hit (see Mana-Gating Cast when Damage Taken), we need to hit ourselves slightly less than once every .1 seconds to maximize Kitava's Thirst trigger rate (assuming at least 2% cooldown recovery). Storm Secret lets us control how frequently we get hit by adjusting the frequency at which Herald of Thunder's storms hit. The base rate is 4hz, which can be scaled by Herald of Thunder gem quality (1% increased per quality) and Storm Secret (up to 50% increased on each). We're aiming for a frequency of slightly less than 10hz, meaning we want 152% or less increased frequency, which we can get from two well rolled Storm Secret and a 20% quality Herald of Thunder linked to Enhance (level 4 or below). This lets us trigger a 100 mana spell slightly less than once every .1 seconds!
Mana-Gated Spell Cycle
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To maximize the number of 100 mana cost spell casts, we need to ensure that there is always a spell behind the mana-gate with a full damage counter ready to trigger the next time we're hit. After each spell linked to Cast when Damage Taken is triggered, it needs to recover its cooldown and have its damage counter fill back up before it will be mana-gated again. Since we hit ourselves ~10 times a second for 125 (can be up to 150 when Storm Secret is catalyzed) damage each hit (assuming 75% resistance) and level 1 Cast when Damage Taken (can be up to level 3 when Storm Secret is catalyzed) needs slightly less than 500 (assuming 20% quality) damage taken to trigger, we need .4 seconds to fill up the damage counter for a spell. Cast when Damage Taken also has a .25 second cooldown (can scale with cooldown recovery rate), so the time between Cast when Damage Taken triggering a spell and that spell being mana-gated is .65 seconds. This means that we need 7 spells that cost 100 mana linked to Cast when Damage Taken in order to always have a spell behind the mana gate and maximize our trigger rate. Note on league start we will only have 6, since the increased trigger rate of having 7 spells isn't worth the cost of fitting in the extra 2 spells (see Mana Sustain).
Mana Sustain
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Since we cast ~8.5 spells a second each costing 100 mana(see Mana-Gated Spell Cycle), we need to recover ~850 mana per second. Builds with large mana pools can achieve that much mana regeneration, but, since we need less than 200 mana unreserved (see Mana-Gating Cast when Damage Taken), we need a different method. Fortunately (at least for mana sustain), we are hitting ourselves for ~1250-1500 damage a second (depending on whether Storm Secret is catalyzed or not) which lets us use % of Damage taken Recouped as Mana modifiers to sustain our mana. There are a few sources of this: 10% from Battle-Rouse, 10% from the mana mastery, 6% from the amulet craft, 20% from a Watcher's Eye modifier and 2% on abyss jewels. % of Damage taken Recouped as Mana is also scaled by increased mana recovery rate, which can be obtained from the passive tree and as an eldritch implicit on body armours. To fully sustain our mana we need 50% of Damage taken Recouped as Mana, which isn't always possible (notably before we get the Watcher's Eye or in low density maps). To avoid halving our cast rate when this happens, we need to make sure to reserve only slightly less than 200 mana, which gives a mana buffer resulting in minimal casts lost due to insufficient mana recovery.
Health Sustain
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Since we hit ourselves ~10 times a second for 125-150 damage each hit, we need to sustain 1250-1500 damage a second (assuming 75% resistance and depending on whether rings are catalyzed) on top of Lifetap costs (in the leaguestart version) from the spells in Kitava's Thirst.
On league start we do this with life regeneration from the passive tree and consecrated ground combined with Pious Path, which functionally doubles our life regeneration rate. Since we're taking so much damage, we can also get ~30% of damage taken recouped as life, which is a solid recovery layer on top of our regeneration! Once we transition to Energy Blade we sustain using energy shield leech we get from the passive tree, again providing solid recovery on top of sustaining Storm Secret. Increasing Mana Costs
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For Kitava's Thirst to trigger, we need each of the spells linked to Cast when Damage Taken to cost at least 100 mana. Cast when Damage Taken has a significant mana cost multiplier of 250%, but also requires all the spells linked to it to be low level, meaning they have a low base mana cost. On league start we can increase the base mana cost by getting + levels to cold spell skill gems (this is also a good damage multiplier) and primarily using gems with the cold tag as the skills we are triggering. We can also link to support gems with high mana cost multipliers. Once we transition to Energy Blade we use curse skills with high base mana costs, reducing the need for cost multipliers from support gems (and letting us fully sustain charges). Finally, we use a Fevered Mind Jewel to boost the mana cost of all our spells, which gets us over 100 mana cost on all our Cast when Damage Taken triggered spells!
Choice of Triggered Skills
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Now that we trigger all the spells in Kitava's Thirst, we need to choose which spells we want to trigger. In terms of support gems we always want one of the four gems to either be Lifetap and Spellblade after the Energy Blade transition. While any combination of spells and support gems will work in the other three sockets, some setups are better than others. Since we trigger all spells each time Kitava's Thirst triggers (unlike Cast when Damage Taken or Cast on Critical Strike), you almost always want to have 2/3 spells and no other support gems (besides Lifetap/Spellblade). Here are the two setups I recommend, but feel free to experiment with whatever spells you enjoy: Ice Spear + Creeping Frost + Greater Multiple Projectiles (for league start), Blazing Salvo + Firestorm (after Energy Blade transition).
________________________________________________________________________ Starter Gear
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Mandatory Items:
Kitava's Thirst 2x Storm Secret Fevered Mind 6-link staff (Taryn's Shiver is often cheaper than comparable rares) and body armour (one can be a 5-link, just remove Eye of Winter). Recommended Items: + level to all cold spell gems staff/amulet Amulet with crafted modifer % of Damage Taken Recouped as Mana Watcher's Eye with % of Damage Taken Recouped as Mana while affected by Clarity 2% increased cooldown recover rate (either eldritch implicit on boots or on an abyss jewel) General Rares: Make sure you are resistance capped. Then look for life, dexterity and chaos resistance in that order. Flasks: No required flasks, Dying Sun is a damage boost though and I'd recommend a Quicksilver Flask and a Life Flask with Corrupted Blood/Bleed immunity ________________________________________________________________________ Skills
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League Start
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Note these gem levels assume +3 to level of all cold spell skill gems (from staff and amulet). Will need to adjust gem levels if you have more/less + to level of all cold spell skill gems.
CWDT 6-link #1 (can use different spells as long as they have 100 mana cost) Cast when Damage Taken (2/20) - Vortex (level 4) - Purifying Flame (level 12) - Ice Spear (level 8) - Swift Affliction - Bonechill CWDT 6-link #2 (can use different spells as long as they have 100 mana cost) Cast when Damage Taken (2/20)- Eye of Winter (level 1) - Frostbolt (level 8) - Sniper's Mark (level 11) - Arcane Surge - Greater Multiple Projectiles Kitava's Thirst (can use any combination of spells you want here) Ice Spear - Creeping Frost - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Lifetap Enhanced Gems Herald of Thunder - Increased Area of Effect - Enhance (optional and not greater than level 4) Movement + Initial Shock Flame Dash Aura + Heralds (use different levels of Vitality/Clarity to keep unreserved mana slightly below 200) Determination - Herald of Ice - Vitality (level 20) - Clarity (level 3) Energy Blade
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CWDT 6-link Cast when Damage Taken(2/20) - Poacher's Mark (8) - Warlord's Mark (8) - Assassin's Mark (8) - Sniper's Mark (8) - Arcane Surge CWDT 4-link Cast when Damage Taken (2/20) - Conductivity (6) - Flammability (6) - Frostbite (6) Kitava's Thirst (can use any combination of spells you want here) Blazing Salvo - Firestorm - Spell Blade - Lifetap Herald of Thunder Herald of Thunder - Energy Blade - Increased Area of Effect - Enhance (not greater than level 4) Movement + Initial Shock Flame Dash Auras (use different levels of Clarity to keep unreserved mana slightly below 200) Clarity - Determination Prism Guardian Auras Wrath - Discipline - Zealotry ________________________________________________________________________ League Start, Leveling and Transition
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Leveling as the standard fire templar, which is always excellent on league start and doesn't require any respec points outside what we get from mainline quests. We use Holy Flame Totem + Flame Wall before we get Armageddon Brand + Cremation.
Leveling POB: https://pobb.in/Bslv6eVwC5Uh Transition when you have enough currency to afford the mandatory items (shouldn't be more than 20c day 1). Recommended items should generally be your first upgrades. ________________________________________________________________________ Upgrades
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Upgrades (loosely ordered)
1. Quality stuff (gems, flasks, catalyze) 2. Add Eldritch Implicits 3. Equip Dying Sun 4. Get well rolled uniques 5. Get Enhance (level 4 or below) Pivot to Energy Blade damage scaling (check prices before transitioning, may also be other/better ways of scaling damage depending on skill preference) 6. Start with this POB (can start with 5-link Ivory Tower, just drop Sniper's Mark): https://pobb.in/-VUvGJ09xA3A 7. Corruption(double corruption even) hunt on uniques 8. Craft 30/35% movement speed boots with 5 other tier 1 modifiers (Strength, Intelligence, Mana, Energy Shield, Life, Resists) and get high tier eldritch implicits (movement speed/action speed/cooldown recovery rate) 9. Get a Brutal Restraint with good additions to notables (movement speed, increased flask charges gained, onslaught on kill, increased effect of non-damaging ailments, increased life, cold resistance) 10. 2x Split Personalities (strength and intelligence) 11. Swap in Oriath's End for Taste of Hate 12. Craft a Stygian Vise with %attributes and 5 other good high tier modifiers (Strength, Intelligence, Mana, Energy Shield, Life, Chaos Resist) and an Abyss jewel (strength + intelligence, % of damage taken recouped as mana, energy shield, life) 13. Get one of the following: (1) Eyes of the Greatwolf with increased attributes + life and use tainted catalyst to get increased attributes quality (2) Amulet with Strength, Intelligence, All Attributes, Increased Energy Shield and convert to %increased attributes Talisman (3) Double influenced (increased attributes, increased strength, % increased damage per strength) Simplex Amulet 14. Large Cluster Jewels with 35% increased effect + other good modifiers (strength, intelligence, chaos resistance, all attributes, life, energy shield) 15. Get 20% of Damage taken Recouped as Mana Watcher's Eye with multiple other good modifiers (Mana Recovery Rate, Mana as Extra Energy Shield, Energy Shield on Hit, Chaos Resistance) 16. Abyss jewels with 5-6 good modifiers 17. Forbidden Flesh and Flame Radiant Faith ________________________________________________________________________ Other Autobomber Guides
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Detonate Dead Autobomber - A Bow Cast on Critical Strike League Starter
Looping League Starter - Heartbound Autobomber Wormblasting Autobomber - Absolution of Inspiring League Starter Elemental Relic Autobomber - Tukohama's Fortress League Starter Armageddon Brand of Recall Autobomber - Brand Recall Autobomber Holy Relic of Conviction Autobomber - Manaforged Arrows League Starter Bow Attack Autobomber - A Manaforged Arrows League Starter Minion Instability Autobomber - Stone Golem League Starter Last edited by Juminoh#0785 on Aug 1, 2024, 9:11:09 AM Last bumped on Nov 15, 2024, 9:08:19 AM
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Just tried setting up this build, I screw up the ascendancies and went straight to Energy Blade. I know im still low-level, but why am I dying, mind taking a look?
EDIT: Im missing some piece to get Determination working. Something to do with Determination/arrogance being 100.5 life reserve. I tested take 20% life efficiency node that let me equip deter but too much missing life not being used. I can take one ring off and almost survive. Last edited by Deklnu#3311 on Feb 16, 2024, 9:15:46 PM
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" Looks like none of the gems linked to cast when damage taken spend 100 mana, meaning Kitava's Thirst will never trigger (which means no leech which is why you're dying). They're currently all level 1 when the marks need to be level 8 and curses level 6 to cost 100 mana. For determination we just use a 2% increased reservation efficiency from a jewel corruption implicit, taking 20% life efficiency leaves too much life unreserved meaning we have a lot less energy shield/damage. Make sure quicksilve has used when flask expires as well, since it's needed to cap resistances. Last edited by Juminoh#0785 on Feb 16, 2024, 10:31:10 PM
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" Thanks I think this fixed everything, I appreciate you taking the time to look. Some of the spells still seem to be casting slow. |
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" That's on me, was trying to force in Rathpith Globe into the energy blade setup and didn't have enough mana sustain for it. Did some testing and Prism Guardian (or Aegis Aurora for a more defensive setup) is the way to go and I've changed the guide to reflect it. It's in the guide too, but here's the Energy Blade transition POB now: https://pobb.in/ZOwF-87OVUSs and video of it in a Delirious Forge of the Phoenix: https://youtu.be/kryOoQbzfik. Last edited by Juminoh#0785 on Feb 17, 2024, 6:44:09 PM
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HellO!
I'm trying to get as many casts as possible but something feels off and my damage is very low...... Can you take a look to my pob? I'm broke right now i have like 1 chaos orb XD Thanks https://pobb.in/B-14fbTXtHBy |
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" No worries! Looks like it's because you have 210 unreserved mana. We need to have less than 200 unreserved so only one spell triggers at a time so they desychronize (increasing the level of vitality and clarity by 1 should be enough!) Last edited by Juminoh#0785 on Apr 2, 2024, 5:14:23 PM
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https://pobb.in/23wKneRguCGF
Hey I wanted to try an autobomber for league start and I was having some issues with the hp sustain, I have to use my life flasks fairly regularly or I'd die to the hp consumption. I'm suspecting the lack of uber lab is putting a big dent in my sustain, what do you think? Build is very fun when it's going off though. edit: The last ascendancy node is the key. With only the belt having a 100 life regen roll I was able to sustain the self damage easily. Whoever is playing this should prioritise Pious Path over Inevitable judgement. Last edited by Asdcvbn#3878 on Apr 4, 2024, 9:41:24 AM
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Hello I always wanted to try an autobomber but never got to build it completely. I tried to get the same gear as you but it seems to me that the dmg is extremely low ( barely can do t1 maps)
Can you please take a look and check what I did wrong? https://pobb.in/UArm-A4CbnHf Thanks alot! |
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" Not a problem! Looks like you're missing fevered mind, which is keeping your CWDT triggered skills from costing 100 mana and triggering the spells in Kitava's Thirst. |
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