[1.2.0] "Forcefield" - Flameblast - EB/MoM/Block - Atziri & Endgame Viable!

Added a couple of new videos showcasing the build versus the Apex of Sacrifice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_6JHwUrqUM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkx9xq9w5us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ho7I8gf4KQ

(Bonus Video!)

All done without using a Doryani's Catalyst! If I had one it would have been even easier as the damage boost you gain from that weapon is insane.

Your deeds of valor will be remembered!

I've had a lot of fun in Beyond with the build I came up with on my own before seeing this thread.
It's very similar overall though.

Could write a lot of stuff about the character, but here's TLDR version: it has a bit higher dps/clearing speed and a bit lower defensive capabilities. 63% block, 75% spell block, 5240 hp, 1200 unreserved mana, lvl 22 Innerforced AA, some 330 manaregen, 2.3k dmg flameblast tooltip and, if i remember correctly, 10 casts per second with Faster Casting gem. 6th link was either FC or increased aoe, mostly aoe, because dat prolif, but for some maps i was using FC, like exile maps or fire res maps. Also I had EE guy in my party and with him I was definitely using increased aoe for most maps.

Here is my gear and tree for lvl 96 in Beyond, I couldn't link it as it is because I recently respec'd into Incinerate for Atziri killing. You can see all the gems there too. I was using Conc effect almost always, except for lower than level ~73-75 content. It synergizes really well with Beyond league mod: most beyonders just melt instantly after spawning, including the bosses/gods if prolif was good enough (so if proliferating mob had 0 fire resist before EE and curse).

The character was definitely the strongest I've ever played, the game just became easy mode basically. Fire proliferation is kinda OP, to be honest. It was nerfed before, but it's still imo just too strong for efficient content clearing. And the usual flameblast reflect issue wasn't an issue anymore: I could 10-stack reflect packs all day long, if I had a ruby flask up (93% fire res).

Random thoughts about EE (if you take it yourself) and double curse (tried it both on the tree and with lazhwar): most of the time it's just counterproductive, it makes clearing speed slower overall, eventhough it did seem like a really good idea at the time.

Ok, that was quite a wall, thanks for reading.

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5tr1k3r wrote:

Spoiler

I've had a lot of fun in Beyond with the build I came up with on my own before seeing this thread.
It's very similar overall though.

Could write a lot of stuff about the character, but here's TLDR version: it has a bit higher dps/clearing speed and a bit lower defensive capabilities. 63% block, 75% spell block, 5240 hp, 1200 unreserved mana, lvl 22 Innerforced AA, some 330 manaregen, 2.3k dmg flameblast tooltip and, if i remember correctly, 10 casts per second with Faster Casting gem. 6th link was either FC or increased aoe, mostly aoe, because dat prolif, but for some maps i was using FC, like exile maps or fire res maps. Also I had EE guy in my party and with him I was definitely using increased aoe for most maps.

Here is my gear and tree for lvl 96 in Beyond, I couldn't link it as it is because I recently respec'd into Incinerate for Atziri killing. You can see all the gems there too. I was using Conc effect almost always, except for lower than level ~73-75 content. It synergizes really well with Beyond league mod: most beyonders just melt instantly after spawning, including the bosses/gods if prolif was good enough (so if proliferating mob had 0 fire resist before EE and curse).

The character was definitely the strongest I've ever played, the game just became easy mode basically. Fire proliferation is kinda OP, to be honest. It was nerfed before, but it's still imo just too strong for efficient content clearing. And the usual flameblast reflect issue wasn't an issue anymore: I could 10-stack reflect packs all day long, if I had a ruby flask up (93% fire res).

Random thoughts about EE (if you take it yourself) and double curse (tried it both on the tree and with lazhwar): most of the time it's just counterproductive, it makes clearing speed slower overall, eventhough it did seem like a really good idea at the time.

Ok, that was quite a wall, thanks for reading.

Thanks for sharing! I definitely agree that burn prolif feels OP but since it's not even the fastest clearing build out there I think there's no need for a nerf. And it really did counter Beyond perfectly so once the new leagues are out it won't be as strong.

For dual cursing I found that putting the 2nd curse on CWS worked out well and since I was using Enfeeble instead of two offensive curses there was no downside to not having it only proc versus hard-hitting enemies.

Surprised to see you use Conc. Effect with 20% less chance to ignite than me from lacking certain nodes in the passive tree and the Burning Damage support gem. Having enemies not ignite can be annoying when burn is such a large part of the build.

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Redoxe wrote:

I definitely agree that burn prolif feels OP but since it's not even the fastest clearing build out there I think there's no need for a nerf.

Oh yeah it's not the fastest, but it's definitely up there, we were clearing plateaus (best layout map except gorge) under 3 minutes consistently as a duo. 78s didn't take much longer than that too, it was all about layout and movement rather than dps. Some flicker builds or low-life ST or CoC should be faster, but not by much - with much higher currency investment too.

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Redoxe wrote:

For dual cursing I found that putting the 2nd curse on CWS worked out well and since I was using Enfeeble instead of two offensive curses there was no downside to not having it only proc versus hard-hitting enemies.

Oh, I see. We found out that Temp chains (with quality and ehnance) as a defensive curse is overall better for us, because it makes shocks and ignitions longer and gives much more time to react to something dangerous. But yeah, Enfeeble is very good also, no denying that, especially on autocast.

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Redoxe wrote:

Surprised to see you use Conc. Effect with 20% less chance to ignite than me from lacking certain nodes in the passive tree and the Burning Damage support gem. Having enemies not ignite can be annoying when burn is such a large part of the build.

Ok, it basically worked like this. I don't remember the exact chance to ignite right now, I think it was 40% plus 14% from flammability, so 54%. It was good enough for packs and I couldn't drop this massive 70% more dmg boost. Chance to ignite rolls independently for each monster, let's see the math. If I hit 3 monsters in one cast, chance to ignite at least one of them is 1-(0,46*0,46*0,46) = 90.27%. So nine out of ten 3-monster packs will ignite and burn. What about if I hit 5 monsters in one cast? Chance to ignite at least one of them is whopping 97.94%. And I can safely assume most packs have more than 3-5 monsters. What about single target? Well if the rare guy is in the pack (and he usually is) then he burns too in one cast. If he is alone somehow, it only takes one successful blast to kill him off, so would need 2 on average. For bosses like shrine Piety and palace Dominus I was using Chance to ignite gem instead of Eleproliferation, which makes chance to ignite 54+44 = 98%. It wasn't required for most other bosses, because they: 1) usually have adds to prolif from, 2) have a lot less hp. That was the reasoning, sorry I couldn't explain it in a shorter way.

Hey, was curious about what you thought of an alternate set-up using CurseOnHit as a way to get dualcurses out in combination with TempestShield, with such a high block chance:

CHEST Flameblast - EleProlif - ChanceIgnite - Spell Echo - IncBurn - FirePen (4B-2R)
BOOTS TempestShield- CurseOnHit - Flammability - EleWeakness/Enfeeble (4B)
GLOVES CWDT/CWS - EnduringCry - Immortal Call - IncDur/Decoy (4R or 1B-3R)
HELM Red. Mana - Clarity - Purity of Fire - ArcticArmor (2R-1B-1G)
MAIN CWS - MoltenShell - LifeLeech/Inc AOE (1B-1R-?)
OFF LightningWarp - ReducedDur - Faster Casting (2B-1R)


As opposed to:

BOOTS CWStunned - MoltenShell - AOE/Leech - EleWeakness/Enfeeble (2B-1R-?)
HELM Red. Mana - Clarity - Purity of Fire - TempestShield (2R-2B)
MAIN Flammability - ArcticArmor - FasterCasting (2B-1G)


also curious as to what you think the best single support for MoltenShell would be. Why not something like ConcEffect/AOE/FirePen for damage efficiency, or even something like Knockback/Blind for support? If you have leech from Doryani's, maybe leech isn't that efficient? Perhaps a Vaal gem could be used as something of a one-hit wonder, like VaalFlameblast/Fireballs/Skeletons


Also, what do you think would be best to spec out of if more cast speed was desired for quality of life?

Was thinking could take 12% from the Shadow area at start/crossroad, and Prestigation looks efficient for 6% speed for just 2 points with mana regen and reduced mana cost as a small bonus. Don't know what I'd get rid of, though, perhaps Alchemist cluster.


Cheers on a well-written build, having loads of fun leveling already. Need to test some more about if I prefer CWDT or CWStunned for my enduring/immortal call set-up though. xHoping to hear back from you

Hey zhouster, I'm not the OP, but I can answer some questions. OP, let me know if you are ok with it.

Tempest shield + double curse on hit works decent, but keep in mind that you will have less unreserved mana to work with (no reduced mana) and it's a bit unreliable.

You don't need to use Chance to ignite gem in your link at all, if you have quality Flameblast and some chance to ignite nodes on the tree. See math above.

Molten shell is mostly a defensive measure, that's why Life leech is single best support for it. It's also 8 times better leech that doryani's. Blind needs a lot of hits to be efficient (low proc chance), almost same about Knockback. Conc effect is a good damage, but 10-stacked flameblast is better anyway. Basically Life leech is just mandatory, that's why can't use anything else.

Arctic armour doesn't work with Reduced mana. I assume you know that, writing just to be sure.

Vaal gems: i think damage part of this build is fine, what you might want to look for is utility, like Vaal skeletons (good distracting mechanism, annoying for people in party), Vaal haste/grace/discipline if you are into it (I wasn't, mostly because of lack of gem slots).

If you somehow have any spell damage, that would be best to spec out of, because flameblast doesn't double dip with it. Otherwise I don't know, cast speed has least priority out of: life, elemental damage, fire damage, block nodes.

I don't know what type of league you're playing, but Alchemist cluster is an absolute must for the build in hardcore league, because it gives 3% more max fire resist with ruby.

Prestidigitaion is okay-ish, but it has lower efficiency (3% per node) for cast speed than other nodes (4% per node). Maybe if you lack mana regen a bit you could take it. Reduced mana cost is pretty useless.

CWDT versus CWS is an eternal argument. I tested both and I prefer CWDT. Main reasoning: if you proc CWS with Immortal call twice in a row (one after another immediately), the first IC is just gone, even if it was full duration (let's say 5s). This is really, really dangerous, because this time your Enduring cry is on cooldown, and second Immortall call will be miserably short.

rest in peace this build :(

Hi, have someone else tried vaal molten shell? i' m using a level 18 one(unlinked) and it melt the entire screen when activated, even bosses! the tooltip say 10000 but the real damage is far superior because it' s hard to calculate how many times you get hit...

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Neothin87 wrote:

rest in peace this build :(