[3.9] Gryph's CI Vortex + Coldsnap Trickster || Uber Elder+Everything Else

Started up this build for Legion.

In case there are any doubts on this viability of this build, I have completed a deathless Uber Atziri Run (to acquire my reflection) at level 80 with the gear below:

Spoiler


The Spoils:


Hi, please update the guide as mutch as you can :) im rerolling from cyclone to this vortex build. I played Vortex as occultist last league and loved it. Im gonna follow this guide now.
"
Hi, please update the guide as mutch as you can :) im rerolling from cyclone to this vortex build. I played Vortex as occultist last league and loved it. Im gonna follow this guide now.


Made some updates to the gearing section, guide in general. Added a video of my first Legion Shaper Run:

https://youtu.be/PSF4sMNf8uw


There's more to do and I'll do that when I get time. In the meantime y'all are welcome to ask me questions in game. But PLEASE comment here as well as some Q's will benefit a lot of people.
ok

I asked in-game if the Might of the Meek jewel was still being used before the guide was updated. It is not, it was dropped last league, apparently there were mana problems by losing the Arcane Will notable? There's also the Utmost Intellect cluster now.
Looking at the current pob link, I think there might be some room that I'll try to play with for Might of the Meek.

Then I asked about Atziri's Reflection rarity, which I hadn't kept up to date on. It used to be rarer than actual mirrors, but the div card helped a lot for the prophecy. Apep's Supremacy was discussed as the "cheaper", version of the build.

Lastly I asked about Legion packs. Tactics are a work in progress? Currently it seems to be "pop Vaal Cold Snap, Vaal Righteous Fire, and run around while dropping Vortex when needed". I was thinking Increased Duration on Cold Snap or putting it in the 6L. I also thought maybe joining in on the Vaal Ice Nova fun would be good, but it probably won't pass. Maybe we'll just have to live with playing as GGG intended, hunting specific targets instead of killing everything.

edit: the reason I was thinking inc dur on ice nova is because you can place about 4 with frenzy charges right before touching the obelisk. You can activate most of the trash legion immediately before taking the rest.
Last edited by Chunq on Jun 17, 2019, 6:25:14 PM
"
Chunq wrote:
ok

I asked in-game if the Might of the Meek jewel was still being used before the guide was updated. It is not, it was dropped last league, apparently there were mana problems by losing the Arcane Will notable? There's also the Utmost Intellect cluster now.
Looking at the current pob link, I think there might be some room that I'll try to play with for Might of the Meek.

Then I asked about Atziri's Reflection rarity, which I hadn't kept up to date on. It used to be rarer than actual mirrors, but the div card helped a lot for the prophecy. Apep's Supremacy was discussed as the "cheaper", version of the build.

Lastly I asked about Legion packs. Tactics are a work in progress? Currently it seems to be "pop Vaal Cold Snap, Vaal Righteous Fire, and run around while dropping Vortex when needed". I was thinking Increased Duration on Cold Snap or putting it in the 6L. I also thought maybe joining in on the Vaal Ice Nova fun would be good, but it probably won't pass. Maybe we'll just have to live with playing as GGG intended, hunting specific targets instead of killing everything.

edit: the reason I was thinking inc dur on ice nova is because you can place about 4 with frenzy charges right before touching the obelisk. You can activate most of the trash legion immediately before taking the rest.


So the mana problems are only noticeable on end game bosses. Whenever we can kill things our mana is fine. Since i was doing a lot of Uber Elder runs it was particularly annoying and not worth the small boost in damage over a good rare.

Reflection is and will always be the chase unique for this build. With the addition of Wicked Ward however, it is very reasonable to use Apep's Supremacy. This is the more defensive choice and much more budget friendly. I recommend this shield if you can't afford Reflection. Also, if going this route I suggest getting Faster Start of ES Recharge Watcher's Eye for bossing (pretty sure shaper/uber elder are the only times this matters) and ES on hit for mapping/delving. Or get one with both. They're like 6ex.

As for interacting with Legion mechanics, try stuff out! using CS on a 6L with Inc Duration would work to extend the time we have for it. To that end, you could invest 4 points into the Duration cluster next to EE.

I'm experimenting with Arctic Breath since it has no cooldown. Currently jamming it in a 4L setup with AB - CWC - Cyclone - Bonechill

Using Dying Sun for 2 extra projectiles. This seems to be working fine-ish. I think it's be better in an offhand staff so that I could do VCS -> Run around -> weapon swap to finish up -> weapon swap to kill stuff.

Try things out. This build is not naturally good for the legion mechanics. It's just *fine* and for now, I'm okay with that. We demolish everything else with ease.

On a side note:


These gloves are pretty great for mapping purposes. Use hatred instead of malevolence (Hatred Scales off the phys damage+still boosts our DoT DPS) and you get some good pack clears; plus it blinds/curses everything.

Very nice gloves defensively and very satisfying to watch things explode in puffs of golden confetti. I would recommend if you can cover resists and keep your ES above about 7k.
"
Gryphenprey wrote:
"
Chunq wrote:
ok

I asked in-game if the Might of the Meek jewel was still being used before the guide was updated. It is not, it was dropped last league, apparently there were mana problems by losing the Arcane Will notable? There's also the Utmost Intellect cluster now.
Looking at the current pob link, I think there might be some room that I'll try to play with for Might of the Meek.

Then I asked about Atziri's Reflection rarity, which I hadn't kept up to date on. It used to be rarer than actual mirrors, but the div card helped a lot for the prophecy. Apep's Supremacy was discussed as the "cheaper", version of the build.

Lastly I asked about Legion packs. Tactics are a work in progress? Currently it seems to be "pop Vaal Cold Snap, Vaal Righteous Fire, and run around while dropping Vortex when needed". I was thinking Increased Duration on Cold Snap or putting it in the 6L. I also thought maybe joining in on the Vaal Ice Nova fun would be good, but it probably won't pass. Maybe we'll just have to live with playing as GGG intended, hunting specific targets instead of killing everything.

edit: the reason I was thinking inc dur on ice nova is because you can place about 4 with frenzy charges right before touching the obelisk. You can activate most of the trash legion immediately before taking the rest.


So the mana problems are only noticeable on end game bosses. Whenever we can kill things our mana is fine. Since i was doing a lot of Uber Elder runs it was particularly annoying and not worth the small boost in damage over a good rare.

Reflection is and will always be the chase unique for this build. With the addition of Wicked Ward however, it is very reasonable to use Apep's Supremacy. This is the more defensive choice and much more budget friendly. I recommend this shield if you can't afford Reflection. Also, if going this route I suggest getting Faster Start of ES Recharge Watcher's Eye for bossing (pretty sure shaper/uber elder are the only times this matters) and ES on hit for mapping/delving. Or get one with both. They're like 6ex.

As for interacting with Legion mechanics, try stuff out! using CS on a 6L with Inc Duration would work to extend the time we have for it. To that end, you could invest 4 points into the Duration cluster next to EE.

I'm experimenting with Arctic Breath since it has no cooldown. Currently jamming it in a 4L setup with AB - CWC - Cyclone - Bonechill

Using Dying Sun for 2 extra projectiles. This seems to be working fine-ish. I think it's be better in an offhand staff so that I could do VCS -> Run around -> weapon swap to finish up -> weapon swap to kill stuff.

Try things out. This build is not naturally good for the legion mechanics. It's just *fine* and for now, I'm okay with that. We demolish everything else with ease.

On a side note:


These gloves are pretty great for mapping purposes. Use hatred instead of malevolence (Hatred Scales off the phys damage+still boosts our DoT DPS) and you get some good pack clears; plus it blinds/curses everything.

Very nice gloves defensively and very satisfying to watch things explode in puffs of golden confetti. I would recommend if you can cover resists and keep your ES above about 7k.


personally I use MOTM. no right or wrong. it's just more convenient for me and something I like. (I come from the occultist vortex last league). never had issues with mana. probably because of boot enchants. as for legion mechs, our build isnt fantastic, but it's not crap either. it's just a limitation of the build that I can live with. I used to run unnatural instinct in the socket below potency of will, it's a nice boost (but sold it to fund the atziri reflection).

for mapping, I personally just weapon swap and use


I've always dual wielded them, not sure if I should just manually swap a wep and use atziri ref shield (or another shield). doesnt seem to matter. I run HoI+CoH+frostbite to propagate the explosions (you dont see the ice shattering because the "profane bloom" animation takes precedence, but the effect is there).

thanks for the guide, I've seen your char on the dps list for vortex last season (near mine hehe), and decided to try out vortex trickster after the nerf to occultist. (initially started as vortex occultist up to 85 - doable but not competitive to trickster).
"
SonsOfKorhal wrote:


personally I use MOTM. no right or wrong. it's just more convenient for me and something I like. (I come from the occultist vortex last league). never had issues with mana. probably because of boot enchants. as for legion mechs, our build isnt fantastic, but it's not crap either. it's just a limitation of the build that I can live with. I used to run unnatural instinct in the socket below potency of will, it's a nice boost (but sold it to fund the atziri reflection).

for mapping, I personally just weapon swap and use


I've always dual wielded them, not sure if I should just manually swap a wep and use atziri ref shield (or another shield). doesnt seem to matter. I run HoI+CoH+frostbite to propagate the explosions (you dont see the ice shattering because the "profane bloom" animation takes precedence, but the effect is there).

thanks for the guide, I've seen your char on the dps list for vortex last season (near mine hehe), and decided to try out vortex trickster after the nerf to occultist. (initially started as vortex occultist up to 85 - doable but not competitive to trickster).


You can definitely use MOTM. I encourage everyone to do what feels best for them.

I could never justify the point expenditure for Unnatural Instinct. It's certainly good, but I was always able to better with those same points. This build is definitely very Passive point hungry.

I'd be more inclined to use Oblit Wand if I could get Fortify off of Shield Charge with it.

As for the DPS Sheet on Ninja, I remember there being an Occultist or 2 higher than me on Ninja. That's because the ascendancy gives -20 res and Ninja doesn't do EE right. For the record, I held the highest DPS in PoB ;)

But yeah, definitely after the Occ nerfs it doesn't hold a candle to Trickster anymore.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying this! :D
Last edited by Gryphenprey on Jun 17, 2019, 9:07:35 PM
"
Gryphenprey wrote:
"
SonsOfKorhal wrote:


personally I use MOTM. no right or wrong. it's just more convenient for me and something I like. (I come from the occultist vortex last league). never had issues with mana. probably because of boot enchants. as for legion mechs, our build isnt fantastic, but it's not crap either. it's just a limitation of the build that I can live with. I used to run unnatural instinct in the socket below potency of will, it's a nice boost (but sold it to fund the atziri reflection).

for mapping, I personally just weapon swap and use


I've always dual wielded them, not sure if I should just manually swap a wep and use atziri ref shield (or another shield). doesnt seem to matter. I run HoI+CoH+frostbite to propagate the explosions (you dont see the ice shattering because the "profane bloom" animation takes precedence, but the effect is there).

thanks for the guide, I've seen your char on the dps list for vortex last season (near mine hehe), and decided to try out vortex trickster after the nerf to occultist. (initially started as vortex occultist up to 85 - doable but not competitive to trickster).


You can definitely use MOTM. I encourage everyone to do what feels best for them.

I could never justify the point expenditure for Unnatural Instinct. It's certainly good, but I was always able to better with those same points. This build is definitely very Passive point hungry.

I'd be more inclined to use Oblit Wand if I could get Fortify off of Shield Charge with it.

As for the DPS Sheet on Ninja, I remember there being an Occultist or 2 higher than me on Ninja. That's because the ascendancy gives -20 res and Ninja doesn't do EE right. For the record, I held the highest DPS in PoB ;)

But yeah, definitely after the Occ nerfs it doesn't hold a candle to Trickster anymore.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying this! :D


I only used unnatural instinct as an experiment because it dropped for me :D. but otherwise, I agree with you, the 5SP is not worth. to be fair, for 5SP it gives a lot of things, just that none of those being build critical and definitely can be lived without.

yeah dual oblit is really comfortable when vortex has enough damage even after the wep swap (losing about 30-50%) dps. personally I don't use shield charge+fortify, not because I don't want fortify, but generally I don't have a good experience with the clunkiness of shield charge and getting stuck on really small objects in the game. I may not have reached a stage where I value the fortify yet, or maybe because I just have not experienced it yet. in the past my phase run + flamedash was sufficient, so I'm not sure how much I'm missing out as well. when I was running melee builds that suggested shield charge, I always used leap slam instead haha, but I don't think that's a possibility unless I get the correct weapon type for my weapon for this build.

for ninja, I was below you, and we were both in the top 10. I had about 3.4m shaper dps on my vortex, but also because I was running a 30% CDR helm (not sure if POB would change that value if I had a 40% dmg helm instead). to be fair, occultist was definitely easier to get higher dps numbers for the cost involved, being able to simply use shav's to run hatred+male and having a +1/+2 chest. I was definitely blown away when I saw your setup in synth.

for this league, trickster is really smooth, and I'm enjoying the QOL and defensives associated to the ascendancy. my playstlye hasn't changed except for panicking when I get chain stunned :P. this league is the fastest for me to get a major item within a week of league start (atziri ref looking at you being so dirt cheap), and hopefully won't get too burnt out trying to chase gear while experiencing the content.
Yo guys, how to craft good eva/es sadist garb? Just spam chaos or theres a better way?
Last edited by imatty on Jun 18, 2019, 12:06:12 PM
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imatty wrote:
Yo guys, how to craft good eva/es sadist garb? Just spam chaos or theres a better way?


Dense + Aetheric fossils. Aetheric gives Arcane Surge Support. Dense for the EV/ES mods.

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