[3.10] Gryph's Spellslingin Volatile+Detonate Dead Necromancer. A LL+Block+Sturdy Girl


Hello Everyone! By popular demand I am going to show off my version of the Spellslinger Volatile Dead Necromancer.
I know there's a million and a half VD Slinger builds around, but this one's mine and she's beautiful. :P
The Laaaady

That said, I'm going to start by keeping this brief and expounding on it more in the upcoming days as I have time.

LET'S GO!

Why Should I Play Spellslinger?

An excellent question!
TL:DR
Right click: CAST ALL THE SPELLS!!!


From the Wiki:
"
Spellslinger Support is a support gem that causes the linked spell to be triggered when the user fires a projectile from their equipped wand and adds the wand's damage to the spell. The linked spell reserves mana while active.


In a nutshell: for every spell skill that is linked to any Spellslinger you will reserve some mana and when you fire projectiles with your wand, ALL SPELLS that are linked to a Spellslinger will fire off at the same time.

This works wonderfully well with skills that are inherently powerful but require some setup to make usable:

In our case, we shall use this slinging power to churn out corpses with Desecrate to be consumed by Volatile and Detonate Dead. It's a 1-click wonder!

of course, since we have to attack with a wand, we're gonna want some utility out of it. Nothing spells utility like FRENZY! See links in gloves below:

*Note: blind support mod on gloves is superfluous and absolutely non-essential.

Frenzy Charges, Combustion Debuff, and Inspiration Support enabler. FANTASTIC!

Basically, it's much like the Poet's Pen builds of yore and equally as fun.
RIP PENS


How She Works/Pros+Cons

Attack with wand -> Spawn FlAmInG BALLZ of DEATH! -> zip n zoom Shield Charge around.

Repeat.

This is a defense oriented build that deals enough damage to also handle all content without making you want to yank your hair out. :P

PROS:
- Facetank Simulacrum. Easy and safe Simulacrum farmer.
- Block is OP for delirium. We can easily cap both attack and spell block with Rumi's.
- Upwards of 24% Additional Physical Damage Reduction and Fortify to help against big physical hits that get through block. AKA: can take a Shaper slam at 9k ES and no guard skill and live.
- 24% of max ES leech cap (or more if you invest further)
- FAST!!! Corpse Pact + Shield Charge is a match made in Wraeclast!
- Big AOE clear thanks to Volatile Dead homing missles. No need to target every little monster.
- If you enjoy Volatile Dead and you like not dying, you're in the right place.
- This is probably HC viable. Yes. Definitely.
- Overall a very well balanced iteration of the Spellslinger Archetype.

CONS:
- This is NOT a DPS oriented build. If you are looking for maximum damage output with a MILLION damage per ball, this is not the place. That said, I can still crank out plenty of damage to take down AL8 Sirus in a timely manner.
- Not really a budget build. Think 15-20ex to get started comfortably. Minimum you will need a 6L Shavronne's Wrapping, a 30% CDR Helm Enchant (recommended), and a decent ES on block shield.
- There is a lot of button pressing. So for those that like that sort of thing HURRAY! For those that DON'T...to be honest you're just kinda button mashing like a bad fighting game.

My Buttons
Shield Charge+Fortify
Mid combat/mid map this is the fastest movement we have thanks to Corpse Pact Ascendancy giving us MASSIVE boosts to our attack speed. Primary movement usage.

Flame Dash
Secondary movement skill for when we get stuck on an obstacle or need to traverse a cliff. When Shield Charge fails, Flame Dash succeeds. Also keeps my Conjured Wall "+6% Spell Block if I've cast a spell recently" buff active.


Enduring Cry

With 3 instances of Lead by Example and Cry Wolf we maintain a consistent 24% Additional Physical Damage Reduction and 12% Chance to Deal Double Damage. We also gain a solid 1k/s Regen for it's duration of ~1.7s.

Rallying Cry

Rallying Cry with Cry Wolf, is absurd as it turns out. 3x Cry Wolf gives us 30 minimum nearby enemies. This equates to a base 71% increased damage. After you factor in the 135% Buff Effect from the three cluster jewels, this brings it up to 167% increased damage...with ZERO nearby enemies.

As a side note: If you are having difficulty getting strength for these gems (159 str required fro level 21 gems) you can go with lower level gems and the buffs are still great. A level 12 Rallying Cry (109str req) for example is still 146% increased damage.


POB Pastebin
https://pastebin.com/2HqsykkA


Helm Enchants, Amulet Anoints, and Cluster Jewels

Helm Enchant
For Helmet Enchants there are two options:
"Skills Supported by Spellslinger have 30% Increased Recovery Speed"
and
"Skills Supported by Spellslinger have 15% Reduced Mana Reservation"

30% CDR is BiS for DPS. If you cannot afford a Hubris with this mod to craft on then the Reduced mana reserve one can save you 4 passives on the tree.

Anointments
We have quite a few good options for amulet anoints.
Of note:
Sanctuary - perfect early on if you need some resists: Amber, Teal, Teal
+12% All Elemental Resistances while holding a shield. +3 to Attack and Spell Block

Deflection - biggest block node on the tree: Sepia, Teal, Opalescent
+4% Chance to Block Attacks and Spells. +8% Chance to block Projectile Attacks. +40% increased Defenses from Equipped Shield (ES)

Heart of Flame - Best DPS option as it scales the corpse explosion damage as well: Teal, Azure, Golden
25% Increased Fire Damage, Damage Penetrates 6% Fire Resistance, .2% of Fire Damage leeched as energy shield

Soul of Steel - best option for maximum mitigation: Gold, Gold, Gold
+150 to Armour, 30% Increased Armour, +1% to all maximum Elemental Resistances, 5% additional Physical Damage Reduction

Cluster Jewels

Cluster jewels are an insanely powerful tool available to basically any build. This build makes use of 2 full cluster trees:
Large Clusters

Make sure your Large jewels have 2 additional jewel sockets! Only iLvl 75+ jewels can roll this mod.

This slot is pretty flexible actually. I prioritize Arcane Heroism as a means of having Arcane Surge up against bosses where we'd need the extra damage.

Good Noteables that can go with this: 10% Spell Damage Base


12% Fire Damage or 10% Elemental Damage

Just gonna put a mix of good ones here for a second large Cluster Jewel.





Medium Clusters



First thing's first:
WHY ARE WE USING WARCRIES?!?


Simple: I wanted Endurance Charges, more physical damage reduction, and sources of chance to deal double damage. We are an Elemental Overload build so there are not many ways for us to scale damage. Stacking Lead by Example over 3 Cluster jewels gives us an additional 12% chance to deal double damage and 12% Additional Physical Damage Reduction. paired with the 3 Endurance Charges we always generate thanks to Cry Wolf, when we use Enduring Cry we get a nice 24% flat physical damage reduction.

Speaking of Cry Wolf: As it turns out, when you stack them they grow exponentially more powerful with Rallying Cry. With 3 Cry Wolf noteables it is considered that we always have 30 enemies nearby. Which means Rallying cry grants 71% increased damage BEFORE THE BUFF EFFECT! We get 45% increased buff effect per jewel for a total of 135%. This brings our Rallying Cry Increased Damage to 167% with no additional enemies actually next to us. Roughly, that translates to about 24% more damage. Rallying Cry buff also lasts 21 seconds so we do not need to spam it. Enduring Cry however, is quite nice to spam since with all the buff effect we get about 1k life regen per second for 1.7 seconds.

it's a perfect balance of offense and defense for us and if I could fit more of them I would. Also, these jewels are cheap. get 4-5 passive count ones and those are 20-40c or so as of writing this post.



For our 4th Medium Cluster jewel Master of Fear and Wish for Death provide some incredible utility DPS abilities. Best part? You only need one of these. :)


Small Clusters


Best ES noteable available. Need I say more?

Great block node that can help get us to 100% Elemental Ailment avoidance. Use if you need to.




Gear

My Current

The Essentials-Chest and Amulet

We are a lowlife build. There are not many LL builds that do not want to use these two items. Purchase ASAP!
Shavs for the "Chaos Damage does not bypass Energy Shield" mod
Presence of Chayula for the MASSIVE Chaos Resistance, STUN IMMUNITY, and huge boost to ES that it provides.

Weapon


You want a wand with a lot of local added fire damage and some extra mods in addition. Make sure it has an open suffix for "Trigger a Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill" bench craft.
Crafting a Wand

Easiest way to make your own wand is to buy a few of these and just try to roll something decent. You literally ONLY need an open suffix for the trigger craft. You can choose to use a Warlord's influenced base to add some extra fire damage related mods to the pool.


Shield

What we want:
Recover 3-5% of Energy Shield when you block
Lots of ES.
Open Suffix for Double Damage or Spell Block craft is a bonus!
Making a Shield
It's not terribly difficult to craft a decent ES on block shield. You'll want to start by purchasing the correct base.
You must get a SHAPER INFLUENCED shield--best base is a Titanium Spirit Shield. Since these are expensive for high iLvl bases, a Harmonic Spirit Shield is an option that is almost as good and works extremely well if you're on a budget. Go for at least item level 80 in this case. ilvl 84 is better and 86 is best.

Big spenders will want to go for i86 Titatium Spirit Shields

From there, use 1 socket resonators and Dense Fossils:

Dense are best for boosting the odds of our ES mods and eliminating life mods from the pool.
And because ES on block is a defensive modifier it gets a nice boost to its chances of rolling.
Crusader has ES on block too! Why not use that one?

I know I'm going to get asked this eventually so I'll address it here:
ES on block mod for Crusader Influence has a 250 weighting
Shaper has it at 800.

The higher the weighting, the easier it is to roll. A Shaper Shield is more likely to roll the mod and is therefore better to use for crafting. Also, Shaper influenced shields can roll "Socketed Gems have 15% Reduced Mana Reservation" and an additional instance of 10-12% chance to block spells--which are useful mods.



Helmet

High ES and a CDR Enchant (if you can afford one). If you have an open suffix you can use it for "21-25% chance to avoid elemental ailments" See the "Dealing with the Elements" section for more information.

Again, craft with dense fossils. You can use a Warlord's Exalt to apply influence to gain access to the
"Nearby Enemies have -9% to Fire Resistance"
This works on i85+ bases ONLY

Gloves

You want to get as much ES and Dexterity in this slot as you can. The build needs 100 dex and gloves can roll up to 60.

Elder Gloves with "Socketed Gems are Supported by Faster Attacks" are nice for faster Frenzy. Can also use Essence of Insanity gloves for the 16% more attack speed mod.

Shaper mod with Blind and Global chance to blind is nice but not needed.

And again, like the helmet, try to have an open suffix for the Elemental Avoidance craft.

Boots

For boots we want the Shaper mod: "#% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments" with a value of at least 30% (max roll of T2)

Secondary to that is the Shaper Cooldown Recovery Speed mod. In an ideal world you get both. I'm choosing to get tons of resists in this slot.

Belt

Shaper Belt with Cooldown Recovery Speed. Crystal is best base but expensive. You can be fancy with awakener orbs and Stygian Vises or just go for a Heavy or Chain belt with the mod and lots of ES+Res and possibly Strength. We need a lot of strength and get next to none on the tree.


Rings

These are one of the few ways we have to really beef up our DPS. Herald of Ash Buff Effect grants us up to 12% more fire damage alone. If you can afford/find one with Ele Weakness or Flammability on hit, more power to you.

Before one or both of these, a rare ring with Ele Weakness or Flammability on hit and some stats, ES, and/or resists will be perfectly fine.


Flasks
Gotta have that ZOOM ZOOM! Also a good spot for Bleed immunity if you do not have a jewel with "Corrupted Blood Cannot be Inflicted on You"

Rumi's Caps off our block chance nicely. Try to get one with 10% Spell Block as any roll for attack block should cap you.

Wise Oak for more Fire Pen. Just make sure fire resistance is highest.

I use this for my Warding Flask and for the Consecrated Ground regen. Nice for when I'm standing still to face-tank Delirium bosses.

You do NOT need crit on this flask at all. Life Regen is probably the best mod to have here. Mine is like this because I scavenged it from a previous character. :P

Non-Cluster Jewels

Energy From Within goes into the jewel socket next to Pain Attunement to cover the Melding Cluster for a great boost to ES.

Discipline Spell Block Watcher's Eye is perfect for us and is relatively inexpensive. Less than an Exalt at this time of posting.

12-18% of Maximum Mana gained as extra Energy Shield while affected by clarity is probably BiS followed by 20-30 Energy Shield gained on hit while affected by Discipline.

A dual Discipline mod with Spell Block and Energy Shield Recovery Rate is a decent option for a nice boost to our leech and regen as well.


Gems and Links

Additional information in spoilers below each set of links.
Chest
Spellslinger - Volatile Dead - Detonate Dead - Concentrated Effect - (Awakened) Spell Cascade - Inspiration
Spoiler
Why do we use Detonate Dead? Someone's going to ask me.
It does more damage than Volatile Dead as well as dealing its damage instantly. You have to aim it and the clearspeed with only DD is a bit lacking. Combine the two on essentially 2 5L's for an incredible and potent combo.

Weapon
Tempest Shield - Bone Offering - Wave of Conviction
Spoiler
Utility Spells that go in our wand with the "Trigger a Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill" These are kept up indefinitely. Bone Offering paired with Mistress of Sacrifice Ascendancy gives us the bulk of our block chance. Tempest Shield for extra block chance and Wave of Conviction to apply a strong -25% Fire Res Debuff to stronger enemies.

Shield
Spellslinger - Desecrate - Spell Cascade
Spoiler
The way we make corpses. Make sure you level Desecrate to 20 for max HP corpses as that does directly affect the DPS of our skills via the corpse explosion portion.

Gloves
Frenzy - Barrage - Inspiration - Combustion
Spoiler
Perhaps the one that might need the most explaining. Frenzy is obvious. It gives us frenzy charges. Inspiration is to generate charges for our main skill to benefit from. Combustion for the debuff on tougher enemies.
Barrage support is to keep us at cooldown at all times without skipping casts. The way Spellslinger is worded means that we aren't proccing on attack but rather as projectiles leave our wand. The rapid-fire projectile sequence means that we are never in danger of losing DPS because our attack speed isn't "just right" (cast on crit, I'm looking at you)

Boots/Helmet
Shield Charge - Fortify
Rallying Cry - Enduring Cry
4 Red Sockets
4 reds can be a bit annoying to get. use the jeweller's method to do so.

Helmet/Boots
Herald of Ash - Discipline - Blood Magic
Flame Dash (unlinked)
Spoiler
Make sure your blood magic is high enough level otherwise you won't be able to fit both Herald of Ash and Discipline on life. And make sur Flame Dash is not linked with Blood Magic. IE: 3L and No link.


Bandits, Ascendancy, and Pantheon

Kill all the Bandits.

Soul of Lunaris for basically everything unless your chaos res sucks. Then use Arakaali. Switch to Solaris for Sirus and other bosses with no adds.
For small pantheon, upgraded Soul of Shakari for poison immunity with the occasional swap to Aberrath for Burning Ground maps if you feel the need.


Unless you have no mana sustain issues, then take Plague Bearer into Corpse Pact first.

Dealing with Element Ailments

Like any Lowlife (or CI) build, we are naturally VERY susceptible to Elemental Ailments being inflicted upon us. This is because ailments are inflicted based on our LIFE...which is incredibly low.

In particular, freeze+chill are the nasty ones. So how do we overcome this?
We Get to 100% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments

20% from this amazing noteable

30-35% from boots.

This brings us to 50% avoidance. From here any combination of Flexible Sentry Noteable

or open suffix for the bench craft (21-25% avoidance) is all that is needed for the last 50%. The bench mod can be crafted onto helmets and gloves.


And just like that my friend...

Bada bing bada boom! You are 100% IMMUNE!

Last edited by Gryphenprey on May 2, 2020, 10:58:06 PM
Last bumped on Sep 16, 2020, 10:00:21 AM
reserved
Nice. Gonna start this build now! Any idea on how many ex to get started?
"
i003 wrote:
Nice. Gonna start this build now! Any idea on how many ex to get started?


It's definitely not a budget build if you want the same results that I put out.

I got going with about 15ex when I started this character. I probably have close to 30-35ex into her now.

The main expensive pieces you wanna get your hands on are the 6L Shavs and the Enchanted Helmet. Which together will probably run 8-10ex for both. You could also run a 5L but your damage will obviously suffer.
OK thats roughly what I have to start with. Any leveling tips?
"
i003 wrote:
OK thats roughly what I have to start with. Any leveling tips?


get to level 24.

Equip VD+DD with Spellslinger in your Tabula as a 5L (save Inspiration for later)

Put in Spellslinger - Desecrate - Spell Cascade

use Barrage the SKILL until Barrage Support becomes available (level 38)

Take Essence Glutton as your first Ascendancy ASAP.

If you want hilarious nonsense, Spellsling Bodyswap.

Level in Harbour bridge with Spellslinger Bodyswap to about 70-75 in a very short amount of time.

Ez game
Which ascendency order do you recommend?
hello :)
what ilvl are best for the wand base to craft?
"
ducminh1712 wrote:
Which ascendency order do you recommend?



"
horst1981 wrote:
hello :)
what ilvl are best for the wand base to craft?


You can do as high as you can. 84 would be the best and at least 82.
Last edited by Gryphenprey on Apr 2, 2020, 11:02:14 AM
How it feel when compare to your spin version ? I feel lack of dmg in spin version

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