[3.14] Gryph's Thirsty Archmage Cremation Necromancer

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Blood_Sail wrote:

I have since transitioned to a different variant of AM Cremation since I used this guide, but I keep tabs on this thread from time to time. But essentially why I use Glancing Blows:
1) Less investment. I have literally no investment other than normal build and with Bone Offering I'm at 75/66. With CWDT + Tempest Shield it's 75/72 and no Rumi's. Free's up a flask.

2) Perception. It smooths out damage to be more consistent. Block is amazing, until it isn't. You can get a great string of blocks, and then curb stomped. For me, it gives a very false sense of security and makes me complacent. Whereas with Glancing Blows, I know when I am taking damage. When mods vary greatly from pack to pack, map to map, it's hard to know when you are in for a tough time. If I run into a pack and I start taking massive spikes, I know there's something going on with that pack/mods and play more defensively. With normal block, I'd run in, get some good blocks, think everything is fine then get get one shot out of nowhere. With Arcane Cloak it's very manageable.

In my perception, with Glancing Blows I was taking constantly damage in sequence and sometimes my regen was not able to handle and... rip.

With 55/52 (75/62 flasking) I'm blocking at least once every two attacks and it gives me time to regen life+mana. The mod "Recover maximum mana when you block" on shield also helps on that. As result, most of the time I'm seeing my life almost full.

At least for this build, it feels more tank without glancing blows.

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Gryphenprey wrote:

If you can get Scintillating Idea and another prefix Notable (like overshock) then you can use seeds to force Doryani's Lesson (Augment Life twice)

Gave up after rolling close to 70c worth into a 9 passive. Sold something for 2ex and then bought it for 2ex lol.

Guys I'm really into this build, but my main goal is to get a aw8 Sirius killer and similar items to the ones suggested are way more expencive than i expected, do you guys think I could be able to kill aw8 Sirius with 10ex investment?

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Grekey wrote:

Guys I'm really into this build, but my main goal is to get a aw8 Sirius killer and similar items to the ones suggested are way more expencive than i expected, do you guys think I could be able to kill aw8 Sirius with 10ex investment?

I change a bit the build for my block needs. I love block builds. And this build fix the problem of block builds, damage overtime and low regeneration. I used a rare helmet with life and res. and a chest with "%10 damage taken from mana". The build works with all rares. I have 86% chaos res and 76% the rest of resistances. I use glorious vanity with xibaqua timeless jewell. All of my gear I crafted myself with craft seeds of my garden. My idea is been max bloq with a lot of life and regeneration. I have 65% block chance without flasks and the rest of my left points of tree are gonna be block nodes to cap block. Im level 90 and I dont die. The build is really super tanky. Im doing almost tier 16 maps and receive damage like tier 1 maps. The damage its not that great, you will not oneshot a boss but I dont care if I never die and tank every map boss and take more seconds to kill it. I think the most expensive item is the wand or sceptrem the timeless jewel and a corrupted blood jewel. I recommend a sceptre with gain non chaos as chaos and a lot of mana and spell damage. Dont use glancing blows, I tried it and its not worth it. Try to cap your block chance with gear and tree and you will feel immortal.

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Grekey wrote:

Guys I'm really into this build, but my main goal is to get a aw8 Sirius killer and similar items to the ones suggested are way more expencive than i expected, do you guys think I could be able to kill aw8 Sirius with 10ex investment?

10ex should get you there yes. I crafted most of my gear with seeds, but you can definitely get really decent stuff within your budget I'd say.

You can go for Divine Flesh (Glorious Vanity Jewel) but it does make gearing a bit more complicated. I was planning to do this after I leveled again but I just haven't been playing much lately. That said I am level 95 and still feel tanky AF. Hahaha.

Cloak of Defiance 6L will take you everywhere. A rare with the 10% of damage taken from mana mod is also a good option but...expensive.

I suggest Skyforth's for boots which are not too bad anymore.

Mostly I think the weapon can be done on a reasonable budget. It's not like you need a perfect wand. Just get some Mana, % Increased Spell/Lightning Damage, and mana regen with an open suffix for the trigger craft.

Super doable on 10ex.

How did you manage to get your shield? Did you craft it? If yes - how did you do it? There are so many mods that can't be easily added or removed and it seems like so much gambling.

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generalfc wrote:

How did you manage to get your shield? Did you craft it? If yes - how did you do it? There are so many mods that can't be easily added or removed and it seems like so much gambling.

I crafted it. I alt spammed for +2 Max Res and Spell block, then imprinted and regaled it until I had a removable mod via harvest. Left with a rare with those 2 mods I augd speed for frenzy charges, filled last suffix, and worked on life and spell damage from there. On a str/int base spell damage is the only caster prefix.

Wanted to post a quick update regarding gear and progression:

Recently upgraded my wand, shield, and gloves.


The wand could still use remove/add caster to get the hybrid roll higher, but otherwise it's a pretty gg wand overall for this build.


Shield I picked up has increased mana and mana regeneration (which my previous shield was lacking), as well as higher spell damage. Picked up 3% spell block compared to previous as well.


These were a pretty big upgrade in the defensive department. With the built in Unnerving, I was able to swap Blade Blast for Blind in my helm, providing even more base defense against bosses and mobs that don't get 1 or 2 tapped. This also should technically make melee reflect maps easier as well since I won’t have the physical damage coming from Blade Blast anymore. Also a cool note about this change, I can swap between Blind and Culling Strike with this setup, depending on if I’m doing a major boss or not.

Currently I'm sitting at 301k cremation damage on PoB, 4300 health, 11,294 mana, resistances maxed (besides chaos which is at -10%). Overall I think I'm nearing the end of progression for this toon. Not because I can’t find upgrades for my items, but because upgrades are becoming very expensive. I do realize that I’m missing a lot of gem quality, so that’s something I plan on working towards. I do plan to continue playing this build for the remainder of the league.

Any thoughts/input on how to advance my gear or build is greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

ty @Gryphenprey @yissusv , I would love to go mostly with rares as I struggle to cap my res and getting some chaos res would save me from some stupid deaths, but I assume I will slowly improve it after crafting my shield, my belt, my rings and perfecting my wand... so far I think I will keep the wand as it is, I will try to get all t1 when I got the crafts, for now, I fell it's ok

Guys, can I ask what kind of rare helmet would you use? I mean obviously mana on it, but then how do you manage to give up on the trigger part? and can you get res on it, because I'm starting to be low on res, not being able to get any on belt and shield...