[3.15] Elemental Hit Ballista Totem Hiero | Budget Friendly | League Start to Endgame

Just noticed the guide has reached 100,000 views in less than 1 month of creation. Thank you everyone for your support! ^_^

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thomzon wrote:

Ah so I missed some upgrades between our PoBs indeed, thanks a lot for taking the time :-)

For the resists, I'd have to analyze it, because in Hideout (and in maps), in my defence character sheet, I'm clearly overcapped, but not in PoB... And I don't have any purity auras around me.
I would think the defence character sheet is more trustworthy in that scenario, but I'll double check just to be sure I'm not exposing myself to extra damage.

No problem :)

Now the Resistance is the mystery ;)

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lillbrorsan wrote:

Hello!
I'm really liking the build so far, I managed to get some better items and do my last lab. Now I'm looking for advice on what to do before I get too deep into t15-16, like change passive points (will have an additional point soon as I am close to 92).

I also have 5 ex to spend on an upgrade so am thinking about the jewel as I have no mana issues atm.

Any help is appreciated =)

POB: https://pastebin.com/W1hNqrGq

Thanks!

Hello lillbrorsan!

Definitely get Lethal Pride(Akoya). Seems like it's just about 40c now. Make sure you get 2 source of "-9 mana" first before you start using the Jewel. If not, will run into mana issues.

Buy a level 21, 0% Quality Elemental Hit to replace your 20/20

(For References - A Level 21/0% Quality Elemental Hit does much more damage than a Level 20/20% Quality Elemental Hit)

Keep a lookout for a nice Stygian Vise, so you can start using a Dual Taunt + Blind on Hit Jewel(Need to buy this too) on your belt.

Look for additional Flat Accuracy(Ideally Tier 1) on Rare Gloves/Quiver/Rings so you can achieve 95%+ Chance to Hit(The higher the better but don't go over 100%)

These will be my suggestion on things look out for. :)

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andrelb1 wrote:

Hello, is there something i can do to do a big improv in to my survivabilit???

o know i covuld try to get some more 4 lvl and get some small life nodes... but what could i d oright now??


https://pastebin.com/QYrRbeHT

and for damage, im looking in to a new amulet to increase gems lvl... is tehre ssomething else to do?

thx alot

Hi,

I don't know why you are using Herald of Ash, and there's no Summon Skitterbot.

I am not sure why is there an Enduring Cry gem on you since you are a Hierophant. You don't need to have it socketed all the way, just use it to generate 4 Endurance Charges at the start of the playing session and you can remove it then put back a Berserk Gem or something.

Vaal Haste is used just for the Vaal part only(This is mentioned in the guide) and you discarded Grace(Which reduces your suvivability) because of Haste.

I actually composed an even more detailed reply than the above, but after seeing so many differences on your char(Gems, Equipments, Defensive Layers) compared to what is recommended in the guide, I suggest you read the whole guide again and follow the what is listed in there.

Just note: "Enduring Cry" (bound to left mouse button, with "Call to Arms" node) on this build used usually for 2k life regen over 1 sec. Helps a bit with survivability. Helpful if you don't track your life or in a long fights where you out of flask charges. One disadvantage is that you taunt nearby enemies, but with taunt jewel - not an issue.

Hi Vei,

Thank you for being so active in this thread. This is the second totem build I have ever played, and I think it is probably my favorite playstyle when it works well.

Question:

You probably covered this somewhere in the thread, but I noticed you started a Raider version of this build via your profile, and have now switched to a Scion.

I also note that crimsonraziel9 has also stopped playing his Raider, and is now on a completely different totem build.

What are your thoughts on Raider version? I'm starting to struggle in Red maps (ignore my gear if you check my profile, I was messing around when I logged out).

I have a level 81 Templar I could dump some regret orbs into if it is actually a much more viable path forward.

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Dr_ick wrote:

Hi Vei,

Thank you for being so active in this thread. This is the second totem build I have ever played, and I think it is probably my favorite playstyle when it works well.

Question:

You probably covered this somewhere in the thread, but I noticed you started a Raider version of this build via your profile, and have now switched to a Scion.

I also note that crimsonraziel9 has also stopped playing his Raider, and is now on a completely different totem build.

What are your thoughts on Raider version? I'm starting to struggle in Red maps (ignore my gear if you check my profile, I was messing around when I logged out).

I have a level 81 Templar I could dump some regret orbs into if it is actually a much more viable path forward.

Hi Dr_ick,

I kind of dislike the idea of writing a guide, then just leave it unupdated, providing no support of any kind, and maybe just updating it once every new league. For me, if that is the case, I would rather not write any guide at all. I believe in either giving my best, or not do it at all.

Below is my official update to the Raider Class.

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Raider Update

With regards to Raider, I went with the class at the start as I have to decide how to progress onwards with this build in the future with the Hiero changes in 3.13. Thus I have to test it and as a casual player with real life commitments, I can't really afford time to create so many characters to try. So I think it's perfect for me to play it at the start of the league and get a good feel of how playing the class is like from start(with nothing) to the later part of the game.

I predicted some issues with it, like mana and life regen which I did wrote about how I plan to tackle them. I also encountered other issues along the way.

With regards to Mana, I think Praxis does a very good job so I'll be incorporating that as part of the plan to resolve mana issues for non-Hiero Class in the future.

As for life regen, Vitality, Enduring Cry and Life Flask helped a bit. But from playing Raider, I kind of feel those are not quite enough ideal when I was playing White Maps with it. Vitality requires 2 gem slot(I linked to Blood Magic) which is something scarce with this build, Enduring Cry only activates once every 8 seconds, a bit too long inbetween its cooldown and the life regen might not happen at a good time. Life Flask is fine, no issues with that.

I didn't have any death with my Raider while playing but from the looks of it, I can see that there might be issues when I start tackling the higher end content in the game.

I think there's quite a gap between the point when we reached maps and attaining the 95% Evasion + 75% Dodge + 75% Spell Dodge goal, which is the point where I think the Class might work out much better.

There's also Totem Placement Speed considerations. As a Ranger Class, I feel the access to available Totem Placement Speed is a slight bit below the ideal minimum amount I would want. E.g. I would feel it's better to move the 2 points on the Right Side of Watchtower Notable to the Left Side, thus sacrificing some DPS in this case.

Leveling the Ranger with Holy Flame Totem is also not too ideal, The path to reach Ancestral Bond is very far. I think this probably could be resolved by going with the leveling method crimsonraziel9 shared which should be more ideal.

So my current idea and plans for Raider is to re visit it again when I have much better equipment to be able to attain the 95% Evasion + 75% Dodge + 75% Spell Dodge to see how it fares then, which might not be that soon.

For now, Raider is definitely not too ideal as the First Character to play in a new league, as a second character with those Max Evasion/Dodge gears ready for it, it could be Ok(Still have to be tested)

Hopefully the above give a good overview of my current thoughts for Raider.

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Dr_ick wrote:

I have a level 81 Templar I could dump some regret orbs into if it is actually a much more viable path forward.

This would be my honest opinion, if you are encountering issues(which you mentioned) with Raider, it will probably be good to go with your Templar.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

For those who still don't sure.
I've leveled ascendant and hiero to 91(93) lvl both.
Tested a lot, this is my thoughts(with same budget):
1. Ascendant have lower dps(--)
2. Ascendant have nice leech, thats helps a lot(+)
3. Ascendant have phasing(+)
4. Mana issues(-)
Hiero:
1. Much more damage, and power charges(++)
2. Free endurance charges(+)
3. No leech(-)
4. No mana issues at all(+)
5. No phasing(-)

You can got phasing flask on hiero, but you can't got more dps on ascendant with flask. yes, previously I thought that ascendand leech is the king, but! we should admit mistakes.

Now I recommend only Hiero.
So its up to you, what you prefer

p.s. I'm not Vei, don't rely on my posts as a guide
p.p.s. I know about poc setup on ascendant, i've tested it as well. really, i've tested all setups. don't think that i'm stupid)

Hi all,

I noticed some might be watching my progress and wanted to see the Raider progress. I have recently cleared the atlas and got my 32 watchstones using this raider variant of the build. I have also killed Awakener 8, as usual.

Thoughts on raider: (character name:Sigtermia)

1.) I am very much a focused mapping player, and even back in Heist league, i specced my Hiero to be a fast mapper with speed flasks. Raider essentially injecting steroids into this kind of playstyle. A raider, elemental hit totem build like this is bar none, the fastest totem playstle you will get in this game at the moment. It's so fast, feel like you're not playing a totem build while mapping :D

2)I went with Phasing, Elemental Immunity, Onslaught and the Dodge one for ascendancy progress. Phasing is invaluable to me. Even on non raider, i always fit a quartz flask. Raider is basically a more defensive playstyle, and you will die less once you reach 95+ and wants to push higher levels. I reckon anything Chieftain is better though for sustained survivability. The onslaught nodes also are comparable dps to Hiero to me its just a different way of getting damage, that's all.

3.) I did not encounter any survivability issues, no health regen problems etc. Being raider you simply wont get hit much. As you can see from my character, i don't even have things like enduring cry and vitality. If you find yourself dying, take a look at your gear and your playstyle. Sometimes your gear are just not ready for the tier of maps you want to do. If you die on raider, you will also die on other classes.


Note for newer players:

This league, this build has exploded in popularity and i am not surprised. It is a fun and effective build.If you looked at my character (Sigtermia), i have geared it basically as best as you can according to the "Mid-tier budget" build. I strongly recommend people to exhaust Vei's lists as this is where you will learn where your damage and basically how the build works. This is the beauty of the build and ultimately a testament to the guide. If you follow the gearing, you WILL reach 1 million dps per totem x 6 totems = 6 million dps. This allow you to do ANY content in the game. Stuff might be more expensive now though. Back in heist league, after week 1, there was only like 20 of us on the ranking ladder, with only 6 of us reaching level 100 throughout the 4 months. At this same time, there are already more than 50 (i think thats just the max poeninja can show) of us playing this build! Even places like reddit and other sites are taking notes on the surge of popularity of this build.


Why i stopped playing this build:

For those who were following me (such as Dr_Ick), there are namely two reasons why i cannot in good faith downplay the downside this build now have. Build is still good, but i am someone who is not a POB warrior and the feel and playstyle of the build is very important to me.

1.) Mana rings are a must

Back in Heist (character name:TotemBroNeverGiveUp) you can get away with ZERO mana rings, because you summon 2 totems at a time and Hiero ascendancy that incentivizes not summoning totems for atleast 4 seconds for maximum dps. This build will feel bad without the rings, it is what it is. The problem is for those of us who play a lot, these equipments probably only appear( or unlock, as i only recently did) atleast 1 week into the league. Thus until you get better gear and dps, just feels bad.

2.) Loss of double totem placement

This is my main reason of why i have semi-retired this build. Placing one totem at a time is very detrimental to bossing. Imagine this scenario: you are a Point Blank build. You want to have totems as close as possible. Now the damage ramp up from 1 - 6 totems is of course significant. You think your job is done placing 6 totems on the boss, but oops, he teleported away and now you need to chase and place 6 more, reducing your dps and uptime. I very much hate this, and with the mana issues already, it sucked alot for me. This will apply to all classes and not only raider and thus with no solution in sight, i simply moved on to a superior totem build for bossing.

In summary, this build is still good. Please follow Vei's mid tier equipment guide first before you start expanding out if you are a new player. You can't go wrong with any ascendancy in my opinion. That said, the nerf to double totems is too much to me. If we can get back double totem placement, this build will be back to my No.1 build of all time. Until then, i will be going back to soul mantle style totems that can afford to utilize multi totem support.

Hi crimsonraziel9,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply also.

I went ahead and dumped a bunch of regret orbs into my Templar, and reconfigured him as an Hierophant running this build.

I now have a 91 Raider, and 85 Hiero both configured at Elemental Hit Ballista Totems builds (but sharing the same gear set). And will likely jump back and forth between them deciding which one I like best.

I only played the Hiero for a few hours tonight going from level 81 to 85, but here are my initial thoughts as a fairly casual player.

As noted, the Raider is a much much faster playstyle, and I miss it on the Hiero. At this point in time the Hiero feels more resilient, but honestly I hardly ever died with the Raider. I was under 30 deaths total from 1-91, and most of them came during leveling when I went all in on Elemental Hit at level 12 without any supports.

As you noted, I think the mana rings are going to be a requirement for the build. I have yet to add the Timeless Jewel to the Hiero, but will likely need to shortly as I push further into red maps.

I really enjoy the playstyle, and its good to hear you cleared all the way through AW8 with the Raider version.

I am not sure lethal pride. Can you guide me with this:
I got intimidate under Survivalence, and 20 % totem damage under Golem's blood. You wrote something about Cloth and Chain Savegery and Vigour but this give me only burning damage, leech life, melee damage, So I should be fine because I ams saving some skill points if i Get what i want (intimidate) under something I am using anyway in default setup?

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goldenmonkey2301 wrote:

I am not sure lethal pride. Can you guide me with this:
I got intimidate under Survivalence, and 20 % totem damage under Golem's blood. You wrote something about Cloth and Chain Savegery and Vigour but this give me only burning damage, leech life, melee damage, So I should be fine because I ams saving some skill points if i Get what i want (intimidate) under something I am using anyway in default setup?

You're good, don't worry.