Stress-Free PoE w/ RIGHTEOUS INCINERATOR! Relax, SSF League Start-End w/ “Any” Items & 1-Button|3.17

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Mightymystic wrote:

So I made a few changes since my original questions: I picked up the sovereignty cluster, and started using a delve unset ring that has flammability-on-hit, life recoup, two garbage prefixes and crafted life. Then I was able to drop hextouch (SSF so awakened just isn't happening) freeing up slots. I switch the "big" cwdt to cwdt-lifetap-immortal call and moved the other two into the level 1 cwdt. I removed purity of fire (was 85-86% or so even without it) and added tempest shield, malevolence, and defiance banner. I didn't yet drop any points to get glancing blows and see how that feels.

With these changes it definitely feels tankier and I don't notice the slightly weaker flammability compared to hextouch.

Gotcha on the SSF, yeah basically no chance at all. The entire league I only had two drop and both were useless to me. SSF is such a different style, I should give it a go next league.

I personally didn't feel like defiance banner was worth much though that might just be a choice thing.

I ended up swapping to Purity of Ice which isn't too different but since Aegis Aurora gives max cold resist and skill tree barely changes it was easier. Also Fire caps much easier due to the +100% from Ascendency. Granted this is only possible because by far the biggest jump in tankability is farming Eater of Worlds for "Melding of Flesh". It isn't too hard to farm and getting every resist to 90% is insane. Due to how damage/math works, the difference between 85% and 90% resist is actually way more impactful than it seems at first glance.

Granted for SSF just getting the invites sort of sucks so maybe not as viable as I'd like to believe. Just hard to overstate the difference it makes.

I will say the other thing you might not be doing but is super worth it and actually pretty doable in SSF is:



Obviously those are insane rolls, anything that is +charges when hit works, preferably without reducing the duration or extinguish since that'll turn off RF. Doing these flasks basically results in 20% *less* fire/cold/lightning damage taken and bonus armor for Phys resist (and scaling with Aegis ES restore).

"

Mightymystic wrote:

With this build, how do we deal with veritania? I've tried and failed twice, due to the audio cue feeling too close to getting shotgunned back to my hideout. Would increased AoE support let me stay farther away for a little more time?

Oh right. Her. She did suck to fight a bunch before I got crazy kitted. Increased AoE does help since it is hard to stay all up ons. Otherwise raise your max cold resist with purity of ice (Or wish upon wishes to get Melding of the Flesh from above). Add the cold resist flask for 20% less cold damage which if I recall some of her attacks counts as hits so it should stay up the whole fight. Still don't love fighting her in general just due to her stay-away techniques.

Hopefully the info helps. Granted I know a bunch of it likely won't since it is all "Hope you get this one specific unique" which for SSF is not terribly helpful. Let me know if I can help further though of course!

Hi.

So, I left my necromancer witch on standby while I gave a try to this build. I felt the need to try a more "up close and personal" kind of build.
I've been following the guide to the letter (standard league, SSF style gameplay with access to all my stash), and chose to raise the character with melee attacks until it can sustain the build itself.

Infernal Blow - Ancestral Call Support - Added Fire Damage Support as AoE attack, it just rekts shit up when mobs cluster up on me, and the explosions remove corpses so necromancer mobs can't re-raise minions.

Heavy Strike - Chance to Bleed Support - Ruthless Support (- Onslaught) as single target/boss bonking attack, it worked just fine during the first 3 or 4 acts, then started to feel weak against major bosses. The fight against Innocence, on Act 5, was particularly slow and painful. I'll have to think about another combo, because my Chieftain can't sustain the build yet.

Having a War Banner up gives much needed accuracy and increases the physical damage taken by enemies - helpful when bonking with Heavy Strike. Only use it because I still use melee attacks. The RF/Incinerate build should not need it.

Because of the lack of DEX and INT, I've been gearing only STR based stuff. But, now on Act 6 and with the -30% resistances, I feel that I should start looking into getting more DEX and INT. First step, a Turquoise Amulet (+x to DEX and INT). This allowed me to equip the Arrogance - Vitality - Clarity combo.

Since my current attacks still use mana, activating the auras is painful. ATM, I can only have Purity of Fire and War Banner active. But since my Chieftain is currently geared in heavy armor (residual energy shield, no evasion), he's decently tanky. My major worry is resistances. I do have a Bismuth Flask for emergencies, though. I'll have to see about those "use when full" abilities or something.

All in all, a fun build so far, even if it still does not use the gem combos yet.

BTW, on choosing the first ascendency, I took Valako first. Using Enduring Cry when being bursted down by bosses has been a life saver. I could not have cleared Maligaro/the Beast without it.
Now on Act 6, I'll see about building the CwDT combos, provided that I get enough INT to equip the blue gems in the first place ...

"

Kam0laZ wrote:

Spoiler

Hi.

So, I left my necromancer witch on standby while I gave a try to this build. I felt the need to try a more "up close and personal" kind of build.
I've been following the guide to the letter (standard league, SSF style gameplay with access to all my stash), and chose to raise the character with melee attacks until it can sustain the build itself.

Infernal Blow - Ancestral Call Support - Added Fire Damage Support as AoE attack, it just rekts shit up when mobs cluster up on me, and the explosions remove corpses so necromancer mobs can't re-raise minions.

Heavy Strike - Chance to Bleed Support - Ruthless Support (- Onslaught) as single target/boss bonking attack, it worked just fine during the first 3 or 4 acts, then started to feel weak against major bosses. The fight against Innocence, on Act 5, was particularly slow and painful. I'll have to think about another combo, because my Chieftain can't sustain the build yet.

Having a War Banner up gives much needed accuracy and increases the physical damage taken by enemies - helpful when bonking with Heavy Strike. Only use it because I still use melee attacks. The RF/Incinerate build should not need it.

Because of the lack of DEX and INT, I've been gearing only STR based stuff. But, now on Act 6 and with the -30% resistances, I feel that I should start looking into getting more DEX and INT. First step, a Turquoise Amulet (+x to DEX and INT). This allowed me to equip the Arrogance - Vitality - Clarity combo.

Since my current attacks still use mana, activating the auras is painful. ATM, I can only have Purity of Fire and War Banner active. But since my Chieftain is currently geared in heavy armor (residual energy shield, no evasion), he's decently tanky. My major worry is resistances. I do have a Bismuth Flask for emergencies, though. I'll have to see about those "use when full" abilities or something.

All in all, a fun build so far, even if it still does not use the gem combos yet.

BTW, on choosing the first ascendency, I took Valako first. Using Enduring Cry when being bursted down by bosses has been a life saver. I could not have cleared Maligaro/the Beast without it.
Now on Act 6, I'll see about building the CwDT combos, provided that I get enough INT to equip the blue gems in the first place ...

Hey, Kam0laZ!

Glad you're enjoying the levelling process! Thanks to taking the time to let us know how things were progressing for you! Thanks good info to have. Let us know how things go as you keep going, ascending, and start maping. And good call on the first ascendancy!

So, update to my previous post.

I did change my attack combos. I removed Heavy Strike and fiddled with the socket colors to insert the guide's Righteous Fire combo. I already had a pretty high fire resistance with 5 endurance charges, so I figured, why not.

Although I still had to make some use of my life flasks, I was impressed. Regular mobs and yellow minibosses just melted once they got into the AoE. A bit more fiddling with vendor equips and crafting, I changed most of my gear to armor + energy shield, crafted extra resists and a bunch of extra INT into them as well. Also managed to drop a sweet unique, Ambu's Charge, a Crusader Chainmail that should last me until I reach maps.

I'm now lvl 60 on Act 7 and ditched my previous combos to fully commit to this guide build - although Incinerate is 4-linked for now, same as the guide combo minus the two last gems. RF is pretty much sustainable - at 5 endurance charges I actually regen HP, just enough regen to also sustain channeling Incinerate. Bosses and minibosses melt faster when taking some hot sauce to the face.

The character is very tanky and dies very rarely. I just survived an encounter that I believe was a bug. Those encounters where you put 4 explosive charges to dig chests and mobs out? Yeah, somehow they weren't taking any fire damage at all. I could not see any kind of elemental immunity modifier. They were getting affected by the CwDT bursts, though, because they were getting elemental weaknesses, but that changed nothing. I was just standing there, getting bonked by tons of mobs and kept alive just by warcry trigger, damage reduction due to armor and a life flask here and there, and the mobs were there inside the RF circle, happily bonking away at me without a care in the world. After nearly half an hour of that crap, I just opened the chests, took the loot and walked away.

Funny thing is, I only have the first ascension so far. The one that gives regen with enduring charges. And RF is already sustainable. And it is more powerful than I thought. I killed the Brine King without using a single flask (I have 4 Life and 1 Bismuth), when I thought that he would kick my arse.

You weren't kidding, Wrecker_of_Days. This one plays even simpler than the necromancer witch. While one has to move the witch around to keep her out of harm's way while the minions smash everything, this one just walks around while everything melts and burns around him.

Bind Enduring Cry to both the left mouse button and another easy-to-reach button/key (constant casting on the move or when standing still facetanking), Incinerate on right mouse button (for optional "talk to the hands, the face ain't listening to no Karens"), one key/button for RF (once active, it'll stay on until the character enters town, hits 1 HP or dies, there's no manual turn off), then bind 4 keys one for each aura (which are "fire and forget" mode). Genius!

"

Kam0laZ wrote:

Spoiler

So, update to my previous post.

I did change my attack combos. I removed Heavy Strike and fiddled with the socket colors to insert the guide's Righteous Fire combo. I already had a pretty high fire resistance with 5 endurance charges, so I figured, why not.

Although I still had to make some use of my life flasks, I was impressed. Regular mobs and yellow minibosses just melted once they got into the AoE. A bit more fiddling with vendor equips and crafting, I changed most of my gear to armor + energy shield, crafted extra resists and a bunch of extra INT into them as well. Also managed to drop a sweet unique, Ambu's Charge, a Crusader Chainmail that should last me until I reach maps.

I'm now lvl 60 on Act 7 and ditched my previous combos to fully commit to this guide build - although Incinerate is 4-linked for now, same as the guide combo minus the two last gems. RF is pretty much sustainable - at 5 endurance charges I actually regen HP, just enough regen to also sustain channeling Incinerate. Bosses and minibosses melt faster when taking some hot sauce to the face.

The character is very tanky and dies very rarely. I just survived an encounter that I believe was a bug. Those encounters where you put 4 explosive charges to dig chests and mobs out? Yeah, somehow they weren't taking any fire damage at all. I could not see any kind of elemental immunity modifier. They were getting affected by the CwDT bursts, though, because they were getting elemental weaknesses, but that changed nothing. I was just standing there, getting bonked by tons of mobs and kept alive just by warcry trigger, damage reduction due to armor and a life flask here and there, and the mobs were there inside the RF circle, happily bonking away at me without a care in the world. After nearly half an hour of that crap, I just opened the chests, took the loot and walked away.

Funny thing is, I only have the first ascension so far. The one that gives regen with enduring charges. And RF is already sustainable. And it is more powerful than I thought. I killed the Brine King without using a single flask (I have 4 Life and 1 Bismuth), when I thought that he would kick my arse.

You weren't kidding, Wrecker_of_Days. This one plays even simpler than the necromancer witch. While one has to move the witch around to keep her out of harm's way while the minions smash everything, this one just walks around while everything melts and burns around him.

Bind Enduring Cry to both the left mouse button and another easy-to-reach button/key (constant casting on the move or when standing still facetanking), Incinerate on right mouse button (for optional "talk to the hands, the face ain't listening to no Karens"), one key/button for RF (once active, it'll stay on until the character enters town, hits 1 HP or dies, there's no manual turn off), then bind 4 keys one for each aura (which are "fire and forget" mode). Genius!

Awesome update, Kam0laZ! (You made me laugh. Good humour :).) I'm glad the build is working so well for you! Levelling with the Chief with this build is slow but you've had an awesome attitude throughout it and I'm glad you've enjoyed it. Awesome that some of the gear that helps sockets is dropping for you now. Nice work! I hope the build keeps treating you well.

"

ElementalNimbus wrote:

Gotcha on the SSF, yeah basically no chance at all. The entire league I only had two drop and both were useless to me. SSF is such a different style, I should give it a go next league.

I personally didn't feel like defiance banner was worth much though that might just be a choice thing.

I ended up swapping to Purity of Ice which isn't too different but since Aegis Aurora gives max cold resist and skill tree barely changes it was easier. Also Fire caps much easier due to the +100% from Ascendency. Granted this is only possible because by far the biggest jump in tankability is farming Eater of Worlds for "Melding of Flesh". It isn't too hard to farm and getting every resist to 90% is insane. Due to how damage/math works, the difference between 85% and 90% resist is actually way more impactful than it seems at first glance.

Granted for SSF just getting the invites sort of sucks so maybe not as viable as I'd like to believe. Just hard to overstate the difference it makes.

I will say the other thing you might not be doing but is super worth it and actually pretty doable in SSF is:

Obviously those are insane rolls, anything that is +charges when hit works, preferably without reducing the duration or extinguish since that'll turn off RF. Doing these flasks basically results in 20% *less* fire/cold/lightning damage taken and bonus armor for Phys resist (and scaling with Aegis ES restore).


Hopefully the info helps. Granted I know a bunch of it likely won't since it is all "Hope you get this one specific unique" which for SSF is not terribly helpful. Let me know if I can help further though of course!

The info definitely helps, anything to help push me out of whatever mindset I'm currently in, to try different things and just see how it plays.

SSF is very different. I play that way mainly because I like the satisfaction of the kill-gear-advance progression in the relatively little time I spend playing. Then you have those moments like this morning (I'm playing in standard for a few days this week) when I got a 5% DPS upgrade from a reforge-fire on a sceptre harvest craft. If you're used to trading it will feel significantly different.

I picked up defiance banner (note: I never place it, just the passive crit reduction) because I had mana free to reserve it and it would have been just sitting there otherwise. You already have no extra damage from crits from your hat so it wouldn't serve you as well.

I definitely would have tried to work in the melding of flesh or ashes of stars had they dropped on the initial kills but I got the triple-elemental staff and the bow. Good call on Aegis+Purity of ice, I would have made the same swap if I had those as well.

I actually did spend something like 500 alts crafting up flasks with 5/6/7 charges on hit and a useful suffix (move speed, armor, and poison immunity). I use slightly different ones so maybe I should re-evaluate: Life (emergency button I almost never hit; either I regen automatically or died), quartz (because I don't have a move skill currently), ruby, granite, quicksilver. It was SOOO satisfying when I got that final instilling orb to drop to let me go full-auto. With tempest shield lightning hasn't seemed too bad at all, but I wonder if swapping out the life flask for sapphire would help.

Does the new yellow monster mod that stops your regen destroy RF builds?

I play this build with a legacy phoenix shield +8 max fire res. and still dying in white T11 maps with lv 90. Either the build isnt tanky enough or the game is just too hard.

The game got 15 times harder in 3.18 for people playing totems and tornado shot (thats a place something and run away playstyle). For those playing something that goes into mobs you need melding, aegis aurora and max block otherwise you will have a miserable experience..