[3.23] Lk's Cold DoT Ele [League-start to over 40m DoT] (Wildwood Primalist Update)

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Espo-1 wrote:

Hello!

Returning player for this season. I usually do the Necro build, but saw this thread for Witch builds and wanted to try something different.

I really love the DPS and glad I'm not having to manage a "Murder Parade" (tm) this time.

Recently started mapping and having some mitigation problems. Find myself getting one-shotting a lot.

I'll post my PoB link below, please let me know how I can improve this for more sustainability.

Appreciate the feedback.

https://pobb.in/bNspY2BmWfXZ

Hello! Glad that you are having a good time.

The good news is that there is a lot of room for improvement.

I'll start with the most important things first:
1. Get ascended to Elementalist.
2. You need to get at least 75% resistances for fire, cold and lightning. It will make a big difference in survivalbility.
3. You need to follow the gem links in the guide for Vortex, Creeping Frost and Cold Snap. Please see the section under "Gem links".

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brochata wrote:

Just chiming in to say how much I've enjoyed following the thread this season! So, so much good advice.

This was my first go around with Cold DOT, and I can see why it's so popular, there's a lot of different paths to take on upgrading, and it's an active play style.

Just crossed 12.5M DPS, could go higher but I just can't quit Atziri's Reflection or Spell Suppression.

Again, really appreciate all the attention this thread has received from OP!

Glad to hear that you've enjoyed following the thread!

I hope that this thread will help facilitate a community of CDoT enthusiasts with interesting ideas to share, on top of helping new CDoT players ease into the build.

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Judaspriester wrote:

Since some people here want a higher level of automation on the build, what about this setup:

The cast every 8 seconds replaced CWDT. That way I had 1 socket open in order to add culling strike to my movement skills again.
I've also tried to use the blessing within the wand, but that sadly doesn't work.

I still need to test this setup a little more in order to see how much of a difference I notice. After doing that I was just running some heists and at least there, I haven't felt like the different timing for molten shell was an issue.

/edit: anomalous molten shell is kinda interesting, since you get up to 5% extra armor as shield (compared to a little more duration with the normal one). Since we won't hit the 5k cap with this build in either version, I think the anomalous molten shell is a good option. With ~35c it also isn't that much of a investment.

/edit2: what about adding a section to the guide for alternate quality gems in general?
Ofc, that's only fine tuning, but I think there are some interesting alternate quality gems for the build.
Anomalous Malevolence
Anomalous Molten Shell
Divergent Bonechill
Anomalous Vortex
Divergent Creeping Frost
(Divergent Culling Strike)
Anomalous/Divergent CWDT

8 seconds is too long for me, but to each their own.

Yes, I want to add alternate quality gems to the guide at some point. I am incrementally updating the guide on a daily basis.

Hey thanks for the detailed guide so far.

My Question is what i can do to improve my survivalbility ?
Im on an effective EHP Pool of 39k atm , but i die to random rares in 1 shot often. Is it my playstyle? Or am i missing something obv? would be nice to get an Answer thx:)

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imReji wrote:

Hey thanks for the detailed guide so far.

My Question is what i can do to improve my survivalbility ?
Im on an effective EHP Pool of 39k atm , but i die to random rares in 1 shot often. Is it my playstyle? Or am i missing something obv? would be nice to get an Answer thx:)

No problem!

Can you share your POB?

Might be a combination of both. 39k EHP is on the low side. What content are you doing?

Thanks for the fast response !

https://pastebin.com/1d3ZJSPE

I mainly try some mapping strategies from youtube and such stuff since im fairly new and try to get a taste of everything. But currently mostly red maps for currency

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imReji wrote:

Thanks for the fast response !

https://pastebin.com/1d3ZJSPE

I mainly try some mapping strategies from youtube and such stuff since im fairly new and get a taste of everything. But currently mostly red maps for currency

1. To increase your EHP, get higher life rolls on your rings/gloves/shield

2. Transfer some SP from damage to life/def. Unallocate the 3SP Arcane Sanctuary wheel and 2 SP leading to Entrophy. Get the whole wheel under soverignty (1SP) and get two jewel slots (4SP). Buy two jewels with 6-7% max life + cold dot multiplier for those two slots.

3. If you spend 3 divines on 5 ways (1 div per 3 runs) you can get to lvl 96 which is 5 more SP.

4. Pick up a jewel with 2% mana reservation efficiency. Switch Efficacy for Defiance Banner.

5. The long-term plan would be to purchase Skin of the Lords, as it will boost your EHP by ~27%.

Your gear is very heavily tuned towards damage over survivability. 5.1k max phys hit is kinda too low. 39k EHP with a higher max phys hit is fine for running T16 maps but you will need game knowledge on what can kill you and maneuver around them. And even then you will die once in awhile. Its your personal choice how tanky you wish to be as there are trade-offs between survivability and DPS for a given budget.

In the 3.20 60% delirium map video, my EHP was almost 60k with 8.8k max phys hit. In the Crucible League Day 2 video, my EHP was 51k and max phys hit 8.6k. My Day 2 video was done on a shoestring budget (helmet aside) and you can see from the video that I am not dying constantly despite my much lower DPS.

Higher damage also increases your survivability because monsters die faster. Some quick fixes:
1. Get lvl 21 VCS and CF. It will boost both skills' DPS by 14%.

2. Craft non-damaging ailments on your amulet instead of aoe damage.

Thank you for the detailed response!

I will follow your plan and will response with the results.
By the way , did you thought about maybe starting a Cold Dot Enjoyer Discord
for easier interactions and maybe some cold dot trading and stuff?

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imReji wrote:

Thank you for the detailed response!

I will follow your plan and will response with the results.
By the way , did you thought about maybe starting a Cold Dot Enjoyer Discord
for easier interactions and maybe some cold dot trading and stuff?

You're welcome! Btw I just edited my response so you might want to read it again.

Perhaps I will create a Discord channel one day, but I'll stick to the forums for now.

https://pastebin.com/2Z09nRvv

severely min-maxed build for anyone curious. tree pathing was also optimised for ES/hp/dps/resistances, v specific to my item balancing. i can definitely squeeze in more dps if i directly sacrificed EHP/defenses.

currently 52.3k EHP, 4400 HP, 22.5k EV, 17.9k AR, 75% all res, 6% chaos res. mainly died to stupid when looting, or when meteors fall from sky. hardly any mob deaths.

36.7m combined dps (against guardian/pinnacle boss)

13.2m creeping frost
12.6m vortex
5.6m vaal cold snap
4.5m cold snap
0.65m volatile anomaly

compared to guide video,
shield was upgraded (10d)
amulet was upgraded (6d)
watcher's eye was upgraded (7d)
flask changed (11d, but not "dps" increase)



i cannot find any other shield/wep in the market with a tree that would be an improvement. given that the items were bought at extremely good values, it's also hard to justify dropping 20-80d just for a single upgrade.