[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

Can really make money with this build? I was wanting a MF, I'm tired of srs.

"
Can really make money with this build?


Other than Breach, I've been MFing for three years at the start of every challenge league.

I routinely make 100ex in the first month.

So, yes.
Jul 27, 2011 - Sept 30, 2018.
Last edited by Serleth#4392 on Dec 11, 2016, 11:17:57 PM
I'm really liking breaches. Crap-tonnes of extra XP, and once you get to the point that you can hammer out enough damage, clearing them is... well, not trivial, but at least not impossible. The loot drops nearly make MF pointless, though. :(
Current league IGN: Teldra_Anc_LAD
Feel free to message me in game if I'm on.
"
The loot drops nearly make MF pointless


More mobs = more cracks at the RNG roulette wheel.

20/300 multiplies the amount of rares you get by ~5, before factoring the IIQ/IIR of the map.

Breaches are basically an additional, short-lived, increase to your MF. And remember, map Q/R is effectively multiplicative with your gear.

So you're psuedo-increasing the multiplier by MFing Breaches.

I picked a bad league to not MF, as far as I'm concerned. =)
Jul 27, 2011 - Sept 30, 2018.
Last edited by Serleth#4392 on Dec 12, 2016, 6:44:27 AM
I'm trying to build a decent Blight toon. Here's how it's going:
Spoiler

This has nothing to do with magic find... or with Caustic Arrow...

It's strictly about rolling a second character other than CA-MF.

Hence it's spoilered.
=================================================
Caveat: Blight does have huge problems. But it does have a unique play style which I think is really fun.

If you're looking for a Tier 1 clearing skill, stop here. Blight is definitely no where near this level ATM (I think - but with great gear maybe it'll get close to Tier 1).

Yet, it's a playable skill I think/maybe better than average.. Read on if you're intrigued.
===================================================
I'm a contrarian at heart - which likely accounts for my quixotic attempt to create a playable Blight build. So far, it's a draw. The Windmills seem to be killing me just as often as I'm killing them :-)
===================================================
OK - if you're still reading, here's why I think that Blight is fun.

It's a totally unique play style.

What you do, is cast briefly at mobs. And then run on. The mobs you've hit take a huge degen buff that will kill them. Even yellow mobs will die in time.
========================================================
To survive, you'll need to combine Temporal Chains with some sort of hinder. This stacking slow debuff means that most mobs won't even hit you. And it means that you'll be able to out-run melee mobs and hopefully get out of the way of ranged mobs.
====================================================
My testing thus far indicates that self-cast, huge AOE, with cast speed and skill duration emphasis is the way to approach this build.

So you're going to be rolling Witch/Occultist - and you're going to go CI.

For the skill tree - you're going dual curse (I think), and you're going to grab every single skill duration, AOE and curse buff node on the tree. You'll also need to take Energy Shield, chaos damage, and damage over time nodes. Take jewel nodes too if convenient.
=========================================================
Tentatively Recommended Gear:
Chest - Beast Fur
Weapon(s) - dual Breath of the Council
Other stuff - Energy sheild/resist gear - try for corrupted belt with increased AOE
=========================================================
Check out my character Cyren in Standard for my attempt to get this build to work so far.

But ignore gear somewhat - I've got Singularity equipped ATM which I think is a mistake because Hinder's don't stack - the build has a short-lived intrinsic hinder from Blight, which, coupled with TC may be enough - and if not, an Abyssal Cry would almost certainly plug any need to slow mobs more than TC does.
=========================================================
Again, a Blight build is really counter-meta. Even with huge investment in AOE, the build lacks quite a bit in clear speed.

On the upside though... it's a really unique play style. You need to get pretty close to mobs, cast, and then move.

The DPS is good enough that less than a second of casting will eventually kill most mobs, even yellows. So clear speed is hindered by AOE but isn't as bad as you might think.

For bosses - it's the same, except that you'll want to drop a wither totem.

Cast just outside of melee range - and them move quickly to avoid big hits. Meanwhile your Blight/Wither DOTs tick for decent DPS. And Temporal Chains plus hinder means that the boss will have difficulty getting into melee range with you.
==========================================================
Once I hit on a complete tree/gear selection I'll post a build guide in the Witch forum.
==========================================================
One last remark...

Originally I thought that Blight would be great as a totem build - that seems to be wrong.

The trouble is, is that with decent investment in cast speed, Blight stacks to 20 layers very quickly. Meaning that 2 totems casting blight is kind of pointless.

Meanwhile, totems take a DPS hit over self cast.

Self cast Blight is far better than totem-Blight.

For packs, just self-cast Blight briefly and move on. They'll all die after a bit of time. And they won't damage you due to TC/hinder.

For bosses, drop a Wither totem and cast Blight until you need to move. This seems to be pretty effective.
=============================================================
Bottom line:

Blight is fun. And is (at least) sot-of playable. I just wish that the AOE was doubled so that pack clear speed was better. And I think that if you like chaos damage, probably Essence Drain/Contagion is much better.
==============================================================
Edit: Breaches are crazy and are a unique type of encounter. High level breaches are really challenging.

I haven't tested my Blight Build in Breach league at all - so all my ideas may totally fall apart there.

But the double-slow of Temporal Chains plus some sort of hinder (not sure what's best yet - intrinsic but sort-lived Blight hinder or Abyssal Cry or Singularity mace) means that incoming damage is remarkably quite low.

So I think that this will work well in breach - after I level my main toon to 90 I'll probably work on my Breach, Blight toon - Leprosy_ - but there's a bunch of gear I'll want (6-link Beast Fur or ES chest is the big one) - so maybe I'll roll a CA magic find toon to fund the build.
=================================================================
Final remark as someone who values concise and accurate communication.

Blight - look it up online - is a *PLANT* disease - it poses no threat at all to animal life.

And this is telling - GGG, IMO, invested so little time in "Blight" that they even fucked up when naming the skill.

Many other degenerative nouns come to mind which would obviously better convey the DOT decay mechanic of this skill: Leprosy, Decay, Rot, Wane, etc.

I'm a programmer - and in my career as a programmer I've observed that if you cannot concisely convey the purpose of whatever you're doing - then you are fucked. Those around you will be working towards other objectives and will fight you due to the confusion and meanwhile your own efforts will be muddy and misguided.

"BLIGHT" has all of the problems mentioned above in *fucking* spades.
Last edited by hankinsohl#1231 on Dec 12, 2016, 12:33:05 PM
"
grimjack68 wrote:
The loot drops nearly make MF pointless, though. :(

MF increases drop rates and increases the rarity of drops.

In general, more drops are better (better chance of good thins dropping).

And higher rarity is better (A random unique is better than a random Rare which is better than a random Magic which is better than a random Normal).

In Blight, drops are crazily high (due to the Blight mechanic).

So does this mean that MF is pointless?

I don't think so at all.

In fact, I'm rerolling a MF build to fond my other characters.
=====================
With high MF you'll drop even more good bases and the bases you drop will tend to be rares. Moreover, certain uniques are crazy expensive - with MF you'll get more of those.

Finally with high increased quantity, you'll drop more Mirrors/Exalts/Chaoses/Divination Cards than you would w/o high increased quantity.
======================
So I totally agree with Serleth.

MF is strong for this league.

Due to the increased drops from Breaches, I recommend running Neversink's MF filter - you'll always run out of portals if you grab every yellow - so concentrate on good bases.
"
hankinsohl wrote:


In Blight, drops are crazily high (due to the Blight mechanic).



Hank got a little Blight-happy there for a second... he means Breaches

Anyway... I'm still relatively early in the league endgame... only 78 and just started mapping... I usually run the base filter to start and then modify it to my liking with Filtration later... to remove flasks and any white bases I'm not interested in...

To be even more efficient I should eventually hide big items like 2H weapons... but I do pick them up sometimes if I have leftover portals after a boss... otherwise I focus on 2x2 and 1x3 items for most efficient space usage... I only collect chests when I need them for my recipe tabs...

I'm probably going to end up buying more supporter packs to buy more Quad tabs... I'm using 1 for ID'd Chaos Recipes and another for Gavels at the moment and kinda want a few more... altho the Gavel one will be recycled to other purposes once I collect a few more maps/stones to make chisels...
Last edited by Piros#7740 on Dec 12, 2016, 2:17:32 PM
"
I usually run the base filter to start and then modify it to my liking with Filtration later


Yeah, I do something similar. I run the default as I'm levelling, then I have two filters now that I use once I hit maps: a mid-level filter (which basically shows rares, and highlights all good bases regardless of ilvl) for early league play, then after the first 5-7 days I switch to a high-level filter, which is basically the mid-level but starts to highlight based on ilvl.

I don't hide 2h's like you plan to do, I still show all rares regardless in case I decide I'm low on alterations and need to do some vendor tripping.

*****

At Chrono's recommendation, probably at the end of this week I'm going to make a post about my thoughts of MFing vs not-MFing at the start of a league.
Jul 27, 2011 - Sept 30, 2018.
Last edited by Serleth#4392 on Dec 12, 2016, 3:05:40 PM
"
Serleth wrote:
At Chrono's recommendation, probably at the end of this week I'm going to make a post about my thoughts of MFing vs not-MFing at the start of a league.


Random requests paying off!

Also if one is fine being an Alt farmer for currency gains, I'd say breach league is a great one to MF. So many drops, and already in the mindset to vendor everything is just a bonus.
Yea, I'm not sure I'm going to hide the 2-Handers... like I said, if there are portals left I pick up everything from bosses until I cant anymore... and I tend to pick up everything if I'm killing time in Dried Lake or something...

I'm pretty much back in the swing of things now... but having a hard time finding any information (elsewhere) on what I should be doing with the content from the 2 leagues I skipped...

When should I be using Silver coins for prophecies... save... spend immediately... etc... I started saving the uniques that are fated since that seemed like a thing to do...

Also, essenses... I have some of them corrupting essences... when should I be using those... anything else I should know...

Report Forum Post

Report Account:

Report Type

Additional Info