[No longer updated] Pizza Sticks: Flameblast Totem Hierophant

Better to use ice golem with GC for crit chance as apposed to cast speed on lightning golem?

Just a small update on GC playability. Ran few t9-10 maps yesterday, mob clearing speed with 3 totems is pretty good, don't even have time to cast Orb of Storms because mobs are already dead by then(except for Harbinger spawn, essence trapped mobs or breaches). The only problem I see is bosses, of course they die in less than a minute, but when they focus you instead of totems it can get pretty scary, especially with bosses that blink and strike you(like in Castle Ruins or Strand). But here's a thing - I didn't fully level my "health ring" and some other health and ES boosting passives and went straight for the damage. And most of my gems are lvl 18 or even lower as I bought a 20% quality fresh supports, so I expect a big damage boost when they reach lvl 19-20.
Another big problem is chaos damage. Some bosses and mobs hit very hard with chaos attacks, and without CI I don't really know how to counter that.

Is this build Shaper viable or not anymore since the ES nerfs? What about the GC version, does it suffer much in terms of single target damage?

"

RobJordan wrote:

Is this build Shaper viable or not anymore since the ES nerfs? What about the GC version, does it suffer much in terms of single target damage?

Probably not viable. It's really good for a league starter, but I don't see how I can live through Hydra or Chimera with these defenses. Need at least twice as much HP and ES(even with godlike reflexes there are some attacks that are unavoidable, like the stage in chimera pit when he hits you from fog). Maybe achievable with some godly gear but if you have money to buy it then there are better builds to spend them on.

Currently level 85 with GC build. Here is my 2 cents. GC IMHO is better than flameblast due to the fact that it goes off instantly. Flameblast takes way too long to charge up. Against mobile mobs, flameblast is not so great because the mobs can dodge the attack easily, or sometimes totems dies before it can charge up. Also, your gears build around cast speed, which limits your build a lot.

On the other hand, GC only requires a bit of cast speed to get off skills quickly, so you have more spaces to build spell damage, critical strikes, crit chance,etc. You should get quality 20% spell totem support gem. Seriously, 20% increased totem placement is just too good. Or you can just go for like 15-16% quality for 1 or 2 chao orbs. It's really cheap for great quality improvement of the build.

Arcane surge should be kept down at level 10. At level 10, it only requires 64 mana to trigger, assassin mark with arcane surge + increased duration is around 70+ mana cost and can trigger it at 1 cast, which comes handy so you dont have to cast it 2 times( I like smooth playstyle so I dont really like casting 2 curse at the same time because it takes longer casting, which opens a window for mob to get at you. Plus, at level 10 it gives you 15% spell damage 15% cast speed which is good enough compared to level 20(400+ mana cost to trigger LOL) with 20% spell and 19% cast speed). CWDTIC should be kept down at level 1 as well so it can trigger more often.

You should always drop your totems far from each other so it can deal more damage. When mobs get too close to totems, GC only deal damage 1 time.

Essence worm unset ring ridiculously boosts your defense by a crap ton when you take MoM node. I got it while it was cheap for like 4 chaos. Now it's going for 15+ lol.



Right now, I have no problem doing T10 maps, killing packs with 1 totem in 1-2 shots. Bosses die in less than 10 seconds when I swap from area of effect to concentrated effect. Haven't done shaper or artizi yet because I am new to the game so still don;t know how to get to meet them. But I think this build with GC is really solid.

Can you guys give some gear improvement recommendations? Tried running dual curse (flammability+elementa) because of the helm, boots and because I can combine them with arcane surge.
What do you guys think?
Plus it was a cheap build. Spent a lot on the body and stupidly trying to 5l it.

So I was starting to struggle with my damage running t7/t8 maps so I tried this from the main post...

"BUILD VARIANT - Replace Flameblast with Glacial Cascade, Faster Casting with Physical to Lightning and Anger with Hatred and you have yourself a strong GC totems build. TBH it might be stronger than this one..."

I must say, WOW! All I did was switch those 3 gems and i'm easily clearing t9 maps(Dont have any t10 yet to try) as everything has just been getting melted by GC. So I highly recommend everyone thats running FB to switch to GC and go that route.


That being said, Anything thing further we should be changing when moving to GC? What type of stats should we be aiming for? Any uniques that will make it shine even more? Should will still use daggers with cast speed?

Lvl 85, also changed to glacial cascade, seems to be better in every aspect.Oh yea body took 3 fus. :D

"

RobJordan wrote:

Is this build Shaper viable or not anymore since the ES nerfs? What about the GC version, does it suffer much in terms of single target damage?

Someone just posted on reddit of them doing this build to kill shaper. The glacial cascade variant, that is.

"

armada wrote:

"

RobJordan wrote:

Is this build Shaper viable or not anymore since the ES nerfs? What about the GC version, does it suffer much in terms of single target damage?

Someone just posted on reddit of them doing this build to kill shaper. The glacial cascade variant, that is.

Amazing, thanks.

For any1 interested, this is the build of the redditor: https://pastebin.com/6ipa4TQv