[3.5] Pure Uniques Molten Strike HOWA. 4 Mill Shaper DPS, Good Defences

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UndrcvrKiller wrote:

I never said it was too expensive. the 6 link chest is the most expensive part considering it was over an exalt for one not six linked when i made the build. My jug does a whole lot better for about the same cost. The build is just lack luster like i said, and pretty boring to play.

I don't understand the boring part because molten strike plays like molten strike and this build does not need to convert its damage to scale since most of it is lightning anyway so you don't need Xoth's blood like jugg does.

Jugg gets endurance charges which is nice but Guardian gets Power Endurance and Frenzy charges (without blood rage) as well.
Being immune to shock ignite and poison feels great.

Other than a little more movement speed and faster clear - I can't image what you are really expecting. The ES pool is so large you could easily dump some for more damage if that's what you are looking for.

Link a non lackluster build that has nearly 10k EHP the damage and QOF this one has.

Any mind over matter build pretty much.

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UndrcvrKiller wrote:

Any mind over matter build pretty much.

So that's only 4 points. Go ahead and make it mind over matter if you want too.

So your saying take a es/low life build and make it MoM??? Just where do you get the stats from? Considering this build has no life pool?

You said link another build with ehp around 10k and that’s extremely generous with this build considering I have near perfect gear at level 95 and don’t have 10kes , my response was any other MoM build. The ehp pool is not some big selling point. Many builds have high hp pools. Don’t get so defensive or but hurt about my comment. As it stands my opinion still is the build is lack luster. No room for improvement and can’t scale much higher. Then I have taken it. Not to mention it’s not the fastest clear speed nor largest aoe. So it’s pretty lackluster and boring gameplay

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So that's only 4 points. Go ahead and make it mind over matter if you want too.

Just stop fighting, they don't like molten strike and thats fine and you'll never change that with words. People have preferences so everything else will look better to them. I'm that way with a few styles Like spectre necromancer, just don't like it so it felt bad and lackluster

They probably won't give a proper example because comparing builds with drastically different defenses is just not going to be objective and a mom build will look bad to us but good to them with their experiences with it

MOM can't be used on this build. You need to be life based and have most of it unreserved and have a way of leeching mana above its normal rate to make it any good. Thats a good amount of conditions to meet

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WaffleT wrote:

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So that's only 4 points. Go ahead and make it mind over matter if you want too.

Just stop fighting, they don't like molten strike and thats fine and you'll never change that with words. People have preferences so everything else will look better to them. I'm that way with a few styles Like spectre necromancer, just don't like it so it felt bad and lackluster

They probably won't give a proper example because comparing builds with drastically different defenses is just not going to be objective and a mom build will look bad to us but good to them with their experiences with it

MOM can't be used on this build. You need to be life based and have most of it unreserved and have a way of leeching mana above its normal rate to make it any good. Thats a good amount of conditions to meet

i played howa in 2.6 and it will never be that good. you did a good job trying to bring it back up to those standards. But after playing this build i realized there is no room for upgrades, and it has a abrupt ceiling is all. The thing with all unique builds is just that, you only have a certain amount of stats to work with. If this build was made with rares you would have something to chase for, more int on an item, more es on another, wed on this wed on that. It is a cheaper effective build. But not my favorite build by far. it did get me a pair of free wings from the race tho.

Some people are not fans of molten strike, and most of the reason that I understand is that those people can't stand waiting for the balls to drop. They like it as a boss-killing skill, but don't like it as a clear skill.

For whatever reason, I see nothing with regards to nerfing this skill in patch 3.3, and the fact that several race players that go to level 100 can't stand waiting for balls to fall might very well be the reason. I am thrilled that I have not seen a nerf so far, and perhaps we should be grateful that not everyone loves this skill.

I personally do think that a lightning skill should be made better and it is a bit weird that molten strike is so commonly used, especially with a build like HoWA. That being said, I do not see any reworks to regular lightning strike. I don't see any specific jewels that increase the number of projectiles of lightning strike. And the biggest advantage that molten strike has over lightning strike is its synergy with ancestral call. Instead of ancestral call just weakening the damage of the skill to increase the area and number of targets it hits, it actually results in more balls hitting the center area. By contrast, ancestral call with lightning strike results in damage going away from the center, as the direction of the attack is not re-centered back in front of the attacker.

The fact that you can't use ancestral call with any vaal abilities weakens vaal lightning strike, but then again ancestral call doesn't really work with regular lightning strike all that well to begin with.

I'm not quite sure how you would use Vaal Lightning Strike with this build.

Vaal Lightning Strike + Multistrike + Elemental Damage with Attacks + Elemental Focus + Damage on Full Life + Lightning Penetration?

Does multistrike even work with it effectively?

I might take a Vaal Lightning Strike to level just in case, but I see Molten Strike being the way to go again with this build in 3.3. Anyone else care to weigh in on this?

so do i kill bandits or who do i help? didnt see anything abotu the bandits

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Grammar12 wrote:

so do i kill bandits or who do i help? didnt see anything abotu the bandits

All the passive tree lists and the pastebin show bandits. This has been a standard feature for a while since a tree is less helpful unless you know if you are getting +2 passive points. Most builds do take the passives as its commonly the best option

Lvl 90 update:

https://pastebin.com/8AzVBWHq

Flashback ended with this guy at level 88. Since then (in standard), I:

- added two rare jewels
- gained two levels
- removed the nodes for Retribution (temporarily), and the three nodes for Weathered Hunter
- added the three nodes leading to the jewel slot under Mind Drinker, as a replacement for retribution
- spent my fusings to 6L my chest
- borrowed my Watcher's Eye from my level 96 aurabot
- borrowed my lvl 4 Enlighten from another character (not a necessary upgrade, to improve Clarity, but useful)

My take:

- Guardian is better than Scion
- It needs its own forum post
- OP understood the synergy between mana and int for this character, but possibly not to the extent as to the true potential
- we basically have a mana guardian on our hands that does quite a bit of damage and gives nice party buffs too, if we want to not go solo

My level 90 dual wield HoWA guardian has 11,022 ES. Do NOT underestimate the value of mana, producing flat ES with guardian. Guardian has access to much more flat ES through mana than scion, allowing a different chest like Incandescent Heart (as OP suggests) and still more ES.

Guardian is actually a natural for an int build like HoWA, and even more so with Molten Strike. Why? Well, Inquisitor has good ele damage, crit nodes, regen nodes, and immunity to elements that CI gets, but doesn't get the ES or stun resistance. As such, it makes sense to go down the left side of the tree with Inquisitor, take Unwavering Stance, get regen nodes and use a melee ability like Blade Flurry. Guardian is different because guardian does not need Unwavering Stance like Inquisitor as much, and the regen for the guardian is less unless it has lots of auras. But, this isn't an aurabot. It actually makes more sense for the guardian to go down the right side of the tree and get vaal pact and point blank. That just wouldn't be as good with the inquisitor. But, unlike the scion, int doesn't just give ele damage, accuracy, evasion, and %increased ES. It also gives flat ES. So, it is much more reliable to have a decent ES level without great gear. Now, the Watcher's Eye is still necessary for amazing ES. Right now, it gives me an extra 2k ES. But that goes up to around 2.5k. And guardian does not have a hard cap at around 9k ES. Guardian with Incandescent Heart peaks between 13k and 14k ES.

Rest of my tree plan (not necessarily in order):

- Take Retribution back at level 91
- Get Druidic Rite
- Get Righteous Degree
- Get Fury Bolts
- Spend three nodes on (2) +4% mana, and the jewel slot near Chaos Innoculation

Next items to chase: helm enchant, boots enchant, Vinktar's, Dying Sun, either 2R2B boots (remove bladefall for Vaal Discipline), or 3R1B boots (remove bladefall for increased duration)

You can either go dual wield or use Atziri's Mirror. Unfortunately, if you go dual wield, resists are harder and you might not be able to use two Perandus Signets. You need a good Le Heup of All ring. But maybe you see another way. If I switch to Atziri's Mirror now (and swap out my Le Heup of All with an equivalent 2nd Perandus Signet), I'll have 11,644 ES instead of 11,022 ES (assuming I use a perfect Atziri's Mirror). But, I'd have 21.26% percent less damage (as in 78.74% of the damage of DW). You could also express this mathematically saying dual wield is 27.0% more damage. I'd also have better block and evasion with the shield. But these are actual numbers that you can verify in the attached PoB, with my items and my tree. You can pick which you like more. I'm dual wield, and that's how I played it since the start. But I guess either is fine.

Rare jewels are expensive, especially at the beginning of a league, or even at the end of a league like Flashback. You can get rare jewels like mine probably towards the end of Incursion. It is hard to do that at the beginning. A clarity Watcher's Eye like mine is definitely expensive. I paid 13 ex to get it for my aurabot, and it was near the end of Beastiary, just before Flashback started.

I decided that I'd have more fun trying to max this guy in Standard than playing the same build over in Incursion right away. This guy just spoiled me. Hope my notes help. And I hope the OP decides to post this build under guardian, and considers that the ES cap can be much more than 9k. It's really been a pleasure playing with this guy. Thank you, WaffleT.

What do you think about the new helm Mask of the Stitched Demon? It could possibly make a howa life based build. With atziri's mirrior and phase acro a life based version could be pretty strong. I'm not too familiar with making builds though, so it's just an idea I had. I was curious about your thoughts on it.

Can you tell me what links and what tree changes would you do for the Spectral Throw set up?

Thanks