[3.1] Poet's Pen Volatile Dead - all content - HC/SC

Guys, I have a question regarding third link in Unearth + GMP. It's obviously not culling strike, as in OP post, since we're getting it with Slayer ascendancy. In PoB link he carries PCoC gem, but isn't crit multi gem better? Or mayber some other options? What do you guys think?

Does elementalist's ele reflect immunity work with atziri and ele thorns on bosses?
btw want to try no-mana-reserved MoM and essence worm + anger version for HC

Currently have a level 90 version of this build in bestiary with some good gear. Acquities, +1VD bear hat, kaom's, leech jewel. Very effective at the mapping and limited bossing I've done so far. I am debating an inquisitor switch though, now that my gear has improved. Playing around with my current character in PoB, an inquisitor has roughly 40-50% more damage vs shaper. It does lose a few of the nice nodes around the scion area though, and won't get as much resist from the tree.

Elementalist is about 20-30% more damage than scion, mostly thanks to herald of Ash buffs. Reflect proof too, and you get the leech. It honestly isn't bad.

Is the damage loss of scion worth the overleech? I am not sure.

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Nosorozhek wrote:

Guys, I have a question regarding third link in Unearth + GMP. It's obviously not culling strike, as in OP post, since we're getting it with Slayer ascendancy. In PoB link he carries PCoC gem, but isn't crit multi gem better? Or mayber some other options? What do you guys think?

Why would you care about your crit multiplier with unearth? The damage is fairly minor. In PoB the best damage gem in for unearth in my current setup would be added fire, but it is still rather meaningless. The point is buffing the VD fireballs, and not unearth. PCoC at least helps with that.

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nowai27 wrote:

Does elementalist's ele reflect immunity work with atziri and ele thorns on bosses?
btw want to try no-mana-reserved MoM and essence worm + anger version for HC

It does. Elementalist/slayer is actually really, really close in damage to inquisitor/slayer, given the herald of ash changes in 3.2. The downside of it that connecting to the witch starter location requires a few less than optimal allocations of passive points.

Admittedly, if you are going MoM with worm you would lose out on HoA, which is like an 18% more multiplier with elementalist.

So a few questions[BSC].

Right now I'm running all 3 heralds, Herald of Ash is pretty nice especially with the quality on it since according to the wiki that affects all fire damage not just herald (So... VD). What should I drop when moving to Anger/Vitality (for Watcher's Eye)?

I'm really just not sure what to upgrade at this point to be honest, I've got about 5ex, maybe 8 if I liquidate EVERYTHING not in use on the character.

Anger WE's are 9-10, Vitality are only about 2~

What should I actually consider dropping here?

Here's what I'm currently working with:



I'm considering going for the VD enchant but Ihaven't seen a helm I actually like listed anytime recently, there was another Hrimnor's and there was a Starkonja's but they just don't respond sadly. Should I settle for an Eternal Burgonet or similar and just roll it for life+trires or something?

I'm also frequently swapping Frenzy/Barrage to try to make sure I don't go under .25 and it's a bit tough even directly at .25 i skip casts, if I stay at .26-.27 I don't skip casts but it starts to feel too slow.

If I do get either of the Watcher's Eyes, I intend to drop EoI+Mokou's, should I aim for getting my Assassin's Mark/Warlord's on Hit shaper's ring at that point?

Don't run all three heralds. The only auras really worth running are herald of ash and anger. HoA with quality is about a 14% more buff, and anger is around 10% or 11%. If you go elementalist/slayer HoA is even stronger, at around an 18% more buff. The other auras are all sub 5%. Not worth the time or mana reservation.

For attack speed, I find I definitely want to stay under 3.9 aps with default cooldown. At 3.92 I was skipping activations fairly often. Even at 3.82 I find it skips sometimes, but it is mostly fine. Make sure you are checking with frenzy charges up too. They should be up the vast majority of the time.

I only just got my anger fire leech eye yesterday for 9ex. Before that I was running a crap shaper amulet with damage leeched as fire, warlord's mark, and a leech boot enchant. Totally fine for anything sub-guardian level, honestly. The curse leech falls off in effectiveness vs serious bosses though. You'll be one murderizing run of the mill bosses fast enough that it won't matter.

I would say helm enchant for you should be the priority though. It is pretty much a straight 33% more multiplier. I bought a VD+1 starkonjas for 3.5ex a few days ago. Works nicely, and it is a very balanced helmet. Devoto's is an option too, if you don't like bodyswap (there was one up for 3ex at the time). Going faster is always good, though losing the life and crit hurts.

Ok, I think I'm doing something really wrong, but I just can't get to that 4,9 attacks speed. I seem to grab the tree from OP post, I have boots atck spd enchant, 20%q frenzy, gmp(23%q) and 20q blood rage (lvl 17 only tho), lightning golem lvl 20, my both wands are 12%, i got attack speed literally on every jewel of mine (exculding uniques) and I'm still at 4.84 full buffed. Please tell me what am I missing?

Gear


PoB link: https://pastebin.com/1zsxpQYk

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Nosorozhek wrote:

Ok, I think I'm doing something really wrong, but I just can't get to that 4,9 attacks speed. I seem to grab the tree from OP post, I have boots atck spd enchant, 20%q frenzy, gmp(23%q) and 20q blood rage (lvl 17 only tho), lightning golem lvl 20, my both wands are 12%, i got attack speed literally on every jewel of mine (exculding uniques) and I'm still at 4.84 full buffed. Please tell me what am I missing?

PoB link: https://pastebin.com/1zsxpQYk

Some guy on reddit did testing and it seems 17ms less than cooldown is optimal not to get skipped casts so you are probably already on an optimal amount of atk. speed.

Your biggest clear speed boost is likely a 8% chance to gain onslaught abyssal jewel

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Krabbsatan wrote:

Some guy on reddit did testing and it seems 17ms less than cooldown is optimal not to get skipped casts so you are probably already on an optimal amount of atk. speed.

Thanks for the reply! With that information in mind, what would be the new aspd optimal amount? I'm not good at math at all :(

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Krabbsatan wrote:

Your biggest clear speed boost is likely a 8% chance to gain onslaught abyssal jewel

Yeah, still got 1 socket left so I'll consider getting that 1.
On a side note, discussing the life leech of the build. With Anger WJ we only leech fire damage, while with vitality we leech all damage. Considering that I can keep 2 heralds + vitality, is anger is that much better option still?

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Nosorozhek wrote:

Yeah, still got 1 socket left so I'll consider getting that 1.
On a side note, discussing the life leech of the build. With Anger WJ we only leech fire damage, while with vitality we leech all damage. Considering that I can keep 2 heralds + vitality, is anger is that much better option still?

Why would you care about leeching from the mostly negligible non-fire damage the build does? The vitality leech jewel is fine as a budget option, but anger fire leech is clearly better. Vitality aura gives no benefit with vaal pact. Herald of ash is the strongest aura at around 14% more, anger is 10%-11% more, and the other heralds are all sub 5%. Sacrificing anger for a vitality aura that does nothing and a sub-par herald doesn't make sense.

My suggestion is just running a shaper fire leech amulet and warlord's mark until you can afford an anger jewel. Don't pay out for second best. Worked fine for me.

In my opinion, the proper links for this build in 3.2 are something like.

Frenzy-GMP-CoH-Warlord/Assassin
Anger-CWDT-IC-Bloodrage
HoA-Flame Dash-Arcane Surge-Increased Duration

There are modifications you can do. If you are using bodyswap and speed farming, you can replace the flamedash setup with a golem (two if elementalist/slayer). You could also replace the CoH/Curse in the frenzy link with a golem if you have a curse on hit ring.

I'm really interested in Poets Pen VD and have about 3ex to spend to get the build rolling. Maybe 4-5 if I sell a stat stick I'm using.

How far can this build go on that investment? Can it roll low reds?