[3.5] The Blinding Blizzard - Whispering Ice CI Elequisitor - Viable For Everything

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Tonu wrote:

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mrbob1290 wrote:

Thoughts?

Tested that gem in a few maps and my thoughts about it:
1) I see not much difference on killing speed of thrash mobs, which was great.
2) Killing speeds drops a lot again anything else. One Syndicate member got away on T15 map which haven't happened to me for almost a month. Yikes.
3) Power charges hardly helps at all this build. It makes slightly easier to proc Elemental Overload. Otherwise Power Charges seems useless. Tried to mess with POB and tried to see if getting rid of Elemental Overload and getting more Power charges etc would be worth it. Seemed like having Elemental Overload was still a lot better option.
4) Those defense buffs seemed nice to have though.

Felt like Storm Barrier was crippling my build more than helping.

Good insight, will test a bit more but feel I may switch back as well. Thanks for the reply!

I've been playing around with replacing Orb of Storms in my builds with Storm Brand so I tried it out on this build too. I'm really liking it.

PROS:

* Can place it anywhere instead of right on top of where I am

* Can place three of them instead of one

* Each brand hits up to 4 mobs right away (have to get Orb to level 17 before it'll hit that many)

* Cheaper mana cost

* Can potentially last longer (depending on detached times)

CONS:

* Placing anywhere means I have to actually care where my mouse pointer is when I cast. For this build, that's usually where I'm about to start dropping some ice so it works out anyway, but it is handy to be able to cast an Orb right where I'm at while still pointing toward the oncoming horde.

* Placing three means I have to stop and place three. Casting Orb of Storms feels faster than brand, though I don't know if it actually is.

* Cheaper mana cost means harder to proc arcane surge. Haven't played with the levels on it yet to see if I can offset this.

* Can potentially last less time; default is 5 seconds of attached time (vs Orb's uptime of 6 seconds). If its attachee dies, though, it'll wait around to re-attach up to 10 seconds.

I am at level 86 and seem way to squishy on maps past level 10. I have 1420 in Intelligence and 7K in Energy Shield. Using the pure talent, two fertile minds, brute force, watchers eye, and several rare jewels.

I have followed the leveling guide and the tree as outlined. Icestorm damage is 1550 to 4600. Equipment is above but it seems like I have decent gear. Any suggestions welcome.


Thanks!

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karac67 wrote:

I am at level 86 and seem way to squishy on maps past level 10. I have 1420 in Intelligence and 7K in Energy Shield. Using the pure talent, two fertile minds, brute force, watchers eye, and several rare jewels.

Sounds like you're just lacking some ES. Also, are you running Life version of the build or why are you using 2x Life Flasks?

My 2 cents: I'd say your #1 priority is to get as good chest armor as you can. Ideally at least close to 600 ES or more. Getting high ES with Scion seems kinda tricky and your chest armor is prob your greatest source for ES you can get. If you still lack some resist, try to get the missing resist on other armor pieces, jewels, rings, skilltree, etc. I'd say you could ignore Int rolls on chest armor until you have enough currency to buy/craft one with Int and high ES. IMO, this build started to work a lot better when getting close to 10k ES.

Here's my current gear:



11k+ ingame tooltip IceStorm damage
almost 11k+ ES
79% each uncapped elemental resists
0 mana cost on Winter Orb & Storm Brand
19 mana cost Flame Dash

And I still have plenty to upgrade with this build. :)

Thanks for the feedback. I replaced the armor with this:




I added an ES shield jewel to to bring my ES up to 8700. In looking at my other pieces I haven't found anything on poetrade that would upgrade my ES anymore significantly. Argghh…


Going to go try and see how it plays at 8700 for now. Thanks again.

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karac67 wrote:

Thanks for the feedback. I replaced the armor with this:

I added an ES shield jewel to to bring my ES up to 8700.

Looks pretty good. One thing I forget to ask that do you have any jewels with "Energy Shield gained with each hit" affix? If not, that be the reason why you've been dying.

If you do have and you still dying, maybe it's lack of defensive flasks.

I'd also suggest trying to swap that unique ring for another better ring. Getting one with 40+ ES, 40+ Int and some resists should be really cheap to get.

OK, I replaced both rings and gloves with these:



Swapped my watchers eye for one that gives me +30 to every kill while under discipline to take care of not having that mod on my jewels.


Energy shield up to 9500. Hope its enough lol.


Thanks!

Anyone has a PoB for this? No clue where to put gems.

I've just started levelling a toon following your guide, as I like the build you made and appreciate the fact the you're being honest about hi and lows.

Also, since bestiary stuff are back in and I've seen that vid of yours using it against Ü-Elder, I'll be looking toward to somehow fill the Aspect of the Spider in.

Keep up the good job. Quite clean, honest and straight to point guide. Maybe it's my lack of attention, but I haven't found a link to PoB.

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d3viant6 wrote:

Any ideas how to survive some difficult trap setups?

ONE QUESTION: what's best approach for Uber Lab (besides final boss) as far and ancillary gems, etc? I died 3x to other issues (traps). I thought Vall Discipline would do the job to get back ES but it's not great. Should I pack on more defensive gems?? Which ones? ANY help is appreciated!

Same boat in general. Level 80 and I've died in Uber lab every time i've tried to complete it with this build. Perhaps I'm just not good with a build that has this type of play style, I'm used to faster moving builds typically. Level 80 currently and I feel like I'm running around in a glass cannon. If I can't get off an initial shot of whispering ice to leech and I have to eat a shot or two I have next to no chance of surviving if what's hitting me is a magic or rare mob.

At this point in the league, high ES gear is expensive - I'm sitting right at just over 6K ES with Int on every piece of gear I got and it still doesn't feel anywhere near "tanky".

I'm open to any suggestions from those here who have experience with this build - was hoping to make this character to complete all the end game content I cannot do with my map builds but as it stands right now I don't think I'll be able to achieve it.