[3.4] lddiamond's Toxic Rain Penta RAT Hierophant, All Content, League Starter, Deathless Uber

Build is now retired as of 3.5 patch notes, was fun while it lasted.

With 3.5 Patch notes.

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Quill Rain now causes you to deal 40% less Damage (as opposed to Weapon Damage). This affects all versions of the item.

It is still possible to build around +3 projectile skills bow, though I am not interested in that form myself.


Major change for 3.5:

Major change for 3.5 from Balance manefesto

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The Hierophant node Ritual of Awakening no longer grants +1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems. Instead it now causes skills that would Summon a Totem to summon two Totems instead, and grants 3% more Damage per Totem.

This should help our clear speed tremendously. The more damage is icing on the cake.

They also mentioned there are more sources of +1 totems, hopefully they are not limited to offhand slot as we already have skirmish.

We may be stuck at 4 totems, or hopefully even more, going forward.

December 3rd Update, I've gone through and cleaned up the Q/A and expanded the Q/A. I'll update more when patch notes drop this week. I feel this should be a strong starter again baring any major changes.

November 28th update, I've been MIA last few weeks while dealing with real life issues. I'll be doing an update for this build once Patch notes for 3.5 comes out, and going through the questions that kept coming up. ALso changed the title from grphon79 to lddiamond (my twitch handle)

Also feel free to check out my stream on the upcoming league, https://www.twitch.tv/lddiamond

September 15 update. I have now retired this build for the league. Time to move on to something else. Uber Elder Deathless done. Nothing left to do with the build.

Feel free to ask questions. I'll still update this guide as I find time.

Saved for Q and A

1.

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Would inc aoe not be better than conc to overlap pod hits/ pod DOT applications? In my testing the more aoe the better when scaling the DOT portion.

Good Question. I personally find Conc Effect feels better. And it has a big more multiplier.

With the current state of AOE increased/decreased, it don't seem to matter that much, as they barely do anything unlike before.

Im guessing this is one of the YMMV questions,

2.

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What to choose with bandits?

I went with kill all.

3.

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What about point blank?

Point blank don't affect the DOT damage of toxic rain (toxic rain DOT is only affected by projectile damage, not projectile attack damage)

4.

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Looking at your updated skill tree, it seem you didn't take the totem note shamanistic fury(+30% totem damage) near witch, it's that a mistake from path of building? =/

It may have been, only other reason why I would of ignored it would of been lack of skill points

5.

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Is critical only affect the hit and not the dot, and is useless for this build?

Criticals won't affect the DOT

6.

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what do you think about +3 bow instead ?

I haven't ran the numbers, a +3 bow would arguably have a higher DOT per spore pod, but quill rain can stack them much faster.

7.

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Why Potency of Will & Exceptional Performance

Keeps the pods around longer, which means more pods stack over time. Higher DOT

8.

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what are your pantheon choices?

I took Yugul for Uber Elder, and Arakaali. Rest is really up to you.


9.

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Hey I wonder if Scion Chieftain "1% of damage dealt by your totems is leeched to you as life" work with this build since our damage mainly from DOT

No, you won't be able to leech off of the DOT

10.

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Can someone please explain to me why he went with Minion damage nodes? I'm confused?

Getting the Nodes Spiritual Aid and Spirtual command lets minion damage and minion attack speed affect you.

11.

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That said, maybe due to damage additions from your build I could run the Splinters Gem?

I don't like splinters personally, i feel its damage penalty is too high.

12.

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Question - Is Quill Rain the ONLY one we should be using for this build?

I feel it is the best end game bow, and because we can use it early, why not. But that is to not to say it is the only bow that is viable. A +3 bow with empower will work great as well, you'll have higher DOT but stack less PODs.

13.

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Do levels help with Toxic Rain?

Yes, very much

14.

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How is this build for deep delving (300+)?

I didn't find it that good to be honest.

15.

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Would I benefit from the Chain mechanic with this build?

Chain won't help the DOT damage.

16.

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Is Haste the best Aura to run with this build?

Maybe not, I just am trying to get as much APS as possible, even if it is suboptimal

17.

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Will this build be relevant in 3.5? I wanted to use it to start the League.

It should be, baring any major changes to toxic rain. The only thing that will kill this build if they removed DOT stacking.

In fact this build has potential to be stronger with the new DOT nodes (waiting to see the patch notes), also with multiple totem gems you may be able to use other ascendacies with it.

Added Phoenix map

Would inc aoe not be better than conc to overlap pod hits/ pod DOT applications? In my testing the more aoe the better when scaling the DOT portion.

"

Would inc aoe not be better than conc to overlap pod hits/ pod DOT applications? In my testing the more aoe the better when scaling the DOT portion.

Good Question. I personally find Conc Effect feels better. And it has a big more multiplier.

With the current state of AOE increased/decreased, it don't seem to matter that much, as they barely do anything unlike before.

Im guessing this is one of the YMMV questions,

added Shaper video (3 deaths, video crashed before I finished)

Added t15 sunken city boss fight

Added Vaal Temple Video

Added Lava Lake Boss Fight

Very nice build :)
Did Shaper at 72, first run I died once, but second was deathless easy after I adjusted to the spores obscuring alot of the screen, haha.




Been playing it the past couple days, really enjoy it!

Some notes on things that I personally did:
You have a ton of empty sockets, so I filled in some extra utility setups

CWDT - Golem setup for some extra accuracy (Ice Golem)
CWDT - IC - IDur - Temp Chains
Vaal Blight - IDur

I use frenzy during bosses for the extra attack speed and more damage on our DOT.
Frenzy -> FA -> COH -> Despair

You could also invest in a Doedre's Damning if you're willing to sacrifice the life and have good enough gear elsewhere to res cap and run dual curse frenzy in a 5l on the bow (or even a 6l with pierce/chain for map clear utility) since our bow 6l (or chest 6l) is basically unused if we aren't utilizing a Kaom's Heart.

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xemath wrote:

Very nice build :)
Did Shaper at 72, first run I died once, but second was deathless easy after I adjusted to the spores obscuring alot of the screen, haha.




Been playing it the past couple days, really enjoy it! Some notes on things that I personally did:

You have a ton of empty sockets, so I filled in some extra utility setups

CWDT - Golem setup for some extra accuracy (Ice Golem)
CWDT - IC - IDur - Temp Chains
Vaal Blight - IDur

I use frenzy during bosses for the extra attack speed and more damage on our DOT.
Frenzy -> FA -> COH -> Despair

Awesome stuff, yeah I chalk up my deaths to my ability more than the build. This has been my favorite build I've done yet.

Some good ideas on the extra gems, The Temp Chains on top of the slow should be amazing.

Great work on the Shaper.