[3.5] CheeQu's CoC Ice Nova Assassin - Up to 7m Shaper DPS + Amazing Clearspeed [In-Depth Guide]

"

shura22 wrote:

"

CheeQu wrote:

"

shura22 wrote:

Hi, first of all props for the guide!
I'm doing this build on my lv90 assassin and I got a few questions, i hope you can answer them for me :)

1. I got the legacy Atziri's Acuity (played back in the days and just recently got back into it) with the instant leech, are those best in slot for this build?

2. I use an warlords mark ring in my setup, now this is a noob question, but do i get healed by the Frostbolt and Ice Novas or only from the cyclone on crits (while using the atziri gloves)?

3. Would you use the Unnatural Instinct jewel and if so, what changes would you do in the skill tree?

4. Are there any other boots besides the Bubonic Trails you think suit the build well?

thanks in advance :D
ps- don't look at my character, its still not optimized and i used some random jewels i got laying around :D

1. Yes those glove will be pretty crazy! I'm jealous

2. Leech will work from frostbolts/ice novas on cospri as well as cyclone and ice novas from chest

3.Unnatural instict is pretty much only used by ascendant class. They combine it with 2x might of the meek at the center of the tree for some OP stats. Other classes can't really invest that much there.

4. Haven't really seen any great unique belts for this build, since we have lots of uniques already we need to get some resists and life from somewhere so I go for rare boots.

Thank you for the reply!
I decided to stick with my Bubonic Trails since they give me 2 jewel sockets + got the penetration enchant on them! :)
Now i got a few more questions which i hope you can help me with.

1. What watchers eye would you recommend and is it even needed?
I dont need the Haste nor Purity of elements aura since my resistances are capped and my attack speed is at a comfortable 3.7, and with the elder ring i already got leech on hit (health/mana).

2. In my hideout i have 44% crit chance with my cyclone, is that enough?
I piceked an additional power charge in the skill tree at the witch area, including the 'additional spell dmg per power charge' point. (feel free to check out my character, im at 5.5k life atm)

ps- im running fortify on my cyclone and still haven't completly decided what gems to use, but im planning on changing that soon

1. Dont any run any auras so can't get any watcher's eye. One option though would be replacing Ice Herald for Vitality and then +30 life gained on hit watcher's eye. That will increase survivability even more but reduce damage a little bit. It's a good option.

2. Yes that's more than enough! 40% crit chance in HO becomes 91% after 4 power charges, cospri's crit chance against chilled enemies and diamond flask. 44% would be close to 97% so no need for an extra power charge at all. I'd respec those points.

3. I included some alternative gem setups in the gem section so you might get some ideas from those!

Still having a ton of fun with this build man!
Been upgrading my gear a bit here and there plus my Winter Orb character, doing lots of things at once so slow progress lol.
But always in the search for best builds to get into next league and so on.

Anyway can you take a quick look at my gear maybe?
Im thinking on getting eighter Loreweave 6link next around 5exalts.. or the amulet.
Still in yellow maps and I feel sometimes mana might run out.. like 1\10th of the time.. so wondering if I should be prepeared to get a manacost reduction ring or mana gained on hit ring?

Resists were a pain in the aassss to get on the same level to have max buffs from the Wise Oak.

Still thinking if to use Dread Banner (I just always forget to use it lol, kinda hate the mechanic) or now maybe Stone Golem.. or even maybe Decoy totem.. although decoy seems so useless unless its something big.. but havent met anyone.. BIG yet, everything dies in 1-2 shots.

I do feel that I don´t proc quite as often as id like to.. my hideout crit is 33.4% atm. APS is 3.7 and using jewels\passives to get APS just right and not having to use onslaught flask.

I bought jewels to get DEX requirements right plus some resists to get Wise Oak stuff going on instead of getting it mostly from gear right now or passive nodes.

Bought Fingerless gloves and added +1lvl to socketed AoE gems.. should be good?

Oh and most importantly.. I added PHASE RUN.. as I really love it.. and I felt that speed was lackluster. Although I still feel phase run feels a bit slow without efficacy. But just lost faster casting for flame dash for Phase Run.. so imo a decent choice.

And what would be a good RARE chest armour mod?
Had small life on it (24).. but thinking 120ES regen per second might be better, will try that out.. but also have crit chance mods that I can add to it! I do also have nice options like 10% chance to dodge spell hits and 7% to block attack damage.. and even 8% life now that I look.

Again, mega build. Love it!


Some more tips for leveling that I was thinking:

As an Assassin you can also buy Onslaught early on. Add that to Flame Dash until you can buy Faster Casting in ACT II.
Early on buy Fire Trap for early bosses, bosses melt with it.
Can add Bear Trap aswell for further increased deeps and nice slow effect.
Also at 28 you can buy Lightning Spire Trap! So buy that for very nice damage boost for bosses!! You can add Increased Critical Damage, Lightning Penetration and Trap and Mine Support to it.

"

ptoop84 wrote:

For all those having mana issues, get a shaper ring with mana gain on hit.

solves all mana issues, you can spam ur cyclone in breaches/bosses just like your mana would be infinite.

used two mana leech nodes below phase acro, sustains me anywhere aside of no leech. Might have wasted two points on that (it's optional of course and might be suboptimal, but I prefer it that way), I just don't want to get EVER short on mana and it's comfy (works fine on 0 reg maps as well without flasks).

If i use legacy Atziri gloves where it has instant leech from crits, which vitality watchers eye would be better?
The % of damage leeched as life or the life gained on hit.
ps- i run cold penetration in my cospris

Hello man first of all congrats for your build i have a lot of fun!
I have one question:
I have the 14% cooldown recovery so instead of using onslaught flask or attack speed on gloves-jewel, is it good to change the dread banner from herald and move it flame dash setup (so we loose increase duration) and place in herald setup an onslaught support gem or an ice bite support gem for frenzy charges.
If its good which one you will pick?

Thanks for the guide, cyclone indeed is more easy for killing shaper after a few test, just wonder, if I do not have the faster cooldown in belt/boot, how many aps should I keep for my cyclone, seem you suggest optimal is 3, is that means silght high than 3 is ok or should keep it uncer 3 like 2.8 something? thank you

"

HDTanel wrote:

Still having a ton of fun with this build man!
Been upgrading my gear a bit here and there plus my Winter Orb character, doing lots of things at once so slow progress lol.
But always in the search for best builds to get into next league and so on.

Anyway can you take a quick look at my gear maybe?
Im thinking on getting eighter Loreweave 6link next around 5exalts.. or the amulet.
Still in yellow maps and I feel sometimes mana might run out.. like 1\10th of the time.. so wondering if I should be prepeared to get a manacost reduction ring or mana gained on hit ring?

Resists were a pain in the aassss to get on the same level to have max buffs from the Wise Oak.

Still thinking if to use Dread Banner (I just always forget to use it lol, kinda hate the mechanic) or now maybe Stone Golem.. or even maybe Decoy totem.. although decoy seems so useless unless its something big.. but havent met anyone.. BIG yet, everything dies in 1-2 shots.

I do feel that I don´t proc quite as often as id like to.. my hideout crit is 33.4% atm. APS is 3.7 and using jewels\passives to get APS just right and not having to use onslaught flask.

I bought jewels to get DEX requirements right plus some resists to get Wise Oak stuff going on instead of getting it mostly from gear right now or passive nodes.

Bought Fingerless gloves and added +1lvl to socketed AoE gems.. should be good?

Oh and most importantly.. I added PHASE RUN.. as I really love it.. and I felt that speed was lackluster. Although I still feel phase run feels a bit slow without efficacy. But just lost faster casting for flame dash for Phase Run.. so imo a decent choice.

And what would be a good RARE chest armour mod?
Had small life on it (24).. but thinking 120ES regen per second might be better, will try that out.. but also have crit chance mods that I can add to it!

Again, mega build. Love it!


Some more tips for leveling that I was thinking:

As an Assassin you can also buy Onslaught early on. Add that to Flame Dash until you can buy Faster Casting in ACT II.
Early on buy Fire Trap for early bosses, bosses melt with it.
Can add Bear Trap aswell for further increased deeps and nice slow effect.
Also at 28 you can buy Lightning Spire Trap! So buy that for very nice damage boost for bosses!! You can add Increased Critical Damage, Lightning Penetration and Trap and Mine Support to it.

Hey there! Glad you are still enjoying it!

If you're deciding between loreweave and amulet, loreweave will be a match bigger upgrade. It's way more important than the amulet.

About mana, check on the "important notes & gameplay tips" section where I state lots of things that can help.

I keep dread banner mostly for the reduced accuracy aura, i rarely place it myself. It's a nice bonus for 10% mana reservation - if your mana can handle it of course.

You are indeed not proccing as often, the reason is you got your APS to 3.7 but unfortunately that's the attack speed needed provided you have 14% increased cooldown recovery! Without one, the optimal APS is actually just 3! So feel free to remove coordination node and change jewels - or get a belt with at least 14% cooldown recovery! Also that crit chance will improve with loreweave.

+1 AoE gems isn't that great since vortex wont deal much damage anyway - better switch that for a +28 life hybrid craftable mod!

I wouldnt bother too much with a rare chest, unless it's one beast of a chest. Loreweave is just too good for this build, it has everything.

"

priestillian wrote:

Hello man first of all congrats for your build i have a lot of fun!
I have one question:
I have the 14% cooldown recovery so instead of using onslaught flask or attack speed on gloves-jewel, is it good to change the dread banner from herald and move it flame dash setup (so we loose increase duration) and place in herald setup an onslaught support gem or an ice bite support gem for frenzy charges.
If its good which one you will pick?

Hey! I'd choose onslaught support over the two, but in general none of these 2 will work against bosses, which is were your DPS matters the most. You will still have the 20% attack speed gap against those unfortunately.

"

shura22 wrote:

If i use legacy Atziri gloves where it has instant leech from crits, which vitality watchers eye would be better?
The % of damage leeched as life or the life gained on hit.
ps- i run cold penetration in my cospris

That's a good question actually! I'd think the % of damage would be better, not 100% sure about it though, I might be missing something since it's an old mechanic.

"

dyh135 wrote:

Thanks for the guide, cyclone indeed is more easy for killing shaper after a few test, just wonder, if I do not have the faster cooldown in belt/boot, how many aps should I keep for my cyclone, seem you suggest optimal is 3, is that means silght high than 3 is ok or should keep it uncer 3 like 2.8 something? thank you

Hey! 3.02 is the maximum. You DONT want to get anywhere above that. 2.8 is also fine, with 2.9 and 3.00 being a tiny little better.