[3.7] Cyclone CWC Shock Nova Ascendant

Youtube Video

POB

Despite posting this as a 3.7 build, it is practically untouched for 3.8

Gear & Gem Links

I wanted to test Cyclone CWC builds as much as I could this league. I went with Ascendant in order to get the better part of Champion (for this concept): Taunt making enemies vulnerable, and free fortify. I then chose Elementalist in order to be Reflect-Proof and to further scale monster vulnerability through shocks and elemental penetration. It only made sense to toss Yoke of Suffering into the mix, which made me want to minmax Yoke's debuff as much as possible by including bleed and poison. Being immune to Ele Reflect, I ended up using both Heralds and Anger, while going Elemental Overload. As such, I tried playing with: (vaal) Ice Nova, which was good for legion mechanics, but lacking in other areas. Shock Nova, which yielded the best damage output while being complemented by area nodes. And Arc, which was far less inconsistent but at times felt better. Finding the right supports for a mixed-element caster that wants to proc ailments was rather odd. The three gems I found to fit the bill were: Controlled Destruction, Energy Leech (Solely for the damage, ignoring the leech), and Hypothermia. The scion starting area is still relevant for non-crit spell builds when taking Might of the Meek and Unnatural Instinct into account. Pure Talent is used mostly for the Elemental Penetration from Templar. Cerberus Limb was one of the easiest ways to sort out a source of Leech as a caster, and Lioneye's Remorse felt like the best shield to go with it. Aspect of the Spider further amplifies monster vulnerabilities, while asking for reduced reservation. Fenumus' Shroud grants more Elemental Penetration while giving some defensive bonuses. Fenumus' Weave not only grants the Aspect, but also makes poisoning more reliable.

Parallel to this, I tried playing a Cyclone CWC SRS Champion, stacking STR and using the Baron in order to boost both my damage and my minions'. The scaling was rather poor, and I found myself stuck between wanting Melee Splash for my SRS to clear better while hampering their single target and being useless on my own, and using a different support for far better damage while relying on my own tiny Cyclone for clear. https://www.twitch.tv/airrowstv managed to handle this concept far better, ditching the STR and including Dancing Duo and Facebreakers into the mix.

To whomever it may concern: I'll be running some stream tests at https://www.twitch.tv/lucksick/ today, and hopefully be able to stream over the weekend for Blight's launch. Regardless of how that goes, I wish you a nice league start and hope you're all doing well!~