[3.17] Wallach's Hierophant Freezing Pulse Totems (No Further Updates)
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I need to ask a pro is it worth continuing with my current old build using an Atziri's reflection or should i go for the Veil?
Have spent a fair bit on the build as it is but any ideas are gratefully accepted. | |
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The Veil variant of the build allows for greater damage growth by use of a 2nd wand with +1 mod and crit/damage mods.
It also relaxes your dexterity requirements as the highest dex you need is 120 or less (unless running double curse where it can go back to 150+). However the shield does give you some better protection and there are some good shield based nodes on the tree around the witch area which help with life and survivability. However I have found that once you reach a certain threshold you kill everything in one shot and if you are to die, the maps are that buffed it will one shot you regardless. So my personal opinion is to go for the veil variant. |
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^^ Thanks for that.
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Manefisto:
Improve many skills that rely heavily on unique Threshold Jewels to enhance their damage and remove or change these jewels. For many such skills, this means granting more damage in exchange for efficient sources of extra projectiles. This includes skills like Freezing Pulse, Frostbolt, Heavy Strike and Cleave. For damage-focused spells, the result of these changes means that their damage has increased on top of the damage multiplier noted above. Freezing Pulse: Now deals 8 to 12 Cold Damage at gem level 1 (unchanged), up to 1458 to 2188 at gem level 20 (previously 888 to 1332). Now has 330% Effectiveness of Added Damage at all gem levels (previously 200%). Ice Spear: Now deals 22 to 33 Cold Damage at gem level 1 (unchanged), up to 568 to 852 at gem level 20 (previously 383 to 575). Now has 130% Effectiveness of Added Damage at all gem levels (previously 80%). Added Cold Damage Support: Supported Skills now have 4 to 6 added Cold Damage at gem level 1 (unchanged), up to 152 to 228 at gem level 20 (previously 169 to 254). Awakened Added Cold Damage Support: Supported Skills now have 165 to 248 added Cold Damage at gem level 1 (previously 187 to 280), up to 188 to 282 at gem level 5 (previously 227 to 341). The Soul Mantle Unique Body Armour no longer has +1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems. Existing items can be updated with a Divine Orb and a momentary lapse in judgement. --- Soul mantle nerf, ow. Also, if i'm understanding the manifesto, first snow is removed and we don't get the free extra projectiles? Last edited by capritus on Jan 24, 2022, 4:15:35 PM
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" Might be that we loose 2 Projectiles due to First Snow being deleted but gain the 40% lost damage directly through Freezing Pulse Buff. Same goes for the Cold Damage Support Nerf and the Buff of Effectiveness on Freezing Pulse. So overall after these changes one ends up with around the same damage (maybe even more), but due to less projectiles we get less area, which nerfes clear speed but buffs against bosses. BUT then on top of this we loose Soul Mantle +1 Maximum Totems AND Spell Totem Support got nerfed hard. Spell Totem Support: Supported Skills now deal 49% less Damage at gem level 1 (previously 28%), and 40% less at gem level 20 (previously 24%). This feels like a huge nerf. Last edited by HeKaMe on Jan 24, 2022, 4:35:18 PM
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Without the +1, soul mantle is just good for its curse generation, and damage via self-flagelation. Say 7 curses * 20%, + 25% on the mantle itself, we are talking about +165% damage. Maybe some +2 socketed gem chest can match that and we don't need to worry about curses anymore, which means a better helm and ring slots.
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I cant see how the build will still work, but I'd welcome the ideas of an experienced builder. Yes the gem got a damage buff, but it lost most of its projectiles from first snow being deleted. Losing the totem from SM feels like a completely unnecessary nerf. And let's not forget the totem support gem had a big nerf, and added cold had a nerf too!
I wonder if arc totems may work now as they didn't use a threshold jewel. |
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From what I can tell, this is actually a buff to Freezing Pulse damage specifically, even accounting for the nerf to Soul Mantle and Spell Totem Support.
The base gem change is massive. The effectiveness change alone for example - you actually get more damage from the nerfed Awakened Added Cold Damage because of the bump to 330% DE (even when funneled through the nerfed Spell Totem gem). Pretty much every spell buff on that list is crazy, so much so that if your spell isn't on that list it's probably not on the menu in 3.17. I also don't see any great options for removing Soul Mantle from the build even given the nerf. In that context, they aren't wrong for nerfing it I guess. It still represents a very common chest that still offers a 7-link and totem health, while also enabling Self-Flagellation. It probably remains in the build outside of possible extremely high-end configurations that basically don't matter. What is true however is that the QOL for the build is being further damaged. The removal of First Snow jewels is compensated through raw damage and not coverage, which means the only reasonable source of projectiles is Rain of Splinters. Running on 3 projectiles instead of 5 is actually pretty okay in the grand scheme of things - I've done it before myself plenty of times - but it's another build route removed from the earliest point of progression (the free Act 5 threshold gem). Now, given that most peoples' reaction to this manifesto will be "totems are dead lul" maybe Rain of Splinters won't be so expensive this league. But it is now required for the transition to Freezing Pulse at all, which may push your league start transition point out to a further (and more expensive) point. Edit - I actually read the patch note for Ice Spear wrong! That should remain a possible single-target swap if needed early league. Creeping Frost however is probably now out of reasonable consideration for that purpose. All told, I'll probably league start Freezing Pulse yet again just because I know everyone will want to know how the build survives another large paradigm shift, but from here the build actually looks like it might be buffed overall from the mid-game point onward, with a possible nerf to the league start progression speed depending on the new rarity / accessibility of Rain of Splinters. We also have some new opportunity cost questions to solve - for example, Atziri's Reflection now costs more to equip because the relative damage value of that exact slot just went up (flat damage affix changes on wand, +1 totem value on shield). We also don't know how accessible Viridi's Veil is in the new atlas. Lots of things to think about still. Last edited by Wallach on Jan 24, 2022, 5:54:06 PM
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Wait...First Snow is gone? I read the notes to mean that it was just no longer an Act 5 reward...I can't believe they are actually deleting it. That so disappointing on top the Soul Mantle nerf.
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Some quick scratch math I kept when I was thinking about the changes earlier:
" A nerf if you were not on multi-totem previously for whatever reason, but overall about a ~4% buff with the changes considered (including the loss of 1 totem from Soul Mantle, the nerf to Spell Totem Support and the resulting loss of a totem for Ritual of Awakening buff). This doesn't take into consideration any of the gains we should make off itemization changes (the added cast speed / flat damage to wands and jewelry), potential gains made from the new support gem that is replacing Mortal Conviction (which may allows us to get off Essence Worm), or the gain made from the additional jewel slot we won't be spending on a second First Snow. It also isn't considering the damage penalty of Rain of Splinters since that is a bit more relative to the rest of your increased damage stack and will vary. |
