[3.10] Max Block Storm Brand Ascendant: Budget Friendly, Ultra Tanky, Fast Mapper, Deathless Sirus 8

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nokken1 wrote:

This build is awesome, loving it. Deathless everything. Right now I am going down delve to see how far I can get. Currently around 380 with no problems at all. I am trying to choose between shields. I like the %es on block better because I can sit in darkness getting beat on a bit easier since MoM doesnt seem to work in the darkness. Any thoughts?

Also, any gear tips would be appreciated, I really would like to max my block without Rumi's but it seems kind of difficult finding the right shield

yeah I would take the es and mana on block for sure.
You could technically max or close to max ur block with the bone offering helm enchant if I'm not mistaken. You could also swap the shield to one with higher base block chance and forgo the spell damage that fossilized spirit shield provides.

I expect a minimum 25% damage nerf on archmage support and some aspects of storm brand.

Damage wise we will most likely still be in good shape, just not the "why play any other skill outside of five herald" shape. Worst case we can go ball lightning mines.

Survivability wise we should be fine as we are not meta, should be able to fly under the radar.

Archmage comes with a huge drawback, the mana cost.
With Storm Brand and Recall there was no drawback.

Now there are 2 ways to fix this.
Either they make it so that Brands cant be combined with Archmage (pretty bad) or
they make it so that casting Recall is like casting a Brand when it comes to mana cost.

The later would bring it in line with all the other skills.

Archmage itself shouldnt be nerfed that much since you miss all the extra damage mana reservation usually provides and you have the issue of getting all the mana back quickly.

What they could do is nerf Fevered mind again (it started at 100%, now 50%) down to 35-40%.

No matter how they will do, this build will be either gone or just harder to play and more expensive.
If they go with the high cost on Recall, Mana recovery on block will be a must, MoM a big risk and Recall needs to be used very carefully. Its probably better just to use a different skill then.

I just hope hitmantb will come up with a nice workaround or another fantastic build! :)

Let's say Storm Brand isnt that great anymore and we have to go Ball Lightning Mines instead.

Would it still be better to go Scion instead of Saboteur?

Scion gives you max block.
Saboteur gives you high dodge and permanent blind on mobs, the avoidance would be very similar to max block.
On top of that Sab has extremely high life regen and alot of stuff that improve mine damage.

Is Scion still competitive or do i miss something?

Working on this build now, in Act 5 and it's super strong. Just run through the zones and everything dies.

I have a question though, my Brands are disappearing even though I am holding down Brand recall, so I have to recast them several times per zone. Does it eventually reach a point where they don't disappear? I'm around 30% of my mana to cast one, so its manageable for now, but if I'm using more mana I can see this being a problem later on.

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Rich85 wrote:

Working on this build now, in Act 5 and it's super strong. Just run through the zones and everything dies.

I have a question though, my Brands are disappearing even though I am holding down Brand recall, so I have to recast them several times per zone. Does it eventually reach a point where they don't disappear? I'm around 30% of my mana to cast one, so its manageable for now, but if I'm using more mana I can see this being a problem later on.

It isn't a problem at higher levels as your mana regen + mana gained on block is so insane you can practically apply new brands non-stop as long as you are consistently killing mobs.
Personally I don't spam brand recall, I set a brand, dash into a pack and recall, set another brand, dash into another pack and recall, and repeat.
That's probably enough to keep brands always up.

I'm using about 92% of my maximum mana per cast for comparison. Don't worry just get more levels in, and better gear.

TLDR; Yes you are probably expected to recast ur brands quite frequently, and no mana isn't even a problem at higher levels.

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Rich85 wrote:

Working on this build now, in Act 5 and it's super strong. Just run through the zones and everything dies.

I have a question though, my Brands are disappearing even though I am holding down Brand recall, so I have to recast them several times per zone. Does it eventually reach a point where they don't disappear? I'm around 30% of my mana to cast one, so its manageable for now, but if I'm using more mana I can see this being a problem later on.

I just put brand recall on left mouse button and they recall on their own. No issues.

As posted by GGG, storm brand and archmage interaction is dead. Most likely, it will not work at all next release. Will need to find a build.

VD/DD looks like a possible winner for next league.

vd /dd =?

Volatile Dead / Detonate Dead